Episode 138: The Power of Action: The Unconventional Path to Consulting Success with Assad Ahmed

In the latest episode of Climb in Consulting, we welcomed Assad Ahmed, Founder and CEO of Phase 3, the Manchester-based consultancy that provides professional and managed services across HR, payroll, and finance. As a born entrepreneur, Assad started Phase 3 at a young age, and with a self-confessed aversion to planning, he was able to grow the business through his aptitude for building relationships and a healthy dose of ‘winging it’! Since then, Phase 3 has grown to over 100 employees spread across the UK, with many of Assad’s early recruits now in management positions, including COO James Proctor, who started as one of Phase 3’s first consultants. In this episode, Nick and Assad enjoy an in-depth chat about the trajectory of Phase 3, and delve into the detail of how it evolved from Phase 3 v.1 to v.2 and beyond. They cover a whole host of fascinating topics, including: - Why getting out and doing it is the most important step an entrepreneur can take - How landing a hugely profitable client actually set the growth of the business back - How Phase 3 thrived during the 2008-9 credit crunch by focusing on the value they offered to customers - Why Assad now embraces planning – and why 90-day plans are his preferred duration - The importance of culture in Phase 3, and why Assad is a big believer in putting people first - Whether you’re at the early stages of your consulting career, a seasoned pro, or you’re planning to start your own firm, you’ll love this episode of Climb in Consulting. We hope you enjoy the show! Reach out to Assad: https://www.linkedin.com/in/assadahmedp3c/ Learn more about Phase 3: https://phase3.co.uk/ Books, magazines, and websites mentioned in the show: - How To Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie - Growth: Building a Successful Consultancy in the Digital Age by Joe O’Mahoney

Om Podcasten

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.