A recent article in Money Magazine “The Rise of Freelance Nation: Money Magazine” June 12, 2009 had the following point:

“Today about 30% of the U.S. job market – roughly 42 million workers – is made up of independent contractors, part-time or temporary staffers, and the self-employed. By the end of the next decade, long after this recession is a distant memory, this “contingent” workforce will have grown to about 40% of the market, experts predict.”

What About Your Company?

A recent article by Consulting Company University describes how companies everywhere are looking for ways to cut costs – and they can save a bundle by hiring a contingent workforce. That way they don’t have to pay for health insurance, vacation and sick days, matching FICA, office space, office equipment, telephone and Internet lines…the list goes on.

All totaled, this can save a company between 25% and 60% of their human resource related costs. No wonder so many companies are making this move.

But what might this mean to you?

It may mean that your job function, whatever it may be, is going to be outsourced to a “consultant” – or whatever you want to call the new “contingent” position. Whatever the position, there may be a chance that your current corporate job will no longer exist as an internal position.

Why not beat them to it? Why not start your own consulting business now and be ready to “take the order?”

What About You?

Does one of the following profiles describe your personal situation?

• You might have considered becoming an independent consultant but weren’t sure what all the action steps might be hidden in those Deviled Details.
• With the current Great Recession, you might have lost your job and decided that you need to offer consulting services as a way to generate income until you can find your next “permanent” job.
• With the loss of wealth and buying power, you might have a need to earn more money than your current employment provides and are considering moonlighting by offering consulting.
• You might have decided that you want to taste test consulting to see if it really is something you like.
• You might already know you want to be a consultant – but want to know how to start a successful practice and get it positively cash flowing before you quit your “day job.”
• You might already be “in business” but not getting the kind of consulting business you want – or the amount you want.

If any of those profiles are even close to describing your personal situation, maybe it’s time to learn what it takes for you to set up a successful consulting company fast – so you are quickly ready to start promoting your services and are ready to “take the order.”

Consulting Company University

Click on Consulting Company University to see if one of its three programs might help you answer the basic 72 issues you need to understand before you start your own consulting company.

Robert Lee Goodman, MBA
Ceo and Chief ImpleMentor
http://Virtual-Exec.com

Once upon a time, I used to think I was unique.  That was until I found out just how many guys were named “Robert Goodman” in this world.  It’s even true here in relatively small Clearwater Beach, Florida.  Come to find out that there are THREE of us named “Robert Goodman” that go to my same doctor!

So, when you look at the world wide reach of the world wide web, you quickly find how difficult it can be to create a brand around your own name – especially when the best popularity metric here in the new millennium is Google.

They are very few of us who have not “googled” ourselves to see what’s out there.  Sometimes, it can be a little disturbing and embarrassing – since Internet photos, videos, blog postings, instant messages, tweets, pokes, flames, complaints, rants and raves, etc. live on forever.

So how DO you create a brand around your name?

For many of us with “common” names like mine, there is a special ingredient that improves on our individuality.  It’s called our middle name.

In my case, my middle name is Lee.   Even though that helps tremendously, trust me when I say there may be a near-infinite number of other folks with the same name – even counting the middle name. (Would you believe, one of the other two “Robert Goodmans” in the small universe of my doctor’s office has my same middle name?)

My recommendation is that you start branding your name, with your middle name, as aggressively as you can to establish your Google presence before someone else does.  This is what I call “G-Branding.”

To see how this can work for you, I invite you to check out my new online business card at: www.RobertLeeGoodman.com.

As of this writing, you’ll notice that I currently have 9 out of the top 10 first page positions for my full name (the obituary is not me).  On both page two and page three of Google, I have 5 of the 10 entries on each of those pages.

As you can see, there is room for significant improvement on my part to tweak these numbers.  Note that there is almost NO hits for me if you type “Robert Goodman” since all my “G-Branding” is focused with my middle name.  As a consequence, everything you do, say, publish and distribute needs to include your full name – so your prospects and customers know you by your full name.

Just so you know, this “G-Branding” is not ego-driven (okay, maybe just a little.)  In my case, I have several different companies and several different products and services that I offer to startup and emerging companies – along with products and services to a completely different audience for my relationship book, Efficient Love.

What gets difficult is trying to describe ALL of those companies and services on one small business card – even front and back.

At a recent seminar I attended in San Francisco, our host, Alex Mandossian, handed out his new business card which is similar to what you see at my website www.RobertLeeGoodman.com.  If you google “Alex Mandossian“, you’ll see he has even MORE products and services to sell than I do!  Alex is probably THE best expert on promotion that I have met in three decades in business.  As you can see, he completely dominates the first 10 pages on Google and is an excellent example of how to create your own “G-Branding.”

I thought that his Google Business Card was such a great idea that I decided to produce an online version of Alex’s idea with www.RobertLeeGoodman.com.

Like it or not, it really is the World According to Google when you’re in business – especially if your predominant market is found on the Internet.  If you take that statement as axiomatic – and your market is the Internet – then you have GOT to take action to improve your own “G-Branding” before someone else with your same name beats you to it.

Two of the highlights of the reunion were outstanding and epiphany-producing presentations by Raymond Aaron on “Double Your Income Doing What You Love” and Dave Stech on “The Power of 6.”

It was great to finally meet several folks and clients who had only been virtual up until this past weekend…especially so many who are directly on Alex’s core support team…and to develop so many more new relationships as a result of the networking.

I’m looking forward to developing joint ventures with several we met – and to coaching and mentoring others so that I can help them get from their current Point A to their desired Point B faster and more efficiently with my Deviled Details Action Planning Service.

Part of my UnStick The Stuck CEO and Start Up Company Process (www.UnStickTheStuck.com) is to develop my W-Cubed = WHO? Is Doing WHAT? WHEN? (www.ActionAccountability.com) for each line item on the Deviled Details Action Plan.

One of my goals in attending the Teleseminar Secrets Reunion was to meet and interview candidates for my Approved Vendor List. These are the resources that I recommend my clients consider for all the WHOs on all the line items on each of their Action Plans. Fortunately, there were several folks at the Reunion whose services would be ideal for some of my clients.

But all of that starts next week. For the rest of this week, wife Janet and I are going to enjoy some of what the great City of San Francisco has to offer.

Robert Lee Goodman, MBA
Ceo & Chief ImpleMENTOR
www.Virtual-Exec.com

One thing about us entrepreneurs: we love doing things enthusiastically – especially when we are trying so hard to get from our current Point A to our desired Point B as quickly as possible.

The problem, of course, is that if we go charging off in the wrong direction, at some point we have to stop, turn around and retrace our steps back toward Point A and start all over again.

The upshot of starting over again is all the time, energy, effort and money that you just spent going down that dead-end trail is mostly wasted – the time spent going the wrong direction delays your successful implementation of your vision.

It also means that you need more money, more time, more effort than you would have otherwise needed if you had done a better job of planning and pick the right direction to begin with.

That’s really the purpose of The Four Big Dots that are covered in my Deviled Details Action Planning Service.  The Four Big Dots of Deviled Details are: your personal plan, your financial model, your action plan and your business plan.

Even if you just do a little bit of work on each of the Big 4 Dots…even if you only generate a couple of dozen action items…even if you only make sweeping approximations for your underlying business model assumptions, you’re probably going to be much better off because you’ve eliminated some of those wrong directions.

The more time you spend on all of those Deviled Details, the more wrong directions that get eliminated. The more wrong directions that get eliminated, the much more likely will be your success.

So, what’s it worth to you?

How many hours are you willing to invest in order to eliminate as many wrong directions as you possibly can? One? Five? Ten? Hundred?

How many hours, months or years are you going to waste, otherwise, cleaning up the mess from not doing it right the first time?

With The Deviled Details Action Planning Service, you will learn how all four Big Dots are interrelated for your own company – and how not doing even one of the Dots correctly can be a deal killer that will block your path to success.

Find out more by clicking Deviled Details Action Planning Service.

Robert Lee Goodman, MBA
Ceo & Chief ImpleMENTOR
www.Virtual-Exec.com

While individually working with over 2,000 entrepreneurs and start up company CEOs, I’ve noticed that, in many cases, one or more of a particular half-dozen deadly dragons can often stop a company in its tracks.

Which ones are blocking your personal path for your start up company right now?

1. The Indecision Dragon – Closely related to the Overchoice Dragon, this brute keeps whispering “What if this and what if that…” which keeps you from making key decisions and making progress. Yogi Berra, the New York Yankee philosopher, said, “When you come to a fork in the road, take it.” What are the top dozen genuine pivot points for your company right this minute? What do you need to know today to make a decision on each – and cross each one off the list as completed? What do you finally need to know to get past that fork in the road? Remember: No decision IS a decision – one that can affect all future decisions, choices, direction and timetables. Don’t lose by default.
2. The Perfection Dragon – This varmint keeps telling you to stop until absolutely everything is perfect. The trouble is few things in life are ever perfect. I have found that sloppy success is almost always far better for most companies than procrastinated perfection. What else do you need to know to be perfect enough for now – so you can take the next step? Is this another paralyzing fork for you?
3. The Dollar Dragon – This is one very lethal dragon that needs to be dealt with wisely. How much money does it REALLY take for success? How much money for proof of concept? How much capital do you need to keep you from running out of cash before positive cash flow? Where will the capital come from? How are you going to knowledgeably answer all of these questions about YOUR start up company? How much longer will it take for you to know the right answers so you can make progress? Do you have a dollar waiting on a dime?
4. The Expertise Dragon – We all have our own unique set of skills we’ve learned over the years. We all also have missing skill sets – stuff we’ve just never learned yet. What are the top dozen missing skill sets for you and your company, right here, right now? What are the gaps in management? What is on your Action List that requires more expertise than you or your team members have? What kind of expertise could you use to get you past this dragon and on down the road to success? Who can provide you this expertise? What are you going to do to strengthen your strengths and minimize or eliminate the weaknesses? Are you making critical decisions without the right expertise? If so, what are the short-term AND long-term risks and real costs of those potentially lethal bad strategic and tactical decisions?
5. The Time Dragon – It’s really too bad that there are only 30 hours in a day and 8 days in a week. Even if there really was that much time, most of us would still constantly run out of this continuously depleting commodity. Ever notice how this dragon, and life, keeps getting in the way of making progress with your new company? Does your business model and concept get more stale as more time passes without progress and competitors move forward with your ideas? What major and minor tasks on your Action List can you delegate so that you can buy more time for you to lead the charge and get farther done the path toward the success of your vision?
6. The Implementation Dragon – Do you really know all the puzzle pieces required for the complete big picture of your start up company? Do you know all the steps required for successful implementation of your vision? Do you have a comprehensive Action List of all the steps required to get you from where you are now to where you want to be in one year? Five years?

Or, are any or all of these dragons going to keep blocking your path – so that a year from now, five years from now, your vision, and you, will be in the same place where you are today?

Sometimes, it seems like ALL of these dragons are blocking your path to success for your vision – all at the same time. And, these are just six of the multitude of dragons that try to interfere with entrepreneurs just like you from starting their company and successfully implementing their vision.

Which ones are causing you the most grief today?

What other dragons, specific to you and your company, are also blocking your success?

It IS Lonely At The Top

Who do you turn to, as a start up or emerging company CEO or founder – for sound business advice, for a different perspective, for efficient brainstorming, for help with your dragon slaying? Who do you use as a mentor and trusted adviser, who can give you objective, one-on-one, confidential and experiential help with your own company?

For many CEOs and owners, it really IS lonely at the top.

I’ve successfully helped many hundreds of clients answer exactly these kinds of questions and slay these kinds of dragons.

I have found during my past 15 years of consulting with start up and emerging companies that many of the above half dozen dragons can be slayed with just a few hours of mentoring. Often, it just takes one or two insights and epiphanies to get my clients past those dragons and much farther down their path toward achieving their goals.

Get Help Now

The power of these quick insights is why I offer my clients my Start Up Company Mentoring Service at http://www.StartUpCompanyMentoring.com.

Are there other issues, problems or opportunities you would like to brainstorm about your company?

I invite you to check out the site for my services. There, you can usually sign up for as little as one hour of mentoring. Once you sign up, we can immediately schedule a teleconference to discuss your dragons and your goals.

Of course, we can’t solve every problem, and slay every dragon, in only an hour or two – but, together, we might be able to efficiently brainstorm some quick answers for you – and a genuinely implementable action plan – that will get you past these pesky dragons and get you closer to your vision of success.

Reserve your brainstorming and mentoring time now by visiting http://www.StartUpCompanyMentoring.com.
PS: Limited AvailabilityOne-on-one mentoring and dragon slaying is probably the most enjoyable part of Start Up Company University for me. I love the rapid fire brainstorming and efficient problem solving with my clients – and being able to provide so much pivotal help in such a short period of time.

However, my availability for one-on-one mentoring can be very limited due to my other client, corporate and personal commitments and time requirements. Hence, some of my mentoring options may be unavailable at any given time.

Please check http://www.StartUpCompanyMentoring.com for the current status and availability.

Starting and running a company can be overwhelming. Endless new action items seem to appear magically on your To Do List as you day develops – with all of them either whispering or screaming to be your top priority. And, when the day is done, it often seems that one or more of those unanticipated priorities won – and the most important action items you originally had on your list when you walked into your office this morning did not get done – again.

So, how is an entrepreneur to decide on their priorities – especially when there is so much that needs to be done? The answer is surprisingly easy.

1. Priority 1: Absolute top priority for the CEO of a start up company: maintaining a comfortable cash balance. That’s what is in your checking account. It cannot go to zero or go negative. Period.Every morning, everything on your priority list has got to focus on either maintaining or increasing your cash balance so that, as a minimum, it exceeds your comfort level. Everything else is secondary.If this is not your top priority, you greatly increase your risk that you will go out of business.

2. Priority 2: The only thing that is close in priority…but that is still second to Cash Balance…is generating positive cash flow from operations. If you have this, a lot of #1 is automatically taken care of. Remember, even the smallest of cuts that never stops bleeding will eventually kill you.Get above break-even as quickly as you can and stay there. There are two basic ways to do this: increase sales and cut costs. Running lean and keeping costs low by cutting all fat but no muscle is almost always a good idea.However, you can only cut so much and still have the infrastructure that you need to be in business. That leaves sales as the primary way to get above break-even and stay there. Every day, your Priority 2 should be driving sales – including short-term and long-term revenues. For a start up company, I recommend that the CEO spend half of every day on action items that directly relate to marketing and generating sales.
3. Priorities 3 – 101? See Priority 1 and Priority 2. Yes, they are that important.

4. Priorities 102 – 1,001? Items that at least indirectly, but positively, help Priority 1 and 2. Period.

5. Priorities 1,002 – 10,000? Everything else required to run and grown your company.

Ignoring this pecking order of priorities is why most start up companies fail…so slay those dragons every day by focusing on Priority 1 and Priority 2.

How do you know what a comfortable cash balance is for your company? How do you know where real break-even occurs with your current products and services?

You have a realistic business plan – and you measure actual versus budget every month.

Too many entrepreneurs make a huge mistake throwing together their business plan with sweeping generalizations that skew their projection so badly that their whole plan really is a case of GIGO – Garbage In / Garbage Out. The only thing worse than going the wrong direction based on Garbage Out – is to go the wrong direction, enthusiastically.

A bad business plan usually gets you going the wrong direction, often enthusiastically. The result is that most entrepreneurs don’t recognize this problem until it is too late to change direction and save their company.

What makes much more sense is taking the time to generate realistic and meaningful start up, revenue, personnel and operating cost numbers for your new start up company. If you need help, get experienced mentoring from someone who has the expertise you need – someone who can ensure your underlying assumptions make sense for your company in the real world.

Then, you can use your business plan to know how much start up capital you will really need, where your cash balance will be each month and each year…and when you will get to sustained positive cash flow from operations.

With this knowledge, you will know how to best invest your Priority 1 and Priority 2 time on your start up company to get you maximum results.

What is the second biggest mistake?

Many cost-sensitive entrepreneurs depend on number crunchers, bean counters and newly minted MBAs for their projections – just to save a few dollars.

New start up CEOs doom their new company by pinching pennies in the wrong place. Instead, what they need are pivotal insights from experienced consultants who can provide the guidance the entrepreneur needs for producing a realistic, genuinely implementable business plan.

Your business plan is not some academic document – instead, it is your crucial road map to successful implementation of your vision for your new company.

The most important part of any business plan is the detailed financial projections that are the basis for the entire business model of every new start up company. There are four sets of underlying assumptions that drive all the projections:

1. Start up costs – what will you need to spend up front to get the company going?
2. Sales forecast – the single most important set of assumptions for your whole plan – how many of what, will you sell, for how much, at what costs, when?
3. Personnel – how many, of what kind of employees, will you need at what cost, when?
4. Operating costs – what will it really cost to be in business, generate sales, give necessary sales support and exemplary customer service and cover all back office expenses?

Every part of your financial projections is just arithmetic – based on those four sets of driving assumptions. Because it is just arithmetic, many entrepreneurs make the often fatal mistake of assuming it is trivial and can be done easily and cheaply.

But – if you guess wrong on any of these assumptions, then most of your projections are wrong – including two of your most important projections: your cash flow and your capital needs. If you guess wrong on your assumptions that impact these, then you will probably run out of money and your new company will fail.

Number crunchers and bean counters are great at arithmetic. So are newly minted MBAs. And, they can be relatively cheap to hire. But this cheap hire may be the most expensive mistake you will make as a start up CEO.

These cheap hires almost never have any experience base or expertises that help entrepreneurs make meaningful assumptions. So, entrepreneurs who use this approach for their business plans end up with GIGO: garbage in, garbage out projections that are misleading at best – but more often, fatal in the end.

As the adage goes, the only thing worse than going the wrong direction – is going the wrong direction enthusiastically. By basing your business plan on the wrong assumptions, you end up going the wrong direction – probably enthusiastically – believing your bean counter-generated plan will be the path to wealth.

Entrepreneurs who have thought they were saving a few hundred dollars by hiring cheap number crunchers or inexperienced MBAs, end up losing everything they’ve invested in their new company – all because they were penny wise – and dollar foolish – or rather, thousands, hundreds of thousands or millions of dollars foolish.

Cash is always limited for start up companies – but this is one place you do not want to get trapped by false savings.

What’s the best way for you to avoid the second biggest mistake for your new start up company?

Hire an experienced management consultant who specializes in start up companies – particularly a consultant who has started at least a dozen of their own companies. That way, you get insights based on real life experience that will help you end up with a genuinely implementable plan for the future – your future and the future of your new start up company.

Ceo Resource LLC has specialized in cost-effectively helping over 2,000 entrepreneurs and start up companies with their business planning for the past 14 years.

Please check out our services at:

www.ShouldYouStartACompanyToday.com <~~ Sample documents and blog

www.ChiefDragonSlayer.com <~~~ Business plans and planning

www.StartUpCompanyMentoring.com <~~~ 1:1 CEO coaching, consulting and mentoring

www.StartUpCompanyWorkshop.com <~~~ 1:1 Insights to design your own business model, your business plan, your own future

www.StartUpCompanyUniversity.com <~~ Training courses for the entrepreneur and start up CEO

Wishing you stellar success for your start up company,

Robert Lee Goodman, MBA

The risk of major penalties to you and your company are just too great to do this wrong. Look at what happened in this one case:

Commission Halts Unregistered Activity
By Semisub, Inc., Curtiss E. Jackson and Joshua M. Heller

Harrisburg, PA, 03/21/2008 — To halt the offer and sale of unregistered securities in Pennsylvania, the Pennsylvania Securities Commission issued a Summary Order to Cease and Desist against Semisub, Inc. (Semisub), an entity with an address in Westlake Village, California, Curtiss E. Jackson (Jackson) and Joshua M. Heller (Heller), individuals also with an address in Westlake Village, California. Jackson was Semisub’s chief executive officer and chairman; Heller was a “private equity associate” of Semisub. Semisub was in the business of developing, owning and operating proprietary semi-submersible vessels for the tourism industry and was offering for sale shares of common stock (Stock).

In or about February 2008, Heller telephoned at least one Pennsylvania resident (PA Resident) and offered the Stock for sale. Heller stated that Semisub is looking for investors interested in making “huge” capital gains in the “not so distant future”; that the minimum investment in the Stock is $50,000; that the total offering is $8,000,000; that each share of Stock costs $1.00; that the return is 7 – 10% based on Semisub having one vessel in the water doing business, but once Semisub has four vessels in the water, the return increases to 54%; that Semisub plans to go public; that Heller’s sales commission as a “private equity associate” is around 8% for the sale of the Stock; and the PA Resident would not be expected to do anything else to invest other than to send a check.

In or about February 2008, Heller sent offering materials (Materials) on behalf of Semisub, including a Private Placement Memorandum and a Subscription Agreement, to the PA Resident via overnight mail. The Materials state that Semisub will use investor funds to expand vessel construction and for capital purposes; that Semisub is offering 8,000,000 shares of Stock for a price of $1.00 per share; that Semisub has completed raising approximately $5,800,000 of the $8,000,000 offering to date; and that a 12% rate of return is expected for the Stock during the first year.

In or about February 2008, Heller telephoned the PA Resident and stated that the PA Resident could invest $25,000. The PA Resident had no substantive, pre-existing relationship with Semisub, Jackson, or Heller. The PA Resident was not an accredited investor under Rule 501 of Regulation D, and did not have sufficient knowledge and experience in financial and business matters to be capable of evaluating the merits and risks of the investment.

The Commission ordered Semisub, Inc., Curtiss E. Jackson and Joshua M. Heller to stop offering and selling the Stock in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, in violation of the Pennsylvania Securities Act of 1972, and in particular Sections 201 and 301 thereof.

Any further solicitations or sales made by these respondents in Pennsylvania will constitute violations of the 1972 Act and the Commission’s Orders. Any person who is solicited by or has information about these respondents is asked to immediately notify the Pennsylvania Securities Commission by calling 800-600-0007.

Full details at PA Securities Commission Website

The services of Start Up Company University can help you avoid this kind of attention and action. Sign up now for the Funding Foreplay Audio Course. It will teach you how to properly raise the investment funding you need for your own start up company. If you need 1:1 mentoring, coaching or management consulting, please reserve an hour or two at www.StartUpCompanyMentoring.com.

These two free downloads are very basic, and are not the business plan or PPM that are included and analyzed in detail in Funding Foreplay – but they will show you the fundamental components of what you need for two of the twelve total documents you are required for successfully raising investment capital from venture capital and angel investors. Each document is about 40 pages long and can be immediately downloaded.

For a much more comprehensive business plan and PPM, including samples of all dozen necessary documents you will need, check out Funding Foreplay at www.FundingForeplay.com.

If you need help with financial projections and your business plan or business planning, check out my services and prices at www.ChiefDragonSlayer.com.

If you need personal, one on one coaching and mentoring, please check out my services at www.StartUpCompanyMentoring.com for details and pricing.

Wishing you STELLAR success with YOUR start up,

Robert Lee Goodman

One of the many great things about my profession is working with so many bright entrepreneurs and CEOs in so many interesting businesses – and providing them with pivotal help to accelerate the success of their vision.

(There are so many others – which are so proprietary in nature – that I can’t even list their industry here!).

International client locations include: China, United Kingdom, Germany, France, Netherlands, Israel, United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Australia, Singapore, Thailand, Honk Kong, Japan, Taiwan, Canada, Brazil, Mexico, India, Cayman Islands, Italy, Costa Rica, Spain, Belgium, Sweden, Pakistan, Austria, Russian Federation, Philippines, New Zealand, Argentina, Panama, Antigua, Ireland, Malaysia, Switzerland, Guatemala, South Africa.

If you need one on one consulting and mentoring, please see www.StartUpMentoring.com for pricing and details. If you need a business plan or strategic or tactical business planning, please see www.ChiefDragonSlayer.com for pricing and details. If you would like a very affordable course on developing your own business plan, please see www.BusinessPlanAudioCourse.com.

My 14 plus years of providing this kind of broad diversity of top-level tactical and strategic planning enables me to quickly relate to your industry and specific business needs – which means you won’t have to spend extra time for me to come up to speed with your needs, your industry and your particular set of dragons that may be keeping you from success.