How to change the focus of your consulting business
Tom Wilhelm needs a change. After a long stint as a top independent SAP contractor making $200 per hour, he's hit a wall with the number of incoming projects.
According to Wilhelm, president of MGF TEC Inc. in Dallas, it's time to expand his skill base by learning a hot new SAP software module, taking a course in a related application or even considering one of the full-time consulting options being offered to him.
But when you're a consultant, changing your business -- whether by expanding your skill base, your geographic reach or the industry in which you specialize -- requires a delicate balance of timing, preparation, good contacts and a little bit of luck.
First, you have to consider your timing. Right now, for example, Wilhelm could enroll in a course in software from Dallas-based i2 Technologies Inc., which would take approximately a month to complete. But he has to act quickly.
"In six months to a year, I'll be [behind] the curve" in terms of the other i2 talent available in the contracting industry, Wilhelm says. Plus, he says, "I don't know if I want to take the entire month off." It would take less time to brush up on a new SAP module, but he would have to wait a month to take the three- to four-week course. And what would he do if he was in the middle of a job by then? In addition, it could take a while to score a job after completing the course work.
Wilhelm acknowledges that he should have been preparing for this situation months ago, when he was at his last long-term job. His advice: "When you're on that great gig, be taking classes all the time. Every couple of months, go wherever you've got to go and take two weeks to get certified in that brand-new, hot module."
Even when things are hot in your area of consulting, "keep
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