What job should the website do?
“We need a new website” is a starting point, not yet a brief. Try finishing the sentence: so customers can choose a service more easily; so enquiries contain useful information; so we spend less time answering the same questions by phone.
Each goal points to a different solution. The first needs a good way to compare services. The second needs an appropriate form and enough context before it. The third needs clear information that is easy to find.
What does the visitor already know?
Someone arriving through a recommendation may have different questions from a person finding you in search for the first time. One needs contact details; the other needs to understand whether your service fits.
Write down the questions customers actually ask. They provide a stronger foundation for page structure than copying a competitor’s menu.
What should you prepare?
Collect existing content, your logo, authentic project images and contact details. Mark what is confirmed and what still needs checking. For a redesign, keep a list of existing page URLs.
You do not need perfect copy on day one. You do need to know who makes decisions, approves content and answers questions about the business.
What does finished mean?
Agree more than a page count: functions, content management, mobile behaviour and handover matter too. The brief should explain how visitors send enquiries, where they arrive and who can update the site.
That gives scope, timing and budget a useful foundation. It also gives design decisions a reason beyond liking an effect seen elsewhere.