What is a business mercenary?

Let's start off with explaining what a consultant is. A consultant, generally, is someone that is paid to coach, analyze, plan, and so on to help a business succeed. The idea is if you like our ideas and our service you will to continue to use us - month after month - for a serious fee to help but have no ownership like an employee.

What does it say about a business model that a consultant wants to feed off your business every month to survive? Do you want to keep paying a consultant when it is your business - THAT IS YOUR PROFIT YOU ARE PLAYING WITH!!!

A business mercenary is someone who is honest about their intentions right off the bat: We get paid to do a hard, dirty, or specialized skill service over a short period of time and then move on. If you succeed, then your success story is our biggest advertising and if you fail well then we weren't a parasite sapping your business month after month.

CONSIDER THE ALTERNATIVES

If you need someone to help in the short term at a serious fee, with full indemnification, and then get out of your way and let you run the business then consider a mercenary over a long term consulting partner.

Another method of using a business mercenary is to hire them to train your staff. It amounts to the same thing, a large outlay versus the improved performance of your entire department.

Or, if money is still what you don't have, consider finding a capable person and invite them to be a member of your board of directors. They will win if you win, or lose if you lose, but either way you can delay paying them in part until you have made a profit and can share the benefit.