Author Archives: Kim Clark

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Vacations Are Good For Business

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The Memorial Day Weekend is approaching and with it the start of summer and the most popular vacation season. Perhaps it is the legacy of the Puritan work ethic that has caused the mixed feelings that many in the U.S. have towards the tradition of taking time off to relax and unwind. There are many of us who feel that stepping away from work responsibilities now and again signals a lack of discipline or commitment to our jobs. Many of us brag about the number of hours we work each day and more is always better.

U.S. companies on the whole are stingy about granting paid time off,  as compared to their peers in Europe and Latin America.  Even Great Britain, original birthplace of the Puritans, gives three paid days off at Christmas, while the U.S. companies usually grant only one.  Easter is the most important holiday on the Christian calendar, but in predominantly Christian USA, there is no longer a paid holiday for Easter Monday.  In contrast, paid holidays for Good Friday and Easter Monday are standard in Latin America and Europe.

The Center For Economic and Policy Research reports that 25% of U.S. workers receive no paid time off of any kind—sick time, holiday, or vacation time.  An increasing number of companies that employ primarily low-wage workers restrict the number of hours that their employees receive, to keep benefits out of reach for as many as possible.

U.S. workers are ourselves complicit in the anti-time off practice.  According to the jobs and recruiting site Glassdoor, 75% of employees who are eligible to receive paid vacation time do not use all of their time in a given year. However, there may be a method to the madness, sadly. The global forecasting organization Oxford Economics (part of Oxford University) found that 13% of managers were less likely to promote staff who use all of their vacation days and that employees who take off fewer days on average earn nearly 3% more pay than employees who use all vacation time granted.

Let us tally the costs that the nose-to-the-grindstone approach has on our physical and psychological well-being  Even Sigmund Freud recommended that we take vacations. He and his family were known to travel every summer. https://freelancetheconsultantsdiary.wordpress.com/2015/07/07/dr-Freud-and-the-interpretation-of-your-vacation

Gradually, the hidden price of excessive work is being acknowledged.  Numerous studies have demonstrated that forcing oneself to work days on end,  sometimes at a furious pace,  is ultimately counter-productive.  Workaholic behavior has been linked to decreased productivity and creativity; insufficient slee,  poor nutrition and obesity; negative stress; burn-out and mental health issues.  Some business leaders have headed the warning signs.

Ron Hastings, CEO of Netflix and author of Freedom and Responsibility (2009), is considered the thought leader of a trend that advocates for offering unlimited vacation time to employees.  He believes that leaders should trust their employees to make wise decisions about when and how much vacation time to take, that balances the company’s’ needs and their personal needs.

Full Contact, a Denver software company, now offers a $7500 bonus to employees if they actually leave town when on vacation.  Conditions apply.  Those employees must refrain from using tech gadgets such as mobile phones or computers and refrain also from sending emails and texts.  Employees cannot work while on vacation.

Finally, Jim Moffat, CEO of mega consulting firm Deloitte extols the benefits of vacations,  stating “By taking a break from day-to-day operations, not only was I spending more much-needed time with my family, but also I was able to focus on the bigger picture of where we (Deloitte) were and where our business was going.”

Are you convinced yet? It’s not so easy for small business owners and Freelance consultants to take time off, but make it a point to get out of town for a weekend trip or two this summer, if possible. Your clients will be better served when you are rested and ready to deliver the solutions that they need.

Happy Memorial Day,

Kim

 

Business Strategy , Leave a comment

Becoming Agile

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Agile innovation first swept through the information technology sector and greatly increased success rates in software development, improved quality and speed to market. Agile management techniques are now spreading to many other industries and Freelance consultants ought to be aware of what is involved, both as regards the ways our clients and prospects may buy into agile practices and how we might incorporate certain aspects into our own consultancies.

More than in the recent past, business ventures large and small operate in a highly dynamic environments.  Customer priorities and technological advancements are known to change rapidly.  Keeping a finger on the pulse of new developments and innovating or adapting  as necessary  the line of products and services offered,  marketing buzz words used in marketing content, sales strategies employed or distribution channels utilized are how organizations thrive and grow.  But what does agile mean in practice?

Agile does not mean doing the usual thing, only faster. Darrell Rigby, a partner at Bain & Company consulting and Hirotaka Takeuchi, professor of strategy at the Harvard Business School and CEO of Scrum, Inc., a consulting and training firm, describe agile business practices as containing the following elements:

Scrum. Creative and adaptive teamwork that solves complex problems.

Lean development.  Focuses on the continual elimination of waste.

Kanban.  Focuses on reducing lead times and the amount of time to complete a process.

Along with IT,  agile management practices are particularly well-suited to strategic planning activities, marketing projects, resource allocation decisions and supply chain challenges.  Sales and accounting, for example, are not a natural fit for agile, according to experienced practitioners. In sum, agile works best where complex problems can be broken down into modules and assigned to specific teams.

When solutions to the problem are unknown, product specifications could be subject to change, the scope of the work to be done is not precisely known, cross-functional collaboration is presumed to be vital and time to market is sensitive are the ideal conditions in which to apply agile innovation or methods.

For independent Freelance consultants and small business owners agile will have a different meaning, but it may be useful nonetheless.  Small business owners can surely incorporate agile methods into their organizations and see improved functioning.  Freelancers may be more apt to use agile as a marketing buzz word that communicates to clients and prospects that we are on the cutting edge of forward-thinking business practices and in tune with their priorities.  Freelancers who are themselves agile will be trustworthy external talent who bring ROI to organizations for whom we work.

Thanks for reading,

Kim

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Best Practices Basics

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When small entities do business, they (we) must try harder. Developing and maintaining a sterling reputation that creates a trusted brand that generates good word-of-mouth and referrals is how we succeed in business. Delivering excellent products and services every time is a must, but there are additional factors that play important roles. Instituting the quality control procedures collectively known as “Best Practices” as the basis of our operations protocols is the smart thing to do.

Because it is much easier to retain a current client than to find an new one, you may want to incorporate these “Best Practices” into your organization.

Keep your word

Credibility counts and that means you keep your word. If you are unable to meet a milestone or some other commitment, speak up as early as possible so that an alternative plan can be created and enacted. If you are transparent about potential roadblocks and obstacles, your forthrightful behavior will be appreciated and respected.  In sum, under-promise and over-deliver.

Be honest

Be truthful in every aspect of your business dealings. Avoid any and every temptation to misrepresent or exaggerate your expertise, qualifications, experience or ability to keep to a timetable or perform within a certain budget.

Follow-up

If half of life is showing up, then the other half is surely follow-up. If a client or prospect asks a question, follow-up with the answer. If someone makes a referral for you, or you promise to make the referral for a friend or colleague, then reach out (I did that today for a client and sent his contact info to a VIP who asked to check out his work).

Admit and correct mistakes

Sometimes we drop the ball. It’s embarrassing and frustrating, but one must own up. Attempting to blame others is not cool (even if it is someone else’s fault). Never attempt to ignore or cover up your organization’s involvement in something that went wrong. Instead, take responsibility, apologize and do whatever is possible to make amends and learn from the experience.

Arrive on time

Prior meetings can run long and you may be unable to leave. Traffic or public transportation can be in gridlock. The alarm may not go off.  If it appears that you will be late for a client meeting, make contact ASAP and estimate your arrival time.

In general, if you are one who is consistently late, take steps to allow yourself more time. Punctuality is a reflection of your brand and your organization’s ability to deliver. If parking is usually a challenge at your destination or if the weather is bad,  leave 30 minutes early and give yourself some wiggle room. Arriving early is always acceptable.

Say thank you

Saying thank you to those who do business with you is great for relationship building. On every invoice, I thank the client for being a client. At December holiday time, I send cards to current and lapsed clients. I’ve taken clients to coffee and lunch. I thank visitors to this blog for reading my posts. Showing appreciation is always appreciated.

Thanks for reading,

Kim

 

Business Plan , , Leave a comment

Fatal Flaws in Your Business Plan

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A business plan is the blueprint, or road map, that guides aspiring entrepreneurs as they build their business venture. Business plan writing is about getting the details right as you keep in mind the big picture.  I’ve taught business plan writing since 2008.  I was invited by the program manager of an SBA-affiliated women’s business development  organization to teach a 20 week course that met once a week for three hours and students wrote their plan week by week.

A couple of years later,  I developed a six hour workshop that does not ask students to write their plan but rather, I present material that shows them the information that will be included in a good business plan: a marketing plan (including customer identification, branding and pricing), financial projections, operations processes and other elements.  We talk about how to do research and how the information discovered will help them build a successful business and if desired, attract investors as well.

When envisioning a potential business concept or writing a business plan, it is possible that unrealistic expectations or flawed thinking could influence the process.  Sometimes, one is just so excited about the great business idea that has surfaced that the adrenaline “rush” distorts clear thinking, such as the ability to see potential stumbling blocks that would require precautions to avoid.  Below are a few scenarios that entrepreneurs-in-the-making should beware.

Unrealistic expectations about the need and value of your products or services

While it is sometimes true that starting a business with yourself as the profile that represents the target customer is a smart idea, since you understand the value and availability of that product or service,  you may misinterpret the size of the market and the traction that can be achieved beyond a select group of true believers.

Insufficient information about target customers

Whether or not the target customer is modeled on you, research must be done to verify the number of potential customers who have the money and motive to do business with you,  regardless if this is a B2B or B2C enterprise in the making. You must identify the need for your products or services—what problem will you solve, what solution will you provide?

Furthermore, you must understand the buying process—who is the usual decision maker (the COO or the head of maintence?),  how will purchases be made and what is the tolerable price range? Lastly, from whom are your potential customers obtaining these products and services now? You must also identify and investigate competitors.

Vague about how to access customers

Especially in the B2B sector, access to customers is everything.  Some fields really are a closed shop. You may know who the ideal customers are,  know and describe well how your products and services fit their needs and know how to price and deliver them.  But if potential customers do not have the confidence to do business with you because you have not received an endorsement from a source that they trust, you will starve.

Overestimating cash flow

Usually, a business does not achieve desirable gross sales, and hence will not show a net profit, in its first year of operations.  Businesses that require high start-up costs especially will require a longer ramping-up period. The business plan must acknowledge the potential for negative cash flow and demonstrate how fixed and variable expenses will be met during that period.  One must know how inventory will be financed,  how payroll will be met and how the store or office rent will be paid.

When writing a business plan,  conservative financial projections are strongly advised.  Acquisition of paying customers may take longer than you expect and the size of their purchases may initially be small and infrequent.  Moreover, it is entirely possible for a venture to be profitable on paper and still suffer from cash-flow problems, because customers do not pay their bills on time.

Underestimating start-up costs

Developing a reasonable estimate of how much it will cost to get the venture up and running is essential.  If certain permits must be in hand, if certain tools or equipment are must-haves, then you must know the costs of securing all of the above.  If you’ll need to hire employees,  it’s essential that you have a good idea of the staffing needs up front (you can always hire more as customers increase).

“Magical thinking” business model

The business model is the design for how your venture will become profitable.  Well thought-out interactions between marketing, financial and operational processes will promote and sustain profitability and you must map out how these will occur. The business model describes the core fundamental actions of the venture.

The value proposition of your products or services will be described.  The resources that your enterprise will have to promote and defend the value proposition— the intellectual property that you’ve developed,  or patent rights, key relationships, or capital—will be accounted for.  Sales distribution channels will be detailed.

Getting to Plan B, a 2009 book by Randy Komisar and John Mullins, describes key business model components and advises business plan writers to segment the business model chapter into sub-headings such as:

  • The revenue model,  which describes what you’ll sell, the marketing plan and how you expect to generate revenue.
  • The operating model, which will detail where you’ll do business and how the day-to-day will function.
  • The  working capital model, meaning your cash-flow requirements.  Cash-flow means that you’ll know when money will be in hand to meet expenses like rent and payroll. It is subtly distinct from revenue.  The business can generate adequate revenue and still suffer from intermittent cash-flow problems.

Your business model keeps you organized and your priorities realistic. Matters such as quality control,  collecting accounts receivable,  inventory management and identifying strategic partners mean much more than your number of Facebook followers, for example. Best of luck to you as you work to launch your new business!

Thanks for reading,

Kim

Professional Development , , Leave a comment

Getting and Giving Advice: Tact

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In my March 1 post, I introduced the matter of giving and receiving advice and I let readers know that over the next few months I would explore different aspects of this important and sensitive topic. Here is the link to that post, if you’d like the reference.

Getting and Giving Advice: Skill Set

When offering advice to someone, especially if it is unsolicited, tact is an essential ingredient.  In today’s bombastic communications environment that is dominated by “reality”shows,  current events infotainment-style “news” shows and even presidential debates that not infrequently de-volve into scream fests, it appears that the use and value of tact have been greatly diminished.  Name-calling is in vogue, I’m sorry to say.

Tact comes easily for some but for most of us, tact requires first an awareness of its need, followed by lots of practice in its implementation.  When a difficult conversation must take place,  when in a negotiation, or even when relaxing and chatting with friends or family, tact is a useful skill. Tact adds subtlety and sophistication to your speaking style and makes you look more professional and competent.  Furthermore,  there will be no good relationships built without it, business or personal.

Being direct in one’s expression is also a useful skill,  but the ability to deliver a blunt opinion well is real talent. There is a right way to tell the outrageous truth.  The essence of tact is keeping one’s emotions in check, so that the impulse to blurt out hurtful (or semi-incoherent) statements will be curbed.  Consider keeping the following suggestions in mind as you work to incorporate the nuances of tact into your communications portfolio.

THINK FIRST

Especially in a conversation that seems to have the potential to become heated, pause, so that you can listen to what is being said by the other party and give yourself time to organize your thoughts and choose your words carefully.  By any means necessary, avoid attacks,  threats,  arm-twisting,  sarcasm,  accusations and disrespect.  You may be unhappy with what the other person has said or done,  but aim to express your displeasure in a polite and yet no-nonsense manner.  This approach is not to be confused with backing down.

SOFTEN NEGATIVE FEEDBACK

When you must address the stressful matter of unmet expectations or poor results,  the tactful approach is the best way to get you and the other person on the road to effecting a satisfactory solution.

First, search for a way to include a positive observation about the outcome. Next, discuss what came up short.  Be diplomatic with your criticism—it may be that you did not clearly communicate your request and thus caused the other person to misunderstand.  Make the conversation a teachable moment for both of you.

TIMING IS EVERYTHING

It may not be possible to know in advance the best time to wade into a sensitive subject. If you attempt to force a discussion at an inconvenient time,  your message will not be well received and if your manner of approach reeks of entitlement,  you could damage the relationship.

Always ask if it’s a good time to talk.  If it appears that the other person can focus on choosing another time,  then ask to do so.  But if that person appears to be overwhelmed,  back off and revisit the subject at another date.  Respect for boundaries  is another cornerstone of tact and tact is good business.

Thanks for reading,

Kim

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Power Through Stress

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There are two types of people in this world—those who make things happen and those who allow things to happen to them.  Reader friend,  I know that you are the first type,  a mover & shaker take-charge Freelance professional who knows how to make good things happen.

But every once in a while,  I also know that the best-laid plans will not produce the expected outcome.  Other times, responsibilities and obligations pile on to a distressing level.  Such events might cause even a high-performing Freelance consultant to feel helpless and overwhelmed and as a result, stressed.

University of Florida psychologist Timothy Judge and colleagues encourage us to give ourselves a pep talk during challenging times, to promote the feeling that we are still able to exert control over the levers of our life and business (occasional slips of the grip notwithstanding), because his team’s research quite clearly indicates that those who feel confident in their abilities and in control of their lives are much better at managing stress and getting themselves positioned to capitalize on opportunities and dismantling or avoiding obstacles that block success.

Those who feel as if they are in control of their life and work can simultaneously feel very intense stress and anxiety from time to time.  However, their resilience equips them to manage those feelings differently from the passive types.  The powerful get busy when adversity strikes, while the passive are inclined to accept negative circumstances as inevitable and conclude that there is no recourse. They give up.

The ability to manage emotions and remain calm under intense pressure has a direct link to performance and the ability to perform well has a direct link to success.  Luck plays a role (let us not arrogantly deny that force of the universe),  but we are sometimes able to summon good luck into our lives.  It is often said that fortune favors the prepared.

As regards defeating or minimizing adversity,  realism makes us more resilient.  Prepare yourself for change by accepting that ups and downs are inevitable and the good times will not roll forever.  When billable hours are abundant and additional cash is available,  create short- and long-term savings and investment goals.  If nothing else, add more money to your retirement fund.  Whatever happens good or bad, money will be useful.  Think also of Plan B and even Plan C  alternatives that you could pivot into should unfortunate occurrences darken your door.

If you are presently in the clutches of challenging circumstances, you have my deepest sympathy.  Moreover I can empathize, because I’ve been there and I’m terrified of returning.  Respectfully,  I suggest that you take steps to shift your perspective to adopt the viewpoint of power and gain the confidence to take the reins. There may be aspects of your dilemma that are beyond your control,  but you are capable of controlling your response to it.  Long-term wallowing in self-pity is not useful.

Stress and anxiety can put us into a choke-hold.  To slip out, take action to build up your body’s hormonal stress-busters,  endorphins and serotonin,  with some regular exercise.  Any kind will do,  so long as you partake three or four times each week for a minimum of 30 minutes.  Please see my post from December 22, 2015. https://freelancetheconsultantsdiary.wordpress.com/2015/12/22/exercise-leadership-in-the-new-year

Once you peel away a few layers of stress and anxiety,  you’ll be able to apply your renewed confidence to identifying corrective strategies.  It may take a while to engineer your repackaging or pivot,  but the time to begin the transformation  from passive to powerful is now.

Thanks for reading,

Kim

 

Professional Development , , , Leave a comment

Negotiating 2.0: Taming Hardball Tactics

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Freelance consultants are always the little guy.  We possess agile talent and experience that bring value-added to so many mission-critical projects,  but we never control the process.  We value our savvy and survival skills,  but we are alone and vulnerable, truth be told. We navigate and negotiate our way through work assignments and do whatever we can to obtain billable hours.

As we enter into negotiations in pursuit of contract assignments,  prospective clients will sometimes seek to take advantage of us. Passive aggressive withholding is the usual weapon. Prospects are known to play ugly games,  sometimes to bargain down our already quite reasonable fee,  other times to sneak more work into the agreed-upon scope of  project work (mission creep) without paying a supplement for the extra duties.

Negotiation skills are a crucial defensive mechanism that help us to protect our integrity and our income and maintain good client relations as we do. Deepak Malhotra, author of Negotiating the Impossible (2016) and professor of business administration at the Harvard Business School, has a few suggestions that will help us to respond when a prospect or client decides to become an adversary.

Tactic:  “We will never…”

This is an ultimatum. Malhotra recommends that one should simply ignore ultimatums because he’s found that they are usually NOT deal breakers. Ultimatums are frequently issued in the heat of emotion, or as a tactic to intimidate or control.

Avoid acknowledging the ultimatum and you allow the person who put it out there to slide away from it down the road,  because you never started a discussion about it. The other party will not lose face should they contemplate surrendering their tough position.

If ignoring the ultimatum is impossible, then try to reframe the statement in less harsh language that gives the other party an out. “It may be difficult,  I understand…” or “It could be costly (or time consuming or put you into unfamiliar territory)…”.

Tactic “Oh, and we also will want…”

The other party may have a laundry list of add-ons and conditions that delay agreement. Malhotra observes that there are a couple of likely motivations for this behavior. One, they sense that doing the deal is important to you and they aim to exploit that.  Alternatively, the conditions might possibly be meaningful to them in terms of obtaining satisfactory ROI.

Malhotra recommends that you put a cap on the demands by stating that if something is truly important,  you would like to understand why and that you will work with them to accommodate any legitimate concerns or objectives. However, you are not willing to negotiate an individual element so late in the negotiation process.

If adjustments are critical, he says, then tactfully make it known that it will be necessary to propose and discuss concessions that they would be willing to make in exchange. The other party must be willing to give some easement and flexibility on issues of value to you as well.

Tactic “Great– I’ll confirm this with my boss.”

Malhotra advises that first of all, make sure you are negotiating with the person who can really approve and set into motion the terms of the negotiated agreement. Sometimes, unfortunately, the other party will not be transparent.  Negotiations can be handed off to a gatekeeper while the real authority remains behind the scenes.

To head off this possibility,  ask clarifying questions of the other party  before you get too far along into the negotiations.  Inquire about who will need to sign off on or otherwise sanction the deal that is struck. Ask what factors might speed up or slow down the process. Learning the process of the one across the table shows you are someone who respects the organization and allows you to set expectations for the outcome you can achieve. Do you want to invest time talking to these people, or should you walk away and find a potentially better prospect?

Thanks for reading

Kim

Administrative , , Leave a comment

The Most Profitable Small Businesses

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What was your Fiscal Year 2015 net pofit margin? Did you reach your projection? Are you solvent and able to manage your accounts payable, business and household? Were you able to buy useful and comprehensive medical and dental insurance?  Were you able to deposit $10 K  or more into your retirement account? Did you travel to some nice location during the year and reward yourself with a vacation?

If the answer to two or more of those questions is no,  I respectfully suggest that you think about your Freelance consulting venture.  If you were able to put $7500 into your retirement account but you’ve not taken a real vacation in 5 years,  it does not raise a red flag in my estimation.  But if you have trouble paying bills, you have only the cheapest health insurance available and you infrequently or never pay into your retirement fund,  then you need to devise a way to make more money.  One of your options may be not just to tweak your business model and engineer a pivot. You may need to go into another type of venture altogether, one with greater profit-making potential.

Take heed– Sageworks, a financial data service located in Raleigh, NC, analyzed the net profit margins of 16,000 small businesses that earned less than $10 million between September 2014 and August 2015.  The average net profit across all industries in that time period was  7.2%.

Note that this list of top performers consists almost entirely of Freelancer-friendly service industries.  Despite the challenges of selling services, especially intangible services,  to either B2B or B2C clients,  Sagework’s list demonstrates that it is possible  to make money as a self-employed service provider.

Some industries are more soloprenuer-Freelancer friendly than others.  Accountants/bookkeepers, real estate sellers, lawyers,  landlords,  health  practitioners (physical therapists, chiropractors, podiatrists, etc.), graphics/industrial designers and architects/(structural) engineers are all able to operate a one-person shop quite well, perhaps with a single employee to provide administrative help.  Physicians, I’m sorry to say,  can no longer maintain a solo practice in big cities.

Educational requirements and professional credentials pose a formidable barrier to entry for several of these high-yield business opportunities, with medicine, dentistry, law, architecture, engineering, chiropractic and accounting (CPA or certified financial analyst) leading the list.  In contrast, real estate sales requires only the right relationships,  a license to do business and no real selling skills if you are in a hot market.  If someone with a real estate broker’s license brings you into the business,  you can work under the umbrella of that person’s credential.

I confess that I look askance at the stated prospects for attorneys.  There have been many mergers between big law firms and as a result, many lay-offs. I’ve personally known a couple of lawyers who had a hard time finding employment and when it was obtained, the job was an assistant district attorney that pays maybe $50 K a year.

I’ve read about lawyers with degrees from Ivy League schools (UPenn and Columbia) saddled with six figure debt and no job.  I recently read about a young lady who sued her (accredited but undistinguished) law school,  claiming that the advertised post-grad job statistics are false and also charging that the career services department was useless. She lost her case,  but I suspect that her argument is valid nevertheless.

From a former employee of a very prestigious law firm who was let go four or five years ago (and started her own profitable boutique firm),  recent law school grads who were hired by prestigious firms over the past couple of years have been subjected to a shocking bait & switch game—from a law firm, no less!  An offer letter is sent, in which the new hire learns that s/he will not start the dream job for two years.  Oh, and the salary will be $20K less than was originally negotiated.

While some attorneys do quite well, like my friend, many  self-employed lawyers in solo or small enterprises struggle as the big firms shed employees. Welcome to the new normal. Below are the small businesses that in the U.S. that on average have the healthiest profit margins.

Thanks for reading,

Kim

Business                                                                                   Net profit margin

Accounting / Bookkeeping                                                             18.4%a

Real estate sales                                                                                15.2%

Lawyer’s office                                                                                   14.5%

Dentist’s office                                                                                  14.4%

Landlords                                                                                             14%

Health practioners (chiropractors, etc)                                      13.3%

Physican’s office                                                                                13%

Business or technical consulting                                                   12%

Graphic and industrial design                                                         11.4%

Administrative services (billing, etc.)                                           11.3%

Architectural / structural engineering services                          11%

Real estate oproperty services (landscaping,cleaning, etc.).  10.1%

 

 

Marketing , , Leave a comment

Social Media—Not?

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It is by now standard operating procedure for business owners and other self-employed professionals to have a visible presence on one or more social media platforms,  in addition to an online presence provided by a website.  We’ve  internalized the assumption that there is no way to either launch or sustain a viable business without an active online presence spread over an array of platforms.

The majority of my colleagues and competitors spend rather a large amount of time  researching and writing newsletters,  tweeting,  Instagramming, or linking with and friending sometimes 500 + “connections”. But really folks,  what is the demonstrable ROI of most of this effort?  Beyond a certain point,  I respectfully submit,  social media produces very little beyond siphoning off a chunk of scarce time and money.

How does social media provide a demonstrable ROI for Freelance consultants, who typically provide an intangible service? Our ventures run on referrals based on trust and reputation—how can that resource be communicated electronically? Alan Weiss, president of Summit Consulting and author of numerous books that address the consulting trade, including Million Dollar Consulting (2009), has for several years offered to split his (large) consulting fee with anyone who shows him how to acquire a client purely through social media or website channels and he signs a client as a result.  To date, there have been no takers.

The reality is that most of us in business are afraid to dial back the social media and so the practice continues. We fear that if we don’t participate,  our competitors will eat our lunch and customers will abandon us.  I’ve observed that in certain businesses and organizations,  social media and website marketing yield a good ROI.  A large collaborative of Boston artists and galleries has recently hired me to edit a newsletter and perform PR functions for an ongoing monthly event plus an annual special event and that is money well spent for the group.  Performing artists,  clothing designers, restaurateurs and professional organizations come to mind as excellent candidates for Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and Instagram to provide outreach / engagement with past, present and future patrons.

Nevertheless,  there is a group of social media and website holdouts and at least a handful are making a good living.  Maybe they possess valuable competitive advantages,  such as excellent word-of-mouth,  always the best form of advertising,  and exceptional skills? Among that group are two interior designers who have more clients than can be handled (in three or four cities, mind you) and the owner of a small neighborhood breakfast and lunch restaurant that is always packed.  Three of the six most successful Freelance consultants with whom I’m acquainted do not even show up on Google.  Author Otessa Moshfegh,  a member of the internet-obsessed Millennial Generation,  has eschewed both website and social media and her debut novel is selling nicely.

I’ve learned that Ms. Moshfegh has a professional publicity team and that gives her a significant edge. Her team portrays her as elusive and not given to crass displays of self-promotion and that is good publicity (!). The consultants once worked for larger consulting firms and like any hairdresser, when they went out on their own, they stole clients.  Nevertheless,  they continue to grow their client lists without websites.  The interior designers seem to be known by the right people and receive lots of referrals. On an a laptop or tablet,  they have a few photos to show their work to prospects.  The restaurateur has been in business for 20 years,  a Starbucks opened across the street at least a decade ago, but he continues to prosper.  Patrons started Trip Advisor and Yelp pages for him and patrons control the reviews on those sites.

You may wonder how my website and blog perform for my venture? I did not work for a consulting firm, so the website I feel helps me look legitimate.  However,  no one has ever hired me as a direct and exclusive result of visiting.  This blog has shown prospective clients that I have a solid knowledge of business topics and that I have a certain writing proficiency. The blog has been a factor in my hiring, but the clients were a result of referrals and not this blog alone.

I do not advocate that Freelancers and business owners close down their internet presence.  Rather, I respectfully recommend that you consider the ROI of your investment and take heed of the analysis.

Thanks for reading,

Kim

 

 

 

 

 

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Freelancers: Agile Talent For Your Organization

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While cruising through the Harvard Business Review online http://hbr.org, I happened upon an article that told of a most interesting book that has good information for Freelance consultants and those who hire us.  Agile Talent was written by two experts in the talent development, leadership and strategic HR fields,  Jon Younger and Norm Smallwood and published just last month.

The book was written as a guide for the growing number of organizations that rely on professionals like us to come through in the clutch and get the job done,  on time and within budget.  Getting the most out of a team comprised of internal and external talent is the book’s theme.  I read an excerpt and confirmed that within,  the book contains as well a few pearls of wisdom for you and me,  primarily providing us with a new and improved way to package and promote our services to potential clients.

As Smallwood and Younger point out, so many organizations–for-profit and not-for-profit, late-stage and start-up, large and small–continue to rely on Freelance consultants to augment their lean workforces when insufficient expertise (or time) exists in-house.  Salaries are a large fixed expense on Income Statements and organizations for 30 years have been loathe to hire a worker unless the skill set is frequently needed to keep the business operating.  The authors provide useful recommendations to those who hire,  collaborate with or manage the external talent,  so that good outcomes for all parties can result.

Agile Talent Freelancers allow organizations to access the services needed only for the scope aand length of time that the organization requires.  We bring great insight, heightened productivity and relevant experience to countless organizations.  Yet organization decision-makers and those with whom we collaborate are sometimes unsure of what to expect from the arrangement with the agile talent,  or how to successfully onboard and work with us.

In order to maintain or expand our billable hours,  it is imperative that we are able to anticipate how the relationship might go off the rails and come to an unfortunate parting of the ways.  Before encountering a prospective client,  we must communicate our benefits  to them.  Packaging and promotion are essential when selling an intangible service.  Intangibles are the most difficult sale and in the knowledge economy,  these specialties represent a large percentage of B2B sales dollars.

So how can we exert some measure of influence and get ourselves paid?  It is aalways necessary for us to sell our expertise,  trustworthiness and usefulness.  When organizations are faced with a….

  • Project
  • Challenge
  • Opportunity

….the agile (or external) talent tag line gives us another way to communicate our benefits to decision-makers.  Incorporating the resonant buzz words makes us look smart and capable and makes hiring managers and project sponsors feel that they’ll look smart to superiors and subordinates when they bring us on.  Inertia,  that is,  tabling a decision indefinitely because leaders lack the confidence to move forward except in the most obvious emergencies,  is the  Freelance consultants most formidable competitor.  Anything that we can do or say to persuade prospects to become clients is a win-win.

Thanks for reading,

Kim