Here is a typical story of how boutique consultancies get started.
You have outstanding experts working for a large consulting firm. Over the years, they have acquired deep expertise. Their clients are happy. They’ve established strong connections in the industry and earned an excellent reputation for their excellence in work.
Some of these consultants decide to take control of their schedules and client work and start a boutique consultancy firm.
They start 'hassling' in their pursuit of growth and quick wins. They take on almost every project or opportunity that comes their way. They just started a new business, so securing as many clients as possible for them makes sense!
They start hiring people to help work on all these different projects. However, it seems that the ‘hassle’ and the ‘grind’ never stop. Instead of working on the business and setting up strategic goals, these boutique consultancy owners are constantly working in the trenches of the consultancy business. I get that. I’ve been there.
They deliver client projects, develop business, manage the project pipeline and CRM, prepare client contracts and invoices, post on social media, hire and train new consultants, join calls with prospects, attend events, and do dozens of other things.
After a couple of years, they start feeling frustrated. Maybe even tired. What initially was the desire to take control over their schedules and consulting business has now turned into a never-ending cycle of putting out fires and trying to keep the business afloat.
Their quality of life is at an all-time low.
How did this happen? Why did these consultancy owners get stuck in this vicious loop? And is there a way out?
The reason I’m writing this article is because I’ve been there.
I was ensnared in the whirlwind of my boutique consultancy in my early consulting years. The excitement of saying yes to every project that came my way was exhilarating. Word had spread that I started my consultancy and got project requests quickly. How thrilling!
Unfortunately, my ego was also my demise and, in hindsight, a blessing as it forced me to take a step back and radically change my approach.
Recommended reading: How a Consultancy Can Get Crushed by the Ego of Its Owners
However, I took on every client that contacted me for a while there. It was the allure of being able to pick my clients and being in demand, the allure of running my own business and thinking I’ll have all the freedom in the world.
But that’s where the trap lies. I wasn’t really picking my clients. I was saying yes to every opportunity, irrespective of how neatly aligned it was with my immediate area of expertise.
I justified it by saying that I love the variety in consulting work—every day is different, right? Nothing is boring about that!
Here’s the thing. After a while, the joy of variation fades. The stress that comes with constantly juggling a hundred different tasks for dozens of clients without a possibility of a more balanced life on the horizon stays.
It’s a trap!
"I hear this ‘I love variation’ almost every week. And that’s why most consulting leaders and their consultancies go unnoticed. Their generic and uninspired approach fails to connect with prospects and/or leave a lasting impression."
Unfortunately, many boutique consultancy owners come to me when they already spent a few years in that trap – overworked, overextended, disillusioned.
Fortunately, there is a way out.
One of the first things I do in my work with boutique consulting firms is review and discuss the consultancy's positioning.
What is their place in the crowded and highly competitive marketplace? What problems do they solve for their clients, and how do they communicate that?
Unsurprisingly, there is almost always a direct link between the quality and specificity of a consultancy's positioning and performance. The more fragmented the service offering (and that's unfortunately often the case) and the more varied the work, the more the consultancy struggles.
“Luk, why narrow? I love solving diverse problems in my work”.
That’s the ‘official story’ that I hear a lot. These consultancy owners and leaders are fooling themselves. This variation is a distraction that comes at the expense of their quality of life (and their margins, you bet).
The wider the range of services a consultancy offers and the more fragmented its target audience, the more unknowns there are.
Variation and fragmentation mean that each project is different. The resources required to deliver on this variation become unpredictable. So does the schedule. There is no standardisation of processes, no repetition, and poor project efficiency.
How could there be? When the demands of each project are different, there is no possible way to achieve a high level of efficiency!
This is the remarkable strength of focused positioning.
"Strive for the narrowest possible positioning of your consultancy! Control your ego, you don’t need to crush everything. If you go to market trying to crush everything, the consultancy will play in the pricing rat race. And that’s the end of your quality of life."
Recommended reading: Why High-Performance Consultancies Are Obsessed with Specificity
Narrow positioning enables consulting firms to develop deep expertise. That’s what project repetition does.
The more a consultancy works on addressing the same types of pain points for the same narrowly defined target audience, the more knowledge it acquires about every aspect of those pain points. It can now see patterns, predict outcomes, and deliver truly transformational work for clients and their businesses.
And that’s what clients want! That’s what they are willing to pay premium fees for. They want exceptional experts who can see what the clients and their teams don’t and who can diagnose the root cause of their problem instead of working on a superficial level addressing symptoms.
Deep expertise is a superpower. It's energizing and fulfilling. The basic formula here is as follows:
Recommended reading: Why Repetition Is the Path to Becoming a High-Performance Consultancy
And isn’t the quality of life the ultimate goal?
The freedom to confidently make business decisions, take a vacation and disconnect, enjoy time with loved ones, read a book, engage in sports, or devote time to a hobby—so many consultancy owners are striving for that balance in their lives!
I only work four days a week. That was my intention when I started my consulting business. My goal was to do meaningful work that would have a positive, transformational impact on my clients while, at the same time, having the time to enjoy all the other things I love – writing, cycling and mountain biking, for example.
I knew the only way to do that was to eliminate distractions and make my work as efficient as possible. I’ve already experienced for the past decade what it feels like to run a consulting business when you say yes to every opportunity and overload yourself with variety, and what it’s like when you stay focused and develop deep expertise. I knew which path I didn’t want to repeat.
Protecting my freedom, mental health, and quality of life is the foundation of my consultancy business model.
And it works.
That’s why I’m adamant in my message to boutique consultancies' owners and partners. I advise them to strive to narrow the consultancy's focus, specialize, and develop deep rather than broad expertise to break out of the vicious loop of unpredictability.
To build a reputable name, a boutique consultancy must take bold and unconventional actions. It must be willing to shake things up, take risks, and push itself out of its ‘I-love-variation’ comfort zone.
Rather than blending in with the crowd, a consultancy should strive to stand out with its focused, deep expertise by igniting a spark and burning brighter than the competition.
Variation is tiring. And it doesn’t sell.
As consultancy owners and leaders navigate the challenges and opportunities of running their boutique consultancies, my advice is clear: They should embrace narrow positioning, develop deep expertise, control their ego, cherish their craft, streamline and standardize methodologies and processes, and prioritize their well-being to build a sustainable, profitable, and fulfilling business.
By aligning their operations with their core values and passions, they can create a consultancy that thrives in the marketplace, enhances their quality of life, and contributes positively to their teams and clients.
I didn’t invent this blueprint for success. I merely followed the path that so many other experts before me have already paved. It’s the path that was created by the market – deep expertise has been a game-changer for me.
When we focus on working smarter, not harder, everything starts to fall into place. And when we focus on quality of life first, our work becomes more meaningful and fulfilling.
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