The New Business of Consulting: The Basics and Beyond (Hardcover)

Foreword

Acknowledgments

Exhibits and the Companion Website

Introduction

One So You Want to be a Consultant

What Is Consulting?

Four Ways to Get Started

Why Consulting Now?

Myths About Consulting

Realities and Rewards of Consulting

Just What Are You Getting Yourself Into?

For the Consummate Consultant

Two Talents And Tolerance

Your Skills for Success

Personal Characteristics of Successful Consultants

Roles You May Play

Signs of a Mediocre Consultant

Your Personal Situation

Caution: Business Owner Ahead

Entrepreneurial Characteristics

For the Consummate Consultant

Three Dollars And Sense

How Much Money Do You Require?

How Much Should You Charge?

Selecting a Pricing Structure

Other Pricing Decisions

Other Charges

Fee Increases

Ethics of Pricing

Money Discussions

Value of a Guarantee

For the Consummate Consultant

Four Starting . . .

Why Some Startups Succeed and So Many Fail

What’s in a Name?

Selecting an Accountant

Selecting a Legal Entity

A Business Plan to Guide You

Plan to Use Your Business Plan

Start-Up Costs

Finding Your Niche

Your Image is Everything

Experiencing the Experience Maze

For the Consummate Consultant

Five . . . And Staying in Business

Marketing from Day One

Creating Your Marketing Plan

Using the Internet

Surprising but Practical Thoughts on Marketing

Tactics for Low-Budget Marketing

Contacting Potential Clients

Proposals Lead to Contracts

Why Would You Refuse an Assignment?

For the Consummate Consultant

Six The Cost of Doing Business

Keeping Records for Your Consulting Business

Watch Your Cash Flow

Track Your Expenses

Set Aside Petty Cash

Charge Your Client

Project Revenues

Deal with Bad Debts

Keep an Eye on Your Numbers

For the Consummate Consultant

Seven Building a Client Relationship

Relationships: It’s Why You’re in Business

The First Meeting

Four Phases of Building a Client-Consultant Partnership

Adding More Value

How Many Clients Do You Need?

How to Improve the Relationship Continuously

It’s the People

Maintain the Relationship After the Project

Ensure Success

More Value for the Client

For the Consummate Consultant

Eight Growing Pains

Adding People

Growing Without Increasing People

Expand Your Geographical Market

Doing Everything You Can to Grow Your Current Business

For the Consummate Consultant

Nine The Ethics of the Business

Consultant to Client

Consultant to Consultant

Client to Consultant

Parting Ethics Shots

For the Consummate Consultant

Ten Exude Professionalism

Competencies to Boost Your Consulting Success

Continuing to Learn

Balancing Your Life and Your Business

Managing Your Time

Giving Back

For the Consummate Consultant

Eleven Do You Still Want to Be a Consultant?

A Week in a Consultant’s Life

Visualizing Success

Taking Action

Get Ready, Get Set . . .

For the Consummate Consultant

Resources

Reading List

About the Author

Index