When it comes to business development, more is not always better. In fact, after two decades of working with thousands of professionals across law, accounting, and consulting firms, I can confidently say: the most successful business developers don’t chase a wide network. They focus on a short list — a small group of high-value relationships that consistently generate results.
Eighteen months ago, I made one of the most pivotal decisions of my CEO journey: forming an Advisory Board of seasoned industry leaders for Waterhouse Brands. Their mentorship has been transformational — fueling our growth with insight you simply can’t Google.
In an increasingly volatile market, staying ahead of shifts in customer buying behavior is key. A significant change in customer preferences or buying behaviors often serves as a trigger event for Go-to-Market (GTM) transformation. Recognition of these shifting buyer behaviors gives companies an opportunity to reassess their GTM strategies. The ability to pivot quickly is essential for success.
In 2010, Clayton Christensen, renowned professor at Harvard Business School and author of The Innovator’s Dilemma introduced a concept that every founder must eventually confront: the choice between being Rich or being King.
If you are a founder of a boutique professional service firm generating between $5 million and $50 million in revenue and $1 to $5 million in EBITDA, odds are you’ve thought about your exit. You’ve likely flirted with selling to a strategic buyer or private equity group. And if you’re like most Collective 54 members, you’ve probably run into the same roadblocks: no viable buyer, or a viable buyer who doesn’t give a damn about your employees or clients.
Wow, what a surprise when the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) decided to look at Federal government contracts. The number of specific contracts and grants that have been cancelled is amazing. Many were cancelled for the right reasons and some questionable as to whether the rationale for cancellation was fully vetted. You can review these cancellations at DOGE: Department of Government Efficiency.
What does the future hold? What should you expect? What are the trends and considerations?
The future looks bright. The next four years should be beneficial for companies looking to sell their wares in the government space. Whether a Professional Services / Management Consulting firm or a services company specializing in product support you should consider expansion and investment in this space.
Are you still relying solely on traditional SEO strategies while your competitors race ahead? Here’s a wake-up call: the search landscape has fundamentally changed. While you’re optimizing keywords and building backlinks, forward-thinking businesses are already leveraging AI-powered answer engines to dominate digital visibility.
Are you trying to impress your clients by doing more? It might be hurting your business and slowing your growth and scale journey.
It took me years to realize that running a profitable professional services firm made me a capital allocator. Not just a founder, not just a CEO, but someone responsible for making deliberate decisions about where profits go and what kind of future those decisions create.
Being called a vendor has always felt insulting to me. I’m talking with what I believe to be one of my great clients, and there it is; they refer to me as a vendor! I feel like someone has punched me in the gut. I start to get defensive in my mind, then I ask myself why they refer to me as that awful name? What I wanted from them is to call me “partner.” What am I missing? What are we doing wrong?
