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 [...]
Category Archive for ‘Consulting’ 
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 [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
Worker Classification: Know the Law
Currently under consideration is a significant increase in effort by the IRS to ensure correct classification of workers. The two classifications are employee vs contractor.
There are many situations where a contractor (especially one working on site with a company while paid hourly via a staffing agency) under the IRS’s guidelines are functioning as employees not [...]