You don't need to prepare anything for the free hour. But if you spend ten minutes on this list, we'll get further, faster.
1. Write down last week's busywork
Not the big projects. The small, repeated things: the emails you rewrote, the numbers you copied, the question you answered three times. Five items is plenty.
2. List what you pay for
Every software subscription, roughly what it costs, and honestly how much of it you use. This alone usually finds a few hundred dollars a month.
3. Know who does what
A rough list of the people on your team and what fills their day. We're looking for the role that's mostly checklist.
4. Pick one thing you'd love to never do again
Every owner has one. That's usually the first tool we build, because you'll actually use it.
5. Decide what you're comfortable showing
Screen sharing a real spreadsheet or inbox is the fastest way for us to understand your business. Blur or close anything sensitive; we don't need logins and we won't ask for them.
6. Have your calendar handy
If the plan looks good, the next step is a fixed-price build with a start date. No pressure to decide on the call.
Done? Fill out the questionnaire if you want to send it ahead, then pick your time.
More from the blog
How we got to 100,000+ monthly website views with Claude-built sites
The exact playbook Bench Labs founder Jonathan Cole used to take his business websites past 100,000 views a month: Claude-coded sites, organic SEO and paid marketing.
Read the postThe $100,000 question: what we stopped paying people to do
How custom Claude tools replaced more than $100,000 a year of employee costs across Jonathan Cole's businesses, and which kinds of work made the cut.
Read the postWhat actually happens in the free one-hour sit-down
A minute-by-minute look at the Bench Labs free sit-down: what we ask, what you get, and why there's no pitch at the end.
Read the postGive us a free hour. We'll show you where the time goes.
Pick a time that works and we'll meet on video, or send the basics and we'll reach out within one business day. Want to make the hour count? Fill out the full pre-sit-down questionnaire; it takes about 10 minutes.