Building an IP valuation practice: what firms get wrong

Restructuring, valuation, accountancy and property firms come across brands, software and data on almost every matter. Many conclude, rightly, that there is a practice to be built around it. Far fewer build one that wins steady work, prices it properly and delivers it consistently. The reasons are usually the same.

1. Starting with people, not proposition

The instinct is to hire a technical expert and expect a practice to form around them. Without a clear view of what the practice offers, to whom and why it is different, even an excellent hire struggles to generate work. The proposition should come first; the hiring plan should follow from it.

2. Pricing the work like a commodity

IP work carries real complexity and risk, and clients value speed, judgement and defensibility. Practices that price by the hour, or match the lowest quote in the market, find themselves busy and unprofitable. Engagement types, fee structures and scoping need to be designed deliberately.

3. No clear referral strategy

Most IP work arrives through referrers: insolvency practitioners, lenders, lawyers and corporate finance advisers. A practice that has not mapped who those people are, what they need and how often they need it will rely on luck. Referral relationships have to be built and maintained on purpose.

4. Process as an afterthought

Templates, review points, quality controls and document libraries can feel like administration. In practice they are what allows a team to deliver consistently, scale beyond its founders and stand behind its work when it is scrutinised.

5. Expecting fee earners to become business developers overnight

Technical specialists are rarely trained to lead client conversations, scope work or pitch. Mentoring, coaching and practical support on early mandates make the difference between a team that waits for work and one that wins it.

What a successful build looks like

In the first year: a defined proposition, pricing, core process and the first referral relationships, with senior support on early mandates. In the second: a growing team with clear roles and a repeatable pipeline. By the third: a practice with a reputation of its own, able to run without its founders in every conversation.

This article is general information and is not legal, financial or valuation advice.