You will take notes, lots of notes, in your new career as an independent consultant. Furthermore, those notes will matter a great deal to your effectiveness, reputation, and ultimately, your career success. That's why I feel it worthwhile to discuss some ways in which...
If you're leaving your corporate job for a new career as an independent consultant, you may never have had to write a business plan. This is rarely a task that falls upon employees, so unless you have previously owned a business of your own, there's no reason why you...
When you go to work on a consulting customer’s project, that customer is placing a great deal of trust, not only in your abilities to help resolve a business problem, but also in your resolve to be responsible, especially with the knowledge you acquire about the...
In previous posts on this blog, I’ve frequently mentioned the importance of knowing how to market yourself and your business. One way you can do this is by running occasional webinars to share your expertise and engage with potential customers. Add Value to...
If you’re going to start your own business as an independent consultant, with no business partners at all, one thing you need to think carefully about is business continuity, in case you fall victim to circumstances leaving you unable to work for an extended time....
A tale of two Ladies ... Here's an interesting lesson in selling consulting services that happened to me today. You see, whilst I own and manage a number of consulting businesses, I also hire consultants to help me. Often. It's a 'no brainer' really. One of the key...
Consulting is not an easy career. Particularly if you want to start and run your own consulting business. Are you sure you want to start consulting? Or maybe what you have in mind is more like contracting? Many of the people I meet who say they are independent...
OK, this might sound a bit obvious. But consulting in my mind at least, is 95% a 'people' business. But some consultants just don't get it. Over the years I've seen so many consultants, in large firms and small, who are really just technicians. ...
One the hardest things to work out and understand when you first start consulting is how to charge for your services. I'll try to cover this in more detail later showing the various charging approaches. But for now I'd like to mention charging based on a share of...