A long, long time ago in a suburb far, far away, Rhona-Mae Arca and I worked for a mid-sized software company. We spent lunch times and occasional Friday nights discussing our plans for growing our fledgling side businesses. Rhona-Mae went on to found Musespeak Consulting – and she’s just received major recognition from Roland Music for […]

I usually pride myself on updating Consultant Journal regularly. In fact, I often have a stash of posts written well in advance – I just most more spontaneous ones as they occur to me. Well, that all ground to a halt recently. You see, I decided to sell my home. That meant getting ready to

The past two months have been a blur. Between selling my home, taking on a new client, taking care of sick kids, managing volunteer commitments, buying a home and just the regular routine of parenting and having a life, I’ve felt stretched in all directions.  And I’ve never felt more fortunate to work for myself.

Is a business plan necessary? Maybe if you’re looking for investors or lenders or hoping to reassure a spouse or yourself. But creating a plan opens doors.

If you want to charge higher fees, you can’t be a run of the mill consultant. When people really value what you have to offer, it’s because of scarcity.

Now, economists talk about scarcity all the time. You’re heard of the supply and demand curve. And prices emerge where the two lines cross. Where there’s a supply of services and a corresponding demand. If there is a scarcity of supply and demand is strong, then prices will be higher.

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If you haven’t raised your consulting rate in a while, you’re probably losing money. And if you’re still charging by the hour, you might want to look at other options.

The clock is winding down on 2012, but there are a few days left still. I’m maxing and relaxing on a stay-cation – a vacation at home. But my mind occasionally does turn to my business dreams for the year ahead, even if many of them are rooted in how I want my personal life to look.

Sometimes, life gets in the way and I end up hitting the pause button with work projects. But, at the same time, my self employment as a consultant affords me work-life balance that would be hard to get anywhere else.