Tag Archives: Credentials

What are the Options for Your Next Phase? Six Suggestions

Situation: It’s a new year, and a CEO is thinking through options for the coming year and beyond. She has decided to leave her company and establish a new role and career for herself. Immediate concerns are funding the transition and entry into a new career. What are the options for your next phase?

Advice from the CEOs:

  • The area that can be built most quickly to provide income is a consulting practice based on the experience developed as a CEO and as a specialist leveraging past experience. Building a new practice is a big commitment. Make this the initial focus and get a few gigs to get the ball rolling. The company is an early option, as well as some of their key customers. These relationships are already in place.
  • On the academic side, investigate Executive Education programs in Business Schools. Here the clientele is different from normal undergraduate and postgraduate education – actively working managers and executives. For this audience the combination of experience as a CEO and academic credentials is advantageous. For this audience, a lack of credentialed teaching experience is largely counterbalanced by the weight of professional experience.
  • The Professor / Consultant track looks best if established as a 5-year plan.
  • While getting established in a new role there will be an initial challenge managing the time demands of teaching, research and developing a consulting practice. Think of this as managing the multiple functions of a company. It will be important to establish early priorities to accomplish the desired plan.
  • A professorship does not necessarily tie financially to current goals but can be an important strategic adjunct to consulting efforts. In a certain sense, teaching will have to be its own reward.
  • To the extent possible and depending upon how the board responds to the decision to leave the company negotiate the best possible severance package. This can tie into some of the suggestions, above.

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How Do You Avoid Payment Pickles? Five Options

Situation: A company has clients who are not paying on schedule for projects. If the company stops or delays work, the clients say this is why they aren’t paying. The CEO needs to find a solution that clarifies and codifies responsibilities of both the company and its clients. How do you avoid payment pickles?

Advice from the CEOs:

  • Look at the contract templates and adjust them to better meet the company’s needs.
    • Change the contract obligations – so that the company is not liable for failing to complete on time when the client does not pay.
    • Increase the frequency of client payments so that the company is paid on a more timely basis.
    • Document all payment promises in the contract, including clear penalties for untimely payment and the company’s ability to stop work if payments fall short.
    • Look for an insurance product that insures the company for clients’ failure to pay – include the cost of this policy in the job quote.
    • Always hold back something critical until the final payment is received.
  • Rebrand the company to improve the business proposition.
    • Highlight the founders’ credentials – use this credibility to differentiate the company from the competition.
    • Expand the company’s presence in customized solutions, tailored to meet customers’ needs.
    • Work the high-end solutions network to get to the high-end clients.
    • Obtain D&Bs on clients before signing contracts.
    • Find the founders passion and focus on this to build the business.
    • Build what the customers want and deliver on schedule.
    • Present multiple options to new clients – a basic option for a competitive price, with add-ons similar to car dealers who use add-ons to boost the value of the sale.

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