This page answers common questions from SME owners, founder-CEOs, and business leaders exploring independent decision support for high-stakes business decisions.
A decision advisor helps business owners make clear, defensible decisions when outcomes are uncertain and downside risk is real. Unlike consultants, a decision advisor does not execute projects or run operations. The role is focused purely on decision quality — clarifying options, assumptions, risks, and timing.
Consultants typically provide analysis, frameworks, and implementation plans. A decision advisor focuses on the decision itself — before planning or execution begins. The outcome is a clear yes, no, or hold decision, supported by explicit reasoning.
Decision advisors are best suited for SME owners, founder-CEOs, and majority shareholders facing irreversible or high-impact decisions — such as expansion, capital allocation, senior leadership hiring, market entry, or exit timing.
A decision advisor provides more than a second opinion. The role is to pressure-test the framing of the decision itself, challenge assumptions, and evaluate downside scenarios — not simply agree or disagree with an existing plan.
AI tools are excellent at generating information and scenarios. However, deciding what matters most, when to act, and how much downside risk is acceptable requires human judgment and accountability. A decision advisor operates at this judgment layer.
Typical decisions include business expansion, capacity planning, capital investment, senior hiring, restructuring, pricing strategy, market exits, and deciding whether to wait or act under uncertainty.
The primary deliverable is a written decision memo. This memo clearly states the decision, evaluates alternatives, outlines assumptions and risks, and concludes with a recommendation: proceed, do not proceed, or hold.
In some cases, the correct decision is to hold. A decision advisor documents why a responsible decision cannot yet be made and specifies what information or signals would change that conclusion. This clarity itself is often the most valuable outcome.
Pricing is typically decision-based, not hourly. Clients pay for clarity on a specific decision. There are no long-term retainers unless multiple decisions need ongoing support.
No. Final decisions and outcomes remain with the business owner. The decision advisor is responsible for improving the quality of the decision process, not guaranteeing results.
If the decision is low-risk, easily reversible, or already fully decided, a decision advisor may not add value. The role is most useful when the cost of being wrong is high.
Most clients start with one real decision they are currently struggling with. This allows both parties to assess fit without long-term commitment.