This morning, I was astonished to discover that someone I know has been charging the same consulting fees for TEN years! Ten! And, not only that, this consultant only charges $50 an hour! Yikes! If this consultant had merely increased fees at the rate of inflation, they’d be charging $61 an hour now. I mean, […]
How often do you raise your rates? Read More »
This week’s Friday 5 covers the top 5 things to do while stranded at the airport. Consultant Steve Woodruff provides several goofy ways to spend your time in the airport terminal. I haven’t travelled for business much recently, but, in 2003, I went on a big sales jag that saw me to Des Moines, Chicago,
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As consultants we can often get caught up with finding the next contract, but are we looking in the right place? Although important to garner new clients, sometimes we let our past clients wither away. It’s easy to do as we get caught up with one contract after another. It’s unfortunate though because our past
Your sphere of influence Read More »
It’s St. Patrick’s Day, which has me thinking about all things green. And, speaking of green, are you someone who falls prey to consulting envy? If you’re self-employed (or even just thinking about it), it’s easy to think everyone else is doing better than you are. I know I’ve fallen into this trap. I frequently
In starting and growing a consulting business, you face many decisions. One of the earliest decisions you need to make involves the structure of your business. Should you set up a sole proprietorship, partnership, corporation or some other structure? Nina Kaufman offers this discussion of the reasons to avoid sole proprietorship. However, even if sole
Friday 5: why avoid sole proprietorship Read More »
Tax time always tests my organizational skills. I collect dozens of business receipts in a month. Many of these are from retailers that print with disappearing ink. Typically, tax-collecting agencies prefer readable receipts should you—I shiver even mentioning it—ever be audited. Thankfully, a friend of mine told me about a solution, Neat Receipts. This small
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After more than 10 years in consulting, I’ve gone through a lot of goal-setting exercises. Some of those goals included: planning a consulting business graduating from an entrepreneurship program getting my first client achieving part-time success leaving my full-time job making more than I did in my full-time job securing my first "Fortune 500" client
Measuring and defining success Read More »
As a consultant, you’ll need to write on a regular basis. Email messages, proposals and reports are part of just about any consultant’s toolkit. Although you don’t need to write with the skill of a professional writer, you can get ahead by learning to write well. Check out five tips for quality writing. (As someone
Friday 5: on writing well Read More »
Via Christopher Hawkins, I found this post on firing 11 different kinds of clients. I especially liked his advice about the "Slow Pay" client who doesn’t pay on time. As I’ve mentioned before, I don’t tolerate clients who miss payment deadlines. I have a pretty strict process that I follow when a client doesn’t pay.
Firing different types of clients Read More »
I have a bit of a baby face. Always have. Hopefully, I always will. And that baby face has sometimes been the bane of my career, since people seem to think I’m younger than I am. "Aren’t you a little young to be a consultant?" people sometimes asked when I was starting out. Um, no.
How much experience do you need for consulting? Read More »
