Overcoming Growth Barriers for Small Consultancies
On November 3 CMCE hosted a showcase where we shared the results of Prof Joe O'Mahoney's ongoing research that has examined how some consulting businesses were sold for £millions while others tanked. Some of the ingredients of success will come as a surprise. With Joe we also welcomed Rajen Madan, who shared his hands-on experience of successfully growing consulting businesses.
Our two panellists explained how small companies can navigate obstacles to growth through learning from the mistakes of those who have gone before.
People attending the event were focused on maintaining current size, growing or selling their business, and grappling with challenges such as lack of suitable clients, access to talent, and competition.
The panellists discussed examples of growth barriers to be overcome and what happens when failure occurs. There was also an interesting exchange about whether there are opportunities for analogue consultants or is everything connected to digital. Other panel topics included the best way to engage clients to drive business growth (especially considering that buying behaviours have changed over time) and what buyers look for when purchasing firms. The Q&A session saw provocative topics such as 'why grow at all?' and whether or not there were gender diversity differences in how consulting companies are grown and sold.
Our feedback from this event was very positive - thank you for your attendance and contributions to the discussion!
