Business Consulting FAQ

Our fees depend on the scope of work. A financial health check for a business with under £500,000 in annual revenue typically costs between £1,200 and £2,500. Operational reviews and growth-planning projects range from £2,500 to £6,000. We quote a fixed price before any work begins, so you will never receive a surprise invoice at the end.

If your business is larger or the project involves multiple sites, we scope the work during our free initial call and provide a written quote within three working days.

Most engagements run between four and twelve weeks. A focused financial review can be completed in two to three weeks if you have your accounts in reasonable order. An operational review that involves on-site observation and staff interviews usually takes five to eight weeks, because we need time to see the real workflow rather than the one described in a manual.

Occasionally, yes. Most of our clients are based in Northern Ireland because our local market knowledge adds the most value here. We have taken on projects for businesses in the Republic of Ireland and in Scotland when the work fell within our areas of expertise. Remote engagements are possible for financial reviews and growth planning, though operational reviews really do require on-site time.

We have worked with retail shops, cafés and restaurants, small manufacturers, professional service firms (solicitors, accountants, architects), and trade businesses like electricians and plumbers who are scaling from sole trader to employer. The common thread is owner-managed businesses with between two and fifty employees. If your business sits outside that range, we will tell you on the scoping call whether we are the right fit.

The call lasts about an hour. We ask you to describe the problem or opportunity you want to address, walk us through your current revenue and cost structure at a high level, and tell us what outcome you consider a success. We also ask about your budget so we can tailor the scope accordingly. By the end of the call, both sides know whether it makes sense to proceed. There is no obligation, and we do not chase you with follow-up sales emails.

Our standard deliverable is a written report with specific, prioritised recommendations and a timeline for putting them into practice. We do not disappear once the report lands. Every engagement includes two follow-up calls (at the four-week and eight-week marks after delivery) to review progress and troubleshoot any obstacles.

If you want hands-on help with implementation, such as setting up new financial reporting templates, restructuring a team, or negotiating with suppliers, we can quote that as a separate phase. About a third of our clients take this option.

For a financial review, we need at least two years of profit-and-loss statements, your most recent balance sheet, bank statements for the last six months, and any management accounts you produce internally. If you use accounting software like Xero or QuickBooks, read-only access speeds things up considerably.

For an operational review, we ask for an organisation chart (even a rough one), a description of your main products or services, and access to the people who do the day-to-day work. We learn more from a 20-minute conversation with a warehouse packer than from a 40-page procedures manual.

Yes. Before we begin any work, both parties sign a non-disclosure agreement. Your financial data, operational details and strategic plans are never shared with other clients, competitors, or anyone outside our team. We store digital files on encrypted drives and delete project data twelve months after the engagement ends, unless you ask us to keep it on file for future reference.

We do not write grant applications ourselves, but we regularly help clients prepare the supporting documents that grant bodies and lenders require: cash-flow forecasts, business plans, market analyses and financial projections. We can also point you toward specific programmes run by Invest Northern Ireland or local enterprise agencies that match your situation. Several of our clients have secured funding after using the documents we helped them prepare.

We build a mid-point review into every project. Halfway through, we present our preliminary findings and check that we are heading in the right direction. If something feels off, we adjust before producing the final report. In the unlikely event that you are dissatisfied with the completed work, we will revise the deliverables at no extra cost within 30 days of delivery. Our goal is a report you actually use, not one that collects dust.