10-Day Consulting Accelerator

A focused 10-day plan for experienced IT professionals to create a consulting offer, build a one-page service sheet, set up a simple landing page, and start booking clients.
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  5 minute read  

Introduction

Consulting is the fastest path to income for a highly skilled IT professional, especially in a brutal job market. This plan helps you create a simple, professional, service-based offer that aligns with your expertise. You are not building an agency. You are not committing to full-time freelancing. You are packaging what you already know into something a business can buy.

By the end of these 10 days, you will have:

  • a clear consulting offer
  • a pricing model you’re confident quoting
  • a one-page service sheet
  • a clean, simple landing page
  • a booking link
  • zero-friction onboarding steps

This is a practical path to getting your first client in 30–60 days, and sometimes much sooner.

Day 1 - Clarify Your Expertise

Goal: Identify which problem you can solve professionally and profitably.

Actions:

  • List 10 problems you’ve solved repeatedly in your career.
  • Circle the top 3 you could solve independently, without needing a team.
  • Choose one to focus on for this plan.
  • Write a simple description:
    “I help ___ achieve ___ by ___.”

Example:
“I help small businesses secure their networks by performing a 20-point security hardening review.”

Output: A one-sentence value proposition.

Day 2 - Define Your Ideal Client (ICP)

Goal: Specify who is most likely to hire you fast.

Actions:

  • Choose your preferred segment:
    • small businesses
    • startups
    • local professional offices (dentists, accounting, legal)
    • IT-overwhelmed teams
    • security-conscious execs
    • technical founders
  • Answer:
    • What are they frustrated about?
    • What do they hate dealing with?
    • What would they happily pay to make disappear?

Keep it simple. Don’t build personas. Just understanding pain → solution is enough.

Output: A paragraph describing your ideal client and their core headache.

Day 3 - Choose Your Consulting Format

Goal: Decide the structure of your offer.

Actions: Pick one of the following models (don’t combine them yet):

  1. Fixed-scope audit or review
    Examples:

    • Security Hardening Review
    • Cloud Cost Optimization Review
    • Architecture Assessment
    • Incident Response Preparedness Review

  2. Fixed-scope implementation
    Examples:

    • Migrate to Cloudflare
    • Set up Synology backups
    • Deploy Wazuh or Suricata
    • Configure IAM and MFA

  3. Advisory retainer
    Examples:

    • “CTO/CISO for Hire – 5 hours per month”
    • “DevOps Advisor – 2 hours per week”

Choose the one that:

  • aligns with your expertise
  • requires the least emotional overhead
  • can be completed without other people bottlenecking you

Output: Your consulting model chosen with one sentence of justification.

Day 4 - Create Your Deliverables & Process

Goal: Define what the client gets and how it works.

Actions: Write a bullet-point list specifying:

  • Deliverables (2–5 items max)
  • Process steps (3–6 steps)
  • Timeline (usually 1–2 weeks)
  • What’s not included (critical to avoid scope creep)

Example:

Deliverables:

  • Security findings report
  • Hardening checklist
  • Remediation roadmap

Process:

  1. Intake call
  2. Access & data gathering
  3. Review & analysis
  4. Findings delivered
  5. Follow-up Q&A

Output: The bones of your service sheet.

Day 5 - Build Your Pricing

Goal: Set a number you can say without flinching.

Actions: Pick one of two pricing strategies:

Simple Fixed Price

Many small businesses prefer this.

Guidelines:

  • Low-complexity deliverables: $500–$1,500
  • Medium-complexity deliverables: $1,500–$3,500
  • High-impact reviews or implementations: $3,500–$7,500

Retainer Pricing

  • Advisory: $250–$1,000/mo depending on access
  • Technical retainer: $500–$2,500/mo

Choose a number based on:

  • your runway
  • complexity of your service
  • the value delivered
  • your ability to deliver without stress

Output: A clear price (not a range) and why that number works.

Day 6 - Build the One-Page Service Sheet

Goal: Create the most important document in your consulting business.

Actions:
Produce one Markdown page or PDF with:

  • Title
  • Who it’s for
  • The problem
  • Your solution
  • Deliverables
  • Timeline
  • Price
  • Call-to-action (link to booking page)

This becomes your sales tool.

Output: Your one-page consulting service sheet.

Day 7 - Build the Simple Landing Page

Goal: Create a place clients can visit and say “Yes, I want this.”

Actions: Add a new page to your website:

  • Title of your offer
  • Summary of the client problem
  • What you deliver
  • What’s included
  • Price
  • A single button: Book Intro Call

No blog post levels of text. No multi-section hero layouts.
Simple, fast, authoritative.

Output: Live landing page on your domain.

Day 8 - Set Up Your Booking System

Goal: Remove friction.

Actions:

  • Set up Calendly (or Cal.com)
  • Create a single event type: “Intro Call – 20 Minutes”
  • Ask 3 simple questions:
    • “What problem are you hoping to solve?”
    • “What systems/services do you use today?”
    • “Anything else I should know before the call?”

Put the link:

  • on your landing page
  • in your service sheet
  • in your LinkedIn bio

Output: A working intro-call booking system.

Day 9 - Publish & Announce

Goal: Let the world know you now offer this service.

Actions: You are not begging for business.
You are announcing a professional offering.

Post on:

  • LinkedIn
  • Your website (short post)
  • Relevant communities where appropriate (no spam)

Content example:

“After 18+ years in enterprise engineering, I’m now offering a focused [service name] for small teams and local businesses.
If you need help with ___, I’m opening a few intro call slots.”

Output: Your announcement published.

Day 10 - Begin Outreach (Ethical, Non-Spam)

Goal: Contact people who already know you.

Actions: Send 10 tailored messages to:

  • former coworkers
  • directors/managers
  • small business owners in your network
  • vendors you worked with
  • colleagues who respect your work

Template:

“Hey __, I wanted to share something quickly. I’ve started offering a focused service: ___.
If your team ever needs help with this - or knows someone who does - feel free to send them my way. Here’s the details: [link].”

No pressure. No begging.
Just letting people know you exist and can help.

Output: Outreach to 10 warm contacts.

Closing Thoughts

By the end of this 10-day plan, you will have:

  • a clear consulting offer
  • a compelling value proposition
  • a professional service sheet
  • a simple landing page
  • a frictionless booking workflow
  • a warm network aware of your offer

This is everything needed to begin earning income through your expertise - without building a company, committing to long-term clients, or reinventing yourself.

Once this is complete, the natural next plans are:

  • 21-Day Digital Product Launch
  • 30-Day Platform Builder

Both amplify your consulting credibility and open additional income streams.