Hello, I'm Michael

In a large organisation, a new system doesn't get bought on a whim. Architects check it fits with everything else, security teams check it's safe, and someone works out what it really costs over five years, not just the first month. I've spent years doing that job.

Independent businesses make exactly the same kinds of decisions, but with none of that help. They happen late at night, between serving customers and doing the books, and usually on the strength of a salesperson's demo, a friend's recommendation or whatever the last supplier said.

You might recognise some of these:

• You pay for three apps that do roughly the same thing, and only really use one.
• The website was set up by someone who has since moved on, and nobody else knows how to change it.
• The shared password for the business email is on a sticky note behind the till.
• You've been told you need an app, and you can't tell whether that's true.
• You'd like to use AI, but don't know where to start or whether it's safe.
• You avoid changing anything in case it breaks.

None of that is anyone's fault. It's what happens when nobody's job is to step back and look at the whole picture.

That's the gap I fill. I bring the questions a large organisation would ask: what are we actually trying to achieve, what's the simplest thing that works, and what happens if it goes wrong. Then I size the answer to a business with a handful of people and a real budget, explain it plainly, and set it up so it stays in your hands.