Author: Collective 54

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Episode 26: The Boutique: 2 SALES TOOLS TO WIN BIGGER, FASTER, AND MORE OFTEN

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.

TRANSCRIPT

Sean Magennis [00:00:15] Welcome to The Boutique with Capital 54, a podcast for owners of professional services firms. My goal with this show is to help you grow scale and sell your firm at the right time for the right price and on the right terms. I’m Sean Magennis, CEO of Capital 54 and your host. On this episode, I will make the case that there are two sales tools that allow boutique founders to win bigger, faster and more often. I’ll try to prove this theory by interviewing Greg Alexander, Capital 54’s chief investment officer, Greg is arguably the world’s leading expert in sales effectiveness in the professional services industry. Today, he will share some of this magic with you. Greg, this is your baby. Good to see you.

Greg Alexander [00:01:14] Hey, Sean, I’m excited about this episode. These two simple tools are powerful, yet for some reason they are not used with as much discipline as they should be. So hopefully this show will help with this.

Sean Magennis [00:01:26] OK, Greg, let’s jump straight in. What are the two tools?

Greg Alexander [00:01:29] OK, so the two tools are the demographic profile and the psychographic profile.

Sean Magennis [00:01:35] And give me a simple working definition of each.

Greg Alexander [00:01:38] OK, a demographic profile is a description of a particular type of client based on unique identifier such as gender, age, industry, job title, geography, etc. It focuses on quantifiable attributes and is objective. The psychographic profile is a description of a type of client based on unique identifiers as well. But in this case, it’s things such as wants, needs, goals, challenges, priorities. It focuses on qualitative attributes and is subjective.

Sean Magennis [00:02:13] And why should leaders of boutique professional services firms care about these two tools?

Greg Alexander [00:02:19] These tools help leaders of boutiques win bigger deals win these deals faster and win them more often.

Sean Magennis [00:02:27] Greg, how do they do that?

[00:02:29] Selling services is much harder than selling a product. When a prospect buys a product, they put their trust in the product itself. When a prospect buys a service, they put their trust in the people delivering the service. Therefore, establishing trust is essential to win bigger, faster and more often. The best way to establish trust is to know the client better than they know themselves and without question know the client better than the competitors. There is an old saying he who knows the client best wins, and I believe that

Sean Magennis [00:03:05] Some of the old sayings are the best. I think this one was tested recently during the pandemic and it held up. When you must limit human contact, guess who you let in the bubble? The people you trust. Greg, demographic profiles and psychographic profiles are not new tools. Did you know the Englishman John Gaunt invented demography back in 1662?

Greg Alexander [00:03:31] I did not, but nice pull.

Sean Magennis [00:03:35] Did you know that the use of psychographics in the marketing of services began at Stanford University in December of 1917?

Greg Alexander [00:03:42] I did not know that. But I see you are a power user of Wikipedia.

Sean Magennis [00:03:45] Thank god for Wikipedia. I bring up these stats to prove my point. These tools have been around forever. If they truly can help win bigger deals faster and more often, you would think they’d be used more often. However, when I look at firms, they are either not present or if they are present, they are used incorrectly. Why is this?

Greg Alexander [00:04:09] In my opinion, the main reason is founders, especially are domain experts. They are not business experts. Let me explain myself, so, for example, if I asked an owner of a cyber security firm about the technicalities of network security. They could talk to me for weeks, however, if I asked the same owner to describe their client profile, it would be a 10 minute conversation. Because they are not business experts, they do not understand that knowing the client deeply is the key to growing revenues with new and existing clients. Most of them are technicians of a sort, domain experts, but they are not business people, so to speak, meaning worldclass a generating revenue and profits. To grow a firm, a founder must be great at both he or she must be skilled at working on the business in addition to working in the business.

Sean Magennis [00:05:04] OK, Greg, I think we’ve established what the tools are and why they’re important and why they are underutilized. A percentage of our audience are overachievers. They will get off this podcast and immediately go to work on creating these tools. How can they get started?

Greg Alexander [00:05:22] Geez, I would need a day long workshop to do this justice, but let me give the overachievers a cheat sheet. So let’s start with a demographic profile. So make a list of all your clients, current and past. Identify the decision maker, the person who bought your service for each one document the following race, age, gender, ethnicity, industry, title, education, geography and income level. Use the 80 20 rule. What is common among each of your clients? This will get you to a V1 of a demographic profile. You should have. You should have all this data inside of your internal systems. If you do not, these days there is no privacy and you can find it in all the social media platforms. Let’s switch gears to the psychographic profile, which is much harder. Take a statistical sample from the above, say maybe 30 clients or so, and interview them. Ask them about, what are their wants or their needs or their desires? What are their goals, maybe immediate, intermediate and long term, what are their challenges standing in the way of accomplishing these goals? What are their priorities? And how do they set priorities? What interests them inside and outside of work? What is their attitude? Are they optimist or a pessimist? Are they activists or passivist? Use the 80-20 rule here as well, what is common among each of your clients, this will get you to a V1 of a psychographic profile.

Sean Magennis [00:07:04] That’s very helpful I got that, very practical, and once they have the two tools built, what do they do with them?

Greg Alexander [00:07:11] Everything. I mean, there is no part of a boutique. This information will not change. I mean, every sale script changes, every process to deliver a service gets rewritten to reflect this enhanced understanding of the client. The firm should change its marketing messages, its price positioning, their hiring profiles of staff. I mean, the list goes on and on. To win bigger, to win faster and more often, requires a boutique to obsess over the client every little detail. Without this information dynamically updated regularly, you are not client focused. You are throwing darts against the wall, hoping something sticks. Here’s little fun thing to do at the next staff meeting when sitting around the table, be sure to have one seat at the table empty. Put a sign in the seat that says client when the team is trying to make a decision turned to the client who now has a seat at the table and ask what would the client say if he or she was in the room? This signals to everyone that the client is at the center of everything you do.

Sean Magennis [00:08:16] This is just fantastic. It’s brilliant and a good reminder of two tools that have been best practices for decades. Thank you, Greg. And now a word from our sponsor, Collective 54, Collective 54 is a membership organization for owners of professional services firms. Members joined to work with their industry peers to grow scale and someday sell their firms at the right time for the right price and on the right terms. Let us meet one of the collective 54 members.

Josh Mastel [00:08:54] I’m Josh Mastel, the CEO of UpRoar Partners, which is an outsourced sales solution for leaders of B2B organizations across the U.S.. At the end of the day, there’s only one reason why companies and teams missed their revenue targets, and that’s because of a lack of quality opportunities inside their sales pipeline. We fix this exact problem for our clients by deploying our sales methodology that’s been proven and executed by our team of salespeople. And the whole goal is to remove all of the hassle of generating sales opportunities completely off of your plate.. So if you have a dry pipeline and you’re not confident that you have enough, that that’s enough opportunities to get you to your revenue number by the end of this year, get in touch with us at www.uproarpartners.com or my email at [email protected].

[00:09:37] If you are trying to grow scale or sell your firm and feel you would benefit from being a part of a community of peers, visit the Collective54.com. OK, this takes us to the end of the episode, let us try to help listeners apply this. We end each show with a tool. We do so because this allows a listener to apply the lessons to his or her firm. Our preferred tool is a checklist and a style of checklist is a yes no questionnaire. We aim to keep it simple by asking only 10 questions. In this instance, if you answer yes to eight or more of these questions, then your ideal client profile is working for you. If you answer no too many times, then your ideal client profile is not working for you and you are likely getting in the way of your attempts to scale. Let’s begin the questions.

Sean Magennis [00:10:44] Number one, you have a demographic profile of your target client?

Greg Alexander [00:10:50] And it’s important to mention this is the client you want. Not maybe that’s different than the client you currently have.

Sean Magennis [00:10:57] Number two, do you have a psychographic profile of your target client? The same thing.

Greg Alexander [00:11:03] Correct.

Sean Magennis [00:11:03] Number three, do you have an elevator pitch that speaks directly to the target client?

Greg Alexander [00:11:09] That’s oftentimes a humbling experience.

Sean Magennis [00:11:11] Yep.

Greg Alexander [00:11:12] Record yourself as to what your elevator pitch is and pull out your demographic and psychographic profile and say, how would this sit with them? Oftentimes it’s off.

Sean Magennis [00:11:20] Number four, do you understand the personal goals of the client?

Greg Alexander [00:11:25] People of people, people buy from people, so personal goals are just as important as professional goals.

Sean Magennis [00:11:31] That’s right, great point. Number five, do you understand the professional goals of the client? Number six, do you understand the obstacles preventing the client from accomplishing their personal goals? And number seven, do you understand the obstacles preventing the client from accomplishing their professional goals? Number eight, do you understand the likely objections that your client is going to submit to you?

Greg Alexander [00:11:57] Right, so if you understand their obstacles professionally, personally and make your pitch, you should you should be able to anticipate what are they…

Greg Alexander [00:12:05] Exactly.

Sean Magennis [00:12:06] Good point. Number nine, do you understand the client’s top priorities? And number 10, do you understand the emotional makeup of the client?

Greg Alexander [00:12:17] Goes to client experience, right.

Sean Magennis [00:12:18] This is fantastic. Greg, thank you. In summary, know thy client. Get inside their hearts, their souls and their minds. Try to know them better than they know themselves. Take this knowledge and drive it into everything you do. When a prospect bumps into you, they should say to themselves, these people, get me. If you enjoyed the show and want to learn more, pick up a copy of Greg Alexander’s book titled The Boutique How to Start Scale and Sell a Professional Services Firm. Thanks again, Greg. I’m Sean Magennis and thank you for listening.

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Episode 25: The Boutique: The Hero Syndrome: A Dirty Little Secret About Professional services Firms

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

TRANSCRIPT

Sean Magennis [00:00:15] Welcome to The Boutique with Capital 54, a podcast for owners of professional services firms. My goal with this show is to help you grow scale and sell your firm at the right time for the right price and on the right terms. I’m Sean Magennis, CEO of Capital 54, and your host. On this episode, I will make the case there is a dirty little secret about owners of boutique professional services firms. This dirty little secret is called the hero syndrome, and if left unchecked, it will prevent you from scaling your firm. I’ll try to prove this theory by interviewing Greg Alexander, Capital 54’s chief investment officer. Greg has some great suggestions on how to deal with this problem. Greg, great to see you, and welcome.

Greg Alexander [00:01:09] Sean, it’s good to be with you. Boy, what a topic we have today. I love that we tackle issues on this show that most shy away from.

Sean Magennis [00:01:18] Exactly, Greg. Excellent. Let’s start with the definition. What what is the hero syndrome?

Greg Alexander [00:01:25] The hero syndrome is when the owner of a professional services firm has his or her identity wrapped up in the firm. The clients and the employees need the owner, and this makes the owner feel like a hero, the hero style owner gets his or her personal validation from owning the firm, and it is appropriate to call it a syndrome as it leads to sickness and eventually death because the owner becomes a severe bottleneck.

Sean Magennis [00:01:57] And Greg, why do our listeners, owners of boutiques, suffer from this?

Greg Alexander [00:02:03] Man, why does the sun rise in the east and set in the west? The hero syndrome is part of human nature, I think. Founders of boutiques are human. This means they want to be part of a tribe, they want to be recognized. They want to feel needed to feel as if they matter. Owners of boutiques like all of us suffer from insecurities. And one way to deal with these insecurities is to build a firm completely dependent on the hero, the owner, our listeners. I mean, it is not a joy entering the battle as a hero and saving the day. I think human nature is why this happens repeatedly.

Sean Magennis [00:02:46] And you call it a dirty little secret. Why is the hero syndrome kept a secret?

Greg Alexander [00:02:54] In my opinion, there are two primary reasons why this is not openly discussed as often as required. First, it takes an above average level of self-awareness to recognize this problem, and in my experience, self-awareness is lacking. And a lot of founders, I think many of our listeners are suffering from the hero syndrome right now. Yet do not know it. Maybe this show can bring some awareness to this issue and the second reason this is kept a secret is no one wants to admit they’re holding their firm back because they like being the hero. I mean, it’s embarrassing. Imagine a staff meeting whereby the owner stands up and says to employees, I have an announcement to make. I’m an egomaniac and I love being the hero. Therefore, I’m unwilling to get out of my own way. And you are just going to have to deal with the consequences and the poor results.

Sean Magennis [00:03:49] Yeah, that would be super embarrassing. I can see why this is a dirty little secret. Let’s give the audience the benefit of the doubt and assume they are aware of the issue. What can they do about it?

Greg Alexander [00:04:04] The answer to this question is the best founders work themselves out of a job, they make themselves obsolete and build firms that can succeed without them. This is when hyperscale kicks in.

Sean Magennis [00:04:16] Aha. Found founders need to go from the hero to the invisible man.

Greg Alexander [00:04:22] That’s well said.

Sean Magennis [00:04:22] And how do you do this, Greg?

Greg Alexander [00:04:24] Boy, I could teach a week long course just on this subject. We only have a few minutes left on this show. So let me let me give you some quick suggestions. Let’s see. There is four things that come to mind. Number one, I would recommend stop being a control freak and try to replicate yourself in your employees. If an employee can do what you can do, 80 percent as well as you can do it. That’s a good thing. Do not feel threatened by this. Number two, it may be faster for you, the founder, to do something yourself, and you know that if you do it, whatever it is, you know, it will be done correctly. However, this is flawed thinking. Yes, it will take time to teach someone how to perform a task. And in the beginning, the employee will screw it up. But eventually you will replicate yourself and others to the point where you are no longer a bottleneck. Third, recognize there is a business case for eliminating you as the hero. Profits will go up when you do this. As the owner, you are the most expensive resource in the company. When you do something, the cost of completing the task is very high. The quickest way to destroy profits in a process of firm is to have senior people doing junior task work. And lastly, number four, the tactical program to launch is an employee certification program. An employee certification program proves to a founder that employee has reached a level of competency. If done correctly, an employee certification program can rapidly scale a boutique. Employee certification is a big topic, and we should reserve a future episode just to discuss it, to get it out here, every employee in the firm would be in a learning path certifying their knowledge. For example, the practical understanding of the subject matter, also certifying their skill, for example, their ability to do something. This approach systematically replicates an owner’s knowledge and skill into every employee in the firm over time and in perpetuity. And obviously, this removes the hero slash founder from being a bottleneck.

Sean Magennis [00:06:48] Excellent, Greg. So stop being a control freak, remove yourself as a bottleneck, and recognize the profit potential of doing so and roll out an employee certification program.

Sean Magennis [00:07:06] And now a word from our sponsor, Collective 54. Collective 54 is a membership organization for owners of professional services firms. Members joined to work with their industry peers to grow scale and someday sell their firms at the right time for the right price and on the right terms. Let us meet one of the collective 54 members.

Bryon Morrison [00:07:32] Hi, this is Bryon Morrison, CEO of Proxxy, your executive multiplier. And if you’re a Challenger executive running today’s small to medium-sized business, that’s going to be tomorrow’s next big thing. Proxxy is here to serve you. We provide a full-service chief-of-staff solution that gives you an experienced, well-trained professional to take over, automate those routine tasks while also providing strategic counsel and operationalizing your great ideas so you can keep driving your company forward. This is not a fractional executive that’s going to run out of time or cost you too much, and it’s not a virtual admin you’ll end up managing. Proxxy as a team and technology-based approach that gives you 24/7 coverage and gives you back at least eight hours each week. So if you want help from a pro that isn’t trying to climb a ladder or get more budget, get started with your own Proxxy chief-of-staff at www.remotechiefofstaff.com.

Sean Magennis [00:08:33] If you are trying to grow scale or sell your firm and feel you would benefit from being a part of a community of peers, visit the Collective54.com. OK, so this takes us to the end of this episode, and as is customary, we end each show with a tool. We do so because this allows a listener to apply the lessons to his or her firm. Our preferred tool is a checklist and our style of checklist is a yes-no questionnaire. We aim to keep it simple by asking only 10 questions. In this instance, if you answer yes to eight or more of these questions, this strategy is working for you. If you answer no too many times, this strategy is more than likely getting in the way of your attempts to scale.

Sean Magennis [00:09:31] So let’s begin question number one. Do you feel like you must do everything yourself? Question number two, do you feel like you must be in every key meeting? Number three, do clients require you to be directly involved in their projects? Number four, do your employees come to you for help constantly? Number five, do you have to micromanage everyone? Number six, do you have to review everything before it goes out? Number seven, are you working too much? Number eight, is it faster to just do the work yourself? Number nine, do you feel like it will get done correctly only if you do it? And number ten, are you turning over employees?

Greg Alexander [00:10:38] So number ten’s interesting if you have a turnover problem, it’s because people arn’t growing inside your firm. Yep. Nobody wants to be a robot of the founder.

Sean Magennis [00:10:47] Exactly. So, in summary, boutique owners do suffer from the hero syndrome. This is because of human nature and founders seeking emotional validation from their role as hero/owner. This insecurity gets in the way of scaling the firm because owners become a bottleneck. The founders who scale their firms make themselves irrelevant building firms that can succeed without them. If you enjoyed the show and want to learn more, pick up a copy of Greg Alexander’s book titled The Boutique How to Start Scale and Sell a Professional Services Firm. I’m Sean Magennis. Thank you for listening.

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Episode 24: The Boutique: Are you Losing to “Do Nothing”?

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. 

TRANSCRIPT

Sean Magennis [00:00:15] Welcome to The Boutique with Capital 54, a podcast for owners of professional services firms. My goal with this show is to help you grow scale and sell your firm at the right time for the right price and on the right terms. I’m Sean Magennis, CEO of Capital 54 and your host. On this episode, I will make the case that boutiques lose more deals to a competitor we call do nothing than any other competitor. I’ll try to prove this theory by interviewing Greg Alexander, Capital 54’s chief investment officer. Greg has helped many boutique owners improve sales results by defeating this pesky competitor. Greg, good to see you and welcome.

Greg Alexander [00:01:06] My man Sean, good morning. Good to be here.

Sean Magennis [00:01:08] OK, Greg, let’s jump in. Can we start off with a description of the competitor we are calling, “do nothing”?

Greg Alexander [00:01:16] Sure. So do nothing refers to the project that went away. The prospect did not hire a firm any firm. They just decided not to move forward with the project. In other words, they decided to do nothing.

Sean Magennis [00:01:28] Got it. The quirky name makes perfect sense. And Greg, you feel this competitor is the top competitor boutiques must defeat to grow. Why do you feel that way?

Greg Alexander [00:01:39] So founders of boutiques are time starved. They have too many things to do and not enough time in the day to get them all done. When they pursue new business, the pursue takes up a lot of time. If this time spent does not produce revenue, it can be devastating. Fifty percent of all lost deals are lost to do nothing in the professional services game. This stat was true in my firm and it is proving to be true in the firms led by collective 54 members. Defeating this sneaky competitor will save Founders’ a ton of time and boost revenue.

Sean Magennis [00:02:11] Wow, 50 percent is a big number. This just became a priority for many of our listeners. Before we get into the recommended solution, can you share with the audience the root cause of this issue?

Greg Alexander [00:02:24] Sure. So the root cause of the problem is founders of boutiques are peddling solutions, looking for problems. They are selling vitamins when they should be selling painkillers. Let me explain my analogy. People buy painkillers when they are in pain. When someone is in pain, they do not decide to do nothing. They buy immediately. In contrast, people buy vitamins occasionally. It is an optional activity, maybe tied to a New Year’s resolution or some new health kick. However, many people, when faced with the decision to buy vitamins, just decide to do nothing. It’s not urgent. Boutique Founders’ can get enamored with their solution. They think every prospect needs it, and they are surprised when many prospects decide not to buy it. They have a solution looking for a problem to solve. This is the root cause of this issue. Vitamin instead of painkillers.

Sean Magennis [00:03:16] Yes, Greg, I can see this. So founders can fall in love with their solution. And at times this can blind them to the commercial realities of the marketplace. They get caught up in the technical sophistication of their solution and they do not think about how it will be bought and sold. Greg, I imagine you have some practical advice to avoid this mistake. Please share it.

Greg Alexander [00:03:40] I do. And I’m excited to share it because it’s based on common sense and it is easy to implement. There are four things to do. First, be sure you can state the problem you saw for clients, clearly. This seems like a duh comment, but surprisingly it is not. For example, when I ask a boutique founder what problem they solve for clients, they tell me about their solution. They do not tell me about the client problem. I recently asked an IT consulting firm what problem they solve with clients, and he said we provide cloud migration services. This is not a problem statement. This is a solution description. In this instance, a better answer might have been our clients are trying to migrate legacy apps to the cloud. This is taking too long, costing too much and causing too much downtime. Now, that’s a problem statement and positioning a solution against this has a much better chance of resulting in a win.

Sean Magennis [00:04:33] This is a great before and after illustrative example. The difference between a solution description and a problem statement is subtle, but it’s so important. Greg, you mentioned four things to do. We covered the first. Let’s hear about number two.

Greg Alexander [00:04:49] OK, so the second thing to do is determine if the problem you are solving is pervasive. To grow your firm, you need lots of sales opportunity. If you are solving a problem only a few clients are experiencing, you are limiting your growth. This is a big reason why “Do Nothing” is the number one competitor. A founder gets in front of a prospect, makes the pitch and the prospect says something like, I can see why your solution is very valuable. And if I had the need for it, I would consider hiring your firm. But it does not apply to me right now. Check back with me in six months. You just lost to do nothing. You just wasted your time and a prospect which is never going to buy. If you have to kiss a lot of frogs who never turn into a prince, you will be celebrating your one hundredth birthday before you scale focus only on pervasive problems.

Sean Magennis [00:05:37] Greg, I must admit, I’ve heard many prospects say that to me over the years, almost verbatim. If I think about how many hours I wasted in pitch meetings with prospects like this, I cringed. Anyway, okay I’m hooked on the subject. Tell me about the third idea on defeating do nothing.

Greg Alexander [00:05:56] OK, so number three is proving that the problem is urgent. When a founder pitches a prospect, the prospect is determining if what he is hearing is worthy of making it on his priority list. Prospects just like founders of boutiques are time time starved. If they are going to take on another project, it better be worth it. Prospects prioritize their projects based on urgency. The most urgent go first and get the most budget, the least urgent go last and get the smallest budgets.

Greg Alexander [00:06:29] The action for the founder is to prove that your solution solves an urgent problem and therefore it should be prioritized. Our listeners are wondering right about now how they do this. We don’t have enough time to go into this on this episode. So let me just hit the tips of the wave. To prove you a solution solves an urgent problem, do two things. Number one, calculate the cost of inaction. Make sure the prospects know exactly how much it’s going to cost them if he does not act right now. Number two, show that the pain is getting worse over time. Make sure the prospect knows that if he does not act now, it may be too late down the road. A small problem today will be life threatening six months from now. So let’s giddy up.

Sean Magennis [00:07:19] I had heard the urgency suggestion before, but I had never heard it from a thought leader on how to create the urgency. Calculating the cost of inaction and showing the client the problem is escalating are brilliant ways to get a prospect to move from buy to buy now. Let’s hit the fourth idea.

Greg Alexander [00:07:40] OK. The fourth recommendation to defeat do nothing is to confirm the prospect is willing to pay for the solution. Often founders make the pitch. The prospect says yes, and he sees the price and he changes the yes to a no. When asked what happened, the prospect says we just don’t have the budget for that right now. And guess what? He just lost the do nothing. The fix to this is to confirm that prospect is willing to pay for the solution to the problem. So how does one do this?

Greg Alexander [00:08:10] Every proposal must come with a cost justification and the cost justification must be believable, populated with the prospects own figures. For example, in my time in SBI, we would sell prospect’s projects around sales effectiveness. Each proposal came with the cost justification based on two things. Number one, decreasing the prospects cost to acquire customers and number two, increase in the lifetime value of each customer acquired. These two items were expressed in hard dollars, and the math was based on the client’s current baseline.

Greg Alexander [00:08:47] In each, our fee was placed in this context, the client could clearly compare the benefit in the cost of the project. As a result, we defeated do nothing regularly. I am not sure what metrics our listeners would use in their cost justifications, but I do know they need to figure that out if they are going to defeat do nothing regularly, it is the only way to get the prospect to having high willingness to pay.

Sean Magennis [00:09:13] This is fantastic. So overcome the prospect price objection with a cost justification in the proposal and make it easy for the prospect to have a high willingness to pay. These four ideas state the problem clearly to pursue only pervasive problems, prove the problem is urgent, and use a cost justification to increase the prospects willingness to pay. This will defeat, do nothing and help our audience members grow.

Sean Magennis [00:09:46] And now a word from our sponsor, Collective 54. Collective 54 is a membership organization for owners of professional services firms. Members joined to work with their industry peers to grow scale and someday sell firms at the right time for the right price and on the right terms. Let us meet one of the collective 54 members.

John Ferguson [00:10:12] Hi, my name is John Ferguson. I’m the CEO TBM Consulting Group. We’re a global operations and supply chain consultancy, serving manufacturers, distributors and field service organizations in North America, Latin America, Europe and Asia. Our primary clients, our C Suite operations executives and operationally focused private equity firms. TBM helps to reduce costs, improve cash flow and to leverage those gains for sustainable, profitable growth. We provide diagnostics, go forward plans and hands on implementation support to create speed, flexibility and responsiveness throughout our client’s manufacturing and supply chain operations. If you need help leveraging operational excellence to accelerate value creation, contact us at TBMCG.COM. My direct email is [email protected] Or you can reach us via 1-800-438-5535.

Sean Magennis [00:11:13] If you are trying to grow scale or sell your firm and feel you would benefit from being a part of a community of peers, visit Collective54.com.

Sean Magennis [00:11:29] OK, this takes us to the end of the episode, let us try to help listeners apply this. We end each show with a tool. We do so because this allows the listener to apply the lessons to his or her firm. Our preferred tool is a checklist and our style of checklist is a yes no questionnaire, we aim to keep it simple by asking only 10 questions. In this instance, if you answer yes to eight or more of these questions, you are not losing to the competitor called Do Nothing. If you answer no, too many times, you are losing to the competitor called Do Nothing. Let’s begin with the questions.

Sean Magennis [00:12:17] Number one. When you explain the problem to your family, do they understand it? Number two, when you explain the problem to your friends, do they understand it?

Greg Alexander [00:12:29] So the reason why family and friends is here is because they’re not in the weeds, right? So if they can’t understand it or if they do understand it, then, you know, you’re communicating clearly. You know, I will add one little funny story. Yeah. So I used to bring my dog Rocco to work. And if I was in these early days of SBI and if I was pitching on the telephone, if he got up and left, I knew I was in trouble.

Sean Magennis [00:12:52] Rocco was a smart dog.

Greg Alexander [00:12:52] He was.

Sean Magennis [00:12:52] Number three, does the problem exist in more than one industry?

Greg Alexander [00:12:59] This goes to pervasiveness.

Sean Magennis [00:13:01] Number four, does the problem exist in companies of all sizes? Number five, does the problem exist in many geographies? Number six, are clients paying to solve the problem today?

Greg Alexander [00:13:17] Right, which is a great way to judge whether the problem is urgent, if they’re already spending money to solve it, then they’re voting with their wallet.

Sean Magennis [00:13:23] Right. Number seven, have clients been paying to solve the problem for years?

Greg Alexander [00:13:29] Yep another important thing, right?

Sean Magennis [00:13:32] Number eight, if the client does not solve the problem, are the consequences severe? Number nine, is there a trigger event that puts the client into the market for your solution?

Greg Alexander [00:13:44] Right. So a trigger event is is something that happens to the client that causes them to act.

Sean Magennis [00:13:50] And number 10, when clients have the problem, do they work to get it solved by a certain deadline?

Greg Alexander [00:13:56] From from buy to buy now.

Sean Magennis [00:13:58] It’s great, Greg. So in summary, do nothing is defeating you 50 percent of the time, whether you know it or you don’t know it. So to beat this competitor. Be sure to pick a problem to solve that is pervasive, urgent, one that prospects are willing to pay to solve. And be sure you can explain it simply. In other words, start with the problem, not the solution. If you enjoyed the show and want to learn more, pick up a copy of Greg Alexander’s book titled The Boutique How to Start Scale and Sell a Professional Services Firm.

Sean Magennis [00:14:38] Greg, thank you again. I’m Sean Magennis and thank you to our audience for listening.

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Episode 23: The Boutique: EXIT HACK: BUILDING A LARGE UNIVERSE OF POTENTIAL BUYERS

A key to selling your professional services firm is building a wide and deep universe of potential buyers. On this episode, we discuss how to develop broad interest with potential acquirers.

TRANSCRIPT

Sean Magennis [00:00:16] Welcome to the Boutique with Capital 54, a podcast for owners of professional services firms. My goal with the show is to help you grow scale and sell your firm at the right time for the right price and on the right terms. I’m Sean Magennis, CEO of Capital 54 and your host. On this episode, I will make the case that the key to selling your firm is to build a wide and deep universe of potential buyers. I’ll try to prove this theory by interviewing Greg Alexander, Capital 54’s founder and chief investment officer. Greg, maybe more than any other thought leader understands how to develop broad interest in a boutique from potential acquirers. Greg, great to see you and welcome.

Greg Alexander [00:01:06] Thanks, pal. Great topic today. By the end of this show, I hope our listeners learn how to tilt the supply and demand equation in their favor.

Sean Magennis [00:01:13] Amen. So maybe we should start out with that very thing. Supply and demand. How does this economic theory apply to selling a professional services firm?

Greg Alexander [00:01:25] OK. It might not be obvious, so let me explain. Supply and demand will impact one’s ability to sell the firm. Let’s consider first the supply side. If there are many boutiques like yours available for sale, valuations are going down and the opposite is true. If you are the only firm in your niche willing to sell, valuations are going up. And if we flip the coin, and considered the demand side. If the universe of buyers is wide and deep, the chances of a successful exit increase. If the number of potential buyers is small, exiting will be difficult.

Sean Magennis [00:01:58] Excellent. I can see how supply and demand effect valuations and the probability of exiting. This begs the question, how does an owner of a boutique manipulate supply and demand?

Greg Alexander [00:02:10] So this is where the investment banker earns his feet. It is their job to generate lots of demand for your firm. They are skilled at doing this using a variety of methods, starting with market maps, adjacencies, segmenting the private equity investors and many others. They are experts at throwing a wide net.

Sean Magennis [00:02:31] Greg, it’s one thing to build a list and yet quite another to generate real interest from firms on this list. How is this done in your experience?

Greg Alexander [00:02:42] This is where the owner and the banker need to partner. The investment banker will build an exhaustive list of potential buyers. But he or she will need the owner’s help preparing the pitch. An owner can contribute at this stage, by given the banker compelling strategic rationale to buy your boutique and I advocate for developing this deal, rationale for each buyer, for customizing it for that specific buyer. This will increase the positive response rates the investment banker generates.

Sean Magennis [00:03:14] Excellent Greg. So let’s save our listeners some time by giving them some examples of what might go into such a customized pitch.

Greg Alexander [00:03:24] There are many, but here are a few since our show is meant to be short. Maybe buying a boutique opens up a new market for a strategic acquire. Or maybe if I buy your boutique, it will strengthen my value proposition and help me sell more of my core services. At times I must acquire because I’m at a competitive disadvantage in buying new fixes that a common one these days is firms buy boutiques to diversify revenue streams. For example, my firm has too much client concentration and I can buy you. Which brings a whole new set of clients. These are but a few, do you get the picture?

Sean Magennis [00:04:03] I do Greg, so simple and practical examples listeners can use as a starting point. Really excellent.

Sean Magennis [00:04:13] And now a word from our sponsor. Collective 54, Collective 54 is a membership organization for owners of professional services firms. Members join to work with their industry peers to grow scale and someday sell live firms at the right time for the right price and on the right terms. Let us meet one of the collective 54 members.

Brenda Hurtado [00:04:39] Thank you, Sean. Hi, my name is Brenda Hurtado. I’m president of The Point Group. The Point Group is a marketing communications firm built from a different model. We’re an integrated full service agency with strategists from both the agency side and the client side. Our unique combination of business acumen and marketing expertize brings a fresh perspective and approach to find creative solutions that truly make a difference and drive business results. For more than 25 five years, we’ve worked with startups, the Fortune 50 brands to help them enter new markets, position them for growth and improve their customer engagement strategies. At the Point Group, we create work that works to learn more about the company. See us at thepointgroup.com.

Sean Magennis [00:05:23] If you are trying to grow scale or sell your firm and feel you would benefit from being a part of a community of peers, visit the Collective54.com.

Sean Magennis [00:05:40] So this takes us to the end of this episode. And as is customary, we end each show with a tool. We do so because this allows a listener to apply the lessons to his or her firm. Our preferred tool is a checklist. And our style of checklist is a yes-no questionnaire. We aim to keep it simple. By asking only ten yes-no questions. In this instance, if you answer yes to eight or more of these questions, you have a large universe of buyers. If you answer no too many times your buyer pool is too small, which means you might not be able to exit. Let’s begin.

Sean Magennis [00:06:21] Do you know how many firms like yours are for sale?

Greg Alexander [00:06:25] Quickest way to find that out is play the role of an acquirer. Pick up the phone, call people and say, hey, you want to sell your firm? I’m interested in buying. And you can get a really quick gauge for how many firms like yours are for sale.

Sean Magennis [00:06:36] Excellent. Number two, have you completed a market map?

Greg Alexander [00:06:42] For those in our family with that term, does Google market map, and there’s lots and lots of how to step by step guides to create one.

Sean Magennis [00:06:49] Correct. Number three, has this market map produced an exhaustive list, exhaustive list of potential buyers? Number four, does this map include adjacent markets?

Greg Alexander [00:07:02] Yeah, and this is important. Don’t think too narrowly. You know, there’s markets to the left and right, a view that also contain possible acquirers.

Sean Magennis [00:07:10] Number five, does the map include private equity firms with a known interest in firms like yours? Number six, have you developed the strategic rationale to buy your firm? Number seven, have you customized this deal rationale for each potential buyer? Number eight, do you know the leading investment banker in your niche? Number nine, have you approached them about representing? And number ten, has this investment banker creatively enlarged the universe of potential buyers for you?

Sean Magennis [00:07:56] In summary, keep in mind that 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 buyers. There are many more buyers than you likely realize, some of them just might respond well to what you have built. And one of them might be willing to pay you a lot for your firm.

Sean Magennis [00:08:24] If you enjoyed the show and want to learn more, pick up a copy of Greg Alexander’s book titled The Boutique How to Start Scale and Sell a Professional Services Firm. I’m Sean Magennis. Thank you for listening.

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Episode 22: The Boutique: The Quickest Way to Scale

A change to your pricing strategy is perhaps the quickest way to scale. It does not require an investment to implement and the benefits are immediate.

TRANSCRIPT

Sean Magennis [00:00:15] Welcome to the Boutique with Capital 54, a podcast for owners of professional services firms. My goal with this show is to help you grow scale and sell your firm at the right time for the right price and on the right terms. I’m Sean Magennis, CEO of Capital 54 and your host on this episode. I will make the case a change to your pricing strategy is the quickest way to scale. I’ll try to prove this theory by interviewing Greg Alexander, Capital 54’s founder and chief investment officer. Greg is truly an expert in the pricing of professional services. Greg, great to see you and welcome.

Greg Alexander [00:01:03] Sean, it’s good to be with you. I look forward to helping our listeners pick some low hanging fruit today.

Sean Magennis [00:01:08] Excellent. And in this instance, I would say the fruit is not low hanging. It’s on the ground. So our listeners just need to bend over and pick it up. Greg, why is a change in pricing strategy the quickest way to scale?

Greg Alexander [00:01:24] Because it does not require an investment to implement. There is not staff to add or service offering to develop, and the benefits are immediate. Charge more today than you did yesterday.

Sean Magennis [00:01:34] And you feel most owners of boutiques mess up their pricing strategy and get this wrong. Why do you feel this way?

Greg Alexander [00:01:41] So there are several reasons. So boutiques often do not know what their services are worth to their clients, and they are often unaware of what clients are willing to pay for the services. Many firms cannot even logically explain to prospects why they charge what they charge. And worse, they cannot quantify the amount of value the prospect receives from an engagement. Too often, the pricing strategy is in without it’s based on intent, internal costs, worse boutiques rely too heavily on what their competitors charge for similar services. And lastly, the BD team are often awful at overcoming sales objections, and they come up in the sales campaigns.

Sean Magennis [00:02:25] You know, wow Greg, I counted seven mistakes firms are making in your response. It appears pricing strategy is a real obstacle, preventing boutiques from scaling. Is there a solution to this problem?

Greg Alexander [00:02:38] Yes. The good news is, is that this problem is simply salt. It takes some sound judgment, but the pricing best practices are readily available.

Sean Magennis [00:02:48] Can you give our listeners a few to get them going?

Greg Alexander [00:02:51] Sure. So the first recommendation is to develop a pricing strategy that matches your business strategy. So, for example, if a firm sells to small businesses, the high volume, low price model makes sense. If you sell complex solutions to large companies, a high cost, low volume approach is best. Another recommendation is to focus on price positioning as it affects perception. And in this context, perception is reality. The price you charge sends a signal to the client. If you price too low, your work will be considered low quality. If you price too high, you will be perceived as being difficult to engage. If you price the same as your competitors, you’ll be perceived as undifferentiated. And one more might be to understand what clients value at the attribute level. A mistake owners of pro serve firms make is they think in the aggregate. When it comes to pricing, be sure to understand what attributes of your offering are valued most in influence to perception of your performance in this specific area. This will result in the ability to charge more. There is more perceived value here.

Sean Magennis [00:04:12] Greg, that’s really fantastic advice. So three specific takeaways that I’m seeing is match the pricing strategy to the business strategy, your price positioning and price at the attribute level, not in the aggregate. Greg, you have an incredible track record and the story of SBI’s  pricing strategy has become legendary in some circles. Can you briefly share it with the audience as a way to bring these ideas to life?

Greg Alexander [00:04:43] Yeah, I think calling it legendary is a bit much, but I can say it was a key to our scaling quickly. So my firm was a management consulting firm and the management consulting industry is structured into three tiers. Tier one of the mega firms think McKinsey and Bain, etc. Tier two are the midsized boutiques and tier three other small startups. So my firm, SBI, was a Tier two management consulting firm, a mid-sized boutique highly specialized in the niche of B2B sales effectiveness.

Greg Alexander [00:05:22] My price positioning approach was to price below tier one, but above tier two. And what signal does this send? It sent the signal that we were the best of the tier two boutiques and this had the good fortune of being true. Thank goodness. The practical impact this had on us was a top one percent profitability. Our prices were compared to the mega firms. They were not compared to the Tier two firms.

Greg Alexander [00:05:54] In essence, we created a new tier like a Tier 1A and the scale benefits of this were huge. We threw off loads of free cash flow, which we plowed right back into the business. And this resulted in scaling much faster than otherwise would have been accomplished.

Sean Magennis [00:06:14] Greg, that’s a great real life example. Thank you.

Sean Magennis [00:06:20] And now a word from our sponsor. Collective 54, Collective 54 is a membership organization for owners of professional services firms. Members join to work with their industry peers to grow scale and someday sell live firms at the right time for the right price and on the right terms. Let us meet one of the collective 54 members.

Lauren Davenport [00:06:46] Hi, my name is Lauren Davenport and I own the Symphony Agency, a health care communications firm. We serve U.S. based health care provider organizations with multiple doctors and multiple locations. Our clients turn to us for help when they hit a stage of stagnant growth and need more patients or more staff to reach their projected goals. We solve this problem by developing messaging strategies that connect with their audience and implement outreach programs that extend past their current network to attain the resources needed to reinvigorate their growth. If you’re struggling with stagnant growth and need more patients or staff to reach your 2021 goals, connect with me online at SymphonyAgency.com or by email at [email protected].

Sean Magennis [00:07:39] If you are trying to grow scale or sell your firm and feel you would benefit from being a part of a community of peers, visit collective54.com.

Sean Magennis [00:07:56] This takes us to the end of this episode. And as is customary, we end each show with a tool. We do so because this allows a listener to apply the lessons to his or her for our preferred tools, a checklist. And our style of checklist is a yes-no questionnaire. We aim to keep it simple by asking only 10 questions in this instance, if you answer yes to eight or more of these questions, your pricing strategy is working for you. If you answer no too many times, pricing is more than likely getting in the way of your attempts to scale. So let’s begin.

Sean Magennis [00:08:36] Question number one, do you know what your offering is worth to clients? Number two, can you quantify the value of your work in hard dollars? Number three, do you know what clients are willing to pay for your services? Number four, can you explain the logic of your pricing in a way that makes sense to clients? Number five, does your price illustrate to the client the link between price and value? Number six, do you charge the most for the service features that your clients want the most? Number seven, do you charge the least for the service features that your clients do not care much about? Number eight, do you allow for clients to choose their price by presenting options? Number nine, is your sales team skilled at overcoming price objections? And number ten, have you built into your system an annual price increase?

Sean Magennis [00:10:03] In summary, know your worth. Do not undervalue yourself. What you do is exceptional. Price accordingly and scale quickly.

Sean Magennis [00:10:15] If you enjoyed the show and want to learn more, pick up a copy of Greg Alexander’s book titled The Boutique How to Start Scale and Sell a Professional Services Firm. I’m Sean Magennis. Thank you for listening.

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Episode 21: The Boutique: The Ultimate Measure of Productivity

Yield is the ultimate measure of productivity. In this episode, we discuss how professional services firms scale faster by thinking about different ways to improve yield. 

TRANSCRIPT

Sean Magennis [00:00:15] Welcome to the Boutique with Capital 54, a podcast for owners of professional services firms. My goal with this show is to help you grow scale and sell your firm at the right time for the right price and on the right terms. I’m Sean Magennis, CEO of Capital 54 and your host. On this episode, I will make the case that yield is the ultimate measure of productivity. I’ll try to prove this theory by interviewing Greg Alexander, Capital 54’s founder and chief investment officer. Greg has helped owner’s scale faster by thinking about different ways to improve yield. Greg, good to see you and welcome.

Greg Alexander [00:01:03] Hey, pal. Good to be with you. Appears today we are going to discuss the most often looked at metric in all of professional services.

Sean Magennis [00:01:11] Yes, we are. Yes, we are. To begin. How about you provide us a working definition of yield?

Greg Alexander [00:01:18] Sure. So yield is simply the average fee per hour times the average utilization rate of the team. For example, if a boutiques average fee per hour is 400 dollars and the average utilization rate is 75 percent, then the yield is three hundred dollars per hour.

Sean Magennis [00:01:37] OK. That is really easy to understand. And why is it relevant to our audience, which consists of owners of professional services firms who are trying to scale beyond the lifestyle business?

Greg Alexander [00:01:49] Huh. So it is mission critical to those trying to scale. And here’s why. The typical boutique runs off an assumption of a 40 hour workweek and a 48 week year. This equates to 1972 hours per employee using our earlier example at 300 dollars per hour. The boutique will do five hundred seventy thousand dollars in revenue per employee. So a 100 person firm, let’s say, with this year will do fifty seven point six million in annual revenue. Understanding yield means you understand how much you can scale to. It establishes a ceiling and therefore it is so important for our listeners to understand.

Sean Magennis [00:02:32] Got it. So the suggestion to listeners then is to do the math and determine the scale ceiling. Let’s suppose we don’t like the answer. Greg, we want to scale past the ceiling. What can they do then?

Greg Alexander [00:02:45] Good question. And that is how we want all of our listeners to be thinking, how big can I get? Most boutiques can quote you their utilization rate from memory. This is a well tracked metric and it should be boutiques that have made it past the startup stage, have already optimized for the utilization rate. They would not have survived otherwise. Therefore, an improvement in utilization rate does not lead to scale. The point of diminishing returns has occurred unless, of course, you’re going to ask employees to work on Christmas Day. The scale owners need to turn to fees.

Sean Magennis [00:03:23] So, Greg, just before we jump to fees, let me make sure I recap what was just said. You contend that most firms, when trying to scale, have reached the point of diminishing returns on utilization rates. And you feel this way because there’s only so much juice to squeeze out of the 40 hour workweek and the 48 week year, is that correct?

Greg Alexander [00:03:43] Yes, it is. So have a look at the U.S. business calendar. It is tough to get more than forty eight weeks. Employees need a couple weeks vacation. There are sick days and there are dead periods, such as the week between Christmas and New Year’s and Thanksgiving week, etc.. It is easier to get more than a 40 hour week, especially in the work from home setting as a line between work and life had blurred. Many people routinely work 50 plus hours a week. But in my experience, most of these extra hours are non billable. So they did not move the revenue line that much.

Sean Magennis [00:04:18] Okay, so let’s assume the 1920 hours per employee assumption holds as there’s not much one can do to improve it. Now you say it’s time to turn to fees. Why is that?

Greg Alexander [00:04:31] Yes. So remember, this is an equation with only two variables utilization rate and dollars per hour. Owners of boutiques have more juice to squeeze out of the dollars per hour variable and impacting the dollars per hour variable is not as easy as raising prices.

Greg Alexander [00:04:48] Most boutiques are in competitive markets. The intense competition drives downward pressure on fees. So if this is true for our listeners, what can they do to impact dollars per hour? So key to scaling in this context is to figure out how to become more valuable to clients. Clients will pay more for boutiques that bring more value to them. This is because clients turn to boutiques for specialization. These clients have moved away from the huge generalist firms. They are willing to pay more for highly specialized expertise.

Sean Magennis [00:05:27] That makes total sense, Greg. So it appears the key to higher prices is more specialization. Can you give the audience some ideas on how to increase their specialization?

Greg Alexander [00:05:38] Sure. In my experience, there are five forms of specialization that translate to higher fees, and they are, so number one specializing by industry vertical. Number two, specializing by function. So I serve the CFO or I serve the CTO. Number three is specialize in by segment. So I call on large enterprises or I call on consumers or I call on small business owners, etc. Number four is specializing on problem. So cyber security risk is a problem and I specialize around that. Number five, I specialize in geography. So here we are in Dallas, Texas, and I serve clients in Dallas, Texas. So let me give you a hypothetical example of a highly specialized firm. Clients would pay a premium for a consulting firm that helps product managers and enterprise software companies in Silicon Valley move to the cloud. To notice the five forms of specialization, we had the industry software companies, we had the function product managers, we had the segment enterprise, we had the problem moved to the cloud and we had the geography Silicon Valley. This firm’s yield, if it existed, would be high because it could charge a lot more.

Sean Magennis [00:06:56] That’s an excellent illustrative example. Thank you, Greg. And now a word from our sponsor Collective 54. Collective 54 is a membership organization for owners of professional services firms. Members join to work with their industry peers to grow scale and someday sell their firms at the right time for the right price and on the right terms. Let us meet one of the collective 54 members.

Tony Mirchandani [00:07:30] Hello. My name is Tony Mirchandani. I’m the owner of RTM engineering consultants. We’re a national engineering firm focused on the built environment. We provide civil, mechanical, electrical, plumbing and specialty services around the country. Our growth has come 50 percent through acquisitive growth and 50 percent through organic growth, as well as partnering with architects and developers. If there’s anything we can do for you, please feel free to reach out to me. I can be reached at [email protected].

Sean Magennis [00:08:04] If you are trying to grow scale or sell your firm and feel you would benefit from being a part of a community of peers, visit Collective54.com. So this takes us to the end of this episode. And as is customary, we end each show with a tool. We do so because this allows a listener to apply the lessons to his or her firm. Our preferred tool is a checklist. And our style of checklist is a yes no questionnaire. We aim to keep it simple by asking only 10 questions. In this instance, if you answer yes to eight or more of these questions, you are running a tight ship with excellent yield. If you said no too many times, you have a yield problem. And this will be an impediment to scaling.

Sean Magennis [00:08:59] Let’s begin. Number one, are your average utilization rates above 85 percent? Number two, senior staff above 70 percent? Number three, mid-level staff above 80 percent? Number four, junior staff above 90 percent? Number five, are you average fees above 400 dollars per hour? Number six, senior staff above seven hundred and fifty dollars an hour? Mid-level staff above 500 dollars an hour? And number eight, junior staff above 250 dollars an hour? Number nine, are you assuming a forty eight week year and 40 hours per week? And number ten, are you distinguished from the generalist, with three to five forms of specialization?

Sean Magennis [00:10:19] In summary, yield is the ultimate measure of productivity for professional services firms. Watch out for the trap of over rotating to utilization rates and under-indexing the second variable in the equation, which is dollars per hour. Drive up your fees by becoming more valuable to your clients, by becoming hyper specialized. If you do so, the limit on your scale is the sky.

Sean Magennis [00:10:52] If you enjoyed the show and want to learn more, pick up a copy of Greg Alexander’s book titled The Boutique How to Start Scale and Sell a professional services firm. I’m Sean Magennis. Thank you for listening.

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Episode 20: The Boutique: The Best Way to Get the Highest Price

The best way to get the highest price for your firm at exit is to get the comps right. In this episode, we discuss how to drive up valuations through the proper positioning of professional services firms.

TRANSCRIPT

Sean Magennis [00:00:16] Welcome to the Boutique with Capital 54, a podcast for owners of professional services firms. My goal for this show is to help you grow scale and sell your firm at the right time for the right price and on the right terms. I’m Sean Magennis, CEO of Capital 54 and your host. On this episode, I’ll make the case that the best way to get the highest price for your firm at exit is to get the comps right. I’ll try to prove this by interviewing Greg Alexander, Capital 54’s founder and chief investment officer. Greg is a master of driving up valuations through the proper positioning of professional services firms. Greg, good to see you and welcome.

Greg Alexander [00:01:06] Thanks, Sean. I’m looking forward to making our listeners some money today.

Sean Magennis [00:01:09] I love it. Let’s begin by grounding the audience in a definition of a comp. What does that mean?

Greg Alexander [00:01:17] So the term comp, comps, is short for the word comparables and the word comparables is meant to define the valuations in the terms, firms like yours get when they sell. For instance, the last time you sold your home, the price you sold for was determined by the price of similar homes in your neighborhood. By looking at comps, a buyer can get a feel for the fair market value of a firm.

Sean Magennis [00:01:44] Got it. So the last time we bought a home, our real estate agent provided me the cost per square foot of homes in our neighborhood and how they were selling. In essence, these were comps. So when selling a firm, does it work the same way?

Greg Alexander [00:02:00] It does. But in this case, there is no real estate agent. Instead, there is an investment banker who performs similar duties. Also, in this case, there is no cost per square foot. Instead, there is a multiple of EBITDA, which determines how much a firm is worth. Am I making sense here?

Sean Magennis [00:02:18] Yes, you are. So owners of firms hire typically an investment banker who markets the firm to potential buyers. And the price of the firm is determined by the multiple of EBITDA. Can you help the listeners understand how comps play a role in this?

Greg Alexander [00:02:36] Sure. It’s pretty straightforward. So when I sold my firm, I hired M.H.T. as my investment banker. I chose them because they had represented firms in my niche before and had firsthand knowledge as to how much firms like mine were sold for. This established our comps in practical terms when the price I was seeking from buyers was challenged. They justified our asking price by referencing the comps.

Sean Magennis [00:03:02] Got it. So I think it would be great. Greg, if if you could share with the audience how category positioning affects the comps.

Greg Alexander [00:03:10] Sure. So I’ll use my personal story as the use case here. So my firm, SBI, was originally placed in the sales training category and this was not correct. We did not train sales teams. We were a management consulting firm specializing in sales effectiveness. The correct comps for us were other management consulting firms. This distinction was a big deal as it affects EBITDA multiples greatly. At the time, sales training firms were being bought for five and a half times EBITDA. Management consulting firms were being bought for nine times EBITDA. In addition, sales training firms were not perceived to be high growth firms. Yet my firm had a 10 year compounded growth rate of 30 percent when we were correctly positioned. As a high growth firm in the management consulting space, our multiple went to 11 times EBITDA. These two modifications to how our firm was positioned resulted in a multi-million dollar increase in the purchase price.

Sean Magennis [00:04:18] Greg, that’s that is a great story and it solidifies the mission critical nature of really getting the comps right. So this aspect of exit readiness is literally worth millions.

Greg Alexander [00:04:31] It truly is.

Sean Magennis [00:04:35] And now a word from our sponsor. Collective 54, Collective 54 is a membership organization for owners of professional services firms. Members join to work with their industry peers to grow scale and someday sell live firms at the right time for the right price and on the right terms. Let us meet one of the collective 54 members.

Brandon Hernandez [00:05:01] Hello. My name is Brandon Hernandez. I am the owner of Wholegrain Consulting. We service clients in the USDA, FDA and CPG food landscape. These clients turn to us for help in supply chain, Q8, QC, regulatory compliance, command source and selection and negotiation, and a small research and development arm. We solve this problem by being an outsourced, hourly, customizable solution for your company. If you need help with any of these areas, please reach out to www.whole-grain-consulting.com or you can reach out to me directly at [email protected]. Thank you.

Sean Magennis [00:05:42] If you are trying to grow scale or sell your firm and feel you would benefit from being a part of a community of peers, visit Collective54.com.

Sean Magennis [00:05:59] OK, so this takes us to the end of this episode. And as is customary, we end each show with a tool. We do so because this allows a listener to apply the lessons to his or her firm. Our preferred tool is a checklist. And our style of checklist is a yes-no questionnaire. We aim to keep it simple by asking only 10 yes-no questions. In this instance, if you answer yes to eight or more of these questions, you have your comps right. If you answer no too many times, you might lose millions because your comps are not accurate. So let’s begin.

Sean Magennis [00:06:38] Number one, do you have a list of boutiques in your category that recently sold? Number two, do you know the price paid for each of them? Number three, do you know the deal terms for each?

Greg Alexander [00:06:57] You know, right now our listeners are saying no, no and no to the first three questions, and that’s followed up with. I get why you want this data. How do you get it? Let me tell you how I did it. I just picked up the phone and I called the owners of these boutiques. And an interesting thing happened, which is worthy for the listeners right now. People love to brag about their deals.

Sean Magennis [00:07:16] Yes, they do.

Greg Alexander [00:07:17] So when you ask him, what did your firm sell for? They stick their chest out and they give you their big number. We ask him, you know what, the terms of the deal, where they express it to you. So don’t be bashful. Just pick up the phone. You’d be surprised what you find out.

Sean Magennis [00:07:31] Great advice, Greg. Number four, do you know the investment banker who represented each? Number five, do you know the names of the investors who bid on each of these deals? Number six, do you know who won the deal for each? Number seven, do you know exactly why the winner won?

Greg Alexander [00:07:56] And the right investment banker can help you answer all of these questions.

Sean Magennis [00:08:00] Precisely. Number eight, is your boutique in the correct category? Number nine, is the correct category for your boutique, obvious to potential buyers?

Greg Alexander [00:08:13] You know, that’s an interesting question, because I learned from my personal experience. I just assumed that people that were looking at my business knew that we were a management consulting firm. And what I realized was, is they had no idea, you know, who we were, what we did. And they defaulted us to the wrong category. And if I didn’t correct them…

Sean Magennis [00:08:34] Yep.

Greg Alexander [00:08:35] It would have cost millions.

Sean Magennis [00:08:37] Excellent point, Greg. And finally, number ten, you trying to sell your boutique to the right group of buyers?

Greg Alexander [00:08:45] There’s people out there that are looking for your type of business. And there’s people out there that would never buy your type of business. So make sure that you don’t waste any time talking to the wrong buyer group.

Sean Magennis [00:08:57] Excellent, thank you, Greg. And in summary, comps are very important. They can add and subtract a huge amount to the purchase price and they can significantly alter deal terms. Be sure you are positioned in the correct category and be sure to pursue the correct buyer group.

Sean Magennis [00:09:19] If you enjoyed the show and want to learn more, pick up a copy of Greg Alexander’s book titled The Boutique How to Start Scale and Sell a Professional Services Firm. I’m Sean Magennis. Thanks for listening.

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Episode 19: The Boutique: A Smart Strategy to Make Scaling Easier

A lack of lifecycle awareness and management prevents scale. It results in expensive senior people doing junior work. Boutiques with poor cash flow and low client satisfaction do not scale.

TRANSCRIPT

Sean Magennis [00:00:15] Welcome to the Boutique with Capital 54 a podcast for owners of professional services firms. My goal with this show is to help you grow scale and sell your firm at the right time for the right price and on the right terms. I’m Sean Magennis, CEO of Capital 54 and your host. On this episode, I’ll make the case boutiques often suffer from an identity crisis, and this makes scaling harder than it needs to be. I’ll try to prove this theory by interviewing Gregg Alexander, Capital 54’s founder and chief investment officer. Greg has developed an approach to solving this problem. It’s called lifecycle management. And I’d like him to share that with you. Greg, great to see you. Welcome.

Greg Alexander [00:01:09] Hey pal, good to be with you. I think it was Aristotle that once said when asked the key to happiness, know thyself. Today I’m going to modify this quote in state when asked the key to scaling know thy firm.

Sean Magennis [00:01:24] Excellent. So why do you feel boutiques need to know thyself when trying to scale?

Greg Alexander [00:01:31] Sometimes boutiques suffer from an identity crisis. They are unsure of the type of firm they are and the types of clients and projects they should pursue. This makes the challenge of scaling a boutique harder than it needs to be. You see, conflicting client needs drive, confusing staffing models, and this leads to overly complex financials. For instance, one month there is not enough work and employees are underutilized. And yet the next month the firm is at 120 percent capacity. These violent swings between boom and bust make it very hard to scale.

Sean Magennis [00:02:09] Yeah, I can see how this can make managing the boutique difficult and frustrating. So what advice do you have for listeners who might be suffering from this?

Greg Alexander [00:02:19] So the first step is to understand what type of firm you are, in my opinion. There are three types of firms. First, we have what we call an intellect firm. Intellect firm is hired by clients to solve difficult never before seen one of a kind problems. These firms are staffed by brilliant people, very senior, with lots of experience. An example might be a think tank or something like that where there’s P.H.D.’s everywhere. Second, we have what we call a wisdom firm, a wisdom firm decided by clients because they are a been there and done that style of firm. The client problem is new to that client, but is not a new problem. Others have had it and wisdom firms have accumulated the wisdom to solve this problem. These firms are staffed in a traditional sense. Partners, mid-level managers and some junior staff examples to think about from the consulting industry are firms like Bain and McKinsey and Boston Consulting Group. Third, we have what we call a method firm, a method firm hit hard by clients because of their unique methodologies. The problem is well understood by the client, but by hiring a method firm. It can be solved faster and a lot cheaper. These firms are staffed with lots and lots of junior staff who have been trained on this highly procedurized method. Examples are the BPO firms such as Accenture and the like.

Sean Magennis [00:03:59] Got it, Greg. So three types of firms, intellect, wisdom and method. But I’m I’m not connecting the dots as to how this understanding helps firms scale.

Greg Alexander [00:04:13] OK, so let me explain. So imagine you are in Method’s firm in one of your BD people sell an intellect like Project, a never before seen one of a kind problem. How will this project be staffed?

Greg Alexander [00:04:27] Well, it cannot be because a method firm does not have a bunch of gray haired P.H.D.’s lying around. This forces them to go outside the firm and either rent some contractors or hire some new talent. Both approaches come with different salaries and utilization rates, and this will blow up staffing in the financial models. Or let’s say imagine you are a wisdom firm and one of your BD guys goes after a method style project, one where the work can be off-shored or completed with junior staff. Well, in this instance, there will not be enough junior staff to do the work. So what happens? Senior expensive staff now must perform cheap junior level work. This destroys margins in the financial model.

Sean Magennis [00:05:10] Okay, now I get it. So the advice is to collect the type of client and the project to the type of firm you are. Only go off to work that the firm is staffed to handle based on skill level. By doing so, an owner, one of our listeners can predict the skills needed to perform the work. And with this understanding of required skills, the owner can forecast labor costs and utilization rates. And then, with precision on labor costs and utilization rates, the owner can more easily scale the firm. He or she can match the demand coming in with the supply on the org chart. Did I get this correct?

Greg Alexander [00:05:53] Yes, you did. You are about to ask me why owners do not do this. And the answer is because they lack discipline. They think all revenue is good revenue and they take any deal that comes their way when in fact some deals, if taken, can destroy a firm’s ability to scale. Adopting lifecycle management, which is what this is called, requires prudence to go without today for the promise of a better future. Greg, I get the concept, but I’m struggling a little to get the name. The lifecycle management. Can you explain it? Sure. So boutiques like humans have a lifecycle. For instance. They are born. They grow. They scale an exit much like a human is born. Comes of age, matures and dies.

Greg Alexander [00:06:50] And firms like humans are different based on where they are on the life curve. For example, is very common at birth, a firm is an intellect firm. The partners have some secret sauce to a brand new problem. Then as time passes, the secret sauce gets out.

Greg Alexander [00:07:10] Others have it and eventually it becomes a commodity. Well, an owner manages a firm very differently when it is an intellect firm than a wisdom or method firm. Everything is different from the pricing of deals to staffing, utilization, salaries, etc. So lifecycle management refers to the active management by the owner of the boutique as it scales through the lifecycle stages.

Sean Magennis [00:07:36] Okay, now I get it. And it does make a lot of sense. So this is an illustration as to why there are only about 4000 firms out of about one point five million that have actually reached scale. It’s hard to do. And it takes an exceptionally skilled owner to pull it off. And now a word from our sponsor. Collective 54, Collective 54 is a membership organization for owners of professional services firms. Members join to work with their industry peers to grow scale and someday sell live firms at the right time for the right price and on the right terms. Let us meet one of the collective 54 members.

Rich Campe [00:08:24] Hello. My name is Rich Campe. I’m the CEO of Pro Advisor Coach. We serve executive and leadership teams. We partner with organizations to create high performance team cultures of ownership and radical honesty. Our key is gamification. It’s about leverage versus effort. What if every player in your team knew if they were winning or losing both personally and as a team in 10 seconds or less? If you’re part of the collective 54 family, please reach out to me directly at 704-752-7760. Check us out at proadvisorcoach.com or [email protected].

Sean Magennis [00:09:05] If you are trying to grow scale or sell your firm and feel you would benefit from being a part of a community of peers, visit the collective54.com. So this takes us to the end of this episode. And as is customary, we end each show with a tool. We do so because this allows the listener to apply the lessons to his or her firm. Our preferred tool is a checklist. And our style of checklist is a yes-no questionnaire. We aim to keep it simple. By asking only 10 questions in this instance, if you answer yes to questions one through three. You are an intellect firm. If you answer to questions, four to six, you are wisdom firm. And if you answer yes to seven to nine, you are a method firm. And lastly, if you answer yes to question, ten lifecycle management should be a top priority.

Sean Magennis [00:10:10] Let’s begin. Number one, do your clients hire you for never before seen problems? Number two, do you employ leading experts in the field? Number three, do you have legally protected intellectual property? Number four, do your clients hire you because you have solved their problem before? Number five, do your clients hire you because you have direct, relevant case studies? Number six, do your clients hire you because you help them avoid common mistakes? Number seven, do your clients hire you because they are busy and need an extra pair of hands? Number eight, do your clients hire you because you can get the work done quickly? Number nine, do your clients hire you because you have an army of trained people to deploy immediately? And number ten, does your service offering start out as leading edge and over time become a commodity?

Greg Alexander [00:11:26] OK, so just a quick recap there. So yes, to one through three, your intellect. Yes to four to six, you’re wisdom. Yes to seven and nine, your method. And then obviously, number ten is regarding lifestyle management. So does your service offering start out as leading edge and over time become a commodity? If you answer the questions that answer, that question is yes, then you should prioritize lifecycle management.

Sean Magennis [00:11:48] Great. Thank you, Greg. So in summary, a lack of lifecycle awareness can make scaling more difficult than it needs to be. It can lead to poor cash flow and unhappy clients and employees.

Sean Magennis [00:12:01] If you enjoyed the show and want to learn more, pick up a copy of Greg Alexander’s book titled The Boutique How to Start Scale and Sell a professional services firm. I’m Sean Magennis. Thank you for listening.

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Episode 18: The Boutique: How to Determine if Now is The Time to Exit

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.

TRANSCRIPT

Sean Magennis [00:00:16] Welcome to the Boutique with Capital 54, a podcast for owners of professional services firms. My goal with this show is to help you grow scale and sell your firm at the right time for the right price and on the right terms. I’m Sean Magennis, CEO of Capital 54 and your host. On this episode, I will make the case that there is a good time to sell your boutique and a bad time to sell your boutique. I’ll try to prove this theory by interviewing Greg Alexander, Capital 54’s founder and chief investment officer. Greg has developed a set of indicators that firm owners can use to help time an exit. Greg, great to see you. Welcome.

Greg Alexander [00:01:07] Thanks, Sean. Good to be here. And what a great topic we have today.

Sean Magennis [00:01:09] Yeah, let’s jump right into it. So how can an owner of a boutique professional services firm determine if the time is right to exit?

Greg Alexander [00:01:17] The first point I’d like to make is that timing does really matter. Often firm owners do not appreciate this fact. They are compelled to sell for some personal or operational reason. And they put themselves up for sale regardless of the macro environment. And when they are unable to find a buyer, they get frustrated.

Sean Magennis [00:01:36] Greg. So true. And forecasting the future can be extraordinarily difficult. So how can a listener understand when the time is right?

Greg Alexander [00:01:48] So I’ve developed a list of indicators that can point to optimal timing. You’re right. Forecasting with precision is tough here, but there are some indicators that can maybe get you 80 percent of the way there. Things to pay attention to, allow me to share a few.

Sean Magennis [00:02:03] Great.

Greg Alexander [00:02:04] First. Pay attention to the deal activity in your niche. Niches get hot and they get cold. If firms like yours are being bought, this would suggest that it’s a good time to sell. Second, analyze the transactions and try to determine the drivers behind the recent activity. Why are firms like yours being purchased at this particular moment in time? This will indicate the strength of the trend. And if it is likely to continue, if it is, then it might be a good time to sell. And then third, it is wise to consider the point in the economic cycle. One finds themselves in, for example, during times of economic expansion, the ability to exit goes up. And in contrast, during times of recession, the ability to exit goes down. Are these making sense?

Sean Magennis [00:02:57] Yes. Greg, they they are. So really pay attention to deal activity in the niche, the drivers behind the activity as a trend predictor, and then the economic cycle. Those are reliable indicators one can use to time an owner’s exit. Are there any others?

Greg Alexander [00:03:18] There are some others. I would encourage our listeners to look at multi-year trends of their particular niche. Investors want exposure to growing markets. If your niche has a healthy organic growth growth rate and has for some time, this is an indicator. The timing is right.

Greg Alexander [00:03:38] I’d also point to the debt markets as they play a big role in the timing of an exit. If the banks are lending and are lending in a deals like yours, the ability to exit goes up a lot. If the banks are tightening, this restricts the funding available for your deal. And this will hurt your ability to close. And the last idea off the top of my head, expanding on the last comment is the pool of available capital in general. Are there large pools of available capital being deployed in your niche? For example, has your niche attracted private equity investors or private lenders or lots of strategic acquirers cetera? The larger the pool of available capital, the more likely you will be able to exit. Now, if the funds are not there, it will be very hard to pull off an exit.

Sean Magennis [00:04:32] Excellent additions to the list of indicators, Greg. So a multi-year organic growth rates, the state of the debt markets and the size of the available pools of capital. All these, our listeners can watch out for.

Sean Magennis [00:04:49] And now a word from our sponsor. Collective 54, Collective 54 is a membership organization for owners of professional services firms. Members join to work with their industry peers to grow scale and someday sell their firms at the right time for the right price and on the right terms. Let us meet one of the collective 54 members.

Bob Dianetti [00:05:15] Hello, my name is Bob Dianetti. I own BrainSpark Talent Development. We serve H.R. and learning and development leaders in the manufacturing and professional services industries. These clients turn to us for help with employee engagement issues. We solve this problem by workforce assessments, followed by pinpoint training interventions. If you need help with disengaged employees, reach out to us at www.brainsparktalent.com or [email protected]. Thank you very much.

Sean Magennis [00:05:48] If you are trying to grow scale or sell your firm and feel you would benefit from being a part of a community of peers, visit Collective54.com.

Sean Magennis [00:06:05] So this takes us to the end of this episode. And as is customary, we end each show with a tool. We do so because this allows a listener to apply the lessons to his or her firm. Our preferred tool is a checklist. And our style of checklist is a yes-no question. We aim to keep it simple. By asking only ten yes-no questions. In this instance, if you answer yes to eight or more of these questions, it is time to sell. If you answer no too many times, the timing may not be right. Let’s begin.

Sean Magennis [00:06:40] Number one, are they large pools of available capital in your niche? Number two, are the multi year industry trends in your niche favorable? Number three, are banks lending in your niche? Number four, are private lending institutions lending into your niche? Number five, are interest rates low, allowing for deals to get done? Number six, can your boutique handle a decent amount of debt on the balance sheet?

Greg Alexander [00:07:21] So that’s maybe a non obvious one and that’s related to interest rates. So most of these deals will be funded with both equity and debt.

Sean Magennis [00:07:30] Yes.

Greg Alexander [00:07:31] And when somebody is considering how much debt they can put on a deal, they’re thinking about the strain it would put on the PNL. So make sure you understand, you know, how much debt you can handle on your balance sheet and given the interest rate environment, what the debt service requirements would be on the business.

Sean Magennis [00:07:50] Excellent point, Greg. Number seven, are deals happening in your space? And Greg, a quick question on this one. Where does a boutique owner go to find out if deals are being done in the space?

Greg Alexander [00:08:03] Yeah, it’s difficult because most of these businesses are private. So they’re not publicly reported, you know, and required by law. But there’s all kinds of specialty data sources out there that track deal activity, particularly in the private equity world. So, I mean, simply just a Google search.

Sean Magennis [00:08:26] Yes. Then investment bankers who specialize in the space are…

Greg Alexander [00:08:30] That’s another great source for sure.

Sean Magennis [00:08:31] Excellent. Eight, do you know the drivers of this deal activity? Number nine, are you at the right point in the economic cycle? And number ten, if they had to, would a buyer make an all cash offer?

Sean Magennis [00:08:51] So in summary, there is a good time and a bad time to attempt an exit. Unfortunately, this is largely out of your control. However, there are indicators that can help you time your exit. Know what they are. Watch out for them. Listen to what the market is telling you. Be patient. Wait for the sun to be shining bright, then exit.

Sean Magennis [00:09:17] If you enjoyed the show and want to learn more, pick up a copy of Greg Alexander’s book titled The Boutique How to Start Scale and Sell a Professional Services Firm. I’m Sean Magennis. Thank you for listening.

Posted on

Episode 17: The Boutique: Where to Find the Cash to Scale

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. In this podcast episode, we look at where you can find cash flow when scaling a business.

TRANSCRIPT

Sean Magennis [00:00:15]: Welcome to the Boutique with Capital 54, a podcast for owners of professional services firms. This show aims  to help you grow, scale, and sell your firm at the right time, for the right price, and on the right terms. 

I’m Sean Magennis, CEO of Capital 54 and your host on this episode. I will make the case that boutiques run on cash-flow. They do not run on net income or EBITA. I’ll try to prove this theory by interviewing Greg Alexander, Capital 54’s chief investment officer. Greg is an expert at helping firm owners boost cash flow. Greg, good to see you. Welcome.

Greg Alexander [00:01:03]: Hey. Good to be with you. Do you remember the movie Jerry Maguire and the famous line, show me the money? Let’s start with that. So on the count of three, let me hear your best “Show me the money.” Are you ready?. One, two, three.

Sean Magennis [00:01:19]: Show me the money.

Greg Alexander [00:01:24]: Awesome, you’re a great sport. I think we’re ready to begin.

Sean Magennis [00:01:27]: Yes, we are, funny enough. I just watched that again recently. It’s a great movie.

Why is Cash Flow So Important When Scaling a Business?

Sean Magennis [00:01:32]: Okay. So why is cash flow more important than net income and EBITDA for a firm trying to scale.

Greg Alexander [00:01:41]: Sure. And when I say casual, I mean simply cash coming in and going out of a professional services firm. And it is different than net income. Net income is a profit a firm makes for a period and is often calculated for tax purposes. Whereas cash flow comes from daily activities, and cash flow is also different from  EBITDA because EBITDA does not consider capital expenditures, which are most definitely cash outflows.

Greg Alexander [00:02:06]: As to why it is more important to boutiques trying to scale, its firms run on cash. They are scaling a business, which means they are pouring the cash back into the business. They would rather invest it than give it to the government or a potential acquirer.

Sean Magennis [00:02:22]: Completely understood. And it’s often said entrepreneurs often seriously mismanage cash flow. Do you agree with the statement? And if so, is it relevant to our listeners?

Greg Alexander [00:02:34]: Yes and yes. In my capacity as Chief Investment Officer at Capital 54, I see our listeners, a.k.a. owners of boutique service firms, trying to raise capital when they don’t need it. They think they need X amount of capital to scale when in fact, they’re often generating enough cash from operations to fund scaling.

Sean Magennis [00:02:57]: And Greg, why does this happen?

Greg Alexander [00:02:59]: This happens because sometimes owners do not know how to boost cash flow because they are not measuring it properly.

Sean Magennis [00:03:06]: Please explain that to our listeners.

How to Scale a Service Business: Ways to Boost Cash Flow

Greg Alexander [00:03:08]: The best way to find ways to boost cash flow is to measure it correctly, and  the best way to measure it is at the project level. Measuring cash flow in the aggregate hides waste. Here’s a recent example. My team recently performed due diligence on a public relations firm seeking to raise growth capital, and they used the following formula. I wish I was on a whiteboard but bear with me here audio audience. 

So cash flow per project equals cash flow divided by fees times fees divided by staff times, and staff divided by project. This revealed a healthy six hundred and fifty thousand dollars per project in this instance. This told me the firm was generating plenty of cash to fund it’s  aggressive expansion plan. Yet they were on a Zoom with me looking to raise money, claiming they did not have enough cash. I’m not sure where the cash was leaking, but it was leaking like an old faucet.

Sean Magennis [00:04:14]: And Greg, the point is to measure cash flow at the project level, not at the firm level.

Greg Alexander [00:04:19]: Yes, exactly.

Sean Magennis [00:04:23]: And now a word from our sponsor. Collective 54 is a membership organization for owners of professional services firms. Members join our mastermind group to work with their industry peers to grow, scale, and someday sell live firms at the right time, for the right price, and on the right terms. Let us meet one of the Collective 54 members.

Nish Parikh [00:04:49]: Hello. My name is Nish Parikh. I owned Rangam Consultants, where empathy drives innovation every single day. We serve Fortune Global 500 companies for their I.T. and all business professional leads. We serve customers in the United States, Canada, Ireland, UK, and India. 

These customers turn to us for help with their disability and autism hiring programs. Every one of us is connected to someone on the autism spectrum or with a disability. The challenge is finding autism-friendly  jobs and matching them to the right candidate where they can be successful. We solve this problem by building a connected community in the workplace through technology. 

We build a formal, structured, and scalable program that seamlessly integrates with our clients’ existing hiring practices. If you need help with your disability and autism hiring program, reach out to me at [email protected] or visit sourceabled.com.

Sean Magennis [00:05:53]: If you are trying to grow, scale or sell your firm and feel you would benefit from being a part of a community of peers, visit the Collective 54 community page. .

Sean Magennis [00:06:10]: So this takes us to the end of this episode, and as is customary, we end each show with a tool. We do so because this allows a listener to apply the lessons to his or her professional services firm. 

Our preferred tool is a checklist. And our style of checklist is a yes-no questionnaire. We aim to keep it simple by asking only ten questions. In this instance, if you answer yes to eight or more of these questions, your cash flow is not your obstacle to scaling a business. If you answered no a lot, you are not generating enough cash to scale.

Sean Magennis [00:06:48]: So let’s begin. Question number one, will you run out of working capital if you double the size of your firm?

Greg Alexander [00:06:56]: So this happens all the time. You go sign up a bunch of work. You got net 30 terms, which means they pay net 60, and you’re literally growing yourself out of business.

Sean Magennis [00:07:07]: Yep. Got it. Number two, will you need short-term debt if you double your firm?

Greg Alexander [00:07:12]: So, in that instance, now you’re borrowing money just to make payroll.

Sean Magennis [00:07:18]: Number three, will you develop a collections problem if you double your firm.

Greg Alexander [00:07:24]: Here we go.

Sean Magennis [00:07:24]: You said it, right?

Greg Alexander [00:07:24]: Right. So all of a sudden, now you’re, instead of selling projects, you are  chasing bills.

Sean Magennis [00:07:28]: Yep. Number four, will your cash payments exceed your cash income if you double your firm?

Greg Alexander [00:07:36]: Payroll is going to kill you there. Right.

Sean Magennis [00:07:38]: Right. Number five, will you have a hard time getting enough cash on the balance sheet to double your firm?

Greg Alexander [00:07:45]: Right. So the way to handle that, if you’re going to have this cash flow problem, meaning you get paid after you do the work instead of before the work, is you get to build up cash reserves on your balance sheet to carry you through those times.

Sean Magennis [00:07:58]: Number six, when growth has spiked in the past, did your cash flow ever turn negative?

Greg Alexander [00:08:05]: Yep.

Sean Magennis [00:08:06]: Number seven, will payroll growth exceed accounts receivable growth when you double your boutique? 

Greg Alexander [00:08:13]: Yep.

Sean Magennis [00:08:14]: Number eight, will cash flow problems be hidden due to lack of forward visibility?

Greg Alexander [00:08:20]: That happens all the time.

Sean Magennis [00:08:22]: Number nine, will it be hard to generate yield on your cash deposits? Specifically in today’s day and age.

Greg Alexander [00:08:30]: Yes, exactly.

Sean Magennis [00:08:31]: And number ten, will you be at risk of paying your future obligations if you double your firm?

Greg Alexander [00:08:37]: Right. So, I mean, literally, if you think about it, if you’re one of these high growth businesses, which is our listeners, you can grow yourself into a lot of cash flow problems. So you got to be aware of that by asking yourself these ten questions. And there’s so many easy fixes here.

Sean Magennis [00:08:54]: Yes.

Greg Alexander [00:08:54]: And that’s probably content for another episode. But the easiest one just to give you the silver bullet is to get paid in advance. If you get paid in advance, you don’t have these issues.

Sean Magennis [00:09:04]: Love it. So, in summary, boutiques run on cash. They do not run on net income or EBITDA. Do not run out of cash as you try to scale.

Sean Magennis [00:09:16]: If you enjoyed the show and want to learn more, pick up a copy of Greg Alexander’s book titled “The Boutique: How to Start Scale and Sell a Professional Services Firm.” Greg, thanks for being here. I’m Sean Magennis, and thank you, our listeners.

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