Pro Serv Blog

Every post we have published for founders of boutique professional services firms.

Close the Gap Between What They Said and What You Heard

You just finished a big call. A real prospect. The kind that could change your year. You took notes the entire time. Two pages. You feel good about it.

Julie Rogers

From ‘Sold Project’ to ‘Strategic Partner’: How to Grow Inside Existing Clients

Most professional services firms put the majority of their energy into winning new business. New logos, new pipelines, new pursuits.

Justin Wasserman

Your Next Sales Hire Has a 50% Chance of Failing. Here's How to Beat the Odds

About half of sales leaders fail in their first 18–24 months. That's according to Harvard Business Review. If you're a founder hiring someone to sell your expertise, those aren't great odds.

Elizabeth Gese

Planning for the Plateau: Why Consulting Firms Stall at $10M and How to Break Through

For many consulting firms, reaching $10 million in revenue feels like a major milestone. And it is.

Jimmy Leppert

Speed Isn’t About Execution. It’s About Decision-Making.

Why faster work isn’t leading to faster timelines Artificial intelligence is changing professional services. Clients now expect work to be faster, cheaper, and better.

Leo Falkenstein

Cash Flow vs. Profit: Why Profitable Companies Still Run Out of Money

It’s a financial paradox that baffles many business owners: the Income Statement shows a healthy profit, but the bank account balance keeps dropping.

Helina Patience

The AI Lab: The Good, the Bad, and the Stuff That Blew Up in My Face

"Your scientists were so preoccupied with whether they could, they didn't stop to think if they should." — Dr.

Michael Gibbs

Luck Is What Happens When Preparation Meets Opportunity

And in professional services, the opportunity is already here. Seneca said it first. "Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity." Founders love that quote. They put it on LinkedIn.

Jeff Klaumann

Why Growth Still Depends on You and How to Fix It with Systems and AI

Over the past several months, I have found myself in a familiar set of conversations with founders and leadership teams. The business is healthy, the work is strong, and the pipeline is active.

Brian Kerlin

You're Renting Your Place in the Market. It's Time to Own It.

I just got back from a speaking trip in the New York/New Jersey area. And I had one of those moments that just stops you cold.

Lori Turner- Wilson

ProServ Firms That Don’t Systematize Delivery With AI Will Lose To Those Who Do

Here is what I believe is happening right now. Many of us are intellectually keeping up with artificial intelligence. But we are not keeping up with changing how our firms operate with AI.

Eric L. Weisgarber

The Old Rule Was “Standardize to Scale.” AI Just Broke That Tradeoff

A member said something last week that I’m still thinking about. His firm built a tool that saved entry level associates about four hours on every deck they created.

Julie Rogers

The Skills Economy Is Here. Is Your Expertise Ready to Deploy?

Picture this. Your firm's best partner has a client onboarding process that takes three days and produces consistently great results.

Alex Bratton

Your Invisibility Is Costing You Deals, Talent, and Your Exit

Over the past several years, I've worked hands-on with four investor-backed leaders across four industries.

Justin Nassiri

Your AI Strategy Is Not a Strategy — Unless Your Fundamentals Are

Jim Collins introduced the concept of the Big Hairy Audacious Goal — the BHAG — in Good to Great as a clarion call for bold, long-range thinking.

Ken Yager

Failure to Fire Causes More Problems Than It Solves

We see it every week, and most of the time it was avoidable. There's someone in the business who needs to go. You know it. Their co-workers know it. Half the management team knows it.

Todd Stanton

When Compliance Becomes Competitive Advantage

Most professional services firms treat compliance as a burden. More rules. More documentation. More audits. The natural instinct is to do the minimum required and move on.

Scott Arias

The Great Divide in M&A — Courtesy of the AI Impact

Imagine a private equity investment committee reviewing two nearly identical companies. Both generate $30 million in revenue. Both operate in the same industry and serve similar customers.

Tom Zucker

The Biggest Driver of EBITDA

As boutique professional services owners, most of us are trying multiple ways to profitably grow our business.

Brian Doyle

What a CFO Needs to Hear Before We Pay for Outcomes

If your outcome-based pricing proposal hit my inbox, it would likely get rejected. Not because the concept is wrong, but because the attribution is lazy.

Rob Ripp

Outside Capital: What Are You Really Giving Up in Return?

As professional services founders, we all understand that in the course of founding and scaling a business, there are times when an infusion of cash becomes helpful, if not crucial: funding a hiring...

Frank Williamson

The AI CEO Who Spends 40% of His Time on Culture

I'm getting whiplash from my professional services network right now. Every conversation is about AI. Every conference session is about AI.

Sel Watts

The Founder Who Stays in the Work (And Isn’t Sorry About It)

Greg Alexander is right. The founder bottleneck is real, it kills firms, and if you’re still the one doing everything three years after you should have delegated it — that’s on you.

William Lieberman

The Pitts Problem: How Your Professional Services Firm Is Trying to Kill You

And why your EAs, program managers and integrators might be letting it As pilots and FAA professionals we have friends that fly the Pitts S-1, one of the most legendary aerobatic biplanes ever built.

Charlton Evans

One Use Case at a Time: How to Build Your Firm's AI Skill

AI is reshaping professional services faster than anyone expected. The biggest consulting firms are using it to rethink how they develop strategy for clients.

Zach Witonsky