The Boutique: How to Start, Scale, and Sell a Professional Services Firm - Hardcover

by Greg Alexander (Author)

What is a boutique?
A boutique is a professional services firm past the start-up stage but prescale. Examples can be found in consulting, marketing and advertising, IT services, etc. It's basically anyone who sells their expertise.

There are 1,465,900 boutiques. This book is for them.
It is about what firms at scale do. It is about what boutiques need to do to scale. And this knowledge gap between those at scale, and those not at scale, makes all the difference.

There is about $2 trillion spent per year on professional services. Those at scale capture most of it. If you want a bigger piece of the pie, you must scale.
We are in the golden era of boutiques. The business models of your clients are being disrupted. This makes it virtually impossible for them to have all the required expertise in-house. They are looking for external expertise. They have big budgets to spend. Clients are buying from boutiques in record numbers.
The sun is shining. Time to make hay.

Back Jacket

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

Author Biography

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.