The Three Types of Consulting Gigs in Healthcare
Do you have opinions? Do you like money? Good news! There are people who will pay you money for your opinions.
If you’re looking to transition out of patient care, there are a number of careers awaiting you that will draw upon your experiences. In my post, How I Stopped Being a Dentist, I list six potential pathways that I have personally experimented with. Two of them, Key Opinion Leader (KOL) and Consultant, essentially involve companies compensating you for your opinions.
Some ground rules
How does one go about getting these consulting opportunities?
If you’re a known brand in your profession (e.g. a KOL) then you may have companies seek you out. For the rest of us, we need to put ourselves out there as experts in our fields. In my article, How to Launch Your Career as a Professional Speaker, I share a two-part strategy of finding niche topics and what I call “Power Networking.”
How much money can you make?
Some gigs offer a set fee that you will accept or reject; there may not be much room for negotiation. In most cases you’ll be asked what your hourly rate is and don’t be surprised if the client tries to negotiate that. But what should you charge? How do you know what your time is worth?
My advice is to be flexible on your compensation when you’re just starting out. If you’re looking to build a relationship with the company or if you want to get a lot of consulting gigs under your belt, then the experience will arguably be more valuable than the cash. But at a certain point in your career you should set your fee and hold your ground.
Consulting sounds fun! Any downsides?
For most of us, consulting is a great way to supplement our regular income, but it won’t replace it. Consulting gigs are usually few and far between, unless we start or join a consulting firm. I had a side-gig for a few years with an established dental industry consulting group that sourced and facilitated regular work between myself and their clients.
The only real caveat to consulting is the need to maintain absolute privacy. That means signing NDAs for your client, but it also means not sharing any proprietary information about current or past employers. The client will know where you’ve worked and you can share your general insights, but you can’t share trade secrets or intellectual property.
Okay, with that foundation in place, let’s talk about the three types of consulting opportunities…
(1) One-off gig
A one-off gig is one and done. It’s transactional. Perhaps the company wants you to give an opinion on a new product or get your reactions to marketing copy.
Don’t expect a major payday here. In the case of product reviews, the payment may just be that you get that product for free. And that’s fine, especially if you’re looking to build a longer-term relationship with this company.
There are also research groups and consultants that may reach out to you on behalf of a company. So you’re consulting for a consultant, as it were. Over the years I have made my way onto a few email lists for these entities and I think they can be a good way to get some early consulting experience. The lightest lift is a paid survey for a small amount of time, which I also find to be the least interesting, both financially and in terms of building experience.
These groups can also request a phone/video interview, which is a far more interesting opportunity. It’s typically for 30-60 minutes of your time, for which you’ll set your fee. In my experience working with an intermediary group, you won’t get to know anything about the client aside from some generalities. The anonymity is important; they are likely an early-stage company exploring the size of their opportunity in the industry.
(2) Short-term engagement
A short-term engagement is still focused on a single project but the company wants to check in with you more than once. You will be compensated with a flat fee and set number of engagements or with an hourly rate.
You might be asked to sign an agreement to set boundaries on the project. This is a good thing. Short-term engagements have the potential to slip into longer-term ones that you may or may not be able to entertain. You could also get calls and emails outside of the scope of the project for which you may not be compensated. A straightforward agreement at the beginning will help keep all parties on track.
A common type of short-term engagement I’ve experienced was when a company wanted me try out a new product. I wasn’t beta-testing or running science experiments on my patients; these materials were cleared by the FDA and soon to be commercially-available. The client was ultimately looking for my testimonials, either quotes that could be used in advertisements or my personal recommendations in articles and lectures. In these cases I requested that payment only be the free product during a trial period. After that, I would pay for my own supplies. And I did not accept any consulting fees. Why? Because I wanted to maintain my integrity as a KOL, writer, and lecturer. If I recommend a product to an audience, it’s because I genuinely like it and not because I was paid to like it. There were occasions were I did not like the product and I politely informed the client that I could not recommend it, sprinkling in some constructive criticism.
(3) Extended engagement
An extended engagement is a deeper relationship. The client will ask your opinions on a wide range of topics and you may be asked to share insights across multiple projects. The borders can get blurry, to the point that you almost feel like an employee of the company. Indeed, some organizations will actually use a consulting relationship as an extended interview process that ultimately leads to a job offer. You will definitely be signing an agreement here, and that’s for your protection as much as it is for the client.
My experience here comes from my side-gig with the dental industry consulting group. I was brought on for extended engagements with two clients, which were set up as 1-year agreements. The scope of the work was broad, including product development, product testing, market positioning and copy review, and general industry guidance. We had standing bi-weekly calls and a flat fee that was paid monthly. This work was totally rewarding. I gained invaluable insights into how companies operate and the product development cycle.
It is possible to get extended engagements as an independent expert, but it won’t happen overnight. This takes years of Power Networking, building relationships, and establishing your personal brand.
Final thoughts
You are an expert and there are companies that will pay you for your expertise. Consulting is a fun side-gig and it can even become a part- or full-time career if you join or start a firm.
A parting word of advice is to study up before your next engagement. Yes, you know a lot about your profession and your industry, but your client will appreciate you doing a bit of research beforehand. Anticipate their questions and have hard data available, whenever possible. Craft a few pearls of wisdom in advance that you can share. If you provide unique insights that clients won’t get elsewhere, you’ll quickly build your reputation as a valuable consultant.