Think back to the last time you had a truly incredible experience with a business. It probably wasn't because they had a multi-million-pound advertising campaign or a flashy, high-tech app. More likely, it was because of something small. A person who actually listened to you. A company that anticipated what you needed before you even asked. A business that made you feel valued, rather than just another transaction on a balance sheet.

I love talking to people who are in the "honeymoon phase" of a new business idea. You know exactly what I mean. You’ve got that spark in your eye, you’re filling notebooks with sketches, and you’ve probably already picked out the perfect brand colours in your head. It’s an intoxicating feeling.

I was speaking with a fellow business owner recently, someone right at the beginning of their journey, and they admitted something I hear more often than you’d expect. They told me they weren’t entirely sure what a consultant actually does. Not the polished, corporate version (that's not me), the real, human, day‑to‑day version. It did make me smile, because the picture most people have in their heads is usually miles away from what the work actually looks like.