Earn More MoneyOctober 18, 2021December 6, 2021

How Much Money Can A Consultant Earn?

In any business, there is always a job that is always valuable to the company. However, this particular job is not specific to only helping out companies. This job can provide expertise on an individual level. The job we are talking about is a consultant. For many companies and individuals, consultants are an integral part of their day-to-day operations. However, the job of a consultant is rather vague. This is due to the fact that there are many types of consultants. There are consultants for operations, for example. These consultants specialize in providing consultation that improves the performance of their operations.

Consultants gain experience and knowledge through various forms. This can either be through schooling or hands-on experience. Therefore, consultants are viewed as experts who give advice that they’ve accumulated over many years. Many consultants are freelancers with large portfolios. However, it is not uncommon to find a consulting agency that has a multitude of professionals on payroll. It is quite common for companies to use a multitude of consultants. However, this is only if they are larger with multiple employees and sectors. Although, many smaller, private companies get by with one consultant at any given time.

Therefore, we will take a look at a few factors. The first is exactly what consultants do. Next, we will take a look at the various different types of consultants. Lastly, we will take a look at how much money some of the various consulting positions can possibly earn. However, it is important to note that the amount will vary depending on the type of consultant.

What Do Consultants Do?

The role of a consultant sounds simple on paper. However, it is a much more difficult job than many people would expect. Simply put, consultants help their clients fix or work through their business problems. This can be done in many ways. Some ways include but are not limited to innovation, designing business models, marketing/operating strategies, to name a few. Consulting can be quite a difficult field to work in for a few reasons.

The first is that it is extremely competitive. Depending on the type of consulting you’re doing, there are little to no requirements. Therefore, the barrier for entry is relatively low. However, if you’re starting your own consulting business, clients will want some sort of portfolio. They need to know that whoever they’re hiring knows what they’re doing. Therefore, having a portfolio displays that.

The next reason why consulting is rather difficult is because it is a result-oriented field. Therefore, you absolutely need to produce results, which can be quite stressful. This can be stressful because you may try to implement ideas that don’t perform as you’d expect. This’ll reflect negatively on you. The whole reason you are hired is to produce results.

For example, a company hires you as a marketing consultant to provide marketing strategies that’ll drive and increase sales. The strategies you implement need to produce noticeable results, if not your client will most likely go to another consultant. However, the benefit of performing exceptionally well is that clients will refer you. The power of word-of-mouth marketing is truly underestimated in many cases. I can guarantee that almost everyone purchases a good or service that they’ve heard through someone else. Therefore, do not underestimate a satisfied client and the power they hold.

The last reason why consulting is rather difficult is that consultants work at a fast pace. This means they create strategies and try to implement them as soon as possible. The faster you can produce results, the happier your client will be. Therefore, working at such a rapid pace can be quite difficult.

Different Types Of Consultants

In terms of consulting, there are various different types. Each consultant specializes in their own respective field. This is what makes them experts. More often than not, they’ll know the tricks of the trade and have experienced a similar problem before. Therefore, they can implement strategies that have a track history of providing success. In terms of the different types of consultants, there are strategy, marketing, business, and financial consultants, to name a few.

A strategy/management consultant is people who help their clients increase performance. A rather general term. However, these consultants have general expertise and will be able to implement strategies to help a business become more efficient in various facets.

A marketing consultant is someone who dedicates their time to come up with strategies and techniques that’ll help market your company. This marketing can help improve brand awareness and drive sales.

Business consultants have quite a large list of duties and responsibilities. A business consultant can be looked at as a broader term for someone who provides advice in areas such as law, human resources, security, accountancy, etc.

A financial consultant is someone who takes over the role of providing insight into a companies finances. This means creating financial plans. Furthermore, these consultants monitor a business’s finances, develop financial plans, and forecasts for the fiscal year. Larger companies most likely have a multitude of financial consultants.

How Much Money Can A Consultant Earn?

As I previously stated, consultants earn different amounts of money depending on their profession. Some consultants are more in-demand.

For example, a financial consultant earns, on average $61,000 per year, based on 52 submitted salaries. This is a considerable amount of money and reaches the average household income for Canada. Furthermore, like any profession, there is room to earn more money. This is especially true if you are a freelancer and set your own rates. However, let’s take a look into a more niche sector of consulting.

Above is the median salary for an SAP consultant. Some people may be wondering what exactly an SAP consultant is. An SAP consultant is a person who specializes in using SAP software. Therefore, they’re able to provide insight and advice on how to best utilize this particular software. SAP is one of the leading produces of software that specializes in the management of business processes. This software help facilitate efficient data processing and information flow through various organizations.

Since SAP consultants are rather a niche, you can expect that they’ll most likely earn more money on average. As previously stated, above is a picture of the average SAP consultant’s salary over 267 submitted surveys. Through this picture, we can deduce that SAP consultants earn upwards of $77,000 per year. This is moreover $15,000 more than what the previous financial consultant earned. As an SAP consultant, you will have a lot of room for growth when it comes to salary. Some consultants see a pay increase of up to 42% when they’ve become more experienced. Therefore, it is completely possible to earn over $100,000 per year as this type of consultant.

For reference, above are a few of the basic tasks you’ll have to do as an SAP consultant. However, if you’re looking to become any type of consultant, make sure to do your due diligence. Make sure it’s the field you want, how much money you can earn, and what type of steps you need to take in order to be successful in the field. Preparing yourself will go a long way.

Shameed Chris Khan

Shameed is just a man on a mission to help those around him gain financial success. Obsessed with writing about all things finance, this GTA native is constantly learning and sharing his experiences with others.