What are the first steps to becoming a consultant in application development?

An important skill for any consultant is to understand customer need & then provide a solution for it. Technology is just a tool to provide a solution.

You need to be sure that you have high level of expertise in the niche and technologies, after that it´s good to have a marketing material to show off your work and results

In my experience one important thing is to strengthen your current skills rather than learning new ones. Also you need to visualize yourself, what problems do you want to solve and what does it take. Then you can identify topics where you're lacking and improve them to complete your portfolio. Always keep in mind for what audience you want to solve the problem and adapt your language to have a common understanding with your client.

The best network is word-of-mouth. Do not only rely on networks of social media. Watch out for friends working in your desired niche, let them know what you are doing. Spread some word about your work, talk to your colleagues from previous workplaces. Most of the time you don't see any output, but when, your position for negotiating is way stronger, as someone had already recommended you.

Having an effective client management is directly tied to client satisfaction, maintain clear and open communication with your client, provide regular updates on the project progress, risk and successes,conducts regular check-ins to ensures everyone is on the same page, understanding clients needs and delivering on expectations contribute to a positive client experience and builds a strong client-provider relationship

7. Consistency Ensure a flawless schedule towards a goal. For instance; - Reading and replying emails in the first hour of days activities, everyday. - Keeping and following an updated diary of activities in the aspects of target, input and expected outcome. - Following the 3 pillars of any business development, in order to succeed. That's; (a) Demographic (b) Economic (c) Geographic NB: Not necessarily in that order.

Time Management. And the wisdom of when to dive deeper and when to let the team handle things. Continuos learning and fitting the right peg in the right hole in terms of people and technology

An app development consultant should set clear goals for their consulting business and identify their target market. Understanding the needs and issues of potential customers is crucial to providing a relevant service.

Do not get frustrated if things don't work out as you planned. See your plan as a roadmap to your goal. If you are struggling whether you should say something or not, most of the time it's better to be said, or you will regret it afterwards. Don't believe you will get a contract, just because you had a good gut feeling during the interview. There are a lot of competitors outside, things can change fast, only trust a successful close, if your potential client confirms it in the first place.