A potentially life-changing book, filled with profiles of people who have successfully made the transition from employee to entrepreneur. Practical and inspiring, it covers everything from getting your employer's help, finding clients, and estimating your income, to the psychological adjustments that go along with self-employment.Line drawings.

Peter C. Brown is a writer and retired management consultant living in St. Paul, Minnesota.

Acknowledgements	p. xi
Introduction: Consultants of All Stripes Are America's Emerging Independent Work Force	p. xiii
The Independent Life--What Twelve Successful Consultants Would Like You to Know
How to Leave Your Job: Knowing when it's time, and building bridges to independence	p. 3
Bryan Robertson Has an Awakening	p. 3
Others Who've Jumped the Job Track, and Why They Did It	p. 5
Assessing the Risks and Rewards	p. 13
Deciding What Kind of Consulting to Sell	p. 17
Bridges to Get There Safer and Faster	p. 18
Asking your employer to help you leave: Profile of Louisa G. Casadei	p. 26
Tapping into high Potential: Why consultants are getting so much business when corporations are laying off	p. 30
Role of Consultants in an Era of Turmoil, and Why Every Organization Needs Them	p. 30
Downsizing	p. 31
Outsourcing	p. 33
Why You Don't Need to Be an Expert to Be a Successful Consultant	p. 38
A career as a general management consultant: Profile of David A. Hallowell	p. 45
Trusting What You have to Offer: "(Your name) since (the year of your birth)"	p. 50
Your Know-how	p. 50
Your "Performance Factor"	p. 55
Believing in what you're good at: Profile of Frances B. Wheeler	p. 65
Relationships Into Cash: Marketing to get the business you want	p. 70
The Four Parts of the Marketing Cycle	p. 70
Relationships vs. RFPs	p. 81
Why Your Phone Will Ring	p. 82
Why the Jobs You Don't Get Are the Ones You Don't Want	p. 83
The consultant whose clients do his marketing: Profile of Leonard W. Smart	p. 85
Knowing Your Own Worth: How to name your price	p. 90
If You Want to Get a Check, You Have to Send a Bill	p. 90
Five Factors That Should Influence Your Fees	p. 93
How to Quote Each Job Without Regrets	p. 99
How to Structure Your Pricing and Billing	p. 100
Positioning herself as the "good value" brand: Profile of Diane Sims Page	p. 106
Being There: Knowing your role in the client's world	p. 110
A Shoulder for the Accountability Burden	p. 112
Speed and Access Manifest	p. 114
Co-conspirator	p. 115
A Voice for the Forbidden Questions	p. 118
Results Without a Head Count	p. 119
Making it easier for the client to do business: Profile of Verne L. Severson	p. 121
Bringing Others In: Don't build an empire unless you want to feed one	p. 126
The Bottom Line Is What's Left Over	p. 126
Three Approaches to Growth	p. 127
How the IRS Defines an Employee, and Why You Should Care	p. 129
Buying the Milk and Not the Cow	p. 133
Employment Benefits	p. 139
Employment Agreements	p. 139
When You Decide to Hire	p. 140
Collaborators in a "fairness system": Profile of Pattie Garrahy	p. 143
Work, Money, and Private Lives: Consulting notes from the interior	p. 148
Breaking Rules	p. 148
Helping Your Best Self Win	p. 154
Keeping Your Business in Its Place	p. 156
Walking the talk to change your life: Profile of Susan E. Foster and Jack A. Brizius	p. 163
Keeping Your Balance: How the choices you make will help you stay in control	p. 170
Hedging Your Bets	p. 170
Staying Out of the Victim School of Consulting	p. 173
Embracing Consulting's Cycles	p. 177
Finding happiness in what you create: Profile of Susan Kenny Stevens	p. 179
Discovering Your Residuals: How to tap the equity in your consulting practice to sell more than your time	p. 184
Consulting's Hidden Annuities	p. 184
Tips to Help You Develop the Hidden Annuities in Your Practice	p. 193
Cash, Not Conversation	p. 195
Becoming the producer instead of the actor: Profile of Eric G. Mitchell	p. 198
Setting Up Shop--Straight Talk About the Nuts and Bolts
Establishing Your Business: Tips to simplify the start-up process	p. 205
Picking a Name: You Are Your Business	p. 205
Picking a Location	p. 209
Deciding Whether to Incorporate	p. 219
Controlling Your Technology: Phones, Computers, and Faxes	p. 227
Finances and Plans: How to estimate your revenues, expenses, capital needs, and staying power	p. 233
How to Buy Time to Succeed	p. 233
Financial Projections to Make Smart Choices	p. 235
Where to Look for Risk Capital	p. 251
Financial Relationships to Keep You Whole	p. 253
Business Plans: When Do You Need One, What Goes in It	p. 254
Safety and Security: How to protect the down side	p. 258
When to Use Attorneys and Accountants	p. 259
How to Provide Your Own Fringe Benefits	p. 261
When to Rely on Consulting Contracts	p. 267
When to Cover Yourself for Liability and Casualty Losses	p. 270
Record Keeping and Taxes: Basics to keep you on track	p. 272
Simple Systems for Tracking Time and Expenses	p. 272
Taxes: What You Are Liable for, and How to Keep Your Nose Clean with the IRS	p. 275
Checklist for Hiring an Employee	p. 279
Making sure there's a profit at the end of the day: Profile of Walter M. Pile, Jr.	p. 284
Epilogue: The Uniqueness of You	p. 291
Index	p. 293
Table of Contents provided by Syndetics. All Rights Reserved.

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