Consulting channel partnerships look like growth. Sometimes they are. But sometimes they can quietly box you in.
You see this a lot in IT consulting, especially with platform-focused consultants doing configuration, implementation, and managed services.
By channel partnerships, I usually mean things like:
👉 Being a partner to a software vendor and working closely with their sales, services, or customer success teams to get introduced to new clients
👉 Getting work passed to you by recruiters so you are not doing much selling yourself
👉 Subcontracting for larger consulting firms that overflow work to you
Channel partnerships can absolutely help you get going. They can fuel your first phase of growth.
The risk shows up later.
If you do not build your own way to consistently land clients, a few things start to matter a lot more than they should.
⚠️ First, you do not own the client relationship. If a vendor changes direction, a recruiter shifts focus, or a partner loses a client, your revenue can disappear fast.
⚠️ Second, partner sourced work often comes with a real cost. Recruiters and intermediaries commonly take 20% to 25% off the top. That adds up quickly.
⚠️ Third, and this is the quiet one, you are not building the one skill that keeps firms alive long term. Selling.
Being able to sell your own work is what gives a consulting firm control. It is what allows you to respond when markets shift, partners disappear, or demand slows down.
Having some partner driven revenue is fine. Relying on it almost entirely is risky.
If more than 50% percent of your revenue comes from channel partners for the last couple of years, it is probably time to step back and ask whether you are building a firm or renting one.
✍ Curious how other consulting founders are balancing partnerships with direct sales.
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