What I actually do in week 1 of a BI consulting engagement

When a new FinTech or SaaS client hires me, they usually expect me to start building dashboards on day 1.

That never happens.

Week 1 is entirely about discovery. Here's my actual process:

Day 1-2: Source system audit
I map every data source they have — ERP, CRM, transactional DB, flat files. Most startups have 3-5 sources they've never fully connected. I look for gaps, duplicates, and "shadow spreadsheets" that finance or ops is maintaining manually.

Day 3: Data quality baseline
I run diagnostic SQL queries to find nulls, orphaned records, and date inconsistencies. This alone usually surfaces 2-3 issues nobody knew existed.

Day 4: Stakeholder interviews
I meet with the CEO, CFO, and ops lead separately. Everyone has a different definition of "active customer" or "MRR." I document each definition and flag conflicts before a single model gets built.

Day 5: Architecture recommendation
Only now do I write a proposal — what the DWH should look like, which ETL tools fit their stack, and a realistic timeline.

Skip this discovery phase and you'll build the wrong thing fast.

Does your data team run a discovery sprint before building, or do they jump straight in?

I packaged my full freelancing playbook — scoping, pricing, discovery templates — here: https://growthwithshehroz.gumroad.com/l/cpfja