How to Succeed as an Independent Consultant

In this summary you will learn

• How to launch a consulting career
• What business concerns consultants must address
• How to get government consulting work
• Who hires consultants and why

getAbstract rating

Why you should read How to Succeed as an Independent Consultant

Take a deep breath and sit where the light is good as author David Zahn (who wrote this with the late Herman Holtz) attempts to describe everything about consulting in 400-plus pages of small type. The book realizes a good bit of its ambitious goal, though not without cost. Information is abundant, but not tidy. In this fourth edition, chapters pile up as the authors add coverage of new technologies to their previous reporting on older forms of media. The result is a big onion: layers and layers of information. Some are useful, topical and important; some dated, redundant or irrelevant. You can skim the parts that don’t affect you, but a tougher editor would have slimmed it down and combined some basic chapters, such as the extra treatment of marketing and second careers. However, if you persist, you will garner some valuable information, especially about the competitive process of bidding for government consulting contracts. getAbstract.com considers this book worthwhile for those who are serious about becoming consultants. Just be diligent about ferreting out information that is pertinent to you (and bring a magnifying glass).

About the Authors

David Zahn, an authority on consulting, is the cofounder of Clow Zahn Associates. His clients have included major national companies, primarily in the food and consumer goods industries. The late Herman Holtz was a nationally recognized authority on business and consulting, and the author of more than 45 business books.