2011 - Outlook for consultants

The early results from our 2011 fee rate survey are coming in already - we asked people how they feel about 2011 and we're getting quite positive vibes. Over half our consultants are expecting their businesses to grow this year - including those with a bias towards the public sector. Seems to be a combination of 'any change means there's a need for consultancy' and a feeling that businesses are adjusting to new market conditions and just 'getting on with it'. To let us know what you think just complete the survey - there's a prize draw for a free Skillfair membership if you leave us your email address.

Getting together to do business

Sorry for the silence here since Christmas - having slipped on the ice and broken my wrist my appetite for typing has been a bit subdued! Just sent out this week's newsletter talking about the importance of collaborating with other consultants to win business that you couldn't win by yourself. Then realised that it would be a really good idea if people who already belong to established networks could let other people know about them.

The easiest way to do that was to start up a LinkedIn discussion on the subject, so if you belong to or are aware of formal or informal networks that you think work effectively please let us know here or comment on this blog.

Follow #goodnews to boost confidence

Seems to me that there are lots of small good news stories emerging at the moment, but they're being swamped by the general doom and gloom in the media. For example, there's manufacturing growth in the South West where private sector growth has steadily increased.


We've seen a steady increase in private clients coming to us looking for consultants and perhaps more significantly there's demand for training - which is one of the sectors that's been hit hardest over the last 18 months. I'll be re-tweeting all good news stories under the hashtag #goodnews - so if you want an antidote to the professional doom-mongers just follow twitter.com/skillfair !

got the project - but having trouble getting paid?

A common issue for consultants is that sometimes the euphoria of landing a tasty project can evaporate very quickly when you realise that actually getting paid is going to be as much of a problem as getting the work was in the first place! I've been having some Twitter conversations about late payments and thought I'd share some of the ideas with you;

• check your client has received the invoice a few days after you send it - so they know you're on the case
• if you have any doubts about the clients financial status, ask for a deposit
• don't keep on working if you're not getting paid - if you do they don 't feel any pain - make it clear to someone to whom your work matters that lack of payment is a problem and will mean they don't get what they want
• get someone who's not directly involved with the client to chase the payment (I use my husband for this!)

Any other suggestions?

Are projects like snow?

I sometimes think projects being posted on Skillfair are a bit like snow, some areas get a steady reliable flow - almost regardless of what else is happening, whereas others only see the white stuff in flurries. Last week we had a sudden influx of training related projects (and there seems to be a steady demand for assessors of vocational qualifications in particular) - this is after a fairly dire period in the training industry as a whole.

Today the papers are talking about a bigger than expected rise in manufacturing output and simultaneously we've had 3 fairly tasty engineering related projects appear on the site. These involve vacuum pumps, nuclear materials and safety valves - fairly specialist stuff but it's good to see activity from the industry. The projects have all come via our relationship with the Institution of Mechanical Engineers.

Lets hope the project flurries develop further even when the snow disappears :-)