Steer the Business

If P1 is the cockpit, P2 is the flight plan. These are the lowest-frequency, highest-stakes decisions in the firm: which markets to own, when to add a head, what to charge, how to pay, where the risk is concentrated, and what to do when something goes badly wrong. Made well and on a rhythm, they compound; made reactively, they're where firms stall or get caught out.

The classic owner-operator trap is spending 100% of your time running (P1) and the desk (Bill/Lead), and never steering. The firm stays busy and drifts. Steering requires deliberately stepping out of the day-to-day to make the calls that change the firm's trajectory.

• Goals — the firm's annual/multi-year targets. Few, clear, measurable.
• Rocks — the 3–5 quarterly initiatives that move the Goals. If everything's a priority, nothing is — pick the few that count.
• Cascade — firm Rocks inform desk plans (L2) and account plans (L3); they all live in Compass.
• Review & reset — each quarterly off-site closes the last Rocks and sets the next. The rhythm is the discipline.

Each desk refines its own ICP (L2); P2 is where the firm's positioning is reviewed: which markets to double down on, which to exit, where the specialist advantage is strongest. Driven by data — which segments were most profitable, repeatable and defensible.

• Where are we winning? Concentrate where the specialist model and reputation compound.
• Where are we marginal? Be honest about segments that drain effort for low, hard-won yield — and consider exiting.
• Where's the next opportunity? Adjacent specialisms the firm could credibly own.

A 3-year vision answers: how big, in what shape, in which markets, with what kind of team? It's the reference point that keeps annual and quarterly planning coherent rather than opportunistic — every Goal should move the firm toward it.

APB's strategy is specialisation — being the recognised expert in defined markets, not a generalist. P2 owns the brand-level decisions that support it: which specialisms to be known for, how the firm shows up (the public Brand — website + socials), and the consistency between what we say and what we deliver.

• Specialise deliberately — depth in chosen markets beats breadth across many (the "Specialists First" value at firm scale).
• Align brand to positioning — the public Brand should reflect the specialisms the desks actually own.
• Insight as brand — the market intelligence the desks generate (L3) is the firm's most credible brand asset.

L1 covers how to hire and onboard; P2 decides whether and when to add a head at all. The trigger is sustained, winnable demand the current team can't service — backed by the working-capital cover to carry a new hire to first billings (P1).

• Demand, not busyness: a pipeline of qualified work a new consultant could pick up within their ramp window — not just "everyone's flat out."
• Funded ramp: can the firm carry the hire through their non-billing ramp without breaching working-capital cover? Model it before committing.
• Where it lands: which desk, which branch (next section), and who leads them (L1).

APB operates two branches, and which one a role goes into is a genuine strategic call, not just a cost one:

• Match branch to role: client-facing BD leans AU; sourcing/delivery leans PH.
• Model the true cost of each (employment overlay, tooling, management load) — not just headline salary.
• Balance the mix deliberately as the firm scales.

Capacity modelling turns the firm's revenue ambition into a headcount plan (and vice versa). The logic: realistic billing per consultant by level (from the People & Structure KPI targets) × the team, adjusted for ramp, gives the firm's billing capacity. Gap between capacity and ambition = the hiring plan.

• Use real per-level targets (EC/SC/PC/MD) from People & Structure — not optimistic averages.
• Discount for ramp — new hires bill little for months (the 30-60-90 reality, L1/Onboarding).
• Stress-test it — what if a key biller leaves, or a ramp runs slow? Capacity should have resilience built in.

P2 is where the firm's pricing is steered; the desks execute within it (M1 negotiation, L3 fee defence). The pricing levers — the standard rate, the retained/anchor spread, the guarantee tiers, payment terms — set the firm's economics more than any single placement. Steering decisions: whether to move standard rates, when to push retained over contingent, and where to hold the line on discounting.

Commission design is one of the most powerful levers an owner has: it shapes behaviour more than any policy. Good design rewards the outcomes the firm wants (sustained billing, quality, collaboration) without creating perverse incentives (sandbagging, fee-discounting to close, desk territorialism).

• Reward sustained performance, not just spikes — align to the level targets and progression (People & Structure).
• Don't incentivise the wrong thing — e.g. paying purely on revenue can reward fee-discounting; build in yield/quality where it matters.
• Encourage collaboration — cross-desk referrals (L3) shouldn't be punished by how commission works.
• Keep it legible — people should be able to understand how they're paid and what to do to earn more.

Deep key accounts (L3) are a strength — until one of them is a large enough share of revenue that losing it would hurt badly. P2 watches concentration at the firm level:

• Know the share — what % of firm revenue sits with the top 1, 3, 5 clients? Track it.
• Set a comfort threshold — above it, deliberately diversify (BD into new logos, grow other accounts).
• Mitigate without under-serving — you still lead key accounts brilliantly (L3); you just don't let the firm become dependent on any one.

A crisis is not the time to work out your approach from scratch. The point of this playbook is that the first moves are already decided, so under pressure you act calmly and correctly. The universal principles come first; the specific scenarios follow.

Universal crisis principles

• Get the facts fast and stay calm — understand what's actually happened before reacting. Don't amplify a crisis with a panicked response.
• Contain first, then fix — stop the bleeding before solving the root cause.
• Involve the right experts early — legal, IR, IT/security as relevant. Most crises get worse when handled solo or late.
• Control the narrative — communicate deliberately to staff, clients and any affected parties, before rumour or speculation fills the gap.
• Document everything — a clear record protects the firm if the event has legal or regulatory follow-through.
• Protect people first — staff wellbeing and any affected individuals come before commercial considerations.

Scenario responses