Founding of TNCG

Following the establishment of Student Consultant, our managing partners, Reno Kochanowski and Jorick Schilken, continued to expand their entrepreneurial vision. In 2023, they launched Young Consultant, a platform that connects consulting firms with young professionals. Additionally, former student consultants Fabian van Riesen and Youri Staal founded Smart Consultant in 2023, the first consulting firm specifically targeting HBO students. These three companies have now joined forces, forming the overarching entity: The Next Consultant Group (TNCG). We would like to elaborate on the reasoning behind this decision.

As of now, Student Consultant, Smart Consultant, and Young Consultant all operate under TNCG. TNCG functions as a shared service center, housing all support departments such as Backoffice, Marketing, Talent Development, and Customer Excellence. Student Consultant, along with Young Consultant and Smart Consultant, can rely on TNCG for these supportive functions. This allows Student Consultant to focus entirely on project execution, growth, and fulfilling the shared purpose: “Developing the Future of Consulting.” The primary factor behind the formation of TNCG is to leverage synergies across these areas for Smart Consultant, Student Consultant, and Young Consultant.

TNCG also offers significant synergy advantages for our clients. With Smart Consultant’s pragmatic approach and Student Consultant’s academic expertise, the companies can collectively provide a broader range of services, ensuring that clients receive the most suitable value. For instance, a recent project demonstrated that while one aspect was best suited for Student Consultant, another fit better with Smart Consultant. Thanks to the synergies within TNCG, we were able to deliver tailored services that met the client's needs.

In addition to centralizing support functions and benefiting clients, the establishment of TNCG provides substantial advantages for our consultants. Through the shared service center, we are able to offer more and better resources for the development of consultants at both Student Consultant and Smart Consultant. Furthermore, Young Consultant assists graduates from these firms in finding the right consultancy positions.

The creation of TNCG thus brings benefits to the companies, clients, and students alike. However, despite these synergies, each company under TNCG remains distinct, with its own culture and team of consultants. The core mission of TNCG is to provide support and realize synergies across the three organizations.

Consultancy.nl recently spoke with our managing partners, Reno Kochanowski and Jorick Schilken. You can read the full article here (Dutch article).