In today’s episode, I’m joined once again by Paul Neal, from Verdant Purpose HR.
Since we last spoke, Paul has supported around 25 charities and turned what was once just an idea into a genuine consultancy.
But after a few successful months, things began to slow down.
The familiar feast-or-famine cycle returned—and Paul realised he missed the accountability, support and momentum he’d had when we worked together.
So, he (re)joined the Success Squad.
Within five days, Paul used one simple email to generate two opportunities:
• One existing client upgraded their support
• One long-term email subscriber became a new client
But it wasn’t just the email that made the difference.
Paul also changed the way he handled the sales conversations, got paid to prepare his proposal and used the Success Squad community to work through the opportunity rather than trying to figure everything out alone.
In this conversation, we talk about:
• Why Paul came back after previously working with me
• What caused his consultancy to stall after several successful months
• The simple email that generated two opportunities
• How a seemingly cold lead turned into a paying client
• Why Paul got paid to prepare his proposal
• How a second sales call helped him handle objections and win the work
• Why access to lessons isn’t always enough to keep you moving
• The value of accountability, feedback and being surrounded by other HR consultants
• Why launching something at 20% is often better than waiting for perfection
Paul is completely honest about the reality of building a consultancy alongside a full-time job—including the lack of time, the feast-or-famine cycle and how lonely running a one-person business can sometimes feel.
His experience is also proof that you don’t always need another complicated marketing strategy.
Sometimes, one simple action—combined with the right advice and support—is enough to create an immediate return.
👉 Listen now to discover what Paul did, why it worked and how you could apply the same approach to your own consultancy.
Want to build a more predictable pipeline of leads and clients — and grow your HR consultancy to £100K and beyond?
Check out your options here:
https://nickponinski.com/work-with-nick
