Consulting Blog for Business Consultants

I have been getting emails from a number of readers who asked me if they should start working on a consulting project as soon as the client gives them the go-ahead — regardless of whether they have a signed contract/agreement.

My response to them is simple: DON’T!

In my many years as a professional consultant, I have witnessed time and time again how consultants get burned when they put the horse before the carriage.

Here’s why you should never begin any consulting work before you have a signed agreement…

Any consultant with significant client experience would tell you that a client’s needs and directives can change at the drop of a hat.

What was once a hot project might be canceled altogether overnight.

I have personally been involved with several projects where the client asked my team to stop all work — despite a signed agreement and statement of work — because the senior vice president who was sponsoring the project suddenly resigned.

Now imagine yourself in that situation, where you have been counting on your relationship and the “word” of that senior VP to start work. What recourse do you have?

And if by some miracle you have written records of your conversations with the project sponsor — proof that he/she authorized you to begin work — how do you prove the conditions under which you were to be paid? And you rate? The deliverables you agreed to complete?

Are you beginning to see the problem here?

And we haven’t even begun to scratch the surface.

What if your client’s company falls under financial pressure and your project sponsor delays (or flat out refuses) to pay your fees?

What recourse do you have if you haven’t got a signed agreement or statement of work?

I could go on and on on this topic, but I think you’re getting the idea here.

Working as a consultant without a signed consulting agreement or statement of work is bad — very bad!

You are better off without a consulting project if the client doesn’t provide you with a signed agreement before the work starts.

Of course, this is only one of the many mistakes that could potentially end your career as a consultant.

The good news is that with proper consulting training, you could avoid making such costly mistakes.

What are some other mistakes you should watch out for?

Check out this site for their free consulting training sessions.

This entry was posted on Thursday, May 29th, 2008 at 3:41 am and is filed under Consulting Skills, Consulting Skills Training. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.