RAS & Associates has grown up by the serving the Aerospace & Defense clients
After springing up at the height of the global economic downturn in 2008, RAS & Associates quickly made a name for itself, garnering a spot on Consulting 's Seven Small Jewels list in 2010. Since then, the strategy firm has continued hiring, diversified its service offerings and solidified its core competencies in the Aerospace & Defense and Energy industries. Founder and CEO Rob Swanson spoke recently with Consulting about the future challenges in the Aerospace & Defense and Energy sectors.
Consulting: Your firm was named one of Consulting's Small Jewels in 2010, could you talk about some of the growth and change since then?
Swanson: Since we were named a Small Jewel, we've grown north of a 50 percent cumulative average growth rate. We were on a significantly higher path, but realized a few things: we definitely got the core foundational strategy right. We slowed growth down a little to remain true to our guns of hiring the right people, especially as the economy continued its big variable, to put it mildly, and the way we maintain client relationships. We continue to engage in the community, and to invest more into our culture and brand, we realized how important that was from the feedback we received from our clients and employees. I think we're a lot wiser from that point, but are continuing to do things to support our brand and make opportunities for our clients and team members.
Consulting: What have been some of the big movers and shakers for you in terms of the industries you serve?
Swanson: Aerospace and Defense we know well, from engineering aspects to political aspects to congressional budgeting aspects. Then from an operation standpoint and the financials needed to keep score. The needle movers there have been really getting intimate with our clients on strategic planning. I was asked if we do well when industries are peaking and doing well or doing poorly, I think Aerospace is an industry where because of the incredible relationships we've established with our clients that our clients will work with us no matter what happens whether things are good, bad or indifferent because we bring new things to the table and continue to reinvent ourselves and what we can bring to our clients so that culture of constantly creating opportunity for our clients means we've got to be vigilant in what skills and capabilities we need because they're constantly evolving.
Consulting: What are clients demanding?
Swanson: You no longer have to have a global brand for a client to hire you on strategic or transformational efforts. Our clients demand an intimacy with their business—do you know my business? Price is still important, but what we find our clients demand is an element of "I want to see your unique skills and capabilities developed in my people". We don't believe you need a 30 to 40-person or even a 10- to 15-person consulting team to do a transformational effort. We don't think clients are buying like that as much anymore. Our goals and our clients' goals are to move the needle. Each of our deals is extremely important to us, everyone in our firm knows our pipeline, our culture and the culture of our clients.
Consulting: What are some future challenges your clients will be facing and how you will meet them?
Swanson: In Aerospace, clients are facing shrinking aggregate demand and budgets, they've got a real challenge across their portfolio if budgets drop by 5, 10, 18, 20 percent, how do I react to that? Given the complexity of their manufacturing facilities, and the way their organizations have to cost and bill their customers, I think there's a concern of how do you actually do that if you have a very large portfolio across many different projects you're doing. Clients are trusting us to know the chessboard, and be side by side with them, planning to accommodate the uncertain future. We've invested a lot of time understanding the political dynamics of their business, so if suddenly the shoe drops and the uncertainty becomes certain, we feel like the clients we work with are adequately prepared to deal with these realities. Rather than a one-time event, we think this is the new norm, getting their leaders to think in that mindset.
Consulting: What about Energy?
Swanson: The Energy business is sort of the inverse. The U.S. energy economy looks bullish with new drilling technologies, and people wondering when natural gas will explode economically, so their tide is actually rising. Contraction can be an easier math problem to work out, growth is really difficult. A lot of the clients we're talking to are looking to double in the next 3 to 5 years, deploying billions of dollars in capital. How do they do that in the most effective way? It's kind of a Tale of Two Industries, but some of the challenges are consistent.
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