Mark Jankowski
Mark Jankowski co-founded Baltimore-based Shapiro Negotiations Institute (SNI) in 1995 to help individuals and organizations realize their fullest potential by building stronger relationships and improving their Negotiation and Influencing skills. Drawing on his experiences as an attorney, investment banker, sales manager, and entrepreneur, Mark empowers clients to connect SNI’s systematic approach to Negotiation and Influencing to their real life endeavors. For more information on Mark, you can go to his bio on SNI’s website or his LinkedIn profile.
What do you know today that you wish you knew when you were starting out? I was not fully aware how much time administrative tasks would take. Arranging travel, setting up phone calls, closing sales, marketing, making copies, billing, etc have to be accounted for when determining how much time your consulting career will take. Therefore, maximizing your hourly rate is vital because every hour of work probably requires another three hours of sales, marketing and administrative time.
What was your most important early decision (e.g., financial, organizational, marketing)? We decided to only pursue a niche and not be a Jack of all trades. Expertise is a valuable commodity, particularly when there is an overload of information and your clients need someone who focuses on parsing that info and just giving them the exact info they need when they need it. Find your niche.
Can you offer one piece of advice to help a new consultant get through the first six months? Exercise 
. There is a great deal of pressure in the first six months as you see expenses mount with no revenue in the door or potentially on the horizon. You will need to blow off steam to make sure that you do not get an ulcer. Not only that, but people tend to think more highly of consultants who are in good shape.
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