Product Description

Your complete blueprint for starting out in the consulting world!

Consulting can be a most rewarding career--but being good at consulting is not always enough to keep your business profitable. The Consultant's Quick Start Guide offers a practical approach to setting up a consulting business. Throughout the guide, Elaine Biech--author of the best-selling The Business of Consulting--shares both her own secrets as well as those of numerous other successful consultants. With a focus on the business side of consulting, Biech takes you through a painless, fill-in-the-blanks, step-by-step process for setting up your consulting firm.

The book includes information on how to:
* Develop a dynamic business plan
* Market consulting services
* Establish a professional office
* Meet critical legal requirements
* Change for services
* Build client relationships
* Grow the business
* Ensure continued professional growth
* Make money in the business

Learn the skills you need to be a successful consultant with this indispensable guide!

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #215509 in Books
• Published on: 2001-05-09
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 272 pages

Review
"You've probably heard that a consultant is someone between jobs. Elaine's book ensures that will never describe you. The Consultant's Quick Start Guide is a sure bet for an effective consulting business." --Ken Blanchard, coauthor, Gung Ho! and The One Minute Manager tm

"Elaine Biech is truly the consultant's consultant. Anyone considering a move to an independent consulting career should devour this book." --Diane Hessan, CEO, Communispace Corporation

"The Consultant's Quick Start Guide is an invaluable resource for all new and seasoned consultants. Elaine Biech has packed into one book tools and references that would take most consultants years to learn and develop." --Richard Chang, CEO, Richard Chang Associates, Inc., and author of The Passion Plan and Performance Scorecards

"What a treat for the new or wannabe consultant-you can think through the initial career decision, plan for the launch of the business, and hang the proverbial shingle with this book as your guide. The author has produced another practical, hands-on approach!" --Ronald E. Gailbraith, CEO, Management 21, Inc

"There's a reason Elaine Biech has the Midas Touch. She's the best at what she does, and she's generous with all her inside information. Even old pros are sure to pick up a few golden nuggets." --Elizabeth Engstrom, director, Maui Writers Retreat

"Elaine Biech does it yet again! She provides what most say can only be learned in the school of hard knocks! Take her wonderful advice to heart!" --Beverly Kaye, president, Career Systems International, Inc., and co-author of The Wall Street Journal best-seller, Love 'Em or Lose 'Em: Getting Good People to Stay

Review
"Elaine biech is truly the consultant's consultant. Anyone considering a move to an independent consulting career should devour this book." —Diane Hessan, CEO, Communispace Corporation

"The Consultant's Quick Start Guide is an invaluable resource for all new and seasoned consultants. Elaine Biech has packed into one book, tools and references that would take most consultants years to learn and develop." —Richard Chang, CEO, Richard Chang Associates, Inc.,Author of, The Passion Plan and Performance Scorecards

"Elaine Biech builds your confidence to take your first steps into consulting. She asks important, tough questions, and them helps you answer them. Read the book, answer its questions, and you will be well-prepared for your first year." —Geoff Belman, consultant and author of The Consultant's Calling

"There's a reason Elaine Biech has the Midas Touch. She's the best at what she does, and she's generous with all her inside information. Even old pros are sure to pick up a few golden nuggets." —Elizabeth Engstrom, Director, Maui Writers Retreat

"Elaine Biech does it yet again! She provides what most say can only be learned in the school of hard knocks! Take her wonderful advice to heart!" —Beverly Kaye, President, Career Systems International, Inc., Co-author of WSJ Best Seller, "Love 'Em or Lose 'Em: Getting Good People to Stay"

Book Info
(Wiley) A complete guide to setting up a consulting firm, offering the secrets of the author, a professional consultant with her own firm, as well the secrets of other successful consultants. Addressed to new and experienced consultants alike, showing how to meet legal requirements, market services, and build client relationships. Softcover. DLC: Consulting firms.

Customer Reviews

Relatively worthless
Although Biech makes a number of good points in her text here, the vast majority of it can be chocked up to common sense. The workbook fill-in forms are nice if you're the sort of person that is so unorganized that you need your hand held at every step, but in all honesty if you fall into that category you probably shouldn't be thinking about a consulting career in the first place. Unfortunately I feel like their primary purpose is just to take up space, and make the book feel longer and more useful than it really is. If you boil this "quick start guide" down to the few pages that are actually worthwhile, you wouldn't even have enough pages to fill a pamphlet. Look elsewhere.

You could find better...
Ok, so I wasn't impressed...

This book is definately good at one thing: it makes you think about some important issues of starting your own practice, and it has lots of assignments that I think may be useful. That earns it two stars.

However, what makes this book less useful than, say, "getting started in consulting" (A. Weiss), is the fact that there is no emphasis on creating value for your customer(and setting your fees based upon that value). What Biech is saying is actually that you should divide what you think you should earn in a year by the days you expect to work etc. So whether you help a client gain $50000 or $500000 added value should make no difference on your paycheck... Being value- oriented would help you wether we're talking about gaining clients, getting your fair pay or establishing business relationships. This book hardly touches the issue, even though it's important in so many areas of the business.

What I'm saying boils down to this: There being so many better books on the subject, I see no reason to buy this one. I did, and I'd rather have spent my money on something else.

Well worth the time!
This is the 2nd of Elaine's books on consulting that I have read (see also the Business of Consulting), and both books are excellent resources that I reference often. As an independent consultant, it's useful to have second opinions-and Elaine's opinions are relevant and based on her very successful experience. Check both books out!