Our Approach

We are different because of our cross-over specialties in investigative consulting, troubled operations, and strategy.

We are different because we apply specific, intentional approaches to successfully draw out sensitive information from our interviews. We lead with a destination here, rather than a rote list of questions.

And we are different because the complexities of big multi-national corporate client environments and the types of problems encountered there provide unique training for professional services. 

“The benefit to the consultant in one of the top global firms is hard to get experience.” 

Invespex offers companies, particularly smaller capitalized ones, the benefit of years of ‘on the ground’ experience consulting to a myriad of well known names, including Fortune 100 and Fortune 500 entities.

Large cap client engagements have many moving parts.  And they tend to have higher levels of  project complexity because of client realities. 

They serve companies with broader geographic reach, higher reputational risk profiles, wider breadth of operations & divisions, and greater sophistication in product, service and distribution networks.

Broader reach, higher risk, wider operations.

These varied corporate layers and practices mean multiple types of expertise are usually required, and earned, on such jobs.  That translates into large teams and long engagements that can handle it all.  That is the benefit to the client.

The benefit to the consultant in one of these top global firms extends far beyond salary and perks. The real boon is experience. 

Experience identifying problems and finding solutions unavailable to the majority of consultants in professional services firms simply because their client engagements don’t offer the opportunities.

So, Why Not Hire A Global Firm?

It’s a reasonable question.  A company seeks consulting services that solve a smaller-cap business problem.  Why not hire the folks who’ve seen it all? The answer lies in hourly rates.

Large firms have greater overhead considerations relative to small firms.  They also have mandatory standardization of rates across regions, sometimes across continents. 

Rate establishment must consider a lot of operational issues for these large consulting firms.  A few of those a client doesn’t hear about include metropolitan office rents for prestige locations, administrative support costs for all those consultants, partner compensation which is ‘stepped’ rather than universally standardized.

Others include the cost of competitive hiring “wars” for consulting talent, initial & continuing training of professional staff that is formalized to ensure quality, and expansion into new overseas markets to maintain margin and aid growth. 

These large firm rates must also increase on an annual basis to ‘keep up’ with the competition in terms of both partner and staff compensation, revenue growth Y-O-Y, and yes, even bragging rights.  The net result of all these dynamics is a prohibitive pricing model for all but the largest segment of corporate clients.  

The Solution is a Hybrid One

Hire people from these environments.  Consultants who have ‘grown up’ in that global consulting environment.  Individuals trained on the complexities of Fortune 100-500 client issues and trained to the requirements and expectations of a global consulting firm. 

In other words, leverage the experience of alumni of these firms without paying the rates associated with them.  Straight forward if you can find the right people.

In the right application, this works because a firm like Invespex does not have the overhead, the focus on global markets, nor the battery of employees that make those rates a necessity.

To make this model work, requires more lifting by company personnel than would be the case at larger corporations. 

On a larger engagement, the management consulting team can (and usually does) do it all.  This is not the case for the smaller cap client – who has a set budget, a set cash outlay, but wants the same results.  By necessity, you will be our partner on the ground. 

“Some heavy lifting required.”

This approach has unexpected and significant benefits.  And they are worth covering.  The first is the immediate benefit of a smaller bill despite similar outcomes to larger competitors.

But long term, a more important benefit is troubleshooting future business issues and threats.  Because client personnel work with us, on the ground, they become familiar with the issues and how solutions to the problem were reached. 

That means when we leave, you are not left ‘alone and unprepared’ for the next problem.  Every business owner knows there will always be another business challenge, another opportunity in the next quarter or next year.  But now you will have a blueprint for future success.

This is an all-too-unique feature of our company in the professional services industry.  It is also a far more fair approach to the smaller capitalized outfit that with a limited dollar spend. 

We look forward to discussing your business challenges and solutions in the near future. Reach us here.