Books on freelancing? Looking for inspiration to take the plunge. [more inside]
posted by Spurious on Nov 14, 2009 - 5 answers

Wanting to start doing independent consulting work in two years. Advice for now? [more inside]
posted by Spurious on Oct 16, 2009 - 5 answers

I love numbers! Especially numbers that track things. What services could I offer that involve fairly simple numbers? (Note: no significant statistics background; NOT advanced math.) [more inside]
posted by kristi on Oct 16, 2009 - 7 answers

Is there a financially beneficial way to bring my spouse on as an employee in my consulting business? [more inside]
posted by teg4rvn on Sep 29, 2009 - 8 answers

I want create a legal entity for my consulting work and research. Should I create a non-profit or a company? [more inside]
posted by Spurious on Sep 18, 2009 - 3 answers

I will be doing some consulting work. Basically I will be strategizing with a very small company on optimizing their presence on the web and helping them with social networking. Here's my problem-- I have no idea what to charge for my time. I will spend two hours driving to them and probably an hour or two consulting. What do you think I should charge? I don't want to be too low but I am also scared that I might be too high. What do you think would be a good rate? I am located in the Philadelphia area if that makes any difference.
posted by hellodonna on Sep 3, 2009 - 5 answers

Is it appropriate to ask for a finder's fee? If so, how much? [more inside]
posted by melissasaurus on Aug 23, 2009 - 16 answers

About every 3 months, I receive an email asking me to join this company's [The Round Table Group (http://www.roundtablegroup.com/)] network of experts as a consultant. Is it worth my time? Is it a rotten deal? Are they blowing smoke? [more inside]
posted by anonymous on Aug 18, 2009 - 4 answers

Taxes/licenses required for Nevada company providing consulting services in California? [more inside]
posted by Jacqueline on Aug 14, 2009 - 2 answers

I have no idea what to charge to be "on call" for a year, just in CASE a computer has a problem. [more inside]
posted by CommonSense on Aug 4, 2009 - 22 answers

I'm looking for specific guidance (based on experience or intuition) about whether or not to tell my boss that I am planning a career transition--and whether/how to approach the boss about helping me find a job that will better suit my talents, interest and ambitions. [more inside]
posted by anonymous on Jul 14, 2009 - 8 answers

Is there any restrictions on advertising consulting services using the term "six sigma". Do I have to be certified or pay licensing fees before offering consulting services on the topic? [more inside]
posted by mathiu on Jun 26, 2009 - 2 answers

Our consulting company is doing business in India and we need a way to make sure that our client will not skip out on the last payment in our contract. [more inside]
posted by davidfitzy7 on May 27, 2009 - 12 answers

Consulting to help create a "draw" to bring people into booth at medical tradeshow. How much should I charge? [more inside]
posted by UMDirector on May 14, 2009 - 1 answer

I'm just starting out as an independent network and systems contractor and I think I've agreed to a bad deal. What are my options? [more inside]
posted by anonymous on May 5, 2009 - 21 answers

Do consulting firms such as Mckinsey, Boston Consulting hire lawyers for consulting work specifically? What are the skills that lawyers have that make them good management consultants
posted by happydude123 on Mar 12, 2009 - 4 answers

What sort of state of organization are the financial records of most sole proprietorships in? [more inside]
posted by anonymous on Feb 17, 2009 - 5 answers

Any recommendations on books about business consulting? [more inside]
posted by inigo2 on Jan 12, 2009 - 8 answers

How much should I reasonably expect to be paid if working as a private consultant designing a tourism project for a city chamber of commerce? [more inside]
posted by jefficator on Dec 18, 2008 - 3 answers

What questions should I ask myself in order to decide if I should take a new job in this economic environment? It's basically giant corporation vs. boutique consultancy. [more inside]
posted by thinkpiece on Dec 1, 2008 - 7 answers

Anybody know anything about GuidePoint Global Advisors? I received an unsolicited request to join them, but I'm not sure how legit it is, and my "too good to be true" sense is tingling. [more inside]
posted by forforf on Nov 12, 2008 - 4 answers

What's working at Accenture like? [more inside]
posted by demagogue on Nov 7, 2008 - 11 answers

Interested in the field of sustainability consulting and design - questions and concerns inside [more inside]
posted by rmm on Sep 25, 2008 - 6 answers

My friend works in database applications each day to create in house reports. He's bored and wants to go it alone. [more inside]
posted by simplesharps on Sep 3, 2008 - 0 answers

How does one develop a thriving side-consulting gig in IT? [more inside]
posted by SirStan on Sep 1, 2008 - 5 answers

Looking for a IT consultant for a largish-church in NYC - please help? [more inside]
posted by allkindsoftime on May 23, 2008 - 5 answers

How can I get a Mac consulting gig off the ground as quickly as possible? [more inside]
posted by D-ten on May 19, 2008 - 3 answers

What are the best places to work as a consultant for nonprofit and/or charitable organizations? [more inside]
posted by anonymous on Mar 29, 2008 - 9 answers

Please, help me figure out how to find short-term work that fits a very narrow range of variables. [more inside]
posted by dubitable on Mar 14, 2008 - 3 answers

Should I go back to work for the huge corporation, or stick it out and try and work for myself? [more inside]
posted by splatta on Mar 12, 2008 - 8 answers

I'm currently running a business where I monitor computers for people. I use custom made software that gets by all the anti-malware scanners and through the firewalls. I have been charging $40/hr for the first hour, and $45 for each hour after that. Since most of work may only take 1-4 hours per client I've been told that I'm charging too little. Figures have been thrown at me by friends, family and even clients that I should charge $60, $75 or even $100. What is a fair amount in this business. Yes this involves spying on people at the workplace, churches and spouses. My first question. I've searched mefi for similar stuff and came up empty.
posted by Jack Feschuk on Mar 10, 2008 - 15 answers

Based on my career experiences so far, I think I'd be pretty good in a role focused on crisis management (ahh! everything's broke! fix it!) and crisis prevention (situation normal, let's keep it that way). The question, then, is how does one get into this field? [more inside]
posted by um_maverick on Feb 13, 2008 - 12 answers

What should I expect in a first interview with a consulting company for a summer internship? [more inside]
posted by kjackelen05 on Feb 5, 2008 - 7 answers

I'm an IT consultant with a broad set of skills and experiences, and I need help finding my niche! [more inside]
posted by thehickmans on Dec 21, 2007 - 3 answers

Hello MeFi peoples, I am trying to find the tool or tools to run my sustainable business consulting practice, which I started in August, and I've been going a bit nuts with too many choices. I've been looking all over, and am getting near hits, but all "not quite there"s. Highrise sort of works, but has some quirks that that it doesn't hit the mark, and it's missing some of what I want to do. Daylite looks interesting, but no...well I'll explain below. Basecamp, same thing. Copper, ditto. Help me find the needle(s) in the haystack! [more inside]
posted by healthyliving on Dec 19, 2007 - 14 answers

Entry-level consulting positions: graduating in May, I have two standing offers from consulting companies, one in Dallas and one in Manhattan. Help me choose! [more inside]
posted by jckll on Dec 16, 2007 - 32 answers

I am currently working at a consulting firm and consider myself to be a half-decent writer. Before I apply for my MBA, I'd like to enhance my application by writing articles for business magazines. How could I do this? Do you recommend any particular publications that might be willing to take a freelancer? [more inside]
posted by moooshy on Dec 12, 2007 - 8 answers

How do I spin this? And how much should I charge? [more inside]
posted by juliewhite on Dec 6, 2007 - 10 answers

I have an interview tomorrow (yikes) with a political consulting firm. Problem: I don't actually know what this means. What exactly do political consultants do? What kind of questions should I expect to be asked? What kind of questions should I ask them? Help! [more inside]
posted by naoko on Dec 5, 2007 - 9 answers

I have a year before I am eligible to work for a big consulting company. What should I do during this year to maximise my chances of success, or bump up starting salary? [more inside]
posted by gttommy on Nov 30, 2007 - 10 answers

A very successful business has just decided to build their next mission critical application using free open source tools developed by my small little consulting company. They want to contract with us for ongoing support and improvements. How should we structure the deal? [more inside]
posted by anonymous on Nov 15, 2007 - 7 answers

In follow up to my highly unsuccessful question from last week (which btw you are still very welcome to answer), what do you actually do when you work in "consulting" and how do you get there? [more inside]
posted by barrakuda on Nov 8, 2007 - 9 answers

Help me with Web / IT consulting and billable time. Consulting firms make their money on billable hours - what percentage of a 40 hour work week needs to be billable for different roles within the company? [more inside]
posted by twiggy on Oct 24, 2007 - 7 answers

I've been struggling to find accounting software, online or PC/Mac based (either will do) that is suitable for a computer consulting practice. I need to be able to handle the typical basic things done by QuickBooks, like invoicing and estimates, simple A/R and A/P reports, etc. But that isn't enough. I need to manage multiple bill rates on a per consultant/per customer/per job or work order basis. QuickBooks doesn't do that, and I've tried hard to find out how to make that work. Any advice, hive mind?
posted by Merdryn on Oct 3, 2007 - 3 answers

What research topic should I do if I want to impress a future job interviewer to get into technical/business consulting or even project management sometime down the track? [more inside]
posted by gttommy on Sep 29, 2007 - 8 answers

How to divide up a company amongst 3 people when 2 people will be doing most of the work for the first 6-12 months. [more inside]
posted by andifsohow on Sep 27, 2007 - 10 answers

[ConsultingFeeFilter] My fee schedule outlines rush-fees, I have a new client that should officially be charged the fees for some recent work. I am not going to charge the fees and want them to know that I am giving them a pass this time, what is a good way to tell them that I am waving the fees because they are a new client and want to build our budding relationship, but make it clear that this is a one time deal? More Inside.. [more inside]
posted by Fuzzy Dog on Sep 24, 2007 - 20 answers

Quadruple your pleasure! I'm a newly minted green business consultant, and would like your help on four things: finding a CMS or blog system to create a website for my business, finding places where you think a green laptop case would/should be sold, blogs/social networks to get the word out about it, and suggested protocol to approach said blogs/social networks. [more inside]
posted by healthyliving on Sep 24, 2007 - 12 answers

I'm a software development consultant and am getting frustrated at the number of potential clients slipping through my fingers. I get a good number of interested leads through my website or through referrals (thanks guys) but the ratio of potential clients to paying clients is too low. What might I be doing wrong and how can I help gain these clients? [more inside]
posted by schwa on Aug 8, 2007 - 23 answers

My business idea...brilliant, or a waste of time? Have you, or your business, ever needed a service like this? Has any company you worked for ever employed anybody to do this? [more inside]
posted by jennyjenny on Jul 11, 2007 - 18 answers