EnTrends [ahn-trends]

Taking a Look at How Modern Entrepreneurs Work & Live!

Original Article: http://www.entrends.com/boomerangconsulting.htm

Q: What are some of the milestones and successes that your consulting business has had in the past ten years?  

A: One of the things I'm very proud of is the launch of the Canada, Australia & New Zealand Business Association - CANZBA - which I started in late 2001 with the help of an illustrious Board of Directors.

The success of this organization became evident when in 2007 I was invited, as President of the Association, to a luncheon in Canberra hosted by the Australian Prime Minister in honour of the visiting Canadian Prime Minister. Although CANZBA is a volunteer venture (consuming an enormous amount of time) it has had a positive impact on my business credibility as well, and has helped to position me and Boomerang Consulting as the go-to expert for business between North America and Down Under. As they say, it's not just who you know, but who knows you that is important, and some recent experiences have indicated that we're achieving this.

Q: Have there been any negative experiences or failures/lessons that you learned from?

A: Unfortunately there have been many! Being in the consulting world means there are often instances where our time is wasted by what we call the "mind suck". That is, potential clients who try to get free information. So I would say that I've had to learn to protect the business' IPO and my time and knowledge, and be a better judge of which potential clients to pursue. After a while I think it becomes almost instinctive. Also, along similar lines, I often still find it difficult to turn down business that doesn't represent enough profit margin - mainly because of wanting to help wherever there is a need.  

The other main challenge is pure survival in the recent economy. I've learned to offfer services in shorter phases so that the total cost is seen in stages; the flip side of this of course is that projects tend to be shorter and it makes it very hard to plan.

Q: Do you make decisions differently now days and pursue different business ventures than you did ten years ago?

A: The main difference is that, as the business has matured, we have become more and more niche-oriented. I think this represents more confidence from fine-tuning and strengthening our specialization. However, we are still not at the point where we can turn business away, which to me is a true sign of success!

We also target the Australian and New Zealand businesses more as they tend to be more dynamic and entrepreneurial and generally fun to work with.

Q: What are some of your latest professional endeavors?

A: This month, we're working on six different projects in six different sectors - mining services, speaking and training, medical recruitment, travel, conference management and business intelligence software.

Obviously a couple of these projects are more time intensive than others, but it still requires good time management and multi-tasking.

Q: What are your future goals and ambitions now?

A: These haven't really changed - but certainly have been delayed. The main goal is to open an office in Australia and spend more time there, in preparation for my eventual return home to Melbourne.

Q: How has your lifestyle changed personally, in the last 10 years?

A: Personally, things have been tough on the family and financial side, which has curbed the lifestyle somewhat - primarily where it comes to travelling and being able to spend time with friends and family who don't live in the same city.

Also, with age, comes the increasing fear of security - not that I'm planning to ever retire! Otherwise there has been little change over the past 10 years - still live and work in the same place.