Business Development Strategy
Market entry, channel design, and commercial planning, delivered as written recommendations against defined objectives.
Fixed fee, scoped in advance
Business Development & Advisory · Brownsville, Texas
We publish what share of our revenue each client represents
An adviser who depends on one client for a substantial share of income cannot advise that client without constraint. It is a structural conflict, it is rarely disclosed, and the client is the party least able to detect it. We publish our concentration quarterly. Our largest client represents 14% of revenue, and no client has exceeded 20% since 2019.
- Established
- 2017
- Largest client
- 14%
- Top three combined
- 31%
- Active clients
- 34
Brownsville, Texas
Of annual revenue
Of annual revenue
Across four sectors
Market context
The conflict an adviser is least likely to disclose
Advisory firms disclose conflicts of interest as a matter of routine. Referral arrangements are declared, commissions are stated, and relationships with counterparties are set out in engagement letters. One conflict is almost never disclosed, because it does not arise from any transaction: the proportion of the firm’s own income that the client represents.
An adviser drawing forty percent of revenue from a single client is not independent of that client, whatever the engagement letter says. The advice that client needs to hear may be the advice that ends the relationship, and the adviser knows the cost of giving it.
The effect is subtle rather than corrupt. It shows in recommendations not made, reservations expressed mildly, and engagements extended past the point of usefulness. None of it requires bad faith, and none of it is visible to the client.
We publish our concentration quarterly: the share of revenue attributable to our largest client, our top three, and our top five, with the sector distribution alongside. Our largest client currently represents 14%, and our operating policy caps any single client at 20%.
The advice a client needs to hear may be the advice that ends the relationship. An adviser who depends on that client knows exactly what it costs to give it.
Concentration data
Revenue concentration and sector distribution
Trailing twelve months, from internal revenue records34 active clients · unaudited · published quarterly
Largest single clientAgainst an operating policy cap of 20%1 client14%
Top three clients combinedNo two of the three operate in the same sector3 clients31%
Top five clients combinedThe remaining 29 clients account for 55%5 clients45%
Largest sector exposure — logistics and cross-border tradeOur highest concentration risk, and the one we are actively reducing12 clients38%
Revenue from clients of three years or moreLong relationships, none of them individually load-bearing16 clients52%
Client concentration is within policy; sector concentration is not where we would wish it. Thirty-eight percent of revenue derives from logistics and cross-border trade, which reflects our location and is a genuine exposure. It is disclosed because a client in that sector is entitled to know that a downturn affecting them affects us in the same quarter, and to weigh our advice accordingly.
Services
Advisory services
Partnership & Channel Development
Identification and structuring of commercial partnerships, with no fee contingent on any partnership proceeding.
Fixed fee
Cross-Border Commercial Advisory
Commercial structuring for organizations operating across the Texas–Mexico border. Our largest sector, and our largest exposure.
38% of firm revenue
Commercial Due Diligence
Independent assessment of a commercial proposition, including where the conclusion is that it should not proceed.
Fixed fee, no contingency
Growth & Operating Planning
Operating plans with stated assumptions, reconciled against outcomes at twelve months where the client wishes.
Fixed fee
Commercial Review
A three-week assessment of an existing commercial position, delivered as a written report with recommendations.
$9,600 fixed
Governance
How concentration is managed
Measure one
Twenty percent operating cap
No single client may exceed 20% of trailing twelve-month revenue. Where an engagement would breach it, we decline or defer.
Measure two
Quarterly publication
Largest client, top three, top five, and sector distribution are published on this website each quarter.
Measure three
Disclosure within engagement letters
Each client is told what share of our revenue they represent at the point of engagement and on renewal.
Measure four
No contingent or success fees
Fees are fixed and scoped in advance, so that our recommendation has no bearing on what we are paid.
Practice
Brownsville and the border region
Client references
Our engagement letter stated what share of their revenue we represented. It had not occurred to us to ask, and we now ask every adviser we appoint.Chief Executive · Manufacturing group
They recommended against a partnership we had already decided to pursue, and they were paid the same fee either way. We did not proceed.Commercial Director · Distribution company
They disclosed their sector exposure to logistics before we engaged, and noted that a downturn affecting us would affect them concurrently. That was a useful thing to know.Managing Partner · Freight brokerage
Coverage
South Texas and the border region
BrownsvilleHarlingenMcAllenEdinburg
LaredoCorpus ChristiSan AntonioHouston
MatamorosReynosaMonterreyRemote engagements
Frequently asked
Why publish client concentration?
Because an adviser dependent on one client for a substantial share of income cannot advise that client without constraint, and the client is the party least able to detect the dependency.
What is the 20% cap?
An operating policy under which no single client may exceed 20% of trailing twelve-month revenue. Where an engagement would breach it, we decline or defer the work.
Are the figures audited?
No. They are drawn from our internal revenue records and published unaudited, and we state so.
Why is sector exposure higher than client exposure?
Because we operate on the border and logistics and cross-border trade represent 38% of revenue. It is a genuine exposure and we disclose it rather than presenting concentration solely at client level.
Insights
Governance
The conflict that never appears in an engagement letter
Why revenue dependency is the least disclosed and most consequential conflict in advisory work.
Fees
What a success fee buys and what it costs
How contingency changes the recommendation before anyone notices it has.
Sector
Correlated exposure in a regional practice
When your client’s downturn and your own arrive in the same quarter.
Working with CinderPoint
Considerations for prospective clients
We decline engagements that would breach our concentration cap. A client seeking to expand a relationship beyond 20% of our revenue will be told that we cannot take the work, which is an unusual answer to receive and occasionally an unwelcome one.
Our fees carry no contingency. We are paid the same whether we recommend that a transaction proceed or that it does not, which removes an incentive that some clients expect an adviser to share with them.
Our sector exposure is a real limitation. Thirty-eight percent of revenue derives from logistics and cross-border trade, and clients in that sector should understand that our commercial interests and theirs move together to some degree.