Evans for Startups
You probably don’t need a Sales Director yet.
You need proof that customers will buy.
Evans helps early-stage B2B, technology, AI, SaaS and specialist businesses become commercially ready, look credible, find the right buyers and build the foundations for repeatable revenue before committing to expensive sales headcount.
The readiness check is free, takes a few minutes, and is honest in both directions — it will tell you plainly if the sensible answer today is to spend nothing at all.
The real early-stage problem
Before you scale sales, make sure there is something worth scaling.
Most early-stage businesses do not have a sales-team problem. They have a commercial clarity problem — and hiring into it makes it more expensive, not more solvable.
- The ideal customer is described as “anyone who needs this”
- The proposition is too broad to be memorable to any one buyer
- Differentiation is technical, not commercial — buyers cannot repeat it
- Founder-led selling happens in bursts, between everything else
- Pricing was set by instinct and has never been tested against a buyer
- There is no simple pipeline: opportunities live in a founder’s head and inbox
- The website explains the product but never the commercial outcome
- There is proof of work, but no case-study structure a buyer can trust
- Nobody has defined what triggers a customer to buy now rather than later
- Outreach is occasional, unresearched and unrepeatable
- Salespeople are hired before founder-led selling has been proven to work
- Marketing money is spent before the commercial proposition holds up
The startup journey
A deliberate sequence: prove it, then scale it.
01 · Assess
Commercial readiness
An honest, structured read of where the business actually is commercially — and what would be wasted money today.
Who this is built for
- B2B, technology, AI, SaaS, engineering and specialist B2B service businesses
- Roughly the first three years of commercial trading, and/or under about £1m annual revenue
- Founder-led sales, with a product or service already developed enough to sell
- Some early evidence that a market opportunity genuinely exists
- Funded or self-funded, but not yet able to justify a full-time Sales Director
Who it is not for
- Idea-stage businesses with nothing ready to sell
- Consumer or lifestyle startups with no B2B commercial relevance
- Established businesses looking for a cheaper route to Evans consultancy
- Founders expecting an outsourced sales team for a low monthly fee
Startup packages
Fixed scope, fixed fee, and a clear reason to buy each one.
Fixed-fee project
Ignition
£1,750 + VAT
Commercial foundations: who to sell to, what you are really selling, and the first 90 days.
Fixed-fee project
Signal
£1,250 + VAT
Buyer-facing credibility: website copy, founder positioning, pitch narrative and proof.
The complete startup commercial foundation
Ignition + Signal
£2,750 + VAT
Both, delivered as one engagement — the complete startup commercial foundation.
Taken together, Ignition and Signal are delivered as one engagement at £2,750 + VAT rather than £3,000 + VAT purchased separately — because the work overlaps, not because the value is discounted.
Need us to identify live opportunities too?
Traction 90 gives you commercial direction. The Opportunity Engine gives you researched commercial opportunities. They work well together, but they are separate services and are priced separately.
Founder-led businesses, wherever they are based
Evans is UK-based and works with founder-led B2B businesses in the UK and internationally. There are no overseas offices: the work is senior commercial direction delivered remotely, with UK and international market knowledge behind it.
Startup support should have an end point.
The objective is not to keep a founder permanently dependent on a startup package. Once there is repeatable demand, meaningful recurring revenue, a growing pipeline and clear product-market evidence, the right answer is to scale the commercial function properly.
Prove it. Then scale it.
- Commercial Growth Sprint
A fixed-fee commercial diagnosis once the business is past the early-stage question.
- Fractional Commercial Leadership
Senior sales leadership inside the business, part time, when the number needs an owner.
- Opportunity Engine
Researched, trigger-led commercial opportunities delivered as a continuous flow.
- Sales Growth & Business Development
Hands-on commercial development once there is something repeatable to develop.
- Digital Infrastructure
The commercial digital estate a scaling business needs, built properly.
- International Market Entry
Taking a proven proposition into the UK, Europe, North America or Australia.
- Executive Recruitment
When the evidence justifies a permanent commercial leader, hire the right one.
Startup questions, answered
Usually not, if founder-led selling has not yet produced repeatable evidence of who buys, why and at what price. A Sales Director scales a commercial model; they are an expensive way to discover one. The readiness check is designed to answer this honestly for your business.
No. Funding is not a requirement. What matters is that there is a product or service ready to sell, some evidence of market opportunity, and the means to act on commercial direction once it is given.
Sometimes — if there is something genuinely ready to sell and a defined customer problem. We do not work with idea-stage businesses that have nothing a buyer could purchase yet, and the readiness check will say so rather than take the fee.
Yes. AI, SaaS and technology businesses are a natural fit, because the common failure is commercial rather than technical: strong capability, unclear buyer, unclear outcome, unclear price.
Lead generation is not part of the startup packages. Where researched opportunity flow is needed, the Evans Opportunity Engine is a separate service from £995 + VAT per month.
No. In the early stage the founder should be selling — that is where the learning lives. Evans provides the commercial direction, structure and challenge around founder-led selling.
Either the evidence justifies scaling commercial investment, in which case we discuss the right full Evans engagement, or it does not, in which case the sensible answer is to keep costs low and keep proving. Both are legitimate outcomes.
Not within Signal. Signal reviews and refines buyer-facing commercial content and credibility. A full website or commercial digital estate is a separate Evans Digital Infrastructure engagement.
No. Engagements are fixed fees, with one clearly defined performance element on Traction 90 for opportunities Evans originates.
On Traction 90 only, a 5% fee applies to net revenue actually received by the business from qualifying opportunities Evans specifically originated or introduced, for up to 12 months from that opportunity. It excludes VAT, refunds, credits, pass-through third-party costs, your existing pipeline and anything you sourced yourself.
Yes, and that is the intended path for businesses that prove repeatable demand. Fractional commercial leadership is a standard Evans service, priced and scoped separately.
Then it has done its job and saved you money. You will still receive the priorities, the weaknesses and what not to spend on yet. You are welcome to come back when the picture has changed.
Find out what your startup should actually spend money on next.
The Startup Commercial Readiness Check scores thirteen commercial areas and returns your strongest areas, your biggest weaknesses, immediate priorities and what not to buy yet.
Prefer to speak directly?
Prefer to speak directly?