Time for change.

I want to talk about a commitment we're making, to ourselves, to our community, and to our industry as a whole.

We call it Buy One, Fund One, and it’s central to our mission with The Consultancy Business.

A bit of context.

The world is full of people who have genuine and unique value to offer. No-one has had the career, the life experience or the opportunities to develop the exact same perspective as anyone else. In the context of consultancy, this suggests that almost limitless untapped potential exists out there, in communities of all kinds.

While received wisdom is that the barriers to entry in consulting are low, for some people they are higher than others. These people might be members of specific community groups; leaders of tiny but vital charitable organisations; or those on whom others rely who have found themselves at a life crossroads and in tough financial straits. Social and economic circumstances can make it hard - often impossible - for such people to find a way into the industry, or even to develop consulting skills for use in other contexts.

These factors rob those individuals of what could be a rewarding skill set - and organisations of valuable insight, knowledge and assistance.

Who is working to change this? Not the government - meaningful support programmes are notable only by their absence. Not independent consultancies - they are often (understandably) busy fitting their own oxygen masks. Not big consulting - their CSR initiatives might be well-intentioned but ultimately seek to support a broken model. Elsewhere, support is patchy and expensive.

Nothing changes if nothing changes. So we've decided to make The Consultancy Business a business of change.

Our promise.

Over the coming years, we will do everything we can to support individuals and groups whose professional (and personal) circumstances might be transformed by consulting skills, but who for any number of legitimate reasons are unable to fund this support for themselves.

And we'll do it by giving both time and money.?

The Buy One, Fund One model is simple. Every member of our community who signs up and pays their fees will be contributing towards someone in need benefiting from the same level of input, advice and support - because we will take a portion of those fees and put them to work in this way.

Complementing this contribution, The Consultancy Business team will also volunteer its time.

The result? Those joining our community through this model will receive the same high quality of support as every other member. And they will be as welcome as every other member.

Everyone will rub along together, adding to and benefiting from the community as a whole.?

No exceptionalism.?

No exceptions.

What it means in practice.

The model is called Buy One, Fund One and it does exactly what it says on the tin.?

Whatever level you (the prospective member) sign up at, a small portion of your membership fees will go towards another individual benefiting from the same level of support. For example, if you pay to access our resources, someone in need will also get access to our resources. If you pay to access our mentoring groups, someone else will also have the opportunity to join one.

Our people are also dedicating significant time and sacrificing some of their own earning potential to make this possible.

We are working with specialist advisors and - starting soon - partner organisations who are guiding us about how these resources are best directed.

And we want and expect to be held to account about who is benefiting from the Buy One, Fund One initiative.

We will do our best to measure its impact, and we will be transparent with our data.

We will publish twice-yearly updates about our work in this space.

This initiative will start small - we are only just starting up, after all. But we are laying out our stall now, in the hope the impact of what we’re doing will grow and grow, in a spirit of non-conformity, direct action, accountability and change activism. (Once a punk...)

There is more - much more - to say about all of this, and how it's going to work in practice. Our website will explain more when it goes live in a few weeks.

For now, the point is this: it's high time that consultancy became more of a force for good in the world.

The Consultancy Business will be part of changing the consultancy business.

--

[email protected]