Episode at a glance: Taylor and Kelly Cane, the hosts of Behind the Brand and the team behind Moxie Creative in St. Cloud, Minnesota, share why they hired a business consultant in July and how they found the right fit. They cover Kelly’s past consultants, why an agency specialist made the difference, and how to tell when you need outside help. The big takeaway: even the experts need an expert.
Listen to Episode 089 of Behind the Brand
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Episode chapters
- 00:00 Even Experts Need Help
- 00:57 Welcome to Behind the Brand
- 01:59 Why We Hired a Business Consultant
- 02:57 Kelly's History With Consultants
- 05:21 Why We Wanted an Agency Specialist
- 06:51 Find Someone Who Knows Your Industry
- 07:37 Can You Afford Not to Get Help?
- 08:13 How We Found Our Consultant
- 08:56 Driving a Flintstone Car
- 11:04 Taylor's Baby Steps Into Business Development
- 15:12 Growing Pains and Homework
- 16:22 The Task You Keep Avoiding
- 17:06 Learning Business Development Together
- 18:44 Even the Experts Need an Expert
Picture a weekly meeting where two marketing pros, the people local businesses call when they’re stuck, sit down to go over their own homework. They’re behind on it. Their consultant knows.
Welcome to life at Moxie Creative since July, when Taylor and Kelly Cane hired a business consultant. They spend their days helping Central Minnesota businesses with marketing strategy, brand positioning, budgets, and growth. Turns out being good at helping other businesses doesn’t mean you have all the answers for your own.
On this episode of Behind the Brand, our hosts get honest about why they brought in outside help and how they found the right fit.
Why would a marketing agency hire a business consultant?
Because the next chapter needed a plan. Kelly and Taylor had been thinking hard about where Moxie wants to grow and what has to change to get there.
Before they brought one on, Taylor admits she might have seen a consultant as a red flag. “I would look at it like, oh my gosh, that’s a terrible sign that a business is hiring a consultant,” she said.
A few months in, her take has flipped. She has learned a ton and feels ready to step into more of what she’s built for.
What did Kelly learn from her first business consultants?
Kelly has hired help before, more than once. The first time came early in her first agency, when someone at a networking group asked how things were going. Kelly answered with what she calls a word salad, and they told her to call their friend. “We were this typical technician becomes a business owner,” she said.
The second came after some growing pains and cashflow issues. Her bank sent her to a consultant at the SBDC to help with a loan. They got the loan, and then he kept going, teaching her budgeting and financials, an area Kelly says doesn’t come naturally to creatives.
“He wasn’t just giving me a quick fix with the loan,” Kelly said. “He was teaching me something.” She met with him for about four years, until he retired.
Why hire a consultant who knows your industry?
Because you stop explaining your business and start fixing it. Kelly’s earlier consultants were general business advisors, and she lost count of how many times she had to say, no, we don’t do it that way.
Their new consultant has owned a couple of agencies himself. When a client situation pops up, he can say he’s dealt with that, and here’s how he handled it. He calls himself part consultant, part therapist. (Kelly confirms: he sure is.)
Our hosts’ tip: look for someone who has run a business like yours. If you’re an accountant, find a consultant with an accounting background.
Can you afford to hire a business consultant?
Flip the question. When people ask Kelly how she can afford a consultant, she asks, “How can I afford not to get the help?”
“It’s lonely at the top,” she said, and plenty of owners never reach out. Some don’t know who to call. Others feel like they should already know the answer, and they’re embarrassed.
Kelly gets it. She has been doing this for 32 years and says she apparently still has a lot to learn. “Nobody knows everything.”
How do you find the right business consultant?
Kelly’s search started with Google and a late-night chat with ChatGPT. Up came a consultant who specialized in agencies. Her first reaction? No, he doesn’t.
Then she and Taylor read his homepage and realized, “He’s talking about us.” One meeting later, the fit felt right.
What does working with a business consultant look like?
Weekly meetings and homework. Kelly and Taylor meet with their consultant once a week, and they’re usually behind on the assignments. (He knows.)
Early on, Kelly told him she felt like a failure because business development was a struggle. He told her she was a hero who had been driving a Flintstone car, and her feet were sore. What she needed was an engine.
He breaks big goals into baby steps, and he gives each of them different work. Kelly goes for the kill. Taylor goes for the schmooze. He even asked what Macki could take on.
Growing Into Business Development
Three years ago, when Moxie started, Taylor’s career plan was simple: “I just want to write websites.” Ask her a year ago if she wanted to do business development, and the answer was no.
Now she’s loving it. She feels more comfortable walking into a room of strangers and talking about the work Moxie has done, which means bragging a little. She recently did a speed-dating style event with 15 tables of five people.
Kelly has her reasons for pushing. The hardest part of agency work is doing the work while you’re trying to get new work, and she wants Taylor ready for the day she is no longer there. “That’s probably the biggest gift I could give you,” she said.
What task have you been avoiding?
Probably the one you don’t know how to do. Kelly noticed the thing she kept dodging had nothing to do with being lazy. She didn’t know how to do it, so she avoided it.
So look at your own list. Find the task you keep pushing to the bottom, then find someone who can teach you. Options include SBDC consultants (a free service), personal coaches, specialists for different parts of your business, and other business owners who can mentor you.
As the saying goes, do what you do best and outsource the rest. Some things you can’t outsource, though. Those you learn.
Tune In and Get Inspired
Even the experts need an expert. Kelly and Taylor’s consultant has them building that engine one homework assignment at a time, and a year from now they expect to record a very different episode.
Want the full story, Flintstone car and Friends reference included? Press play, then share it with a business owner who’s been going it alone.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why did Moxie Creative hire a business consultant?
Kelly Cane and Taylor of Moxie Creative hired a business consultant in July to plan the agency’s next chapter and how to grow. They wanted help with business development, an area Kelly Cane says she never really had to learn because work used to come to them.
How did Kelly Cane find the right business consultant?
Kelly Cane searched Google and talked it through with ChatGPT, which surfaced a consultant who specializes in agencies. When she and Taylor read his homepage, they felt he was describing Moxie Creative, and a first meeting confirmed the fit.
Can a small business afford a business consultant?
Kelly Cane of Moxie Creative flips the question and asks whether you can afford not to get the help. She also points out that SBDC consultants are a free service, and other business owners can serve as mentors.
How often does Moxie Creative meet with its consultant?
Kelly Cane and Taylor of Moxie Creative meet with their consultant once a week, and he gives them homework they admit they are often behind on. He assigns each of them different work that fits their strengths.
