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Solid Oak Consulting, LLC |
522 South Elmwood Avenue Oak Park, IL 60304 Phone 708-524-0886 Fax 206-238-2835 www.solidoakconsulting.com |
Press Release
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Contact: Tom Long Phone: (708) 524-0886 |
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 4/5/2006 |
4/5/2006 Tom Long Makes Presentation on Starting a
Consulting Practice to the Midwest Society of Professional Consultants
OAK
PARK, ILLINOIS – Tom Long, President of Solid Oak Consulting, recently
presented a talk on the topic of starting a consulting practice at the monthly
meeting of the Midwest Society of Professional Consultants. "So You Want To Be A Consultant - Key
Issues For Prospective New
Consultants", focused on key issues
facing a new generation of independent consultants as many Baby Boomers leave
the corporate world and join the ranks of business owners, many by starting a
consulting firm.
As people in the retiring baby-boomer
generation leave the traditional
workforce, they are seeking new careers in
their own businesses. One of
the more frequent choices is independent
consulting. This presentation
focuses on the key issues new consultants
face and some approaches to
resolve them. How you face and resolve these issues will determine your
success or failure. The first and foremost issue to be faced is
the
fact that you are starting your own
business. For someone who has been
an employee, this is no small
consideration. For some, the most
disturbing part of having a business is the
financial uncertainty. For
others it is the loss of a social
infrastructure. And for others, it is
the realization that you are not as
employable as you used to be. This
session deals with the conscious and
deliberate decision to start your
own business and the things you have to do
to make it successful.
Tom Long is the President and Principal
Consultant of Solid Oak
Consulting, LLC and a member of MSPC. He is
a seasoned executive with 30
years of experience in starting, managing
and turning around business
groups both domestically and
internationally. He has started groups at
Procter & Gamble, Nastec Corporation,
Ernst & Young and R.R. Donnelley &
Sons. And has worked to turnaround groups
at Cincom Systems, Nastec
Corporation, Oracle, KPMG, Andersen
Consulting and Computer Associates.
His involvement as an executive in a
Venture Capital backed startup,
Nastec Corporation, is where he first had
the opportunity to work in a
turnaround situation. But since then, he
has consistently sought out
opportunities to work in IT start-ups and
turnarounds. Most recently, he
led the AI Expert Systems practice at
Computer Associates and took it
from a starting position of breaking even,
to a 24% net profit margin on
a base of $5M in revenue. Tom's hands-on
experience and leadership
skills have helped him to be successful in
dealing directly with senior
management in client companies and acting
as the communication
facilitator between senior management and
skilled technical people.
Through mentoring and individual
development to foster motivation, his
teams have consistently been recognized as
peak performers by his
clients and management. Credentials Tom is
a graduate of Rensselaer
Polytechnic Institute, Rutgers University
and The Stanford University
School of Business. He is certified in the
Capability Maturity Model by
Carnegie Mellon University. He is certified
in Business Dynamics and
Dynamic Systems Modeling from the MIT Sloan
School of Management. He
holds certificates in Change Management
from ODR and The Australian
Graduate School of Management. He is
trained as an Executive Coach and
certified by Andersen Consulting.
-End-
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Thomas E. Long, Solid Oak Consulting, LLC
522 South Elmwood Avenue, Oak
Park, Illinois 60304 708-524-0886