The Boutique

PRAISE FOR THE BOUTIQUE "One of the most difficult phases in the growth of a nascent professional services firm is beginning to scale. This book provides a practical, focused how-to guide on scaling a professional services firm. It will change how our seventy thousand experts, and a thousand firms, think about scaling their businesses." -ROB BIEDERMAN, Co-Founder and Co-CEO, Catalant "I led a professional services firm that had scaled to $20 billion in revenue operating in seventy countries. Greg Alexander's important new book will help those who want to scale a services business. If you have the ambition, fortitude, and courage to go on a journey of a lifetime, this book is for you." -MIKE LAWRIE, CEO, Lawrie Group; Former Chairman and CEO, DXT Technology "I co-founded Mainspring, scaled it to 350 employees, took it public, and sold it to IBM. This engaging, hands-on book is the guide you need to scale and sell your firm. " -JOE GAGNON, Founder and CEO, Performance Tea "Greg is a world-class visionary in our industry, constantly innovating new ways to create wealth for owners of boutiques, helping them punch far above their weight class." -ADAM PRAGER, Senior Client Partner, Co-Leader, Professional Services Sector, Korn Ferry

As chief investment officer of Capital 54, GREG ALEXANDER is helping the next generation by investing in promising firms. Collective 54 is the peer-to-peer membership organization for owners of boutiques. Greg founded the membership so boutique leaders could help each other grow, scale, and exit. Prior to Capital 54 and Collective 54, he spent a decade leading his own boutique, SBI, which he sold for nine figures. Alexander and his beloved wife, the " Fabulous Brooke" reside in Dallas, Texas.

HOW TO READ THIS BOOK FOREWORD PREFACE INTRODUCTION SECTION 1: START THE PROBLEM THE CLIENT THE COMPETITORS THE REVENUE THE SERVICE THE GO-TO-MARKET THE ENGAGEMENT THE MARKET THE TEAM SECTION 2: SCALE SCALE CAPITAL LEVERAGE CASH FLOW LIFE CYCLE YIELD PRICING REPLICATION CULTURE BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT SERVICE OFFERING DEVELOPMENT THE CLIENT EXPERIENCE ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURE RECRUITING PARTNER PAY EQUITY POWER STRATEGY SECTION 3: SELL WHY SELL? MISTAKES MARKET POSITION GROWTH CLIENT RELATIONSHIPS FEE QUALITY INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY SALES AND MARKETING PROCESS EMPLOYEE LOYALTY MANAGEMENT QUALITY CULTURE FIT ORGANIZATIONAL DESIGN CONTINUOUS IMPROVEMENT INNOVATION FINANCIAL MARKET TRENDS COMPARABLES UNIVERSE OF BUYERS DE-RISK BUY VERSUS BUILD SHAREHOLDER AND STAKEHOLDER ALIGNMENT SUSTAINABILITY OF PERFORMANCE MANAGING INTEREST CONCLUSION APPENDIX A CHECKLISTS APPENDIX B GLOSSARY ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ABOUT THE AUTHOR