I am often reminded of the conversation between Alice and the Cheshire cat where he told Alice “If you do not know where you want to go, it doesn’t matter which road you take.”
As an independent contractor, whether paid by the hour, by retainer, or paid for performance, we need to first establish a vision of what we want our value proposition to be, otherwise you will abdicate your direction to the whims of the marketplace and dilute your specialty.
There are many successful models for delivering professional services. Research best practices in your area of expertise, consolidate them within your offering, and make them your own.
There is a direct relationship between the specifics of your value proposition and your confidence in the marketplace. Does your intellectual property, tools, and interpersonal skills enable you to deliver your services far more effectively than in-house solutions?
Your confidence and compensation will grow substantially as you continuously refine your value, package and replicate your unique deliverables.
Organizations will pay a premium for your services, if you deliver a specific value to clients that can be immediately translated into better control, more profit, or a balanced lifestyle without the complications of additional full-time staff.

As you cycle through more and more engagements, you must make the adjustments that refine your focus and value proposition, which will translate into a more predictable and lucrative income.
Areas of expertise can vary from specific business functions such as human resources, process improvement, policies and procedures, training, culture, and organizational development, to a specialized knowledge in a specific industry. Whatever your focus, consume everything possible about your disciplines while dedicating yourself to becoming the expert in your chosen field and being proficient in interconnected technologies.
Your goal is to deliver twice the results in half the time, by replicating a proven blueprint for exactly how to provide your services, with documentation that is easily configured and delivered specifically for each client. This will translate into profitable long-term clients because you have made yourself indispensable by delivering results.
Please see Value Proposition for Professional Services, Chapter 2 in our archives.
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