The Kind of Consulting Firms Dynamic Innovations Squad Works With - Is This You?

I work exclusively with multi-person management and technical consulting firms who already sell their expertise, brainpower and intellectual property, which their clients perceive and receive as care, protection and guidance, through processes like coaching, consulting, speaking, facilitating workshops, corporate training programmes, etc., within collaborative relationships.

One common thread among my clients is this question:

"How can we deliver more value at higher fees using less of our time and effort?"

In general my clients have expertise in their content areas, IT, HR, strategy, executive coaching, etc., but they seek help and support in how to build successful practices around their core expertise. What this means is that just because you lock up the world's to 10 best HR experts, they don't necessarily know how to run a consulting firm that does HR. Your aunt may make the best burgers in the world, but McDonald's operates a more profitable business system to sell burgers.

To run a successful consulting firm, you have to be great both at the craft and the business of your profession. And that's what I do. I specialise in helping great HR experts to build HR consulting firms, great strategy experts to build great strategy consulting firms or great IT experts to build great IT consulting firms, All in all, helping great professionals to build great firms around their core competence.

My clients fall into One of These Two Categories

1. Management and technology consulting firms with tens, hundreds of thousands of associates and multiple offices. They are dotted all over a country or the globe.

2. Solo consultants who want to remain solo. They want to grow their profit margin by getting better clients, being able to charge higher fees or leveraging on their clients' resources, but they definitely don't want to hire other people into their practices.

Do Some of These Statements Sound Familiar to You?

These are some typical problem scenarios which arise in professional service firms, and when these firms seek out my help. Which one is familiar to you?

"We are very successful as contractors but our work is far too labour intensive. We get paid more for our manual labour, like report writing and hours of workshop facilitating, than for the real value of the expertise we bring to the table. Now we want to move towards real consulting, and paid for the value of our contribution."

"When I started my practice, I had lots of word-of-mouth and I didn't bother to market myself. But by now these word-of-mouth contacts have gradually dried up, and now I just make enough money to bump along comfortably, but can't grow."

"We manage to attract great talents, but they come, learn and then leave us within a year or two. Everything they learn on our dime is turned into profit at our competitors, while we are wasting our money training the next batch of would-be deserters. We just can't keep the best of them."

"Year after year we create amazing strategies at our annual strategy retreats, but when we come home the strategy binder goes into the bottom of the filing cabinet and gets forgotten. And one year later we go to the next strategy retreat, and that binder too goes into the filing cabinet, just to join the company of the binders from previous years."

"I love working solo, and I plan to stay this way, but I feel pretty depressed to see my financial limitations based on my hourly rates and the number of hours I work. I love what I do, but would hate working more hours in order to earn a bit more."

"On paper we are one firm with 23 offices in North America, Asia and Europe, but realistically we are 23 independent offices, working towards 23 different balance sheets and seemingly 23 different visions. It's like 23 horses are pulling the corporate cart in 23 different direction."

"Both my three partners and I are very good at what we do but we never prepared for the frustration it will take to get clients. We are not marketers, and we are certainly not used to going out and chasing prospects. Personally, I rather starve than making cold calls. But I also love my profession and would like to figure out how to make a good living from it."

If you recognise yourself or your firm in one of the above scenarios, then read on. Help may be closer than you have thought.

The Common Thread...

What all my clients have in common is that they work or aspire to work...

...as trusted advisors... as opposed to fungible vendors.

...WITH clients... as opposed to FOR customers.

...selling highly customised and personalised unique intellectual property to advance their clients' businesses... as opposed to commodities or manual labour to fill time.

...through collaborative relationships (as opposed to doing work for someone") based on mutual trust, respect and peer-level candour... as opposed to command and control type superior-subordinate relationships.

...and are compensated with a fee based on value... as opposed to price based on amount of work performed and number of hours dispensed.

I Work Most Successfully with the Following Types of People...

Here are some of the character traits I am seeking in people I work with. You are...

...a born rebel. You are here to live your life out loud and create something so bloody amazing that makes the world wobble on its axis. You are thriving for personal and professional mastery, and you understand that such a journey is not comfortable, convenient, conventional, traditional, quick, cheap or easy.

...willing to put in some serious work to have the project succeed. You understand that only you can make things happen. It's your business, your future and your livelihood. No one can do it for you. You have to put in the blood, sweat and tears to achieve the results you want to achieve.

...bright to the point of recognising your own limitations of doing it alone and "figuring it out", and now you are ready to be heard, share your vision and join forces for the next step.

...decisive and able to take action on your decisions. You can act without excessive pondering and analyses. But you don't act in haste and ignorance either.

...selfless and willing to put your firm's success before your personal gain. You are smart to understand that by putting your firm's, your clients' and your people's interest first, your interest will automatically be met.

...willing to ignore "entrepreneurial" prostitution, like "we do anything for anyone for money", "we break any rule and value for cash" or "above all, push billable time." You also ignore rumours and hearsays from the media. You are on track to building a great firm and you don't bend for whims, fads and flavours of the month.

...resilient and courageous. You are aware of possible failures and setbacks, but your big goals outweigh your worries and concerns.

...long-term focused. You have clear visions of where you are going and nothing can deter you from charging ahead towards the future of your own designs. You are not a business whore who is willing to do anything for anyone for money.

...market-orientated and open minded enough to consider ideas from outside of your own industry. You want to avoid organisational incest.

...value-focused, not time-orientated. You understand the value of my contribution, and don't get bogged down with the number of hours we spend together. You first look at the expected return on investment, and then, if you can justify it, do your best to find the investment itself.

...natural collaborators. You are willing to share your goals and dreams, so we can create joint objectives to work to achieve them. You know it is about your progress, personal and professional growth.

...able to restrain your ego. I don't want projects to turn into ego battles. You are emotionally secure enough in yourself to take some honest feedback on the chin.

...responsive, and do their homework fairly quickly. You understand that in this hyper-fast age time is important.

...positive and optimistic, and you are also willing to take massive action and prudent risks. Let's face it, the world of business is not cut out for chickenshit conformists. The world needs more mavericks, oddballs and renegades. Can you stand up to this need?

...clear about the fact that a better business is just a means to an end, that is, your business is just the means to a more enjoyable life. Your business is just a tool to give you financial and time freedom.

...and the Following Types of Firms...

Thriving firms have challenges. Troubled businesses have self-created pressure. I love challenges but hate pressure. Challenge is about scaling new heights: "We are doing pretty good, but help us to do even better." Pressure is about hanging in by the fingernails on the precipice of bankruptcy, while desperately trying not to fall: "We are going down, and although we can't pay you, help us to survive."

As the saying goes, some shores are designated for shipwreck, and while there is nothing wrong with this idea, I do my damned best to avoid those shores and shipwreck businesses. I love challenges but I would hate hauling water from a ship that is - due to an incompetent captain or crew - sinking faster than the proverbial Titanic. However, I love challenging work, like helping firms to steer clear of icebergs.

With this in mind, I select clients that...

...offer premium services. You must offer good, honest services to your clients. You know the value of your services and are willing to charge for it. You bravely and ruthlessly reject bargain hunters.

...are already doing good and ready to raise the bar. You know good enough is just not enough nowadays. You thrive for firm-wide mastery of your chosen craft excellence at running as business, and want to become market a leader, I could even say, a legend, in your industry.

...want to make a difference in the world. You believe that there is something you can be world-class at and make a serious commitment to achieving it.

...run businesses in growth mode or "plateau" mode. I love challenging engagements but hate rapidly sinking ships. All in all, your business must have a pretty good chance of survival.

...are willing to invest the time and effort today to see the results tomorrow. You understand that we're talking about lasting results not quick fixes, and to achieve that you must be willing to work ON the business, not only IN it.

...are willing to provide a team of people to work with me. You must understand that it is your business and I can't do it FOR you only WITH you. You are the final decision-maker, thus the final action, and the ultimate results are in your hand. I can't force you to act if you don't want to.

...have the spine, guts and balls to take responsibility for their mistakes, learn from them, and move on. I don't want anyone with a "poor me" attitude that keeps looking for scapegoats like the economy, the government, the competition or that stupid bastard consultant.

...actively participate in engagements Here is where synergy lies. Together we can achieve amazing things, we can move mountains. Make sure the project team is not staffed with prima donnas with bulging egos and deflated commitment.

...are pleasant and positive dudes and dudettes. I only want to work with people who are fun with, stimulating to the group.

...understand that the magic bullet is a tool for assassins not for consulting firms. Improvements don't happen instantly and out of nowhere. Probably the only exception is dying people who, shortly before their final check-out, often go through a sense of improvement. All of the sudden they feel vital and healthy for a short time, and then... bang. And they're gone forever. In business, there is something called incubation: The time between investment and return on investment.

...appreciate that ROI starts with an investment and is followed by a return. Although this is as obvious as a ham sandwich, even many MBAs and accountants, the number-smart folks, have a hard time to digest this simple fact it when it's about investing their own money.

...have to do some work in advance to reap any rewards. Just as farmers have to plant and then wait a good few months for the harvest, you know you have to take the next action and wait for the response.

...receive an opportunity to change, and it is up to you whether you change or not. You are truly in control of your business. You understand there are risks in running a business, but have the courage to take this risk, knowing the potential rewards. In the 1940s, US President Truman said, "The President - whoever he is - has to decide. He can't pass the buck to anybody. No one else can do the deciding for him. That's his job." Similarly, to change your business is your job. I'm just a catalyst.

I have found I attract these clients because they are looking for a front-line warrior who has been bloodied and scarred in the heat of many business battles, and lived to share his war stories.

...and the Following Types of Projects...

Here is a short description of the kind of projects I love work on. Since every project is about initiating change, I believe the following criteria are necessary to make sure that the change actually takes place and people buy into the new way of doing things.

1. Specifying desired results (strategy) not the methods (tactics) of achieving them.

2. Going heavy on values, guidelines and specifications but going light on processes and procedures.

3. Bringing all available human and material resources to the table to maximise the velocity and the certainty of achieving the desired results.

4. Involving all people in setting the standards and the criteria of the project to inspire exceptional performance.

5. Relying on trust and discernment throughout the project more than simply crunching the numbers. The former takes intuition, while the latter can be done by any idiot with a calculator.

6. Understanding the consequences of achieving or failing to achieve the desired change

7. Making certain that our agreement is reinforced by the organisational structure or system. That is, we both are accountable to that document.

In a way, in my client work, I've adopted the founder of Gold's Gym, Joe Gold's management philosophy...

“To keep it simple you run your gym like you run your house. Keep it clean and in good running order. No jerks allowed, members pay on time and if they give you any crap, throw them out. There's peace where there's order."

Yes, I lose about 20% of the revenue I could get, but I don't mind doing that if the prize is working with nice people.

Now that you know what kind of people and firms I can work best, hop over and review how I work with my clients.