4 Hour Consultant is a misnamed local lead generation and outsourcing program by Chris Wills - though he claims that his business model is more on “consulting” rather than “marketing”.
Chris explains that he uses a counter-intuitive method that allows you to earn five to six figures in only 42 days by becoming a consultant with no experience, upfront capital, or technical skills. You do this by picking out a hyper-niche, creating your own “consulting” business, gathering interested clients, and referring them to someone else (preferably an experienced professional in whatever field you are marketing in) or hiring a freelancer to do the work for you.
It is counter-intuitive because Chris only chooses markets with an already interested market base. He says many business owners believe in the phrase “follow your passion and the customers will come”. However, in his own experience, creating a product or service does not necessarily mean that you will have people buying them. Instead, he suggests that you only create a business IF there are already 20 or more people willing to purchase your product.
Becoming a consultant is an easy way to reach an already interested market. By further narrowing it down with a hyper-niche, you are assured of guaranteed clients and massive payouts each month.
But are clients really guaranteed in a hyper niche?
Remember that the greatest strength of niche marketing is also its main weakness. When you only target a limited population, you also place a cap on how many people will be interested in your specific product or service.
Think about it this way: How many people would be interested in “fishing consultancy in Martha’s Vineyard, MA”? Or “crafting and pottery consultancy in Camden, Maine”?
The answer to this would be to diversify, but this is where students of 4 Hour Consultant will hit a snag: Chris offers you a list of his 50 best niches to “consult” in. However, this same list is given to all his students. So, you could be competing with other students of Chris, which negates the main purpose of niche marketing anyway.
Even if you were to focus on a specific niche, but expand to different towns or counties in the same state, you still run the risk of competing with Chris' other students.
In this 4 Hour Consultant review, I will be describing what you will be learning in the program and if it’s worth paying the $37 price tag. I will also be discussing my preferred business model of choice, local lead generation. This business model is quite similar to Chris’ but offers more support and income potential. In local lead generation, you can easily research about the business model and find supportive communities to help you, consequently giving you a competitive edge so that you can earn more money.
Further, it’s completely transparent about what it does. Local lead generation generates leads from local areas - in Chris’ model, you become a fake consultant who earns money through clicks or outsourcing your services.
Pros
Affordable
Interesting business concept
Good refund policy
Cons
Entirely new program, so no student reviews or proof of work
No information about Chris Wills
No information about modules
Price:
$37
Refund Policy:
4 Hour Consultant's refund policy is a 30-day money-back guarantee
Origin:
2022
Reputation:
None
How 4 Hour Consultant is more of a local lead generation program
4 Hour Consultant earns you money by referring clients to an experienced consultant and receiving a consulting fee. You don’t necessarily need to focus on one professional, and your niche consulting website can be an online yellow pages of sorts of the best consultants in the area for that specific industry.
This is similar to local lead generation where small business owners seek new customers in their specific communities. However, whereas that business model helps any owner in any industry, Chris will teach you how to target only consultants in a certain field and area. This makes the model incredibly niche, but also subject to oversaturation very quickly.
Chris says that he’s sharing this business model because he believes there is a massive income opportunity that he just cannot handle by himself. Yet, in the same breath, he says that this is a hyper-niche consultancy program that requires few competitors to succeed. So, which one is it?
The reality is, like local lead generation, Chris’ model can earn you massive amounts of money online, but it’s not as easy or as simple as he explains. You still need to establish yourself as a local authority in that niche so that people will trust you with your recommendations. This requires building a credible website, which requires some knowledge of SEO and/or the capital to outsource certain services that you are not an expert in.
What’s in 4 Hour Consultant?
Aside from the 4 Hour Consultant masterclass, which includes self-paced modules in video and PDF files, you will also receive 5 free fast-action bonuses:
- 1A list of 50+ profitable proven niches
- 24 Hour Consultant community access
- 3Ninja LinkedIn quickstart - Revamps your LinkedIn profile so that it attracts the rights customers
- 4Client generation - Teaches you where to find the right clients for your specific niche
- 5Outsource mastery - How to outsource your work so you keep profits with minimal work
The 7-part masterclass teaches you how to build a six-figure business working part-time hours. Chris’ system follows an easy-to-follow process: 1) Decide on an interested audience (at least 20 or more people), 2) Attract a patient to your consultant business, and 3) Solve their problems.
The easiest way to perform the third process is to outsource your service to a freelancer who is an expert at solving that problem. This can be through recommending your audience to another consultant and earning by the number of clicks or keeping the entire profit by outsourcing to a third-party contractor working in your name and paying an hourly rate.
Either way, you don’t need to learn any new skills or work in an industry for years. This allows you to start a business in a month and a half and begin earning right away.
In essence, you are brokering a partnership between an interested client and an expert (whether through recommendation or freelancing) and charging a consulting rate.
KEEP IN MIND:
It is unclear whether Chris offers any one-on-one coaching.
An interesting thing to note is that Chris talks about the importance of LinkedIn for attracting new clients; however, Chris himself doesn't have one or has a private account. It's strange that this management consultant claims to be a highly successful entrepreneur but has an extremely quiet social media presence.
Who is Chris Wills?
Chris takes pride in his anonymity. He claims that if you’ve never heard of him before, it’s by design. He says that his journey toward financial success was fueled by his desire to help his family, travel around the world, and not be stuck in a 9-to-5 job.
Chris lived in a small town in Ireland and was feeling disheartened that he could never earn enough money to live the life he always wanted. He quit his part-time job because he had to study for his high school exams, but this led him to earn less than he wanted.
He was living in his parents' house with no qualifications or prospects. He decided to take control of his life and began looking for ways to reach his goals. He stumbled upon an online forum where people were discussing their online consulting businesses and how they could earn 6-figures every year working only a few hours a day.
The rest, they say, is history. Chris is now an established management consultant, acting as a kind of “human resource” department that connects small businesses in the United States to various consultants or freelancers around the world.
How do I become a consultant?
To become a consultant, you should have:
- Knowledge (preferably by reading several books and through interactions with professionals in the same field)
- Experience (at least 10 years)
- A skill that most people would be willing to pay for
Why do I need to have knowledge, experience, and skill as a consultant?
Traditionally, consultants are knowledgeable and experienced professionals in a certain field. According to the latest data, the three most sought-after consultants in recent years are those that are experts in IT, marketing, or finance. However, you can become a consultant employee in whatever industry you are in: You just need to be considered an “expert” or something with an in-demand skill or knowledge.
The primary goal of management consulting is to improve the internal processes of a company, ultimately leading to higher profit. Great consultants are confident about their skills and know the best ways to achieve results in the shortest possible time.
This usually means that you need to have at least 10 years of experience in a specific field. For example, if you decide on becoming a medical consultant, you would need to have at least some experience in emergency care or acute medicine. Companies will appreciate your knowledge and experience and are more likely to implement the strategies you recommend.
However, you don’t need to have experience in 4 Hour Consultant. According to Chris, he became a successful business owner having no work experience or expertise in any field. However, after 6 years of promoting other consultants, he has managed to live his dream life where he has both time and money freedom.
His goal is to help you create your own consulting services and start earning five to six figures after just 42 days. His strategies can be used anywhere in the world, as long as you have a stable internet connection and a decent laptop.
Frequently Asked Questions about becoming a consultant?
A new consultant can charge anywhere between $50 to $70 per hour. However, some people, like Shaqir Hussyin, insist that you can start charging $200 to even $1,000 per hour based on how well you can market yourself.
On average though, an experienced consultant can charge around $250 to $350 an hour.
Chris Wills does not charge a consultancy fee if you enroll in his program. This is because you will not be hiring his service as a consultant, rather as a teacher. Chris will teach you how to set up your own consultancy firm and how much you charge per hour is entirely up to you.
Even if you’re self-employed as a consultant, there are still tiers you need to climb. Typically, you will start out as an associate consultant, consultant, senior consultant, principal, and then partner. The most experienced and influential consultants usually have an on-call agreement with an established company, where they do not need to come to the office every day, but can be reached at any time for a specific product launch or initiative.
Ideally, you should be able to start your own consulting business after learning 4 Hour Consultant. It is your choice whether you want to outsource most of the work or simply refer the service to someone else. The program is designed for you to only work 4 hours every week while earning double or even triple the average monthly wage of an employee.
The next step to expand after enrolling in 4 Hour Consulting is to offer consultancy services. It is unclear whether Chris will teach you to set up an LLC or how you will list your business for tax purposes.
4 Hour Consultant is a sketchy business model but does have some income potential, depending on how you apply the knowledge you’ve learned. It’s likely that your clients may feel that cutting out the middleman (i.e. you) may be more cost-effective in the long run, and discontinue their services with you. It would be ideal to have a consultancy business where you actually provide long-term value to your client because you, yourself, are providing the knowledge and service needed.
Consultants are paid differently, depending on their client. Usually, they are paid one lump sum after the final completed work, but others may request a downpayment to show proof of intent. Some consultants may even offer a discount of 5% to 10% if the total project requires a selection of several services.
It is important that you are able to submit an invoice and receipt with your name and business address.
The consultant fee structure depends on you. Most consultants prefer being paid one lump sum after they have completed their work. However, some experts advise requesting a downpayment to prevent scammers or fraudulent clients who receive the service and then disappear without paying.
Consultants choose how they want to receive their client payment. Local consultants can be paid by check, cash, or online bank transfer. International consultants can be paid through an online payment platform such as PayPal, Wise, or Payoneer.
Take note that if you are an international consultant and earning in dollars, you need to ask your client if they will be shouldering the transfer fees found in these payment platforms. For example, PayPal charges a transfer fee so if the client sends $1,000 (as you invoiced), you will actually be receiving less due to the fee.
The most challenging part of 4 Hour Consultant is vagueness. Chris’ curriculum appears to be an oversimplified business model and does not explain the nuances of creating a consultancy firm. Chris wants you to just refer your services to someone else, but even this strategy is not clearly outlined.
Consultants need to be upfront about their price. This prevents miscommunication and is beneficial for both parties, as you and your client know what to expect. The easiest way to tell your clients about your price is to already include it on your website, service page, or however your target audience will find you. Then, when you meet your prospects either online or in-person, you can have this discussion with them.
Why should I become a consultant?
Consulting allows you to work on your own time doing what you’re good at. If you become a successful consultant, your job duties will involve working with various executives of different companies, interacting with a great number of people, and even traveling to new places. This helps a junior consultant progress their career even further and leads to a higher salary.
Consultants usually work directly for a CEO and their executive teams. This teaches you the soft skills you need to become a senior executive later (if you so choose to) or learn things that you would not find in books. Many consultants say that the unknown outcomes of their job are gaining first-hand experience of how the elite think and manage their money. This knowledge is something you will gain for free, unlike if you enroll in an elite financial planning program such as Private Wealth Academy.
Perhaps the main advantage of offering consulting services is time freedom. You do not need to work 8 hours every day or sit at a desk for hours at a time. As a business owner, you can choose when you want to work. This makes management consulting extremely attractive for younger entrepreneurs or individuals who want to spend more time with their families or pursuing their own passions.
Where do I find a freelancer?
Find a freelancer on LinkedIn, Upwork, Fiverr, and Freelancer. However, if you want to expand your reach even further, you can look at remote job boards. These websites typically offer industry-specific jobs, so they’re great if you’re on the lookout for a certain skill, such as copywriting or social media management.
A job board I use, which was also endorsed by Alex Fedotoff, is OnlineJobs.Ph. This connects international small business owners with Filipino freelancers in various fields. Aside from the Philippines offering lower freelancing rates than anywhere else in the world (the minimum wage of Filipinos is $9 per day), Filipinos generally speak and write English well and are considered to be one of the friendliest people in the world, which is ideal if your consulting firm is more customer-facing.
Filipinos are also recommended for freelance work that requires customer service and calling clients on the phone.
Why do I need to outsource my business?
Company owners need to focus on the core aspect of their business; however, this can become difficult if they become focused on all areas of running, establishing, and maintaining a reputable brand. Businesses should outsource to a third-party contractor to cut down on costs and improve their revenue.
In 4 Hour Consultant, you are encouraged to hire a freelancer who will solve the problems of your clients. This way, you receive the reputation and accolades (not to mention, profit) without having to actually do the work. Freelancers charge you their billable hours, which are usually only a small percentage of the consultancy fees you will be charging as an expert HR consultant.
What are the risks of 4 Hour Consultant?
The risk of 4 Hour Consultant is evaporation. Should worse come to worst, you would be left without any new skill or knowledge to rely on. Remember the saying, “give a man a fish and you feed him for a day, but teach a man to fish and you feed him for life”. In 4 Hour Consultant, if you should hire the wrong freelancer, get into legal trouble, or become untrustworthy in any way, you won’t have a skill set that you can rely on - other than, being an imitation consultant.
What do you mean by an evaporation risk in 4 Hour Consultant?
4 Hour Consultant requires you to be dependent on someone else. Whether you’re recommending another person or company’s service or hiring a freelancer to do all the work for you, you are acting as a broker that introduces a customer to a service provider.
If you decide to become more of a local lead generation business, you need to build a credible website that ranks high on Google or other major search engines. This requires some knowledge of SEO. It’s important that your website ranks high for specific keywords, so that your target audience clicks on your website, believes you’re trustworthy, and then clicks on your recommendations.
That being said, building a credible website is a job in and of itself. It is likely that your consulting firm would need to outsource freelancers just to build and maintain a great website. This is beyond what you will need in your actual service.
On the other hand, if you decide to choose the outsourcing route, you have to ensure that you hire the right freelancers for your specific consulting business. There are many great freelancers out there, and you can decide to pay either by an hourly rate or by output, but you’d still need to take the time to find the right people and train them.
CONCLUSION: What salary do you need to support your lifestyle?
4 Hour Consultant is affordable and offers an interesting perspective on outsourcing a business while calling yourself THE expert. On top of that, it offers a great refund policy that allows you to keep the digital files and get your money back as well within 30 days. This makes the program worth it - but that’s as far as it goes.
The processes themselves are a little vague and a hodgepodge of several different online business models: One part local lead generation, another part outsourcing business. While the concept is not new, Chris’ model is. This makes it risky as you are not sure if the strategies work.
On top of that, while Chris says he intends to remain unknown, his lack of an online presence damages his credibility and trust. It’s easy to say that you earned your money doing action X, but who can really verify your claim? You could have easily earned your money doing another thing (and it’s even unclear whether Chris has achieved financial success - for all we know, he could have photoshopped his pictures).
All in all, 4 Hour Consultant lacks substance though the concept is intriguing. If you’re looking for a more reliable passive business income opportunity, I’d recommend local lead generation. In this business model, your product typically sells itself. After establishing your online presence, it is quite possible for your local lead generation website to generate thousands of dollars each month.
