What are the major benefits and risks in working as an independent public relations consultant? ...

The major benefit is, of course, the independence that comes with being on your own. An
independent consultant has considerable freedom in choosing how, when, and with whom to do
business. An independent consultant can be as much of a generalist or specialist as he or she desires.
The major risk is that an independent practitioner is entirely responsible for the success or failure of
the consultancy. The practitioner is entirely responsible for every aspect of the operation, including
financial accounting and new client development. While an independent's overhead may be
considerably less than that of a typical agency, there is nothing to fall back upon in a consultancy
when costs outstrip income. For these reasons, independent consultancies are better suited for risktakers
willing to accept failure as a possible price of success.