If the fit isn’t right, the work won’t be either.
Three things need to align before Different Tuesday makes sense.
You’re an independent creative service business — agency, consultancy, studio. Privately held, UK-based, fewer than 100 people.
Beyond that, the specifics matter less than you’d think. Flying or struggling, young or established, niche or broad — none of it is a disqualifier. Succession isn’t only for businesses at their peak, and it isn’t only for founders who’ve been at it for decades. It’s for any owner who’s ready to think seriously about what comes next — and do something about it.
There’s usually a trigger. A birthday. A conversation that wouldn’t leave you alone. A near-miss with a buyer. Or just a quiet Sunday when you finally admitted the current situation has an expiry date.
Pre-decision, mid-plan or post-deal — the moment is whenever the itch becomes impossible to ignore. If succession still feels like a distant abstraction, this probably isn’t it. If it’s keeping you up at night and the people around you are too close or too conflicted to help — it probably is.
The work demands honesty — about the numbers, the people, the fears and the parts of the business you’d rather not examine too closely. If you’re not ready for that, no amount of process will compensate.
Come ready to be challenged and ready to act on what you hear. If you care about the money but not the people, save your time. If you think you already know the answers, crack on. But if you’re ready to do the hardest thinking you’ve done about your business — let’s talk.
If the work’s going to be good, the relationship has to be right.
Two things worth understanding before we start.
, not doingDifferent Tuesday is advisory work — not implementation. The thinking, the challenging, the shaping and the testing all happen here. The doing happens with you and your team.
The best outcomes come when you do the hard work and Different Tuesday keeps it honest. That requires a particular kind of leader. One who wants to be pushed, not managed.
There’s no team behind this, and certainly no outsourced consultants doing the work. Every engagement is led and finished by me. The person you speak to at the start is the same person in the room at the end. And the only agenda is yours.
No commission, no preferred outcomes, no relationships with buyers or specialists that create a conflict. What’s right for you drives every recommendation. Nothing else.
A call. Thirty minutes, no agenda, no obligation.
The goal is simple — to work out whether I’m the right fit. I’ll ask about where you are, what’s prompted the conversation and what you’re hoping to get out of it. You can ask me anything. If it feels right, I’ll suggest next steps. If it doesn’t, I’ll say so — and if I can point you somewhere more useful, I will.
Insightful analysis and transformative advice.
No reports. No decks. Just a concise set of specific suggestions you can act on. You take your own notes during the session — that’s intentional. The thinking that happens in the room is yours to capture in the way that’s most useful to you. What you leave with is clarity, direction and a short list of what happens next.
The most important work happens in person.
In reality it’s always a mix, but the sessions that matter — the ones where real thinking happens and real decisions get made — are face-to-face. Everything else: the preparation, the follow-up, the in-between conversations can happen remotely.
Quite a lot — and it needs to be really focussed time too.
The quality of what comes out of the sessions depends entirely on your energy and commitment. Show up ALL IN — phones away, business parked, head clear. Primed to think hard and be straight. If you can’t commit to that, this won’t work. And I’ll say so.
Never. Not for anything.
My objectivity is everything. The moment any advice, outcome or recommendation has a financial value attached to it, independence is compromised. That’s a line that doesn’t move.
Nope. I’m not an M&A advisor and I won’t find you a buyer.
I’ll make you buyable and get you ready for sale — both emotionally and structurally. But if a trade sale is your chosen exit, I’ll help you find and properly brief the right specialist external help. The mandate to sell the business sits with them, not here.
This is all about outcomes, not inputs.
When the costs are fixed, the focus stays entirely on getting to the right answer — I’m there until we get to the agreed output, however long it takes. It also means you know exactly what you’re committing to before you start. No surprises, no running meter.
No. I’m not an accountant — and don’t want to be.
I bring a good contextual awareness of the high-level implications of all the different succession routes open to you, and I make sure the right tax specialist is in the room at the right moment — properly briefed and ready to engage.
No. I’m not a solicitor — and don’t want to be.
Expert legal advice will be needed at some point in any succession, but it won’t come from me. My role is to help you find the right specialists — ones that you trust. I’ll also get them up to speed and make sure they’re aligned with the plan so they can do their best work.
All engagements are fully prepaid and non-refundable.
This isn’t about cash flow — it’s about the quality and seniority of the advice. Being paid in full before sessions begin means the conversation is never shaped by any anxiety about getting you to commit. It makes the conditions honest, which is the currency for everything we’ll do together.
Occasionally yes — where the journey is meaningful.
I prefer to work face-to-face whenever possible. It builds trust. Travel within a 50-mile radius is included. Beyond that I charge at cost — no mark-up. It’s always discussed and agreed upfront — no surprises on the invoice.
Not really, not in the way you think.
Most of the work is deeply confidential — by its nature and by agreement. What worked for one client isn’t necessarily applicable to another. You can find out more about me through the DBA and the EOA, and there’s a good chance we have contacts in common too. If that’s not enough to make a decision, this probably isn’t the right fit.
Nothing formal. No prep, no documents, no homework.
Just show up with an honest picture of where you are, what you want and what you’re afraid of. Some of the most useful things that emerge are the ones clients didn’t know they needed to say.
Yes — selectively, and only for a fee.
The topics that make sense on this are what Different Tuesday is about: succession, exit planning, employee ownership, leadership transition and what it actually means for a creative business to be worth something. If you think that might work — get in touch.