Once upon a time, there was a founder named Alex. He had a vision, a dream to build something extraordinary, a next generation marketing agency. With passion, creativity and determination, he launched his own marketing agency, eager to make his mark on the world
Scaling a services firm takes more than hiring salespeople and boosting your marketing budget. This is a common, major, and costly oversight. The cost of this mistake is typically $450k to $3 million in direct costs and lost sales. At Collective 54, we call these avoidable things that are simply down to a lack of experience “dumb taxes”. This cost is incurred before the founder realizes they skipped the steps needed to build the foundations correctly because they have not done it before. It often takes 2-3 years for founders to run out of patience with burning cash and not growing. Then, they take action to fix it. The solution is creating a systematic, replicable sales and marketing process that can grow along with your business.
I get it – most professional services companies get paid for what they do rather than what they get done. The uncomfortable truth is that you are producing much more value than you are being paid for. All to say this: Your company can and should be compensated better for what you do – and it’s your fault that you’re not. That’s Ok, you can also fix it.
A few years ago, we advised a group of professional services sellers in connection with a dream of an acquisition event: $100 million+ exit as a platform company to a well-known private equity group within the professional services space. The deal promised not only a healthy cash payment of $50-60mm at closing, but potentially, future riches from the sale of the owners’ rollover equity once the business achieved another exit at an even higher valuation.
Once upon a time, there was a founder named Alex. He had a vision, a dream to build something extraordinary, a next generation marketing agency. With passion, creativity and determination, he launched his own marketing agency, eager to make his mark on the world
When we founded Tenzing, we set out to build a firm grounded in our personal values. This included, among other things, partnering and collaborating with like-minded Experts, Operators, and Practitioners. Reflecting on this journey, one factor that has remained constant over the past twenty-two years is the importance of expanding and nurturing our network. What began as a way to source Experts to staff projects, has evolved into one of the most effective methods for meeting potential clients. In this blog post, we will share some of the personal lessons we’ve learned about how to enhance your network while simultaneously boosting client acquisition.
I attended a B2B conference a while ago and learned an interesting fact about today’s buyer journey.
It came up in a conversation with the founder of a marketing agency and a key member of Google’s team responsible for digital marketing certifications. They shared that today’s buyers need up to 27 touchpoints before making a purchase decision.
What immediately popped into my head was the time and effort needed to provide these touchpoints. This was quickly followed by the thought that scaling content could not only foster this journey but also drive business growth.
Are you a founder of a boutique professional service firm searching for solutions to the challenges your firm is facing? Have you been enjoying Collective 54’s insightful content? If so, you might be wondering how you can take your involvement to the next level and become a valued member of the Collective 54 mastermind community. In this blog post, we will outline the 10 steps that many of our happy and respected members have taken on their journey to success.
IAs founders of boutique professional service firms, you understand the delicate balance between providing exceptional service and maintaining profitability. In an industry where client satisfaction is paramount, it’s natural to want to go above and beyond to meet every client’s expectation. However, there comes a time when over-servicing can have detrimental effects on your firm’s bottom line. In this article, we’ll explore when to over-serve a client and when not to, with a focus on profitability and client relationships
In the world of small service firms, the journey from struggling to thriving can be a daunting one. Each firm’s unique challenges and complexities can often seem insurmountable, especially for those who have dedicated their lives to building their businesses. But as the saying goes, “When one door closes, another one opens.” For one member of Collective 54’s mastermind community, this sentiment rang true, leading to a transformative shift that turned his unsellable lifestyle firm into an attractive acquisition target.
