How we work
The PPS Backbone Review: four weeks to see where your business depends on a few people, and fix the first thing
The PPS Backbone Review is the first four weeks of every plan we run, at a fixed fee of ₹1,50,000 to ₹3,50,000 plus GST and expenses, depending on the size of the business. We start with the four questions from our book, The 4Sync Method, focus on the problem you came with, and by week four one fix is working and you have the plan for the months after. Then you decide: go on with us, or stop and keep everything.
Who is it for?
Every business that starts a plan with us, whichever problem brought it here. The four weeks focus on that problem.
- Everything still goes through you We look at what reaches your desk: two weeks of the decisions and approvals that come to you, logged, with who else could take each one and within which limits.
- Growth has outrun the way work gets done We look at your main flow end to end, often from order to cash: where work waits, who owns each handoff, and what breaks first as volume grows.
- You're taking over the family business If you can't make the change openly yet, start with the successor's route: private sessions with you and a handover map. Once the founder backs a plan, it starts here.
- Big projects stall halfway We look at every project in flight: owners, dates, what each one is waiting on, and the decisions stuck between them.
- You bought the tool. Adoption stalled. We look at how the tool is used against how the work actually runs: who uses it, what still happens outside it, and which job to move into it first.
Not sure which, or more than one? The first four weeks cover it. The four weeks look across the business, find which problem is costing you most, and the plan starts there. Two problems become one programme.
Advising a client? How advisers bring us in.
What happens, week by week?
- Before week one
Agree
A mutual NDA, the sponsor who decides and the owner on your side named with the time each will give, access agreed, and the problem the four weeks focus on.
- Week one
Look
We start with the four questions from our book, asked with the people who carry the work: on site, walking through the work as it happens, and in the numbers you already keep.
- Week two
Map
Where the business depends on a few people, and why. Your Keep list, written with you. The first fix, agreed with the people it affects.
- Week three
Fix
The first fix goes in with your people, inside your tools, with a weekly check on whether it holds.
- Week four
Decide
The fix working, the one-page picture, and the plan for the months after. Then you decide: go on with us, or stop and keep everything.
The fee is fixed before week one and doesn't change during the four weeks.
What are the four questions?
They come from our book, The 4Sync Method, and they check the backbone of a business: what lets it run without everything going through a few people. Each question looks at one part of it.
-
Rhythm
What does the founder carry, and why is it needed?
Effort, in the book, answered by Rhythmsync: a weekly rhythm for direction, adjustment and learning.
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Information
Which information, instructions and routes shape the decision?
Environment, in the book, answered by Infosync: signals that reach someone able to act, in time to act.
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Decisions
Can the owner act, with the authority, capacity and backup they have?
Support, in the book, answered by Rolesync: authority, support, a backup and a route for exceptions.
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Standards
Can the team judge and produce the result the business needs?
Capability, in the book, answered by Goalsync: standards and judgement that match the outcome.
Your Keep list is the other half. What must not change: the culture, speed and flexibility that built the business, written down with you in week two and checked at every step. If a change would cost something on the list, we redesign the change.
The 4Sync Method, and its free toolkitWhat do you get at the end?
- The one-page picture. Where your business depends on a few people, against the four questions, in the words of the people who do the work.
- Your Keep list. What must not change as the business moves onto systems: the culture, speed and flexibility that built it.
- One fix, working. The first change, in place in your business and checked every week, not only described.
- The plan. What gets built after the four weeks and in what order, who owns it on your side, our days each month, the fee and the handover test.
What does it cost?
A fixed fee of ₹1,50,000 to ₹3,50,000 plus GST and expenses, depending on the size of the business: how many people, sites and functions the four weeks cover.
It is agreed before week one and doesn't change during the four weeks. If you go on, the four weeks count as the plan's first month, and their fee is part of the plan's total.
What happens after the four weeks?
If you go on, the plan for your problem runs with your people until they pass its handover test. Where a plan falls in its range depends on the size and complexity of the business; the exact days and fee are set in week four. From the second month, fees follow our days in your business, so they step down as your team takes over. About half of our days are on site. Two problems at once is one programme with one first step, and the second plan adds about half its usual fee.
If you stop, the one-page picture, your Keep list, the fix and the plan are yours, and nothing else is owed. You can stop after the first four weeks, or at the end of any month with 30 days' notice, and you keep everything we built.
The plans, side by side
| The problem | How long | Our days in your business | Typical fee, in all |
|---|---|---|---|
| Everything still goes through you | Six months | 12 to 16 days in the first month, falling to 4 days in the last | ₹10 to ₹15 lakh plus GST and expenses |
| Growth has outrun the way work gets done | Six months | 14 to 18 days in the first month, falling to 4 days in the last | ₹11 to ₹17 lakh plus GST and expenses |
| You're taking over the family business | The successor's route: three to six months | Two working sessions a month, with you | About ₹1 lakh a month, so ₹3 to ₹6 lakh in all, plus GST and expenses |
| Big projects stall halfway | Three to six months, to go-live | 12 to 18 days in the first month, falling to 4 days in the last | ₹10 to ₹20 lakh plus GST and expenses |
| You bought the tool. Adoption stalled. | Three months, after go-live | 10 to 14 days in the first month, falling to 6 days in the last | ₹6 to ₹9 lakh plus GST and expenses |
Questions people ask about the Review
How long does the Review take?
Four weeks from the first interview, after a few days to sign the NDA, name your sponsor and owner, and agree access. We can start as soon as those are in place.
Do you work on site?
Yes. Walkthroughs of the work and the first fix happen on site; interviews and the numbers can be done remotely. International engagements run mostly remotely, with visits where they matter.
Are travel and stay included in the fee?
No. Fees cover our time. Travel, stay and meals for in-person work are paid by the client at actual cost, wherever it takes place. The on-site days are agreed before week one.
How do you handle confidentiality?
We sign a mutual NDA before week one, before anyone is interviewed. What we learn stays inside the engagement.
What do you need from us for this to work?
A sponsor who can make decisions and stays involved, usually the promoter or CEO, with two to three hours a week; one owner who arranges access and will own the plan, with about a day a week; and time with the people who do the work the four weeks look at. The lengths and fees on this site assume all three.
What if we decide not to go on?
Then you keep the one-page picture, your Keep list, the fix and the plan, and nothing else is owed. The Review has a fixed scope and a fixed fee, and nothing beyond it is committed until you choose the plan.
- 100+ engagements
- 62,000+ delivery hours
- Top 1% Expert-Vetted on Upwork
- 100% job success, independently verified
Across Upwork and direct contracts, including the people on our project teams.
- MIT MicroMasters, Supply Chain
- Six Sigma Black Belt
- PRINCE2 Practitioner
“I recommend hiring him for things you don't even know are issues yet.”
Tell us two things.
What you're trying to achieve in the next 90 days, and what's breaking in execution. We'll tell you plainly what we'd fix first.
Book a discovery callFree, no obligation, and under an NDA if you prefer.
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