How anengagement runs.
Every job runs the same way. We find out what is really going on, put the options in front of you with what each one costs, do the work alongside your team, and hand over something they can run without us. Fixed scope, written deliverables, and a date it finishes.
- Scope
- Fixed
- Fee
- Agreed up front
- Deliverables
- Written
- Ending
- Defined
- 01Weeks 1–2
Diagnose
We spend the first two weeks finding out how the business really works. We talk to you and to the people doing the work, go through the numbers, and follow a job from start to finish. You get a short written summary of what we found, including anything that turns out to be different from what you called us in for.
Outputs
- Written findings
- The numbers as they stand
- What to fix first
- 02Weeks 3–5
Design
We set out what to change, in what order, and what each change is worth. Where there is more than one sensible option, we put the cost and the effort next to each and tell you which we would choose. You approve the plan and the price before any of it starts.
Outputs
- A written plan
- Costs and timings
- Options with a recommendation
- 03Weeks 6+
Deploy
A plan nobody carries out is worth nothing, so we stay and do the work with you. We sit with the people who have to change how they work, adjust when something in the business gets in the way, and report against what we agreed.
Outputs
- The work carried out
- Regular progress updates
- Changes agreed as they arise
- 04Ongoing
Sustain
We hand over something your own team can run without us: the process written down, the reports set up, and a named person responsible for each part. If you want us to stay on, it is for agreed work with an end date rather than an open retainer.
Outputs
- Written procedures
- Named owners
- An agreed review date
What you can expect from us.
These apply to every job we take on.
- 01
We tell you the truth
If your prices are too low, or the plan will not work, we say so early. You are paying for a straight opinion, not for someone to agree with you.
- 02
A fixed price, agreed up front
You know what the work costs before it starts, and what is not included. We do not bill by the hour and we do not send invoices you were not expecting.
- 03
The person you meet does the work
You will not be sold by one person and handed to another. Whoever sits down with you at the start is still there at the end.
- 04
Plain language
No jargon, and no forty-page report nobody reads. If you cannot explain our recommendation to your own team in your own words, we have not finished.
- 05
We hand over and step back
The point of the work is that you can run it without us. So we write it down, train your people, and set an end date at the start.
- 06
What you tell us stays with us
We do not discuss your business with anyone else and we do not use your name to win work. We will sign a confidentiality agreement before you show us anything sensitive.
Where our work stops.
We are a business consultancy. We help owners and managers decide what to do next, and then help them do it. The work is practical: a plan, a set of numbers, a process that works, a company opened in a new country. We work alongside the professionals you already use, and we are clear about what sits outside what we do.
- 01
We are not a law firm and we do not give legal advice. Where you need a lawyer, we say so and help you find a good one.
- 02
We are not your accountant or your auditor. We do not keep your books, file your tax returns or sign off your accounts. We work with the accountant you already have.
- 03
We will tell you when you do not need us. If your own team can do the work, or the timing is wrong, we would rather say that than sell you a project.
Before you get in touch.
Small and mid-size companies, usually owner-managed, from a few people up to a few hundred. Some are Latin American businesses coming into the United States, some are US companies opening in the UK or Europe, some are European companies coming the other way, and many are simply local businesses that have outgrown how they were set up. We do not work with large corporates, and we are not the right firm if you want a big team on site for a year.