Did this move the business forward?
One question governs everything in this guide. It is a field companion for anyone consulting small-business entrepreneurs, especially owners building their way out of poverty, built on Dr. Michael Morris's UPBI method and Dr. Claude Kershner's consulting class.
Start with these six
The shape of every engagement
Progress is tracked as movement across the .
At least one hour. Document attendees, notes, and action items.
Your moves this week
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This rhythm comes from a 16-week university consulting class. Stretch or compress it to fit your engagement.
The engagement, week by week
Each week pairs something to learn with something to do with the client. Weeks 1–3 are team-only: no client contact until you're ready.
Form the firm
Adopt the consultant mindset, take an honest skills inventory, form and name your team, write a charter, and get matched with clients.
You produce: skills inventory, team name and charter, first-meeting prep.
Discover
Meet the entrepreneur relationship-first, agree the engagement letter, build their business model by asking, and map and rank the six issue boxes.
You produce: engagement letter, business model write-up, a ranked list of needs.
Deliver
Work through economics, bookkeeping, market, marketing, pricing, digital tools and operations, and co-create two deliverables per client that get implemented.
You produce: implemented deliverables, framed as movement across the 80 Steps.
Present and hand off
Present the problem, process, solution and implementation, hand over a user guide and files, and reflect on how you've grown.
You produce: final deliverables, client write-up, presentation, learning journal.
| Week | Learn | Apply with the client | Produce | Watch |
|---|
The Consulting Experience
Eight lessons on consulting with small-business owners: listening first, understanding how the business really works, and delivering practical work the owner can actually use. Watch the four core lessons in order, then go deeper.
Ask the Guide
Ask about consulting, a client situation, or how an engagement works. Answers come only from the Field Guide and name the sections they used. If the guide doesn't cover it, it says so and points you to your instructor or supervisor.
Common questions
Practice
Rehearse a discovery meeting with a fictional entrepreneur, then get a debrief scored against the process-consulting skills this guide teaches. Or pressure-test a proposed deliverable. Answers use your own Claude account.
1 · Discovery meeting simulator
Personas are fictional composites2 · Is it a deliverable?
A deliverable is a problem solved. Not analyzed, not discovered, not described. Test a draft before you propose it to your client or supervisor.
Field Guide
Why it works
Every feature in this hub maps to a practice with research behind it. Here is the practice, what the research found, and where you use it.