The business environment is changing day to day. No longer is there long-term employment and job security. Consultancy has become a viable and growing working option for individuals since the 1990s. This book has been written for professionals with specific functional knowledge, experience or expertise and those who wish to evaluate whether they want to be consultants and consider an alternative lifestyle to full-time work. It is meant for individuals who are planning to leave ?corporate life? and explore alternative career options, for consultants who are running their own businesses and want to increase their market share and revenue, people looking for better jobs and who wish to generate income, entrepreneurs-in-the-making who wish to begin an independent lifestyle and those who are looking for greater flexibility and more choices in the work they wish to do.
The book comprises four main sections. Section one talks of getting started and includes setting the scene on the consulting industry, evaluating your fit, deciding what type of consulting business you want to run and what sort of success you want. While the content would appear high level, this section helps to give a clear business direction.
Section two discusses getting clients which is a part that most prospective consultants either miss or avoid. This section includes practical tips to reduce the fear of selling and opens up market opportunities in a time-efficient way.
Section three refers to getting money, a phenomenon towards which most people gravitate ? how much to charge and how to collect fees. Most of us want to make money as a consultant and this section helps to do so.
Section four believes in getting organised and describes techniques for bargaining your business including getting your office setup, structuring, consulting assignments and creating your consulting action plan. Unlike a ?real job? there is no company structure and you have to do the organising yourself.
The author, British founder and president of EM-Power, shows by looking at these exercises in the book that those who are part of your support structure can help you to face other issues and increase the mutual understanding of what you are doing and why.
(Macmillan India Ltd, 2/10 Ansari Road, Daryaganj, New Delhi-110002.)
Comments