These are the questions owners ask us most often before starting value-creation work. If yours is not here, call or text (604) 632-4959 or email Ali@Sedighi.ca, and we will answer it directly. The list above covers cost, contracts and scope; the sections below explain a few of the answers in more depth.
Frequently asked questions
How much does a value-creation engagement cost?
We use the group's published rates: $175–$350 per hour, $3,500–$25,000 per project and $2,500–$12,000 per month for retainers, in Canadian dollars plus GST/HST based on your province (GST and QST in Quebec). Most owners begin with a fixed-scope assessment. The first 30-minute consultation is free.
Is there a long-term contract?
No lock-in. Projects have defined scope and milestone payments, and retainers continue while they are useful to you. Notice terms are confirmed in writing in your proposal.
How long before I see results?
Pricing and margin changes can show up within one or two quarters. Recurring revenue and management depth take longer, and their effect on value depends on a track record of two years or more.
Will you value my business or tell me what it could sell for?
No. We do not give valuation opinions and never promise a valuation or sale price. A Chartered Business Valuator can provide a formal opinion of value, and we work on the drivers behind it.
We worked with a consultant before and nothing changed. Why would this be different?
Common reasons are too many recommendations, no named owners, no baseline and no follow-up. Our plans hold three to five initiatives at a time, each with one owner and one number, and we re-score the drivers every quarter so you can see whether anything moved.
Do I need to be planning to sell?
No. The same improvements make a company more profitable and easier to run whether you keep it, pass it on or sell it. If you do sell, the exit work is handled through Sedighi.ca and BizSell.ca.
Who owns the plan, the reports and the data?
You do. Plans, trackers and reports are built in your own tools and belong to your company. If our work together ends, everything stays with you.
What will you need from me?
Three years of financial statements, recent monthly accounts if you have them, customer and revenue data, and time with you and two to four key people. For an assessment, plan on a few hours a week for four to six weeks.
Do you give tax, legal or accounting advice?
No. We work alongside your CPA and your lawyer, who remain responsible for tax, legal and accounting matters. We also do not provide securities or real-estate trading advice.
My books are behind. Should I fix them before calling?
No. Call first. Records that are behind are common, and bringing them up to date is often one of the first initiatives. Your accountant does the bookkeeping; we help set the monthly rhythm.
Do you work with companies in my province?
Yes. We work with owners in all ten provinces and three territories, in person and online by video call, and also by phone, text and email.
What size of company do you work with?
Established, owner-led companies with several years of trading history and a team beyond the owner. A very new business usually needs different help first.
Is everything I share kept confidential?
Yes. We treat what you share as confidential and use it only for your engagement. If you want a written confidentiality agreement before sharing financials, raise it at the start and it will be settled in writing first.
What is the Growth Partner Program?
It is the group's performance-based arrangement, in which Ali invests time upfront and is paid on measurable results. Partnerships are limited and the terms are agreed individually in writing.
Why a track record matters so much
Almost every answer about timing comes back to the same point: improvements count for more when they have a history. A company that raised its gross margin last quarter has a claim. A company that raised it and held it for eight quarters has evidence, and evidence is what lenders, partners and buyers rely on.
That is why our value-creation plans run two to five years, and why the quarterly re-score of the eight value drivers is the most important meeting in the calendar. It is also why we are cautious about owners who want a quick change shortly before a sale. Some things can be tidied in a year; earnings quality and management depth usually cannot.
Why we will not give you a number
Owners often ask, reasonably, what their company is worth. We do not answer that question, for two reasons. First, a formal opinion of value is professional work that should be done by a qualified valuator, such as a Chartered Business Valuator, and relied on accordingly. Second, a number from a consultant tends to anchor every later decision, often unhelpfully.
What we do instead is show how the drivers behind value are scoring and how they are changing. Where we use worked numbers on this site, such as an assumed multiple applied to EBITDA, they are clearly marked as illustrations, not market data.
If you have tried a consultant before
It is common, and it is a fair challenge. When improvement work stalls, the cause is rarely a lack of ideas. It is usually one of these:
- Too many recommendations at once, competing for the same people's time.
- No named owner for each change, so everything belongs to the owner.
- No baseline, so nobody can tell whether anything moved.
- No rhythm of review, so the work fades when the busy season starts.
Our method is built to prevent each of these, starting with the value-driver assessment as a baseline.
What a first engagement usually looks like
For most owners, the sequence is the same. A free 30-minute conversation establishes whether the company and the timing suit this kind of work. If they do, a written proposal sets out a fixed-scope assessment: a document request, interviews with you and a few key people, and a scored report on the eight value drivers, usually over four to six weeks.
From there, owners choose. Some take the findings and run with them alone, using our guides. Some ask us to write a two-to-five-year plan with a 100-day start. Others keep us on a retainer to run the monthly check-ins and quarterly re-scores. Each step is a separate decision, and none commits you to the next.
What we will not do
We are business consultants. We do not provide securities, real-estate trading, legal, tax or valuation-opinion advice, and we do not promise valuations, sale prices or results. For those matters we work with your CPA, your lawyer and, where needed, a valuator. We also do not publish client quotes or ratings for ourselves.
Where to go next
- See how engagements are priced on the pricing page.
- Read about the people and the group on the about page.
- Try the self-assessment in our enterprise value drivers guide.
- Find out how to reach us and what to include in a first message on the contact page.