FAQ
You want straight answers before you pick up the phone.
Each answer says what we can stand behind and what we cannot. They apply whether your customers are other businesses or the public.
Before you book
You describe the business and the problem. We ask questions until the real issue is clear, then say honestly whether we are the right firm. If we are, we send a written proposal with the scope and the fee. You commit to nothing until you have read it.
The fee depends on the scope, so you get it in writing after the first call, quoted in your own currency. It rises with the number of areas covered, how much hands-on help you want and how ready your data is. Payment terms sit in the proposal. Ask for the work to be priced in stages if you want to start small.
The timeline depends on the scope, and the proposal states it before you commit. Three things drive it: the number of parts of the business involved, the speed at which your team shares records, and the time your people can give between sessions.
It is a fit if your business leans on you for every decision, or if profit is not keeping up with revenue. We work with owners who sell to other businesses, owners who sell to the public, and owners who do both. Startups, small and mid-sized firms and family firms are all welcome. We are not the right fit if you need someone to run daily operations, file statutory returns or build software, and we will tell you who to ask instead.
Coaching develops you as the decision-maker. Consulting fixes one part of the business and leaves you a plan and tools. An owner may need one first and the other later. We help you choose on the first call.
A short description of the problem, your team size and, if you have it, a recent revenue or profit summary. Send sensitive documents only after we agree how they will be handled.
Yes. Manufacturing, distribution, education, healthcare, retail and professional services each have pages here, and the pages say whether the trade sells to businesses, to the public or to both. The method stays the same: understand the economics, find the bottleneck, build routines. The numbers differ. A manufacturer watches cost per unit and machine idle time, a distributor watches the dealer ledger, and a clinic watches appointment slots and no-shows. Clinical and statutory standards stay with your own specialists.
We use what you send only to reply to you and prepare for the call. It is stored on our own system, and the team members who handle enquiries can see it. We do not pass it to anyone else. The privacy page on this site explains what is stored and for how long.
Messy numbers are not a reason to wait. Tell us on the first call which records are missing or unreliable. The written scope can start by putting the key figures in order, or the findings can mark what could not be confirmed. We do not invent figures to fill a gap. We work with the records you have and say where they stop.
Yes. Family firms are named in who we work with. The pressure points are who decides what, how family members and non-family managers are treated, and how roles are set. The scope says whom we speak to, and we stay with the business questions. A dispute about ownership or inheritance is a legal and personal matter for a lawyer.
The Business Audit reads the whole business across seven areas and ranks what to fix first. Choose it when you cannot say where the problem is. Business Consulting takes one problem you can already see and works out its cause and a first fix. If you are unsure which fits, say so on the first call and we will help you pick.
During the work
Yes, if the scope says so. For example, we can run a standing review meeting where each manager reports progress, and train a supervisor to keep it going. We do not take over daily operations. You can ask for this in stages.
Only what the written scope names. That means a few months of sales and cost records, the list of customers who owe you money, and conversations with the people who run the work. We agree before the start who shares what and how it is handled. We do not need passwords to your bank or accounting software, and you should not send them.
Tell us, and show the evidence if you have it. Each finding comes with the records and conversations behind it, and a note of what we could not check. If the evidence is wrong, the finding changes. If it stands, we explain why, and you decide what to do. A disagreement about scope is written down, with its effect on the work, before anyone continues.
Yes. We do not file returns, give tax advice or replace audited accounts. Your accountant keeps the books and does the statutory work. We take their figures as evidence and work on management questions: margin, the cash cycle and who owns which task. Where a finding touches tax or law, we say so and leave that question to your accountant or lawyer.
After the work
No. We agree what we will deliver and how we will review it, and we do not promise business results. What we do promise is honest advice and a written scope. Results also depend on your team acting on the plan.
Agree the measures in the written scope before work starts. Pick one or two numbers you already track or can start tracking, such as late deliveries against deliveries promised, or no-shows against booked appointments. Compare them at the review dates, and check whether your team still uses the new routine. We also record other changes that could have moved the numbers.
The plan is yours to act on. You can carry it out with your own team, ask us to help under a new written scope, or put it aside and use another adviser. Nothing in the first scope commits you to a second. If you continue with us, each stage has its own deliverables and review points, written down before it starts.