What is FocusTribes? Mathias Sorez, co-founder of FocusTribes, was invited on Bsmart TV to present our model, our expertise and our values. Mathias talked about how values, especially loyalty, (a sense of service and commitment...), are key in the selection process of the best independent consultants.
Watch the video and content of his interview below 👇
Selected with great care !
FocusTribes has set up a selection process for independent management and IT consultants.
Mathias Sorez, co-founder and president of the company, answers Jean-Marc Sylvestre's questions.
Jean-Marc Sylvestre: So the company was founded 3 years ago?
Mathias: Yes, at the very beginning of 2018
Jean-Marc Sylvestre: 2018, 2019, 2020... 2020: crisis or opportunity?
Mathias: 2020 was a good year for us. We were lucky to have a bit of inertia on previously sold projects. In 2020, we had an excellent year. We hope to do the same in 2021.
Jean-Marc Sylvestre: Your idea was to select independent consultants and support them?
Mathias: Yes, the idea is simple. When we work with consultants, and customers who are happy with our consultants, recommendation is an important thing in this market. The idea was to create a selective tribe...clearly selected, and to make sure we only select the best.
Jean-Marc Sylvestre: So, what criteria do you use to select?
Mathias: There are objective and subjective criteria. The objective criteria are pretty standard. 80% of our consultants come from large consulting firms. That's a ratio we try to apply as much as possible. After that, it's mainly about soft skills, particularly values. You know, independent consultants sometimes have a bad reputation. They're often seen as mercenaries looking for a better rate, and so on. At FocusTribes, we make sure we don't work with people like that, but with people who have values, especially loyalty.
Jean-Marc Sylvestre: In terms of expertise, do you have any specialties?
Mathias: We work on transformation projects, particularly for large companies, transforming organizations, processes and information systems. Typically, this is what we call management and information systems consulting.
So, we don't specialize in any particular function or business sector. On the other hand, our consultants all have a dual culture: business (finance specialists, supply chain specialists, etc.) or a particular industry (retail, banking...), always coupled with knowledge of projects, and in particular information systems.
Jean-Marc Sylvestre: And if you're talking about business transformation, the crisis must have created opportunities and needs. Did these needs translate into specific demands or not?
Mathias: First of all, companies tried to save the whole ship from going under.
Jean-Marc Sylvestre: But most of them adapted well...?
Mathias: Yes, absolutely. In any case, those who had the means to do so... A great deal of agility, particularly in projects to go and find customers where they are, in this case, during the initial lock down, at home. And then, the second type of project which is also quite promising for us, projects to optimize support functions, supplier e-invoicing...
Jean-Marc Sylvestre: And the idea of setting up on your own, with your wife, was it an independence project, or was it to develop a project that you weren't succeeding in developing where you were?
Mathias: In fact, in the very beginning, I was indeed an independent consultant, after working in the big consulting firms. I was lonely when I was an independent consultant. In the big firms, it's great because you have colleagues with whom you can exchange ideas. You get the best practices from all over the world. Independent consulting is great, but you often feel alone. And that's what I wanted to create with Aurélie, my wife. I wanted to provide support, a real back-up base for consultants.
Jean-Marc Sylvestre: How many people are in your company today?
Mathias: There are about ten of us. We have an office in Spain (Barcelona) and in France, and we have a community of around 600 consultants.
Jean-Marc Sylvestre: It's not a very capital-intensive business, is it?
Mathias: No, not at all !
Jean-Marc Sylvestre: So it must be self-financing?
Mathias: It's probably self-financing. Maybe not enough yet... but in fact our model is also participative. In other words, our margin rate is lower than the market. We pay our consultants a fair price, and we apply fair prices to our customers. We probably margin less than other market players...
Jean-Marc Sylvestre: It's called FocusTribes.
Mathias: Yes, FocusTribes like Tribe !
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