Happy Independence Day to our American readers! We already celebrated Canada Day this week, so we’re on a roll with a theme of independence. And, when you’re a consultant, independence is pretty darn important. When you work for yourself, you have both the risks and rewards of being independent. When you break free from your
Happy Independence Day! Read More »
Writing a proposal is something you’ll be called on to do many times in your consulting career. Once you’re established your proposal goal, you need to consider your audience. The audience for your proposal is the organization that called for the proposal. It’s important to consider the needs and requirements established in the request for
Writing proposals – evaluating your audience Read More »
As a consultant, it’s sometimes tempting to try to be all things to all people. A prospective client contacts you and asks if you can do "X". You’ve done X before, but only a few times and it isn’t really what you excel at doing. However, it’s hard to turn down a new client and
Discovering your niche Read More »
It’s Canada Day here in, well, Canada and I’m enjoying a long weekend with friends and family. For those of you who live elsewhere, I’ll explain — Canada Day is our national holiday. So, instead of working on Consultant Journal, I thought I’d highlight a past article: donating a car for start-up cash (although it
Freelance consultants and independent consultants are the same thing. If you’re self-employed as a consultant, then you’re freelance. It’s redundant to put "freelance consultant" on your business cards, unless you’re deliberately looking to set yourself apart from consultants who work for larger consulting firms. However, if you’re looking to market yourself to a company, emphasizing
Freelance consultant? Indie consultants freelance Read More »
Independent consultant — it’s an important term to understand. Are you an independent consultant or are you actually an employee of your supposed client? If you’re working full-time for a client, working their hours and using their offices and tools, there’s a good chance you’re actually an employee, not an independent consultant. The IRS has
Independent consultant? Determining an independent Read More »
Sometimes, people ask me if it’s expensive to work from home. They point out all the home office supplies I need. However, by factoring those items and overhead into my consulting fees, I offset those costs. In comparison, have you ever considered the cost of an office job? One Families.com writer summarizes expenses you have
Does it cost more to work in a regular office job? Read More »
As a consultant, you can enjoy a more flexible lifestyle than people stuck in regular jobs. But could you have a four-day work week? Business technology consultant Mark Shead suggests consulting can lead to a shorter work week. Although I haven’t had a compressed work week for a while, I definitely worked a shorter week
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For all the tips on how to become a consultant, there’s nothing,quite like a story from someone who’s actually made the leap. Dan Lockton has a field report from his recent time in the trenches as a consultant in industrial design. In his report, he notes a key reason that many clients turn to
Field report: what one consultant has learned Read More »
Writing solid proposals is vital to winning clients. If you create even short proposals for clients, you’ll look more professional than someone who patches together a quick quote. No matter how elaborate your proposal, be sure to be clear on the proposal goal. In defining your goal, you need to think about both the client’s
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