Start a DEI Consulting Business

Companies need substance beyond a one-time training; consultants who tie culture work to retention and hiring outcomes win long contracts.

1. 1

   Define one measurable offer

   An inclusion audit with a scored report, or a manager training series with pre and post assessment. Companies renew what they can measure; one-time awareness talks die in budget season.

2. 2

   Document your credibility story

   Your HR background, lived experience, and a credential like a SHRM inclusive-workplace or Cornell DEI certificate. Write it as one paragraph you can say out loud without flinching.

3. 3

   Tie the work to business metrics

   Build your framework around retention, hiring funnel data, and engagement scores. This positions you against the checkbox trainers and justifies retainer pricing.

4. 4

   Price by engagement

   Audits at $5,000 to $15,000, training series at $2,000 to $5,000 per session, retainers monthly. Anchor to the cost of one regretted resignation and the numbers look small.

5. 5

   Pitch one industry's HR leaders

   Choose a sector you know (healthcare, tech, manufacturing) and go direct to HR and people-ops leaders with a specific finding about their industry's turnover pattern.

6. 6

   Publish anonymized pilot results

   After the first engagement, turn outcomes into a case study and a LinkedIn post series. In consulting, visible results are the marketing department.

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