Becoming an Independent Security Consultant - Second Edition: A Practical Guide to Starting and Running a Successful Security Consulting Practice

Many people who are retiring from law enforcement, the military, or careers in private security would like to enter the security consulting profession, but don’t know how. These people have extensive skills in security, but don’t know how to translate these skills into a successful security consulting practice. While they have some idea about the type of services that they would like to provide, they have no idea of how to go about selling these services, what to charge for them, or how to run a profitable security consulting business. It is for these people that this book was written.

In this book, Michael A. Silva, an independent security consultant with over thirty-five years of experience, provides practical “how-to” advice on how to start and run a successful security consulting practice. Pulling no punches, Michael tells what it takes to be a successful security consultant and explains why so many new security consultants fail within the first eighteen months.

Newly revised, this Second Edition presents updated information and expanded content that will help the person starting a one-person security consulting practice and answers questions such as:

• What types of skills do I need to be successful?
• What types of licenses and certifications do I need?
• What should I name my business?
• Do I need a website?
• What types of insurance do I need?
• Should I rent an office, or work out of my home?
• How much should I charge?
• How do I sell my services and get consulting jobs?
• How do I write a proposal?
• What consulting services should I offer?
• How much money do I need to get started?
• What steps should I take before I quit my present job?
• Can I start my consulting practice part-time while I’m still working?
• How do I grow my practice and take it to the next level?
• What are some common mistakes made by new consultants and how can I avoid them?

Here are just a few reviews from the first edition:

“This is a phenomenally written well put together book, easy to read and easy to understand. I assume the hard part lies in ’doing’. The meat and potatoes is a break down of different avenues of approach to preplanning/planning and then execution of necessary processes to becoming an independent security consultant, I’ve read a couple books on consulting and none have been as forthcoming with a step-by-step process as Michael A. Silva has put together. I look forward to recommending this book to others and to implementing the knowledge as best I can.”

"This book is definitely a must read! From beginning to end, chapter after chapter you get this comforting sensation of having someone at your side objectively guiding you , as you envision a new phase in your professional life. I truly felt like Mr. Silva was a mentor as he genuinely knows how to guide the reader through things in his book. Great work has been done telling spontaneously and using easy language, all the things that a neo security consultant would need to know and reflect on, when starting it's own consulting business. This book is really a great surprise and a pleasure to read. It provided me a lot of useful tips and advice on every single aspects of the independent security consulting business. Well done and much thanks to the author!

“Thoroughly enjoyed this book and has given me new found confidence in establishing my own consulting business. Michael does a great job of giving practical advice on how to be successful in this business. He lays out the realities of succeeding in this business, and gives practical advice in what has worked for him over the last 30 years to allow him to become one of the most successful independent security consultants in the country. Highly recommend this book for aspiring consultants.”