4 min read · Written by Grant Rayner on 08 Feb 2023
Share by emailThe qualities required of an independent security professional are not dissimilar to those required of individual consultants in any field. In this article, I’ll outline nine qualities that I believe are essential for you to be a successful independent security professional. I’ll also touch on one of the biggest challenges you’ll face when setting up your own company.
There’s zero point in setting up your own security company if you’re not that interested in security. You must have a strong passion for the craft. As corny as it may sound, you need to wake up each morning excited about your current project and motivated to reach out to prospective clients to win your next contract. Your passion for the work should be apparent in the quality of your products and services. It’s this passion that will motivate you to continually seek new knowledge, which will help build competence.
If you’re going to specialise in a certain aspect of security, you must be highly competent in that area. The time to build this competence is when you’re working in a large security consulting firm or in the corporate security function of an organisation.
Make a conscious effort to build your competence over time. As I’ll expand on below, learn by doing. Deliver as many projects as you can in your area of speciality. Read as much as you can about the topic. When you’re ready, start writing about your area of speciality. That’s not to say you need to self-identify as a ‘thought leader’ on LinkedIn. It’s better to actually do, not just say.
Consider developing a niche competency; a competence shared by only a handful of people. By developing a niche competency, you’ll increase your value and will be able to differentiate yourself from your competitors.
When it comes to winning new projects, your clients will be less interested in what you claim to know and more interested in the work you’ve actually delivered. Even more so if you’re running your own company. Your clients want to see that you have a track record. They’ll want to know if you’ve done similar projects before. They’ll also want to know broad details about the clients you’ve worked with on those projects and, if relevant, the locations where you’ve delivered those projects. In short, your client will want assurance that you can actually deliver the work to the required standard.
No one wants to pay you to learn on the job.
As with competence, you must build your project experience in a deliberate way. Focus on specific types of projects (aligned with your area of speciality). As you do so, consider the types of clients you’re supporting and the locations where you’ll be working. Maintain a log of your projects for reference.
As an independent security professional, your level of experience will be your key differentiator and will enable you to effectively compete against much larger companies.
Over time, you must develop a unique perspective on different aspects of your chosen specialist field. This unique perspective is what will differentiate you from other competitors, particularly from the larger consulting firms.
Perspective is built on top of competence and experience. The more projects you deliver, and the more you think deeply about your area of speciality, the more you’ll develop your own way of doing things. Over time, this unique way of doing things will translate to unique products and services.
One point to note: When designing products and services, always consider the needs of your potential clients. There’s limited value in developing a unique perspective, and applying that perspective to products and services, when there’s no client demand. I’ll discuss this in more detail later when considering how to design products and services.
You’re going to have some difficult days as an independent security professional. In fact, I can almost guarantee you’re going to have some shockingly bad days. To get through these days and continue forward, you’ll need to have the willpower to continue in the face of adversity.
You’ll also need to balance perseverance with a sober assessment of your situation. If you design a training course where there’s no demand for that course, no amount of perseverance will help increase sales. Instead, you’ll need to objectively assess your situation and be prepared to pivot.
You are your company. If you do something that’s unethical, your reputation may be forever tarnished. It will be hard, if not impossible, to recover. It’s therefore fundamental to your success that you’re able to clearly differentiate ethical from unethical and moral from immoral.
You’ll need the necessary personal discipline to be able to get to work without supervision and encouragement. As I’ll touch on in other articles, one of the biggest benefits of working for yourself–freedom–will also be one of your biggest challenges. You’ll need to muster a significant amount of self-discipline to effectively manage your time and deliver results. A big part of this will involve being clear on your priorities.
As an independent security professional, you don’t have a large company to stand behind. You don’t have a more senior manager who can protect you from difficult clients. You’ll need the necessary courage and conviction to stand behind the quality of your products and services. At a more practical level, you’ll need the courage to stand behind the recommendations in your reports and the courage to say no to projects where you don’t think you’re a good fit. Last but certainly not least, you’ll need the courage to be able to stand behind your pricing.
Curiosity is what separates the excellent from the good. I encourage you to be curious about your chosen speciality. Chase knowledge. Experiment with different ideas. Above all, don’t settle for the status quo.
I’d suggest that these nine principles would apply to any security professional that’s serious about their work. But they’re doubly important if you intend to operate independently.
Before closing, it’s worth touching on one of the key challenges you’ll face as an independent security professional: self doubt.
If you’re sufficiently self aware, you’ll always doubt your own capabilities. Will clients be interested in your product or service? Have you got your pricing right? Will you actually be able to deliver? Do people in the industry actually think you’re competent?
The answer could be “no” to all of the above. You’ll never know what people really think. Yet, you’ll need to continue on regardless.
There’s potentially no end to the negative feelings and self doubt. As all you can do is remain positive and not allow these feelings of doubt to prevent you from moving forward. Forward motion is your friend. If you sit still for any length of time, you’ll die. Figuratively speaking, of course. Hopefully you won’t actually die.
I’ll be expanding on this theme in future articles.