A couple of years ago I worked with a consultant on risk analysis who was hired by the company for which I work; he was the co-author (and co-presenter) of the paper I mentioned.

I've been trying to get hold of him for a week but he'd been on the East coast and we were constantly missing each other.

He just got back into town and I just got off the phone with him. He's quite excited about my idea, and happy to learn that I'm starting by trying to establish a client base. He said that he would welcome me working with him, and would eagerly recommend me to potential clients. However, he doesn't have a surfeit of clientele, so I will need to find my own. His income comes from a combination of teaching and consulting, and he's having the time of his life.

Thanks for the comments. Please keep them coming!

 

i work for a company that has 140,000+ employees worldwide. we have a special group that handles operations risk management. our clients range from fortune 500 to small private to start-ups. i am currently working on a project that assesses the internal controls risk of a large telecommunications company and how the internal controls in place address financial statement risks (i.e. misstatements due to over/understatement of revenue and receivables, fraud, etc.). believe me, it sure as hell not easy trying to understand the day to day processes at a large company.

i think that every process a company has in place ultimately (either directly or indirectly) affects the financial statements. and in the age of enrons and worldcoms, there's a lot of demand out there for consultants who can assess deficiencies within a company's operations and make recommendations. there's also a lot of newly developed regulatory guidance out on this stuff. i am, however, strictly referring to financial statement risk factors.

 

That's another interesting avenue to explore. Maybe I could finally put my BA in accounting to some tangible use!

 

magician, you have a BA in Accounting? WHY? haha...just kidding. it's definitely useful knowledge. (i'm an accountant myself. )

it's true what you said about a lot of companies not having a clue of what risk is. especially that of small companies. i've noticed that at my smaller clients. by "small" i mean companies with annual revenue between $1 - 20 million. (it's relative...one of my clients is a large japanese entertainment/media/electronics conglomerate. not naming any names, but i think you can guess which company it is). on several occasions, i've had to present to management their internal controls deficiencies. and i find that sometimes, what works for large global entities doesn't fit a 25-employee company.

but i think you may be onto something here

good luck!

 

I work for Boeing at about 200,000 employees. We have loads of Risk Analysis types. However, before I worked at Boeing I worked here...

http://www.tecolote.com/

Tecolote sounds like the kind of place you are trying to start up. They would be your competition in the LA Area. Great company, fabulous place to work, it just wasn't enough engineering for me. Talk about benefits! 4 weeks vacation for ALL employees + 1 week sick leave. Company paid 15% contribution to a 401K that you can control anyway you want + another 10% of salary in company stock!

 

I've met several folks from Tecolote at various conferences I've attended over the past couple of years, and I've heard good things about the company.