Customer Reviews

Consulting on the Side: How to Start a Part-Time Consulting Business While Still Working at Your Full-Time Job

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

This book was probably cutting edge when writing began in the early to mid 1990's. But now, the book is seriously out of date. For example, there is no mention of using the Internet to market your consulting business. However, the author does explain how to do some basic business research online. This is before the days of web browsers. Therefore, the author explains how to set your modem for 2400 and 9600 bps connections. Additionnaly she gives resources for firms that provide products or services to small businesses, however, many of these resources are now out of business.

An additional example of dated material would be the information she writes about the Small Business Administration. At the time the book was written, the data was very useful. Recent changes to SBA programs render the author's information historical, rather than helpful.

Basic small business concepts, such as time management and business plan development are still relevant.

Overall, the book needs a revised edition, or it should not be sold by Amazon.

This book is a great resource. She covers everyhing from small details such as arranging your home office to larger issues such as ethical questions about consulting in the same area as your employer and practical questions such as how to register your business name and inexpensive ideas for marketing. This book is also a good resource for people wanting to start ANY home-based consulting business, not just a part-time one. Since the book was published in 1996, there are not as many references to the web as their might be if it were published today, but the author was obviously in-tuned to various technicological benefits that existed in 1996, and she still gives solid advice that is still valid today (the Internet doesn't solve everything and changes all the time anyway!).

Considering this book was published in 1996, back when the Web was barely a buzzword, it could be worse, but the reality is that this book's most important flaw has to do with its sheer age. Due to that, it misses on some very useful pieces of information and resources the writer could have offered, if a more recent edition were available.

Now that I wrote about the negative (I normally don't do things in this order, but it just came to me), on to the good things:
-The book addresses to a sufficient extent many of the issues (time and stress-wise, in terms of ethical conflicts, etc.) that stem out of starting a consulting practice beside your full-time job. This is where the CORE STRENGTH of the book lies. I've not been able to find any other titles that go into this topic so effectively... in fact, I've not found any other books on the topic at all. Most of the other consulting books I've checked out simply deal with consulting, considering it full-time dedication deal.
-The author -the President of her own HR Consultancy- also volunteers some good (though far from unique or comprehensive) advice on putting together a pricing scheme for your services, finding sources of financing for your outlet, starting your office at home, marketing your services, and even heads up into critical tax/legal considerations to take into account.

Other than the outdated material in a few parts where references are cited, and the lack of online information to support the book, I liked her book. All in all, it is not a recipe book, but a reference and a rather good one, most specifically useful to those in the process of considering a consulting business on the side, and even for those who are already doing it, in order to assist with setting things up that you might not have thought of up to this point.

Note: unless she went out of business or did a poor job at marketing her services online, it's impossible to find any other reference to her in Google besides this book, whatever that implies... :\

Despite some of the negative reviews, I figured that the price was low enough that surely there was something to be gained from the book, even if it was terribly dated. The problem with this book is that in the author's own words, she really never had to deal with this issue. In the first chapter she talks about how she planned to work and consult at the same time, but that she was laid-off right at the moment she was ready to start her consulting practice....uh OK, so the rest of the advice seems very suspect from Chapter 1.

And the rest of that "advice"? Let me sum it up - be careful about legal and ethical conflicts with your current employer and make sure you've got a plan for dealing with working two jobs. That's about it (well, duh!!).

Waste of my time.

I received the book very quickly and in mint condition. When I started reading, I read in less than a week. This book was very informative. Now I'll read again and highlight some areas that I need.

This book tell you some ideas and some advices about wath do you need. On the other hand this book need be actually with internet address for its recomendations.

Although it covers general principles, the book is too dated to be at all useful in a practical sense. I am sorry I bought it. There are no URLs only phone numbers and addresses. The closest this comes to the modern age is a recommendation to get a modem on your computer.