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Pro Serv Blogs

Why Your Professional Services Firm Needs a Voice of the Client Program

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Boutique firms often struggle to scale because they lose touch with what their clients truly need. Yesterday’s solutions may no longer be relevant today. Without a consistent way to listen and adapt, you risk missing valuable growth opportunities—or worse, becoming obsolete. Firms with strong Voice of Client programs deeply understand their clients’ needs, are able to uncover hidden revenue opportunities, and better develop targeted services that solve the problems clients value most.

Pro Serv Blogs

Mastering Earnouts in Service Firm Sales: Strategies for Success

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When the journey of running your own service firm – be it a consulting firm, a marketing agency, or a software development shop – draws towards a chapter change with a sale, the term “earnout” often becomes a central piece of the conversation. This financial arrangement can either be a boon, ensuring you reap the benefits of your firm’s future success post-sale, or a complex challenge to navigate. Understanding earnouts, why they’re particularly common in the service industry, and how to ensure you get paid in full, or what steps to take if you don’t, is crucial. This article aims to demystify this process and suggest a support network through Collective 54, where shared experiences and wisdom can guide you through.

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

Hire Slow, Hire Right: Lessons from Our Growth Journey

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My dad founded Corporate Insight in 1992 as a solo marketing research practitioner. He was content in that role—until 1997, when he hit on an idea to productize research. That’s when I joined him, and within three months, we launched our new service and made our first non-family hire. At the time, we thought we’d stay a small, five-person operation. But the market had other ideas, and as demand grew, so did our team.

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

Coaching As A Leadership Style

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As we’ve been focused on scaling our company over the last two years, there have been a few moments that have keenly challenged and clarified my approach to leadership. Despite the professional services setting, in these challenging moments, I keep thinking back to my professional roots as a high school basketball and football coach. Market Eminence isn’t about being the loudest in the room; it’s about commanding more respect, earning higher trust, and building a permanent presence in your industry.

Pro Serv Blogs

At the Crossroads: A Founder’s Deep Dive into Transition Options with Collective 54

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In the heart of every entrepreneur lies the dream of freedom—the freedom to create, to lead, and ultimately, to transition on one’s own terms. This is the story of a software development firm’s founder, a visionary who, after years of dedication, found himself at a crossroads. His journey of exploration through Collective 54 unveiled not just options for his transition, but a deeper understanding of what each path entailed. Here, we delve into the eight avenues he considered, illuminating the complexity and potential of each.

Pro Serv Blogs

AI Won’t Save Your Firm, But Your People Will (If You Let Them)

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AI won’t transform your firm. Your people will, but only if you give them the tools and expectation to use it every day. The biggest mistake firms make? Treating AI like another piece of soft-ware and keeping it locked away with a handful of ‘experts’ instead of embedding it into how everyone works. If that’s your strategy, you’re setting yourself up for failure.

Pro Serv Blogs

Scaling a Professional Services Firm is Like Traveling to the Moon — It Isn’t Rocket Science: Part 2 – The Small Team Engine

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Launching a rocket to the Moon and scaling a professional services firm to the top of its industry share similarities – both endeavors require immense effort, strategic planning, and overcoming significant challenges like gravity, drag, and heat generation. Traveling to the Moon parallels the stages of scaling a firm to the top:

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