Guides

Career Change at 50: How to Move Into Consulting (2026)
A career change at 50 works best when the new career uses what you already know. Three ways into consulting, a money check to run first and a 90-day plan. Read more...
Consulting Invoice Template for Freelancers That Gets Paid
Free Consulting Invoice Template (2026): Copy and Paste
A free consulting invoice template in nine parts, with filled-in line items for retainer, fixed-fee and hourly work, the payment terms consultants use and a routine for getting paid on... Read more...
Golden Handcuffs: What They Are and How to Leave Them (2026)
Golden handcuffs are pay and benefits you lose or repay if you leave before a set date. The common types, a worksheet for the real price of leaving, an illustrative example and six ways out. Read more...
Free Statement of Work Template for Consulting (2026): Copy and Paste
A free statement of work template for consulting projects in ten sections, from scope and deliverables to acceptance and change requests, with a filled-in example and notes on each part. No sign-up needed. Read more...
Free Consulting Proposal Template (2026): 8 Sections, Copy and Paste
A free consulting proposal template in eight sections, from the client's situation to one dated next step, with a filled-in example and notes on how to complete each part. No sign-up needed. Read more...
How to Become a Fractional CFO (2026): What the Work Pays, Who Hires and the Trade-offs
A 2026 guide for controllers, VPs of Finance and CFOs considering fractional work: what a fractional CFO does, who hires one, how engagements and pay are structured (sourced figures only), which skills transfer, how to land the first clients, and the risks. Read more...
Fractional Executive Job Platforms (2026): Where Fractional Work Is Actually Found
Where fractional executive work is actually found in 2026: 14 platforms, from Fractional Jobs and Go Fractional to Catalant, Toptal, Paro and Chief Outsiders, checked on their own sites for roles, vetting and fees to talent. Read more...
How Many Clients Can a Fractional Executive Handle at Once?
Most fractional executives run two to four clients at once. The 2026 FractionalJobs survey data, a simple capacity formula, the Retainer Stacking Model week and the signs you have taken on too many. Read more...
How to Price Your First Engagement When Your Former Employer Wants You Back
How much to charge your former employer as a consultant: the replacement-rate method (salary grossed up for benefits, divided by billable hours), a worked example, market checks, deal structures and what to check before you say yes. Read more...
Fractional vs Interim vs Consultant: What's the Difference?
A consultant advises, an interim executive fills a vacant seat and a fractional executive owns a function part-time. A side-by-side comparison on eight points, how each is priced, and which to offer first. Read more...
Consulting Rates 2026: What Consultants and Fractional Leaders Charge
Sourced 2026 consulting rate benchmarks in one place: hourly bands from the Consulting Success study, fractional rates from the 2026 FractionalJobs survey, BLS wage data and the ranges in From Corporate to Cash, plus how to convert a salary into a consulting rate. Read more...
How to Validate Consulting Demand Before You Launch
How to Validate Consulting Demand Before You Launch
Learn how to validate consulting demand with buyer conversations, paid pilots, and focused outreach before you invest months building a client practice. Read more...
Consulting Toolkits That Turn Expertise Into Offers
Consulting Toolkits That Turn Expertise Into Offers
Consulting toolkits give senior operators the assets to package expertise, price work, start outreach, and run a client pipeline without coaching calls. Read more...
Retainers Versus Projects: Which Should You Sell?
Consulting Retainer vs Project: How Retainers Work and When to Sell One
What a consulting retainer is, how it differs from a project, when to sell each, what the book's ranges say retainers pay, and how to scope a retainer so it... Read more...
A Guide to Consulting Sales Cycles That Close
A Guide to Consulting Sales Cycles That Close
A practical guide to consulting sales cycles for senior operators: qualify real demand, reduce buyer risk, shape proposals, and close work without chasing. Read more...
Corporate Layoff Consulting Trends for 2026
Corporate Layoff Consulting Trends for 2026
Corporate layoff consulting trends show why senior operators are turning expertise into focused retainers, fractional roles, and client pipelines in 2026. Read more...
Fractional Leadership for Senior Operators
How to Become a Fractional Executive: Role, Setup and Capacity
Answer-first guide to becoming a fractional executive: what the role owns, a fractional vs interim vs consultant comparison table, who companies hire (seat time over credentials, three placement factors), a... Read more...
Consulting Contracts That Protect the Work
Consulting Agreement Template: The 5 Clauses Every Consulting Contract Needs
What a consulting agreement template should include, built on the Five-Clause Contract Essentials and Appendix B of From Corporate to Cash: a clause-by-clause template outline, how the agreement fits with... Read more...
Make a Consulting Discovery Call Earn Its Keep
Consulting Discovery Call Questions: A 30-Minute Script
A 30-minute discovery call outline in the book's thirds structure with example questions for each segment, how to name the price and then stop talking, the Three-Touch Follow-Up (days 1,... Read more...
Claude AI Consulting Workflows for Client Work
Claude for Consultants: Workflows, Guardrails, and a Worked Example
How independent consultants can use Claude and Claude Cowork as the team they no longer have: a task table showing what AI drafts and what you still own, an illustrative... Read more...
Consulting Retainer Pricing Calculator: Set Your Fee
Consulting Rate Calculator: Hourly, Day Rate and Retainer Fee
Free consulting rate calculator: turn your salary, bonus, equity and benefits into an hourly floor, day rate and monthly retainer floor per client, compare it with role ranges from From... Read more...
How to Start Consulting After Layoff in 90 Days
How to Start Consulting After a Layoff: A Calm 60-Day Plan
Answer-first guide for laid-off senior professionals: what to do and skip in the first two weeks, an honest consult / take the job / do both decision table, illustrative month-by-month... Read more...
60 Day Consulting Launch Plan for Senior Operators
How to Start a Consulting Business: A 60-Day Plan
A week-by-week plan for how to start a consulting business, targeting a first paying client by day 60: Niche Selection Matrix, Three-Tier Offer Stack and Naming Formula, LinkedIn headline and... Read more...
How to Build a Warm Outreach Pipeline That Closes
How to Build a Consulting Outreach Pipeline From Warm Contacts
The weekly system around your first-client outreach: LinkedIn profile before messages, a tiered Warm 50 plus target accounts, a tracked cadence with an illustrative pipeline table, three message examples, and... Read more...
How to Get Your First Consulting Client
How to Get Your First Consulting Client (Without Cold Pitching)
A step-by-step path from corporate expertise to a first paid consulting scope: a one-sentence offer, the Warm 50, a structured discovery call, and the Three-Touch Follow-Up, with a worked example... Read more...
How to Price Fractional Executive Services
How Much Do Fractional Executives Charge? Rates by Role
Answers what fractional executives charge by role using the book's Chapter 1 ranges (CFO $8,000 to $25,000, CMO $5,000 to $15,000, CTO $10,000 to $30,000 per month), the fractional vs... Read more...
How to Package a Consulting Offer That Sells
How to Package Consulting Services: A Paid Diagnostic Example
How to package consulting services with the Naming Formula and the Three-Tier Offer Stack from From Corporate to Cash, built around one complete, illustrative paid diagnostic scope for a former... Read more...
How to Identify a Consulting Niche That Sells
How to Choose a Consulting Niche: The Niche Selection Matrix
How to choose a consulting niche with the Niche Selection Matrix: score Urgency, Rarity and Budget from 1 to 10, pursue at 21 or more with Rarity of 7 or... Read more...
How to Transition From Corporate to Consulting
How to Become an Independent Consultant After a Corporate Career
The hub guide for becoming an independent consultant after a corporate career: why the move feels hard (the identity hangover and the lost distribution channel), a seven-step path table mapped... Read more...