Latest / Black Girls Consult TOO! / Episode 110: Conquering the Feast or Famine Cycle in Consulting

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Episode 110: Conquering the Feast or Famine Cycle in Consulting · Black Girls Consult TOO!

• 0:02
  Speaker 1: They say, the odds are stacked against us as women, especially women of color, trying to thrive in the consulting world.
• 0:08
  Speaker 1: But rather than wait for a seat at the table that may never come, what if we build our own tables?
• 0:14
  Speaker 1: What if we channeled our talents into guiding each other towards the success we deserve?
• 0:19
  Speaker 1: Welcome to the Black Girls Consulting Podcast.
• 0:21
  Speaker 1: I'm your host, dr Angelina Davis, and I've walked the path from healthcare consultant to a mentor for women like you, ambitious, unstoppable and ready to make waves in the consulting world.
• 0:33
  Speaker 1: This podcast is your go-to spot for all things entrepreneurial consulting.
• 0:38
  Speaker 1: For us as women, especially women of color, think of it as your weekly coffee date with a friend who's here to dish out real talk on building a solid business, elevating your thought leadership and mastering that all important mindset.
• 0:51
  Speaker 1: And let's not forget, we're doing all of this while balancing day jobs, family life and running teams.
• 0:57
  Speaker 1: Yes, we can do it all.
• 1:00
  Speaker 1: So if you're ready to dive into how you can grow a thriving consultancy or get strategies and insights that actually fit your busy lifestyle, then you're in the right place.
• 1:09
  Speaker 1: Grab your coffee, tea or, hey, even a glass of wine, I won't judge and let's get started.
• 1:15
  Speaker 1: Hello, hello, hello.
• 1:24
  Speaker 1: Welcome to the Black Girls Consulting Podcast.
• 1:30
  Speaker 1: I'm your host, dr Angelina Davis, and can you believe that we are now getting ready to move into the second quarter of this calendar year, so it is 2024 when I'm recording this episode and we are wrapping up March.
• 1:43
  Speaker 1: Time has gone by so fast and I don't know if you guys have been experiencing this.
• 1:49
  Speaker 1: I definitely have been experiencing some of this on my side and also hearing about it in a lot of groups that I'm in and even in conversations on social media.
• 1:58
  Speaker 1: Right now, the market is rather slow, not necessarily that there is not enough business out there to go around there definitely is but consumers are more cautious with their buying decisions.
• 2:13
  Speaker 1: Businesses and corporations are being a little bit more conservative when it comes to their investments, and so because of that, it's created this level of anxiety and somewhat of I don't know a period of maybe even creativity in how we need to think about selling our services and growing our businesses as we move forward, because, although we are moving through quarter one, we still have three quarters left in this year and a lot of goals to crush, and that's one of the reasons why I wanted to have this episode and talk about feast or famine mode.
• 2:51
  Speaker 1: This is something that is extremely well known in the consulting world as being something that many consultants face from time to time, because we can land larger projects or work that carry us for months or even years, and then we often go through these periods that are a little bit slower and so that same level of revenue is not flowing as easily, and because of that, sometimes you feel like you're on a roller coaster ride, and if you're in this phase right now, I want you to know that you're not alone, number one.
• 3:25
  Speaker 1: And then also that this is something that often happens in our industry, and what I found is that it happens for three main reasons, and this is why I wanted to get into this today and share a little bit more about why this happens.
• 3:38
  Speaker 1: And even in my experience, when I have gone through these periods, it's because I have fallen into one of these three categories, and that has led me down the feast or famine mode or into the feast or famine cycle.
• 3:52
  Speaker 1: So, in order for us to navigate this differently, so that your business is not impacted as you move forward in this year, I want you to understand and know what typically causes this process to occur and how you can avoid it and, if you are already there, how you can navigate safely to a more robust time of sales and of client attraction and all of those good things.
• 4:19
  Speaker 1: But before we hop into the depth of this episode, I want to just let you know that if you're interested in starting your consulting business, well, I have the right solution for you.
• 4:32
  Speaker 1: It's called the Consulting Code.
• 4:34
  Speaker 1: This is an online course that helps you get your business started, and I'm not talking about started with just looking at websites or thinking about your business name, but what do you do after you have all the basics done and you are ready to land your first three, four or five clients?
• 4:53
  Speaker 1: This is what you need in order to help you stand out, attract the clients that are truly aligned with your mission and generate revenue in your business that keeps you afloat.
• 5:05
  Speaker 1: If this sounds like something that you would be interested in, the link is in the description.
• 5:09
  Speaker 1: Just click the link to learn more.
• 5:12
  Speaker 1: Now back to our episode.
• 5:13
  Speaker 1: All right, so let's get on the same page when it comes to what a feast or famine cycle actually is.
• 5:25
  Speaker 1: Think of it like this If you go out and you're super excited about landing more clients.
• 5:32
  Speaker 1: And so you go hardcore into marketing your business, creating your sales pipeline.
• 5:38
  Speaker 1: You're moving people through, you're landing client after client and the work is flowing in great projects, doing workshops.
• 5:45
  Speaker 1: I mean you're doing all the things.
• 5:46
  Speaker 1: Things are going great.
• 5:47
  Speaker 1: That's usually how it often starts and you find this level of success that is number one exciting.
• 5:54
  Speaker 1: But number two is helping your business grow.
• 5:58
  Speaker 1: Now what tends to happen is that you get to a point where you have so much business and financially you feel secure, and you begin to take your foot off the pedal a little bit.
• 6:08
  Speaker 1: The next thing you know, those clients are off-boarding.
• 6:12
  Speaker 1: And once those clients off-board, then it's time to bring on the next client.
• 6:16
  Speaker 1: But in those instances you're looking around and you're trying to figure out where are they at?
• 6:22
  Speaker 1: They're nowhere to be found I mean nowhere and so you go through a period of trying to build back up this level of interest.
• 6:32
  Speaker 1: And so you're showing up in different networking meetings.
• 6:35
  Speaker 1: You're asking for referrals, you're trying to do all the things that you can in order to land more clients right away and that break that time period, depending upon however long the cycle is for you to make a sale.
• 6:48
  Speaker 1: However long that takes, it can feel as if you're going for an extended period of time without a stable source of revenue and that instability can be detrimental if it is too long.
• 7:02
  Speaker 1: And going back and forth through these different phases creates this cycle of having plenty and then going into, having lack and then coming back out, and it is number one, nerve wracking.
• 7:14
  Speaker 1: But then, number two, it doesn't build confidence in your ability to grow a successful business over time.
• 7:20
  Speaker 1: And when we have those doubts and we have the fear and anxiety that surrounds feast or famine mode, many people are just not built for that and often give up on their businesses, thinking that this is the nature of how consulting actually is, when this is far from true.
• 7:39
  Speaker 1: It's far from the case.
• 7:40
  Speaker 1: Yes, there are going to be some ups and downs and ebbs and flows in any business journey.
• 7:45
  Speaker 1: I'm not trying to say that if you follow what I'm going to tell you about how to navigate these different periods, if you follow that to the T, that you won't have these different challenges, but I will say that they will be few and far between and they hopefully will not impact your business to the same extent.
• 8:06
  Speaker 1: So let's talk about some of the reasons why this happens and then how you can avoid it.
• 8:12
  Speaker 1: One of the first things is that usually, when you are able to land business started out, we get into a situation where we overwhelm our capacity, we overwhelm our bandwidth.
• 8:25
  Speaker 1: There's only so much that we can do in a set period of time.
• 8:30
  Speaker 1: There are only so many clients that we can serve, and that's even if you have a team.
• 8:35
  Speaker 1: There's still going to be limits.
• 8:36
  Speaker 1: There are limits to what you can do, and when we're not mindful of what it takes in order to complete various projects, or we don't have boundaries in place that prevent things such as scope creep and other kind of negative impacts on your time and how you are able to work efficiently, then you can find yourself pouring more and more time and energy and resources into serving the clients that you have.
• 9:05
  Speaker 1: And when you stretch yourself to an extreme and you begin to overwhelm your capacity and your bandwidth to do the work, then that's when you run into problems.
• 9:15
  Speaker 1: Because if you don't have the energy and the time in order to keep up with those things that are going to be fundamental and necessary for your business growth and development, things such as your marketing, things such as sales, if those things begin to take a back burner, then you're not going to have anything to fall back on once you are in a space where you can begin to do more work and where you have more capacity.
• 9:42
  Speaker 1: And this is one of the biggest mistakes early on, because, more than likely, you're not considering all of the work that you need to do in order to ensure that your business foundation is set, and if that is not included in what you're looking at as your ability and your time and resources to handle certain projects, if you're not at as your ability and your time and resources to handle certain projects, if you're not factoring that piece in, then you're going to take on more than you actually can in that moment in terms of being able to serve and maintain your business, and so that overwhelm in your capacity is what leads to the initial break in the cycle.
• 10:23
  Speaker 1: This is where we find the first break, the first thing that begins to create this challenge or this wall that we have to get over, because usually, when you are overwhelmed, one of the first things you sacrifice and especially as women, I can say this for a fact One of the first things we sacrifice is ourselves.
• 10:46
  Speaker 1: We sacrifice whatever we need to do in order to make sure that we are okay.
• 10:51
  Speaker 1: Because we're so used to taking care of everyone else, we want to do our best to perform at the highest ability for our clients.
• 10:57
  Speaker 1: And so we think, oh, you know, if I have to work a little bit extra, if I have to, you know, take on a little bit more or earn a little bit less for this to work out.
• 11:07
  Speaker 1: I'm going to do it because I want to do my best.
• 11:09
  Speaker 1: That's how we think, that's how we tend to operate, even if it's not our original intent.
• 11:14
  Speaker 1: And so, by sacrificing those things, one of the first things that hits the chopping block is your marketing.
• 11:26
  Speaker 1: So this leads to the second problem.
• 11:28
  Speaker 1: When you overwhelm your capacity, then you're going to cut, drop certain things, and one of the things that's easy to do is to drop the marketing, the consistent marketing.
• 11:42
  Speaker 1: And this is problematic because if you are not marketing your business consistently, you are out of sight and out of mind.
• 11:53
  Speaker 1: You hear me, you're out of sight and out of mind.
• 11:56
  Speaker 1: That means that, as businesses, as other clients, are thinking about how they're gonna solve their problem, who they're looking for to help them.
• 12:05
  Speaker 1: You're not part of that conversation because you're not marketing anymore.
• 12:11
  Speaker 1: They're not seeing anything from you anymore and we have short memories.
• 12:16
  Speaker 1: Unfortunately.
• 12:17
  Speaker 1: I hate to say that, but we do and we need to be reminded.
• 12:20
  Speaker 1: We need someone to remind us.
• 12:23
  Speaker 1: Hey, you know, such and such is great at this and I think they will be an awesome person to work with.
• 12:29
  Speaker 1: We need someone to do that for us.
• 12:32
  Speaker 1: We need to be doing it for ourselves, but if we are so busy that we can't stick to marketing, then it's going to be problematic, and even with the simplest marketing system, you still have to put time and effort into it.
• 12:48
  Speaker 1: That's just the reality.
• 12:50
  Speaker 1: It's the reality of running a business.
• 12:52
  Speaker 1: So we have to find ways that keeps us from being inconsistent in this process.
• 12:59
  Speaker 1: We have to make sure that we are still creating a level of interest and demand in the services that we want to sell.
• 13:07
  Speaker 1: That is how we keep people interested and keep clients or potential clients in that pipeline.
• 13:13
  Speaker 1: We have to keep that going.
• 13:15
  Speaker 1: We can't let it dry up.
• 13:17
  Speaker 1: If it dries up, it's going to take us a long time, and the one thing about marketing that I want you to always remember is that marketing is going to be most effective when you have momentum.
• 13:28
  Speaker 1: You build up a level of momentum when you are consistently marketing your services, and whenever you fall off and you take a break, then you have to build that momentum back up.
• 13:38
  Speaker 1: That takes time, that takes intentional effort, that takes time, that takes intentional effort.
• 13:47
  Speaker 1: And so if you allow yourself to lose your momentum, you have to know that you have to build it back up.
• 13:50
  Speaker 1: And so these are all things that are going to be timely and it's going to keep you from from keeping that flow of steady clients going.
• 13:59
  Speaker 1: They're going to be, you know, some breaks in there because you've taken a break.
• 14:03
  Speaker 1: So we have to think about ways that we can overcome this inconsistency and keep you moving forward in the right direction.
• 14:13
  Speaker 1: And so that's the second part.
• 14:16
  Speaker 1: Now the third is that once you have this break in marketing, this inconsistency that occurs, then you often will also not be nurturing your potential clients or those who have been interested in your services thus far.
• 14:32
  Speaker 1: And if you're not nurturing them along the way, if you're not constantly making contact and feeding them information and providing that level of insight that helps them to see you as a go-to expert and solution to their problem, then when you go to sell your services, you're going to be jumping the gun because now you are forcing a sale.
• 14:56
  Speaker 1: Instead of selling to someone who is warm, you're almost selling to a cold audience because they haven't been nurtured appropriately.
• 15:03
  Speaker 1: So they really don't know and understand deeply what you do.
• 15:07
  Speaker 1: They may not have a connection with you and your mission or your philosophy or your perspective and your sale is going to just fall cold, and we don't want that to happen.
• 15:18
  Speaker 1: But that comes because there has not been a dedication to consistently nurturing that audience.
• 15:25
  Speaker 1: And so these are the three ways that we run into problems.
• 15:29
  Speaker 1: The first break is overwhelming our capacity.
• 15:31
  Speaker 1: The overwhelmed capacity prevents us from consistently marketing our services.
• 15:37
  Speaker 1: And also, when we're not consistently marketing, more than likely we're not consistently nurturing.
• 15:43
  Speaker 1: And by not consistently nurturing we then end up in a situation where we are forcing sales because the energetics are off, they don't know who we are, they don't relate to us and we are not pitching our services to the right person at the right time.
• 16:00
  Speaker 1: So that is how it all occurs.
• 16:04
  Speaker 1: Those three things it really does, those three things are responsible for the feast and famine cycle feast or famine cycle that we often experience.
• 16:12
  Speaker 1: Now let's talk about how we can prevent this, because that is the goal.
• 16:18
  Speaker 1: We don't want this to just carry on and have us in a situation where we're just accepting that this has to be the case because it doesn't so.
• 16:26
  Speaker 1: One of the first things is that if the first break or the first problem is that we are overwhelming our capacity, then what we have to do is be mindful of what we can carry as a load and really making time and space for not just the things that we are doing for our clients, but the things that we need to do for ourselves and our business in order to develop our business so that we can grow further.
• 16:56
  Speaker 1: So this is that aspect of business development that needs to be a key part of your personal bandwidth and your capacity to take on these things.
• 17:07
  Speaker 1: You have to make space for it.
• 17:10
  Speaker 1: I know this seems like at times that you are just wasting time, or you may feel like you know I have a lot to do, I have clients to serve, I don't have time to play on the internet, I don't have time to write this email, I don't have time to just schedule this, this coffee chat or this meeting, and when I don't have anything to necessarily pitch right now, it seems as if those things can be tossed aside, but they really cannot.
• 17:34
  Speaker 1: They're very, very important if you don't want to experience these ups and downs, so they have to be built into your plan, your system, your structure.
• 17:46
  Speaker 1: It needs to be that foundational element that is there that you're accounting for when you're thinking about the number of clients that you can take on, and so that may mean that you take on fewer clients period.
• 17:57
  Speaker 1: It may mean you can't serve as many people as you're doing right now, or it may mean that you need to hire added help and it doesn't necessarily mean you have to bring on anyone full time.
• 18:08
  Speaker 1: But hiring a contractor from time to time to take on certain projects that you may not be best at, hiring a contractor from time to time to take on certain projects that you may not be best at.
• 18:15
  Speaker 1: But you have to begin to free up time and space to expand your capacity and your bandwidth to do what is necessary to keep your business afloat.
• 18:24
  Speaker 1: So the first thing is considering how business development can be a key part of your foundational structure that you do not sacrifice.
• 18:35
  Speaker 1: This is a must, a mandatory component that needs to be there, and I truly believe that a good rule of thumb, especially when you're in a startup or a growth phase, is that the business development needs to remain roughly a 20 to 25% component of your capacity.
• 18:57
  Speaker 1: So, whatever you see as the amount of time or the amount of resources that you're dedicating to your business, about 20 to 25% of that needs to be this aspect of business development in the startup, in the growth phase.
• 19:13
  Speaker 1: All right Now.
• 19:16
  Speaker 1: The next thing that we want to work on is consistent marketing.
• 19:22
  Speaker 1: So we talked about how inconsistent marketing causes a problem, so we need to be more consistent.
• 19:26
  Speaker 1: How do we do that?
• 19:27
  Speaker 1: The first thing we need to do is to simplify.
• 19:31
  Speaker 1: You need to have a simple marketing approach.
• 19:35
  Speaker 1: So all of the crazy launches, all of the very unique and creative tactics, but very time-consuming tactics those need to be saved, maybe for a later date.
• 19:49
  Speaker 1: Right now, when you have a lot on your plate and your capacity is limited, you need to focus on simple marketing strategies.
• 20:00
  Speaker 1: I want you to think about automations.
• 20:02
  Speaker 1: I want you to consider how you can use artificial intelligence to your advantage so that you're able to repurpose many of the marketing assets that you have previously created.
• 20:14
  Speaker 1: If those things have been created, there's no need for you to keep recreating or creating rather new marketing pieces.
• 20:22
  Speaker 1: Use some of the ones that are already created and have performed well, and then use artificial intelligence things like ChatGPT or Cloud AI or some of the others to help you devise a way to repurpose that information into emails or into social media posts or into a podcast episode if you have a podcast or whatever other means that you use for marketing.
• 20:47
  Speaker 1: This is a time for you to begin to simplify and use much of what you already have, but then schedule and automate that so it is ongoing, even if you're going to be away for a long period of time.
• 21:03
  Speaker 1: There's no reason you can't automate your marketing.
• 21:05
  Speaker 1: There's no reason you can't throw that into something like a Later or a Planoly or a Buffer.
• 21:12
  Speaker 1: These are all apps for scheduling.
• 21:13
  Speaker 1: You can schedule it right on Instagram or LinkedIn itself like a Later or a Planoly or a Buffer.
• 21:17
  Speaker 1: These are all apps for scheduling.
• 21:18
  Speaker 1: You can schedule it right on Instagram or LinkedIn itself.
• 21:20
  Speaker 1: There is no reason for us not to be consistent, but it's going to be a lot easier to do if we keep it simple.
• 21:25
  Speaker 1: So, simplifying your marketing strategy, repurposing the content that has performed well thus far and scheduling that, and using automations and artificial intelligence to help you do this work easily.
• 21:39
  Speaker 1: That is going to be a game changer for you to remain consistent in your marketing.
• 21:46
  Speaker 1: So you're constantly having your message out there, floating around, being served up to your audience and your audience sharing that with others.
• 21:55
  Speaker 1: That's what we need to have ongoing Now.
• 21:59
  Speaker 1: The third piece of this is making sure that you continue to nurture your audience so that when you get ready to pitch your services, you are not pitching that to a cold audience or someone who is unfamiliar with your brand.
• 22:14
  Speaker 1: In order for you to think about a proper nurturing strategy, I want you to just think about what it would feel like to have a genuine conversation with a friend.
• 22:27
  Speaker 1: How would you normally do that?
• 22:29
  Speaker 1: Is this a situation where you feel like you would have a coffee chat from time to time?
• 22:36
  Speaker 1: Or maybe you'll check in on a Friday just to see how their week may have gone, by phone or by email?
• 22:41
  Speaker 1: That's one method.
• 22:43
  Speaker 1: You could also schedule out emails.
• 22:46
  Speaker 1: If you're very much into email marketing.
• 22:48
  Speaker 1: That's a way for you to schedule a lot of emails that may be helpful in them navigating their journey, just to show them that you have the ability to help them, to educate them on the services that you deliver, so they have a better understanding of what you do and how you can help.
• 23:07
  Speaker 1: And then, when you're ready to pitch your sale, guess what they're ready to buy.
• 23:12
  Speaker 1: And that's the piece of the puzzle that has to be there.
• 23:15
  Speaker 1: You have to make sure that when you are ready to sell so when you're off-boarding clients and you're ready to move on that you have the ability to easily start selling again.
• 23:28
  Speaker 1: But you can't do that if you don't have the marketing and the nurture piece ongoing.
• 23:32
  Speaker 1: Do that if you don't have the marketing and the nurture piece ongoing.
• 23:38
  Speaker 1: So I want you to right now decide how are you going to nurture your potential clients on an ongoing basis.
• 23:44
  Speaker 1: And I want you to think about what's easiest for you to do.
• 23:46
  Speaker 1: If you're a writer, think about things such as email.
• 23:49
  Speaker 1: If you are someone who likes to talk and have chats and you like the personal touch, set on your schedule maybe I would say about an hour a week.
• 23:59
  Speaker 1: I like Fridays Some people like Mondays at the beginning of the week to just touch base and make a quick phone call to maybe share some additional insights or maybe send a newsletter, if you can afford to get help in writing that newsletter.
• 24:14
  Speaker 1: Maybe you can summarize some wins for the week and then share that with your copywriter or ghostwriter and have them format this newsletter that goes out on a regular basis whether it's weekly or biweekly and get that information in the hands of your audience.
• 24:31
  Speaker 1: But I want you to think about how you are going to do this and commit to one strategy that you're going to try for the next 30 days and see how that goes.
• 24:42
  Speaker 1: But you need to find a way to continue to nurture the clients that you want to serve, and this is for business to consumer or business to business, it does not matter.
• 24:51
  Speaker 1: You have to nurture your clients.
• 24:54
  Speaker 1: You have to show them that you understand their problem and also give them the opportunity to better understand how you provide the solution.
• 25:03
  Speaker 1: So I hope this episode has been helpful in helping you navigate this whole feast or famine cycle and ways that you can avoid it if you haven't been experiencing it, and the ways that you can solve this problem.
• 25:19
  Speaker 1: If you have been going through this challenging period, know that it's all a matter of maintaining your capacity to do the work and being able to do those things necessary in your business to keep it afloat those things such as consistently marketing your services, nurturing your audience and getting them ready for the sale and if you're able to do these things, it will not only provide greater security for you but also stability for you in your business, so that you can be very confident when you're thinking about expansion or if you're thinking about some other shift or pivot that you may want to make.
• 26:02
  Speaker 1: You will know that you have the ability to generate consistent revenue without these huge gaps or these huge breaks, because you're putting in the work.
• 26:12
  Speaker 1: Okay.
• 26:13
  Speaker 1: So if you enjoyed this episode, don't forget to share it with a friend, and please leave your review on Apple Podcasts or your five-star rating on Spotify.
• 26:24
  Speaker 1: I would greatly appreciate it.
• 26:25
  Speaker 1: As a matter of fact, I need to do a better job of asking for reviews, but reviews do help the podcast grow and to reach more people.
• 26:33
  Speaker 1: So if you would be kind enough, I would greatly appreciate it.
• 26:36
  Speaker 1: And don't forget, reach out to me on LinkedIn or on Instagram.
• 26:40
  Speaker 1: I love when you all do that.
• 26:42
  Speaker 1: I love getting to know who's listening to the podcast and being able to just have conversations back and forth instead of me just talking into this microphone.
• 26:51
  Speaker 1: I know you're there and I know you're listening, but I want to hear your voice too, so definitely reach out to me and until next time, take care, and we're not going into feast or famine mode.
• 27:01
  Speaker 1: We know what to do now.
• 27:02
  Speaker 1: We're going to maintain our capacity and we're going to make sure that we protect our business development.
• 27:07
  Speaker 1: All right, take care and I'll talk to you very, very soon.
• 27:10
  Speaker 1: Bye, take care, and I'll talk to you very, very soon.
• 27:13
  Speaker 1: Bye.
• 27:13
  Speaker 1: Thank you for tuning in to the Black Girls Console 2 podcast.
• 27:15
  Speaker 1: If you enjoyed today's episode, be sure to leave your review on Apple Podcasts, subscribe and share it with a friend.
• 27:23
  Speaker 1: We're on a mission to increase the success and longevity of women in consulting, and you can help us do just that.
• 27:29
  Speaker 1: Also, I'd love to hear from you.
• 27:31
  Speaker 1: So let's connect at Dr Angelina Davis on Instagram or LinkedIn and don't forget to visit excel at consultingcom for more information to support your consulting journey.
• 27:43
  Speaker 1: You next time.