How to Become an HR Consultant: Generalist or Niche?

If you’ve been wondering how to become an HR consultant, you’re not alone. Many HR professionals reach a point where they want more freedom, flexibility, and impact and consulting can provide exactly that. But before setting up as an HR consultant, one of the first decisions you’ll need to make is:

Should I launch as a generalist HR consultant or go straight into a specialist niche?

You will get a lot of conflicting advice about this.

This choice affects how you market your services, win clients, and grow your consultancy. Let’s explore the options.

First Steps: Setting Up as an HR Consultant

Before diving into generalist vs niche, there are some foundations to consider when setting up as an HR consultant:

• Define your purpose. Why do you want to become an HR consultant? Lifestyle change, financial independence, or doing more meaningful work?

(You can take get these answers by going through our Corporate to Consulting Programme – before you go full in!)

• Clarify your offer. What HR problems can you solve for your “ideal” clients, based on your experience and expertise? This for many new consultants is SME’s (small medium sized businesses under 250 employees).
• Sort the essentials. Register your business after you have taken advice on whether to be a sole trader or limited business. Don’t rush into a name until you have clarity on your services. Decide on your pricing model and create a simple plan to attract your first clients.

(This is covered in my book and our 6-week fast track Virtual HR Consultants Bootcamp).

These essentials help set you up for success and then it’s time to think about positioning.

Option 1: The Generalist HR Consultant

A generalist HR consultant offers a wide range of services - for example, policies, employee relations, recruitment, training, and leadership support.

Pros of being a generalist

• Broader client base. You can work with many different businesses.
• Variety of projects. Keeps your work fresh and interesting.
• Great for learning. Ideal if you’re just starting and want to discover what you enjoy most.

Cons of being a generalist

• Harder to stand out. Many consultants offer “everything HR.”
• Lower fees. Without a niche, you may be seen as interchangeable.
• Less focus. Can lead to being spread too thin.

Option 2: The Niche HR Consultant

A niche consultant specialises in one area of HR or People consulting- for example, leadership development for SMEs, HR tech implementation, or employee wellbeing.

Pros of niching down

• Clear positioning. Clients know exactly when to call you.
• Expert status. Easier to become the “go-to” consultant in your area.
• Premium rates. Specialists often command higher fees.
• Streamlined business. Simpler services and marketing.

Cons of niching down

• Smaller market. You limit who you can work with.
• Takes confidence. Saying “no” to outside work can feel risky. Although with our consulting community you never need to say no !
• Dependence on one area. If demand dips, your pipeline may be affected.

Which Path to Take?

When you’re thinking about how to become an HR consultant, remember that you don’t have to have it all figured out from day one. Many consultants start broad, then narrow into a niche once they see patterns in client demand and discover what they love most.

• If you want to explore and test the market, start as a generalist.
• If you know exactly what you want to be known for, go niche from the start.

Both routes can lead to a thriving consultancy.

My Advice

Think of consulting as a journey in two phases:

1. Phase 1 – Generalist: Build confidence, gain experience, and attract your first clients.
2. Phase 2 – Specialist: Refine your services and focus on the areas where you add the most value.

This approach has helped hundreds of the consultants I’ve mentored to successfully build freedom-based businesses.

✨ Key takeaway: The most important step in setting up as an HR consultant is to start. Whether you begin as a generalist or go straight into a niche, you’ll refine your path as you grow.

If you’re ready to take the leap, my book Leap into HR Consulting® and our Bootcamp programme walk you through every step of how to become an HR consultant — from setting up your business to winning your first clients.

We also run regular webinars : How to Become a Succesful Consultant - many of our future consultants got their inspiration there ! Check out our webinars here.