Why Your 'Unique Value Proposition' Is Holding You Back ( + The Fix )

03/12/25 • 42 min

Summary

Most consultants are told their Value Proposition is everything. But is that really true? In this episode, Craig Herd and Clive Griffiths break down why the usual advice around value propositions often misses the mark—and what actually matters if you want to grow your consultancy.

Craig and Clive explore why many consultancy founders get stuck obsessing over a one-liner, while the real challenge is getting in front of the right clients and having deeper conversations. They discuss the difference between a value proposition and positioning, why your team needs clarity to avoid butchering your message, and how clients often stay with you for different reasons than why they first signed up.

If you’ve ever wrestled with articulating your consultancy’s value—or felt pressured to come up with a “unique” value proposition that sets you apart—this episode is for you.

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Episode Highlights and Insights

Value Proposition vs Positioning

Craig and Clive discuss why consultants often confuse these two ideas—and why separating them can help clarify what you really offer.

Why Your Team Needs your Value Prop More Than Your Clients

When associates and consultants are tasked with business development, a clear message becomes critical. Without it, they’ll likely dilute your proposition.

Why ‘Unique’ Misses The Point

Most consultancies aren’t unique—and that’s okay. What matters more is trust, reliability, and credibility in the eyes of your clients.

The Role of Your Value Proposition

Think of it as the fishing line—not the entire strategy. It’s there to open the conversation, not close the deal.

Who You Should Listen To

Craig shares how reviewing client feedback uncovered the real value they deliver—something they hadn’t identified themselves.

Productise or Expand?

A candid chat on how consultancies can scale—whether through productising services or carefully expanding their offer—without becoming “all things to all people.”

...

If you’re a consultancy founder who’s ever felt stuck explaining what you do—or worried your team can’t articulate your value without you—this episode will help you rethink your value proposition and positioning in a more practical way.

Subscribe to The Consultancy Growth Podcast for candid conversations with experts helping consultancy founders build sustainable, scalable businesses.

Summary

If you’ve ever wrestled with articulating your consultancy’s value—or felt pressured to come up with a “unique” value proposition that sets you apart—this episode is for you.

...

Episode Highlights and Insights

Value Proposition vs Positioning

Craig and Clive discuss why consultants often confuse these two ideas—and why separating them can help clarify what you really offer.

Why Your Team Needs your Value Prop More Than Your Clients

When associates and consultants are tasked with business development, a clear message becomes critical. Without it, they’ll likely dilute your proposition.

Why ‘Unique’ Misses The Point

Most consultancies aren’t unique—and that’s okay. What matters more is trust, reliability, and credibility in the eyes of your clients.

The Role of Your Value Proposition

Think of it as the fishing line—not the entire strategy. It’s there to open the conversation, not close the deal.

Who You Should Listen To

Craig shares how reviewing client feedback uncovered the real value they deliver—something they hadn’t identified themselves.

Productise or Expand?

A candid chat on how consultancies can scale—whether through productising services or carefully expanding their offer—without becoming “all things to all people.”

...

Subscribe to The Consultancy Growth Podcast for candid conversations with experts helping consultancy founders build sustainable, scalable businesses.

Previous Episode

Why 90% of Consultancies Never Scale (And How to Be the 10%)

Host: Craig Herd

Most consultancy founders are stuck in a dumb loop. You start out hustling, doing everything yourself—winning deals, handling clients, hiring, marketing, even buying the office biscuits. Then you grow, hire people... and somehow still end up doing everything. Sound familiar?

In this episode, Craig breaks down why founders get trapped as Mr Everything, why hiring more people won’t fix it, and the real way to escape the grind. If you want a business that runs without you, this is the episode you need to hear.

Key Topics Covered

🔥 Why you’re stuck running everything.
⚠️ The myth that hiring will solve all your problems.
🛑 Being the bottleneck is killing growth.
📈 The reason your consultancy isn’t scaling.
🔧 The first system to build.
💰 Founder closed £36K deal while golfing.

Episode Highlights & Resources

The ‘Mr Everything’ Trap: Why Founders Get Stuck

You’re running everything—sales, delivery, ops, hiring, admin.
More team members? More problems.
This is the opposite of freedom.

How to Escape: Systemise Everything

If your consultancy only works when you’re working.
The secret? Removing yourself from client acquisition.
You don’t need to be the rainmaker.

The Goal: A Business That Runs Without You

If you're the business, it’s not sellable, scalable, or sustainable.
Stop being the bottleneck. Stop doing everything.
Systemise client acquisition, build leverage, and reclaim your time.

Related Episodes & Resources

📖 Built to Sell – A playbook for creating a business that runs itself
📖 The E-Myth – Why most small businesses fail (and how to avoid it)

If you’re tired of being Mr Everything and want to actually own a business (not just a job), listen to this episode and start making the shift today.

Next Episode

Build Your Consultancy Around Your Life (Founder Market Fit) With Deri Hughes

Summary

Most consultancy founders are told to chase product-market fit. But what if the real key to long-term success is founder-market fit? In this episode, Craig Herd and Clive Griffiths speak with Derry Hughes, founder of Honeycomb Consulting Skills Training, about how he reshaped his business to fit his strengths, his life, and his long-term vision.

Derry shares how he pivoted through three different businesses before focusing on training, where he found both growth and fulfilment. He opens up about the hard lessons learned from running two businesses at once, why focus is everything, and how building the right leadership team helped him scale sustainably, all while raising four children.

If you’re a consultancy founder wondering what’s next or how to build a business that works for you, not against you this episode is for you.

Episode Highlights and Insights

Founder-Market Fit: The Overlooked Growth Strategy

Derry explains why aligning your business with your personal strengths, interests, and ambitions is the real key to sustainable growth.

The Power of Focus

Why trying to run two businesses at once nearly derailed Derry—and how narrowing his focus to training unlocked real momentum.

Pivoting with Purpose

How Derry moved from outsourced operations to recruitment, and ultimately to training consultancy teams, driven by market demand and his own interests.

Building the Right Leadership Team

The importance of bringing in partners who complement your weaknesses, not mirror your strengths—and how this decision accelerated Honeycomb’s growth.

Sustainable Growth vs Hypergrowth

Derry shares why he chose to build a business designed for long-term sustainability, rather than chasing rapid scale and exit strategies.

Why Listen

If you’re a consultancy founder asking, Is this the right business for me?, this episode will show you how to align your consultancy with your strengths, ambitions, and life outside the business—so you can scale on your own terms.

Subscribe to The Consultancy Growth Podcast for more conversations with experts who are helping consultancy founders build sustainable, scalable businesses.
Deri Hughes Linkedin
Honeycomb Consulting Skills Training