Requirements for becoming an external consultant

Your question has two different topics.

“I want to setup my own business of consulting.”

Normally, countries have no legal requirements to start a career in consultancy. So, if you feel motivated you can start right away. For the technical side you already have credentials that can signal your competence. Now, potential customers need to know you. For the commercial side I recommend starting a blog about your reflections about ISO 9001, and keeping an active participation in Linkedin for networking and developing your “personal brand”. Below you can find some information that can be useful for you about this topic.

“I want to setup an organization A which can issue an ISO compliance certificate to my client company B.”

Consulting and certification are two different businesses, and due to reputational issues, they should not be treated by the same organization. You can start your career as consultant and have your own business, and at the same time apply to work as lead auditor for one or more certification bodies.

The following material will provide you information about starting a consultant business:

- How to become an ISO 9001 consultant - https://advisera.com/9001academy/blog/2016/11/15/how-to-become-an-iso-9001-consultant/
- How to sell your ISO 9001 consulting services - https://advisera.com/9001academy/blog/2017/06/20/how-to-sell-your-iso-9001-consulting-services/
- How to get new clients for your ISO 9001 consultancy - https://advisera.com/9001academy/blog/2019/03/05/how-to-get-new-clients-for-your-iso-9001-consultancy/
- Free webinar on demand – How to sell ISO consulting services - https://advisera.com/9001academy/webinar/how-to-sell-iso-consulting-services-free-webinar-on-demand/
- ISO 9001 Tools for Consultants - https://advisera.com/9001academy/consultants/