Conexus connects independent consulting businesses to refer opportunities, bring the right expertise to Clients and work together under one published agreement, without giving up their independence.
The problem
A Client needs something outside your expertise. An engagement is larger than you can deliver alone. An opportunity would suit someone you know better than it suits you.
So you turn it down, or pass it along on a handshake. And when you need a specialist yourself, you start from scratch while the Client waits.
Independence gives you freedom. It shouldn’t mean working alone.
The idea
You may have left a large firm on purpose. You don’t want employees, overhead or hierarchy. But you still want what a firm gives you: expertise to call on, people who come across the right work for you, somewhere useful to send work you can’t do, and a way to put the right team in front of a Client.
Conexus builds that network around the businesses that already exist. It doesn’t ask you to become less independent. Conexus makes your independence more capable.
For your Client, it means getting the expertise the work actually requires, not just the expertise one firm happens to have.
Stay small when you want to. Reach further when you need to.
How it holds together
Every Member joins under the same published agreement, which applies between all Members. Referrals, shared work, confidentiality and fees have clear default rules before an opportunity arrives, so nobody negotiates the basics while a Client waits.
Conexus isn’t a company you work for. It provides the rules; the Members provide the work.
You keep
How it works
Sarah, David and Priya are independent consultants and Conexus Members.
Example
Sarah meets a Client who needs organizational-design expertise she doesn’t offer. She introduces David by email, naming the opportunity. The Client hires David directly, at David’s price. As the Client pays David, David pays Sarah an introduction fee. Sarah does none of the delivery.
For David, it’s work he wouldn’t otherwise have found, from a Client who arrives already introduced.
Example
Priya holds a large transformation project and needs ERP expertise. She keeps the Client contract and brings in another Member to deliver that part, after a short written agreement on scope and pay.
Her Client gets the broader team; each Member stays responsible for its own work.
Sometimes you’re the person with the opportunity. Sometimes you’re the person with the expertise. Conexus is designed for both.
Either way, the Client chooses, the money moves directly between Members, and Conexus takes nothing.
Who it's for
Conexus is for management, strategy, operations, technology, IT, HR and similar consulting, and for the people who bring that work to Clients.
Regulated professional services, such as legal, accounting, investment advice and insurance, are outside the Network.
The economics
The referral fee is a share of the professional fees the Client actually pays, not taxes or expenses.
Working together. When one Member holds the Client contract and brings another in to deliver part of the work, the default split for that work is 35% to the Member holding the contract and 65% to the Member delivering it.
Example: If David collects CAD 100,000 in professional fees from Sarah’s Client in the first year, he pays Sarah CAD 20,000. Illustration only, not a typical amount.
Trust
Conexus is building a public Register. When it opens, anyone will be able to look up a Member by name or Member ID and see whether they’re Active, when they joined, and any checks they’ve chosen to complete, such as identity, business registration or insurance, each with its date.
Verification confirms facts, not quality. Conexus doesn’t certify, rate or rank Members, so you still make your own judgement about whom to work with.
Boundaries
| Conexus doesn’t… | What that means for you |
|---|---|
| employ Members or assign them work | You decide what work you take. |
| guarantee leads, revenue or payment | Opportunities come only from Members who choose to refer them. |
| own anyone’s Clients | A Referral creates a time-limited fee, not ownership of a Client. |
| contract with Clients or supervise work | Each Member answers for its own work. |
| hold or take a share of any fee | Money flows Member to Member. |
In return, Members agree to pay what they owe, protect confidential information, respect qualifying introductions and deal fairly with one another.
A Member Council administers the Network, and at least two-thirds of its seats are reserved for consultants who deliver the work. During the founding period, the founding Member leads the Council; the published documents define how and when that ends.
Membership
A network isn’t valuable because it has a long list of names. It’s valuable when the right people know each other, trust each other and can help when an opportunity appears. One introduction can lead to an engagement; one engagement can lead to a lasting working relationship.
Build more capability around your business, without giving up the independence that made it yours.
Membership begins with an invitation or sponsorship from an existing Member. Review the Agreement and Network Policies before you sign. If you join, you join as the independent business you already are.
