A clear process for complicated business problems.
MCC engagements move from understanding the current environment to defining priorities, designing the right system, implementing the work, transferring ownership, and improving what was built.
The process is structured enough to create accountability but flexible enough to reflect the actual business, project, risks, and people involved.
Not every project requires every activity below, but the underlying sequence remains consistent. MCC first develops an accurate understanding of the problem, then defines the scope and decisions required before implementation.
The process also includes approval gates. MCC should not make material changes to domains, accounts, websites, workflows, integrations, client-facing content, or business systems without appropriate client approval.
Diagnose
Define
Design
Build
Transfer
Improve
SIX STAGES
The MCC engagement process
01
Stage 01 · Diagnose
Understand the current environment.
MCC begins by understanding the business objective, current systems, people, accounts, dependencies, workflows, vendors, risks, and constraints.
Key Activities
Stakeholder conversations
Current-state review
Existing-document review
Workflow mapping
Digital-asset inventory
Account and access review
Vendor and platform review
User-journey review
Risk and dependency identification
Baseline information gathering
Client Responsibilities
Identify decision-makers
Provide accurate context
Provide approved access
Share relevant contracts and documentation
Identify known deadlines and dependencies
Explain current pain points and priorities
Outputs
Current-state summary
Problem definition
Dependency map
Initial risk register
Open-question list
Recommended next analysis
Decision Gate
Confirm that MCC and the client agree on the problem being addressed before designing the solution.
02
Stage 02 · Define
Set priorities, scope, responsibilities, and success criteria.
MCC separates urgent risks from longer-term improvements and converts the diagnosis into an approved project structure.
Key Activities
Prioritization
Scope definition
Deliverable definition
Role assignment
Approval mapping
Technical or vendor dependency review
Assumption documentation
Timeline planning
Success-measure definition
Change-control planning
Client Responsibilities
Approve priorities
Confirm available budget and timing
Select the client decision-maker
Confirm responsible internal participants
Review exclusions and assumptions
Approve the next phase
Outputs
Written scope
Prioritized roadmap
Responsibility matrix
Approval structure
Milestone plan
Assumption and exclusion list
Measurement framework
Decision Gate
Approve what will be built, what will not be built, who is responsible, and what must be true before implementation begins.
03
Stage 03 · Design
Create the system before committing to full implementation.
MCC defines how the proposed system should work across people, process, technology, information, ownership, user experience, and governance.
Key Activities
Future-state workflow design
Information architecture
User journeys
System architecture
Account-ownership design
Permission planning
Content architecture
Wireframes or prototypes
Integration planning
Documentation planning
Quality and review criteria
Client Responsibilities
Provide subject-matter expertise
Review proposed workflows
Validate business rules
Confirm user and customer needs
Review prototypes or diagrams
Approve the design direction
Outputs
Future-state system map
Workflow design
Sitemap or information architecture
Prototype or wireframe
Ownership model
Permission model
Technical specification
Implementation sequence
Test and review plan
Decision Gate
Approve the proposed system and implementation plan before major construction, migration, or configuration occurs.
04
Stage 04 · Build
Implement, coordinate, test, and document the solution.
MCC builds the approved elements directly or coordinates the client and approved specialists responsible for implementation.
Key Activities
Website implementation
Workflow configuration
Documentation creation
Account setup
Content implementation
Platform configuration
Integration work
Vendor coordination
Data or asset migration support
Testing
Quality assurance
Status reporting
Client Responsibilities
Provide timely approvals
Supply required content and information
Coordinate internal participants
Maintain access to required platforms
Review test outputs
Report operational issues
Avoid unapproved parallel changes
Outputs
Working system or deliverable
Configured accounts
Implemented workflows
Approved website or interface
SOPs and templates
Test results
Issue log
Updated project documentation
Decision Gate
Confirm that the agreed acceptance criteria have been met or identify the remaining corrective work.
05
Stage 05 · Transfer
Establish ownership, understanding, and continuity.
A deliverable is not complete merely because it exists. MCC helps establish who owns it, who administers it, how it is maintained, and what the client needs to know.
Key Activities
Account transfer
Permission review
Credential and access documentation
Client training
Administrative handoff
SOP delivery
Asset inventory update
Backup confirmation
Vendor offboarding
Open-item review
Future-maintenance planning
Client Responsibilities
Confirm ownership
Designate administrators
Attend handoff sessions
Secure credentials
Review documentation
Confirm outside-vendor access
Accept ongoing responsibilities
Outputs
Ownership record
Access matrix
Administrative guide
SOP library
Training material
Handoff checklist
Final deliverable inventory
Open-items register
Maintenance plan
Decision Gate
Confirm that the client has the access, ownership, documentation, and understanding included in the engagement.
06
Stage 06 · Improve
Measure use, address friction, and prioritize the next improvement.
MCC reviews how the system performs in real use and distinguishes immediate correction from future optimization.
Key Activities
Post-launch review
User feedback
Analytics review
Workflow observation
Issue prioritization
Vendor-performance review
Documentation updates
Backlog creation
New-risk review
Optimization planning
Client Responsibilities
Use the system
Report issues accurately
Provide performance information
Identify changed business requirements
Review priorities
Approve future scope
Outputs
Post-implementation assessment
Improvement backlog
Updated documentation
Performance observations
Risk updates
Recommended next phase
Decision Gate
Decide whether to maintain the current system, correct identified issues, or begin a separately scoped improvement phase.
APPROVAL BEFORE ACTION
Important decisions should not happen by accident.
MCC uses decision gates to separate investigation, recommendation, approval, implementation, and acceptance. This reduces the risk of building the wrong solution or making material changes before the client is prepared.
01
Problem Confirmation
The client and MCC agree on the issue, objective, and immediate priorities.
02
Scope Approval
Deliverables, exclusions, responsibilities, assumptions, milestones, and commercial terms are documented.
03
Design Approval
The client approves the proposed workflow, architecture, content, account model, or user experience before major implementation.
04
Change Approval
Material changes to domains, DNS, hosting, production systems, permissions, integrations, or public content require authorized approval.
05
Acceptance Review
The completed work is compared with the documented scope and acceptance criteria.
06
Handoff Confirmation
Ownership, administrator access, documentation, open items, and ongoing responsibilities are confirmed.
MCC should not rely on informal verbal approval for material changes when written confirmation is practical.
SHARED RESPONSIBILITY
A strong engagement requires clear ownership on both sides.
MCC Responsibilities
Understand and document the agreed business problem
Provide clear recommendations
Identify known assumptions and dependencies
Maintain an organized project record
Communicate risks and open questions
Perform or coordinate approved work
Protect confidential information within the agreed process
Avoid unapproved material changes
Test work within the agreed scope
Document completed systems and deliverables
Distinguish verified facts from assumptions
Escalate issues requiring client or professional review
Client Responsibilities
Identify an authorized decision-maker
Provide timely and accurate information
Supply approved access
Review recommendations and deliverables
Provide required content
Coordinate internal stakeholders
Disclose relevant contractual or regulatory constraints
Approve material changes
Use secure access practices
Maintain qualified legal, tax, accounting, and regulatory advisers
Pay third-party costs unless included in the scope
Make final business decisions
Outside Specialists
Specialized legal, tax, accounting, software-development, design, security, IT, or industry work may involve client professionals or approved outside providers. Their role and authority should be defined in writing.
COMMUNICATION
Projects move faster when decisions and information have a clear home.
One Primary Client Contact
The client designates someone authorized to coordinate information and approvals.
Written Decision Records
Major approvals, changes, assumptions, and unresolved issues are documented.
Defined Meeting Purpose
Meetings are used for decisions, discovery, review, or coordination—not as a replacement for organized project information.
Regular Status Updates
Status reporting distinguishes completed work, work in progress, risks, blockers, decisions required, and next steps.
Central Project Documentation
Approved project documents, plans, inventories, and decisions are stored in an agreed location.
Escalation Path
Urgent technical, operational, access, security, legal, or timeline issues have an identified escalation route.
Meeting and reporting cadence is defined in the engagement scope rather than fixed in advance for every project.
OWNERSHIP AND CONTINUITY
The client should know what it owns and how the system continues.
MCC’s default approach is to place critical business assets in client-controlled accounts wherever practical. MCC and other vendors should receive the permissions needed to perform their roles without unnecessarily becoming the owner of the client’s infrastructure.
Handoff Elements
Asset inventory
Account ownership
Named administrators
Permission review
MFA and recovery settings
Documentation
Backup responsibility
Vendor-access removal
Before a project is considered fully transferred, confirm where applicable:
The client controls the domain registrar
The client controls hosting or the applicable platform account
The client has administrative website access
Analytics and search accounts have appropriate owners
Business listings have appropriate primary ownership
Source files or repositories included in the scope have been transferred
Required licenses are documented
Recovery contacts are current
Named administrators are confirmed
Vendor permissions are appropriate
Unneeded access has been removed
Documentation has been delivered
Open risks have been disclosed
Ongoing costs and renewals are known
SCOPE DISCIPLINE
A project becomes unreliable when every new idea silently becomes part of the original scope.
New information often appears after work begins. Some discoveries require correction within the approved scope. Others represent new functionality, additional locations, new integrations, expanded content, or changed business requirements.
01
Identify
Describe the requested change or new discovery.
02
Assess
Review impact on timeline, dependencies, risk, deliverables, and outside costs.
03
Classify
Determine whether the item is a correction, clarification, substitution, or additional scope.
04
Approve
Obtain written approval when the change materially affects the engagement.
05
Schedule
Add approved work to the active plan or a future phase.
MCC should not represent that every unexpected issue can be absorbed without affecting time, cost, or project sequencing.
ENGAGEMENT READINESS
The best work requires an engaged client.
An Authorized Decision-Maker
Someone must be able to approve priorities, access, designs, scope changes, and completed work.
Honest Current-State Information
MCC needs an accurate view of current systems, vendors, accounts, workflows, constraints, and past decisions.
Timely Access
The project may depend on platforms, documents, analytics, websites, domains, software, or outside providers.
Subject-Matter Participation
MCC can design systems, but the client remains the expert in its services, policies, customers, and regulated responsibilities.
Timely Review
Long approval delays can affect dependencies, vendor availability, pricing, and project sequencing.
Willingness to Make Decisions
A consulting engagement cannot create clarity if every recommendation remains indefinitely unresolved.
Respect for Scope and Security
Client information, credentials, approvals, and project changes should follow the agreed process.
WAYS TO ENGAGE
Different problems require different levels of involvement.
Diagnostic and Roadmap
A focused review that identifies the current state, key risks, priorities, and recommended implementation sequence.
Focused Implementation
A defined project to build, configure, transition, or improve a specific system.
Transition and Recovery
A structured engagement addressing vendors, accounts, assets, access, migration, and continuity.
Ongoing Advisory and Optimization
Continued guidance, implementation oversight, documentation, and improvement after the initial foundation exists.
The overall logic remains consistent, but the depth of each stage depends on the project. A focused diagnostic may end with a roadmap. A larger implementation may move through design, build, transfer, and optimization. The written scope identifies which activities and deliverables are included.
Will Marty work directly on the project?
Yes. MCC is founder-led, and Marty remains directly involved in the strategy, client context, major recommendations, and implementation decisions included in the engagement.
Can MCC work with our current vendors?
Yes. MCC can coordinate with current agencies, developers, IT providers, accountants, attorneys, software vendors, and internal team members. Responsibilities, authority, access, and deliverables should be clarified before work begins.
Does MCC replace our attorney or accountant?
No. MCC can organize business processes, documentation, systems, decision inputs, and coordination. Legal, tax, accounting, employment, regulatory, and other licensed-professional matters should remain with qualified advisers.
How does MCC handle confidential information?
Confidential information should be limited to what is needed for the engagement and handled through the approved project systems. Credentials should use named access, MFA, and a password manager or another secure method rather than ordinary email or public forms wherever practical.
Who owns the work MCC creates?
Ownership depends on the written agreement, statement of work, third-party licenses, and the type of deliverable. MCC’s general operating principle is to use client-controlled business accounts and infrastructure wherever practical while preserving MCC’s ownership of its pre-existing tools, templates, methods, and internal know-how as defined in the agreement.
What happens when the project scope changes?
MCC identifies the requested change, evaluates its impact, determines whether it is part of the existing scope, and documents any required adjustment to deliverables, timing, dependencies, or fees before proceeding with material additional work.
Does MCC guarantee results?
No. MCC can provide strategy, implementation, documentation, testing, and responsible project management. Business performance, search rankings, revenue, cost savings, adoption, account recovery, platform behavior, AI accuracy, and other outcomes depend on factors beyond MCC’s control.
Can MCC stay involved after launch?
Yes, when continued support is included in a separate or ongoing scope. Post-launch work may include optimization, documentation updates, analytics review, workflow improvement, vendor coordination, and planning for the next phase.
How does an engagement begin?
The initial conversation focuses on the business problem, urgency, current environment, decision-makers, and likely scope. MCC then determines whether a diagnostic, focused implementation, transition project, or another structure is the appropriate starting point.
THE PROCESS IN PRACTICE
See how the approach changes across different projects.
