Feb

12

Book Review: Million Dollar Consulting by Alan Weiss

February 12, 2008 |

Million Dollar Consulting Book CoverSince I started my consulting practice I have seen (and read) many books on the mechanical process of starting a business. Although informative, they give you very generic information. That was, until I found the book titled Million Dollar Consulting: The Professional’s Guide to Growing a Practice by Alan Weiss. He clearly explains the best practices for managing your own consulting gigs: from finding the first clients, to expanding the business.  At first I didn’t liked the title (I do not like pretentious ones) — that is, until I realized that in a year I did a third of the Weiss’ goal, and now I need all the help I can find to sustain it — or even bring it closer to that arbitrary goal. The book became a close friend near my desk.

The guy is mostly oriented towards a practice where you are your name and your brand, and you provide services by yourself. It is not oriented toward body sellers — those who resell consultants, while adding little value to the transaction. That does not mean he suggests doing the work all by yourself. He does explains the pros and cons of different staff augmentation techniques for your practice.Book covers topics like:

  • Client development.
  • Relationship building.
  • Proposal Writing.
  • Employees vs. partners vs. subcontractors.
  • How to price services.
  • How to package services.
  • Ethical decisions.
  • Consulting Mindset.
  • Advertising techniques.

The book is one of those few I will add to my reference collection. When I need ideas for where I should focus some of my “spare” time, I browse through it. Some of the ideas presented on the book resonate my own, others are new and worth a try. Most of the time it guides me through ideas I already had but needed someone with experience to put some structure into them. That is what I need the most right now.

I just wish I could find real life mentors that could help on this kind of learning. Until then, I will have to keep looking for other books like this one. Any recommendations?


Comments

2 Comments so far

  1. Alan Weiss on February 12, 2008 3:33 pm

    Thank you for the favorable mention of my 16-year best-seller, now in it’s third edition. If you need a Mentor, check out my Private Roster Mentor Program on http://www.summitconsulting.com!

  2. Book Reviews on February 12, 2008 3:37 pm

    [...] unknown wrote an interesting post today onHere’s a quick excerptAlthough informative, they give you very generic information. That was, until I found the book titled Million Dollar Consulting: The Professional’s Guide to Growing a Practice by Alan Weiss. He clearly […] [...]

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