Croixstone – Page 3

Consulting Industry Factoids

How is the consulting industry faring amidst the global pandemic?

Thanks to the hard work of our talented consultants, Croixstone Consulting celebrated a record revenue year in 2020 (and 2021 is proving to be even better)! In light of our firm’s success, we decided to dive into Statista’s latest published consulting industry research over the weekend to see how the rest of the industry is faring.

Here are 5 fast facts about the management consulting industry.

Industry Size: The global consulting market delivers $132B in annual revenues while the USA market produces $64.4B. The USA is the world’s largest management consulting market.

COVID Impact: After experiencing continuous growth between 2015 and 2019, the consulting industry saw a significant revenue loss (-12.5%) across all markets and segments in 2020.

Number of Businesses: In 2020, the number of consulting businesses in the USA reached 831,621, a slight increase over 2019. It is estimated that this number will increase by 30,000 units in 2021.

Number of Consultants: Since 2012, the number of management consultants in the USA has increased every year, reaching 734,000 consultants in 2020.

Revenue Per Consultant: The average annual revenue per consultant of management consultancies worldwide decreased overall between 2015 and 2020. During a 2020 survey, respondents reported an average annual revenue per consultant of $208K.

Click here to read more highlights from Statista’s latest research on the consulting services industry.

Seeking Your Next Role? Avoid These 6 Common Mistakes!

We get it.

It is easy to roll your eyes when seeing yet another list of do’s and don’ts when it comes to landing your next role – whether it be in consulting or a traditional employment role. That being said, the reason these lists continue to prosper is because job seekers, regardless of the tenure in their careers, continue to make critical mistakes during the hunting process.

Here are the most common mistakes and issues that the leaders in Croixstone’s consulting and search practices see on a frequent basis.

The Skeleton LinkedIn Profile: The calendar reads 2021. Every modern hiring professional is using LinkedIn today to learn more about you. The perfect resume isn’t anywhere close to perfect if your LinkedIn profile is incomplete. If your LinkedIn profile is simply a shell, take action today to build it out.

The Resume/LinkedIn Mismatch: See above. Every hiring professional is using LinkedIn and is comparing your resume to your LinkedIn profile. It is a huge problem when your dates, company names, roles, etc. don’t match.

The Missing Role: So you accepted a role for what appeared to be a dream opportunity only to leave after one year to save your sanity. Don’t kid yourself that it is ok to leave it off your resume. Keep your information, and integrity, real and be prepared like a pro to explain it away.

Mr. and Mrs. Email Addresses: In the early days of email, many households used one email address. While you may still love that legacy email address that combines you and your significant other in a clever way, never use it for business purposes. The same goes for other “cutesy” type of email addresses. Just don’t.

Legacy Email Addresses: Don’t shoot the messenger, but it is time to ditch the AOL, Hotmail, Yahoo, and other early internet email addresses. Keeping current with technology is important in any professional role today, and using one of the legacies can send the wrong message.

The Full VoiceMail Box: It may sound like common sense, but never let a recruiter or hiring professional reach out to you during your search only to find that your voicemail box is full and is unable to accept messages.

Finally, here are some general job search strategies for highly experienced professionals from the folks at T he Balance Careers.

Know Charlotte: 2021 Quarter 2 Growth Report

The Charlotte Regional Business Alliance has published its latest Growth Report for 2021 Quarter 2. Although Croixstone Consulting serves clients across the United States, we remain exceptionally invested in the economic growth of the Charlotte Region where our firm is based.

Following are our 5 key takeaways from the latest Growth Report.

COVID Job Losses: The Charlotte Region has 43,700 fewer jobs than pre-pandemic (-3.1%), outperforming the nation (-4.4%).

Job Gains: June 2021 showed the most jobs gained since October 2020 (and more than 2x any previous month in 2021).

Economic Development Projects: 30 economic development projects were announced in Q2, the highest of any quarter since the CLT Alliance created the Growth Report in 2019.

Capital Investments: These 30 projects represent $1.2B in capital investments (the 3rd highest amount in the history of the Growth Report).

Labor Market: The Charlotte Region is experiencing the lowest ratio of job seekers to job openings since at least 2006.

Read the 2021 Quarter 2 Growth Report here.

Croixstone Recommends: 2Q 2021 Middle Market Indicator Overview Webinar

When we are seeking information on the Middle Market, one of our first “go to” places is the National Center for the Middle Market (NCMM). This organization is a collaboration between The Ohio State University Fisher College of Business and Chubb, and is a leading source of knowledge, leadership, and innovative research on the middle market economy.

Every quarter the NCMM publishes the Middle Market Indicator (MMI) that provides valuable insights into 5 KPIs including: 1) Revenue, 2) Employment, 3) Economic Confidence, 4) Capital Investment, and 5) Expansion. NCMM recently published the MMI for Q2 2021, and we invite you to join us for an exclusive webinar being held Wednesday, August 11 at 1PM EDT where NCMM’s Managing Director, Doug Farren, will be detailing the results of the latest MMI.

Croixstone Recommends: The Harvard Business School Club of Charlotte’s “Management Development Program”

It’s that time of year again when registration has opened for one of the Charlotte region’s best professional development and networking programs – the Harvard Business School Club of Charlotte’s “Management Development Program.”

Croixstone’s co-founders, Patti Weber and Mark Weber, are both graduates of this mini-MBA course that is conducted “Harvard style.” Taught by 26 Harvard Business School alumni from the Charlotte region, the course curriculum utilizes Harvard’s famous case study method and Harvard publications. Croixstone’s leaders especially enjoyed the rigorous debate of real-world business challenges that are embedded in the program.

The Management Development Program classes begin September 21 for 13 consecutive Monday nights and are open to the public (space is limited). And new for 2021, you have the option of participating in person at Queens University in Charlotte or remotely.

Learn more here.

Charlotte Snapshot: International Business & Foreign Direct Investment

As the world’s athletes gather in Tokyo for the 2020 Summer Olympics, we are placing a #FreshStart spotlight this week on the roles of international business and foreign direct investment across the greater Charlotte region.

Did you know?…

More than 1,000 international companies representing 40 countries call the Charlotte region home.

More than 250,000 foreign-born individuals and families are located across the region.

North and South Carolina are 2 of only 9 US states where employment in international business exceeds 7% of total employment.

Almost 50% of international companies in the Charlotte region are in manufacturing.

The Charlotte region recorded a nearly 16% increase in exports between 2016 and 2019.

Thanks to the Charlotte Regional Business Alliance for providing these statistics. Learn more about international business and foreign direct investment across the Charlotte region here.

Personal Branding

41 Day Challenge: Refresh Your Personal Brand

“It’s a new brand world.”

So began an article published in Fast Company magazine in August 1997 whereby the concept of personal branding was introduced by business author, management guru, and speaker Tom Peters. Tom’s compelling premise was that all of us are CEOs of our companies: Me Inc. He promoted that to be in business in today’s world, our most important job is to be the head marketer for the brand called You.

Fast Company published this article during the time when resumes dominated the world of personal branding, and LinkedIn’s launch in May of 2003 was still almost 6 years away. As every astute business professional understands, managing your personal brand is an essential responsibility in managing your career.

As we approach the 24th anniversary of Tom Peters’ article, the Croixstone team is launching a 41 Day Challenge to encourage all of our #FreshStart readers to take the time between now and August 31 to refresh your personal brand. Follow the below action plan to get started.

Action Plan to Refresh Your Personal Brand

Step 1: Read Fast Company’s newly-published article on personal branding.

Step 2: Write down 3 qualities that you aspire to in order to differentiate your personal brand.

Step 3: Ask 5 people you know well and another 5 people you know less well to write down 3 adjectives about you.

Step 4: Analyze the similarities and differences between the lists to understand where your personal brand is strong…and where there are disconnects to focus.

Personal Brand Factoids

Everyone has a personal brand. You don’t have a say in the matter. Accept this as a fact and manage it well.

Your personal brand is not permanent. You have to work hard to build a powerful personal brand, and you have to keep working to maintain its power and grow it.

Your personal brand is not what you say about yourself. Your personal brand is what others say about you when you are not in the room. It is an assessment the marketplace makes about who you are and what you bring to the table.

Your personal brand is not an extension of your employer’s brand.

Your personal brand is not your social media presence. Rather, social media amplifies your personal brand.

Dunbar’s Number and Conscious Networking

According to British anthropologist Robin Dunbar, there are well-defined limits to the number of friends and acquaintances the average person can retain. The anthropologist has a theory known as “Dunbar’s Number” whereby she believes that we can only really maintain about 150 connections at once.

Dunbar further believes that other numbers are nested with the social brain hypothesis. She believes our tightest social circle has only five people (loved ones), following by successive layers of 15 (good friends), 50 (friends), 150 (meaningful contacts) and 1,500 (people you can recognize).

With Dunbar’s number as a backdrop, we read with interest this morning an online Fast Company article published by Brendan Keegan, the CEO of Merchants Fleet. Brendan suggests there is power in the concept of “conscious networking” whereby you consciously choose and go all-in with a deliberately selected circle of connections that count.

Keegan advocates that investing in the right relationships can have amazing payoffs for both your professional and personal lives. He suggests that the number of connections might represent a smaller circle than what you may initially believe is needed, but that the circle is going to prove incredibly solid and beneficial to your life.

Read the article here.

Flashback to 2016 / 2017 – Croixstone’s First Year in Business

Remembering Our First Year with Gratitude

As we shared in last week’s issue of #FreshStart, Croixstone Consulting celebrates its fifth business anniversary this month. The first year of operations in any start-up is only made possible through the extraordinary efforts of many partners, friends and supporters. We are delighted to recognize several partners whose contributions were particularly impactful during the first year of Croixstone’s start-up journey back in 2016 and 2017.

Brand Identity: We owe a HUGE thanks to Wendy Accetta of W. Accetta Design for bringing life to our brand vision. W. Accetta Design is a boutique design studio that helps clients achieve their goals through smart design.

Start-Up Home: Day #1 of operations for Croixstone began in The Lofts at Factory South in Charlotte’s South End neighborhood. Thank you to Tommy McCart for allowing us to call Loft 309 our home during our first year in business.

Photos: Any new business requires fresh leadership headshots and website photos. Many thanks to Charlotte-based photographer Jeff Cravotta of Cravotta Photography for working your magic behind the lens.

Legal Incorporation: We still remember the thrill of being formally and legally incorporated as a North Carolina business. Thank you Jameson (Jamie) Wells for your legal assistance in welcoming Croixstone to the world.

Croixstone Consulting Turns “5”

We are celebrating! Founded by Patti Weber and Mark Weber in 2016, Croixstone Consulting celebrates its fifth business anniversary this month. Launched in a loft in Charlotte’s South End neighborhood with the aspiration to provide a highly-differentiated business model in management consulting, Croixstone has grown rapidly thanks to the deep expertise, talents and support of our consulting team, internal staff and partners/supporters.

As all entrepreneurs understand, the art of the start-up is filled with times of both great exhilaration and sleepless nights (hello global pandemic)! We are fortunate in that our five-year ride at Croixstone has been one of tremendous positivity.

Here are some of our favorite special moments over the past 5 years.

Launch: Croixstone began operations in June 2016 in Loft 309 in the former Lance Crackers building on South Boulevard in Charlotte’s booming South End neighborhood.

Hello Uptown: Croixstone relocated from the start-up loft to the new Industrious Charlotte Uptown co-working community in the Bank of America Plaza tower at Trade & Tryon in December 2017.

TABL: Croixstone introduced TABL, the firm’s unique culinary team building experience, with a playful social media launch in January 2018.

New Practice Area: Croixstone announced the launch of its new human capital solutions practice and a new executive search offering in June 2019.

FORTUNE Magazine: Croixstone announced in May 2020 that Patti Weber (CEO) had been accepted as part of a competitive application process into FORTUNE magazine’s Rebuild Program that was inspired in response to the global pandemic.

Hello NoDa: Croixstone relocated into larger offices in the newly-opened Industrious Charlotte NoDa co-working community in June 2020.

Supplier Diversity Certification: Croixstone received national certification in July 2020 as a Women’s Business Enterprise (WBE) by the Greater Women’s Business Council, a regional certifying partner of the Women’s Enterprise National Council (WBENC).

Accelerated Growth: Croixstone announced in January 2021 that Patti Weber (CEO) was one of 25 women across the USA accepted in the NAWBO (National Association of Women Business Owners) Accelerated Growth Program sponsored by Wells Fargo.

Forty Over 40: Croixstone’s CEO Patti Weber was named as a “Forty Over 40” award recipient by The Charlotte Ledger in May 2021.

1 234