Publisher's Synopsis
You Can Make Money as a Consultant Congratulations! You've been hired by a client to work on a project. Presumably, you have some expertise in the area, you have someone on your team who is knowledgeable, or you'll be hiring somebody who understands what needs to be done.
If you want to get out of the nine-to-five grind and stop "working for the man", so to speak, then consulting is a great way to go. What this means is you work as a self-employed person (or some cases, you work for a consulting company) on well-defined (usually) projects with a definite beginning and end. Generally, business use consultants to help meet short-term goals to avoid hiring new staff. Additionally, consultants can bring to the table specific technical expertise for guidance and support. If you play your cards right, you'll find the world of consulting to be very lucrative and rewarding. Sure, it can be stressful, but at least you have more control over your own destiny than you would have working directly for a company. What You Need to Know Direct From an Expert I worked as the Vice President of Consulting for two different consulting firms for over a decade. Later, I took a position as the Director of Computer Operations for a major retailer, and remained there for almost 20 years. In that position, I hired many hundreds of consultants for small, medium and large jobs. Thus, I have a unique viewpoint because I've worked on both sides of the fence. I understand how to be a consultant, and I also understand how to hire and make use of consulting to get work done. What You Will Learn This book provides some of the lessons I've learned over my 35-year career about managing consulting projects. You will learn:- How to create a Statement of Work and what the SOW should include
- Why change can destroy a project and how to control it to your benefit
- How to keep the chaos of the client and the project until control
- What to do about the micromanaging client
- How to handle meetings and prevent them from eating up your time and reducing your profits
- How to communicate with your client
- What to do when the project begins to go south
