Small Business Today Magazine DEC 2014 NOUN INVESTMENTS | Page 20

EDITORIALFEATURE

Business Moving Forward From 

the Dirty Side of the Recession                     
By Hank Moore, Corporate Strategist™

T

he economy and business climate are now
on the dirty side of the recession. Recognizing the damages done will result in healthier
run companies for the future.

This is comparable to what is called the dirty
side of a storm, hurricane, or other weather-created disaster.  During those clean-up periods, the
infrastructure rebuilds and optimistically moves
forward by correcting certain damages done by
the storms.

Signs are that our economy has somewhat
recovered from the second worst recession in
history.  Many companies kept their heads in the
sand during the economic downturn, fully intending to return to business as usual. 

What happened in the recession was that
many businesses went under.  In my professional
opinion, 25% of those that faded away probably
should have.  A great many frail companies were
not on firm foundations and had abdicated their
abilities to improve and serve customer bases.

As fallout from the recession, many people
were thrown into the workforce.  Many fell into
jobs for which they were not suited.  Many downsized and out-of-work people were forced to reinvent themselves.

Many became consultants of one sort or another.  Many fell victim to frauds and scams.  Services and websites sprung up to capitalize upon
the avalanche of new entrepreneurs.  Some sites
offered the platform to become a consultant with
a national firm by paying them subscription fees. 
The already inflated world of “reputation management” websites lured people into buying advertising in order to create the facade of being a
consultant.

Distinctions must be drawn into three consulting categories and percentages of their occurrence in the
marketplace:

18 SMALL BUSINESS TODAY MAGAZINE [ DECEMBER 2014 ]

1. Vendors selling products which were produced by others.  Those who sell their own
produced works are designated as subcontractors.  (82.99%)
2. Consultants conducting programs designed by
their companies, in repetitive motion.  Their
work is off-the-shelf, conforms to an established mode of operation, contains original
thought, and draws precedents from experience.  (17%)
3. High level strategists creating all knowledge in
their consulting.  It is original, customized to
the client, and contains creativity and insight
not available elsewhere.  (.01%)

As one who distinguishes past vendors and subcontractors, there are six types within the 18% which
constitute consultants with their percentages in the
marketplace:

1. Those that still lead in an industry and have
specific niche expertise.  (13.5%)
2. Those that were downsized, out-placed, or
decided not to stay in the corporate fold and
evolved into consulting.  (28%)
3. Out of work people who hang out consulting
shingles in between jobs.  (32%)
4. Freelancers and moonlighters whose consultancy may or may not relate to their day jobs. 
(16%)
5. Veteran consultants who were trained for
and have a track record in actual consulting. 
That’s what they have done for most of their
careers.  (2%)
6. Sadly, there is another category - opportunists who masquerade as consultants, entrepreneurs who disguise their selling as consulting, and people who routinely change niches
as the dollars go.  (8.5%)

Clients are confused and undereducated, not
able to discern the “real deal” consultants from
the hype.  Enlightened clients hire real consultants
and get great value, as opposed to companies
who fall prey to under-prepared resources.