Top 60 Lucrative Consulting Business Ideas in 2024

Are you looking for innovative profitable consulting business ideas to start your own consultancy business and be your boss? If yes, we recommend you go through the following list of low-cost consulting business opportunities with high-profit potential.

Managers and professionals from various industries look for profitable consulting business ideas to do something different, enjoy more job flexibility, and make more money. Consulting is not a new phenomenon. It has been around for years. The consulting trend is continuing to build as companies are staying as lean as possible in tough economic times.

What is a Consulting Business?

A consulting business is a professional service firm. It provides expert advice and guidance to individuals, businesses, or organizations seeking solutions to specific problems or challenges. Consultants help clients improve their performance, efficiency, or overall business strategy by utilising their expertise, experience, and analytical skills. Typically, consultants are specialists in a certain field or industry.

Is Consulting Business Right for You?

Consulting is not just everyone’s cup of tea. It is an exciting and profitable venture to start. However, risk propositions are always there. In developing a consulting business the ability to listen to your customer is a must.

It also requires the ability to explain to your customers. Consulting is all about communication and networking. Good communicators do well in consulting.

60 Consulting Business Ideas

Website Consulting Business Ideas

1. SEO Consulting

SEO consultant serves the industry as an internet marketing expert. When people search for specifics in search engines, websites that appear and come on the first few pages, are the sites that usually attract the maximum traffic.  Search engine optimization is a process to get the website ranking higher in search engines like Google, Yahoo, and Bing.

Every day there are thousands of websites, are created and the maximum fails to survive because of the lack of knowledge about internet marketing. SEO consulting is one of the most profitable business ideas for women entrepreneurs.

2. Website Design Consultant

A website is a must nowadays for self-employed professionals and small business owners. The demand for web designers is expected to grow in the coming days.

3. Graphic Design Consultant

As a graphic design consultant, you will be creating logos, brochures, letterheads, product package designs, and catalogs for your customers. Though the market is competitive, there is still a wide scope for newcomers.

4. UX & UI Designing Consultant

The technology of User Experience(UI) and User Interface(UI) constantly evolving with time. There is a huge demand presently for professional UX & UI designers and is expected to grow in the coming days.

5. WordPress Consultant

More than 70% of blogs are installed on WordPress worldwide. As a result, WordPress users are always on the lookout for WordPress experts to maintain their websites.

6. Blog Consultant

More and more people are using a blog as a tool to reach end-users. If you have experience blogging, you can help blog owners to grow their audience.

Online Marketing Consulting Business Ideas

7. Social Media Consultant

Almost every person uses Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Pinterest these days and many companies are ready to pay people to get the service of their social media accounts management. Social Media Consulting is one of the highly profitable internet-based business ideas for women entrepreneurs.

8. Sales Funnel Consultant

The wholesome objective for companies selling online is to convert leads into sales. As a sales funnel consultant, you will strategize the sales process flowchart so that more customers buy the product.

9. YouTube Consultant

YouTube is used by small businesses more and more to reach potential customers online. As a YouTube consultant, you will be formulating strategies and help in creating videos that will attract customers.

10. Online Paid Ad Consultant

As an online paid ad consultant, you will be providing services like PPC ads, paid search marketing, Facebook ads, retargeting, display advertising, and many more.

E-Commerce Consulting Business Ideas

11. Online Marketplace Consultant

There are many marketplaces like Amazon, eBay, Gumtree, and Facebook marketplace available online for buyers and sellers. As an online marketing consultant, you will help sellers properly sell their products and services on the chosen marketplaces.

12. Shopify Consultant

Shopify is the most popular online store builder for small sellers. Nowadays, more and more small business owners look for Shopify store consultants to create a successful online storefront.

13. Magento Consultant

Magento is a full-service online store builder online and is preferred for big businesses. Most large-scale businesses prefer Magento to create an online store. If you are an expert in developing a store with Magento, consider providing consulting services.

14. E-commerce Implementation Consultant

There are a lot of many aspects to follow while implementing an eCommerce project. As an e-commerce implementation consultant, you will be responsible for the overall development of an e-commerce venture for your client.

15. Payment Gateway Consultant

Payment gateway plays a critical role in a successful eCommerce store. As a payment gateway consultant, you will be suggesting the most suited payment for a specific project and help in its implementation.

Business Related Consulting Business Ideas

16. Business Management Consultant

Business management consultants provide strategic, unbiased, and objective advisory services that assist organizations in improving productivity and overall performance.

A typical project will involve meeting with clients and researching and analyzing data, after which you will present recommendations to the clients and set a schedule for implementing improvements. Too exciting a career with decent revenue earnings.

17. Business Plan Consultant

The Business Planning Consultant is responsible for the implementation and management of the business planning process for the Distribution Operations, Engineering & Transmission (DOET) of the organization. They also provide services to startups to craft a detailed business plan for operational benefits and to ease the process of arranging finance.

18. Business Startup Consultant

Business startup consultants generally provide services specifically to startup companies. They help in selecting the right business idea, creating business plans, startup plans, financial projections, investor pitch decks, pricing, product specs/definitions/plans, marketing strategies and plans, sales strategies and plans, and company & product launch plans. If you have that skill, just the sky is the limit.

19. Construction Management Consultant

Construction management consulting is one of the most profitable consulting business ideas provided you have the right resources and knowledge. Industry analyses are critical for contextualizing your startup within an industry setting.

20. Failure Analysis / Evaluation Consultant

Failure analysis consultants provide services in evaluating electrical, thermal, and mechanical characteristics of integrated circuits, components, sub-components, and systems to determine the root cause of failure. They also analyze failure reports and recommend corrective action to prevent the re-occurrence of problems.

21. Franchise Consultant

Franchise consultants generally provide their services to both. Small business owners who want to become a franchisor and those aspiring entrepreneurs who want to purchase a franchise business.

A franchise consultant is someone who acts sort of like a guidance counsellor for a potential franchisee by helping to guide them through the process of finding and purchasing a franchise and understanding the franchise industry.

Franchise consultants also help successful small business owners take their existing business and turn it into a franchise; franchise consultants can help with everything from writing up the original franchise agreements, operating manual, and marketing materials to helping the franchise. Once it’s taken off the ground, they help to grow the business by providing training and support.

22. Bookkeeping Consultant

Every small or big company needs business accounting services like bank reconciliation, e-filling, service tax, sales tax, payroll, etc. One can start a bookkeeping business by giving these services freelance to businesses that can’t afford to have a full-time accountant.

23. Human Resources Consulting

The human resource consulting business is now a growing field. Businesses of every size need HR professionals to help with tasks like recruitment, training, compliance, administration, and payroll.

While large corporations may choose to outsource to the big HR consulting firms, small and medium-sized businesses are looking for more personalized human resource consulting services to fulfill their needs.

24. Office Protocol Consulting

Office protocol consultants provide the right advice to clients regarding in-house employee disputes and also provide employee training. The key focus area for an office protocol consultant is providing training on how to avoid and react to any potentially unfavorable situation that may arise within the office working environment. The demand for this type of consulting service is huge.

25. Proposal Consultant (Government Contracts)

Proposal consultants, especially for government contracts, generally provide exclusive services in the process of getting government contracts. Getting Government contracts is not an easy task for any business. Proposal consultants assist in registering a small business as a contractor, help it write the proposal, and most of all, assist with the accounting processes.

26. Proposal Consultant (Grants & Subsidy)

Proposal consultants for grants and subsidies use their skills to secure funding for their clients. Government policies and online submission processes change frequently. The availability of funding also fluctuates, so grant proposal consultants must develop a diversified network of funding organizations. Though challenging, this business can also be personally and professionally rewarding.

27.  Public Relations Agency

In starting a public relations agency business you will need to work in both print and electronic media. The main area where public relations professionals work is to get their client’s stories into the media. A degree or certificate in public relations is a plus but not an absolute necessity.

28. Quality Management Consultant

Quality management consultants provide services in implementing a quality management system and changing the quality culture.

They help in implementing new methods such as failure mode effects analysis (FMEA); production part approval process (PPAP) or statistical process control (SPC); implementing quality improvement models such as Six Sigma, kaizen, lean manufacturing, or total productive maintenance (TPM), etc.

29. Retail Consultant

Retail consultants generally provide their services in determining a retail strategy for stores or other types of retail businesses. Usually, the goal is to increase sales by driving more people to the store and attracting them to products once there. Someone in this position may deal with promotions, merchandising, store design, location, and even some personnel decisions.

30. Risk Management Consulting

Risk management consultants generally advise organizations on any potential risks to the profitability or existence of the company. They identify and assess threats, put plans in place for if things go wrong, and decide how to avoid, reduce or transfer risks. Having the right skill and expertise, this is a wonderful self-rewarding business to start with little money.

31. Safety Consultant

Safety consultant generally creates workplace safety manuals and provide training to employees on a variety of safety concerns. Moreover maintaining workplace safety is the key focus area of a safety consultant.

32. Sales Consultant

Sales consultants generally promote products and services and build long-term commercial relationships on behalf of the clients. Key responsibilities include identifying and meeting customer needs within their allotted sales territory, maintaining good after-sales relationships, keeping records of customer appointments and completed sales, and providing detailed information on the products they are selling.

33. Security Consultant

Security consultants generally provide services in determining the most effective way to protect computers, networks, software, data, and information systems against any possible attacks. In today’s digital world security consulting is one of the most trending and profitable consulting business ideas to start with moderate capital investment.

34. Training Consultant

Training consultants identify staff training and development needs of the organization and plan accordingly. Conducting job evaluation surveys liaising with managers and interviewing employees at all levels to identify and assess training and development needs are the major focus areas.

35. Farming Consulting

The application of modern-day technology has helped farming businesses to scale new heights. As a farming consultant, you will be helping farmers to develop and create new farming techniques for more profit and production output.

Environmental Consulting Business Ideas

36. Environment Consultant 

If you have a passion for the environment, are creative and eager to learn new ways to conserve and recycle, and enjoy teaching others about the environment, a small business as an environmental consultant may be a great option for you. This business has enormous potential in the domestic and as well as in industrial fields.

37. Air Quality Consulting

The key responsibility of an air quality consultant is to ensure emissions and other airborne pollutants do not violate provincial or federal air pollution laws.

They check that pollutants, for example, those generated through chemical reactions and combustion, are not released into the air at harmful levels according to emission-impact assessments and without first being treated with proper contaminant-removal technologies.

38. Diversity Consultant

People with diverse ethnic and cultural backgrounds (or people that generally differ from the ‘norm’) can unfortunately still be subjected to discrimination and unfair treatment by peers or superiors in their places of work. It is for this reason that now is a fantastic time to start a diversity consulting business. In this business, you will need to have worked on and continue to work on your own biases and assumptions.

Marketing & PR consulting ideas

39. Direct Mail Service Consulting 

Generally, community businesses prefer to have direct mail services. Those who are targeting mass like restaurants,  auto service shops electronics or gadgets shops, and general interest retail stores.

Direct mail service is a way of advertising where results can be measured quickly and easily. In starting this business you will only need to have a computer with internet and phone. You can initiate this venture from your home location.

40. Event Management Agency

The Event management agency business demands superior organizational and planning skills. Graduating from college in events management or a related major is a plus, but it’s not a required necessity. In the event management consulting business, your major customers are large corporations, educational institutes, married couples, religious organizations, political candidates NGOs, and many others.

41. PR Consultant

Effective public relations strategies help businesses to create a positive image of a company. Public relations consultants handle the various aspects of image building and communication with the general public.

42. Corporate Tour Consultant

If you are in the travel and tourism sector, being a corporate tour consultant is a hugely profitable career. As a corporate tour consultant, you will be handling the travelling needs of business houses.

43. Interior Design Consultant

There is a growing need for interior design consultants in most business houses. If you have experience in interior design, consider starting an interior designing consultant business.

Personal Development/ Career Consulting Business Ideas

44. Resume Consultant

There is a good demand for professional resume writers all across the world. In the United States, the average yearly salary of a resume writer is around $60,000 a year.

45. College Counseling

Student all across the world wants to get admitted to reputed colleges. If you have a good network with college authorities, college counseling can be a much more profitable consulting business.

46. Investment Planning Consultant

As an investment consultant, you will be advising and strategizing investment portfolios for maximum optimization of savings for your clients.

47. Mental Health Counseling

Mental health is becoming a big disease for people in the modern-day world. It is observed that there is a huge increase in mental health counselors in big cities and towns.

48. Dating Consultant

As a dating consultant, you will advise people who have faced failed personal relationships. You will be helping them in developing interpersonal skills to find better partners in the future.

49. Life Coach

The primary role of a life coach is to help clients with various professional and personal challenges. He/ She will be the mentor in helping the person to realize personal goals.

50. Career Counseling

Choosing the right career is becoming more and more difficult as more and more new technologies evolve. As a career counselor, your job will be to properly assess and advise students toward a better career path.

51. Fitness Consultant

Having expertise in aerobics and yoga any individual can make a career as a fitness consultant. You can start this business with very low start-up capital.

52. Skincare Consultant

Skincare consultants advise clients about colors and types of makeup and instruct them in makeup application techniques. They also determine which products or colors will improve clients’ skin quality and appearance. Having the right skill and knowledge this business can be initiated from home. The market potential is huge in this sector.

53. Wedding Consultant

A wedding consulting business may come naturally to someone who is organized and focuses on details. In the last decade, the need for professional wedding consultants has grown exponentially.

Today, people are often too busy juggling the demands of their professional and personal lives to oversee the details necessary to create the wedding of their dreams. That has created an enormous opportunity for a startup entrepreneur considering going into the wedding consulting business.

IT Consulting Business Ideas

What skills are essential for starting a consulting business?

Skills may vary based on the consulting niche, but common skills include industry knowledge, problem-solving, effective communication, project management, and networking.

How do I determine my consulting niche?

You must consider your expertise, professional background, and interests before launching a consulting business. Assess the market demand and competition in various niches to find a balance between what you’re passionate about and where there’s a need.

Is formal education necessary to start a consulting business?

While formal education can be an asset, it’s not always necessary. Many successful consultants have gained expertise through experience, certifications, and continuous learning.

How do I set consulting fees?

Determine your hourly or project-based rate based on factors like your expertise, market rates, and the value you provide. Consider conducting market research to understand industry standards.

How can I find clients for my consulting business?

You need to actively network. Build an online presence, leverage social media, attend industry events, and consider offering free workshops or webinars to showcase your expertise.

What are the challenges of running a consulting business?

Challenges may include irregular income, finding a steady client base, staying updated with industry trends, and managing time effectively between client work and business development.

Do I need insurance for my consulting business?

It is advisable to have professional liability insurance to protect against potential legal claims or disputes with clients.

Can I run a consulting business part-time?

Yes, many consultants start part-time while maintaining another job. As your client base grows, you can transition to full-time consulting.

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Editorial Team

Editorial Team at 99BusinessIdeas is a team of experts led by Rupak Chakrabarty with over 25 years of experience in starting and running small businesses. Started in 2010, 99BusinessIdeas is now one of the largest free small business resources in the industry.