Pro Serv Podcast by Collective 54

There are two sales tools that allow boutique founders to win bigger, faster, and more often. On this episode, we discuss these tools with Nate Kievman, CEO of Linked Strategies. http://www.collective54.com/

Boutique firms often grow but do not scale. On this episode, we discuss this counter intuitive theory by interviewing Lawrence King, CEO of Headstorm to learn how improved leverage increases incomes and wealth. http://www.collective54.com/

The first step in selling a professional service firm is knowing why you are selling, before you sell. On this episode, we interview Renzi Stone, Chief Executive Officer and founder of Saxum to learn about the important questions to consider when thinking of selling your firm. http://www.collective54.com/

Scaling a boutique professional services firm requires capital and not all capital is the same. On this episode, we interview Josh Miramant, Founder and CEO at Blue Orange Digital to learn about the three sources of scale capital. http://www.collective54.com/

Boutiques professional services firms lose more deals to a competitor we call “Do Nothing” than any other competitor. On this episode, we interview Beth Trejo, the CEO and Co-Founder of Chatterkick on how to overcome this competitor. http://www.collective54.com/

The opportunity cost of spending your prime in a lifestyle business is too large. On this episode, we discuss a 3-part framework to address this issue and demonstrate how to use it. http://www.collective54.com/

How you manage unsolicited interest in buying your boutique will impact your ability to exit. On this episode, we discuss how firm owners can capitalize on inbound interest. http://www.collective54.com/

Scaling a boutique professional services firm requires a strategy. Yet many owners have a collection of tactics and call it a strategy. Learn about how firms should approach creating their strategy. http://www.collective54.com/

The composition of the founding team must be carefully considered. Boutiques are often formed by a group with overlapping skills which makes it hard to scale. Learn about how the team may need to change over time if a boutique is to reach its full potential. http://www.collective54.com/

As boutiques scale the way decisions are made must change. A startup benefits from the speed of a single decision maker. However, during scale, the decision-making ability of the founder is diminished. http://www.collective54.com/

Splitting the equity in a partnership is difficult. However, there is a proper way to do it that results in lots of wealth being created. Learn how to fix broken legacy partnership agreements as you grow, scale, and exit. http://www.collective54.com/

The size of your market is most accurately measured by your ability to reach the decision makers in your niche. Growing a boutique is hard and the size of the prize needs to be worth the level of effort. http://www.collective54.com/

Designing the compensation system for Partners at boutique professional service firms requires special treatment. Partners are not like other employees and getting their pay system correct requires strategic thought. http://www.collective54.com/

The type of engagement you sell and deliver determines the growth strategy of a boutique. There are two types of engagements - elephants and rabbits and understanding which you are hunting is a key to growth. http://www.collective54.com/

A top reason owners fail to exit is a decline in performance during the process of selling the firm. On this episode, we discuss how to avoid making this mistake. http://www.collective54.com/

As your boutique professional service firm scales, recruiting shows up on the list of priorities. The days of recruiting from your personal network are over and the ability to recruit at scale separates the winners from the losers. http://www.collective54.com/

Founders of boutiques can increase their rate of growth by professionalizing their marketing and sales approach. On this episode, learn the fundamental building blocks to professionalize your sales and marketing efforts. http://www.collective54.com/

Founders of boutiques often mistakenly equate number of employees with success. However, lots of employees signals a poorly run firm. On this episode, we make the case for fewer employees and illustrate the impact to profitability. http://www.collective54.com/

There are 3 commandments of service design. The service offering is how they deliver value to the client and designing it correctly is a mission-critical task. On this episode, we discuss how to re-think service design and delivery to accelerated profits. http://www.collective54.com/

Greed, if left unchecked, can get in the way of a successful exit. On this episode, we discuss a framework to help you keep greed from sinking your deal. http://www.collective54.com/

There is a difference between quality work and a great client experience. Firms that add a great client experience to high-quality work reach scale, and those who do not, stay small lifestyle businesses. On this episode, we discuss the importance of the client experience. http://www.collective54.com/

Boutiques constrain their growth by thinking too narrowly about monetization. They often think there is only one way to charge and only a couple of revenue sources available to them. We discuss the 9 common ways to make money in the professional services industry. http://www.collective54.com/

To sell your firm you must prove to a buyer that buying your firm is a better move than building the practice internally. We review a framework to help you think through the buy vs. build decision from the perspective of an investor. http://www.collective54.com/

Scaling a boutique requires new service offerings. Firms that keep bringing the same thing to clients, over and over, stall out due to client fatigue. Building a system to continuously listen to clients and develop new offerings is key. http://www.collective54.com/

As a firm scales, it must make a significant change to its sales strategy. The sales approach in a small, young firm becomes obsolete when scale becomes the focus. On this episode we discuss how the sales strategy changes at different stages of a firm’s lifecycle. http://www.collective54.com/

There are 5 competitors’ boutiques must defeat to grow. On this episode we discuss a playbook to defeat these competitors. http://www.collective54.com/

One of the keys to selling your boutique is to eliminate the risk for the buyer. On this episode, we discuss how owners can increase the attractiveness of their firms by reducing investor risk. http://www.collective54.com/

As a firm scales its culture erodes. Bureaucracy creeps in as a firm gets larger. The owner shifts from an inspirational leader into a law enforcement officer which is not healthy. On this episode, we discuss how to build a great culture in professional services firms. http://www.collective54.com/

There are two sales tools that allow boutique founders to win bigger, faster, and more often. On this episode we discuss how to increase sales effectiveness of professional services. http://www.collective54.com/

There is a dirty little secret about owners of boutique professional service firms. It is called the Hero Syndrome, and if left unchecked, it will prevent you from scaling your firm. On this episode we discuss how to deal with this problem. http://www.collective54.com/

Boutiques lose more deals to a competitor we call “Do Nothing” than any other competitor. On this episode we discuss how boutique owners can improve sales results by defeating this pesky competitor. http://www.collective54.com/

Supply and demand will impact your exit. Take the time to strategically approach the market. The goal is to build a wide and deep universe of potential buyers. And there are more buyers than you realize. Many of which would like to hear your compelling rationale for a deal. http://www.collective54.com/

Know your worth. Do not undervalue yourself. What you do is exceptional. Price accordingly. The clients you want know this and will pay you with a smile. You do not want the clients who are unwilling to pay you fairly. http://www.collective54.com/

Yield is the most looked at metric for boutiques. Owners and CEOs obsess over utilization rates. Many have reached the point of diminishing returns. More attention needs to be placed on making your boutique more valuable to clients. There are many ways to do that. However, hyper specialization has the highest probability of success. http://www.collective54.com/

Comparables are important. They can add, or subtract, from the purchase price. They can be the difference between acceptable, or unacceptable, terms. Be sure you are in the correct category. And be sure to pursue the correct buyer group. http://www.collective54.com/

A lack of lifecycle awareness and management prevents scale. It results in expensive senior people doing junior work. This destroys cash flow. And it results in inexperienced junior people doing senior work. This destroys client satisfaction. Boutiques with poor cash flow and low client satisfaction do not scale. http://www.collective54.com/

There is a good time to sell. And there is a bad time to sell. Unfortunately, this is largely out of your control. Focus on building a highly desirable boutique and be patient. Wait for the sun to be shining. http://www.collective54.com/

Boutiques run on cash. They do not run on net income nor EBITDA. Some boutiques neglect the management of cash flow. Take a moment to understand how you can improve the flow in and out. http://www.collective54.com/

What have you done for me lately? Buyers of your boutique are purchasing who you are becoming. They are not buying who you have been. Yesterday is worthless to them. They are looking forward. And need to be excited about your potential to improve. http://www.collective54.com/

Boutique firms often grow but do not scale. Growth means more projects delivered with the same type of staff. If nothing changes, then the growth rate is proportional to the number of partners/owners required. This means the profit pool increases but it must be shared with more partners/owners. More growth means the need for more partners/owners. This results in a bigger boutique but no increase in income or wealth for the founders. Improved leverage means improved incomes and wealth for the founders. http://www.collective54.com/

The “wow” factor matters. Like it, or not, you are in show business. You are an expert. And your firm is made up of experts. No one wants to buy the boutique who regurgitates other people’s innovations. They want to buy the songwriters, aka The Rolling Stones. http://www.collective54.com/

Scaling a boutique takes money. This type of money is called scale capital. There are three primary sources of scale capital. Each has a set of advantages and disadvantages. Which is best for you is highly situational. And all work well when applied correctly. If raising scale capital makes you uncomfortable, do not attempt to scale. Many people are happy with lifestyle businesses. http://www.collective54.com/

The perceived difficulty, or ease, of integrating your boutique will affect your sale. Understand the org model of the type of firms who might buy you. Redesign your model to be seamlessly integrated if bought. This will increase the chances of exiting. http://www.collective54.com/

Most acquisitions fail. The primary reason for failure is poor culture fit. Do not hide your culture. Lead with it. You want your sale to be successful. Therefore, you need to find a buyer who fits your culture. http://www.collective54.com/

Acquirers buy teams first, and firms second. The quality of the management team is of major importance to the buyer. It can take years to develop a bankable team. Think like an investor. Would you bet the farm on your team? http://www.collective54.com/

You compete in two markets. The market for clients. And the market for employees. As much effort needs to be put into employees as into clients. Owners of boutiques work for the employees, not the other way around. Would you want to work for you? http://www.collective54.com/

Transitioning away from a Partner Led sales model to a commercial sales engine is a key to creating wealth for owners of professional services firms. Learn how in this episode. http://www.collective54.com/

You have more intellectual property than you think, and you can monetize it. Learn how to monetize your intellectual property. http://www.collective54.com/

All revenue is not good revenue. You will learn that some types of revenue create more wealth for owners than others. http://www.collective54.com/

A key to attracting a buyer to purchase your firm is your ability to prove you have healthy client relationships. Learn how to convert client relationships into appreciating assets on a balance sheet. http://www.collective54.com/