Pro Serv Podcast by Collective 54

Supply and demand will impact your exit. Take the time to strategically approach the market. The goal is to build a wide and deep universe of potential buyers. And there are more buyers than you realize. Many of which would like to hear your compelling rationale for a deal. http://www.collective54.com/

Know your worth. Do not undervalue yourself. What you do is exceptional. Price accordingly. The clients you want know this and will pay you with a smile.  You do not want the clients who are unwilling to pay you fairly. http://www.collective54.com/

Yield is the most looked at metric for boutiques. Owners and CEOs obsess over utilization rates. Many have reached the point of diminishing returns. More attention needs to be placed on making your boutique more valuable to clients. There are many ways to do that. However, hyper specialization has the highest probability of success. http://www.collective54.com/

Comparables are important. They can add, or subtract, from the purchase price. They can be the difference between acceptable, or unacceptable, terms. Be sure you are in the correct category. And be sure to pursue the correct buyer group. http://www.collective54.com/

A lack of lifecycle awareness and management prevents scale. It results in expensive senior people doing junior work. This destroys cash flow. And it results in inexperienced junior people doing senior work. This destroys client satisfaction.  Boutiques with poor cash flow and low client satisfaction do not scale. http://www.collective54.com/

There is a good time to sell. And there is a bad time to sell. Unfortunately, this is largely out of your control. Focus on building a highly desirable boutique and be patient. Wait for the sun to be shining. http://www.collective54.com/

Boutiques run on cash. They do not run on net income nor EBITDA.  Some boutiques neglect the management of cash flow. Take a moment to understand how you can improve the flow in and out.  http://www.collective54.com/

What have you done for me lately? Buyers of your boutique are purchasing who you are becoming. They are not buying who you have been. Yesterday is worthless to them. They are looking forward. And need to be excited about your potential to improve. http://www.collective54.com/

Boutique firms often grow but do not scale. Growth means more projects delivered with the same type of staff. If nothing changes, then the growth rate is proportional to the number of partners/owners required. This means the profit pool increases but it must be shared with more partners/owners. More growth means the need for more partners/owners. This results in a bigger boutique but no increase in income or wealth for the founders. Improved leverage means improved incomes and wealth for the founders.  http://www.collective54.com/

The “wow” factor matters. Like it, or not, you are in show business. You are an expert. And your firm is made up of experts. No one wants to buy the boutique who regurgitates other people’s innovations. They want to buy the songwriters, aka The Rolling Stones. http://www.collective54.com/