7 Priceless Lessons I Learned Running a 1-Man Consulting Practice for 4 Years

Failing, falling, learning, rinse, wash, and repeat

Aldric Chen
The Consulting Handbook

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A lady smiling at the laptop
Photo by Jenny Ueberberg on Unsplash

It was December 2018.

Then, I was hanging on a tightrope. I was that corporate rat dying to resign. The annual bonus, due at the end of the calendar year, kept me going.

But not for long.

I left after pocketing the annual bonus. And without a job.

It was the scariest moment ever. But being pissed with my day job filled me with courage. I took a leap of faith.

Then I started a 1-Man consulting practice.

On the side.

The rest, as they say, is history.

The 7 Lessons I Mastered from the School of Hard Knocks

It is never easy at the start.

My mentor said that real-life experience cannot be taught. That is why we call it experience. Oh, Amen to that.

Unless and until we take the bulls by the horns, we are just another spectator. Or cheerleader. Or commentator.

These 7 lessons came to me while I wrestled with the bull named Reality.

  • Start with 1

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Aldric Chen
The Consulting Handbook

24x Top Writer (as of June 2023). Serial eavesdropper. I capture interesting & uncomfortable real-life retirement / work-life stories the way they are.