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Pro Serv Blogs

As You Seek Success in the Long Game, Gain Confidence from the Small Signs of Progress

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When Greg Alexander asked me to be one of many irregular bloggers for the Collective 54 community, I embraced my role as the entrepreneur in a smaller company. Most notably, that is where I believe I fit within our community – one of the CEOs with fewer than 20 employees, knowing that the transition from CEO to Founder is necessary but not quite as easy as it seems for other C54 quarterbacks with broader and deeper benches behind them.

Pro Serv Blogs

Traveling Collective 54 While on a Budget – A Time Budget

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From the start, I want to acknowledge that this blog may not be for everyone in the Collective 54 family.
For some, Collective 54 is as much a part of each day as that second cup of coffee or the trip through the Business section of the Wall Street Journal. You wear your 30% annual EBITDA growth like a finely tailored suit. You have a strong and deep team behind you that lets you focus fully on scaling and your eventual successful exit.

Pro Serv Blogs

The Top Ten Reasons It’s Impossible to Time the Exit of Your Firm

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Welcome, members of Collective 54. Today, we’re delving into a topic that touches the core of entrepreneurial ventures and the dreams of every founder – the exit strategy. Exiting, or selling your firm, is often seen as the culmination of a founder’s hard work and vision. However, the idea of timing this exit perfectly is more myth than reality. Here are the top ten reasons why it’s virtually impossible to time the exit of your firm precisely:

Pro Serv Blogs

The Unspoken Truths Behind Selling Your Professional Services Firm

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As founders of boutique professional services firms navigate the intricate journey of building, scaling, and perhaps eventually selling their businesses, the narrative surrounding the reasons for these exits often skims over the surface of deeper, unvoiced motivations. At Collective 54, we’ve witnessed firsthand 40 successful exits and nearly 200 attempts that fell short. This unique vantage point has revealed the underlying drivers that founders themselves may not openly acknowledge. Let’s delve into these unspoken truths and understand the real reasons behind the decision to sell.

Pro Serv Blogs

The Value (and Challenge) of Forecasting Accuracy

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In any business an accurate forecast is one of the most valuable things one can achieve. An accurate forecast is the basis of effective resources planning and reduction of risk in the business. As we think about recruiting, hiring, and resources without an accurate forecast, our plans are merely guesses. Many of us are also thinking about maximizing our exit valuation. The ability to forecast accurately reduces business risk significantly thereby increases business value.

Pro Serv Blogs

From Visionary to Victory: Ensuring a Triumphant Exit to PE

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As Founder & CEO of your firm, you are ready for the next chapter. But the change and the effort feel daunting. Those fears are standing between new beginnings and dreams you’ve cherished for years. Personal evolution meets business transformation is finally here.

The road ahead is both thrilling and full of challenges requiring careful navigation. The exit demands balancing personal dreams and sharp business strategy.

Pro Serv Blogs

Why Sabbaticals Could Be the Key to Unlocking Your Firm’s Scalability and Value

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Since college, I have been a hustle-and-grind professional. It only got worse when I became an entrepreneur and ran my own show. I’d never taken more than a week-long vacation. Then recently, in September 2024, I took a huge leap and embarked on a once-in-a-lifetime journey: hiking the Camino de Santiago, a medieval pilgrimage route spanning 500 miles from the Pyrenees in France to northwest Spain. My wife and I hiked it in 26 days, carrying everything we needed on our backs. While it started as a personal adventure, it became a transformative experience for me and unexpectedly for my company.

Pro Serv Blogs

The 80/20 Rule on Preparing for an Exit for a Professional Services Firm: A Founder’s View

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Exiting a professional services firm will be a founder’s most consequential event. It will be the peak of their entrepreneurial journey. As a founder, I recently sold my firm to a growth-oriented private equity firm. Our sale process took 10 weeks, from the Letter of Intent to closing day. My M&A advisors have told me that our process was among the smoothest and most efficient they have ever seen. One key reason for this is the preparation completed before the process. There is a lot to prepare with limited time, so it is important for you to focus on the biggest bang for your buck. The 80/20 rule, also known as the Pareto Principle, states that 80% of outcomes come from 20% of causes for any given event. For your exit event, focus on the 20% of prep that yields 80% of the success. Here is what I focused on:

Pro Serv Blogs

Stop Selling and Grow Your Business

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When I joined my father’s marketing research company in 1997 as his first employee, I had no idea that letting go of sales would ultimately 10x our revenue. My initial role was building our new research service, while my father handled all sales. Since our new service was an upsell to existing clients, the sales process was relatively straightforward at first.

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