This is an Amazon Short, an essay that can be purchased from Amazon for 49 cents.

Description:

I wrote this piece to answer some of the most common questions sent to me by readers of my two books on Consulting, The Secrets of Consulting and More Secrets of Consulting. The piece addresses sticky questions about collecting fees from clients.

Review by  Robert I. Hedges

Jerry Weinberg is a well known consultant (notably in the computer field) and author. He has a very approachable and utilitarian style that is both informative and instructional without ever being preachy.

This Amazon Short deals with the consultant's eternal nightmare: fee collection. The text doesn't actually define how to establish fees in your practice, and is short on specific collection methodologies, but provides some excellent pointers that are especially useful to the new consultant. The most important point he makes (and I couldn't agree with him more) is that if you are uncomfortable with a commission to the point where you feel that a carefully scripted, binding contract is necessary to protect you, do not accept the account: collecting your fee will likely be difficult if not impossible.

This is a thought provoking article, and I recommend it to independent consultants and contractors everywhere.