1 · Short form. Ten questions, below. No system access, no data, no NDA. Five minutes.
2 · A call. Twenty to thirty minutes, free — is the problem real, and am I the right person for it.
3 · Written hypothesis. One page: what I heard, my preliminary read. Free, yours to keep either way.
4 · Paid diagnostic. Four working days, fixed price. This is where analysis of your business begins, and is charged.
I will not ask for access to your till, stock or accounting systems before there is a signed engagement, a data processing agreement where personal data is involved, and my insurance confirmed. Anyone who asks earlier than that is asking for something you should not give.