Anyone moving from corporate management into independence usually starts planning straight away:
• Which service or product do I offer?
• What does my pricing look like?
• How do I build the website?
• How do I win my first clients?
When I went independent more than 20 years ago after my corporate career, I started by making exactly the same mistakes. It took one or two trial balloons before I realised:
I had started in completely the wrong place. I was no longer 20, and I became aware that what I founded now, and how, would shape the plan for the second half of my life.
I realised that the very first question must not be what I sell.
The very first question is: What exactly should your life look like in five years?
Anyone who skips this question may build a financially successful business, but discover in the end that it has created completely the wrong life.
The good news is: anyone who founds a business after years of corporate experience does not start from zero. You bring a lot with you:
• Deep industry expertise and substance
• An established network
• High personal credibility
• And knowledge of real problems the market is willing to pay for
This experience defines the scope of what you can credibly build.
But which business you shape from it depends solely on the life you want:
Two executives with identical experience often need two completely different paths:
• One wants a specialised consultancy with a large team, to grow and scale
• The other wants a handful of excellent assignments, maximum independence and the freedom to work from anywhere.
Both can be extremely successful. But they need two completely different business models.
When I faced that decision back then, I asked myself exactly this question.
For me it became clear: I wanted a life with complete freedom of decision and independence of location, able to work flexibly without being tied to a fixed office or rigid corporate structures.
At the same time, I wanted to make executive search more sustainable, more personal and more candidate-centred than anything I had experienced myself on the company and candidate side.
It was out of exactly this vision of life and work that I built TALENTspy Executive Search more than 20 years ago.
Plan your life first, and then build exactly the business around it that makes this life possible.
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October 13, 2026
