How To Become A Consultant/Entrepreneur: What It Is and Career Path

What is a consultant/entrepreneur and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

2 min read

Quoted expert

Robin Cormier

There is more than meets the eye when it comes to being a consultant/entrepreneur. For example, did you know that they make an average of $44.8 an hour? That's $93,178 a year! Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow 11% and produce 108,400 job opportunities across the U.S.

What general advice would you give to a consultant/entrepreneur?

Robin Cormier

Assistant Professor, Montana State University - Billings

While college graduates begin to launch their careers, they also face uncertainty about job opportunities. This can be a daunting time in their life. First and foremost, they should be proud of their achievements. There are many steps they can take to prepare for a future career, such as developing a network and building a strong resume. However, in my opinion, the most important advice I would offer new graduates is to pursue their passion. When you are passionate about your career, your life is more fulfilling, and you are more determined to achieve success. Passion shows through how you communicate, develop working relationships, and your level of career investment.

ScoreConsultant/EntrepreneurUS Average

Salary

7.3

Avg. Salary $93,178

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

6.8

Growth rate 11%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

6.0

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.17%

Asian 12.43%

Black or African American 8.13%

Hispanic or Latino 8.94%

Unknown 4.50%

White 65.84%

Gender

female 35.96%

male 64.04%

Age - 43

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 43

Stress level

6.8

Stress level is high

7.1 - high

Complexity level

8.7

Complexity level is advanced

7 - challenging

Work life balance

2.2

Work life balance is very poor

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a consultant/entrepreneur

Explore consultant/entrepreneur education requirements

Most common consultant/entrepreneur degrees

Bachelor's

61.2 %

Master's

22.7 %

Associate

8.6 %

Start to develop specific consultant/entrepreneur skills

Skills	Percentages
Entrepreneurs	19.22%
Financial Statements	15.98%
Business Strategies	12.80%
Market Research	6.82%
SEO	5.07%

Complete relevant consultant/entrepreneur training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 6-12 months on post-employment, on-the-job training. New consultants/entrepreneur learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as a consultant/entrepreneur based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real consultant/entrepreneur resumes.

Research consultant/entrepreneur duties and responsibilities

Provide SharePoint development and administration, budget and financial reporting; manage invoicing; and develop training manuals and user guides.
Analyze internal knowledge infrastructure and develop optimized information system/organization.
Develop e-commerce plugins for WooCommerce written in PHP for sale to other web developers and entrepreneurs.
Evolve a framework from the best of PMI, ISO, and CMM standards that fit any industry and methodology.

Apply for consultant/entrepreneur jobs

Now it's time to start searching for a consultant/entrepreneur job. Consider the tips below for a successful job search:

Browse job boards for relevant postings
Consult your professional network
Reach out to companies you're interested in working for directly
Watch out for job scams

How do consultants/entrepreneur rate their job?

-/5

5 stars

4 stars

3 stars

2 stars

1 star

Consultant/entrepreneur reviews

A zippia user wrote a review on Aug 2020

Pros

As it seeks to solve problems in innovative way

Cons

It needs more patience to apply the true solution and satisfy your client

A zippia user wrote a review on Aug 2019