ITB Partners is Recruiting Consultants to Join Our Team

North Fulton Business RadioX Interview, September  26, 2019

Are you looking to build your Independent Consulting career; to grow your business? Do you want to become associated with a team of proven professionals?

Are you interested in freelance assignments as a strategy to land a full-time job?

Do you want to prepare yourself for the time when you might become a freelance consultant, project manager, or coach?

If you’re interested in freelance consulting and want to leverage your resources with a cost-effective solution to achieve success, click here to receive our Candidate Brochure!

Free! Introduction to Freelancing

“This is a great read, especially for those considering working with a Private Equity firm for the first time! ”  Steve McGehee, CMO   

ITB Partners is an association of independent consultants working together to achieve success.

Our mission is to help our Members (Independent Contractors, Project Managers, Coaches, and small business owners) leverage their resources and connect with Clients in need of outsourced solutions to their problems.

Our Members are our principal business development program as they are incentivized to find opportunities for other Members.  As their reputations are at stake, it is imperative to have established a relationship of trust with other Members before they make introductions on their behalf.

We offer you a branded umbrella to build and sustain your business.

• • Marketing and Public Relations Support
  • A Collaborative Team of Consultants Providing Coaching and Support
  • A website with Dedicated Pages for the Freelancer
  • Email Account
  • Business Development Support
  • Referral Network Incentivised By A Referral Fee Program
  • Mentoring
  • Email Marketing support
  • A very active blog featuring the work of our members

We are looking for Subject Matter Experts from all industry segments and functional disciplines who have Senior Level Management Corporate experience. Do you have experience building and leading teams and significant business units? If so, we should talk!

TALK WITH US ABOUT OUR PROGRAM

The Freelance Paradigm Is The New Normal

In 2001, I read Daniel Pink’s book, Free Agent Nation: The Future of Working for Yourself.  That publication was timely as I had recently begun my career as a free agent, focused on Executive Search. Mr. Pink was spot on when he predicted the growth of freelancers in the workplace, as this trend has continued unabated. By 2020, Freelancers are expected to account for 40% of the workforce. His thesis validated my decision to exit the Corporate World to start my business.

A lot has been written about the number of millennials and younger professionals who have taken up freelancing as a primary career choice or to augment their incomes. Many of these people are focused on SEO writing and graphics design to aid businesses in their digital marketing efforts. Many Freelancers are engaged in the development of digital apps, and of course, a large component of freelancers are in fact Uber drivers. A number of online services, like Upwork.com and Fiverr.com, have been formed to connect freelancers with customers.

By 2006 some of my clients began asking for help with significant issues that could be addressed in a short time frame. As their needs did not require full-time equivalents, I was asked to find consultants or freelance project managers.  I took on a few assignments myself.  I recognized the value of free agents at that time, but I still didn’t see it as a trend that would reshape my practice.  In fact, my Executive Search practice was in high gear.  However, it was a trend that was accelerating as I continued to see more demand for freelancers.

Finally, in 2014 I recognized the full importance of this trend and decided to make a strategic move into this arena. I got together with a group of freelancers to develop a plan to better capitalize on this opportunity. We branded ourselves as ITB Partners, drafted a business charter, established a logo, built a website, and provided email capabilities. Our strategy is to focus on small, emerging companies and established mid-cap brands, who need help with strategic issues across the enterprise.

The fundamental issue for most freelancers is finding time for business development while managing their current projects. It is often been called the feast or famine cycle as new projects are not generated in a seamless manner to replace completed projects. Most people are very good at performing the work they were hired to do, however, marketing and business development is generally not their strong suit. Our mission is to provide an umbrella for freelancers to work together under a common brand to defeat the “feast or famine cycle.”

The other issue facing freelancers is the need to leverage one’s time to expand their income potential. One of my colleagues, I call him “Old School,” often complains that he cannot take on new work because he has exhausted his available time.  I remind him that he needs to develop someone to take over his lower value-added tasks or subcontract some of his work. He would retain responsibility for quality control while making better use of his time.  He will limit his income potential if he doesn’t heed my advice. This is another benefit of affiliation with ITB Partners as we have the talent to help our consultants build their revenue beyond that which they could achieve on their own.

As we work to expand our cadre of consultants, we look for Baby Boomers who find it difficult to reconnect with the corporate market in a capacity that matches their backgrounds. They are talented former senior-level executives who have had solid corporate careers and still want to make a contribution.  With this level of talent in place, we are able to provide our clients with a breadth and depth of capabilities to address their strategic issues across the spectrum of the enterprise.

It wasn’t long before we found ourselves in the classic time management trap where we were so busy working on our existing projects, that we didn’t have time to focus on building our team. So this year I set a goal to focus on recruiting freelancers to join our growing network. I remain convinced that this strategy is aligned with the New Normal. As more and more companies become comfortable with a blended workforce that includes freelancers working alongside full-time employees the opportunities will continues to grow. Freelancers need support to help them build and manage their businesses. It is a win-win-win situation.

Jim Weber, Managing Partner

Candidate Brochure

Jim.Weber@itbpartners.com