Areas we work in.
Engagements are scoped to the business rather than sold as packages. These are the areas the work usually falls into, and most engagements touch more than one.
A review is scoped to the business in front of us. Nothing here is a package, and the price of one is not the price of another.
Which of these areas an engagement touches, and in what order, comes out of the first look rather than out of a menu.
A close look at how the business runs day to day, as opposed to how it is described on paper. Where work starts, who picks it up, where it waits, and which steps exist because somebody once needed them and nobody has revisited since.
The tools a business already pays for are usually capable of more than they are asked to do. This is the work of mapping what is in place, removing the duplication between them, and writing down the handoffs so the process survives someone being away.
Roles, responsibilities and the written record behind them. Owners have often built something that works because they hold it in their head. Getting it out of their head is what makes it possible to delegate, to hire, or to step back.
What gets measured, how often, and whether the numbers being watched are the ones that describe the business. Reporting that nobody reads is a cost. Reporting that changes a decision is the point.
A standing review of who is being paid, for what, on what terms, and whether the arrangement still fits the business it was set up for. Agreements outlive the reason they were signed more often than owners expect.
Not sure which of these you need.
That is normal, and working it out is part of the first conversation. Describe what is frustrating you and we will tell you where we think it sits.
What a first look covers
Where work starts and where it waits. What is already written down and what is only in somebody's head. Which tools are being paid for and which of them are actually used.
It is a review, not a proposal. What comes out of it is a short written account of what we found and what we would change first.