Work with me
When you are inside a business every day, it can be difficult to tell the difference. I bring an experienced outside view, commercial and financial understanding and the willingness to tell you what I genuinely think.
Ways to work with me
Fees are confirmed in writing before any work begins, once we both understand what the work involves. No invented packages, no pressure towards the largest option.
For one important problem, decision or opportunity that needs proper attention. You bring the context and the question. I review the information in advance, work through it with you and help you decide what matters and what to do next.
Leave with a clearer understanding of the problem, my honest recommendations and practical priorities in the right order.
90 minutes online | £395
For a substantial issue that cannot be properly resolved in one conversation. We step back, examine the relevant parts of the business and complete one meaningful piece of strategic work over four to six weeks.
Turn a difficult or tangled business issue into clear decisions, useful working material and focused priorities for the next 90 days.
Typical investment: £1,500 to £2,500, depending on the scope.
For established owners and leaders who want an experienced outside view at important points, without handing over control of the business or paying for a permanent consultant.
Get experienced challenge, preparation and commercial perspective when a significant decision needs more than your view alone.
Scoped and priced around the work required.
Where it supports the agreed strategy, I also take on separately priced practical work: a cash-flow forecast or scenario model, analysis of management accounts, a decision model, or preparation for a meeting with your accountant or lender. The scope, assumptions, fee and completion point are agreed in writing first.
What you receive
The aim is not another long list of things you could do. It is to help you understand what is happening, make a sound decision and leave with something you can use.
An explanation of the likely real problem, not only the symptom that first brought you here.
Honest challenge from someone who can move between strategy, finance, operations, customers and the human reality of running a business.
A recommendation where the evidence supports one, or a clear test with criteria where more evidence is needed first.
A small number of actions arranged by importance, dependency and likely effect, including what can wait and what can stop.
Depending on the agreed scope: a cash-flow scenario, decision model, question set, action plan, meeting preparation, template or concise written summary.
I explain my reasoning rather than guarding it. You finish better able to read similar situations and ask stronger questions next time.
You do not need to arrive with the problem neatly labelled. You may know exactly what is wrong, have several possible explanations, or simply know that all the effort is not producing the result you need. Here are some examples of the questions we could examine together.
Why are we busy but not making enough profit?
Review revenue, costs, pricing, capacity and the work consuming time, to see where value is created and where it leaks away.
Can the business afford to hire someone?
Explore affordability, timing, expected return and cash-flow implications before you commit. I can model scenarios; the hiring decision stays with you.
What are these figures actually telling me?
I help you understand what the figures mean for the decisions in front of you. We look at what has changed, what deserves attention and what the figures suggest you should do next.
Is this idea worth pursuing?
An experienced sounding board: test the assumptions, weigh fit, demand, cost and opportunity cost, then decide whether to proceed, adapt, test or stop.
Are we too dependent on one client, offer or sales channel?
Look at how dependent the business has become on one client, offer or sales channel, then work out how to test another source of revenue without putting unnecessary pressure on what already works.
Which of our activities are actually having an impact?
Look at the evidence across offers, clients, marketing and operations, so you can stop relying on busyness as a measure of progress.
We have plans, but nothing is moving. Where do we start?
Decide what matters most, put the actions in a sensible order and agree who does what next, so the plan turns into progress rather than another document.
If your situation is not here, tell me what is happening. I will tell you honestly whether I am the right person to help and, if not, what kind of specialist may be more useful.
I bring energy, experience and an honest outside view. I ask questions, but I also tell you what I think. Where the answer is not yet clear, we work out what evidence is missing and the safest useful way to test it.
You receive an experienced opinion and practical recommendations, not a conversation made entirely of questions.
We use live sessions to examine decisions and make progress while we are in the room, rather than leaving everything to a report or online course.
If I have a model, template or example that fits, I adapt and share it. You are paying for judgement and application, not for everything to be rebuilt from scratch.
You receive concentrated attention at the agreed points, with space to run your business between sessions. I do not fill the diary with meetings for the sake of appearing busy.
I do not take over your business or make you dependent on me. I help you understand the decision, challenge your thinking and make the next steps clearer. You retain ownership of what happens next.
Every piece of work has an agreed purpose, fee and end point. If somebody else is better qualified for part of the problem, I will say so.
If you have paid for support before and been disappointed, I understand why another investment can feel risky. That is why we can begin with one defined problem and a contained piece of work. You receive something useful whether or not we decide to continue.
The right next step might be something you can do yourself, another clearly scoped piece of work with me, a different specialist, or no further paid support for now. I will not recommend a longer engagement simply because one is available.
Joanne is a lifesaver for small businesses, creating sustainable systems that create value long after she’s left.
A few honest sentences about the situation are enough to start. I read every enquiry myself and normally reply within two working days.