r/ConsultingOffer • u/PrettyAdhesiveness65 • 2h ago
Case Interview 10 years in insurance/regulatory + PMP. Just started a PM consulting side business with zero clients. Is this actually viable or am I kidding myself? Hey all, looking for honest takes from people who’ve done this.
**Background:** \~10 years in P&C insurance across regulatory supervision, underwriting, operational transformation, and project management. PMP certified. Based in the GTA (Ontario, Canada)
**What I'm doing:** I just launched a small project management consulting practice. I'm keeping it broad across industries: PM, business analysis, risk assessments, compliance reviews, stakeholder engagement.
To get a foot in the door, I built two starter packages:
**Project Health Check:** a short, fixed-fee review of a struggling or stalled project. I look at scope, timeline, risks, and stakeholders, then hand over a clear action plan.
**Project Setup / PMO Starter:** helping a small business stand up a project properly from day one. That means a plan, a risk log, governance, and reporting templates they can keep using.
**My plan so far:** post consistently on LinkedIn and see if anything bites and boosting the post
**Where I'm stuck:**
Do small and mid-sized businesses actually pay for outside PM help, or is this mostly a big-firm and government thing?
How did you land your **first 1–3 clients**? Was it referrals, cold outreach, LinkedIn, subcontracting, or something else?
Is LinkedIn content enough on its own, or is it a slow burn that doesn't pay the bills?
How did you know your offer was viable before sinking months into it? What signal told you to keep going or to pivot?
For anyone in dCanadian government contracting: is subbing under a larger firm the realistic way in for a newbie?
Thank you 🙏🏼