3 min read · Written by Grant Rayner on 05 Jul 2023
Share by emailWhy should someone hire you for a project?
As an independent security professional, what can you do that I couldn’t hire Control Risks, Kroll, Pinkerton, Crisis24 or [insert the name of another global security company here] to do instead?
If you rush into setting up your business, there’s a good chance that the business you build probably won’t be that different from what’s already out there. You’ll be offering the same products and services as other companies. The only difference might be that you can provide your products and services at a lower price.
You could argue that there’s a strong argument against being truly different. As I’ve said in earlier articles, it can be compelling simply to state that you have more experience than consultants from your large competitors, but at half their price. However, I’m not convinced that’s going far enough to be successful.
How do you design your business as an independent security professional to differentiate yourself from your larger (on paper, at least) and more competent competitors?
Of course, you can differentiate yourself by the products and services you provide. Perhaps you could even specialise in a particular field. However, that won’t be enough to assure long-term success. To be successful in the long term, you need to truly set yourself apart from your competitors.
It’s all about style and substance.
The most effective way to set yourself apart is to be yourself. Get out from behind your company and present yourself–your authentic self—to your potential clients.
You have a huge opportunity here. Here’s why. Larger security consulting companies don’t tend to promote their people. Why? Because people come and go. Instead, they promote their company (which is appropriate for large companies). The good news for you is that larger companies are necessarily boring and conservative. People quickly tune out to polished product sheets and company press releases.
Rather than going head to head with these companies by producing your own boring product sheets and press releases, your approach should be your authentic self. The more authentic and true to yourself you are, the more you’ll be able to set yourself apart from your competitors. Aside from that, it’s easier to be yourself than to pretend to be someone else.
Of course, you can’t just rely on style. You’ll also need some substance.
Substance can’t be projected by some nice statements on your website. Even your project history is largely intangible from the perspective of potential clients (the details of your client projects should be confidential, after all).
If that’s the case, how can you demonstrate your competence in a meaningful way so that potential clients are more likely to consider you for projects?
One way to demonstrate your competence is to share your knowledge and experience with your community. The most accessible way to do this is by writing. For example, you could publish books, write online articles, or develop and share useful tools.
There’s obviously a broad range of interaction styles, ranging from writing the occasional impactful article to oversharing on LinkedIn. You’ll need to find a happy medium that suits your personal style and that resonates within your own community. Again, focus on being your authentic self. That’s your point of differentiation.
Another way to demonstrate competence is to be genuinely helpful within your community. There are plenty of ways to be helpful. Here’s just a few:
As many of you reading this will appreciate, there’s a blurry line when it comes to giving free advice. As an independent security professional, you’ll face the possibility that some people will take advantage of your time. In fact, I’d say it’s a certainty that some people will take advantage of you. Learning to manage these requests in such a way that you maintain goodwill, demonstrate competence, AND set yourself up for future projects will be a key skill you’ll need to develop.
Being helpful also applies to operational work. Here’s two examples of how you can be helpful in an operational context:
Being helpful in an these contexts has a reasonable likelihood of leading to paying project opportunities. Accordingly, always be on the lookout for opportunities to support your clients in these contexts. Being useful, particularly when clients really need the support, is a great way to demonstrate your professionalism and build your reputation.
As an independent security professional, the more you’re able to demonstrate your uniqueness by being your authentic self and by proving your competence in meaningful ways, the more you’ll be able to differentiate yourself from your larger competitors. To do this successfully, you’ll need to be comfortable in your own skin. That’s not so easy, and it will take time and some degree of introspection. But it’s certainly something to aim for as you design your business.