Product Description: So you want to be a consultant? If you have expertise people are willing to pay for and the motivation to work hard at this exciting and rewarding profession, Consulting For Dummies, 2nd Edition, supplies the rest. You’ll find everything you need to set yourself up, create a demand for you services, and succeed!
This friendly, practical, guide shows you how to get your business off the ground and running smoothly, with the latest on developing a marketable idea, running your home office, writing winning proposals, selling your services, and getting referrals. You’ll find expert tips on setting fees, keeping track of time and money, and building a business with new clients, including the latest on using the Internet to market your services and make a name for yourself. Discover how to:
Prepare to make the move to consulting
Start a successful consulting business
Adjust to the consulting life
Build partnerships with clients
Handle financial and legal issues
Understand and develop solutions for client problems
Make great presentations
Negotiate contracts
Promote your business
Implement your recommendations and make them stick
Practice the ABCs of selling
Reward current clients for referrals
Take your consulting business to the next level
Complete with savvy tips on how to improve cash flow, find new clients, and increase your business with existing clients Consulting For Dummies, 2nd Edition, helps you get your business up and running fast.
A Beginner's Guide Worth Consulting! Make no mistake: "Dummies" books are strictly for beginners, and "Consulting for Dummies" is no different. Despite their elementary approach to subject matter, the series is a wonderful introduction to many topics, including the wide world of consulting. Start here for an overview, and move on to bigger and better books after you understand the basics.
Excelent! I highly recommend this book. It is so practical and will give you everything you need to get started in the consulting world, except for your experience. It is a book you will use as a reference tool again and again.
Should have consulted some aspiring consultants first What a disappointment. After a successful 30 year career, I needed advice on how to start working for myself. I already know my field, potential customers, how to set deadlines, do the work, be organized, and what services I can sell. What I don't know is anything about working for myself, out from under the umbrella of a large corporation. What do I need to know re taxes, licenses, permits, assets, depreciation. How to incorporate, anticipate and bill for incidental expenses, anticipate other legal and business needs. Note that it is already 8 years old. Books on business have a very limited life. If you are just dreaming of what it would take to be a consultant, then buy this book. Maybe you will find the authors tips and recommendations very profound. If you are already there, don't buy this book thinking it will answer any of your immediate questions on the mechanics of consulting -- it won't.
What else did you expect? I've run into some rather useful book in the series "For Dummies" but this book almost does honor to its name! And, honestly, what could you expect from Bob Nelson, the author of the "1001 Ways..." series of books? This book is not terrible, actually, but it really doesn't go into much depth. There are better titles to assist you in your pursuit of a self-employed career in consulting (just a simple search of the term "consulting" in Amazon will list a host of them), if you want to go beyond a casual reading sitting at a Barnes and Noble or Border's store, which is what I did with this title, to draw the conclusion that I now share with you. Beginning consultants of the world: consult elsewhere is my piece of advice!
Update: One place where you could look into is "Getting Started in Consulting, Second Edition" by Alan Weiss.
Not a Bad Place to Start ... As an experienced consultant, I was surprised to find the amount of useful information in this book that I did. As a "...For Dummies" book, I expected that the information would be too basic for anyone with any real experience. Certainly, the book is geared toward beginners; however, I felt that the initial client interview checklist, suggestions for creating an implemenation plan, post-implementation impact study, and information on interim and final reports were really solid (although they could/should all be addressed in more detail). My one real complaint about this book is the lack of any meaningful discussion on proposals. All professionals new to consulting should know that proposals are an important marketing tool. Sure, there are a lot of consultants who avoid writing them, but the purpose of the proposal is not only to market the current project but A CHAIN OF PROJECTS. Proposals don't have to be overly complex. In fact, 65-85% of the material can be standard boilerplate. However, when you are long gone and your presentation is all but forgotten, your proposal and final reports will likely still be around. Believe me, the proposal is a powerful marketing device (if done correctly). Unfortunately, this book provides zero insight into how to craft a winning proposal. Otherwise, this is a good little guide for new consultants. However, two far better choices would be Alan Weiss' "Million Dollar Consulting" and/or his "Getting Started in Consulting." Overall grade: B/B+
Anything Goes Trivia
Megaton Man
Tailipoe
Trevor
