Here is a reply I left on a private forum on personal finance that I thought might be of interest. The questions was “What do you say when people ask if you are retired?”

In my 70s I probably look the part. I collect SS and my RMD. But I still dabble with my consulting practice, so when asked I offer one of the following:

• I’m semi-retired (whatever that means)
• I keep failing retirement
• I retired at 41 when I went on my own

The last may be the most accurate. I was still “working” but it never felt that way. And when I hit the first million a few years later, I was having fun, so why stop? Plus I had the freedom to take time off anytime. And no bosses telling me what to do.

Never regretted leaving the rat race early, even though not fully FI (financially independent) at the time. Nor did my late business partner when I asked if he had regrets a few weeks before the cancer got him. His response, said with a chuckle, “Maybe one regret. Perhaps we should have done this sooner.” But we had 28 fun filled years working (or was it retired) together.

Still having fun, and would do it again in a heartbeat.

I received several “likes” on “failing retirement.” I stay involved at a low level for fun (and profit.) As a college friend who does the same says, “It keeps your mind from going to seed.” I’ll leave that assessment up to those who know me 🙂

But one of the joys of consulting is that you never need to fully retire. There does not need to be a day where you pack up your desk, go home, and wonder what to do next. If you like what you are doing, you can keep doing it at whatever level you desire. And it even brings in “fun money” for the occasional toy. 

I stay involved these days teaching classes, but no longer do one-one-one consulting other than by phone. Thanks to COVID, the teaching is all on-line, something I had been considering for some time. My reluctance was whether I’d miss the live personal feedback, but after several multi-day Zoom classes, I’m hooked. No more planes and hotels!

If you are already retired but bored or restless, consider starting a consulting practice. You may even find you enjoy “working” again. More details and examples here.

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This blog in not focused solely on Consulting, but also in achieving Independence (Occupational, Financial, and/or Locational).

Consulting is but one way to achieve any or all. It has worked well for me, and why I share my personal experiences in hopes it may help others.

Here are two books I recently read — memoirs that describe how two young couples broke free from the rat race and pursued their independence. Neither are consultants, but both work from home. I found the stories inspiring and refreshing.

Meet the Frugalwoods – Achieving Financial Independence Through Simple Living – Elizabeth Willard Thames – Harper Collins (2018)

A personal memoir by a finance blogger, describing her transition from an uneasy yuppie (young urban professional) in Cambridge MA to a happy homesteader in Vermont, achieving financial independence at age 32. It reminded me of my journey to independence, which started at 32 with a part time consulting practice.

In 2014, Liz and her husband Nate were on the young urban fast track. But the prospect of being on the corporate hamster wheel for the next thirty years was depressing. (I remember that feeling.) Rather than moping about it as so many do, they made a plan, took action, and began to save bunches of money — eventually over 70% of their take home pay. Their dream was to retire to a homestead in the woods.

Already blogging, Liz documented their journey of unconventional frugality in her blog, the Frugalwoods. By 2017 they reached their goal, and are now living their dream on a sixty-six acre homestead in rural Vermont with their two young daughters. Liz continues with her blog, sharing their adventures in frugality and living the “good life.”

Personal note – We lived a frugal life and even did “urban homesteading” in our 20s, but never moved to the woods. (Gardened, canned, Mother Earth News and more.) Our route to independence was via a JumpToConsulting (see EMIGURU.COM)

If You Lived Here You Would Be Home By Now: Why We Traded Commuting Life for a Little House on the Prairie – Christopher Ingraham – Harper Collins (2019) 

Another personal memoir by a journalist, describing his transition from a frustrated East Coast commuter in Maryland to contented small town life in rural Minnesota. It reminded me of growing up in rural Nebraska, although I am happy living an urban life.

In 2015, Christopher ran across an obscure study as a data reporter for the Washington Post. In the 1990s, the USDA ranked all the counties in the US by scenery and climate. Sensing the chance for a fun article,  he chose to write about the “ugliest county in the country” – Red Lake County, MN. Almost on the Canadian border, the frigid winters and the plainness of the prairie (no lakes or forest) earned it the bottom slot on the list.

When the story went viral, the residents of Red Lake County invited him to visit. Expecting to be excoriated, he was treated to classic “Minnesota Nice,” including a marching band on his arrival. Impressed by the warmth of the people and disgruntled with his commute and the East Coast cost of living, he eventually decided to move there. The book highlights his many humorous adventures adapting to life in the frozen north. He still writes remotely for WaPo.

Personal note –  “Minnesota Nice” is real. My wife was born and raised there, and I spent 25 years there. It it where we started the consulting business, and where we regularly return for several months each year (in the summer — not the winter) to see grandkids and more.

Both books are quick reads, and both lend proof to the idea that you can follow your own path to independence and a better life. More here:

• Consulting as a Path to Financial Independence 
• Small Town Living – A Path To Financial Independence
• Location Independent Consulting
• Top Ten Reasons to Become an Independent Consultant

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Here is a reply I left at “Husker Connect,” an alumni forum at the University of Nebraska. As an aside, I was by far the oldest alum to reply to this question. Can not believe it has been over 50 years 🙂

Some Huskers are considering a career change. Why (and how) did you take the leap to transition into a new job or career field?

—What led me to a leap of faith? Being laid off from an engineering job less than two years after graduation, with a very pregnant wife. I remember thinking, “So this is how the game is played.” So I set my goal on having my own business, with no idea what that might be. A second layoff a few years later solidified my thinking.

—How did I prepare for it? I studied small businesses, and started some side hustles. One that worked best was teaching adult evening classes on electronics. That skill later became an important (and lucrative) part of my future engineering consulting & training firm.

—How did I navigate the change? Realizing my engineering background alone was not enough, I took a job as a sales engineer ( a career shift itself), followed by a marketing position and a stint at a startup. Dropped an MBA program when I realized it was NOT taking me where I wanted to go. Tried to leap once and failed. Tried again later and succeeded – the day the stock market crashed in 1987. Still at it 33 years later (although now semi-retired and just having fun.)

—What advice would I offer? Have an honest discussion with yourself about what YOU want out of life. Assess what you enjoy (and are good at), and what you don’t enjoy. Focus on the former, and forget the latter. If not sure, try a bunch of stuff — side hustles are great for that. Backfill your deficiencies as needed. Live beneath your means so you have financial options rather than being an economic slave.

—Finally, enjoy the ride. My business mantra has been, “Have some fun, do some good, make some money.” Mine has been a great if varied career. Wishing you the best — Daryl Gerke (PE), UNL ’68-BSEE.

Hoping some of you may find this useful. And don’t delay — the years go by fast. In retrospect, making my personal leap (or JumpToConsulting) was the second best decision in my life. (The best was asking my co-conspirator to marry me.)

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Time for a harsh reality check from Uncle Daryl. No, it is not all peaches & cream starting and running a consulting practice… or any business.

But for me, it still beats working for somebody else.

This post was inspired by an almost constant barrage of human interest stories on the news about people losing their businesses to COVID-19. Please know I am very sympathetic and understand the pain. It hurts — I’ve been there myself.

But nothing in business (or life) is guaranteed. You need to consider that from the start. Statistics show 20% of small businesses fail in the first year, and 50% in the first five years.

So before you even start, ask yourself the following:

• What if this doesn’t work? It might not.
• What is Plan B (or C…)? Be ready to pivot.
• How can I minimize (but not eliminate) risk? Be bold, but be prudent.

On a positive note, I love the quote from Bob Parsons (GoDaddy Founder and now a billionaire), “Remember, if it doesn’t work, they can’t eat you…”

Now for some encouragement. Things change – sometimes suddenly. The real test is what YOU do about it. Wishing things were different does not solve problems. Creative thinking does.

It is often said a real measure of an entrepreneur is how many times they failed — and then picked themselves up and moved on. Each failure – no matter how painful – is an opportunity gain experience and learn. It also builds resilience.

One of my favorite examples of resilience is Abraham Lincoln. His mother died. His first love died. His first business went bankrupt. He lost elections. He lost children. He eventually became a successful attorney (consultant), and of course went on to save the Union as the President of the United States.

Just for the record, here are some of MY business setbacks – and how they eventually turned out:

–Laid off from my first engineering job with a very pregnant wife. (Started the wheels turning to escape the corporate rat race and become independent.) But not ready to go on my own, I sent out 50 resumes – and got two responses. Ended up in a group specializing in Electromagnetic Interference, the Technical Speciality on which I later built a successful consulting practice.

–Suffered numerous losses as a Sales Engineer –but still won more than I lost. (Became an SE to learn about sales and marketing.) It always hurt to lose a sale after investing much time and effort, but the Sales experience was invaluable as a consultant.

–Fired from a startup I helped found. (Joined the startup to learn about small business.) Should have seen it coming. Feeling ready to liberate my self, hung out my consulting shingle. Fell flat on my face, and crawled back into the corporate womb. Ended up in a Marketing group, which was a big help later as a consultant.

–Lost out on a few other jobs over the years, but in retrospect glad they did not work out. They might have taken me in a different direction, and I would have missed out on the Joys of Consulting.

–After making it as a consultant, still took four times to get the training side our business right. Ultimately made millions.

–There were a few more setbacks —  for which I still have the scars 🙂

But I kept on plugging on, mored determined that even to have my own business. And eventually I did.

So what can YOU do, if  faced with a setback?

–First, don’t mope and blame. OK, maybe for a day or two — have wine or a beer  — but then get over it.

–Second, assess your financial situation. Marshall your resources. Figure out how long you can go before you need to grab a lifeline, and (shudder) find a job if need be. Trust me, it is not the end of the world – I know – you can always try again later.

–Third, consider new opportunities. When our primary markets (personal computers and military systems) suddenly dried up in 1992, we shifted our emphasis to medical electronics. We wrote targeted articles in medical magazines, joined a medical industry committee, and contacted key people at the FDA. Within six months, we were back in the saddle. We used the same approach later to expand into several other industries.

Remember, consultants solve problems. And they help achieve dreams. If you run into setbacks, just apply your skills to your own situation.

Stay safe, and turn those setbacks into NEW business success!

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Good advice from a recent newsletter by Bob Bly, fellow engineer turned successful copywriter and consultant. I could not say it better myself.

Dear Direct Response Letter Subscriber:

Subscriber GR writes:

“I’m mostly interested in starting and running a successful
freelance copywriting business. I’m not a fast writer, but I
write good copy. In my last job, I wrote a lot of use cases for
hi-tech.

“My problem is that I am not comfortable doing marketing. It’s
a fear. That is the obstacle for me — and confidence.”

The answer is rather simple….

Do not let fear hold you back.

Understand that courage is NOT the absence of fear.

Courage is feeling the fear … and doing it anyway.

If marketing and selling your services is out of your comfort
zone, step out of your comfort zone.

The fact is: when you are feeling uncomfortable, challenged, or
discouraged — that means you’re growing.

Also, do small tests of your self-promotions that cost little
money.

That way, if they don’t work, you haven’t spent the rent
money … and you still have money to test other things

If the small test is successful, “roll out,” which means
repeat the promotion as long as it makes money … and do it in
incrementally larger sizes or volumes.

Motivational speaker Dr. Rob Gilbert says the simple key to
success in marketing or anything else is this:

Do more of what works — and stop doing what doesn’t work.

One more thing…

Persistence is also important.

The reason many people fail is they give up too soon.

Sincerely,Bob Bly
Copywriter / Consultant
31 Cheyenne Dr.
Montville, NJ 07045
Phone 973-263-0562
Fax 973-263-0613
www.bly.com

If you are not already a subscriber to Bob’s FREE newsletter, sign up a www.bly.com.  Bob also shares his wealth of advice through very reasonably priced e-books, etc.

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Time for a mid-summer break. This post has nothing to do with consulting, other than my consulting gigs paid for a beautiful ’71 VW convertible last year – posted here with picture.

That post prompted several comments from former VW owners. When a long time friend responded with his “VW Recollections” I responded with this. If you are a former VW owner, you may enjoy it too… Peace from Uncle Daryl — an old VW hippie. 

My VW Recollections
July 2020

Due to personal economic conditions (my dad died when I was 14 and funds were meager,) I did not own a car until my senior year in college. But approaching graduation, I realized I would soon need transportation. Of course, some of this was driven by my chasing a skirt in Minnesota while going to school 400 miles away in Lincoln, Nebraska.

So in November of 1967, I bought a 1966 Beetle. A friend had one and sang its praises. Mine was bright red (fit in with “Big Red” Nebraska) with pop-out rear windows that I came to appreciate for the “VW A/C.” It had a 6 volt system which later became problematic.

In April 1968, I decided to visit my now fiancé Mary. A friend had a brother in Minnesota, so we decided to make a weekend trip, sharing the cost of gas. As it turned out, the midwest was having a “gas war” (remember those), and I think we averaged 15 cents per gallon (normally 35 cents per gallon). Thanks to the VW gas mileage, we made the 800 mile round trip for under $5.

We got married in June 1968, a week after my graduation with a brand new engineering degree. I had a little bit saved up, so we took a honeymoon to the Black Hills and Colorado. Mary had never been west, and I was excited about sharing the Rocky Mountains. But the first exotic stop was the Badlands, which she fixated on. We still make side trips to the Badlands when passing through South Dakota. 

I wasn’t sure how the VW was going to perform in the mountains, but it worked OK. The real challenge was Mary, who became giddy with altitude sickness on Trail Ridge Road at about 11,000 feet. It was like she was on a cheap drunk, so we hightailed it down to 5000 feet. Within a few days, she adjusted, and we later took the cog railway to Pikes Peak — wasn’t going to try driving it.

Ready to return to Nebraska, we were down to under $5 with no credit card. But I calculated we would be fine if we drove straight though the night. At a gas fill-up in mid-Nebraska, however, the car wold not start. But not to panic — the VW could be jump started.

Unfortunately for Mary, she had never done this, so my brand new bride ended up pushing the car while I popped the clutch. Although she never admitted it, I’m pretty sure she was starting to wonder about her decision to marry me.

We made it to my mother’s place in Omaha, not stopping again even when filling the gas. Turns out there was a loose connection to the starter solenoid that was common with the 6V systems. That problem becomes significant later.

 Our next stop was Cedar Rapids, Iowa, where I started my engineering career with Collins Radio. The VW served us well (and economically) as we made alternate trips to Minnesota and Nebraska to visit family. Five hours to either destination. Driving Interstate 80 across Iowa was always a challenge though — 70 down the hills but 50 up the hills, and worse if there was a headwind.

Soon after we were married, we moved Mary’s cedar chest from Minnesota to Iowa. It filled the VW back seat and blocked the rear window. In some small-town in Iowa, the local cop pulled us over, I suspect to ticket us. I blurted out that we were just married (actually several months prior) and moving some furniture.

Thinking we were on our honeymoon, the old cop put his ticket book away, and said “You kids go on, and please drive safe.” I told Mary I’ll be using the line about being newly married for the next 50 years or more.

One day when out for a Sunday drive after a rain, we decided to take a short cut. The sign “Mud Road” should have been a warning, but what the heck — we had a VW and it had already proved it could go in the snow. So down the muddy hill we went, but heading up the next hill became a challenge. I’m happy to report we did make it to the top, but another ten feet and we might still be stuck in Iowa. Never took the “Mud Road” challenge again.

A year later I ran across a nice used Dodge Charger, so we retired the Beetle. Talk about going from one extreme to the other — the Charger had a 383/4 barrel/4 speed – a real muscle car. I wasn’t so much into muscle cars, but the the price was right and it was in great condition. Shortly after, Mary got pregnant and had we known that the Charger might never have been. But it was fun to drive too. 

The VW went to my brother. He slid into something on the ice, and the front hood was never the same, and leaked air no matter how much we tried to fix it. This was important as a few years later I got it back as a second car. By that time, we had moved to Minnesota, had two children, and Mary needed a car.

All went well with the VW until the infamous starter acted up. Actually, it had acted up several times, but the fix was simple — scoot under the car, pull the connection and reseat, and all was well. No big deal.

Bill Kimmel (my late business partner) and I shared not only a cubicle, but also a phone. One day the phone rang, he answered, and handed it to me with the warning, “Its your wife… and she sounds pissed…”

Her message to me in very measured terms was, “I’m at the corner of University and Victoria — the car is stalled — I have two hungry children in the back seat — come get me NOW!” Yes, she was pissed.

That night, we bought a new Dodge Omni, one of my very few new cars. It was built on the VW Rabbit platform, but was basically a piece of junk. The WV parts were good, but the Dodge parts were not — broken window cranks, broken gearshift, broken door latches, and more.

In the meantime, our retired next door neighbors inquired about buying the VW. I did not want them to buy it, warning them that it at its age it needed tinkering to keep it going. But they insisted, so they bought it. They had it several years before they moved — never had a problem — and often thanked me for selling them the “fun little car.” 

I’ve long suspected, like Herbie, it was mad at me for replacing it twice with Dodges. But I did talk nice to it when I saw it — it was the great little car of my youth.

So now the story about the ’71 convertible. Perhaps the ’66 finally forgave me and was channeling karma, as it was apparently meant to be.

Last July I flew to Arizona from Minnesota (where we spend summers thanks to our location independence) for a meeting and to check on the house. Was only there for a few days, so rather than take a cab I decided to rent a car. You could pick any car, and a lonely VW “New Beetle” beckoned. I’d never driven one — a bit different than the ’66 but what fun.

On the way home, I stopped for some milk and grub. I ended up parking next to the ’71, which had a for sale sign. No, I thought, I’m only here for a few days.

But I walked out behind the owner, and we struck up a conversation. The ’71 was an Arizona car (no rust) that his wife had babied for 20 years. They were downsizing for retirement, and she decided to sell. I asked the price, took the phone number, and asked where he lived — about six blocks from me. So I checked the price (it was good) and called him back, and took it for a drive.   

The next day I was the proud owner of a ’71 VW convertible. Definitely karma, right down to the bright candy apple red color. 

I typically take it for a spin once a week. It runs great while bringing back memories. Even better – it is a “classic car” so it is exempt from pollution checks and the insurance and tags are cheap. And it is going up in price. Like the original ’66 VW, it just keeps on giving.

https://jumptoconsulting.com/check-out-the-new-ride/ 

PS – Hope you enjoyed this little break. Stay tuned as we return to our regular programming on how to start/build/operate a small consulting practice.

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Here is a recent letter from a young civil engineer, and my reply. It has been sanitized to protect his identity.

I am a civil engineer with 5 years of experience, with a have a Master’s in Project management.

Currently at my first workplace, I feel misplaced and the thought of taking a leap into consulting seems to be the looming alternative.

I sense a nervousness on launching out into this career and at the same time, and am considering further grad studies. I am married with two children (4 and 2.)

What advice can you share?

Here is my reply:

Based on your level of experience and having two small children, my advice is to NOT jump now, but start thinking long term.

Your children need you now, and you will never get this time back.

We had a colleague with a seven years old son he adored who jumped into consulting. Bill and I advised him not to do so because of his son. Within a year he went back to work for a company.

Not because he didn’t enjoy consulting, but because he realized how important it was to be home at night. He was happy for his decision, and we were too.

While you have a body of technical experience, do you feel comfortable hustling for business — ie marketing and sales?

Here are some immediate possibilities to consider:

—Join a consulting firm as an employee… As a civil engineer with your degrees and background in project management, there should be some opportunities.

You might need to relocate, but the right opportunity could make it worthwhile. I would not wait too long, as too many years in the same small company may become a concern to any future employers.

— Consider contracting… If you go his route, you want a firm with a solid reputation in the CE community. They do the marketing/sales, and fill positions for typically six months to several years.

The compensation is decent, and you broaden your experience. A step between full employment and fully independent consulting.

— Moonlighting… Bill and I did this for almost ten years before breaking free. The side projects kept us interested and learning new things. A caveat if you do this — keep a low profile and avoid conflicts of interest.

We started out teaching electronics at a vocational school, which did not pose any conflict problems. Teaching was even perceived as good for our careers, which it was.

Do you have a PE license? If not, make that a high priority. If you need to do so, consider a refresher course. But even without a PE, you can explain that your goal is to to get one as soon as you can.

While the PE is not a big deal in the all engineering communities, it IS a big deal with many civil engineering firms.

Now, longer term. Think about how to build your “credibility & visibility” with future clients.

In the beginning, we did this through teaching, and through writing magazine articles for trade journals. The latter was very effective for us, and both were non-threatening to our employers.

You can also post on magazine blogs. I don’t advocate self blogging at this point — you want to leverage your credibility/visibility with an established publisher. Here is a link from JTC:

https://jumptoconsulting.com/lead-generator-1-write-articles/

Network through your professional organization and LinkedIn.

Don’t just attend meetings — rather, offer to help with projects or even volunteer to serves as a local chapter officer.

Participate in LinkedIn forums — just don’t let it consume all your time.

These will eventually put you in touch with key contacts in your industry.It may even lead to new employment opportunities, and later on, consulting opportunities.

People like hiring those they know, and professional organizations are a great way to enhance your current and future career contacts.

Longer term I listed 20 methods we used to attract business, but the three above are the first we used when building our base of contacts.

I hope this is helpful. I felt much the same way at your stage in my career, but also realized I was not ready to jump. With two small children myself (at the time 3 and an infant), I am glad I waited.

But in the meantime, I had a long term vision I worked on that eventually came to fruition.

Finally, please consider joining us for the free monthly teleconferences and/or peruse the web site (now over 300 posts.)

https://jumptoconsulting.com/free-stuff/teleconferences-new/

Are you curious and wonder if consulting is right for you? Come join us for the free monthly teleconferences, and/or peruse the 300+ posts on this site.

Or drop me a line, but realize you too may end up as a sanitized blog post 🙂

What ever you decide, your career is yours. Make it count for YOU!

Peace — Uncle Daryl  

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One year ago today we were celebrating July 4 with grandchildren in Wisconsin Dells. Floating down the Lazy River at a water park, eating hot dogs, and later watching fireworks from our hotel balcony. It was a grand way to celebrate our nation’s independence!

This year we are hunkered down in Arizona with families thousands of miles away. There will be no fireworks here, but there are still hot dogs and we may splash alone in the pool. It has been a strange year — a triple whammy of COVID-19, riots, and a deteriorating economy. A time to reflect on where we have been, and where we are going.

If you are suffering economically, perhaps it is time to consider a course change. Maybe a side-hustle, or maybe a more drastic move like you own JumpToConsulting. 

It took two economic setbacks for me to finally see the light of personal independence.  

• The first setback was a layoff from my first engineering job (with a wife eight months pregnant.) That started me on a path of side-hustles and eventually my independence from corporate bureaucracies.
• The second setback was suddenly being fired from a startup I helped launch. That led to my first JumpToConsulting, which failed after three months. But I learned a lot, and the next time I jumped I succeeded.

I offer the above examples as encouragement. If you are sequestered at home, this is the perfect time to consider, and then initiate changes. Either as part time side-hustles, or full time jumps to something better.

• For side hustles, I recommend the free daily Side Hustle School podcast by Chris Gullibeau, which has now run for several years. Over 1000 examples of successful side hustles. And check out his books Side Hustle & the $100 Start Up.
• For consulting, I recommend riding along here at JumpToConsulting. Over 300 blog posts. Join us for the free monthly teleconference, and view the free 45 minute IEEE webinar I recorded last year, So You Want To Be a Consultant. More to come.

Happy Independence Day! In spite of our problems, we still live in the land of opportunity even as we continue to work on our founding fathers’ dream of a more perfect union.

We still have a ways to go, and I challenge anyone reading this to continue to work on that dream, both at the personal level and at the larger community level – to make the world a better and fairer place with freedom for all!

In the spirit of the holiday, you may also like:

• Independence Day Musings – 2011
• Happy July 4th – 2018

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We are still hunkered down in Arizona due to COVID. Several have written asking about our status, so here is an update.

We are doing fine. We self-isolated in early March, and have not been in a store or restaurant since then. We order groceries on-line, and we walk the dog in a local park. We finally ventured out for some take-out. Otherwise we stay at home.

Not all bad though. We gave our first on-line class two weeks ago. Two and a half days spread over four days of four hours each. In went well, and we now have two more classes scheduled. More planned.

No doubt COVID has had an impact on consulting and training. So if you are worried, be ready to pivot. The good news is the technology is there to support you. Time to learn new ways of doing business if you are not already doing so.

What we thought might last a month now looks like it may last much longer. Arizona is now a COVID hot spot — thanks to closing too late, opening too soon, and a lack of political will to do what was needed.

Our governor assumed Arizonans would act responsibly. They clearly did not. Bars and night clubs were packed, and three weeks later there was an explosion of COVID cases. No great surprise.

And no masks, of course, which were finally mandated. Thanks to political games, the governor can overrule local mandates. So our governor chose to do just that. On Friday, a clearly frightened governor changed his tune, allowing cities to require masks.

Here is a letter I just wrote to our governor:

We were pleased to see you finally changed your tune on masks, and allowed cities to proceed. Not being snarky — we thank you. It is a good start.

It was obvious from your press conference that you were scared, as you should be. This is serious. This not about politics — this is about protecting the people of Arizona — in some cases from their own arrogance and stupidity.

The next step should be to again close night clubs, bars, and inside seating in restaurants. None of these businesses are essential. You assumed Arizonas would show common sense — it is obvious too many owners and patrons did not do so.

Keep them closed until the cases are well under control, both for health reasons and to drive home the seriousness of COVID.

May I suggest you be less defensive when pressed for answers?
—There is nothing wrong with admitting past errors and taking responsibility.
— There is nothing wrong with changing direction with new data, or when the present approach is not working
—Work on crafting new solutions, rather than placing blame.
Those are the marks of leadership.

Finally, stop listening to Trump, and trying to impress him. Do you think he really cares about you, or about Arizona, or about any of us? Time to be your own man and lead.

Good luck — from a business leader (owner/founder) and community leader who has stood in the fire…

If I stepped on toes with my Trump comment, get over it. As an aside, Trump will be in Arizona this week for a rally. I am appalled at this behavior in the middle of one of the largest COVID spikes in the country!

As consultants, sometimes we need to speak up. Particularly when we see problems that should and can be solved.

Time to put politics aside, and do what consultant are supposed to do — make the world a better place.  

P.S. Coming up — a return to regular programming, starting with some questions from the mailbag.  

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No, you don’t need to be fully Financially Independent (FI), but you should have enough in the bank to last you six months to year. That is exactly what I did — the second time around – and it finally worked.

My first attempt was precipitated by a layoff/firing. I had been moonlighting, and decided to try full time consulting as the itch was pretty bad.

Although I had some savings, it was not enough. The economy was down, so after about three months I (wisely) threw in the towel and climbed back into the corporate womb.

As a result, I do NOT recommend starting a consulting business after a layoff unless you can survive financially for six months to a year.

My second attempt a couple of years later was planned in advance, with at least six months money in the bank, plus commitments from future clients. The unplanned event was the stock market crash the first day in business, but thanks to my financial reserves I succeeded.

Even on the second attempt, I was not yet fully FI. That came a few years later. But with enough F-You money in the bank, I felt confident and succeeded. The timing was good, and I’m not sure it would have been as successful had I delayed my jump a few more years.

My point is this — you don’t need to be fully FI to start — you just need enough to get you to positive cash flow. You also need a vision of why and what your are jumping into!

In recent years the FIRE (Financially Independent Retire Early) movement has taken off. I enjoy following the financial adventures of FIRE bloggers, and applaud the fiscal prudence they advocate and follow. (It works — I followed that path myself.)

Unhappy with their current jobs, however, often the emphasis seems to be on the Retire Early (RE) part of FIRE, with little thought of what to do next.

Hating your current job is not a good business plan, consulting or otherwise. Better to focus on what you want do with your life, not on what you want to escape. Jump TO… not FROM. That can take some serious soul searching, but in the end is worth it.

Finally, give some thought to WHO you want to serve. That is the essence of consulting – serving clients by solving problems and/or helping them achieve dreams.

Figure that out, and I’ll do my best to help you with the mechanics of making your own JumpToConsulting. 

Cheers,
Uncle Daryl

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Warning:  This is a quick rant combined with a lesson on troubleshooting.

No, this post is not about some quack fix like drinking Clorox or Lysol — the simple technology is MASKS! But in order to work, EVERYONE must use them. The generic masks are not meant to protect YOU — they are meant to protect YOUR NEIGHBOR.

A recent model predicted that if 80% wore masks that were 60% effective, the COVID Ro parameter would drop below 1, which means the spread is no longer exponentially increasing, but actually exponentially decreasing!

Or as we say in the engineering world, the response is now over-damped. The model further predicts that with a 14 day incubation period, within 28 days new cases would be WAY down.

Models are nice, but what about the real world? Well, we have solid data there. Both Hong Kong and Taiwan are religious about masks. They acted quickly, and have almost 100% mask compliance. As a result, Hong Kong (population 7.5 million) has had 4 deaths, and Taiwan (population 23.8 million) has had 6. And businesses and schools are open.

At these rates the US would have between 100 and 200 deaths, not closing in on 100,000!

Of course, this is not new technology. In the 1918 pandemic (the one that killed my grandmother) masks were mandatory in many cities. Those that enforced mask wearing had much lower death rates. While they did not have the benefits of modern science back then, they did have the benefits of common sense. Something that seems be badly lacking today.

Why the resistance to masks, anyway? Like so much in our society today, it has been politicized. Polls show the “Blues” are much more likely to wear masks than the “Reds.” The difference being, the Blues are concerned about their neighbors, while too many Reds are concerned only about themselves. (If I stepped on toes, get over it & start wearing a mask.)

A quick question for those who want to “assert their constitutional rights.” I would ask “So show me where it says in the constitution that you have a right to infect others.” Self-centered, indeed.

Now, some consulting engineering thoughts — specifically on troubleshooting. For the last 30+ years, my late business partner and I worked to “identify, fix, and prevent” Electromagnetic Interference (EMI) problems in electronic systems. Much of our time was spent troubleshooting while trying to better understand the problems at hand.

Like small town doctors who identified illnesses, fixed broken arms, and prevented disease through shots and vaccines. It was gratifying work, and surprisingly lucrative.

As a first step in identifying (diagnosing) a problem, we used a simple model of “Source – Path -Victim.”  All three elements are needed for an interference problem, but only one needs to be eliminated or controlled.  So which one is the best?

The source, of course. One does that through suppression (for COVID, coughing in your elbow or straying at home when sick,) or containment (such as a mask.)  In the EMI world, the containment is often a simple metal shield, which when properly applied is often cheap and very effective.

The containment need not be perfect — even reducing the unwanted EMI emissions (spread) by a factor of 2 (aka 6 dB for you geeks) is sometimes enough. But with just a little care, achieving 1000x (60 dB) to 1,000,000 (120 dB) reductions are economically doable. When everyone wears masks, the COVID source reduction is believed to be at least 100x (40 dB).

For you non-geeks, the deciBels (dB) are exponential, just like the unchecked spread of the COVID. Scary, huh?

If controlling the problem at the source is not possible, then we move on attacking the “path.” For COVID, this is either through the air, or through contact with infected surfaces. Solutions include (once again) masks and sanitation/hand-washing.

The last method is protecting the “victim.” Because the potential victims can well outnumber the sources, this can get complex and expensive — think ventilators and ICUs. Thus, drastic measures like shutting down businesses and stay at home orders.

We often needed all three for solving EMI problems —  but the source suppression was and still is far and away the most effective when it can be applied. Works for COVID too.

That concludes today’s rant/consulting engineering lecture.  Now — START WEARING A MASK — to PROTECT THOSE AROUND YOU — and to HELL with self-centered politics!

Stay healthy everyone!

Uncle Daryl

P.S. Enough with the rants for a while.  Next up will be a couple of posts where I share some ideas with those not yet consultants, but harboring the “itch.”  We will start with the mailbag. Stay tuned…

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With the COVID pandemic, many businesses have seen drastic reductions in revenues. This includes consulting firms.

So what do you do? Don’t panic. OK, maybe for a moment or so, but then put on your consulting thinking cap, and start figuring out some alternate plans. After all, that is what we do as consultants — solve problems — and usually difficult ones that clients can’t or won’t handle themselves.

A good first step is to take stock of your finances. How long can you go at your present burn rate with little or no income? What expenses can your trim or eliminate? Are there other sources you can tap –  either savings or alternate income?

The next step is to take a hard look at both current and past sources of consulting income. Are there potential areas you have not pursued that might provide income?

Is it time to pivot?

I’ve long used a model dubbed “ACT”, for “Aware – Critique – Try.” Not sure where I learned it, but it was many years ago. It has served me well throughout my career.

–Aware — Time for creative ideas. Brainstorm — create mind maps — make lists — what ever it takes to get the juices flowing. Don’t hold back — at this stage, nothing is too far out or too impractical. 

–Critique — Next, sort through your ideas and pick a couple (not more three) to develop further. Start with some preliminary plans. List some objectives. But don’t overcomplicate things — keep it simple. You can refine things later.

–Try – This is where most people fail, due to fear and/or procrastination. But if your business is sinking, this is no time to crawl into a hole and hide. Or spend valuable time on things that don’t matter. The house is on fire — grab a hose or bucket — now!

Here is a real world example. The year is 1992. After five years in business, we finally felt like we arrived. Business flowed in with regularity — until it stopped — dead. While normally each billing about 80 hours/month, as I recall we billed about 24 hours — total — for the two of us in the entire fourth quarter. Ouch — ouch –ouch!!!

What happened, we wondered? Had the parade gone in a different direction? Where was everybody, anyway? And what are we going to do?

A little background. We had been riding two waves — EMI (Electromagnetic Interference) in personal computers, and in defense. We had two major clients that provided well over half our business. When the PCs and defense suddenly dried up, so did the business from our two big clients, along with others. Too few eggs in two few baskets.

So we looked at where any other business had come from. Nothing major, but medical devices stood out. At the time, we both lived in Minneapolis/St. Paul, a medical hub often dubbed “Medical Alley.”  A bunch of our past business was literally right in our back yard.

We noted this was a market not well served. Using simple electronics, it was not seen as glamorous as PCs or defense. It is also highly regulated, which scared others away.  Aha — a “barrier to entry” if we could crack it. 

Based on these observations, we put together a simple three part plan:

—Offered to write a simple column for a leading medical device magazine. Having written for a number of other magazines, we had the skills and credibility to deliver. The magazine jumped at our offer, and thus began a fortuitous long term relationship. 

—Joined an industry committee on medical devices. We approached this with care, as committees can suck a lot of time, and there were only two of us. But that worked too.

—Enhanced personal contacts in the FDA. We had already worked with FDA engineers, so that was simple. Plus, we truly enjoyed working with them as fellow professionals. 

Six moths later, we were back in business and recognized as EMI experts in the medical industry. We knew we had succeeded when an FDA engineer responded to a question about who to contact, he said in jest, “Dial 1-800-KIMMEL GERKE.” 

As an aside, not long after we got a real 800 number — 888-EMI-GURU. It has served us well. It also became our trademark and web address (www.emiguru.com.)

We did not stop there. We continued to burnish our reputation by writing a book, and with this fun little project. But our quick “three part plan” probably saved the business at a critical time.

The medical “pivot” became a model for expansion into other markets. We ultimately ended up with a portfolio of industries we served — computers, defense, medical, industrial controls, vehicles, facilities, and more. Some were even niches within niches, like nuclear power plants or farm machinery. 

As the old saying goes, “When life gives you lemons, make lemonade.” Or another old saying,”When the going gets tough, the tough gets going.”  We continued on for the next 23 years until my business partner passed away in 2015. But even now, I stay involved in semi-retirement at a level that suites me fine.

Good luck, and stay safe during this trying time —Uncle Daryl

It was five years ago last week I lost my good friend and business partner to cancer. I still miss drinking beer with him where we tried to solve the world’s problems.

So I offer this video in Bill’s memory. If you are a beer drinker, please join me in a toast. You can read his eulogy here.  RIP Bill Kimmel.

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With tax time* upon us, I thought it might be helpful to share my thoughts on financial advisors (aka consultants.) I am all in favor of paying for sound financial advice from professionals.

Although semi-retired (and financially independent) I follow several financial and retirement blogs. They often provide confirmation of the my financial/retirement philosophies, along with new ideas to consider.

One area where I disagree with many financial bloggers is the use of paid financial advisors. Too many demean those who do so, implying advisors are a waste of money. I strongly disagree!

Many people (especially my fellow members of the male gender) seem to feel they are smarter than the professionals, and smarter than the market. I suspect many feel they are smarter than the casinos, too. Perhaps too much ego?

So even if you are well versed in financial matters (as I think you should) getting independent advice may still be well worth it. I consider the money I’ve spent on both my CPA (Certified Public Accountant) and my CFP (Certified Financial Planner) to be well spent.

Even after the fees, I’m pretty sure I’m ahead of where I might be had I gone alone. That is the same argument I often make to clients for using my professional engineering services. Furthermore, I already pay for professional legal and medical advice — why not professional financial advice?

A bonus is the saved time that was better invested in making money on my own expertise. And to me, more enjoyable too.

The key to success is finding the right professionals with the right credentials, the right experience, and the right “fit.” You may need to interview several, but a good place to start is to ask business colleagues for referrals. That is how I found my team of advisors.

— Credentials — I use both a CPA and a CFP. I also use an attorney for estate planning. All three are in small firms, which I appreciate as a small business person myself. We all understand each other, and the challenges we face.

My CPA was a referral from a business colleague dating back 40 years. Over the years, my accountant changed after the first retired. My CFP was a referral from my CPA dating back 20 years. I’m also on the second CFP after the first retired. In both cases staying with one firm provided continuity.

As a bonus of sorts, the current CPA and CFP are both younger than me, which I expect will be advantageous as my wife and I age.

— Experience — All three advisors have many years of experience, particularly with small firms like mine. They also often share general business advice.

— Fit — Last, but not least, you must be comfortable with your advisor. Many years ago, I tried an estate attorney at a large downtown law firm with poor results. It was a referral from a friend, but not a good fit for me.

After being charged double what he estimated, I replaced him with a single person firm with much better results. No fancy office — no fancy suits — no fancy fees. Just good solid advice at much more reasonable rates. And honest estimates.

Some final thoughts…

First, go with a “fiduciary” which means being legally and ethically bound to act in your best interest. Unfortunately, not all advisors meet this criteria, thanks to good lobbying by those who are not fiduciaries.

Second, I prefer fees based on “money under management.” That way you are both on the same page — the better you do, the better your advisor does. “Fee only” advisors are good if you only want occasional advice. I would steer clear of commission based advisors.

Third, I prefer small professional firms much like my own engineering consulting firm. As an aside, my doctors and dentist are also small independent practices. Probably a personal bias, but it has worked well for me.

* Even though tax deadlines are now delayed, it’s back to work on my taxes. Actually, back to the very helpful tax worksheet supplied by my CPA. She will take it from there, and I am delighted to let her do so. I’ll stick with engineering.

As I once told my MBA/CFO son who was with an accounting firm at the time, “People like me will pay people like you big bucks to take care of this stuff.” He just grinned…

P.S. Special thanks to Tom G (CFP) & Jessica V (CPA).

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A quick update from the head shed. Along with a mini-rant…

In 1918, my 25 year old grandmother died of the Spanish flu. She left behind a toddler and an infant. The latter was my mother.

Several weeks ago, my brother self quarantined as the result of a chance encounter with the first confirmed case in Omaha. He is doing fine, but the infected person was very critical. She survived thanks to the University of Nebraska Medical Center’s bio-containment unit.

Both examples remind me how serious this threat is. Not one to overreact, Mary and I decided to minimize contact a month ago, and are washing our hands a lot. Not just for ourselves, but for the community at large, hoping to slow the spread.

It just seems the responsible thing to do.

While many have only mild symptoms, this old engineer worries about the Cost of Failure. Ignoring the latter is the reason I am extremely unhappy with our government response, at both the national and state level. I am also extremely unhappy that ignorant politicians are not listening to the real experts (aka consultants?)

My consulting business mantra has long been “Plan for the worst — Hope for the best — Roll the dice and see what happens.”  The planning was clearly not there — critical infrastructure was cut — and nobody wants to take responsibility or provide leadership.

AZ finally closed barber shops, hair salons, massage and tattoo parlors just two days ago, after whining for weeks about lost tourism. Were these really essential? Or was it profits over people? Even now, the golf courses remain open – absurd but not unexpected from a former ice-cream CEO. Way to go, Governor Doug Ducey!

I hope everyone Remembers in November. This is not about politics — this is about ending arrogance and incompetence, and holding those responsible accountable for all the unnecessary suffering they have caused.

To end on a positive note, I remain confident this will eventually get better. However, it appears too many unnecessary deaths will have occured.

Please stay safe –for yourself, for your community, and for your loved ones.

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Ran across this advice years ago, and it has guided me through several job changes, including becoming an independent consultant back in 1987.

The advice consists of three questions:

• COULD I do it?
• SHOULD I do it?
• And if so, HOW how do I do it?

COULD I DO IT? This is the most important, and you need to be brutally honest with yourself.

• Do I have skills and experience that people will pay for?
• Do I have the visibility and credibility to create a client base?
• Do I have the financial means to support myself until I become profitable?

SHOULD I DO IT? This calls for some serious soul searching. Just because you COULD  do something, does not mean that you SHOULD do something.

• Does this take me in a direction I really want to go?
• Does this excite me?
• Is my significant other on board?

HOW DO I DO IT?  Assuming you made it this far, it is time to start making (and executing) plans – NOW!

• Draft a simple business plan.
• Commence your marketing.
• Get your finances in order.
• Set up the business.

The four topics above to be covered in more detail in future posts.

Hope this simple advice is helpful if YOU toying with the idea of becoming a consultant.

Best wishes — Uncle Daryl

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Giving away advice can be good marketing, and inexpensive too.

This was prompted by a recent query. With rare exception your potential clients do not want to “steal” your ideas — rather they want to know you understand their problems and can fix them. And those who do want to steal your ideas are not worthy clients in the first place.

Here are three examples where giving advice away paid big dividends in my consulting business… sometimes years later.

Giving away advice turns into a class…

This recent example occurred when I booked an in-house class with virtually no sales effort. The client merely wanted to know when I could be there, and how much it would cost. So we agreed on a time, and I provided a quote.

Total time: under ten minutes. The purchase order arrived a few days later.

Upon arriving at the client site, the client mentioned why it went so fast and easy. It seems many years ago he had a problem, and Bill, my late business partner, gave him four quick things to try. Number four worked.

Happy to have the problem solved, the client offered to pay. Bill said, “No, we don’t charge for quick solutions. Just keep us in mind for future business.”

Years later, now at a different company, my client was asked for a recommendation on a training class in our specialty. He immediately gave me a call (Bill having passed on.) He shared his story, and said how much he appreciated our approach.

Was it with it? Of course, in good will alone. But financially, the return on investment was well over 1000:1 in terms of revenue from the class versus revenue from billing a few minutes of time. Plus I had a very happy client.

Not holding back, but “opening the kimono”…

In addition to not charging for a few minutes, our policy was to not hold back — but rather to share whatever we knew.

One exception, of course, was not sharing another client’s confidential material. However, we shared lessons learned from other consultations. It is your experience that clients seek.

As I was going into a detailed description, I asked “Is this too much information, or do you want me to keep going?”

The client replied, “Please continue — I appreciate it. By the way, the last consultant we hired (for different problems) would hold back. We assumed he was afraid that if he gave away too much advice we would not hire him again. Well, after he solved he immediate problem, we all agreed not to work with him again.” Ouch!

This occurred early in my consulting career, and stuck with me ever since. We jokingly called it “opening the kimono.” It served us well.

The on-line endorsement…

Several years into our business, I ran across this on a popular forum.

Someone asked for a consultant in our specialty. A quick reply was, “Call Kimmel Gerke Associates. Not only are they good, but are easy to work with and they won’t nickel-and-dime you.” You can not buy that kind of advertising.

I immediately called Bill with my discovery. We both agreed that our policy of sharing information and not charging for quick answers was the right approach for us.

Other ways to give away advice…

Writing articles and giving free presentations were central to our marketing efforts for many years. These often turned into paid consultations and training classes.

Nothing like getting a free sample to whet your appetite for more. It also enhances that ever important visibility and credibility.

More thoughts here from an earlier post.

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As a board member at an HOA (homeowners association) one of the residents kept asking me, “Why can’t you do this? Why don’t you do that?”

Finally, in polite desperation, I said, “Why don’t YOU do it?”  If you feel strongly about it, take the ball and run. If you wait for others, it may never happen. Just do it!

So it is with consulting. Waiting for others to act will not solve a problem, nor will it make things better.

Here is an example from my consulting practice 20+ years ago. At the time, there was a dearth of information on electromagnetic field levels in hospitals. So when I saw a session on the topic at a conference, I high tailed it to the meeting room.

But instead of learning something new, the meeting consisted of a bunch of researchers asking each other if they had any information to share. Furthermore, they complained about a lack of funding to do field research.

Annoyed, I discussed this with my business partner who had been at a different session. Over a beer (highly recommended in the engineering world) we devised a study to get the answers, which we would fund ourselves. “Let’s just do it,” we said.

Upon return from the conference, we contacted some past clients at two prominent hospitals (one a world famous clinic) about doing a quick survey of various locations within their hospitals. We would supply the equipment (which we already owned), record the data, write a report, and share the results. No cost to anyone.

We spent two days over the Christmas holidays, when the hospitals were not busy. We got solid data, and had fun doing it. In one case, we had to dress in scrubs while making measurements in a surgical suite. It was the closest I came to becoming a brain surgeon 🙂

Kimmel & Gerke performing surgery on a lap-top computer.

We shared the data, but it did not stop there. We offered it to a leading magazine in the medical device community. We had been writing a technical column for them as part of our long term marketing strategy.

The loved it, and with our help, turned it into a technical report they offered for sale. The money earned from the report was minuscule, but the publicity was priceless! It further established our firm as a world-class leader in our niche. Not too bad for a couple of goof ball engineers out in Minnesota.

The report was well received, as it provided needed timely information. Meanwhile, the researchers were still twiddling their thumbs, while we gained visibility & credibility critical to our success as consultants.

We just did it!  And you can too, but YOU need to take the initiative. Not only in consulting, but in life itself.

Cheers — Uncle Daryl

Ideas are good, but “ideas + action” are what get results.

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Do you want to make your JumpToConsulting, but the voices in your head hold you back? Yes, I often felt the way 32 year ago. But I jumped anyway, and am I glad I did!

So lets talk about overcoming those fears. The catalyst for this post was the book Mastering Fear. Written by former Navy SEAL Brandon Webb, the author shared his journey through fear to success. I could well identify with his fears on my journey to consulting.

Webb identified five steps in overcoming fears. I’ll elaborate on my experiences and offer suggestions based on the lessons I learned. Perhaps they will help you.

The five steps are decision, rehersal, letting go, jumping off (I particularly liked that stage), and finally, knowing what matters.

Decision – Mine was based on a layoff and later a firing. Disturbed by the lack of corporate integrity – I did not want to become a corporate pimp (as in having to fire good people) nor be a the mercy of corporate ineptitude.

Rehersal – Started by moonlighting, and later working from home. Wanted to see if I could handle not being part of a big organization. No problem —  loved the freedom.

Letting Go – Decided to let go of the current career direction, and started making concrete plans for the future (including loading up the savings.)

Jumping Off – The first day in business (October 1987) the stock market crashed — but I jumped anyway. Scary? Yes, but I never looked back.

Knowing What Matters – To me, it was making a difference. Do some good, have some fun, make some money. Met all three objectives!

In closing, remember those famous words of Franklin Roosevelt, spoken in the depths of the depression at his first inaugural address in 1933 — “The only thing we have to fear is fear itself.” True then, true today!

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On cleaning out some old files, I ran across this letter to my teen age son in 1990.  I though the sentiments might be a good way to start a new decade.

Dear Son,

Ask almost any adult, and they will admit they would not want to suddenly become a teenager again. We all remember our confusion, insecurities, and uncertainties. We all remember facing those important “decisions” about our lives.

In spite of all this, it is a very exciting time. You are stepping into society as an adult, leaving childhood behind. Rest assured, you’ll do fine… we all had to make that change.

In the meantime, here are some thoughts and ideas for you to consider and ponder.

Options… I’m a big believer in having options in life. The more skills, knowledge, and education you have, the more options you have. You are very fortunate, for you have much native intelligence. You have already begun developing that into sound knowledge.

I suggest you keep at it, and continue to develop your knowledge. You definitely have a gift for learning, and you should pursue it will all vigor. I suggest you also continue to add to your skills… speaking, writing, debating… for knowledge alone, without the skills to communicate to convince and lead, is of little use.

Decisions… I’m also a big believer in making decisions, and then acting on them. I’m not suggesting snap decisions — first gather information — then assess it — and then act on it. This last part — acting — is where most people fail. Don’t be afraid of the “wrong” decision — you can always change you mind later, and it is still much better than no decision at all.

Here is a quick trick I’ve used for those important career decisions. First, ask yourself, “Could I do it?” Then, ask yourself, “Should I”. The first requires assessing your skills/strengths/weaknesses, while the second asks if it is really right for you.

Goals… This is tough one. Some people advocate well defined 1-2-5 year plans, but I’ve never found that to work for me. Nevertheless, I had broader goals that helped guide me thus far. These include interesting work, reasonable income, a good education for you and your brother, owning a home, travel, etc.

Give some thought to what you want out of life, and then go after it. If you don’t it, it probably won’t come to you. Just be sure what you seek is what you really want out of life.

Here are some additional quick thoughts from your mother and me:

Be honest… to others, and to yourself. That happiest and most satisfied people we know are very honest with everyone.

Work hard… intelligence and knowledge are not enough. It takes dedication and hard work to be a success.

Don’t seek security… too many people try to eliminate all risk from their lives. Most don’t succeed at it and even this who appear to be “secure” live pretty bland lives.

Think big… reach for the stars. Yes, you could become president or win a Nobel Prize,or ??? But it won’t happen if you don’t try. Just be sure it is worthwhile to you.

Be thankful… for friends, opportunities, health, and for life itself.

Enjoy life… both good days and bad days. Make the best of both.

Love,
Mom and Dad

Some good advice for aspiring consultants too. Happy New Year — Uncle Daryl!

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As the year ends … it is once again time to reflect and look forward. 

Got this idea years ago from The Art of Nonconformity, and have done it each year since.

As always, I’ll review three categories:

• JumpToConsulting (www.jumptoconsulting.com)
• EMI-GURU aka Kimmel Gerke Associates, Ltd. (www.emiguru.com)
• Personal (www.linkedin.com/in/darylgerke)

But first, a quick overview…

The JumpToConsulting project is now NINE years old. What started out in 2010 as questions from my son, has now expanded to almost 300 posts on how to start,build, and maintain a small consulting firm – along with a webinar and an e-book.

Many of the blog posts are the result of your questions, so please feel free to ask. Your questions and feedback inspire me to keep going. 

JTC has been a labor of love. After thirty two years as an independent full time consulting engineer, I’m happy to share what I have learned — even as I am still learning 🙂

JTC has also been fun. A good way to learn more about about blogging and writing. That curiosity and drive to learn is what led me to consulting in the first place.

The EMI-GURU project is now over FORTY years old (part time since 1978 — full time since 1987.) It also has been great fun, and quite successful. I made a lot of friends, traveled the world, and am comfortably “semi-retired” – whatever that means.

EMI-GURU  let me to practice my profession as an Electrical Engineer in a ways I could not even imagine as a college student or young engineer. I would do it again in a heartbeat.

Much of what is discussed here is based EMI-GURU experiences. The stuff I talk about is not theory — rather, it is real world and based on those 40+ years of consulting!

LOOKING BACK on 2019…

Jump-to-Consulting – The blog is now almost 300 posts. The blog has helped several new consultants. That includes both genders – consulting is a great way to break glass ceilings and stereotypes. Along with a great way to become independent and free – the big driver for me.

Took a “blogging sabbatical “over the summer, but am now back in the saddle. Also cut back on the MONTHLY TELECONFERENCE  (“Ask Daryl Anything About Consulting.”) which was a was a bit disappointing — unsure whether to continue. (Note – The Teleconference is back – Register Here.)

Continued working on the class to develop on-line classes. So watch this space for future developments.

EMI-GURU – Continued to wind down the consulting firm, as it morphs into a part-time training firm. No longer consulting, I refer inquiries to colleagues.

Taught several in-house classes this year, with a public class  in July. Also prepared and presented a one day workshop for my local IEEE EMC Society chapter in April.

Teaching is a long time passion – nothing like seeing a student suddenly “get it.” And it adds great synergy to consulting. 

Personal — Continued the semi-nomadic life of heading north to MN in the summer (where there is family) and heading south to AZ in the winter (where there is no snow.) Enjoyed an RV week in New Mexico with friends on the trip north.

Sami the rescue mutt continues to bring joy as a “personal therapist”, along with daily exercise as a “personal trainer.” But, like Uncle Daryl, she too is starting to slow down 🙂

LOOKING FORWARD to 2020…

Jump-to-Consulting – Continuing with plans to develop and present some on-line classes. 

The first topic is “So You Want To Be a Consultant” (an expansion of the free webinar) envisioned as five or six one hour modules. (Scroll down to “Courses”for details.)

Thinking a pilot with live webinars at first, with additional group discussions for each module. Will include a reduced fee for the pilot.

Watch the blog for more details. Better yet, drop me a line if you are interested in participating in the pilot.

EMI-GURU –Ramping down the live on-site classes. At the same time, considering going on-line based on existing course materials. Serve more potential students with little or no travel.

Will remain involved locally with the IEEE EMC Society. Looking at one or two public classes.

Personal – Finally leaving the HOA board, upon completion of a million-dollar renovation project. Happy I was able to share my consulting skills and experience, but weary of dealing with a few “terminally unhappy” homeowners. Time to move on to more satisfying activities.

Plans are to continue to learn about and implementing on-line programs; spend time reading/writing; and travel in our little RV. Fire up the ham radio; play with Sami the Shih Tzu mutt; and just goof off. Life is good here!

Wishing you all the best in 2020 — and THANK YOU for reading my blog

The FREE Monthly Teleconference is Back!

Join us with your questions – or just listen in learn

“Ask Daryl Anything About Consulting”

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