Consultancy

Creating and Using Intellectual Property (IP) to Increase the Value of Your Boutique Consultancy

In the realm of boutique consultancy, the strategic use of intellectual property (IP) is pivotal. It encompasses not only your client-facing products and services, but also the core processes and systems underpinning our firms. In this article, I will explore different types of IP, their impact on growth, and strategies for effective management. Let’s explore how IP can be a key differentiator in our industry. Introduction […]

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The Five Growth Pains of Very Small Consultancies: Evidence on How to Avoid Them

Over the last fifteen years, I’ve helped and studied over 200 founders of small consultancies that grew and then sold their firms. Aside from the lessons around growth and selling a firm, I collected significant data on the primary challenges of starting up a small firm and simply surviving the first few years. Understanding the

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How Can Management Consultants Close More Deals?

For the last century, consulting industry revenue has grown an average of 9% a year. But what most people don’t know is that over the last twenty years, the growth of smaller firms has been nearly treble that of large firms. As a management consultant, you have the rare opportunity to participate in a $300bn

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Telling Your Brand Story: a Guide for Small Consultancies

Brand storytelling is how you interact with your future clients for the first time. It goes beyond your services and products to your fundamental reason for being – your WHY. The guide below will detail how to tell your brand story and define your business so that you can stand out. What is Your Firm’s

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Using Associates to Grow Your Consultancy

One of the biggest issues faced when trying to grow a consultancy business is maintaining the quality of delivery as delivery is shifted away from the founders. Yet, finding these skills and managing the risk of employees is not straightforward, which prompts many growing firms to use associates. Here, we look at the pros and

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How to Grow a Consulting Business

You have your own consulting business. Congratulations. That takes bravery and determination that not many possess. But how do you grow it sustainably? Here are 5 things I have learnt from interviewing 72 founders that have grown and sold their consultancies: 1. What Client Problems Do You Solve? Have you chosen your services based on

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Using Culture to Accelerate Growth: A Guide for Consultancies

As an undergraduate, my philosophy Professor told me “the alternative to having a philosophy is not having ‘no philosophy’ but having a bad philosophy”. We can say the same about culture in consultancies. The Importance of Culture in Consultancies If you think culture is, as an old boss of mine put it, ‘for sandal-wearing yoghurt-munchers’,

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3 Mindset Traits in Successful Consulting Leaders

In my interviews and advisory work with successful consultancy leaders, I’ve noticed three common mindset traits. This is not to say that these traits will lead to success or that all successful leaders had all of these traits, but at least two out of three are evident in every success story I have been part

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Make Your Consultancy More Innovative: Put a Kipper on Your Head

Perhaps the 1980s ‘quality’ obsession was the last time that a word was as popular in business as ‘innovation’ is today. For consultancies, innovation is seen as a strategy to fight against the slow erosion of margins prompted by procurement, competition, commodification and fickle yet increasingly experienced. The Role of Innovation in Consultancies Since leading

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Six Things Shy Sellers Can Do…..

Most founders that start their first small consultancy jump come either from a large consulting firm or a senior management position in a large company. In most cases, unless they were a partner, they will not have done (much) business development and will often not like it when they have to do it. The Challenges

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