Professional Practices
First-time Principals
Helping the next generation of first-time principals get ready
You want to own your own firm.
You’ve got a few choices.
Blank sheet start-up. Partner buy-out or earn-in.
Or, you could buy a successful practice.
We help first-timers find a practice to buy.
We work with solo flyers, as well as those who want to team up with a friend, colleague or family member.
Approach
Define your needs
Where do you want to live and work?
Are you happy to move interstate or would you move 300 km away from the coast to the country? Maybe Sydney is the best place to start as the biggest market in the country?
How big of a challenge are you ready for?
Can you see yourself jumping into the big chair at a $2M+ firm with two offices and 12 FTE staff? Or are you likely to be happier starting with a suburban firm generating $400K in fees with 3 experienced long-standing staff in hybrid roles.
You’ve got a few things to think about.
Have some conversations
Founders reaching the point of being ready to think about transitioning away from ownership of their firm know themselves and their business. They don’t know you yet.
A sole practitioner might be ready give up their day job, but few would say they don’t care about legacy and what happens to their staff and clients.
You’re going to need your outgoing principal to be willingly (not just contractually) helpful and available.
We need to find your match.
Understand your journey
Firms that have been operating for two, three, and four decades or more have histories you’ll need to master, ways of doing business you’ll need to learn, staff you’ll need to get to know, and clients you’ll need to reassure. Then you can start to shape your business.
Money
You’ll want access to money. We like to think we have a unique way of thinking about finance in the context of professional firms. Our belief is that our approach should lower the risk a transaction might fall over. Private money that understands this approach and can underwrite to it can result in surer outcomes and less stress.
You need to get ready
Buyer-ready
Seller-ready
Lender-ready
And you’ll benefit from a network
Been there
My first business was built from nothing, starting at the age of 26 in a small windowless serviced office in the Northpoint building in North Sydney. It took me 12 years to get to $1m in fees.
My next effort was a scale-up and it took 7 years to go from a little more than $1m in gross annual receipts to annualized receipts well over $3M. I didn’t do it alone and if I’ve learned anything from the experience, growing an existing business with an experienced team serving happy clients was a lot easier and than starting at zero - and more remunerative more quickly.
For those wanting the challenge of starting solo with $0 fees and no staff just as I did, I can show you why you might not need that challenge.
For those wanting to get growing by taking on an existing annuity business and developing it, I am usually free to talk 7 days. Try me.