Here is a recent question from blog reader regarding client reports: I’m looking at moonlighting, and have been enjoying digging through your blog. So far I have one quick question – did you have to deal with securing your data or reports? Was it was ever a concern for you? Did you just send any documents […]
Good advice from Craig Thompson, JD/EE/PE, an engineering colleague turned attorney. I first met Craig many years ago as an engineer in Minnesota. He now practices patent law in Texas. These five tips are from a recent mailing (comments are mine.) (1) Create – and Use – Strong Contracts. We used a few simple two page […]
Vendors and suppliers are part of your business team. Take care of them, and they will take care of you. Too often businesses go for the lowest cost, delay payments, and generally abuse their vendors. And then they complain when they get in a pickle, and nobody wants to help them out. I’ve seen it, […]
Making mistakes are part of starting and growing any business (including consulting firms.) In fact, if you’re not making some mistakes, you’re probably not trying hard enough — nor are you learning. Here are five mistakes I’ve made: (1) Not sticking to the knitting – Back in the late 1990s, we got caught up in the […]
As a consultant, you’re offering your expertise as a more efficient way to do things. Follow your own advice, and hire the expertise you need. Years ago a new consultant (and fellow engineer) was grousing about how much trouble he was having with a fax program on his computer. My response was “Why spend time on […]
This question arrived today from a friend and engineering consulting colleague. Once in a while a company will request a “General Liability” insurance certificate. Hi Daryl, I’ve run into this requirement (client insurance) a handful of times. Most companies don’t ask for it, but some are asking to be named on my insurance policy. Do […]
Had a recent inquiry on how I handle travel expenses. Here are my policies: Travel expenses are billed at cost – no markup. Some consultants mark up the travel, but I feel this is cheesy. Air fare purchased is normally refundable/changeable. Saves problems if the schedule changes. Out of town travel time is billed at […]
It depends… If your clients come to your office, it probably makes sense… If you go to your clients, it probably just wastes money. In the first case, a public office adds a level of professionalism, and keeps you out of trouble with home owners associations or zoning boards. But don’t get carried away – […]
From the mailbag: Just last week an engineering colleague (and reader of this blog) announced he was making his own JumpToConsulting. Way to go, Glen! His announcement e-mail also had several specific questions. After addressing them, I decided to share my comments here. (1) Quotations & Proposals We use a two page format. The first […]
How I handle my insurance … This post is a quick continuation of the previous post on insurance, as someone asked how I handle my personal insurance needs. My philosophy is to self-insure the small losses, and put the premium savings into higher coverage. As such, I carry larger deductibles than most subsidized policies, but […]
So what is it about insurance (particularly health insurance) that spooks so many people? After the Four Key Questions (a previous blog post), this is probably number five. The question is usually posed as, “So how do YOU handle insurance?” For many, this issue is a potential show-stopper from making the Jump to Consulting. It […]
