Pro Serv Podcast by Collective 54

In this session, discover the inside track on how small service firms can punch above their weight and land lucrative government contracts. Join Collective 54 Member Paul Karch, Founder at Gardant Global, as he guides you through strategic partnerships with large contractors, providing the roadmap to navigate the complexities of government procurement processes. Learn the secrets to leveraging these alliances for growth, stability, and success in the public sector marketplace. www.collective54.com

In this insightful case study, we delve into the remarkable journey of a nimble 10-person professional service firm as they navigate the complexities of selling their business to a 300-strong industry leader. From leveraging their specialized expertise to fostering a culture that resonated with their larger counterpart, Bart Mroz, Engagement Lead at ITX Corp., shares the key steps their small firm has taken to position themselves as an indispensable asset, paving the way for a merger that promises to be a win- win for all parties. www.collective54.com

In this session, join Collective 54 member John Kearney, Founder at The Buyer’s Way, as he discusses how to build compensation plans for the sales function inside a boutique pro serv firm. He will share how the comp plans need to change as a firm migrates from founder-led sales to a part-time sales force to a mature fully function commercial sales team. Learn how to figure out how much to pay, the proper split between salary and commission, the measures to pay commission on, and the costly mistakes to avoid. https://www.collective54.com

Embarking on the journey of selling your firm can be as complex as it is exciting. In this session, join Collective 54 member Jay Smith, Vice President of Sales at Integris IT, as he helps demystify the due diligence process, ensuring you navigate these critical waters with confidence. From legal audits to financial analysis to customer references and employee satisfaction reviews, we delve into the essential steps every seller should undertake to secure a transparent and advantageous deal. https://www.collective54.com

Attend this session as Collective 54 member Tony Amador, Co-Founder & Chief Client Officer at Proxxy, outlines the crucial steps for a small service firm to reposition its value proposition based on actual client needs and desires. This session discusses the importance of listening to client feedback, extracting actionable insights, and then applying them to refine the firm’s strengths and offerings. https://www.collective54.com

Many professional service firms foolishly think the path to scalability is to become a software company. However, founders of service firms make more money than founders of software firms, generate more wealth for themselves at exit, and succeed much more often. Attend this session and learn from Collective 54 member Nathan Kievman, Co-Founder and CEO at Linked Strategies, on how you can avoid making the devasting mistake of trying to become a software company. https://www.collective54.com

Generative AI is transforming the professional services industry, lifting productivity levels to heights thought unobtainable. Interacting with large language models has become a required core competency. This is best done via prompt engineering. Attend this session and learn what prompt engineering is from Collective 54 member, Stephen Straus, Managing Director at KUNGFU.AI, together with their Principal Machine Learning Engineer, Numa Dhamani. https://www.collective54.com

Small service firms are overly dependent on a few key employees. The departure of one can cause much pain for the Founder and impede the progress of the firm, especially if it was unexpected. Attend this session and learn from Collective 54 member, Phillip Acosta, CEO at GuROO LLC, on how you can prevent this trouble from stinging you. https://www.collective54.com

Your brand matters. In the professional service industry, Founders need a brand for the firm, the service offering, themselves, and their talent. Attend this session and learn from Collective 54 member, Chad Prinkey, Owner at Well Built Construction Consulting, about how brands are built inside small service firms, and how they help boutiques punch above their weight class. https://www.collective54.com

The personal lives of the Founders evolve as a firm advances. And the professional lives of the Founders morph as a firm matures. How can partners stay in harmony with themselves, and with each other, along the entrepreneurial journey? This session with Collective 54 members Matt Jenkins and Nick Moretta, Partners at Other., shares how partners work well together and use a tool called The Commitment Letter. https://www.collective54.com

Boutique service firms often confuse staff augmentation work with advisory work and with managed services work. These are three different types of services that are marketed, sold, and delivered differently. Each has its own margin profile. Balancing the mix of these three correctly can be the difference between running a firm with good margins or a firm with poor margins. Attend this session with Collective 54 member Ryan Buell, Founder & CEO at Sayva Solutions, and get clear on how to manage the revenue mix. https://www.collective54.com

Uncle Sam is the world’s biggest client. Yet, many boutique service firms do not do business with the government. This session with Collective 54 member Frank Tsamoutales, Founder & Chief Executive Officer at Tsamoutales Strategies, is for firms who do not do business with the government but wonder if they should. We will cover the basics such as why elections matter, understanding legislation, and partnering. https://www.collective54.com

Recruiting for sales positions in a small service firm is not the same as recruiting for sales positions in a large service firm, or in a product company. This session with Collective 54 member Carter Hopkins, Founder & CEO at Pursuit Sales Solutions, will help you avoid making costly hiring mistakes as you build out your sales team. www.collective54.com

What role should the Founder of a boutique professional service firm play in the process of acquiring new clients? That of an Executive Sponsor. And how can a Founder perform in this role with excellence? By using executive language. Attend this session and learn from Collective 54 member, Carajane Moore, about executive sponsor programs and executive language. www.collective54.com

Small service firms need to generate leads but are constrained by limited resources. Budget and talent are in short supply. Therefore, what works in a small service firm is different than what works in a large service firm, or in a product company. Attend this session and learn from Collective 54 member Christian Banach, Principal & Chief Growth Officer at Christian Banach LLC, what works, and what does not work, for small service firms. https://www.collective54.com

Listening to clients intentionally is a core competency for service firms attempting to scale. There are 5 listening techniques appropriate for a boutique service firm. They are: 1- client advisory board, 2- post-project reviews, 3- client satisfaction program, 4- win-loss program, and 5- conferences. In this session, we take a deep dive into #2 post-project reviews. Learn from Collective 54 member Nicole Merrill, Co-Founder and CEO at Vecteris, what post-project reviews, why they are required, the benefits they produce, and how and when to perform them. https://www.collective54.com

Quality work is table stakes, not a competitive advantage. Lots of firms deliver quality work and many clients cannot tell the difference between great work and average work. In contrast, the client experience is a powerful differentiator. Very few firms can deliver outstanding client experience consistently. Those that can scale. The tool they use to do so is called a journey map. Attend this session and learn from Collective 54 member Miles Kailburn, Chief Executive Officer at Old Town Media, what a journey map is, and how to create and use them effectively. https;//www.collective54.com

A collection of tactics is not a strategy, nor is a financial forecast or a budget. A strategy defines who you serve, what you do, how you do it, and how you do it differently. And a strategy begins with a clear set of goals. In this session, learn how Collective 54 member Jason Mills, Director of Engineering at TribalScale, and his team, adopted a formal goal-setting methodology, called OKRs, to get focused on what matters most. https://www.collective54.com

Podcasting is a perfect marketing channel for boutique professional service firms. It allows a firm to authentically connect with its target market at scale cost effectively. Yet, many members are not taking advantage of this tool. In this session, Collective 54 member Tom Schwab, Founder at Interview Valet, will teach members how to leverage the podcasting channel to grow their firms. https://www.collective54.com

As a firm scales, bureaucracy creeps in and slows the growth trajectory. Culture is a substitute for bureaucracy, and it allows a boutique to retain its identity as it scales. In this session, learn from Collective 54 member George Jagodzinski, Managing Partner at Intevity, on how he as a founder built a powerful culture with a fully remote workforce, and how it led to outstanding business results. https://www.collective54.com

Offshoring, or Nearshoring, is a proven method for founders to earn more. However, in a post-pandemic world, the acceptance of remote work has increased, and this has had a profound effect on labor costs across the globe. In this session, learn from Collective 54 member Satyam Kantamneni, Managing Partner at UXReactor, on how the cost per hour shifts by location, and how to take advantage of the opportunities being created. https://www.collective54.com

Collective 54 member Jamey Harvey, CEO at Agilian, has doubled revenue and tripled margins in 18 months. This session shares how he did it by implementing the Boutique Framework, in its entirety, instead of one idea at a time. Hear how this remarkable entrepreneur went for it and won. https://www.collective54.com

Pro serv firms are people-driven businesses, therefore, getting the people’s decisions right is mission critical. As a result, many members are using assessment tools, or have in the past. However, the results have been mixed. In this session, learn from Collective 54 member Ted Jackson, Owner at SIGMA Assessment Systems, Inc., together with his Vice President & Head of R&D, Dr. Julie Carswell, on how to improve the results you are getting from assessment tools. Dr. Carswell is an expert on this topic, with a PhD in organizational psychology. https://www.collective54.com

Some members want to exit, but they cannot. The reasons are many. For example, insufficient EBITDA, high client concentration, over-dependence on a founder, and many others. The journey to fix these issues is clear but can take many years and millions of dollars. And for some, this is unattractive. An alternative is a merger of equals. Attend this session and learn from the discussion with Collective 54 member Jonathan Wilson, President & Chief Value Creator at Dubb Value Creation, on how a merger of equals can convert an unsellable boutique into an attractive firm for many acquirers. https://www.collective54.com

Sei-Wook Kim ran his agency for 16 years and never had to lay anyone off. Then, in year 17, he had to lay off 15% of his work force. Layoffs are a fact of life when you run a boutique, especially if you do not have much recurring revenue. Sei-Wook will share lessons learned from his experience. These lessons will help you execute a layoff if, or when, the time comes. https://www.collective54.com

In this session, member Ken Yager shares how he discovered that his traditional client was not going to get his firm to reach its full potential. Ken shares how he changed his ideal client profile, and as a result, has significantly improved his margins. Attend this session and learn how to adjust your target client profile as your firm progresses along its lifecycle. https://www.collective54.com

Scaling boutiques need to build a sales team yet delay doing so because of the perceived risk and expense. In this session, member Dan Morris shows us how to reduce the risk and ease into it by leveraging fractional sales leadership. Most boutiques use fractional finance, HR, IT, and Legal executives and it may be time for you to deploy the same approach to sales. https://www.collective54.com

Moving away from hourly billing leads to better margins, higher client satisfaction, and happieremployees. Yet, many boutique founders are afraid to do it, and do not know how. In this session, member Sonia Miller-Van Oort shares how she built her 12-person law firm using alternative fee structures. https://www.collective54.com

Selling and delivering insight is at the heart of what professional service firms do. Some pro serv firms have packaged their expertise into research and sell it as a “product” via subscription. Attend this session and hear how member Mike Ellison has done this and built a 95-person firm in the process. https://www.collective54.com

Member Mike Braun started Pivotal Advisors with his brother to get off an airplane and make a living with less stress. One day he realized he wanted more than a lifestyle business. This required the recruitment of the next generation of leaders who wanted a piece of the pie. Mike masterfully created a plan to allow for equity to be shared with the new team. And in the process, he built a legacy, a firm that would last long after he and his brother were gone. https://www.collective54.com

Power members Eric Weisgarber and Adam Diesselhorst have implemented succession planning at their marketing agency, inspired in part by the Collective 54 book The Founder Bottleneck. As a result, they have identified their high potential employees and are preparing them to take over the firm upon exit. This has allowed them to scale smoothly without the employee headaches and drama found in many firms. https://www.collective54.com

Member Jeff Pedowitz was one of the pioneers of the SaaS era by driving adoption of marketing automation technology from Eloqua, Marketo and others. This allowed his firm, The Pedowitz Group, to dominate his niche for almost two decades. Now, Jeff sees the next big wave, AI, and he shares with Collective 54 how to ride it all the way to the bank. https://www.collective54.com

Win/Loss reviews are a powerful way to improve your sales results. Yet, most members are not doing them because they incorrectly think they are hard to do and require lots of time. In this session, member Brady Jensen, and expert in win/loss reviews will give members the method, tools, and templates to allow them to do this correctly, quickly, and cheaply. https://www.collective54.com

The average boutique pro-serv firm is using 10-15 SaaS applications yet none of them talk to each other. This makes it hard to get a true 360-degree view of your firm. In this session, data warehousing expert and member Aron Clymer will show members how to solve this problem easily, and cost effectively. https://www.collective54.com

Building a sales team inside of a consulting firm is hard. However, it is a requirement if a firm is going to scale beyond a Founder led lifestyle business. Adding to the difficulty, is the need to go through an expensive and time-consuming trial and error period. It takes patience and many experiments before a firm figures out what works for them. Listen to this episode and hear from Collective 54 member, Scott Arias, how he figured out the model that worked for him. Scott is a war hero, and he has applied what he learned in the Navy to go from $0 to $20+ million in just 14 years. Members are encouraged to attend the exclusive Q&A session with Scott and his more about his inspiring story. www.collective54.com

Running a lifestyle business can lull a Founder to sleep. The days, weeks, months, and years pass by as you are “doing just fine”. Then, one day, you are in your mid-50s, and realize you cannot retire, and after all these years, you don’t have much to show for your life’s work. What then? Listen to this episode and learn how Collective 54 member, Tad McIntosh, is dealing with this head on. Tad shares how after 20+ years he is trying to convert a lifestyle business into something he scale, and sell, someday. Members who attend the private Q&A with Tad can ask him the tough questions directly and learn from their peers, many of whom are in the same situation as Tad. https://www.collective54.com

The Pro Serv Podcast often discusses how to exit a professional service firm. But, on this episode, we flip the script and discuss how to scale by purchasing professional service firms. Collective 54 member, Colton Hathaway, shares how Northern Commerce was created through a merger, and how they have grown by acquiring other firms. By listening to this episode, you will learn how you might do the same. If you are a member, be sure to participate in the private Q&A with Colton and ask him the specific how-to questions you will have after listening to this show. http://www.collective54.com/

Productizing a service can lead to fast growth and large scale. But, it seems scary and many Founders of service firms do not know where to start. Listen to this episode, and hear how Collective 54 member, Nish Parikh, funneled cash from his staffing firm into the development of a product called Talent Arbor. As a result of this innovation, Nish is helping those on the Autism spectrum build rewarding careers. Members are invited to attend the private Q&A session with Nish and hear how leading with empathy drives innovation and impact. http://www.collective54.com/

The yield of a boutique is the ultimate measure of productivity. Yield is simply the average fee per hour times the average utilization rate. For example, $400/hr x 75% utilization rate = a yield of $300/hr. Increase yield and make more money. But, how? One effective technique is to tech-automate service delivery. On this episode, Collective 54 member, Ehsan Mirdamadi, explains that small service firms can now afford to tech-automate service delivery by leveraging a fractional CTO (Chief Technology Officer). Listen to this episode and learn how the fractional executive model has entered the technology office. Many Collective 54 members use fractional finance, HR, IT, and Legal executives. Now, they have the opportunity to leverage fraction technology executives. And those that do will see an increase in yield. Members who attend the exclusive Q&A session can explore with Ehsan how to apply this to their firms. http://www.collective54.com/

In a post-Covid world, does geography still matter? Should you pursue clients, and employees, based on where they reside? It used to signal to clients that you were legit when your name was on a building downtown. Is this still true? Listen to this show and learn how Collective 54 member, Ashok Sivanand, thinks geography is still a mission-critical element of strategy, but not for the reasons you might think. He moved to Detroit and is building a firm based on mid-western values. And it is these values, concentrated in this geography, which is contributing to his success. Members of Collective 54 can attend the private Q&A with Ashok and hear from him his remarkable story which started with him driving a forklift in a factory during the graveyard shift. http://www.collective54.com/

Key employee risk is a very real threat to founders of boutique professional services firms. Small, people-driven businesses are overly dependent on key employees. If a key employee resigns, the pain inflicted on the owner is intense, and the financial impact on the income statement is large. Listen to this episode and hear how Collective 54 member, Kimberly Kraemer, suffered the loss of a key employee and how she survived it. In addition, hear how Kim re-engineered her firm to prevent this from ever happening again. Members are invited to attend the private Q&A with Kimberly and ask important questions. Kimberly does not hold back and we can learn much from her experience. http://www.collective54.com/

Boutique professional service firms need to listen to their clients intentionally. One effective way to do that is a client advisory board. In this episode, Collective 54 member Luke Johnson, shares how he launched a client advisory board recently. Luke shares the early benefits, some mistakes to avoid, and how, exactly, he runs his. Listen to this episode, and if you are a member, attend the private member Q&A, and learn how a client advisory board can help you. http://www.collective54.com/

Generating revenue from sources other than the billable hour is a key part of scaling a consulting firm. In this episode, Collective 54 member, Robin Way, shares how he is generating revenue from training products, licensing tools, and generating reports. Listeners of this episode will hear from Robin how he went from a single source of revenue- the billable hour- to four sources of revenue. Members who participate in the private Q&A with Robin will get to bounce their ideas off of him and get his advice. http://www.collective54.com/

Someday you will sell your firm. After all, none of us can run our firms from the afterlife. When your time to exit comes, you will need to know what your firm is worth. The tool often used to calculate a purchase price is called a QOE, or the quality of earnings report. In this episode, Collective 54 member, and QOE expert, Elliott Holland, helps founders understand what a QOE is, when it is needed, who creates one, how it gets used, and why founders need to get familiar with it. By listening to this episode, you will know what you need to know about the QOE. Members attending the private Q&A with Elliott will get to ask him questions about using a QOE for their firms. http://www.collective54.com/

Hiring, or promoting, a person into an executive role often requires the Founder to offer an equity incentive to the key employee. This requirement drives a need to understand what the firm is worth today, and how much of the future value should be shared with the key employee. In this episode, Collective 54 member, Michael Daoud, discusses how he valued his firm, and how he structured the equity share with the key employee. By listening to this episode you will learn when to use an appraisal firm, when to do-it-yourself, and get introduced to a new tool, The Firm Estimator. Members who participated in the private Q&A with Michael will hear the details of the offer, and the negotiations. http://www.collective54.com/

The design of your boutique’s organization can either aid or hurt a successful exit. Any astute buyer will factor this into their decision-making. This is why simple integrations are attractive. They are cheap, quick, and have a high success rate. On this episode, Mike Desjardins, CEO at ViRTUS, shares their firm's best practices for a successful reorganization, including the much-awaited backstory of how his team redesigned key roles to keep their top individual contributors. http://www.collective54.com/

The number one reason that exits fail is a decline in performance during the sales process. Going into the sales process, you must ensure that you can sustain performance. On this episode, Phil Alves, CEO at DevSquad, recalls how his firm was able to demonstrate sustainability to potential buyers by expanding their service offerings and reinforcing their business development efforts. http://www.collective54.com/

Those who buy boutiques buy management teams first and firms second. The due diligence process is heavily weighted to assess the quality of the management team. On this episode, Amy Pyles, President at Saxum, examines her experience as the person replicating the founder, what worked vs what didn’t work, and how they continued to work together in this second installment of the Saxum series. http://www.collective54.com/

It is harder to sell a service than it is to sell a product. A service is an intangible that makes it harder for clients to buy it. Therefore, understanding your client takes on significance when starting a boutique. The better you understand your client, the better you can serve them. On this episode, Jay Mitchell, President & Founder of Mereo LLC, shares how his team built their Ideal Client Profile and the results of this highly targeted approach. http://www.collective54.com/

When starting a boutique, it is best to begin with the problem you will solve for clients. Why? There are lots of boutiques with solutions that no one is going to buy. On this episode, Kyle Romaniuk, CEO & ECD at Vantage Studios, sheds light on the process of truly understanding the problem he’s solving for clients. http://www.collective54.com/