THIS IS MY 183RD BLOG ON UNDERSTANDING MONEY
TOOLS
January, 2020
In this blog we are going to discuss practical business
analysis that was derived from a close friend asking me to take the time for a
two hour walk talking about his future in either teaching or consulting.
I want you to relate to my friend in your own way and then
think things through using some of this information to advance your own endeavors. Let me set the stage. My friend started back to college at
the age of 60; this is not uncommon these days. His goal was to achieve an MBA in information technology,
which he will attain come this May.
Because of the duration between his first college enrollment and going
back to higher education, the schools he has attended have made him take many
undergraduate courses again. His
total years is now 5. At his age,
he relishes his freedom and does not want to work 40-60 hours a week, nor for a
big corporation which most likely will expect this. We have boiled his
parameters down to either teaching or consulting.
First obstacle is age discrimination in the corporate
field. Everyone is looking at the
fast, young, bright tech engineer who will stay with the company for years to
come. Many of the sharpest
individuals I have met like this are either from Chinese or Asian Indian
backgrounds. My friend could teach
on-line and age would not be a factor, whereas direct/people interaction could
retard his hopes.
My friend who years past made money from “artists” like
musicians and some of the early tech people, who never needed to finish
college, were part of the “right-brained” creative mentality. These days in tech it is the
“left-brained” engineer who will prevail.
(Please refer to prior blogs as I covered the commonalities of both left
and right-brained people.)
Now, we need to look at 5 years of college and what has been
accomplished learning technology over this period of time. Most everything except mental
disciplines is outdated.
Technology is changing with exponential speed, what you learned last
month may be dated this month. The
professors’ information teaching classes is dated! This is why corporations are employing young, quick minded
people, training them internally to their needs.
As my friend is a free, right brained, creative thinker, we
talked about how important structure, principles and disciplines are. I have read most of Tony Robbins
books. Tony is a life coach and
author. One thing I remember him
saying is “don’t create a wheel, take the wheel and improve upon it.”
With that said, let’s talk about my friend consulting. He said years back he was used to
“winging it” and got away with it.
No longer. You have to have
structure and adhere to a winning game.
Let’s look at some principles:
- Go
out and read up on current successful people and business tactics.
- Do
research on target industries.
- Narrow
your market. You “ain’t” going to
get the big fish as big corporations deal with big consulting firms. They won’t take risk.
- Once
you know your market and before trying to get an appointment you need to do
thorough research on the company and the most likely individual in the company
you will meet with. You will waste
your time if the target company does not have a “need or want” for your
services. You need to bring
“benefit” to them, solving their needs or you have nothing to offer.
- Next,
first impressions are most important; a smile, a relationship to dress codes,
the first one minute or less of dialogue is key. If you miss on any of these you won’t make a sale to consult
for them. You need to “grab” their
attention. They need to relate to
you. You might try wording similar
to, “Mr. Jones, I have researched and analyzed the issues and weaknesses within
your company. I “know” I can bring
benefit to your company within 6 months adding an approximate $2 million to
your bottom line.” This has
accomplished a few things: 1) You addressed Tom Jones as Mr. showing respect,
2) The wording is concise and took about 10 seconds, 3) It showed that you took
enough interest in his company to do research, 4) It showed that hiring you as
a consultant should bring value to the tune of $2 million within 6 months
according to your analysis, and that figure should make Mr. Jones look great
within his company, and 5) You transitioned Mr. Jones from an “intangible
product” (IT) to a “tangible” (Money).
With your dialogue make the speed, tempo and loudness the same as the
interviewer so he relates easier.
- In
a business environment shake hands with both men and women while making eye
contact. If you are seated and
someone joins the meeting always stand to shake hands.
- Communication
is everything! If you can’t
communicate with the interviewer in a fashion that they can easily understand,
you have failed. Don’t blame
anyone but yourself. Sales and
money drive all companies. Yes,
you need product, but you need to make that sale as a consultant to both meet
your own financial needs as well as benefiting the targeted company.
- Respect
the interviewer’s “space”, both for men and women. If you are seated, sit straight. If you lean back that could be interpreted as defensive or
bored, leaning forward could be offensive or aggressive.
- You
need cash to start any company whether it is as a real estate agent, insurance
broker or another field. This is
approximated at one year of living expenses plus what it will take for your
business start-up.
- The
realization that everything takes longer than expected and costs more than
expected. Many companies do not
move quickly, and sometimes need to have Board Members vote on decisions.
- Beside
age discrimination my friend is starting from behind because he does not have a
successful track record with this new education.
- Will
my friend be meeting with a man or woman?
The species think differently.
Men are more visual and kinesthetic, a woman is more auditory. Present to a man with more graphs, use
discussion more with women.
- In
a meeting always ask the parameters of time frames including your first meeting
so you cover all salient points.
- Get
your interviewer to talk about themselves, their interests and their company;
not you doing all the talking.
- Always
do a quick summation of the meeting, so you know you have communicated. If there exists a differing opinion,
correct it on the spot.
- Always
do a follow up letter or these days text thanking the person and showing
respect. Take the lead and ask
when you could schedule another meeting as hopefully you got enough information
that you can now prove you can be a problem solver and bring value.
- As
in sports, keep the winning strategies, change the losing ones. If your business plan and presentations
aren’t working find out what needs changing.
- With
consulting always leave a carrot to go forward. Contracts are not easy to get, you want that company to need
you for a long-term forward. Build
that “annuity” for yourself.
I wish my friend only the best.
Remember that the gauge of success is measured by the speed
of recovery from adversity we will all experience in our lifetime.
I hope you got some helpful ideas and “tools” from this
blog.
