In today’s noisy, competitive marketplace, building Market Eminence is essential for CEOs, founders, and senior leaders who want to stand out, earn respect, and lead with authority.
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.
Why Tracking Time Matters More Than You Think. I recently spoke with a buyer of professional service firms. I asked him: “What’s one thing you think sellers must have perfected for you to purchase them at a premium price?” He didn’t hesitate.
Ouch.
Frustrated and anxious, she asked me: what does it take?
Only four things, I told her. Do this and I guarantee it won’t happen next time.
The Collective 54 members at the Founders Summit last October completed an exercise that forced us to summarize our work succinctly to uninformed audiences. Frankly, most of us seemed to struggle mightily with completing the C54 “haiku”:
For small service firms, such as marketing agencies and consulting firms, crafting a retainer relationship with clients is a strategic move that can lead to stable revenue streams and stronger client relationships. But what exactly is a retainer? At its core, a retainer is a contract between a firm and a client that outlines the services the firm will provide, the duration of the service, and the payment terms. Unlike fixed-price projects, which are priced based on the scope of work, retainers are based on time – offering services within a set period for a predefined fee.
One of the toughest transitions for consulting firm owners is letting go of client work. It’s easy to worry that stepping back might jeopardize client relationships you’ve spent years cultivating. After all, clients often come to us for our expertise and personal touch. But holding on too tightly to client work can actually hinder growth—for your firm, your team, and even your clients.
Nick Saban, one of the greatest college football coaches of all time, famously preaches that success comes from focusing on the process rather than the outcome. While this philosophy works well on the football field, business operates under a different set of rules. Unlike football, where plays and strategies are highly controlled, the business world is filled with unpredictable variables. That’s why, as leaders, we must prioritize outcomes over processes while still respecting the importance of a strong operational foundation.
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.
As a founder, you’ve poured your heart and soul into building your professional services firm. You’ve navigated countless challenges, celebrated hard-won victories, and perhaps have reached a point where you realize you can’t do it all alone. Many founders find themselves becoming bottlenecks, which directly impacts both growth and profitability.
Owners of boutiques are either focused on growing, scaling or exiting their Proserv firms. This post is focused on those owners looking to scale their firms. Many of us struggle to scale, even after years of positive growth. I have heard this from many of my peers in Collective 54. I have experienced it myself. So what’s the problem? Why do we fail to scale?
In the early days of building a professional services firm, the allure of scaling can be hard to resist. The vision of a thriving, self-sustaining company is compelling, but scaling too soon is the number one startup killer. Even in the best-case scenario, premature scaling can force you to backtrack or even start over.
