Mo7 – When Does the Business of Consulting Get Easy?
Speaker: Jim Horan
Host: Doug Zogby
Date and Time of Session
This session will be conducted from 2:15 PM till 3:30 PM on Monday October 26, 2009
Session Track: BUILD
Session Description
For those of us who have been in the business for over 15 years I think we can point to specific things we did, or happened, that make the business of consulting easier. A few years later, the process repeats, and we moved to the next level of “easier.” The notion is if we can share what those “things” were…to those that struggling, they get further along the path, faster, with more success…and easier than we did.
Session Objective / Value
What consultants will learn in this session is the big and little things that will make their consulting life easier. I will share a few of the significant insights and aha’s that not only made my consulting practice easier over the years, but made it much more profitable, sustainable and fun! Here are some examples:
1) The day I joined an entreprenuer support group; I learned self-employment did not mean I had to be alone, nor did I have to figure everything out by myself.
2) The day I decided to focus in on the things I like to do, and am very good at…like budgeting and planning. When I stopped trying to sell all the potential Rent-a-CFO services on my menu…life got easier.
3) The day I shared a product idea w/ my entrepreneur group…was a great day. They said The One Page Business Plan was a fabulous product idea and I needed to make it a priority.
4) The day I decided I was NOT going to go the traditional publishing route because I learned about self-publishing was a very viable option and one of the top self-publishing associations was only 30 minutes way.
5) The day I decided to ask one of my clients to brainstorm the possiblity of creating software for The One Page Business Plan was a great day. I had no idea of what the software would look like, what it would do, how much it would cost. I learned that all in a one hour lunch.
6) The day I decided to see if other consultants would be interested in becoming resellers of my product lead to the creation of a licensing system.
7) The day I decided to stop selling my time by the hour!
Speaker Biography
Jim Horan is an experienced Fortune 500 executive, consultant, author and speaker. Currently he is CEO of The One Page Business Plan Company. Jim founded the company in 1990 after 20 years in senior financial positions in Fortune 500 companies. Over the past 19 years, his company with 400+ senior consultants has helped start and grow over 250,000 businesses and 5,000 non-profits. The One Page Business Plan for the Creative Entrepreneur book was published in 1997 and quickly became an Amazon.com best-seller. In 2007 he published the Professional Consultant, Non-Profit and Financial Service editions. The company is rapidly becoming known for its innovative planning and performance management software and consulting services. Clients include companies like Oracle, Disney, Allstate Insurance, Prudential Financial and Morgan Stanley. Mr. Horan speaks to audiences across the country, helping leaders systematically make their businesses more profitable.
