There are two pieces to the business model used by Point B Solutions Group. One is that they hire local talent as consultants rather than have people travel in from other states. This creates a better work-lifestyle balance and an employee more invested in the community at large. The other is that those consultants work out of the offices of the clients rather than at some home base. That helps to keep down overhead and allows for more money used for hiring instead. “That is where our clients want us,” said Patrick McCauley, who, like a number of those at Point B, used to work at Accenture. Los Angeles is one of two new markets for the 12-year old company, Chicago being the other. It also operates in Denver, Seattle, Portland and San Francisco working with such big-name clients as Microsoft, Nike, PetSmart, WaMu, Starbucks, and Safeco. In 2006, the company had more than 100 active clients. Point B has been recognized by Consulting Magazine as among the top three companies to work for in the consulting industry and as a “small jewel” for its excellence in client impact, firm culture and innovation within the consulting arena. In the short time Point B has been here it has attracted five clients, including in the San Fernando Valley. McCauley has hired 6 consultants averaging 15 years experience with an eye toward having 8 by the end of the year. McCauley called Los Angeles an vibrant area with both consulting talent and companies in need of that talent to improve their businesses. The timing was right to start working out here, he said. “It was a push on our part but also a pull on the part of existing clients with operations in L.A.,” McCauley said. Point B associates provide clients with consulting and project leadership services; projects that companies take on to improve and expand their business. Those can include merger integration work, product launches, turning around struggling projects and software selection and systems implementation. A billing and registration software project involving doctor offices in three states brought together Providence Health Systems and Point B. The quality of the Point B staff is what makes them stand out from another consulting firm Providence hired, especially in terms of experience and knowledge, said Jeff Bussard, the manager of technical support services for Providence in the Southern California region. “This guy hit the ground running and took the lead coordinating with three states and more than 200 employees,” Bussard said. The companies hiring Point B don’t necessarily lack leadership skills of their own but instead the time and capacity to direct a major project and continue handling the day-to-day operations, McCauley said. So what a Point B manager brings are proven methods based on experience, working closely with the client’s employees. “That’s what our people love to do and that is what they are focused on,” McCauley said. “Our clients rely on that and value that,” Such talent comes as a premium which is why it’s a plus for the firm not to have a large office from which it managers work. (It does have office space in Westchester and some administrative functions are shared with other locations.) By keeping overhead costs down, Point B is able to stay out in front of its clients, McCauley said. For the time being, the firm is concentrating on attracting clients in Los Angeles and Orange counties before spreading south. As opportunities come up Point B will take them but at least for the next year the firm will not actively seek jobs in say San Diego, McCauley said.
