90 Days to Success in Consulting

Interested in entering the consulting business? Already have a consulting practice but want to take its profits to the next level? 90 Days to Success in Consulting provides an action plan for success in the ultra-competitive consulting industry. The book is designed to logically take you through the major consulting topics and provide action items to be done in the next 90 days for immediate business functions, as well as for planning the future phases of your consulting journey. The book covers the various opportunities available, including the traps and pitfalls to avoid, ensuring a successful career as a consultant.

• Provides an understandable and implementable 90-day action plan in consulting, whether you're looking to self-consult. are already workingh for a consulting firm, or are contemplating either route.
  
• Helps you develop practical skills in finding and landing contracts, contractors, and employees, and long-term clients, as well as skills in market outreach, staying current, and becoming known for the marketable skills you possess.
  
• Sets milestones for you to achieve within the next 90 days, while dealing with people, processes, and technology in a cohesive manner to create a high-performance practice.
  
• Provides real-world accounts from the author's successful practices that make the advice both relevant and interesting.

• Part I: Breaking Into Consulting as a Profession
• Chapter 1: What Is Consulting?
• Who Is a Consultant?
• The Goal: Becoming a Top Consultant
• Consulting in Hard Times
• For Those Entering Consulting Post-Recession
• Client Value-Add
• Action Plan
• Chapter 2: The Traits of a Professional Consultant
• The Right frame of Mind
• Clearing Your Life Deck
• Traits of a Good Consultant
• Time Management
• The Consultant Image
• Health
• Travel
• Action Plan
• Chapter 3: The Top Consultant Image Building Blocks
• Business Name
• Logo: The Little Icon That’s Supposed to Convey Everything
• Slogan
• Website
• Other Tools of the Trade
• Domiciling Your Business
• Action Plan
• Part II: Establishing and Expanding the Practice
• Chapter 4: The Bottom Line
• Securing Income to Get Started
• Brokers
• Business Formation and Taxation
• Insurance
• Startup Money
• Action Plan
• Chapter 5: How to Stay Current: Technology and Skills
• Focusing Your Technology Coverage
• Mastering Domains
• Technology Environment
• Planning Time for Learning
• Updating Technology
• What If Technology Is Not Enough?
• Action Plan
• Chapter 6: Service Planning
• Categories of Services
• Clients Need Consultants
• Consultants Your Clients Will Want
• Packaged Services
• Training Services
• Project Services
• Action Plan
• Chapter 7: Establishing Fees
• Hourly Consulting Rates
• Rate Flexibility
• Rate Sheet
• Fixed-Bid Services
• Billing Variations
• In Conclusion
• Action Plan
• Chapter 8: The Role of the Consultant
• Consulting Is a Personal Relationship
• Curb Your Enthusiasm
• Credit Is a Four-Letter Word
• Corporations Are Problem Creators
• Consulting Is About Tradeoffs
• Be a Positive Communicator
• Be Very Conscious of Naming Conventions
• The Occam’s Razor Principle of Consulting
• What Could Go Wrong?
• The Use of Guiding Principles
• Action Plan
• Chapter 9: Client Contracts
• Master Services Agreements
• Opening
• Personnel
• Confidentiality
• Payment Terms
• Rights Ownership
• Rates
• Liability Limits
• Administrivia
• Statement of Work
• Action Plan
• Chapter 10: Acquiring People
• People: Who Needs Them?
• Employee styles
• Regular Salary
• Regular Hourly
• Part-Time
• Temporary
• Per Diem
• Casual
• Finding People
• Action Plan
• Chapter 11: Requests for Information/Requests for Proposals
• When to Respond
• What’s in an RFP?
• RFP Timelines
• Action Plan
• Chapter 12: Client Communications
• Communication Should Be Honest
• Listen First
• Communication Should Be Frequent
• Structured Project Communication
• Political Sustainability of Work Product
• Action Plan
• Chapter 13: Writing and Speaking
• Writing Articles
• Public Speaking
• Other Channels to Fame
• Weeding Through the Feedback
• Action Plan
• Part III: Beyond Initial Success
• Chapter 14: Managing Capital
• Top 10 Spending Decisions in Consulting
1. Hire or Contract the Billable Team
2. Hire Sales
3. Pay for or Self-Build Marketing
4. Have a Board
5. Office Space
6. Annual Bonuses
7. Accounting and Legal
8. Bookkeeping, Accounts Payable/Accounts Receivable
9. Conference and Training Attendance and Sponsorship
10. Technology Environment
• Accounts Payable and Accounts Receivable
• Financial Statements
• Action Plan
• Chapter 15: Partnerships
• Oh, the People You’ll Meet in Consulting
• Partnership Business Formation
• Deal-Based Partnerships
• Partnerships with Vendors
• Action Plan
• Chapter 16: Getting the Word Out
• The Campaign
• The Telescript and Being Prepared for Conversation
• The Target List
• Newsletter
• Action Plan
• Chapter 17: Marketable Value and Exit Strategies
• That’s Not a Marketable Business
• Business Valuation
• Timing Is Everything
• Valuation Metrics
• To Sell or Not
• The Deal
• Action Plan
• Chapter 18: Parting Words
• It’s Not What You Make
• Save Some for Me!
• Riding the Roller Coaster
• Buying Self-Determination
• Giving Back
• Less Than All-In Consulting
• Ethical Issues
• Have I Held Back?
• Final Thoughts
• Action Plan

Ok, the 90-day promise of the title you need to take with some suspicion, but it is surprisingly crisp and practical, with a lot of anecdotal evidence. Of course, it seems to assume you have some ambition that is larger than a one-person company, but that is in my opinion pretty refreshing.

In all, a very good book, that I even believe some new-fangled entrepreneurs could learn something from, at the start-up stage.