Back in 2008, I started going to the gym.
I loved it.
Lifting weights, discovering different exercises, the feeling after a good training…
I loved it so much that in a few years I became very muscular.
People thought I was using steroids.
Because not many people went to the gym, knew training programs, or ate right.
Now I see young guys who are the age I was in 2008.
They are all muscular.
They have their straps and belts for weightlifting.
And they know what they are doing, much more than I knew back then.
This made me think.
How did this happen?
How do these guys know so much more than I did at their age?
Obviously, it happened thanks to the internet, social media, and now AI.
All these breakthroughs have increased our collective knowledge on every topic.
Back in 2008, I had to wait for new articles on T-nation to learn a new trick about how to grow my calves faster.
Today, ex-bodybuilding champions or stacked influencers on Instagram show you 10 different ways.
Or AI tools prepare a custom training and nutrition plan for you and validate everything with the latest research.
As a result, we have many more muscular people.
If you took me from the early 2010s and put me in a gym today, I’d be a regular young muscular guy.
Nobody would look at me like an alien or think I’m on steroids.
So what am I getting at?
The same increase in collective knowledge has happened in every field.
Investing, tech, coding, marketing…
What was rare to know 20, 10, or even 5 years ago is common knowledge today.
Frameworks, best practices, and capabilities that took consulting firms decades to develop are now in free courses, LinkedIn posts, and AI tools.
The bar for average has risen.
So part of what you do as a consulting firm has also become (or is becoming) common knowledge.
And that’s why consulting firms have many new entrants competing against them now.
They have similar capabilities.
They know marketing and selling.
And they are coming after your clients with new creative offers and pricing.
So what’s the solution?
How can consulting firms not only survive but continue thriving in this era?
By doing two things:
1. Use what you have that your competition still lacks
Such as:
- Specialization, which still offers an edge against rising “common” knowledge. If a firm is specialized in a client type and/or problem, it’s much harder for new entrants to imitate that pattern recognition and compete.
- Brand (reputation/authority), which takes time, effort, and consistency to build.
- Existing client base, which means trust. Established firms can grow by offering more value to the same clients, while new entrants have to build that trust first.
- Social proof, which established firms have plenty of and new entrants are still trying to get.
- Proprietary data, which comes from previous projects and clients.
- Resources, which established firms have more of (both human capital and money).
The key is to use these competitive advantages with urgency.
Because every passing day, new entrants are also gaining them.
They are deciding what to specialize in.
They are becoming known, building their client base and social proof.
Ultimately, they are gaining resources to go after established firms more aggressively.
2. Be the one raising the knowledge bar
If the bar of average knowledge is increasing, another way to stay ahead is being the one raising the bar.
For some consulting firms, this can be unintuitive.
Because instead of merely following the best practices, you have to continuously experiment, make sense of things, and offer new understanding in your field.
In a way, your firm has to become an insight factory.
And you have to convey those insights to the market week after week.
Yes, new entrants will still imitate you.
And your firm’s insights will eventually become common.
But your competitors will always lag behind.
Because first, they still lack the points we discussed, like specialization, brand, and resources.
Second, your firm will already be onto new insights and developing better ways of solving problems.
And prospects always want to work with firms with original insights, instead of mere imitators.
So if you already feel increased competition, your clients getting chased, and growth becoming harder…
It’s time to stop defending your castle and go on offense.
There’s no more time to lose on the status quo.
Competition is increasing and getting stronger.
If you keep defending, they will soon breach your walls.
Because compared to tomorrow:
Today is the day your firm has the least and weakest competition.
So use what you have and start raising the bar today.
Or risk losing it all tomorrow.
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