As a CEO I struggled long and hard over any decision to use a consultant. There are many issues that need to be managed by the client to keep a consultant from going overboard on time and costs.
Too many need to long to get up to speed on your business (on your dime), cost too much, and can not provide tangible results on a limited project basis.
Most directors are stuck in a system that makes it tough for them to protect shareholder interests. The author offers two solutions.
The possibility of directors paying out of their own pockets for corporate misconduct occurring under their watch has been raised by three recent cases. On January, 18 Enron directors agreed to pay $168 million -- 10 of them spent $13 million of their own money -- to settle their portions of securities class-action suits.
1. Thinking it is easy. It will typically take 3–6 months of full-time effort. 80% will fail.
2. That the “Idea” is worth something. It is not worth $0 because anyone can copy an idea and do better at marketing, sales, product development or just dump capital on that idea.
Read more: What are some common misconceptions people have about raising capital?
Are you starting the new year over-extended, over-committed, overwhelmed, and over-stressed in your business? Maybe you suffer from being under-leveraged as a leader!
"Too much to do and not enough time" is a common mantra for most business owners. Too many demands and expectations from customers, employees, vendors (even consultants), not to mention your own family (who want a piece of your time), can throw off-kilter your well-intentioned New Year's business resolutions (those important "to-do's" you promised yourself in December to get to in January).