The Honest Path to Leveling Up Your AI Consulting Career
Last month, I did something that would make most consultants cringe:
I offered to work for free on a $20-30 million company's AI strategy.
When Alex Hormozi said, "You're not good enough yet... and that's okay," it resonated deeply as I stared at a potential six-figure contract, knowing I wasn't quite ready for it.
We're constantly told to "charge what we're worth" and "never work for free."
But here's the uncomfortable truth about scaling an AI consulting practice.
Sometimes, the fastest way up is to admit you're not at the top yet.
The real challenge of enterprise AI consulting isn't just technical expertise – it's the catch-22 of needing enterprise experience to land enterprise clients.
You can't access the rooms where high-level decisions happen until you've already been in those rooms.
Here's what nobody tells you:
The path to doubling or tripling your consulting income isn't always about charging more – sometimes it's about making strategic "losses" that compound into massive gains.
In this post, I'll show you exactly how I'm using what I call the Strategic Loss Leader approach to:
- Land clients 10x larger than my usual target market
- Transform "free" work into six-figure opportunities
- Position myself for deals I currently have no right to win
It's not about underselling yourself.
It's about being strategic and honest about where you are in your journey – and then doing something about it.