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| The Consultant's Manual: A Complete Guide to Building a Successful Consulting Practice | 
 enlarge | Author: Thomas L. Greenbaum
Publisher: Wiley
Category: Book
List Price: $23.50
Buy New: $2.92
You Save: $20.58 (88%)
Buy New/Used/Collectible from $2.92
Avg. Customer Rating:  (4 reviews)
Sales Rank: 209163
Languages: English (Original Language), English (Unknown), English (Published)
Media: Paperback
Edition: 1
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 240
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1
Dimensions (in): 9.5 x 7.4 x 0.7
ISBN: 0471008796
Dewey Decimal Number: 001
EAN: 9780471008798
ASIN: 0471008796
Publication Date: March 14, 1994
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Editorial Reviews:
Product Description
The Consultant's Manual If you're serious about starting your own consulting practice, there's something you should know . . No matter how knowledgeable you are in your field.. No matter how expert your advice or impressive your credentials.. If you don't bring an air of consummate professionalism to every phase of your practice--from proposal-writing and fee-setting, to drawing up contracts and issuing reports--you'll almost definitely lose out to the professional who does. But don't worry, because with Tom Greenbaum and The Consultant's Manual in your corner, you can make sure that never happens! Growing out of the author's Harvard consulting course, this book offers level-headed, expert advice on virtually every practical aspect of starting, building, and marketing your consulting practice. Centered around the theme of developing and working an exhaustive business plan for your firm, it leads you step-by-step through the research, planning, and problem-solving stages. Positioning your firm, giving it a name, targeting your market, establishing a sales culture, maintaining top-flight customer service, cash flow, billing, and fee setting . it's all in here, and much more.
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| Customer Reviews:
Starting a Consulting Business October 3, 2008
I am setting up a small consulting business and found The Consultant's Manual by Thomas L. Greenbaum to be extremely informative and quite valuable in the detail that it provided on the planning and implementation of a successful consulting business. It was highly recommended by my colleagues and friends. I would pass that recommendation on to anyone who is in the process of setting up a consulting business.
Les consultants du swing January 14, 2004
2 out of 8 found this review helpful
L'expert-conseil se trouve couronne de succes lorsqu'il fait bien son boulot et, tres important, lorsqu'il ne bouge pas sur les honoraires a recevoir. Il ne faut jamais oublier que les clients sont des decisives chez eux, qu'ils cherchent toujours a minimiser les frais et maximiser le travail des autres. Alors il vaut mieux demander les honoraires les plus hauts possibles parce que la concurrence et la technologie, ca change tout vite. Il y a des instants ou l'expert-conseil devient lui-meme client payant, c'est-a-dire dans les imprimeries et les agences de publicite. Ces fois-ci il n'a qu'a se presenter comme chef de famille, un gagne-pain comme tout le monde qui a des frais et qui a donc besoin des jours de paye toutes les quinzaines. L'expert-conseil arrive a attirer les clients et, tres important, en reste paye, lorsqu'il passe a la radio et a la tele, parle aux reunions des gens de l'industrie et des affaires, enseigne des classes du soir, ou bien ecrit des articles et des livres.
No frills...and not the fun part for many! December 3, 2001
17 out of 17 found this review helpful
It doesn't come with a free CD, accompanying website or an appendix of checklists. There's not even a photo of the author. It's not about how to consult (the part you're excited about!), it is, rather, about how to run your consulting business for a living (the part you're not particularly excited about, but is necessary). Based on Greenbaum's Harvard consulting course (which is what attracted me to the text, along with, honestly, its affordability), the subtitle "A Complete Guide to Building a Successful Consulting Practice," really sums it up. Just because you have a developed area of expertise does not mean you will be a successful consultant from your own financial perspective. You have to manage and grow your business. A business plan is just as important for a service business as for a product-based enterprise; perhaps even more so. A carefully constructed image ("company identity") including promotional materials parallels development of an effective business plan. A personal selling strategy needs to be in place, including details of billing and contracting, before you begin, or at least get in too far. The chapter on "Planning Your Company's Finances" was of particular interest to me, since it is often taboo in casual conversation among colleagues. I initially thought the author was extremely hard-sell, but to be successful long-term, confidence and forethought are essential. Competition is fierce in many fields, and you need to get and keep your slice of the target market pie. As I read further, reality set in, and this book is reality and experience-based. Be honest, and go for win-win situations; you are in business to make money by providing honest, consistent, quality customer service. The last few chapters, particularly the chapter on ethics, provide nice segue to perhaps another book. For the money, this is a good survival manual from the consultant's point of view for a beginner or a professional already in the field. It's an easy read meshing the marketing and business principles you'll need to supplement your given areas of expertise. For more complete (and pricey, but worth it if you're serious) information and advice, check out Elaine Beich "The Business of Consulting and Beyond" and/or Peter Block's "Flawless Consulting" sets of workbooks/case studies plus texts.
I Dreamed of Consulting October 11, 2000
13 out of 17 found this review helpful
Making money as a consultant means meeting prospective clients who are decision makers within their businesses and standing by your fees, because you never know when competition and technology will get the better of you. Also, it means getting business prospects to think of you, not only as a customer of advertising and print shops, but as a breadwinner too who likes cashing regular paychecks. You can get paid to make business-boosting connections by appearing on radio and television, giving industry and trade talks, teaching courses, and writing articles and books.So Thomas L. Greenbaum is particularly helpful on the financial side of becoming a consultant. His book, THE CONSULTANT'S MANUAL, makes consulting dreams come true, along with Geoffrey M. Bellman's THE CONSULTANT'S CALLING, Herman Holtz's THE COMPLETE GUIDE TO CONSULTING CONTRACTS, Peter Meyer's GETTING STARTED IN COMPUTER CONSULTING, Janet Ruhl's THE COMPUTER CONSULTANT'S GUIDE, and Howard Shenson and Ted Nicholas' THE COMPLETE GUIDE TO CONSULTING SUCCESS.
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