Episode 140: Unlocking Growth: Proven Strategies for Scaling Your Consulting Firm with Marc Jantzen
Feb 16, 2024
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Discover the unconventional journey of Marc Jantzen from managing fast-food franchises to scaling a consulting firm. Explore the challenges specific to consulting firms and the strategies for growth. Learn about the value of team development, addressing underperformance, value-based pricing, and evolving business propositions. Gain insights on career advice, book recommendations, and engaging with a marketing agency for consultancy success.
Success in consulting can stem from unconventional career paths, like managing fast-food franchises.
Establishing a clear value proposition is essential for consulting firms to stand out in the market.
Recruitment in consultancy requires identifying candidates who embrace coaching and display proactive behaviors.
Managing working capital by paying founders less and optimizing invoice policies is crucial for funding growth in consultancy firms.
Deep dives
Consultancy Growth Network Overview
The Consultancy Growth Network is the leading community of boutique consulting leaders, bringing together seasoned experts and founders seeking to replicate their success. Members benefit from access to regular events, a growth hub, and an active Slack community. The network offers a special sign-up offer for listeners to join, fostering learning, challenge-solving, and goal achievement for consulting firms.
Scaling Consultancy and Increasing Profitability
Mark Janssen shared insights on scaling consulting firms and increasing profitability, vital for success. He highlighted the importance of articulating a clear value proposition to stand out in the market. Mark discussed challenges faced by consultancies, such as articulating value propositions, building capability, and balancing client ownership.
Challenges Faced by Consultancy Leaders
Consultancy leaders often encounter common challenges, such as defining their value proposition, managing reliance on people, and balancing client ownership. Articulating value propositions and streamlining service lines can lead to increased market demand and client understanding, essential for growth.
Recruitment and Building High-Performing Teams
Recruitment in consultancy requires identifying candidates who welcome feedback, embrace coaching, and display proactive behaviors. Candidates' interactions with team members and clients during the recruitment process can reveal their adaptability, client-centric focus, and team-driven approach, critical for building high-performing teams.
Funding and Working Capital Management
Managing working capital and funding growth required paying themselves less as founders of Blue Skull to leave more money in the business for operational needs. This financial strategy allowed them to fund a growing business while maintaining necessary working capital. Implementing best practices in invoice policies and cash flow management further optimized their financial operations, emphasizing the importance of early payments and upfront funding.
Company Structure and Liability Consideration
The default structure for consulting firms tends to be limited companies over limited liability partnerships, often driven by the perception of increased liability protection. Consultants instinctually set up limited companies due to ease and traditional industry practices without considering partnership structures. The discussion unveiled potential tensions related to partnership dynamics and decision-making, highlighting the nuances between limited company and partnership settings.
Profit Growth and Pricing Strategies
Evolving from modest profit margins to significant profitability involved strategic shifts in pricing methodologies and value propositions. By focusing on achieving higher gross margins through bold pricing strategies, value-based selling, and profit matrix evaluations for each deal, the company transformed its financial performance. Emphasizing differentiation, intellectual property development, and cost documentation enabled substantial profit margin growth from 3-5% to 27% net margin, showcasing the impact of aligning pricing with value creation.
There are countless paths to achieving a successful consulting career, and on Climb In Consulting, we thought we’d heard them all. But who knew the secrets to scaling successful consulting firms could be learned while managing a fast-food franchise?
Marc Jantzen’s unique journey to becoming the consulting expert he is today, is a masterclass in reinvention and resilience. Get ready to dig your teeth into Marc’s story, which proves that sometimes, it’s the most unexpected paths that can lead to the most exciting careers.
After deciding the world of bean-counting wasn't his cup of tea, Chartered Accountant Marc took a radical leap into hospitality, taking on the role of managing a whole region of restaurants.
Having gained extensive management experience in that role, Marc joined his sister's firm, Blue Sky, and together they navigated the ever-changing landscape of the consulting industry for 17 years. Their journey culminated in a major coup – selling the firm to Capita, a testament to their strategic savvy and entrepreneurial spirit.
But instead of relaxing on a beach with a piña colada, as many others might have done, Marc embarked on the next stage of his adventure, advising other consulting firms on how they could achieve the growth that he and Blue Sky had.
That’s when he noticed a recurring pattern – common business challenges that were specific to the consulting world. And thus, The Consultancy Growth Network was born. Something Marc and Nick talk all about in this episode.
In this wisdom-packed interview, Marc shares his decades of knowledge on how to build a successful consulting firm, including:
Why working for KFC head office inspired him to pursue his own consultancy.
- The common challenges he sees consulting firms facing, time and time again – and how to overcome them
- Why defining, and refining, your value proposition might be the most important thing you do
- And how Blue Sky went from £30,000 profit one year to over £800,000 the next, and the lessons you can apply to enable your firm to do the same
If you’re currently planning how to scale your consultancy over 2024 and want to know the critical steps you can take to rapidly grow your firm, then this interview is a must listen.
We hope you enjoy the show!
Reach out to Marc: https://www.linkedin.com/in/thebusinessgrowthspecialist/
Learn more about The Consultancy Growth Network: https://hubs.la/Q02kQTTc0
Books, magazines, and websites mentioned in the show:
Beyond Performance by Scott Keller and Colin Price
SuperCoach by Michael Neal
Untethered Soul by Michael Singer
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