Starting a Consulting or Self-Employed Career: Is It Right for You?

This article provides general guidance on self-employment and is not a substitute for accounting, tax, or legal advice tailored to your situation.

Working for yourself is appealing, and for good reason. In Québec, self-employment is part of many people’s professional journeys across a wide range of sectors.¹ Choosing your assignments, putting your expertise front and centre, working in different environments, and having greater control over your schedule: for many, consulting is an exciting way to bring fresh momentum to their career.

It does, however, require more than strong expertise. It also means reflecting on your offer, your network, your comfort with uncertainty, and how you want to work day to day.

Self-employment can be a transition between two roles, an activity pursued alongside a job, or a full career path. Before taking the leap, here are a few things to consider.

Two jobs in one

Being a consultant generally means taking on two roles at once.

The first is that of a specialist: delivering assignments, solving clients’ challenges, preparing meetings, and producing high-quality work.

The second is business development. You need to maintain your network, explain your offer, respond to enquiries, prepare proposals, follow up, and manage the administrative side of your business. That time is not always billable, but it is essential to maintaining a steady flow of work.

This is something to consider from the outset. The freedom to choose your projects also comes with the responsibility of creating and maintaining opportunities.

For some people, this is energizing. They enjoy building relationships, talking about their expertise, and evolving their offer. For others, it may feel more demanding. In that case, joining a firm, collective, or established network can offer a good balance: maintaining your independence while not having to find every assignment on your own.

Defining a clear offer

“I can do a bit of everything” is often true, especially after several years of experience. But it does not always help prospective clients quickly understand the value you bring.

A clear offer does not need to be narrow or rigid. It simply needs to answer three questions:

• What problem do I solve?
• What types of organizations or people do I support?
• How do I work with them?

For example, someone may have broad human resources experience but choose to position themselves more specifically around labour relations, change management, process implementation, or temporary HR support.

This clarity helps people think of you at the right time. It also makes it easier to create a LinkedIn profile, service overview, or proposal that does not have to start from scratch every time.

Before investing significant time in branding or a website, a few conversations with former colleagues, industry contacts, or prospective clients can be especially revealing. They can help validate whether the need is real, how it is described in the field, and what organizations are prepared to entrust to an external consultant.

A consulting rate is not a salary divided by hours

This is one of the most important calculations—and one of the easiest to underestimate.

An employee’s hourly rate includes more than their annual salary. It also reflects paid vacation, group insurance, employer contributions, statutory holidays, equipment, software, and time spent on administrative tasks.

As a consultant, these elements must be covered through your revenue. You also need to recognize that part of your week will go toward business development or assignment preparation, without necessarily being billable.

Setting your rate therefore means considering:

• The annual income you want to earn;
• The realistic number of billable hours in a year;
• Operating expenses and insurance;
• Slower periods or payment delays;
• Amounts to set aside for taxes and other obligations.

A fair rate is not about charging as much as possible. It is about making your project sustainable over the long term, without feeling compelled to accept every assignment out of financial concern.

Your network: the first driver of business development

First assignments rarely come from an advertisement or a single post. More often, they come from people who already know the quality of your work: former colleagues, managers, clients, partners, or people in your field.

The challenge is to change how that network sees you. Your contacts may know you as a director, specialist, or manager. Do they also know what type of assignments you now want to take on? Do they know you are available?

This does not mean aggressively soliciting everyone you know. A simple approach is often more effective: explain your project, describe the types of challenges you want to support, and ask people to keep you in mind when a relevant opportunity arises.

This can also mean having targeted conversations, attending industry events, or collaborating with complementary experts.

Being realistic about uncertainty

Consulting income does not always follow a consistent rhythm. An assignment may be confirmed quickly and then postponed. A busy period may be followed by a few quieter weeks. Payment delays are also part of the reality.

A financial reserve does not eliminate that uncertainty, but it provides more room to manoeuvre. It allows you to choose assignments thoughtfully rather than accepting an opportunity that does not truly align with your expertise, conditions, or goals.

It is also helpful to consider how you feel about working independently. Autonomy can be very rewarding, but it changes familiar reference points: fewer day-to-day colleagues, less spontaneous feedback, and greater responsibility for decision-making.

Connecting with peers, maintaining active professional relationships, and planning opportunities for collaboration can make a meaningful difference.

Starting in stages

You do not need to leave everything behind to find out whether consulting is right for you.

Some people begin with a one-time assignment, a part-time project, a fixed-term contract, or a collaboration with a firm. Others build their offer gradually alongside a job, where their situation allows.

These in-between options allow you to test several practical aspects:

• The genuine interest in your offer;
• Whether you enjoy developing business relationships;
• How you manage your time and priorities;
• The potential for recurring assignments;
• The pace that works best for you.

Most importantly, they allow you to learn without having to master everything from day one.

A note on self-employed status

Providing services to an organization does not, on its own, establish self-employed status. In Québec, the assessment considers the full working relationship: autonomy in carrying out the work, the client’s degree of control, the ability to work for other organizations, business risk, and integration into the team, among other factors.²

Someone working exclusively for one client, according to that client’s schedule, methods, and direction, in a role that closely resembles that of an employee, may raise questions about the true nature of the working relationship.

When in doubt, it is best to seek appropriate advice before formalizing the arrangement. A discussion with an accountant, tax professional, or legal advisor can help prevent misunderstandings.

In summary

Consulting is not simply another way to bill for your expertise. It is a different way to build a career.

It can offer significant freedom, varied challenges, and an opportunity to choose assignments that align with your strengths. It also requires preparation: clarifying your offer, building your network, setting a sustainable rate, and planning for less predictable periods.

With thoughtful preparation, self-employment can become a bridge between two career stages—or a lasting way to put your expertise to work for organizations.

Sources

1. Institut de la statistique du Québec, Employees and self-employed workers — annual data in Québec.
2. Canada Revenue Agency, Determining the employment status of a worker.