Question:
ice. In the past, when I have worked as a consultant, it was by chance that I got to work as a consultant. Now I would like to find clients myself. How should I start ?

Answer:
If you are starting as a consultant, you are starting a small business and should treat the startup as such.

A business needs to consider having both a business plan and a Strategic Business Plan.  A business should have both (if seeking capital from outside sources), but a Strategic Business Plan is an absolute necessity (if you plan to be successful).  

A business plan, by itself, is generally a marketing tool used to convince potential investors that you are a worthy vehicle for their investment.  It requires SOME of the same front-end planning that is required for a Strategic Business Plan, but is a different document with a decidedly different purpose and audience.  

I use the following construct with my clients: A Strategic Business Plan details what business you "really" are in ("Purpose" or "Mission"); your assessment of the relevant business environmental elements; your assumptions about the future ("Assumptions"); your business goals ("Goals"); your business strategies ("Strategies") you will use to achieve your Goals; and detailed action plans ("Action Plans") to convert your intentions to realities.  The Strategic Business Plan guides your daily/ weekly/monthly/annual allocations of resources (money/time/effort) to your various business activities and ensures that your expenditures of those resources have some coherency that facilitates your achieving your desired business ends (Goals).   Periodic (I use annually as an a-priori frequency) reassessment of these elements is required to ensure that your strategic planning stays attuned to changing business environmental conditions and opportunities.  

I haven't seen any software that I believe adequately leads a small business or association through the essentials of Strategic Business Planning.  Taking the complex processes used by larger companies, and appropriately tailoring them to small businesses, which operate with limited excesses of time, funds, and effort, is a niche capability.  

Your statement of Mission or Purpose is the critical starting point and should require a great deal of HARD thinking on your part, because it is the keystone for all that follows in building your Strategic Business Plan.  It should specify what your (consulting) business will provide and to whom, irrespective of changes in profits, numbers of employees, changes in political environments, physical location, tax and operating laws and regulations, etc.  The WHAT YOU SELL part can be very tricky to figure out (e.g., the president of Revlon reportedly revealed that, although Revlon manufactures and distributes cosmetics, what they really sell is HOPE). Your Purpose or Mission statement significantly constrains or enhances the way you view your consulting business and the challenges and opportunities that arise.  

The remaining parts of Strategic Business Planning are equally easy -- but, in response to your question, this is where you have to start.  

It's difficult to say whether techniques that may work in the USA would be effective in Finland, but here are some thoughts:

Your first, and most important task is to decide what kind of clients you would like to serve. Academic achievements, even ones as impressive as yours, may not be worth very much in attracting some kinds of clients, e.g. small businesses. I would suggest that you try to capitalize on your experience and accomplishments by carefully defining client profiles where that background would be especially valuable and recognized. Since I don't know what field you're in, I can't suggest just who these prospective clients might be, but perhaps universities and government agencies might be fertile grounds. Then contact the specific departments in prospective clients' organizations that you have identified, that would be involved in doing whatever it is that you do. Get as close to the decision makers as you can. Some universities and government agencies have very formal bidders' lists and procedures for engaging consultants. You should determine if this is the case for each prospect; if it is, arrange to get on their list; if not, then try to identify what their process i s for engaging a consultant.