15-Minute Briarpatch Consultations

1:1 Focused Q&A

How to Set Up Your
Briarpatch Mini-Consultation"
Appointment with Claude Whitmyer

The Problem

Aspiring to “right livelihood,”

  • We sometimes have dry periods or get stuck.
  • Guilt/dread/procrastination sets in.
  • We get further from what we want to do.

At the same time you may know:

  • You don’t need a full-fledged consultation.
  • The answer is just right there.
  • There must be a way to get a focused answer to a single focused question.

Why, yes. Yes, there is. 

Claude Whitmyer (aka Br'er Claude)

The Solution

Briarpatch Mini-Consultations

How Briarpatch Mini-Consultations work:

  • Mini-consultations are free to members who are current with their dues.
  • For non-members, each 15-minute mini-consultation costs $25 (which may count toward your dues if you want to become a member).
  • Each mini-consulation lasts 15 Minutes.
  • Sessions are on the fourth Wednesday of the month (except January and July), 10 am, 11 am, 2 pm, 4 pm (all times Pacific).
  • You bring one focused question.
  • One or more Briarpatch Consultants will help you identify a single, achievable next step. (It will usually be me. Br’er Claude). 

This is also a chance to get a sample of what a longer Briarpatch Consultation would be.

To sign up (or send a friend)

  1. Use this link to choose an upcoming slot
  2. Make sure your dues are paid or send $25 via PaypalMe. Use this PaypalMe link: [https://www.paypal.me/ClaudeWhitmyer/25]
    (Don’t want to use PayPal? Send a check: 601 Van Ness Ave., Ste E, Box 433, San Francisco, CA 94102-3200)
  3. In advance, email me your question and let me know you’ve paid or are current on your dues (claude@briarpatch.net) 
  4. At the appointed hour, use the Zoom link I will send you
    (So be sure to include your email. I’ll send the Zoom link once when I receive your payment and question and a second time a few minutes before our scheduled time).

Claude Whitmyer (Br’er Claude)
Coordinator, Briarpatch.Net
claude@briarpatch.net

Remember

Briarpatch consultations, mini or otherwise, work best if you identify fairly strongly with the various principles, practices, and values described on this website.

We’ve found in the past that we can share helpful advice for a wide variety of issues. We’ve also found that we’ve had limited success with people who don’t really identify with our values and principles. Because they don’t believe in the same things, they don’t put our advice to work in the same way.

Regarding Help With Business Start-Up Ideas

Sad to say, we are not very good at helping evaluate new ideas for whether they will work.

Four Things to Successfully Launch a New Project

It takes four things in just the right balance to launch a new project with a chance of succeeding beyond an initial flurry of excitement and spending:

  • The right people
  • The right amount of capital
  • Tradeskill
  • Detailed financial records

We’ve seen people with all kinds of combinations of these four. We have seen:

  • Good ideas fail and terrible ideas succeed.
  • Just as many over-capitalized ones failed as those with too little capital.
  • Some businesses live on longer than expected because of the high degree of tradeskill behaviors from key players.
  • We’ve never seen a project of any kind succeed for long without financial records.

On the other hand, if you get to the point where you have a track record, especially detailed financial information, we have seen our advice be powerfully helpful in growing, right-sizing, and sunsetting all sorts of projects.

Learn More About Full-Fledged Briarpatch Consultations

Visit this page: https://briarpatch.net/faq/briarpatch-consultations/