Exhibits and the Companion Website xi Foreword xv Acknowledgments xix Introduction xxi One So You Want to Be a Consultant 1 What Is Consulting? 3 Why Consulting Now? 4 Four Ways to Get Started 10 Myths About Consulting 17 Realities and Rewards of Consulting 22 Just What Are You Getting Yourself Into? 23 For the Consummate Consultant 29 Two Talents and Tolerance 31 Your Skills for Success 33 Roles You May Play 40 Signs of a Mediocre Consultant 42 Your Personal Situation 43 Caution: Business Owner Ahead 45 Entrepreneurial Characteristics 45 For the Consummate Consultant 50 Three Dollars and Sense 51 How Much Income Do You Require? 52 How Much Should You Charge? 56 Selecting a Pricing Structure 64 Other Pricing Decisions 68 Other Charges 70 Fee Increases 71 Ethics of Pricing 73 Money Discussions 75 Value of a Guarantee 76 For the Consummate Consultant 77 Four Starting . 79 Why Some Start-Ups Succeed and So Many Fail 81 What''s in a Name? 82 Selecting an Accountant 86 Selecting a Legal Entity 87 A Business Plan to Guide You 89 Plan to Use Your Business Plan 95 Start-Up Costs 100 Finding Your Niche 102 Your Image Is Everything 105 Experiencing the Experience Maze 108 For the Consummate Consultant 113 Five . And Staying in Business 115 Marketing from Day One 117 Creating Your Marketing Plan 118 Using the Internet 128 Surprising but Practical Th oughts on Marketing 131 Tactics for Low-Budget Marketing 136 Contacting Potential Clients 141 Proposals Lead to Contracts 148 Why Would You Refuse an Assignment? 150 For the Consummate Consultant 151 Six The Cost of Doing Business 153 Keeping Records for Your Consulting Business 155 Watch Your Cash Flow 156 Track Your Expenses 164 Set Aside Petty Cash 172 Charge Your Client 175 Project Revenues 179 Deal with Bad Debts 179 Keep an Eye on Your Numbers 181 For the Consummate Consultant 186 Seven Building a Client Relationship 187 Relationships: It''s Why You''re in Business 189 The First Meeting 191 Four Phases of Building a Client-Consultant Partnership 193 Adding More Value 204 How Many Clients Do You Need? 211 How to Improve the Relationship Continuously 211 It''s the People 214 Maintain the Relationship Aft er the Project 215 Ensure Success 216 For the Consummate Consultant 218 Eight Growing Pains 219 Adding People 221 Growing Without Adding People 238 Expand Your Geographical Market 247 Doing Everything You Can to Grow Your Current Business 249 For the Consummate Consultant 253 Nine The Ethics of the Business 255 Consultant to Client 258 Consultant to Consultant 265 Client to Consultant 269 Parting Ethics Shots 270 For the Consummate Consultant 272 Ten Exude Professionalism 273 Competencies to Boost Your Consulting Success 275 Continuing to Learn 286 Balancing Your Life and Your Business 289 Managing Your Time 291 Giving Back 297 For the Consummate Consultant 299 Eleven Do You Still Want to Be a Consultant? 301 A Week in a Consultant''s Life 304 Visualizing Success 316 Taking Action 317 Get Ready, Get Set . 318 For the Consummate Consultant 324 Appendix 325 Helpful Resources and Links 325 Reading List 327 About the Author 331 Index 333.