Next move… for someone keen to become

I have 10 years' experience in food and beverage at hotels in England and North America for companies such as De Vere, Fairmont and Le Meriden. How would I move into consultancy?

The Answer There are opportunities for consultants, and the key way to these is through your own network where people will already rate you as a credible authority.

You should then get further referrals. You should also be prepared to invest time every month into marketing yourself to hotels and companies which may wish to outsource a food and beverage-related project to a consultant.

One of the key mistakes people make going into consultancy is believing they can afford to stop selling themselves.

The bottom line is, you have to factor in a lot of time to do this.

Your pedigree sounds good and your background suggests you should already have a strong network among the corporates, so my advice is to concentrate your efforts with them first.

Lesley Reynolds, chief executive, Portfolio International
\* If you'd like to submit a question, send it to chris.druce@rbi.co.uk