CCN Celebrates Six Years

Today on Friday, March 22, Cox Consulting Network celebrates six years in business!

Six years of putting people first.

Six years of serving our peers in finance and accounting.

And six years of award-winning growth.

To commemorate this special occasion, CEO and Founder Andy Cox sat down with Lesa Theurer, VP of Finance and Accounting Consulting, and Sara Smith, Chief of Staff. You can watch their conversation below or read on to learn more about where we’ve been and where we’re headed!

The CCN Story

Andy Cox enjoyed a rewarding career in the consulting industry for many years, but he realized there were things he wanted to do differently.

“I loved talking to clients. I loved talking to consultants. I loved how we were able to help clients get done what they needed to get done,” he shares. “What I didn’t enjoy so much was the fact that consulting — for most of the industry — is at least a 100% markup business.”

After a point, he felt he couldn’t “serve two masters.” Pay rates, bill rates, and profits would be a much easier conversation if the company didn’t have to answer to investors. The solution was a radical new business model for the consulting industry: a privately owned, independent consultant network.

“I didn’t want to have conversations with investors at the end of the quarter,” Andy explains. “I began to realize that if I don’t have those conversations, what conversations can I now have with clients and consultants because I don’t have to worry about investors?”

“There’s an opportunity here to really change how we do things, how we serve consultants … this really translates into a good thing for consultants and for clients.”

Andy Cox

CCN Today – Putting People Over Profits

With his new business model, Andy unlocked the ability to truly put “people over profits.” 

When Lesa is having conversations with potential new consultants, she can “work backward” to find their optimal pay rate based on the current market bill rate minus a minimal markup from CCN.

“That full transparency … is a real eye-opening experience from a candidate’s perspective,” says Andy.

Consulting isn’t just about making money; it’s also about achieving a lifestyle.

“If you’ve been in accounting for any amount of time, you realize that you chose a career where you’re probably working nights, weekends, and holidays,” says Andy. “Accountants work a lot of hours, especially if you’re in a corporate role at a fast-growing company.”

Because CCN’s business model gives more money to consultants, they can achieve a better work-life balance.

“I recruit all of our finance and accounting consultants and get to tell our story every day… I hear the amazement from candidates and even our clients, too, on how our model’s just completely different. And I think that makes everybody want to be a part of what we do.”

Lesa Theurer

Award-Winning Growth

So, what happens when you put people first? Is that a sustainable business model?

Following a truly banner year of award-winning growth, we’d say the answer is a resounding “yes!” Over the past two years, CCN has received recognition from:

• INC 5000: we came in at #1359, which is in the top 30% in the US. We ranked #140 in Texas and #45 in the greater Austin area.
• Austin Business Journal Fast 50 Award: for the second year in a row, ranking 19^th fastest-growing business in Central Texas. 
• ACG Growth Award: for the second year in a row, ranking the #1 fastest-growing business in the $10-25 million category for Austin/San Antonio.

How did we get here? There are a lot of factors, including our great team, a great market, and fantastic consultants. Still, Andy believes that there’s something special about the buy-in he’s witnessed to the CCN model: “I think what sets us apart is that our consultants believe in our mission. You can’t produce authenticity; you can’t buy authenticity… When you really get down to it, consultants come here and stay here because they believe wholeheartedly and trust us that we’re doing something great for them.”

“Even with a great market, we wouldn’t have this growth if people didn’t truly believe in what we’re doing.”

Andy Cox

Of course, clients also win with this mentality. 

“If we have exceptional consultants on engagement, that means our clients also get to go home earlier and spend time with their family … or whatever it is they want to do,” says Andy.

“If I can pay more, that means that I can bring in a better consultant … So now we get a higher caliber consultant who’s very happy making more money per hour, who hopefully is working fewer hours. They’re getting the quality of life that they want, and now they can go knock it out of the park. So it’s really all connected.”

Andy Cox

While CCN engages all sorts of consultants, Lesa thinks about how the consulting lifestyle appeals especially to working families: “Within finance and accounting, it’s more than 9 to 5, and I think a lot of people just light up knowing that they can have more family time, more flexibility, and still do the same thing they have been doing.”

Although Sara Smith has just been with CCN for a year, she has watched it grow from the beginning. “It’s been really amazing to see it grow, not just from a revenue perspective or number of consultants or number of clients … but just seeing the passion that everybody has about being a part of CCN.”

What’s Next for CCN?

We’re excited to continue growing while maintaining the quality experience that has made CCN so special.

“We want to do more things, and we want to go places,” says Andy. “I hope it’s a lot more of the same … We’re always going to continue to focus on how we can get consultants the best.”

We’re focusing on having more proactive conversations with clients, sharing our specialized expertise, and putting forward solutions to challenges many clients face.

Join the Network!

Are you curious to experience the CCN difference for yourself? On our website, you can learn more about becoming a consultant, finding consultants, and recruiting. Contact us to schedule a conversation today.