How an engagement runs.

You describe the product, or the decision in front of you. I tell you whether I am the right help and how I would approach the work. If I am not, I say so and point you somewhere better.

Where the work touches anything unreleased, I sign an NDA before you send it. Confidentiality comes before assessment, not after.

Once I understand the work and the timeline you want, you get a real estimate: what I will do, what you will get, and what it costs. I do not put a number on the work before that.

The scope becomes a statement of work, referenced from your company's standard contract. It sets out what transfers to you and when, how I price, and when I invoice. Later changes are change orders. Nothing billable starts before signature.

One of two shapes. A scoped project: agreed deliverables, a timeline, and a fixed or capped budget. Or a fractional retainer: a set amount of my time each month, a steady hand as things evolve.

I do the work myself. When it needs skills or hours I do not have, you hire them and I help you choose. For a bounded piece, occasionally one specialist I trust, named and priced before they start. I do not assemble teams on your behalf.

A project closes with the handover the contract set out. A retainer ends whenever it stops serving you. You keep me because the work earns it, not because a contract requires it.