Newsletter - Rugby 7's and Business
This may seem a rather odd metaphor, but while watching the World rugby sevens tournament last weekend it struck me that the difference between a 7 or 15 a side team is a lot like the difference between small and big businesses. In a sevens team there are never enough people, they all have far too much to do and quickly become exhausted. By contrast, although the 15 a side game is still very demanding there's a little more time to organise and take an occasional breather and it's much easier to defend your position. And of course some teams get themselves thoroughly stuck in a rut.
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Newsletter - A Brighter Outlook for Consultants?
The response to our quick poll of last week was rather mixed - about 60% of you think the rest of 2010 will be an improvement compared to 23% who are expcting the worst. From the comments I think at least some of the variation is down to the uncertainty over what elements of public spending will be cut and how that might affect the consultancy market. Quite a few optimistic people felt that the cuts will provide more opportunity because public organisations will need help sorting things out.
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Newsletter - Public or Private?
I'm writing this newsletter just before doing a talk on tendering to a group of IBC members near Derby, and as I was preparing the talk it occurred to me that we sometimes draw too strong a distinction between public tenders and the buying process that goes on in the private sector. My experience has been that some large private companies run almost as complex and bureaucratic a process as major government departments. Equally, quite a lot of the public opportunities we publish are actually very small and involved little more than a letter and a short proposal.
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Newsletter - Style or Substance?
I'm quite pleased that I'm writing this newsletter before the great TV debate tonight as it enables me to avoid commenting on who 'won'. All of the build-up seems to be focusing on how important it is to appear confident and on how much preparation has gone into the party leaders' approach to the debate. But at the same time, apparently, they have to appear natural and un-rehearsed - something of a tall order I think.
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2010 Annual Fee Rate Survey
Skillfair’s 5th Annual Fee rate Survey comes at a time when many independent consultants and freelancers are feeling under pressure from all sides. Clients are under pressure to reduce costs and retain permanent staff – plus to read the press it would seem there are thousands of newly redundant 40 and 50 something’s looking to set up as self-employed. In this difficult market it really pays to know what your peers are actually charging and how you compare – otherwise it can be very hard to resist requests from clients that devalue your services.
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