Episode 112: The Secrets To Co-Running A Consultancy With Michael Simmonds and Manfred Abraham

In the latest episode of Climb in Consulting, Nick is joined by Michael Simmonds and Manfred Abraham, who are both Co-CEOs at Yonder Consulting. We don’t often have two guests appearing at once, but this episode really does demand it! Their story, and that of Yonder, makes for a fascinating case study in how, by combining complementary skill sets and businesses with shared values, you're able to create something that is truly greater than the sum of its parts. Having worked closely together in their previous businesses, Michael at Populus and Manfred at BrandCap, they decided to join forces to form Yonder back in 2020. Fast forward to 2022, and Yonder is thriving. Despite the challenges of bringing their businesses together during the pandemic, they’re now a growing firm of over 150 people, with offices across London, New York and Hong Kong. In this conversation, Nick chats with Michael and Manfred as they explore their journey to co-running Yonder. They discuss the lessons they’ve learnt along the way, including: - How they successfully merged their businesses and launched Yonder during the pandemic, the challenges both of these things caused for them and how they overcame them. - How Michael and Manfred are able to make co-running the business work, the structures they use, and their advice to others thinking of following a similar approach. - And how they’ve approached diversity and inclusion at Yonder. The practical steps they’ve taken and advice for others looking to create more of an open conversation about diversity and inclusion in their firm. If you want to understand how you can make a merger work - whether you’re merging firm, practice or team - the advice that Michael and Manfred share in this one will give you a lots to think about. Enjoy the show! Reach out to Michael: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/simmondsmichael/ LinkedIn: [email protected] Reach out to Manfred: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/manfredbrandcap/ Email: [email protected] Learn more about Yonder: https://yonderconsulting.com/?gclid=CjwKCAjwm8WZBhBUEiwA178UnKZqrA0l7dGAX9vp1jwsR8ZFM_4GRqSrDy11rXHwXbj3zIk7UpATsxoCbxEQAvD_BwE Specific things discussed in the episode: Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking by Malcom Gladwell https://www.amazon.co.uk/Blink-Power-Thinking-Without/dp/0141014598 Stolen Children by Michael Wood https://www.amazon.co.uk/Stolen-Children-gripping-addictive-thriller-ebook/dp/B084ZB444L Great Circle by Maggie Shipstead https://www.amazon.co.uk/Great-Circle-Maggie-Shipstead-ebook/dp/B08CMLCFWM/ref=sr_1_1?crid=IOXAFVFB8N6Q&keywords=the+great+circle+by+maggie+shipstead&qid=1665066034&qu=eyJxc2MiOiIyLjMyIiwicXNhIjoiMi4xMiIsInFzcCI6IjIuMTYifQ%3D%3D&s=digital-text&sprefix=the+great+circle+by+Maggie%2Cdigital-text%2C59&sr=1-1

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As a management consultant myself I’ve always been lucky to have mentors who have guided me through my career. When I was in house I regularly had quality time with Senior Partners that helped me rapidly accelerate my career and has continued to help since I’ve gone out on my own. While I had this great resource and knowledge bank to draw on I know many friends in Consulting aren’t as lucky with some only speaking with senior partners on a monthly or quarterly basis. That’s why I created this podcast. I wanted to help people like you who want to accelerate their careers in consulting by interviewing leaders in the field to share the advice, tips and strategies that they used to get to the top so that you can to so that you can too. In each Episode I’ll be interviewing a senior figure in the industry so that you can learn from them. We’ll be going deep in to their background, how they succeeded and what their advice would be for you. This podcast is brought to you by Create Engage the Digital Marketing agency for the disruptive Management Consultancy. Digital Marketing has moved forward, but most consulting firms haven’t. Many Consulting firms still see their corporate blog as their sole Digital Marketing channel and find themselves frustrated when these blogs yield little if any results. To help those of you who want to harness the power of Digital Marketing to grow your Consulting Business but don’t have the knowledge, capacity or in-house capability to do so I launched Create Engage, the first Digital Marketing agency for the Management Consulting Industry. If you’d like to find out more about how Create Engage can help you use Digital Marketing to take your business to the next level then drop me an email at [email protected] or go to our website www.createengage.co.uk where you can download our free case study that breaks down down the Digital Marketing strategies used by one successful Consulting firm to help them grow over 400% in just 3 years and gives you the secrets they used, so that you can apply them in your own firm.