Define a portfolio income mix across consulting, fractional roles and other work streams that suits personal risk tolerance.
Human Resources & Personal Development
Portfolio Careers, Freelance Consulting and Fractional Executive Roles
Design a portfolio career across freelance consulting and fractional executive work, from pricing and contracts to pipeline building and time allocation across clients.
🗓️Duration5 training days
📚Content4 modules · 8 sessions
🎓On completionAccredited attendance certificate
About the programme
Course Overview
A portfolio career looks attractive from the outside and feels precarious from the inside unless it is built on deliberate structure: a clear positioning statement, a pricing model that covers non-billable time, contracts that protect both parties, and a pipeline that stops each engagement ending in a gap with no income. This course is for professionals moving from a single employer into a mix of freelance consulting, fractional executive roles and other paid work, and it treats that move as a business design problem rather than a leap of faith. Participants work through defining a viable income mix, setting day rates and retainers that reflect real costs and capacity, drafting statements of work that prevent scope creep, and structuring a working week across two or more clients without any one of them noticing the others. A dedicated block addresses fractional executive roles specifically: how they differ from project consulting, how to report to a board or founder with limited weekly hours, and how to hand over cleanly when the engagement ends. The final sessions cover building a referral engine, keeping a pipeline full without constant selling, and managing the financial swings that come with variable income. Exercises use the participant's own positioning, rate card and current or planned client list throughout.
Expected Learning Outcomes
Calculate a defensible day rate or retainer that covers non-billable time, overheads and planned time off.
Draft a statement of work and contract terms that define scope, deliverables and change-control for scope creep.
Position personal experience for fractional executive roles distinct from generalist project consulting.
Structure a working week across multiple clients using a capacity plan that protects delivery quality.
Build a referral and pipeline system that keeps new work flowing without constant active selling.
Plan financial resilience for variable income, including reserves, invoicing discipline and tax obligations.
Who Should Attend
Employees planning a deliberate move from full-time employment into freelance or portfolio work.
Freelance consultants who want to formalise pricing, contracts and pipeline management.
Senior functional specialists positioning themselves for fractional CFO, CMO, COO or HR director roles.
Recently redundant executives evaluating a portfolio career as an alternative to a single next role.
Independent professionals whose income is inconsistent and who need a more disciplined pipeline.
Career coaches and outplacement advisers supporting clients into non-traditional working patterns.
Course Modules
Select any module to see its sessions and points.
01Designing the Portfolio Model
2 sessions · 8 points
Session 1Defining Your Income Mix and Positioning
- Map current skills and experience against distinct income streams: consulting, fractional roles and associate work.
- Write a one-line positioning statement that a prospective client can repeat to someone else unprompted.
- Assess personal risk tolerance to decide the target split between guaranteed retainer income and project work.
- Identify sectors and company sizes where the chosen positioning has the strongest, most specific demand.
Session 2Structuring Time Across Multiple Engagements
- Build a weekly capacity plan that allocates billable, business-development and administrative time explicitly.
- Set a personal utilisation target and track it monthly to catch overcommitment before it damages delivery.
- Sequence onboarding for a new client so it does not collide with an existing client's peak workload.
- Agree working-day boundaries with each client to prevent one engagement expanding into another's time.
02Setting Up as a Freelance Consultant
2 sessions · 8 points
Session 1Business Setup, Contracts and Rates
- Calculate a day rate from target income, planned utilisation, overheads and non-billable time.
- Choose between day rate, project fee and retainer pricing based on the type of engagement offered.
- Draft a statement of work with defined deliverables, timelines and a change-control clause for new requests.
- Review employment-status considerations for contracted work so engagements are structured correctly from the outset.
Session 2Winning and Scoping Client Engagements
- Run a discovery conversation that surfaces the client's real problem before proposing a scope.
- Write a proposal that ties deliverables to the client's stated business outcome, not just activities performed.
- Negotiate scope, timeline and fee as a linked package rather than discounting fee in isolation.
- Set expectations for reporting cadence and decision points before the engagement contract is signed.
03Building a Fractional Executive Practice
2 sessions · 8 points
Session 1Positioning for Fractional Leadership Roles
- Distinguish a fractional executive mandate from project consulting in scope, accountability and reporting line.
- Position prior functional leadership experience for organisations too small to justify a full-time hire.
- Define the specific decisions a fractional role will own versus those it will only advise on.
- Agree a realistic weekly time allocation with the client that matches the mandate's actual workload.
Session 2Delivering Impact Across Multiple Organisations
- Design a short first-90-days plan appropriate to a part-time fractional mandate rather than a full-time role.
- Build a lightweight reporting rhythm for a board or founder that fits limited on-site hours.
- Set measurable objectives for a fractional mandate so impact is demonstrable at renewal or exit.
- Plan a handover process so a fractional role can end cleanly without disrupting the client's operations.
04Sustaining and Growing the Practice
2 sessions · 8 points
Session 1Pipeline, Referrals and Repeat Business
- Build a referral system that asks satisfied clients for specific, named introductions rather than general endorsements.
- Maintain a simple pipeline tracker that flags when active engagements are ending without a next one confirmed.
- Develop repeat-business habits, such as scheduled review conversations, that extend engagements naturally.
- Create shareable content or case examples that demonstrate expertise without breaching client confidentiality.
Session 2Financial Resilience and Career Review
- Set aside cash reserves and invoicing discipline that smooth income across quiet and busy periods.
- Track true hourly earnings after tax, pension contributions and unpaid administrative time.
- Review the portfolio mix annually against income, workload and satisfaction to rebalance deliberately.
- Decide criteria for returning to full-time employment or scaling the practice with associates.
What the participant receives
4 course modules
A structured syllabus
8 training sessions
across 5 days
32 detailed points
Applied, detailed content
Accredited attendance certificate
On completing the programme
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