The last year I’ve been working with smaller companies because frankly, I was burnt out on big corporate thinking. Multi-million dollar projects go on and on for years with little to show the end user, meetings upon meetings and meetings about meetings. Lots of time and money spent debating company policies, procedures and processes, creating [...]
Author Archives 
Tae FitzSimons •
How a Japanese Restaurant Taught Me to be a Better IT Consultant
Recently, I had lunch at a local Japanese restaurant and learned something important about business. As soon as I walked in I was greeted, not just by the hostess but by all the nearby staff. Everyone had a bright smile and upbeat attitude. I started my lunch on a good note. The customer service was [...]
Are Clients Asking You to Work for Free?
Some companies think they can negotiate aggressively with small consulting firms with the promise of future opportunities. They’ll increase scope and decrease cost with the bait that the firm would be proving itself for larger upcoming projects.
Walk away if you know that you will lose money on the project. Even if it’s a big name [...]
How to Use LinkedIn for Business Leads
Are you really using LinkedIn? Not, do you have a profile and occasionally accept a connection invite? If you’re a Splat you should be on LinkedIn just about everyday. Here is how a few Splats are using this business networking tool to get new business:
Check profiles of the people in your next meeting or networking [...]
Splat Collaboration
The last 10 years I’ve worked with a lot of Splats. It seems that many independent consultants and small firms are so darn secretive. Our industry is full of tight mouthed individuals that don’t like to share knowledge or lend a helping hand unless it’s for a potential client or billable.
Yes, Keep on Billing is [...]
Discussion: Pros and Cons of Freelancing
On the radio program AirTalk, Larry Mantle discussed the pros and cons of freelancing with guest Brian Goler of ODesk.
Are Splats supplementing client work with freelancing? Let’s discuss in the comments. Here are some questions to start us off:
Have you done freelance work?
How do you define freelance? ( vs project, contract or SLA work?)
Have you [...]
Defuse a Hostile Situation with Feedback
Every consultant has multiple stories about nightmare projects. You know the ones with more people issues than technical. It can be a symptom of a dysfunctional company culture, poor management or staffing choices, distrust and resentment from past issues and personality conflicts. Whatever the reason, there is clearly a log jam of emotional content blocking [...]
1 Employer vs Multiple Clients
Nowadays, it seems like being a full-time employee is riskier than being an independent consultant because you’re getting all your sense of stability and income from one source. If you had multiple clients and should one client project end, it’s far less devastating.
The same goes for working with just one client full-time. It’s great to [...]
SplatSkills: Business Apologies
There’s a lot of public apologies lately. Tiger Woods and Akio Toyoda are among the most recent. Tiger for family values/morality issues. Akio Toyoda on behalf of a company that made serious product safety mistakes. They apologize because human nature desires an honest acknowledgment of wrongdoing, of the mistakes made regardless of intent and acceptance [...]
When to Officially Incorporate
Thinking about starting your own consulting business? Have you decided that you’ve thought about it for long enough and you’re ready to jump in? You’re excited and want to form your company right away. CEO? President? Founder? You’ve picked your title, company name and maybe you have a partner. So why not go ahead and [...]