Does anyone have experience searching for niche consulting practices where you have adjacent experience but not the "expert"? Examples include environmental, architecture, engineering, etc. Essentially they operate very similar to law/accounting firms without requirements for specialty licenses, but generally require deep domain knowledge.
Someone had suggested this route to me and I have been struggling to come up with "what is the value I bring as the new owner" question:
1. Owner expertise: the top transferrable skill here for me is B2B sales - however, the sales process of these consulting practices is highly technical, so I won't feel comfortable doing sales on my own without a subject matter expert present.
2. Clients: most of the time client relationships are highly seller-dependent, especially as clients consider the seller the top expert in this field. I cannot replace that.
3. Employees: considering the low startup cost, why wouldn't key employees just leave and start their own practice? They already have the existing client relationships and the expertise and credibility.
Would love thoughts from anyone who's bought a niche consulting practice, or searching for one!
Thoughts on niche consulting practices? (e.g. environmental, architecture)

by a searcher from Dartmouth College
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