This book provides consultants with a career framework to build, grow, and transform their consulting businesses by becoming brilliant at the basics. The Odyssey process challenges current thinking and offers a methodology to help readers rise to the top of the profession by applying leading-edge techniques and methodologies.An ideal companion to t
Everything you ever wanted to know about consulting—a practical roadmap for aspiring entrepreneurs Seismic changes occurring in the workforce are leading to more and more people entering the world of contract, freelance, and contingency work. Rapid changes in demographics and advances in technology have led companies and talent to engage in profoundly new ways and consulting is one of the keys to success. The New Business of Consulting is authentic and practical, and shares the knowledge and skills required to start and grow a successful consulting business. From how to make a smooth career transition, to how to determine a consulting fee, to how consultants inadvertently create a bad reputation, it covers everything you need to know to thrive and flourish in this competitive field. Covers contemporary topics, such as how to achieve success in the gig economy Discloses a reliable technique to land the clients you want Presents options to help you balance your life and your business Prepares you for naming your business, managing critical financial issues, and building a client relationship Shows you how to take your income and impact beyond working as a solopreneur The crucial start-up days of a consulting business may be frenetic and fraught with questions. This new edition provides sanity and answers all the questions. It includes practical tools, templates, and checklists that you can download and implement immediately.
Leading entrepreneurs into the multi-billion dollar consulting industry, the experts at Entrepreneur show you how to capitalize on your talents to help others achieve their business goals. Coached by experts, learn to define your market, find and keep clients, obtain licenses, set rates, monitor cash flow, hire staff, prepare contracts, agreements, and reports, and more. Includes new interviews with successful consultants, updated answers to frequently asked questions, and a completely refreshed list of the top 20 consulting businesses.
How can you take your skills and expertise and package and present it to become a successful consultant? There are proven time-tested principles, strategies, tactics and best-practices the most successful consultants use to start, run and grow their consulting business. Consulting Success teaches you what they are. In this book you'll learn: - How to position yourself as a leading expert and authority in your marketplace - Effective marketing and branding materials that get the attention of your ideal clients - Strategies to increase your fees and earn more with every project - The proposal template that has generated millions of dollars in consulting engagements - How to develop a pipeline of business and attract ideal clients - Productivity secrets for consultants including how to get more done in one week than most people do in a month - And much, much more
The definitive guide to getting out of the office and getting into consulting Getting Started in Consulting, Fourth Edition is the acclaimed real-world blueprint to professional and financial freedom. For nearly two decades, this invaluable resource has helped thousands of people quit the daily grind and become their own boss. This practical and motivational guide provides the tools and knowledge to control your future and secure your fortune. From establishing goals and sorting out the legal and financial paperwork, to advanced marketing strategies and relationship building techniques, this indispensable book offers step-by-step instructions for you to establish and grow your own consultancy business. This extensively revised and updated fourth edition includes new and expanded coverage on topics including utilizing informal media, changes in legal and financial guidelines, key distinctions of wholesale and retail businesses, and much more. Author Alan Weiss delivers expert advice on how to combine minimal overhead with optimal organization to produce maximum income. Every step in the process is clearly explained, including financing, marketing, bookkeeping, establishing your fees, and more. This guide is a comprehensive, one-stop source for everything you need to prosper in the rapidly expanding world of private consultancy. Adopt a pragmatic and profitable strategy to achieve incredible results from your consultancy business Learn to identify and address the most commons issues facing your prospects and clients Leverage technology to reduce labor, maximize profitability, and increase discretionary time Access sample budgets, case studies, references and appendices, downloadable tools and forms, and online resources The modern business landscape presents unique opportunities for those willing to take the leap from corporate offices to home offices. Getting Started in Consulting, Fourth Edition is the must-have guide for anyone seeking to cut their own path to their own consulting business.
This volume in the Business Analysis Professional Development Series by renowned expert and best-selling author, Karl Wiegers, and a group of noteworthy contributors, provides experienced, advanced-level business analysis and project management practitioners with proven strategies and tips for making the successful transition from highly respected internal expert to a fulfilling and financially rewarding career in consulting. Key Features: Addresses how to effectively lay the foundation and structure of your consulting business; how to deal with or avoid the many pitfalls of working outside the corporate world and working remotely from home; and how to balance life, family, and work Presents a list of next steps at the end of each chapter with actions you can take immediately to begin applying the guidance and tips provided Furnishes valuable strategies and tips for such essentials as setting rates for your services, invoicing, purchasing appropriate insurance, establishing important business rules or policies, managing your finances and taxes, and other administrative aspects of your consultancy Articulates how to market your services, land both new and repeat business, negotiate deals, and craft written agreements with clients Describes how to establish multiple revenue streams, ways to leverage your work to develop sources of passive income, and some important issues of copyright, fair use, and managing and protecting your valuable intellectual property Provides sample checklists to help you keep all the activities you will be juggling as a consultant under control Identifies effective techniques for engaging clients in various situations, as well as warning signs about clients who can cause you headaches and how to deal with them Supplies solutions to a wide variety of problems and challenges of the consulting world, contributed by a group of noteworthy independent consultants with diverse experiences Discusses other common consultant activities that can generate a steady flow of revenue such as training, presenting at conferences, and other public speaking, and provides guidance and tips for delivering effective presentations with confidence Offers strategies and tips pertaining to partnering with other consultants on larger projects and how to make such arrangements work Examines the value of participating in professional associations and pursuing relevant professional certifications as a way to market your services and attract new clients and opportunities Explores the benefits of writing white papers and articles for magazines, journals, websites, and blogs as a means to simultaneously share your knowledge with the world and market your expertise to prospective clients Elaborates on the process and value of writing a book in the area in which you consult, how to get it published and distributed by a reputable publishing company that can reach your market, how to co-author a book effectively, and how a good selling book can be a powerful tool for getting clients and building your business WAV offers downloadable templates for consulting, writing, speaking, and licensing agreements, and checklists and forms to help you plan and manage your consulting business--available from the Web Added Value(TM) Download Resource Center at www.jrosspub.com
Communicate with greater impact. Have you ever been caught at the end of a presentation when your audience, perhaps a leadership team or a Steering Committee, looks at you blankly and asks this most uncomfortable question: 'So what?' How does that help? If you have been in that position once, you don't want to be there again. You want to know how to answer that question in one single, powerful sentence. Or, even better, set yourself up so nobody asks it. In this book, communication strategists Davina Stanley and Gerard Castles reveal their proven approach. It's all about using storylines to get to the 'So what' fast, and being able to make a case to back it up. You can unlock the power of the 'So what' strategy by taking five steps, which are outlined in this book: 1: Understand why mastering storylining is worth the investment. 2: Learn how to use a storyline to identify and harness the 'So what'. 3: Master the seven classic storyline patterns. 4: Use storylines to shape the communication you share. 5: Introduce storylining in your business. Packed with examples, stories, insights and practical steps, Davina and Gerard show you how to apply these strategies to stop your audiences asking you, 'So what? How does that help us?'.
Today, as the nation's population is becoming more and more diverse, it is imperative for students to learn how to effectively grow businesses that serve a variety of customers, are owned by people from a broad range of backgrounds, and are inclusive in their employment practices. Multicultural Marketing and Business Consulting has been developed over a 15-year period to guide learning as students complete complex projects with a variety of small businesses, with an emphasis on solving marketing and management problems in culturally diverse and rapidly changing business environments. In project-based courses, students also learn valuable consulting and business assistance skills. The book provides strategies, techniques, and tools for meeting the unique challenges faced by entrepreneurs who are Latino, Asian/Pacific Islander, African American, and from other culturally diverse and underrepresented groups. Thaddeus Spratlen is professor emeritus of marketing at the University of Washington and a leading expert on multicultural marketing and business assistance for urban enterprises. Leslie Lum has worked for a Fortune 100 company, a global bank, and as manager of a retail start-up. Detra Y. Montoya is clinical associate professor in the W. P. Carey School of Business at Arizona State University. Michael Verchot is the founding director of the Business and Economic Development Center at the University of Washington Foster School of Business.
