Do you like to read? If so, that’s a great start. As an information consultant, you’ll spend a large amount of time reading magazine articles and Web pages that give you clues about the information you are looking for. You will frequently need to make the jump from being clueless on a subject to being an expert in just a few weeks. And that means hitting the books.

Do you like research? It may well be that you’ve never spent large amounts of time looking for answers that others are willing to pay for. Try spending some time on the Internet and at the library to see if you really like doing research. Pick an obscure topic, maybe something you’ve read about in the nether regions of the newspaper, and try to find out absolutely everything you can about it. Sound like fun? Do you enjoy learning about things that you may not have ever thought to care about? If so, terrific! You’ve met yet another qualification. As an information consultant, you’ll need to keep yourself interested in the matter at hand. Otherwise, every job will seem like working on a term paper in a class that you hate.

Are you a “people person”? If you think being an information consultant will be your key to solitude or a means of escaping the rat race, you’re in for a rude awakening. First of all, you need to be personable and confident enough to convincingly sell your services. You’ll also frequently need to contact companies and experts to find the answers you’re looking for. If you don’t have excellent people skills, you’re going to have real problems as an information consultant.

Are you a logical thinker? Logical thinking is extremely important in this line of work. There’s no master list of information that will magically appear for you to hand over to your client. You will need to make assumptions and educated guesses about where the information can be found, and these guesses will rarely be correct on the first try. You’ll also need to help your clients pare their original requests down to the real nuts and bolts of what they’re trying to find out. The narrower the focus, the more likely you are to find the information they need. Logical thinking is a big plus here; it’s absolutely necessary for finding information on the Internet and in other formats.

Are you organized? You better be. Strong organizational skills are necessary for running a business in general and for the specific tasks you’ll undertake as an information consultant. You’ll often be asked to take all the information you’ve gathered and turn it into a report that answers the questions your client needs to have addressed. For example, you might be required to present different factors your client needs to consider when making a particular business decision. You’ll need to organize information as you acquire it, and then organize it again into logical chunks of information in which clients can clearly see the answers they’re paying you for.

Are you disciplined? Self-discipline is a prerequisite for all self-employed people. You need to set goals and follow through to accomplish them. The dream of deciding your own schedule is only true to a certain extent. What you’ll really be doing is changing your schedule to meet the demands of your clients. Sure, you can take the occasional Friday afternoon off once in a while or work half a day, but your income will be directly related to what you put into your business in sweat. If you sleep in too often or miss deadlines, you’ll lose clients—and income. The biggest lesson many self-employed people learn in their first year as business owners is that there are benefits to having a nine-to-five job with a salary.

Are you self-confident? Every time you court a new client, it’s like applying for a job. If you have trouble in situations like this, then being an information consultant is probably not right for you. Yes, you will gain confidence as you develop your business. But if applying for jobs is akin to jumping out of an airplane for you, ask yourself whether you can grow into this role. Remember, too, that you won’t get every job you go after, and you’ll have to accept rejection as par for the course.

Are you computer literate? You don’t have to learn how to program computers, but you do need to have a basic working knowledge of things like word processing programs, e-mail and Internet searching. All of these are skills that can be acquired through practice or by taking classes. If the idea of sitting in front of a computer terminal for hours on end gives you the heebie-jeebies, you should know that most research is now done primarily through computers. Information consultants need to see the computer as a powerful and important research tool. (Knowing how to type doesn’t hurt, either. You’ll have to deliver your information in a neat and readable format.)

Can you handle the financial demands of starting a new business? You’re probably not going to jump into this business and make a gigantic leap into financial prosperity. It pays well if you’re good at it, but growing any business takes time. Do you have a nest egg in the bank that you can fall back on if you don’t get any work for a few months? Does your spouse make enough money to cover the bills during slow periods? Have you discussed getting financial help from friends or relatives if business dies off for a while? Most information consultants will tell you that you’ll have financial ups and downs. Some of this is due to cycles in particular areas of research. If you do high-tech research for software companies, for example, many of them slow to almost a complete stop during the holiday season. After a year or so, you’ll have a better idea about when your busy and slow times will be, and the money you make when you’re busy will carry you though the slow periods. Just be financially prepared to pay your bills—one way or another—if you have a few slow months (For more information about financing your business, see Chapter 4, “Getting Financing” in Start-Up Basics.)

While all of these skills are important, they can all be developed over time. If you have most of them developed, and you think you’ll enjoy this sort of work, then go for it. If being an information consultant sounds great, but you’re missing these important skills, take some time to develop them before jumping in. Take some computer classes if that’s what you need to do. Remember, it’s also possible to start out slow, working part time as an information consultant while keeping your current job.

Finding Your Area Of Expertise

Most information consultants start their businesses by doing work in fields they already have some experience in. As we mentioned earlier, people involved in the legal profession frequently start their businesses by doing research for law firms, and those involved in medicine often start off doing medical research. We all have to start somewhere, and beginning with something in which you already have a background can be a big plus. Many people even leave their jobs (on good terms, of course) and start their businesses with their ex-employer as their first client.

If you don’t think you have an area of expertise, do a little research. You’ll be surprised at the variety and extent of the information that companies need. Take a look at the Web sites for organizations devoted to information professionals. A good one to check out is The Association of Independent Information Professionals’ Web site, www.aiip.org. There you can look at a list of AIIP members and the type of work they do. Many organizations like the AIIP have Web sites that also feature links to their members’ sites. A look at the membership lists of these professional organizations and a quick visit to some of their members’ sites will show you that information professionals specialize in everything from arts and humanities to zoology.

Do a little more searching, and you’ll find that organizations such as the AIIP will allow you to join as an associate member. The AIIP offers a mentor program free to members, where you can get advice about starting and operating your business from seasoned professionals. It could be a good place to get started. The organization also has a referral program for members.

Don’t be discouraged by the fact that you will probably start out doing research in the field you used to work in. Over the course of time, through an almost illogical series of events, most information consultants end up doing research in more than one field—including a few they never thought they would be involved in. How does this happen? Let’s say an editor for a computer-aided drafting magazine starts his information consulting business doing research on engineering and architecture design tools for his former employer. In the same building is a magazine devoted to computer animation and 3-D design, which hires him because its director has heard he does good work. He does research on tools for animators (which they are happy with), and they give him another assignment: putting together a listing of big-time movie animation and special effects studios. The next thing he knows, he gets a call from a Hollywood movie studio asking for his services in locating special effects studios that are appropriate for movies they are working on. From engineering to Hollywood in three easy (well, maybe not exactly easy) steps.

Who’s In The Market For Information?

In decades past, information consultants were considered dealers in obscure information. Companies hired them to dig through those dusty old libraries and spools of microfiche to locate information that was difficult or too costly in terms of personnel hours to locate. Times have sure changed. Such a huge amount of information is now available that those who hire information consultants are often paying to have the information narrowed down to a few key topics. For example, a search for the phrase “Information Broker” on a popular search engine brings up no fewer than 33,000 listings! If the Web keeps expanding as it has in the past 10 years, it won’t be long before clients start hiring information consultants to find other information consultants (just kidding, but you get the idea). So much information is available that those trying to find it can’t see the forest for the trees. The talent shared by those who pursue information consulting as their life’s work is the ability to enter that same forest and return in a reasonable amount of time with a list of the location and size of all the pine trees.

Filtering information has become such a big business that in some areas—especially the fast-moving high-tech world—there’s a large market for specialized information. In these areas, some consultants make their living by researching specific topics and offering their findings for sale on the Web. They use the information itself to attract customers. Some even collect data on specific industries and charge customers a subscription fee to receive weekly bulletins via e-mail.

Many companies do not have the resources to do their own research. They may also not need research done regularly enough to justify taking on an employee to perform it. It is generally far more expensive to hire an employee and provide the needed equipment and benefits than it is to hire outside help. Here are a few of the types of clients you can expect to work for, should you decide information consulting is for you:

Lawyers looking for the historical background of a particular type of case: Attorneys constantly need to sort through old lawsuits to find precedent-setting decisions. Smaller firms are more likely to need outside help with this task. This type of information consulting is particularly fitting if you have a background in law—if you’ve been a paralegal or worked in the research department of a large legal firm, for example.

Corporations looking for information on competitors and potential suppliers: Believe it or not, many large companies really aren’t all that knowledgeable about their competitors. Some will hire you to find out everything from the specifics of another company’s product line to figures that show how profitable a rival company has been over the past few years. Some use this information to make sure they remain competitive, and others use it to scope out potential strategic partners, suppliers and even companies to buy.

Companies or individuals looking for patent information: There’s no reason to reinvent the wheel, right? That’s why many companies hire information consultants to find out about potential patent and ownership conflicts. This is an especially important subject for high-tech developers, whose ideas may be considered intellectual property even if they’re not patented.

Magazines compiling buyer’s guides: If you’ve ever seen a 50-page buyer’s guide in a magazine, chances are it was put together by an information consultant. Most publications don’t have the time or the resources to put together a complete listing of products and services for their readers. This can be a good place to start for information consultants with knowledge of a particular industry.

Publishing companies looking for untapped markets in hopes of starting new magazines or newsletters: Publishing companies, especially ones that publish several magazines that each serve niche markets with small numbers of subscribers, are constantly trying to identify new markets. Once a new market is found, the search for competitors begins (to be sure there is a need for a new publication), and research is conducted to find out whether the market is valuable enough to warrant launching a new publication.

Investors seeking company background information: Sometimes the stock market numbers don’t give the entire story. So providing financial and historical data on companies can help investors decide where to spend their money.

What’s That Information Worth?

The information consulting business is generally a one-person operation, though it is certainly possible to expand and take on employees. The fact that it’s a business you can start from home means you can get started for a relatively small amount of money (between $5,000 and $7,000). And depending on your expertise, you can gross anywhere from $35,000 to $100,000 per year working full time.

What Do You Need To Get Started?

First, you need to work well on your own. Clients won’t be paying you to spend the day in the park, and while working at home does give many a newfound sense of freedom, companies expect you to meet deadlines. Whether you need to work nights and weekends to meet their deadlines is not their problem.

Second, you will need a working knowledge of computers—especially when searching the Internet. Many people already have a basic knowledge of computers, but if you don’t, it would be worthwhile to take a few classes.

Keep in mind that the computer will not be your only source of information. You’ll still need to make phone calls to check information, conduct interviews and just ask questions. Interpersonal skills are a big plus. And, yes, you’ll sometimes need to make a trip to the library or the bookstore, or get out of the house to meet with clients, so you won’t be totally isolated.

The Tools At Your Disposal

Finding information for clients is like solving a mystery. And today, information consultants have more high-tech tools for research, marketing and sales at their disposal than ever before. The wealth of information on the World Wide Web gives you a tremendous head start over those who undertook this business in decades past. Before the introduction of the Web, most research done by information consultants began in a library with the tedious task of sifting through reference books, piles of magazines or microfiche for clues. These days, the first place information consultants look is usually the World Wide Web, which features information on everything from company contacts and articles from back issues of magazines, to financial disclosures made to the U.S. government by the largest public corporations in the country. To make things even more appealing, the information provided comes not just from the United States but from the entire world.

The Net offers billions of pages of information on nearly every topic imaginable. The U.S. government alone maintains more than 12,519 sites, which contain a variety of information that includes corporate annual reports, patent listings and much more. This is just the beginning for information consultants, who can use the Web to track down listings of contact information, books, periodicals and other reference materials.