How I Built a Small Business Consulting Firm From the Ground Up

Diana Dibble’s Origin Story & Lessons Learned Since 1996

This is Diana’s story in her own words. The story of her becoming a serial entrepreneur and how she built a small business consulting firm. It’s a great story, and heads up – you might need some tissues.

Small business owners and entrepreneurs: here are some takeaways for you.  Many entrepreneurs ask Diana how she started her business. She is transparent when she shares her story as it is not only about Tripod Coaching & Consulting LLC®. Her entry into the world of entrepreneurs starts much earlier.

Diana’s story shows that: 

• You can step out of your comfort zone into an uncharted destination of successful entrepreneurship/serial entrepreneurship.
• It’s possible to manage manages multiple small business consulting firms at the same time if you have the right infrastructure.
• You can survive even when everything around you is challenging because Planning for the “What If”® is an implementable concepts that helps you to continue forward .

The Conversation Starts Like This

“You have a business operations consulting firm? Interesting. What does it do? How and why did you start it?”

These questions could be the follow-up to keep a conversation flowing at a networking event. They could be part of the Q&As at a speaking engagement. They could be the ice breakers on a podcast.

On the surface they seem like simple questions or a straight-forward topic. Not me, I’m different. I see these questions as an opportunity to tell my story. [The short version of course. Telling the detailed version should probably involve food!]

How I Built a Small Business Consulting Firm

If you’re wondering how to build a small business consulting firm, my story is the answer I can offer — not as a checklist, but through lived experience. I built multiple consulting firms over three decades, including the most recent one as a brain tumor survivor. My journey shows what it really takes to create, grow, and sustain a consulting business when life hands you plot twist after plot twist.

My story is not simple nor straightforward. It’s a journey that takes multiple paths, and there are a lot of plot twists along the way.

This is my story – my journey – of how I built a business operations consulting firm from the ground up.

And it’s the story of how Planning for the “What If”® went from a concept to a battle cry.

Before we jump in, I’ve created hyperlinks to key areas of my journey. 👇👇 I’m hyper-organized so it shouldn’t surprise anyone that I included a table of contents for this blog topic.

How do I build a small business consulting firm? Is this really what I want to do?

Short answer is nope. Long answer is also nope.

I didn’t want to be an entrepreneur. I worked for small businesses and a lot of them were small business consulting firms. I knew is wasn’t a walk in the park. The CFO in the company I was working for at the time, saw potential that I didn’t see. He gave me a project saying he would pay me as a 1099. He said it would be my first project as a consultant or more importantly, as an entrepreneur.

My response: “thanks but I’m not interested in owning a business.” What I really was thinking was “how do I build a small business consulting firm?”

I did tell him I would take on the project and the extra 1099 pay as compensation. I earned $1500 and in my mind it was A LOT of money!!

But owning a small business consulting firm / owning a business / being an entrepreneur? No thank you.

Why not?

I saw the responsibility that it takes to own a business, let alone a small business consulting firm. I don’t mind working hard or working long hours. But this is an entirely different level. It’s not for the faint of heart.

I already laid out my career from the time I started my first job through retirement and thought I covered all my bases.

Little did I know but life and the universe had other things planned for me. They probably thought it was funny. I did not.

Life had other plans; the Universe agreed

Two years after my resounding “nope”, I was working for another company. [Plot twist] Out of nowhere I got laid off from my job on a Friday. Honestly, I wasn’t too upset. I was leaving that Friday evening to go on a trip with my mom and sister. The destination was close enough to drive, and it involved spa days, shopping and great food. So I had a “yippee, we can leave earlier now” instead of “oh sh*t! What am I going to do?!?” It was a great weekend. I spent it having fun and hiding my job situation from my mom.

Monday morning came faster than anticipated

Somehow I managed to carve out time over the weekend to create a plan. Looking back this may be one of the first appearances of my Planning for the “What If”® concept. This is what my Monday morning plan included:

• Call the unemployment office and file a claim
• Update my resume and send it out
• Call contacts to see if they have any job openings

There is nothing in this list that says be a consultant or start a small business consulting firm.

So how did I end up owning a consulting business?

Let’s go back to the company that laid me off. My boss and long time friend hired me as his direct report (let’s call him AH-HA). It was great until he left to work for a different company. That was the catalyst for everything that happened next.

Technically my job loss was indirectly his fault. I’m joking but it was a great excuse to try and guilt him into hiring me.

I called him on Monday, told him what happened and said “I need a job.” He said he couldn’t hire me as an employee. He then said he could hire me as a consultant. [INSERT PICTURE OF A SUPRISED LOOK ON MY FACE AND CUE SCARY MUSIC.] Now how the heck to I build a small business consulting firm? I had no clue and I had no choice. I would figure it out in real-time.

Friday I am unemployed; Monday I am an entrepreneur. [PLOT TWIST!!] I didn’t even get to call the unemployment office to file a claim. Oh well!

The door opens to a myriad of possibilities

My first business was born not on purpose, but out of necessity. I needed a job, but fate had other plans for me. 1996 would look very different from what I envisioned.

A few words from an old friend became the first step in the entrepreneurial journey that I didn’t want but was exactly what I was meant to do and be. A fire was lit that would be stoked in many different ways over the next few decades.

In 2001, I started another business and merged my first business into it. This company is still open and successful in 2025. In the interim I opened other businesses and today I have 5 businesses.

I didn’t know then that a simple decision to say yes to an opportunity — to take that side gig in 1994 — would play a pivotal part in the events that would occur in 2021. You’ll see what I mean as you keep reading. [ANOTHER MAJOR PLOT TWIST]

Small business consulting became my lifeblood

I could have gotten a job. I had a lot of contacts and a solid reputation. People knew that I was good at my job and I got unsolicited job offers all the time.

For some reason – and I don’t exactly know why – I decided to take the leap. I would found my own small business consulting firm with my ex-boss as the starting point. That first contract with his company gave me credibility to potential clients. It gave me confidence knowing that I not only could get more clients, but I would be OK.

I won’t lie – I was scared to take such a big leap.

Turns out that I was more than OK. I was making more money; I had control over my schedule; and I could say no to clients that I didn’t want to work with. I learned that “no” is a full sentence, i.e., “no, I don’t want to work with you”; and “no, I don’t want to partner with you.”

I launched head first into a huge personal and professional growth spurt. And I went from reluctant to serial entrepreneur in the decades to follow. [PLOT TWIST <= there are a lot of these in my life]

I want to fulfill a dream and start another company

In 2014, my business partner and I co-founded a wellness center. It was a cool business but the timing was off. Live and learn and then move forward. The idea for another business started percolating in 2017 when the wellness center closed.

This new idea wasn’t well formed, but it didn’t matter. It wasn’t ready yet and neither was I. Little by little it started to grow until it was time to make it a reality. This idea would be another small business consulting firm, but one with a twist.

You may or may not know Tripod Coaching & Consulting LLC®’s origin story. It’s included on our About page, but there is more to this story… more to my story. Remember what happened in 1994? It’s a key date. It’s when an idea was subconsciously planted. It’s when a simple conversation would change the trajectory of my life in more ways than one.

Business operations isn’t just a concept to me. It’s something that I honed at my government contracting company for over two decades. I am wired/built for biz ops. I understand the specific operational areas and how they should interact with each other. I also understand how the revenue and non-revenue generating sides of a business must to interact to create a sustainable, scalable organization. I connect the dots in a way that a lot of traditional business operations professionals and entrepreneurs don’t.

I found my niche

My first business was a small business consulting firm. My second business was a small business consulting firm that morphed into a government contractor. My third business was a wellness center. I knew my next business would be something different. Similar, but still different.

For years, I thought about starting a business operations consulting firm. I figured that I’d start it “one day”. In the meantime I’d do it on an ad hoc basis.

Ad hoc became busier and busier. The calls and messages about “oh sh*t” moments, and requests seeking my advice and help steadily increased. Why? Because I’m really good at “solutioning” (my word) these “oh sh*t” moments. Most of the time, businesses have HR or accounting issues. Other situations might be more complicated and complex. This is when Planning for the “What If”® became more than a concept. It started to shine.

It was starting to come together and I was able to help these small businesses. It brings me joy to make a difference.

What I didn’t know what the biggest plot twist was still coming.

The spark so Tripod Coaching & Consulting LLC® could finally be born

Most companies start from an event that triggers its creation. My first company’s trigger was being laid off. For Tripod, it was an event that I didn’t seeing coming. Or as I like to say: “I did not have this on my Bingo card.”

The trigger was brain tumors [BIG PLOT TWIST!!].

And not just one brain tumor, but two brain tumors. [BIG PLOT TWIST plus OhEmGee!!]

And one of them was a rare tumor type of a rare tumor type. [BIG PLOT TWIST plus OhEmGee!! Plus Are You Seriously?!?]

And these brain tumors became the catalyst for me to finally start this company. [PHEW! Something good!] Fortunately both tumors non-malignant, but even so, it was a scary time. [That was a lot of PLOT TWISTS and a lot of ANDs!!]

2021 is the demarcation line

My brain tumors were diagnosed in late 2021. There were mild indications a year prior but nothing that said “get yourself to a hospital and take care of this right now!” That changed when the symptoms ramped up and my neurosurgeon took everything from park to 4th gear.

A month after my diagnosis I had brain surgery on one of the tumors. Yeah – things moved really quickly.

After a very long surgery, some of my first words coming out of the anesthesia were “something good has to come from this”. People say wild things coming out of anesthesia. The nurses apparently chuckled, but later that night they told me what I said.

A spark happened that day and it stayed as an ember until it became a bright flame. I didn’t have to wait long.

Everything before the call from my doctor is BT – before brain tumors. Everything after we hung up is ABTD – after brain tumor diagnosis. ABTD provided a sense of urgency, but not in a way that most people would expect.

The catalyst that gave me a needed push

Post-surgery gave me a sense of purpose. This business would not just be a small business consulting firm. It would level up using the experience and expertise that comes from sitting between revenue and non-revenue generating sides of a business. It’s a 360 degree view of the organization combined with deep operational knowledge to build a sustainable and scalable company. And my experiences as a brain tumor survivor gives credibility as to why Planning for the “What If”® is so important.

I filed the incorporation papers for Tripod Coaching & Consulting LLC®, purchased my domains, reached out to my web developer, and contacted a trademark attorney. It was 8 months after brain surgery, and less than 3 months after finishing radiation on the residual tumor that couldn’t be completed removed during surgery.

Looking back “what in the heck was I was thinking?” comes up a lot . Truthfully, I should have been spending more time recovering. The tumor left me partially blind in one eye; I was extremely fatigued from the surgery and radiation treatments (all. the. time!), and I had terrible memory issues (it’s improved greatly). The upside is this new business gave me something else to focus on rather than just scheduling and seeing my large team of doctors, and trying to figure out when the extremely long scar would fade.

Regardless, I was ready to take my business operations consulting services to market. I expanded my original idea to include business operations coaching. And I decided to tell my story instead of hiding it away and pretending it never happened.

My story is not just about resilience and hope. It’s also the story of my govcon business surviving me being out of the office for surgery and recovery. The story of how 3 weeks out became 5 weeks out; and how 5 weeks out became 6.5 months out. For the sake of transparency, my neurosurgeon originally said I’d be out 3 weeks. I asked him if I could have 2 extra weeks since I hadn’t had a vacation in years. He laughed and of course, agreed. Neither of us knew at that time that 5 weeks out wasn’t even close.

From brain tumor diagnosis to starting another business after brain surgery

Part of my origin story starts at my brain tumor diagnosis. It continues where I become a brain tumor survivor who starts another business, and then another business.

Wash. Rinse. Repeat. This is how a reluctant business owner becomes a serial entrepreneur. This partly answers the “how did you build a small business consulting firm” question that I’m frequently asked.

My blog posts can only cover so much of my story at one time. So, I’ll save some tidbits for my book and some for the videos that I’m working on.

Here’s where you can learn more about me and my story:

• I was interviewed on the Spared Change Podcast about “Starting a business after an unexpected diagnosis“. This podcast provides more context and is worth watching.
• My story as a brain tumor survivor was also featured by Johns Hopkins Medicine when they did a patient video about me. This video is a deeper dive into my brain tumor survivor story.

These are a few of the many podcasts and videos. They cover a myriad of topics. You can find more of them on the Tripod Speaking webpage.

Planning for the “What If”® becomes a reality

Prior to starting Tripod Coaching & Consulting LLC® I spent more than 2 decades building Design To Delivery Inc’s (D2DInc) business operations infrastructure. My business partner, Molly Gimmel, and I co-founded D2DInc in 2001. I took over D2DInc’s business operations functions and found that I exceled in these activities. One important area was documenting all of the company’s activities to create Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs). My goal was to ensure that company activities were compliant and consistent no matter who executed/implemented them.

I didn’t know at the time that I was building a sustainable, scalable infrastructure. I also didn’t know that this preparation would allow me to be out of the office for an extended recovery. This meant D2DInc continued to operate smoothly because the internal systems and SOPs had already been built and implemented. I also I cross-trained our VP of Business Operations so she can handle most of my tasks.

Planning for the “What If”® is more than just surviving a crisis. It’s proof that a well-built operations foundation allows a business to endure, adapt, and persist, even when the unexpected hits. It’s the essence of Planning for the “What If”®.

What’s Next?

I want to keep helping businesses, particularly small businesses, while growing my speaking career around small business consulting and business operations consulting. I have ready-to-go topics as well as customized topics. More info is available on the Speaking webpage.

Will I build another small business consulting firm? Maybe, but it will niche just like Tripod Coaching & Consulting LLC is niche. Stay tuned.

I also want to use my story as a brain tumor survivor to give hope to those facing the same or similar challenges. It’s a humor filled story of resilience (I believe in finding the funny). I didn’t focus on “why me” when I got my diagnosis. I instead asked myself how I could use this to help people.

It reminds me of the saying that my story could be someone’s roadmap for survival.

What My Story Teaches About Building a Small Business Consulting Firm

Here’s my elevator version. Keep in mind it’s a tall building so I have time for all of this!

• Sometimes entrepreneurship chooses you.
• Comprehensive business operations strategy and functions determine an organization’s sustainability and scalability.
• You don’t have to figure it out all at once – your niche evolves through experience.
• Revenue and expertise aren’t the only things that determine business viability. Resilience and adaptability will also fuel long-term success.
• Planning for the “What If”® helps businesses and entrepreneurs survive the unexpected.
• Most babies fall a few times before they learn to walk. Take a chance, make the leap and don’t be afraid to fail. Build a small business consulting firm that gets up no matter how many times it takes.

Small Business Takeaways

Diana’s story provides insight on her journey as an serial entrepreneur, how she built multiple small business consulting firms, and why she founded Tripod Coaching & Consulting LLC®.

It also shows why business operations is important.

Throughout her career and since founding Tripod Coaching & Consulting LLC®, Diana sees a trend of small business owners and entrepreneurs often focusing on sales, growth, closing deals and that’s great. However, revenue isn’t the only benchmark of a company’s success. There are other factors that directly impact a company’s longevity. So ask yourself:

What’s your foundation built on?
Without strong operations (finance, HR, contracts, compliance, documentation, infrastructure, etc.) you might be building your business on sand.

What can you do?
Invest in your operations now. Document your processes. Build your policies. Execute your Planning for the “What If”® activities.

When revenue generation slows, or something unexpected happens, you need a backup plan. Your operational infrastructure with its solid foundation should be able to carry your company forward.

Business operations is not sexy or flashy. Most entrepreneurs and business owners think it’s boring. But it’s what makes a business sustainable, scalable, and truly built for the long haul.

Need help with next steps with your business?

Are you unsure where to go next or what to do? Do you have questions about how our business operations coaching and consulting services can help your organization?

We know that a lot of businesses struggle with their business operations, particularly if this area isn’t in your “sweet spot”. The impact is that this part of the business is “put it off until later” because the company doesn’t have the ability — or desire — to handle these activities.

That’s where Tripod Coaching & Consulting LLC® can help and fill the gap for small businesses and solopreneurs. Check out our services page for details about what we offer. Our blog has more business operations insights.

If you need help or have any questions about our services, please reach out via the contact page. We can set up a call to talk and we’ll then develop a strategy based on our initial conversation.

You can also use the contact page if you’d like Diana to speak to your organization or at your next event. Make sure to select the correct line in the drop down box and include as many specifics as possible.

We’re also happy to answer questions about this post. Reach out via the contact page and be sure include the blog post name and your question(s). Please be as specific as possible.