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90 DAYS TO
SUCCESS IN
CONSULTING
William McKnight
Australia, Brazil, Japan, Korea, Mexico, Singapore, Spain, United Kingdom, United States
90 Days to Success in Consulting © 2010 Course Technology, a part of Cengage Learning.
William McKnight
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. No part of this work covered by the copy-
right herein may be reproduced, transmitted, stored, or used in any
Publisher and General Manager, form or by any means graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including but
Course Technology PTR: not limited to photocopying, recording, scanning, digitizing, taping,
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Associate Director of 1976 United States Copyright Act, without the prior written permis-
Marketing: sion of the publisher.
Sarah Panella
Manager of Editorial Services:
For product information and technology assistance,
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contact us at Cengage Learning Customer &
Marketing Manager: Sales Support, 1-800-354-9706
Mark Hughes
For permission to use material from this text or product,
Acquisitions Editor: submit all requests online at cengage.com/permissions
Mitzi Koontz Further permissions questions can be e-mailed to
[email protected].
Project Editor/Copy Editor:
Cathleen D. Small
Editorial Services Coordinator: All trademarks are the property of their respective owners.
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Interior Layout Tech: Library of Congress Control Number: 2009933311
Bill Hartman
ISBN-13: 978-1-4354-5442-2
Cover Designer: ISBN-10: 1-4354-5442-1
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eISBN-10: 1-4354-5566-5
Indexer:
Course Technology, a part of Cengage Learning
Kelly Talbot
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Proofreader: Boston, MA 02210
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Printed in Canada
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 11 10 09
To Lourdes, Daniel, and Hannah
Acknowledgments
I would like to thank the many people who made it possible to
bring this project together. Thanks to the folks at Cengage
Learning, including Mitzi Koontz, for bringing together the idea
and the 90 Days concept. It was a pleasure to work with Cathleen
Small in the editing process. Furthermore, I would like to give my
sincere thanks to those who invested in me early in my career and
began making possible the experiences I share here. Many thanks
to Jon Rubin and Peter Costigan. My clients are my lifeblood.
Without them, there is no consulting. Special thanks to John
Whitehead, John Gideon, Dale Danilewitz, Carol Wood, Louie
Torres, Casey Lau, Michael Furlow, Victor Dudemaine, Tom
Lyons, Daniel King, Trenton Cycholl, Steve Westmoreland,
Glenn Schentag, and Roger Barker for believing in me. There
may be no finer profession than consulting if you look at the peo-
ple in it and around it. To Jill Dyche, Claudia Imhoff, Colin
White, Scott Humphrey, Wayne Eckerson, TDWI, Shawn
Rogers, Ron Powell, Joe Caserta, Kevin McManus, Information
Management magazine, SearchDataManagement, Kim Dossey,
and Kim Stanick, thank you for being a pleasure to work with.
And finally, I could never have done anything if I didn’t surround
myself with the best. I’ve had the privilege of working with
Charles McCarthy, Afonso da Silva, Cory Shouse, Jeanine Davis,
and Stuart Mullins.
iv
About the Author
William McKnight is president of McKnight Consulting
Group (www.williammcknight.com). He is one of the leading
experts in the information management space and provides ser-
vices in business intelligence, master data management, data
warehousing, and information technology assessment. He has
worked with more than 100 corporate clients worldwide. His
team’s implementations have been recognized with several Best
Practices awards.
In addition, McKnight has held executive roles in public and bou-
tique consultancies. He relates to each level of consulting growth
and is a passionate communicator and motivator. He is also a for-
mer information technology vice president of a Fortune company
and holds an MBA from Santa Clara University.
McKnight is a popular keynote presenter at major conferences
internationally and has given more than 150 public seminars and
webinars. He has hundreds of articles, white papers, and tips in
publication. He is widely quoted in the press and was honored as
an Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year finalist.
McKnight writes pragmatically from his experience starting from
scratch and growing a consulting company, McKnight Associates,
Inc., to placement on the Inc. 500 and the Dallas 100 for growth
and later selling it as a multimillion-dollar consulting firm.
v
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Contents
Introduction. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xiii
Chapter 1
What Is Consulting? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
Who Is a Consultant?.................................................................5
The Goal: Becoming a Top Consultant.....................................6
Consulting in Hard Times .........................................................9
For Those Entering Consulting Post-Recession .......................11
Client Value-Add .....................................................................12
Action Plan...............................................................................16
Chapter 2
The Traits of a Professional Consultant . . . . . . . . 17
The Right Frame of Mind .......................................................18
Clearing Your Life Deck ..........................................................19
Traits of a Good Consultant....................................................20
Time Management ..................................................................21
The Consultant Image .............................................................23
Health.......................................................................................25
Travel .......................................................................................27
Action Plan...............................................................................30
Chapter 3
The Top Consultant Image Building Blocks . . . . . 31
Business Name .........................................................................32
Logo: The Little Icon That’s Supposed to Convey
Everything ................................................................................33
Slogan.......................................................................................35
vii
90 Days to Success in Consulting
Website .....................................................................................36
Other Tools of the Trade.........................................................39
Domiciling Your Business ........................................................41
Action Plan...............................................................................42
Chapter 4
The Bottom Line . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
Securing Income to Get Started ..............................................46
Brokers .....................................................................................46
Business Formation and Taxation ............................................50
Insurance..................................................................................53
Startup Money .........................................................................54
Action Plan...............................................................................55
Chapter 5
How to Stay Current: Technology and Skills . . . . 57
Focusing Your Technology Coverage.......................................58
Mastering Domains..................................................................60
Technology Environment.........................................................61
Planning Time for Learning ....................................................62
Updating Technology...............................................................63
What If Technology Is Not Enough?.......................................63
Action Plan...............................................................................65
Chapter 6
Service Planning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67
Categories of Services..............................................................69
Clients Need Consultants.........................................................70
Consultants Your Clients Will Want ........................................73
Packaged Services ....................................................................74
Training Services......................................................................76
Project Services ........................................................................77
Action Plan...............................................................................78
viii
Contents
Chapter 7
Establishing Fees . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79
Hourly Consulting Rates..........................................................80
Rate Flexibility .........................................................................84
Rate Sheet ................................................................................86
Fixed-Bid Services....................................................................87
Billing Variations ......................................................................89
In Conclusion...........................................................................89
Action Plan...............................................................................89
Chapter 8
The Role of the Consultant . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91
Consulting Is a Personal Relationship......................................93
Curb Your Enthusiasm.............................................................93
Credit Is a Four-Letter Word ...................................................94
Corporations Are Problem Creators........................................95
Consulting Is About Tradeoffs .................................................95
Be a Positive Communicator....................................................97
Be Very Conscious of Naming Conventions............................98
The Occam’s Razor Principle of Consulting ..........................99
What Could Go Wrong? ........................................................100
The Use of Guiding Principles ..............................................101
Action Plan.............................................................................102
Chapter 9
Client Contracts. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103
Master Services Agreements ..................................................106
Opening............................................................................106
Personnel ..........................................................................107
Confidentiality..................................................................108
Payment Terms.................................................................110
Rights Ownership.............................................................110
Rates.................................................................................111
Liability Limits .................................................................112
Administrivia ....................................................................113
Statement of Work .................................................................113
Action Plan.............................................................................114
ix
90 Days to Success in Consulting
Chapter 10
Acquiring People . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115
People: Who Needs Them?....................................................116
Employee Styles .....................................................................119
Regular Salary ..................................................................119
Regular Hourly.................................................................120
Part-Time .........................................................................120
Temporary........................................................................121
Per Diem...........................................................................121
Casual...............................................................................121
Finding People........................................................................125
Action Plan.............................................................................126
Chapter 11
Requests for Information/Requests for
Proposals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 127
When to Respond...................................................................129
What’s in an RFP? .................................................................132
RFP Timelines .......................................................................135
Action Plan.............................................................................136
Chapter 12
Client Communications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 137
Communication Should Be Honest .......................................138
Listen First..............................................................................139
Communication Should Be Frequent ....................................140
Structured Project Communication .......................................141
Political Sustainability of Work Product ................................144
Action Plan.............................................................................145
Chapter 13
Writing and Speaking . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 147
Writing Articles ......................................................................148
Public Speaking......................................................................151
Other Channels to Fame........................................................155
Weeding Through the Feedback ............................................158
Action Plan.............................................................................159
x
Contents
Chapter 14
Managing Capital. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 163
Top 10 Spending Decisions in Consulting .............................165
1. Hire or Contract the Billable Team .............................165
2. Hire Sales .....................................................................165
3. Pay for or Self-Build Marketing....................................166
4. Have a Board................................................................166
5. Office Space .................................................................166
6. Annual Bonuses ............................................................167
7. Accounting and Legal ..................................................167
8. Bookkeeping, Accounts Payable/Accounts
Receivable.........................................................................167
9. Conference and Training Attendance and
Sponsorship ......................................................................168
10. Technology Environment ...........................................168
Accounts Payable and Accounts Receivable ..........................169
Financial Statements ..............................................................172
Action Plan.............................................................................174
Chapter 15
Partnerships . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 175
Oh, the People You’ll Meet in Consulting .............................176
Partnership Business Formation.............................................178
Deal-Based Partnerships ........................................................181
Partnerships with Vendors .....................................................183
Action Plan.............................................................................185
Chapter 16
Getting the Word Out . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 187
The Campaign .......................................................................188
The Telescript and Being Prepared for Conversation ...........192
The Target List ......................................................................194
Newsletter...............................................................................197
Action Plan.............................................................................197
xi
90 Days to Success in Consulting
Chapter 17
Marketable Value and Exit Strategies . . . . . . . . 199
That’s Not a Marketable Business..........................................200
Business Valuation..................................................................201
Timing Is Everything .............................................................203
Valuation Metrics ...................................................................205
To Sell or Not.........................................................................207
The Deal ................................................................................208
Action Plan.............................................................................210
Chapter 18
Parting Words . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 211
It’s Not What You Make ........................................................212
Save Some for Me! .................................................................214
Riding the Roller Coaster ......................................................214
Buying Self-Determination ....................................................216
Giving Back............................................................................217
Less Than All-In Consulting..................................................218
Ethical Issues ..........................................................................218
Have I Held Back? .................................................................220
Final Thoughts.......................................................................221
Action Plan.............................................................................222
Index. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 223
xii
Introduction
xiii
90 Days to Success in Consulting
xiv
Introduction
xv
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PART I
Breaking into
Consulting as a
Profession
This page intentionally left blank
Chapter 1
What Is Consulting?
■ Who Is a Consultant?
■ The Goal: Becoming a Top Consultant
■ Consulting in Hard Times
■ For Those Entering Consulting Post-Recession
■ Client Value-Add
■ Action Plan
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