The following is from our library of client successes — why not learn how we can help you grow your consulting business?

“I Didn’t Know There Was So Much To Learn”

The Discovery Group, run by CEO Douglas Nelson, helps nonprofit organizations with four key areas: board governance, strategic planning, philanthropic performance, and executive search and training. After spending over 20 years in the social profit sector, Douglas understood that these organizations often get in their own way. He started the firm to help clients better organize and execute their strategies.

Douglas started The Discovery Group in 2017. He had been the CEO of two large organizations and had hired many consultants…but didn’t know how to be a consultant himself. There was so much to learn that Douglas “didn’t know what he didn’t know.” And having just quit his job in San Francisco to move back to Canada, he was dedicated to building a sustainable business. 6 months into starting his firm, he joined the Clarity Coaching Program to help make his goal a reality.

Getting Specific About Ideal Clients & Consulting Offers

When Douglas started The Discovery Group, he began listening to the Consulting Success® Podcast every week. After listening to the episode on the core values that drive our business, Douglas liked the fact that we were in business for the right reasons. He signed up that week to join the program.

When asked what specific aspects of the program and coaching Douglas found most valuable, he answered:

• Learning to have a rigorous focus on who your ideal client is (both individually and in terms of the organizations they work at)
• Getting clear on the specific value you can offer to your market
• Building offers that match exactly what your ideal clients are looking for
• Identifying the types of clients who are the most profitable and where you can add the most value

“What I got out of working with Consulting Success® was the confidence to be comfortable that we had the systems in place to make sure that the business could grow. And feeling comfortable in that meant that we could really focus on delivering value for our clients, knowing that the next contracts were going to be there as long as we did the hard work of making sure they were there. So it was a really steep learning curve for me out of the gate. And their advice and their counsel was invaluable to building the business.”

From $400K To $2M In Annual Revenue

As a direct result of implementing what he learned in our Clarity Coaching Program, Douglas grew his revenue from $400K per year to over $2 million a year. He also transformed his company from a solo consultancy to a true consulting firm, where he now leads a team of over 7 people.

Here’s what Douglas had to say about his experience in the Consulting Success® Program:

“It's like having a very warm ally and advocate for your business. And particularly starting out, there aren't a lot of people that want to hear you talk about starting your business and all the things you're worried about over and over and over again. And even fewer who have really deep expertise in starting consulting businesses and really know what it's like to be in the situation that you're in. And so it was having a mentor and a coach at the same time that really helped me get the confidence to know that this was going to work. And one of the things that I really loved about working with Michael is he never once says, this is easy, or here's a trick, or here's a shortcut that it's a really clear-eyed look at the hard work and the challenge of building consulting businesses. And he does it in a way that makes it feel achievable but doesn't make it sound simple or doesn't make it sound like it's no big deal. So it felt like having a mentor who really knew what I was going through, particularly at the early stages of the business.”

NOTE: Years after his time in the Clarity Coaching Program, Douglas has continued to find success by applying what he’s learned from our mentorship. As of the summer of 2024, he’s far surpassed $2M in revenue and has grown his team to 19 people.

Key Takeaways: Learn From Douglas’s Success

• Challenge yourself to get more specific about who your ideal client is. That means specificity around their industry, the size of their company, their job title, their problems, their pains, their frustrations, and their desired future state.
• Once you’re very specific about your ideal client — and you know their problems, pains, frustrations, and desires — you can create compelling consulting services that offer them precisely what they want and need.
• You might be a solo or independent consultant…but start thinking of yourself as a consulting business owner. Start building SOPs, delegating tasks, and focusing on your highest-value work. It’s much easier to grow your firm when you have time to work on it, and not just in it.
• As a consulting firm owner, you can’t just focus on the consulting work. You’ll learn to balance client delivery, marketing, and sales. Typically, the more you’re able to focus on marketing and sales, the faster you’ll be able to grow your firm.

Work With Us To Grow Your Consulting Business

In our Clarity Coaching program, our coaches have helped over 1000 consultants to build a more strategic, profitable, and scalable, consulting business. To discover how we can help grow your consulting business;

• Read our case studies, client success stories, and testimonials.
• Learn about us: our story, mission, values, and beliefs.
• Visit our Clarity Coaching landing page to learn about our program and community.
• Schedule your FREE growth session call with one of our experts.