| | Independent consultants
have always worked in
loose networks, but
making those networks
into something more
solid has always been
elusive. It’s one thing
to create fantastic
“virtual” communities of
expertise, but quite
another to create the
pipeline of clients and
projects to employ them.
This has posed
something of a dilemma
for the consultant who
wants to operate outside
the corporate framework,
but still wants to do
big projects for blue
chip clients and work in
a team with other
consultants.
One organisation that
believes it has squared
that circle is The
Consultancy Company,
whose consultants are
self-employed, but work
on an exclusive basis in
teams focused on supply
chain and the public
sector.
“To all intents and
purposes we act as a
practice,” explains
managing director Tim
Richardson. “Most of our
clients are probably
unaware that we operate
this business model. In
fact we do question
whether it’s something
which we should make
more capital of.”
This model should not
be confused with the
franchise consultancies
which sprang up in the
1990s, many of whose
business models seemed
to revolve more around
the franchise fees than
client engagements.
“We take singleton | |
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| | the SME marketplace,”
says Richardson. We look
for people with at least
10 years’ experience at
senior management level
and a proven track
record of change.”
This gives the
company a somewhat
different profile from
standard consultancies:
“A lot of our people
wouldn’t get into big
consultancies, not
because of their
capability but because
of their age,” says
Richardson.
New consultants go
through an induction
programme of about 12
days of support and
tuition with a strong
emphasis on selling
consultancy.
“Most people have
good management and
consultancy skills but
not the ability to
sell,” says Richardson.
“Most people who leave
either haven’t been able
to get hold of the sales
process or have been
poached back into
corporate life. We try
to guard against that—we
can generally tell with
most people where their
heart lies.”
Clients are found
through personal
networks, as well as
from specific activities
like telemarketing,
attending conferences
and a seminar programme.
Whoever finds a lead
gets to put together the
team. While the company
provides guidelines,
it’s up to individuals
to agree the fee split.
“It sounds emotional
and divisive but in 10 | |
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| | years only two
conversations have taken
more than four or five
minutes,” says
Richardson. For its part
the company maintains a
lean infrastructure,
reflected in the fact
that 70% of fees are
paid out to consultants,
compared to a much lower
proportion in mainstream
firms. This does,
however, fund a lot of
formal and informal
support.
“I work with new
consultants and get them
to review what their
offering is—people have
often had very diverse
and broad careers and
they need to focus in on
what they are going to
bring to the party,”
says Richardson. “They
often say to me, ‘I’ve
spent the last 20 years
trying to be a
generalist, and now you
want me to be a
specialist!’”
Richardson believes
that it is the focus on
expertise and sector
specialism that has made
The Consultancy Company
a success where other,
more generalist
frameworks have failed.
“Where we position
ourselves, what we’re
very good at, is making
complex strategy
happen,” he says. “We
have a strong emphasis
on implementation but
we’re very pragmatic. On
the public sector side
we’re very good at cross
agency working, at
aligning agendas to get
something that works in
the real world.”
The business has | |
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| | grown roughly four-fold
over the last five years
and now has around 30
consultants, split
evenly between the
public sector and supply
chain teams, each of
which has a team
director. Richardson
believes that the model
can be grown much
further, but doesn’t
want to build in any
more layers of hierarchy
above team director
level, and wants to keep
the sector focus.
Geographical expansion
is the answer, and the
company is just about to
launch a new hub in the
North-West.
“I want to grow the
brand because I feel
we’re the world's
best-kept secret, in
terms of the calibre of
our people and the
quality of the work we
do,” he says. “At the
same time it’s vital
that we retain the
culture and the values
and the ethics of the
organisation.”
As the organisation
grows and attains
critical mass,
Richardson hopes it will
be able to sustain more
central support in areas
like marketing, without
succumbing to the
“bureaucracy and
politics” of the
corporate world.
“We’re always aware
of the danger of
becoming too corporate,”
he says. “Ten years ago
we didn’t even dare to
use the word
‘corporate’.”
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| | consultants and people
with successful
corporate careers and
enable them to be
successful consultants,”
explains Richardson.
“It’s a very comfortable
fit for many people, but
it’s probably not for
the out-and-out
entrepreneur who would
find it a bit too
structured and
constraining.”
Rather than an
investment in cash, The
Consultancy Company is
after an investment of
time. The recruitment
process is intensive,
involving several stages
of interview, assessment
psychometric testing and
even role-play.
“Even people who
decide not to join are
very complimentary about
the recruitment
process,” says
Richardson. “We never
put pressure on people
to join—we’re looking
for people who’ve got
the drive and energy and
who’ve made a lifestyle
choice to work this
way.”
As well as
established sole
practitioners the
company recruits
extensively from
industry, generally at
senior management level.
We recruit senior
people with heavyweight
careers—we’re not into | |
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