Approach

How we work — from first call to finished analysis.

Two things worth knowing before you hire anyone: how the engagement is structured, and how rigorous the analysis actually is. Here's both — no consulting theater.

The engagement

Four steps, and you decide at every one.

It starts with a free 20-minute intro call to confirm we're a fit. From there:

  1. Discovery

    A paid 90-minute working session ($250) to pin down your focus areas and what a win looks like in numbers. Deliverable: a written proposal that scopes the Constraint Analysis and puts a fixed price on it. The $250 is credited toward that analysis if you proceed.

  2. Constraint Analysis

    The analytical work itself — your real numbers, the five-step method below, applied to the problem. Deliverable: a Solution & Implementation Plan — the constraint, what it costs you, the recommended fix, and the dollars behind it. Priced in your proposal, never an open-ended meter.

  3. Implementation (optional)

    When you want the plan carried out, not just handed over — we build it, or work alongside your team. Fixed quote, defined deliverable.

  4. Ongoing Analysis (optional)

    Keep the reporting, dashboards, and forecasts live as your business moves — a monthly analytics retainer sized to what you actually need.

Inside the analysis

The Decision Insight Process

The five-step method behind every Constraint Analysis — the rigor you're paying for, and every step is one you can inspect.

  1. Frame the decision

    Most stuck decisions are stuck because the question is fuzzy. We start by defining exactly what's being decided, who decides, what winning looks like in numbers, and what it costs to keep waiting. Half the value of the process often lands right here.

  2. Get the data

    We pull the real numbers from wherever they live — your ERP, your CRM, your spreadsheets, even AS400-era systems via ODBC. Then we add the outside view: EIA, BLS, and industry datasets that show where your market is heading, not just where it's been.

  3. Find the constraint

    Every business has one factor limiting profit more than any other. It's rarely the loudest problem — it's the one the numbers point to. Lean and Six Sigma methods plus honest analysis separate the symptom from the cause.

  4. Quantify the options

    Every serious option gets an ROI and payback estimate. When alternatives are stated in dollars — not adjectives — the decision usually makes itself. This is the discipline of the ROI/NPV business cases that prioritized product-development investment at PACCAR.

  5. Decide & implement

    You get a clear, written recommendation and a fixed quote for implementation. You make the call — it's your business. We implement, or hand your team everything they need to.

Why it's different

What you won't get anywhere else nearby

Your real numbers, not a template

The analysis runs on data extracted from your actual systems. If your records are messy — most are — cleaning them up is part of the work, not an excuse.

Market context most SMBs never see

Economic and industry datasets (EIA, BLS, trade sources) that Fortune 500 strategy teams use daily, applied to a regional manufacturer's decisions.

Everything priced in dollars

Constraints are stated as dollars lost per month. Options are stated as ROI and payback. You never have to translate consulting language into business impact.

Fixed quotes, no meters

Every engagement has a defined deliverable and a fixed price agreed up front. If it takes longer than we scoped, that's our problem — not your invoice.

The deliverable

What the Constraint Analysis delivers

Every Constraint Analysis ends in a Solution & Implementation Plan — a short, direct document, typically 4–6 pages, not a hundred-slide deck:

  • The decision or problem, framed in one paragraph you'd sign off on
  • The #1 constraint on your profit or growth, with the evidence
  • What that constraint costs you, per month, in dollars
  • Ranked options to remove it, each with rough ROI and payback
  • A recommended path and a fixed quote to implement it

Read it in fifteen minutes, act on it the same day. The Discovery Session that precedes it ends in its own short deliverable — a written proposal scoping exactly this work.

Data with integrity makes the best decisions

See the process on your problem.

Bring your toughest decision to a 90-minute Discovery Session. Leave with a clear scope and a fixed price to solve it.

Book a Discovery Session