How the two days work

We call it Business Therapy for a reason. Before we come anywhere near you, we ask for the lot.

• Voice notes answering the questions that matter. Talk, don't type.
• Your numbers: revenue, costs and cash.
• Your team: who does what, and who's stretched.
• Your systems: what the business actually runs on.
• The 3am problem. What keeps you up, and where you really want to be.

Why voice notes? Because talking is closer to thinking. You'll tell us things in a voice note that would never survive being typed into a form. The more honest you are, the better the blueprint.

• The real story. What's actually happening, not the version you give people.
• Strategy: the vision, the positioning, what makes you different.
• Operations: the systems and processes, and what's broken.
• A financial reality check.

You'll hear things your team can't tell you. They're not hiding anything. People soften bad news for the person who pays them. We don't have to.

• The strategic blueprint: a 12-month plan, quarterly milestones and the growth levers to pull.
• The operational blueprint: systems, team structure and processes.
• The 90-day roadmap, with an owner and a measure on every action.

We could write this without you and send it over. It would be quicker, and you wouldn't use it. People back what they helped build, so you're in the room for all of it.

Every action leaves with an owner and a date. That's deliberate. A plan that says who and when gets done. A plan that only says what gets admired.

We check in at 30 days either way. If you want us alongside while you deliver it, we scope that as its own project, in writing, at a fixed price.

None of this is our opinion. It's how people work, and the research has names for it.

• The curse of knowledge. Once you know something, you can't easily imagine not knowing it. It's why founders can't see their own business clearly, and why we come in from outside. (Camerer, Loewenstein and Weber, 1989.)
• Tunnelling. When time is short, attention narrows to whatever is most urgent and the important work waits. It's why you step out of the business for two days. (Mullainathan and Shafir, Scarcity, 2013.)
• The MUM effect. People are reluctant to pass on bad news. Your team is no exception, and you're the boss. It's why day one is two outsiders telling you what they see. (Rosen and Tesser, 1970.)
• The IKEA effect. People value what they've built themselves. It's why the blueprint is built with you in the room. (Norton, Mochon and Ariely, 2012.)
• Implementation intentions. A plan that says who, what and when is much more likely to happen than one that says what. It's why every action leaves with an owner and a date. (Gollwitzer, 1999.)