project planning & consulting services

• Defining business needs and goals for growth and enhancement
• Evaluating current business processes, technologies or infrastructure
• Recommending options for online and offline business promotion
• Recommending software and management options for inventory, staff, customers or orders
• Project planning and developing a scope-of-work document with short and long term strategies
• Establishing timeline and budget limitations and expectations
  

Where it all begins

Whether you know exactly where you want to take your business or you simply know you want to do “something” to grow but aren't sure where to start, our planning and consulting services can help outline your business needs, define your goals and figure out an effective and efficient way to make it all happen.

Every development or technology project that we undertake begins with an invaluable planning and consulting phase that lays the foundation for goals, budget, timeline and expectations. You care about your business, and you want to invest in something that will benefit you, your staff or your customers. The only way to be sure you're getting what you want is to follow the old cliché...

Measure twice, cut once

It happens every day. Whether you're painting your car, building your house or installing a network in your office, there comes a moment when you sit back, survey the project and wonder… what on earth is going on here? Maybe the blue is the wrong shade, or someone forgot to mention that if you want an upstairs bathroom you need to run plumbing to the second floor. Perhaps there's no room on your brand new home page for your very-important e-mail signup box. Or maybe John in accounting will be working from home three days a week but nobody knows how he'll connect to your office files.

The primary goal of our planning and consulting process is to avoid the harrowing omissions, miscommunications or differences in expectations that can derail, or worse, destroy a project. Before you invest a single dime in developing a web site, designing a database or selling your fantastic leather handbags online, you should expect – no, you should demand – an intensive research and fact-finding mission.

Project planning can help to:

• Define your business needs – do you really need a content management system or 20-minute marketing presentation? Sometimes what you think you need – and what you actually need – can be two different things. Planning can refine those needs.
• Set goals – what has to be done immediately, and what can wait? If Rome wasn't built in a day, your web infrastructure doesn't have to be either. It's important to understand what you want to achieve and prioritize the steps toward your goals.
• Establish expectations – are you in synch with your developer? Once you decide on “blue” make sure your designer knows it's azure or you might be disappointed when it shows up as aquamarine. Whoever your developer, you should both understand the details of your project.
• Establish technology needs and requirements – is it feasible to run high-speed lines into your gorgeously restored hundred-year-old Victorian home office? Before you invest in technology or a technology-based application, you should know the benefits, drawbacks and options.
• Analyze existing materials or infrastructure – can your current database be repurposed for your eCommerce site? Sometimes you can use existing applications and technologies to expand into new areas, and sometimes you can't. It's important to know the options and limitations.
• Develop a complete scope-of-work – “what am I getting and how much does it cost”? By the end of any planning phase, you should know the answer to that question so that there are no surprises along the way.

How does the consulting phase work?

We think of this phase in our relationship as the coffee-and-donuts phase. Most of what happens is conceptual and requires repeated meetings, phone calls or e-mails as we learn more about your business, its processes and needs and get closer to defining a clear set of objectives.

Depending on your business and type of project, the consulting phase can take as little as a few hours or as much as a few months. As we plan with you, we document everything in detail and share our discoveries, insights and recommendations as the phase progresses. You are an important part of the process, and often, we will ask other members of your team to be involved so that we can have a better picture of how you do business. The consulting phase provides an open channel of communication that stays open until you are completely satisfied that you understand and approve the project details.

At that point, we will present you with full documentation – a scope-of-work, timeline and budget, and sitemaps, flowcharts, graphs or diagrams as necessary. This documentation is yours to keep, whether you choose to engage our development services or work with another development company. Either way, the document will be comprehensive enough for any team that you may employ to understand and follow.

The bottom line: is it free with the purchase of the donuts?

Sometimes a company (like yours) will put together an RFP and send it out to bid, hoping for another company (like ours) to jump in with an attractive number. As experienced consultants and developers, we know the value of research and planning, so we avoid “throwing out numbers” just for the sake of snagging a lead.

Our project planning, or Discovery phase, is truly a consulting process where we analyze, listen, debate, explore, suggest, learn, outline and define until every question is answered and you are fully confident that you can clearly answer the “what do I get and how much is it” question right down to the precise shade of blue.

In addition to documenting your project, we document the time we spend planning it so if you ever want to know what we're doing, you can simply ask. During our initial consultation, we can recommend a budget for the Discovery and planning phase, and you can help stick to it by participating in the process and focusing on the outcome. The result will be a project plan you can sink your teeth into - or more importantly, one that will keep your investment on track and on budget.

For new customers or existing customers with a new project, take advantage of a free initial consultation and no-obligation project planning.