The Consulting Process...

...begins with a two-month introductory period.  During this introductory period, the new client and I meet two or three times each month for 1 1/2 to 2 1/2 hours at 1/2 my normal retainer.  All meetings, during this introductory period as well as later, are conducted at the client’s place of business.  

 

At this time, we go over the history of the client’s business, its current standing, and the client’s plans for the future.  One of the first questions I ask at this time is, “When do you want to retire, and how much money have you decided you’ll need at that time?”  In many cases, clients may have an answer to the first question, but not the second.  In such cases, I’ll suggest that they speak to a financial advisor and come up with a number we can shoot for.

 

Once those two questions have been answered -- when do you want to retire and how much will you need -- I start to learn about the client’s business.  (Click here to see some of the questions; many are the same questions you’d ask if you were thinking of buying a business.)  

 

As I’m learning more about my client’s business during this introductory two months, we begin to create a long-term agenda and intermediate steps for achieving long-term goals.  We then prioritize those steps, and work first on those that will have the biggest impact on your business right now.  As we get under way, we’re usually proceeding on more than one part of the process at the same time.  

 

Because each owner and each business is unique, I work with each in a way that’s tailored specifically to both owner and business as we set up and begin to work on the long-term and intermediate agendas.

 

After the two-month introductory period, we meet one, two or three times each month, from one to two and a half hours each time.  The meetings usually average about 1 1/2 hours.  I may also meet with the company’s employees, sit in on the occasional staff meeting, meet with outside consultants on the owner’s behalf, etc.  

 

Outside our meeting time, I’ll also be working on things pertaining to the long-term agenda or intermediate steps.   (For instance, one owner and I made a day-trip together to another city to attend a seminar on ESOP -- Employee Stock Ownership Plan -- as part of a long-term strategy for selling his business.)  

 

At all times in our relationship, my clients -- and in many cases, their employees -- have unlimited access to me by phone and email.  

 

 

 

Robin Johnstone Consulting, LLC

Offices in Albuquerque and Santa Fe