1. Quiz
  2. Your result
  3. Your plan
  4. Your guide

Step-by-step guide

Specialist consulting: turn your professional experience into paid projects

Sell advice or project work in a field you know deeply, such as HR, compliance, health and safety, procurement, engineering or marketing. This guide covers how to price when there is no single rate list, official and market benchmarks, a proposal template, scripts and a 14-day plan to your first paid engagement.

  • 23 lessons
  • 5 modules
  • about 2 hours in total

Is this guide for you?

Good fit if

  • You have several years of real experience in a specialist field.
  • You can point to problems you have solved and results you can describe.
  • You know people in companies who could use that experience.

Think twice if

  • Your employment contract has a restraint of trade or conflict-of-interest clause you would break.
  • Your field needs registration you do not hold, such as legal practice, financial advice or engineering sign-off.

Honest expectations

  • First paid work usually comes from your own network: former employers, suppliers and colleagues, often within one to three months.
  • There is no single published rate list for South African consultants. Market guides suggest about R2,500 to R5,000 a day for new independent consultants.
  • Income is lumpy. Build a pipeline and save for quiet months.

What is inside

  1. Module 1

    Is this right for you?

    What it involves, who pays, and honest expectations.

    1. How specialist consulting worksFree · 5 min
    2. Honest expectations4 min (in the full guide)
  2. Module 2

    Set up and price

    What you need and what to charge.

    1. Your startup kit, costs and skills5 min (in the full guide)
    2. Set up step by step: ready for your first client6 min (in the full guide)
    3. Pricing and getting paid: benchmarks and a method5 min (in the full guide)
    4. Your numbers: a worked example in rands5 min (in the full guide)
  3. Module 3

    Your first week

    The first steps, in order.

    1. Your first week, step by step6 min (in the full guide)
    2. Week one, step 2: List 30 contacts3 min (in the full guide)
    3. Week one, step 3: Book five conversations3 min (in the full guide)
    4. Finding your first clients: where to look5 min (in the full guide)
    5. Your 14-day first-engagement playbook6 min (in the full guide)
    6. Messages to copy: your first customers5 min (in the full guide)
  4. Module 4

    Your first month

    A routine that brings in customers.

    1. Your first 30 days: build a routine4 min (in the full guide)
    2. Month one, task 1: Land your first paid engagement3 min (in the full guide)
    3. Month one, task 2: Update your LinkedIn profile3 min (in the full guide)
    4. Common mistakes new consultants make4 min (in the full guide)
  5. Module 5

    Months two and three

    Repeat what works, grow and stay safe.

    1. Days 31 to 90: repeat what works and grow4 min (in the full guide)
    2. Months two and three, task 1: Build a pipeline3 min (in the full guide)
    3. Months two and three, task 2: Package an offer3 min (in the full guide)
    4. Free courses to fill your skill gaps4 min (in the full guide)
    5. Getting paid safely and spotting scams4 min (in the full guide)
    6. Tax: what to put aside, with worked examples6 min (in the full guide)
    7. Risks, rules, tax and staying safe5 min (in the full guide)

What it costs to start

R0 to get started, from our research

What you will use:

  • Laptop, phone and internet
  • Professional indemnity insurance
  • Company registration

Prices change and differ by area, so check two places near you before you buy.

Try it before you buy

Lesson one is free. If it helps, the whole guide is R149 once-off.

Start the free lesson

Reviewed 26 October 2026 by the Earn Path team. Next review due 26 April 2027.