Service — The Assessment
What makes the assessment different from a free consultation
The assessment is paid work with a written output; a free consultation is a sales call with a proposal at the end. That is the whole difference and it decides everything else.
7 min read · Reviewed by both partners
A free session is priced at zero because its purpose is to sell you something. That is not dishonest, it is just what it is for.
The assessment costs $1,500 because the output is the product: a paid two-hour working session with both partners that ends with one named constraint.
Step by step
Who the session is for
A free consultation serves the seller’s pipeline. A paid engagement serves the buyer’s decision. The agendas differ accordingly.
What you leave with
A paid two-hour working session with both partners that ends with one named constraint — yours, in writing, whether or not anything else is purchased.
Who is in the room
Both founding partners. Free consultations are usually staffed by whoever is available and incentivised to close.
What happens if the answer is no
A paid engagement can conclude that you should not buy anything else. A free one structurally cannot.
What it costs to find out
$1,500. Against the cost of a wrong twelve-month commitment, that is the cheap end of the decision.
Common mistakes
Collecting free consultations
Four sales calls produce four proposals and no diagnosis. It feels like research and produces nothing usable.
Assuming paid means better
It means the incentive is aligned. Ask what the written output is; if there is not one, price is not the issue.
Frequently Asked Questions
What makes the assessment different from a free consultation?
A free session is priced at zero because its purpose is to sell you something. That is not dishonest, it is just what it is for.
What does Growth-Scaling need from a business owner to act on this?
It sits under The Assessment in the Growth Scaling Method. The next step for an owner is the $1,500 Assessment, which reads your own numbers against everything described above.
How much should we budget?
Budget $4,500 to find out what to build. Budget from $5,000 a month only if the Plan says a recurring engine is warranted — sometimes it says the opposite.
Do partners stay involved after the sale?
They are the only people involved. There is no handoff, because there is nobody to hand it to.
References
- www.uspto.gov — primary source
- www.sba.gov — primary source
- www.bbb.org — primary source
Buy the diagnosis, not the pitch
The assessment is $1,500 and the document is yours either way.
Growth-Scaling is a marketing and business-scaling firm. It is not a licensed practitioner in any client vertical and does not provide medical, legal, financial, or contracting services; all industry content on this site is marketing and growth guidance for owners in those fields. Figures describing past engagements refer to specific businesses under specific conditions and are not a prediction of any future result. No outcome is promised.
Written by Steven Lockhart, reviewed by David Mitroff, Ph.D. Figures and regulatory details reflect the cited public sources; requirements vary by state and situation. Growth-Scaling is a marketing and business-scaling firm, not a licensed practitioner in any client vertical.