From Business Owner to Consultant | Careershifters

What work were you doing previously?

I’d set up and co-ran my own intellectual property law firm. 

Our firm provided legal advice to business owners on trade marks and trade mark law. 

Prior to the business I’d had several career changes. At the start of my career I was an avionics development engineer, then an airline pilot, and senior executive in the airline industry. 

What are you doing now?

I’m an independent Salesforce consultant. 

I help small businesses and charities to install, configure and maintain the Salesforce CRM platform so they can streamline their marketing, sales and customer service processes. 

Why did you change?

Our trade mark business did very well during and after the pandemic, but after nearly a decade of continuous growth we were starting to feel a bit ragged at the edges. 

Trade mark problems are highly contentious and stressful for business owners. They naturally never have budget to deal with these issues. When the fun wasn’t there anymore and the opportunity to exit presented itself, it was an easy decision to take it.

When was the moment you decided to make the change?

Selling the business precipitated the need to change. 

The moment we decided to sell in the first place arose when we were consulting with a business growth expert in the intellectual property space. Various options were discussed and the exit option was high on the list.

Are you happy with the change?

Yes, very. 

I feel at peace that I’ve found something that plays to my strengths and that I thoroughly enjoy. 

The Salesforce platform is now a behemoth and it will take years to master it under the bonnet. That allows me to continue to grow my knowledge and expand my skills whilst helping businesses and charities to streamline their processes and grow.

The pressure to ‘hack my mark’ even higher up the tree careerwise is now past. This leaves me very happy to help a lot more in the non-profit space. Of course I want to earn, but I’m not chasing growth and profits above all else.

What do you miss and what don’t you miss?

I miss working with my wife who was my business partner and co-founder in our firm. 

The fun and the challenges of building the business in the early days were magic. 

There are so many myths about how law works, one being that the person with the most money wins. There’s no doubt that being well-funded is a massive advantage.

But we pulled off many coups for clients where we were underestimated by our much bigger and better funded opponents. Very satisfying.

I don’t miss the stress and pressure to deliver top notch services on a low or no budget. I don’t miss the endless enquiries where there was an expectation to deliver opinions on the merits of cases for free. You don’t go to your dentist with toothache and get a free diagnosis! 

How did you go about making the shift?

Following the handover I hadn’t fully thought through my next move.  For obvious reasons I couldn’t restart a new business providing the same services, nor did I want to. 

My role in the business was looking after all the commercial, financial and client onboarding aspects, allowing the lawyers to get on with the ‘lawyering’.

I seriously considered setting myself up to provide the same services to small and solo legal practitioners. I gave it a lot of thought. At the same time I kept going around in circles on the internet looking at all kinds of ideas, but I was getting nowhere fast in deciding. 

During my research I discovered Careershifters and was extremely impressed by the way they came across online. I arranged an exploratory call and signed up on the spot for the High Flyers programme.

The others in our cohort were all top notch people from diverse backgrounds and we all got great value from one another.

At first I thought that I’d settled on my initial idea, business growth consulting to small law firms. However, I just couldn’t get it over the line – I wasn’t feeling energised by the prospect of that work. 

The key moment came when my wife, who was also doing the course, a few months after me, looked through my list of curated career change stories that I’d clipped from the Careershifters website. There’s so much inspiration to be had there!

One stand out success story was about Heather Black, and her own transition into Salesforce consulting. Some time later she set up a firm called Supermums to train people (mainly mums returning to the workplace) to become Salesforce experts.

I looked over the Supermums website where there was a page that said ‘if you can answer yes to the following questions, a career in Salesforce may be for you’. My answer to those questions was a resounding yes. 

I booked an exploratory call for the next day, they said that dads are welcome too and I signed up on the spot for the next course. As they say, the rest is history.

How did you develop (or transfer) the skills you needed for your new role?

I signed up for a six month course of intensive training, which included hands-on homework exercises, 1-2-1 mentoring and culminated with sitting the Salesforce admin certification exam. 

Thereafter I was placed to do an internship with a lovely charity that had just become a salesforce customer, gaining me valuable experience.

In addition to the training, my earlier career meant that I could port in a great deal of skills and experience in project management, business, finance, technical acumen and problem solving.

What didn’t go well? What wrong turns did you take?

Now that I’ve effected the change (i.e. become Salesforce certified and added on their business analyst qualification), I don’t think I’ve taken any wrong turns so far, though it’s early days. 

That said the market for work in Salesforce, whether as an in-house admin or a consultant, has been tight for the last eighteen months or so. Some of my course colleagues questioned whether their new career choice was the right one.

It’s very competitive to land those first jobs and the ‘ask’ of candidates for even entry level is exacting. However, this is all part of the usual cycle of world economics and things always bounce back.

In my case, I took the decision to ignore the job market and go straight to independent consulting. I’m sure some think I’m unwise but having previously run my own professional service business I could transfer the skills to market and sell myself.

How did you handle your finances to make your shift possible?

I was very fortunate to have sufficient savings to fund myself.

What was the most difficult thing about changing?

Getting rid of limiting beliefs such as ‘I’m too old’ or ‘I’ve left it too late’ to change. 

What help did you get?

My High Flyers cohort was inspirational. 

My wife was (no, is) a tower of strength and support throughout, and my Supermums colleagues are brilliant. There’s a very active alumni group that is so supportive.

What have you learnt in the process?

It’s never too late to change career and learn new skills. 

I hope to be still learning and growing for many years to come.

What do you wish you’d done differently?

Nothing very much.

It would be trite to say I wished I’d changed sooner. However you can’t change until you’re ready to change.

What would you advise others to do in the same situation?

Without a doubt invest in yourself all the way. 

Don’t waste time looking for free stuff – seek out professional help.

Life is so short, and you don’t want to leave yourself with regrets wishing that you changed earlier. 

If I wasn’t doing my Salesforce thing, I’d without a doubt become a career change coach and help people to get away from jobs and careers where they’re unhappy.

You can connect with Bill on LinkedIn. 

Bill took part in our High Flyers’ programme. If you’re a high performer in your career, feel there’s something missing, and are ready to discover some exciting viable options for ‘what next’, you can find out more here.

Thanks to our friends at Supermums for this story. 

What lessons could you take from Bill’s story to use in your own career change? Let us know in the comments below.