Does Your Boutique Consultancy Need a Succession Plan?

There are three major symptoms of a firm without a succession plan – do any of these ring a bell? First, you are founder of a 30+ person boutique but can’t free up time to work on the business instead of for the business.

Second, is a lack of skilled managers with the right mind-set to whom you can permanently delegate non-strategic work, especially business development. A final thing to look out for is your best people starting to leave because they don’t see a career development path to the most senior levels.

In terms of selling your company, these symptoms can be a red flag to buyers who will tie you in to a very long earn-out and downgrade your multiple because you haven’t paid sufficient attention to key person risks and talent progression.

So, what to do? I’ve produced a one-page summary based on my experience with clients and my research that you can download here.

I should acknowledge the wonderful book by Greg Alexander called The Founder Bottleneck. Unfortunately, it is only available to members of his excellent PFS community Collective 54. I’d also like to that the input of my Boutique Leader’s Club, who meet once a month to discuss things like this.