On the fence about whether to stay or leave your present job? Here is some advice I was given many years ago as a young engineer. In any situation, you have three choices … accept things as they are … change them … or leave… Really quite simple. I applied this test several times, and […]
Here are five questions to ask yourself when starting a consulting practice — or any small business. This post was inspired by an answer to a business post on franchising vs independence. Good advice for new consultants too. (1) Is it interesting and motivating? There are consulting opportunities everywhere, but you will do much better […]
The short answer — NO! But you DO need to be able to help your clients. Time for a mini-rant. If you are like me, you are probably weary of hearing about how you MUST become a though leader to succeed in business. Unless, of course, you are pitching books or programs on thought leadership. […]
Received an email a while back from a fellow engineer whose consulting firm is struggling. The question was what to do now? First, a little background. To protect privacy, I’ll be purposefully vague. He started a consulting firm some years ago, but it recently began to slide. Rather than give up, he kept putting money […]
Ninety percent of Americans have virtually no savings… so says the latest issue of Money magazine. If you are in the ninety percent, consulting may offer a way out. The problem with most jobs is that the income is fixed. Unless you are in sales (commissions) or an executive (bonuses), you have little opportunity for […]
No moral or message – just an update for the last day of October. Got back last night from a three week RV trip. MN (where there are grankids) to AZ (where there is no snow) via CT (where there are more grankids.) The trip included drives through the Shenandoah Parkway, the Blue Ridge Parkway, […]
Not sure when it happened — or when I even first realized it had happened. But one day I woke up and recognized that I was no longer a young warrior, but rather had become an old warrior. So what’s the difference? And does it matter? Well, the old warrior’s main purpose is to now […]
The lead generation worked… the phone rings… now what? Let the sales process begin… This is where the rubber meets the road — or where the consultant finally meets the client. Many people see sales as mysterious at best, and manipulative at worst. Neither are true for selling consulting services. Consulting is a helping profession… […]
So you’re approaching retirement, and wondering what to do next. Or maybe you’re already retired, and getting bored out of you mind. After all, you can only do so much golfing or fishing (see Karl the engineer.) What next? How about consulting? If you enjoyed your career, you just might like this. After a long […]
So says a recent article in Computerworld — Your next job, next year, may be self employment. According to Emergent Research (a firm focused on small businesses trends) approximately one million IT (Information Technology) workers today are self-employed. This represents about 18% of the IT workforce. Not only that, the independent IT workforce is growing […]
As promised in a recent post, here is Marty Zwilling’s “success story.” His story should be of special interest to boomers, as he started his consultancy after he retired – the first time. Geeks too – he was part of the team behind the IBM PC. Marty specializes in helping new entrepreneurs get started. Thus, […]
Had coffee today with Marty Zwilling, of StartupProfessionals.com. It was a great time meeting with a fellow “boomer-geek-blogger-entrepreneur” from Arizona. As the name suggests, Marty specializes in helping new entrepreneurs get started. This includes advice on business plans, funding, angel investors, patents, incorporations, and more. He also writes a daily blog, and has written two […]
Here is a recent comment I left at the Art of Non-Conformity, a favorite blog by Chris Gullibeau – author, entrepreneur, and world traveler (he visited EVERY country in the world by age 35.) If you haven’t discovered him, now is a good time to do so! The topic was The Virtue of Insecurity, where […]
When troubleshooting, common sense and experience go a long way. Here is a story of my great-uncle, a country doctor in Nebraska. I often think of him when trying to diagnose and fix a client problem. This story appeared in my first book, written twenty years ago. While it was aimed at my engineering colleagues, […]
At LinkedIn (Succeed), Dave Wacker posed this question: Any thoughts on starting a small consulting company? Here is my reply: Hi Dave, Started my consulting engineering firm 30+ years ago. Part time for nine years, then went full time in 1987 – the day the market crashed. (The first day in business was the worst […]
So asked the Dean of Engineering to a bunch of freshman engineering students almost fifty years ago. The class was Intro to Engineering, an overview of what we were getting ourselves into. When he asked the question, most of the hands in the room went up. “Well”, he replied, “if you REALLY want go get […]
Still time for New Year’s Resolutions. In case your resolutions include consulting, here are 10 reasons NOT to go there. Not being negative – just being honest. 1. You dislike risk – Starting any business involves risk. To be blunt, some people simply do not like risk. Nothing wrong with that, but if risk makes […]
Down 40 pounds in six months! This post was sparked by comments on my weight loss last year, as reported in the 2013 Year End Review. Specifically, how did you do it, and what got you off the dime in the first place? So I thought this post might be a good way to kick […]
Time for a short New Year’s rant… Hate your job? Life passing you by? Frustrated, and just want to escape? But no thoughts or plans on what to do next? Waste of energy! Better to have an idea or two in mind. Something to move TO, not FROM. Rather than wallow in misery, time to […]
This recently arrived in my mail box, and I wanted to share it. It certainly made my day! This is from Catherine at ViewThatData.com, who I featured a few months back in an earlier post. Sounds like she is making great progress towards her goals of both occupational independence and financial independence. Hi Daryl, I hope this finds […]
