Every Gridwerk engagement starts with the same diagnostic week, regardless of industry or size. On the revenue side, that means a segmentation, targeting, and positioning read — who the business is actually selling to, versus who it thinks it's selling to — and a first look at the four levers of product, price, place, and promotion. On the cost side, it means pulling the real operating budget and cost structure, not the one in the business plan.
The output isn't a strategy deck. It's a baseline: two scorecards, one for revenue and one for cost, both built from the business's own numbers rather than industry benchmarks. Those scorecards are what the retainer gets measured against every cycle afterward — not vibes, not quarter-over-quarter revenue alone.
This is also where we decide, with the business, where the retainer should start. Some businesses need the revenue side first because there's no consistent pipeline. Others need the cost side first because growth is actively destroying margin. A few need both running in parallel from day one.
The diagnostic week is unpaid and non-binding. It exists so that the eventual retainer is built around what the business actually needs, not a standard package.