When we started expanding SureStep internationally in 2009, the world looked very different. The G7 dominated global economics, the US dollar reigned supreme, and “going global” seemed like a straightforward extension of domestic success. Fast-forward to 2025, and nearly everything about international expansion has changed.
If you run a boutique professional services firm, you’ve likely felt the ground shift under your feet: slower inbound, elongated cycles, clients insourcing, price pressure from AI, and teams stretched thin. The symptoms are familiar; the diagnosis varies. This post offers a practical, founder-friendly playbook, rooted in Greg Alexander’s The Boutique and fresh insights from fellow C54 founders, to stabilize revenue, rebuild momentum, and emerge stronger.
In May, I argued that 2026 growth planning has to start journey-first—not budget-first. Map how buyers actually discover, evaluate, and choose you; then align teams and targets to that reality.
One of the hardest parts of running a professional services firm is keeping great clients and growing with them. Too often, founders fall into the trap of treating every client the same. That works in the early days, when you are just trying to get revenue in the door. But as your firm matures, that approach stalls growth.
I’ve long believed in the transformative power of habits. Small, recurring actions have an extraordinary ability to compound, producing significant value over time.
Last year, Eclipse Consulting Group launched our internal “Eclipse Academy” where we have been investing formally in the strategic development of our employees to be better professionals and consultants through a blend of structured offerings around everyday learning, core training, and targeted skill-building.
In the competitive landscape of Professional Services, boutique firms often face the challenge of growing, scaling, and eventually exiting successfully. Collective 54, the first community exclusively for founders of Professional Services firms, is dedicated to helping its members achieve these objectives. One effective strategy that firms can adopt is the Win, Keep, and Grow approach. This blog will explore how focusing on these three simple concepts can lead to profitable growth.
Let’s be honest: your to-do list is lying to you.
It looks productive. It feels necessary. But in reality, it’s a guilt trip disguised as a plan — a mashup of legacy tasks, half-finished habits, and things you swore you delegated but somehow ended up doing again this week.
Before I started Collective 54, I had a front-row seat to the power of peer advisory groups. I’ve been in rooms where wisdom flowed from experienced operators, where confidential issues were unpacked, and where lifelong business friendships were formed.
Collective 54’s Greg Alexander frames the lifecycle of a professional services firm as a 15-year journey: 5 years of growth, 5 years of scale, and 5 years to exit. If I had followed that path, I’d be on my third company by now.