Most consultancy owners approach business development the same way. 

Reactively. 

Chasing leads. 

Responding to enquiries. 

Following up opportunities as they appear. 

And it works. 

For a while. 

But eventually that approach hits a ceiling. 

Because chasing work is not a strategy. 

It's survival mode. 

And if you want to win higher-quality clients and bigger projects — you need a different approach entirely. 

You need to win work by design. 

Not by accident. 

In this week's podcast episode, I break down what strategic business development actually looks like inside a consulting business. 

The difference between daily lead generation — LinkedIn, marketing, calls, relationship building — and the longer-term strategic BD activities that help you access better clients, bigger projects and more predictable growth. 

I also share a story from my own consulting business. 

Where we spent two years deliberately pursuing one ideal clien...

As we were building our consultancy from $3M to $30M, we kept hitting the same cycle. 

Win work. 

Get busy. 

Stop doing BD. 

Pipeline dries up. 

Then we’d scramble again. 

At first, we thought it was normal. 

But it wasn’t the market. 

It was us. 

We were treating business development like something you do when you “have time.” 

And the reality is — you never have time. 

Delivery always takes over. 

The shift for us was simple: 

We made BD non-negotiable. 

Every week. 

No matter how busy we were. 

Client catch-ups. 

New opportunities. 

Follow-ups. 

That consistency changed everything. 

The pipeline smoothed out. 

We stopped reacting. 

And we started choosing better work, with better clients. 

Most consultancy owners don’t have a BD problem. 

They have a consistency problem. 

So the question is: 

Are you only doing BD when things slow down? 

Or have you built it into your business so it...

A lot of consultancy owners don’t realise this at first. 

They think the problem is their pipeline. 

Or team capacity. 

Or not enough time. 

But often the real issue is this: 

Business development still runs through them. 

They are still the one driving the relationships. 

Following up opportunities. 

Keeping conversations alive. 

Pushing proposals forward. 

Making sure momentum doesn’t stall. 

And early on, that works. 

In fact, it usually makes perfect sense. 

But over time, it becomes a hidden growth ceiling. 

Because if every new opportunity depends on you, the business can only grow as fast as your personal capacity allows. 

That’s when the pipeline becomes inconsistent, BD gets pushed aside whenever delivery ramps up, and the business starts relying too heavily on you to keep growth moving. 

In this week’s podcast episode, I break down why founder-led BD quietly caps your growth, why it keeps you stuck in the wrong work, and how BD ow...

Most consultancy owners say the same thing when I ask where their work comes from. 

“Referrals.” 

“Word of mouth.” 

And that’s great. 

It usually means you’re doing good work. 

But here’s the issue. 

Referrals & word of mouth are ad hoc. 

They’re unpredictable. 

And they only happen when someone else decides to talk about you. 

They tend to come in clusters… 

Then they go quiet with no warning. 

Which is why your confidence in your pipeline disappears the moment things slow down. 

I get it. Reputation is powerful. 

But reputation without proactive business development leaves your growth to chance. 

In this week’s podcast episode, I break down: 

• Why referrals & word of mouth aren’t a proper business growth strategy 

• Why reputation alone will create a lumpy pipeline at best 

• And how to layer a simple daily BD rhythm so you gain control over the growth of your consultancy 

Including a practical example from Quentin, a Board...

Most consultants think pricing is their problem. 

It’s not. 

Confidence is. 

That’s why fees get cut. 
More work gets done than what was agreed. 
And discounts appear before a client even asks. 

Do you know what’s really driving this? 

Fear. 

Fear of losing the job. 
Fear of being seen as expensive. 
Fear of what the client will say after you send the proposal. 

And clients sense that uncertainty instantly. 

Before they read your proposal. 
Before they even question your fees. 

Confident consultancy owners don’t argue about pricing. 

They build confidence and change the dynamic before pricing even becomes the issue. 

In this week’s podcast episode, I break down why pricing conversations feel so hard — and how confidence alone changes how clients behave. 

Including a real example of a Boardroom client being told by their own client that they should be charging more. 

Click Here to watch the video. 

Click Here for the podcast episode. 

Every consultancy wants high performers in order to grow.  

But high performers don’t apply - they choose. 

They look for the consultancies doing incredible work. 

The ones people are talking about. 

The ones with energy, purpose and pride. 

When it comes to attracting high performers into your business, here’s where most consultancies go wrong, and what to do differently instead: 

— No Real Brand — 

Most consultancies look and sound the same. 

Same website. Same language. Same projects. 

No personality. No edge. No story. 

High performers want to join brands that stand out. 

Brands that are visible. 

Brands that lead conversations in their industry. 

When your consultancy builds a name and a brand, through thought leadership, strong opinions and delivering incredible projects - great people want to work with you.  

— Average Culture — 

You can’t fake culture. 

People talk. Word spreads. 

If your team doesn’t love w...

Yesterday’s “How To Write Fee Proposals That Convert: 3 Steps to Lift Your Win Rate” workshop was one of the most practical and game-changing sessions I’ve ever run. 

Engineering and built environment consultancy owners showed up ready to finally fix weak, vanilla proposals - and walked away with the tools to start winning more projects, more consistently, and at stronger margins. 

And the feedback’s been incredible: 

“Exactly what we needed - our proposals finally stand out.”
 

“Practical, simple, and immediately usable - I’m already updating our templates.”
 

“This gave me confidence that clients will say yes without asking for discounts.” 

A few people have reached out saying they couldn’t make it live - so I’m making the full replay available until Friday. 

Grab the replay here to watch at your convenience >> Click Here

Plus, access the bonuses only available when you grab the replay:
 

 ✔️ BONUS: The Ultimate Fee Proposal Template to lift your win rates ...

I’m getting a small group of engineering & built environment consultancy owners together on Zoom later on today to look at “How To Write Fee Proposals That Convert: 3 Steps to Lift Your Win Rate.” 

So they can stop wasting opportunities, fix weak proposals, and start winning more of the right projects. 

Last chance. 

Tickets are just $100. Would you like to join us? 

Details & register >> Click Here  

Josh
 

PS: If you’re interested, here are 4 ways I can help you right now: 

1.  Grab a copy of my new book | Profitable Engineering Consultant | 9 strategies to grow with confidence, get your time back & consistently hit 30% plus net profit margins – Click Here

2. Subscribe to our podcast | Learn how to run a more profitable consultancy and grow successfully – no fluff, just actionable and practical advice from someone who grew a consultancy to $30M and exited successfully – Watch Here or Listen Here + make sure you subscribe! 

3. Download our free B...

Tomorrow we’re running the “How To Write Fee Proposals That Convert” online workshop - and if you’ve been on the fence, here’s why now’s the time to jump in. 

Here’s what happens when consultancy owners use the proposal framework I’ll show you tomorrow: 

 — Darren & Mark won a $3M project with an A+ Grade client 

 — Peter & Mark broke revenue records two months in a row
 

 — Mandy, Alex & David secured an $850K tender 

Take a glance at tomorrow’s calendar. 

Now back to me. 

Now back to your calendar. 

Now back to me. 

Tomorrow, you could be stuck in ‘business as usual’ mode, sending out more of the same weak, vanilla proposals that don’t convert… 

…or, you could be learning the exact 3 steps top consultancies are using to:
 

 — Write proposals that make “yes” the default answer
 

 — Stop being vanilla and position themselves as first choice with A-grade clients 

 — Build instant credibility with proof, results, and positioning
 

 — Win more of the rig...

Let’s be honest. 

Most fee proposals read like a cross between a tax return and an IKEA manual. 

They’re boring. 

They’re filled with technical jargon.
 

And they have clients skipping to the end to see if you're the 'cheapest'. 

Because here’s the truth: 

If your proposal isn’t persuading, it’s boring them to tears. 

And bored clients buy from someone else. 

The client either:
 

 — Hands the work to a competitor who actually sells their value
 

 — Or emails you back with, “Can you cut your fee?” 

Neither is fun. 

Let’s fix that. 

Next Tuesday, I’m running an online workshop: 

How To Write Fee Proposals That Convert // 3 Steps to Lift Your Win Rate
 

 — Tuesday 21 October
 

 — 11:45am – 1:15pm NSW time
 

 — $100 to join 

 — Capped at 10 spots 

Register now >> Click Here 

This is a practical, no-BS session for consultancy owners who are sick of writing weak proposals and want to start:
 

 — Writing proposals that make “yes” ...