Safety Pro to Business Owner Part 2: How to Find the Safety Consulting Niche That Makes Money

Show Notes

In this episode of The Safety Consultant podcast, Sheldon continues his series on what he would do if he were starting a safety consulting business today.

This week’s focus is one of the most important early business decisions you can make: finding your niche.

Sheldon breaks down how to identify the work you already do well, the topics people naturally come to you for, and the services that can create real income as you grow your consulting practice. He also explains why it helps to have more than one niche or revenue stream while you build momentum.

If you are a safety professional, EHS leader, trainer, or aspiring consultant trying to figure out how to turn your experience into a business, this episode will help you think more strategically about where you fit in the market.

What is The Safety Consultant Podcast?

The Safety Consultant Podcast with Sheldon Primus is your ultimate weekly guide to starting or growing a profitable occupational safety and health consulting business. Are you ready to be your own boss and make a greater impact? Your expertise can help more people create safer workplaces, and your skills deserve a platform where they can truly shine. If you feel limited in your current role and believe your knowledge could serve the broader workforce more effectively, this podcast is for you. Join us as we explore the steps to launch your own safety consulting business, share insights on navigating the industry, and provide strategies to maximize your impact on workplace health and safety. Now is the perfect time to take control of your career and make a difference!

[SPEAKER_00]: Welcome to the Safety Consultant Show with Sheldon primus, where we blend safety sparks with business brilliance and the pitch of Sheldon's signature width, whether you're a safety pro of fresh-faced consultant, or just safety curious, get ready for his show that'll educate, entertain and elevate your safety game.

[SPEAKER_00]: Let's dive into the art of consulting with your safety shirt for himself, Sheldon primus.

[SPEAKER_02]: This episode is powered by Safety FM.

[SPEAKER_02]: The EHNS professionals along the way, and today we're going to continue our information that I wanted to tell you guys about related to if I were to start my business today, what would I do?

[SPEAKER_02]: So right now we talked about getting legal, Mr. First Stage, doing what you need to do, your business name, get your website, get insurance, get a Duns and Broad Street number,

[SPEAKER_02]: Bank account.

[SPEAKER_02]: You want to go ahead and get those basic things.

[SPEAKER_02]: So now this week and again I'm going to give you the disclaimers I gave to you episode one in case you're starting out order.

[SPEAKER_02]: I am currently in on a ranch and it's not my ranch.

[SPEAKER_02]: I am a full-time RVer for some of you that don't know.

[SPEAKER_02]: and I'm currently at a ranch right now that I am just staying in what's called a hardest host for full-time RV years.

[SPEAKER_02]: You get to hang out and some private property and have some space and be able to enjoy cool things like being on a ranch.

[SPEAKER_02]: looking at horses and you're hearing all kinds of birds behind me, but that's okay.

[SPEAKER_02]: You guys need to get outside too, so take your outside and we're gonna go ahead and stretch our legs or listening to this episode.

[SPEAKER_02]: You get into the safety business because you want to protect people.

[SPEAKER_02]: But somewhere along the way the child started controlling your time, your schedule, your priorities, even your income potential.

[SPEAKER_02]: What if the expertise you've built over the years can give you something more?

[SPEAKER_02]: More freedom, more control, more ownership of your future.

[SPEAKER_02]: I'm Sheldon Prime as the author of seven steps to starting a profitable safety consulting business and the host of the Safety Consultant podcast but more than 350 episodes helping safety professionals become consultants and grow their career.

[SPEAKER_02]: Consulting changed my life, in fact.

[SPEAKER_02]: I'm a full-time RVer and a one consulting contract paid for my home I live in today.

[SPEAKER_02]: Now, I help safe professionals build their own consulting practice through biweekly coaching calls, accountability, and personal guidance.

[SPEAKER_02]: But this program is for everyone.

[SPEAKER_02]: Start with the consultant readiness audit at shelving.coach.

[SPEAKER_00]: We now return to the safety consultants show.

[SPEAKER_00]: Once again, here's shelving primates.

[SPEAKER_02]: All right, so step two, we're going to select our niche, decaying.

[SPEAKER_02]: We need to figure out what can we specialize in?

[SPEAKER_02]: And not only that, we need a backup niche as well.

[SPEAKER_02]: If you could get down to plan ABC, D and E, go for it.

[SPEAKER_02]: I would, you know, it doesn't hurt for you to get more than less, right?

[SPEAKER_02]: So first thing that I'm going to think about, we're at least

[SPEAKER_02]: try to get you to think about is what do you specialize in?

[SPEAKER_02]: What do you excel in?

[SPEAKER_02]: I've got an episode where I talked about our Dharma if you would and I got that phrasing and the exercise from Jayshedi think like a monk knows a great book if you guys are looking for a new reading recommendation

[SPEAKER_02]: it's an older book that it's awesome and he talks about how to find your dharma and you would break things up for you.

[SPEAKER_02]: I got it episode on that already so go look that one up and I do that in the safety consultant 101 of course that's one of the first exercise we do is try to figure out what your your dharma is.

[SPEAKER_02]: And, oh, forget to tell you, I'm doing my next safety consultant on on and August, so you look for that on SheldonPrimus.com and sign up for that.

[SPEAKER_02]: But anyway, this is the first thing you need to do.

[SPEAKER_02]: What do you like to do?

[SPEAKER_02]: What do you do?

[SPEAKER_02]: Well, look at the history of things that you've done already and try to figure out where can I make money?

[SPEAKER_02]: Okay, and that's what we're looking for.

[SPEAKER_02]: What things can make me sustainable money?

[SPEAKER_02]: So could that be training?

[SPEAKER_02]: Could that be creating written programs?

[SPEAKER_02]: Could that be audits and inspections?

[SPEAKER_02]: What have you done before?

[SPEAKER_02]: What your experience like are you excellent at Permit Required Confised Space Entry?

[SPEAKER_02]: That's the first thing that you've got to figure out is what is your capacity for you to at least get money.

[SPEAKER_02]: And that's what you're good at.

[SPEAKER_02]: Some things you may not like, but you're just good at it.

[SPEAKER_02]: You may be boring work, but you're just good at it.

[SPEAKER_02]: A knowledge thing that you would know what you're good at is what do people always ask you to do for them or give them advice on.

[SPEAKER_02]: Alright, think about those things and then that's going to be your niche.

[SPEAKER_02]: You're going to look for anything that people rely on you or you can truly help somebody walk them through step by step, that's your niche.

[SPEAKER_02]: So now you have to create a way to sell your niche, but start listing them out.

[SPEAKER_02]: And that's one of the things that really helped me.

[SPEAKER_02]: So, I first started working with utilities and I was thinking that I was going to just be utility consultant.

[SPEAKER_02]: It didn't work out in that way to maintain most of my money.

[SPEAKER_02]: I ended up having to spread into OSHA compliance and a lot of people come to me for OSHA compliance.

[SPEAKER_02]: So, I'm a subject matter expert in general industry and construction.

[SPEAKER_02]: and I've been working as such for quite a long time, help write and courses that you guys are probably taking an online that you don't even know that you've taken an I course.

[SPEAKER_02]: If you've done any 360 training courses, I've had most influence in that company, been applying some mine for a long time.

[SPEAKER_02]: HSI, I've worked with them in the past, red vector, just sat litmus, a bunch of other one, I guess they're just litmus now, but anyway, thousand my niche.

[SPEAKER_02]: I do instructional design, I do subject matter, coursework, so you just got to find your niche and get some back up niches, and I'm going to add one more

[SPEAKER_02]: Think about things that is fun for you, okay?

[SPEAKER_02]: Not just things that you're good at and definitely include that, but include some things that are fun for you.

[SPEAKER_02]: Things that you don't mind doing on a day-to-day basis that you can make some money off of.

[SPEAKER_02]: even if it's things like making soap and you make really good soap and it's fun for you and you could go now to your local farmer's market as the weather starts warming up and you can get a table and you want to do that.

[SPEAKER_02]: However you make your money you make your money doesn't have to be strictly consulting okay.

[SPEAKER_02]: Get your your money thinking if you're musician and there's a way that you can start making some money by giving guitar drum lessons.

[SPEAKER_02]: I used to

[SPEAKER_02]: When I was in college, whatever you need to do, just to make sure that you could make some money getting in, coming in, learn to scale later, just start doing some work right now in the fun work and things that you're good at already, that counts in making money.

[SPEAKER_02]: It's not just making money as a safety consultant, that you're primary job, but it doesn't

[SPEAKER_02]: All right, you never know what's going to take off, all of a sudden you could be one of these famous drum instructors who knows there's sectors and people who need everything Just do something that's fun first and let the business who develop from there

[SPEAKER_02]: All right, so again, we're doing really short small episodes bite size pieces and that's a bite size piece related to your niche you want to find your niche and make sure that that is something that you're going to use for your advantage.

[SPEAKER_02]: Think outside the box right at down and be ready.

[SPEAKER_02]: If you want to do that Dharma exercise with me, then go to sheldonprimus.com and I might actually have it up there ready but if not, sign up for the safety consultant 101 coming up in August and you'll be able to sit down with me.

[SPEAKER_02]: We're going to do two hours and we're going to really focus in on getting you going to jump start your business really good.

[SPEAKER_02]: And again, if you wanted to take this full course, you go to safetyconsultantblueprint.com and you get start taking the course the safety consulting blueprint course.

[SPEAKER_02]: That's the the bowins of what I'm going over right now.

[SPEAKER_02]: So if you want to jump ahead, you can skip the line and then go ahead and do that on the right.

[SPEAKER_02]: And so, thank you for another fun week.

[SPEAKER_02]: We got two more of these.

[SPEAKER_02]: So tomorrow or excuse me, next week we're going to talk about companies you can sign up with and other areas that you can network and you could try to get yourself some more clients.

[SPEAKER_02]: So that's what we're going to talk about networking and getting yourself some more clients next week and then the week after we'll talk about certificates.

[SPEAKER_02]: And what kind of certificates you should think about and the needs for that.

[SPEAKER_02]: Okay, so have yourself a great rest of the week.

[SPEAKER_02]: Take some action.

[SPEAKER_02]: Go get them

[SPEAKER_00]: That's a wrap for today's Safety Show.

[SPEAKER_00]: Remember, Safety isn't just about hard hats and caution signs.

[SPEAKER_00]: It's about business smarts too.

[SPEAKER_00]: Thanks for joining us on the Safety Consultant Show with Sheldon primus.

[SPEAKER_00]: And until next time, stay safe, stay savvy, and keep consulting like a boss.

[SPEAKER_00]: Go get him.

[SPEAKER_00]: The views in the opinions expressed on this podcast or broadcast are those of the host in its guest and did not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the company.

[SPEAKER_00]: Examples of analysis discussed within the past hour, only examples, it should not be utilized in the real world as the only solution available, as they are based only on very limited and dated open source information, assumption made within this analysis are not reflective

[SPEAKER_00]: No part of this podcast or broadcast may be reproduced stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means mechanical electronic recording or otherwise without prior written permission of the creator of the podcast or broadcast, Sheldon Primes.