ONE TEAM OR PROCESS FAMILY
One area.
$5,000 / month
Quoting, scheduling, billing or marketing: one defined area with a named owner.
One workflow in progress at a time, in one area.
PRICING
What it costs,
before you ask.
Every price published. Most people start with the Bottleneck Test, then Architecture. Nobody needs a call to find out the number.
THE PRICES
Architecture, then Operate.
01 / REQUIRED FIRST
Architecture.
$2,500 to $7,500
Two to three weeks.
A written map of the areas of your business, the workflows worth building in each, who owns each one and what each is worth in your own numbers. Every engagement starts here.
Architecture is its own fee. There is no credit from Architecture toward Operate.
02 / IF THE MAP SUPPORTS IT
Choose the scope of Operate.
TWO NAMED AREAS
Two areas.
$7,500 / month
Two named areas of the business, such as quoting and billing. More people to train, more systems to connect, more owners to hand to.
Two workflows in progress at a time, one in each area.
Both tiers have a three-month minimum, then run month to month on 30 days' notice. Need more than two areas? It is priced after Architecture.
ARCHITECTURE
Before you commit to building anything, you find out what is worth building.
I interview you and the people who run each part of the business, time the processes that matter, build the loaded-hour cost with your finance person, and list every system and subscription, including the AI tools your staff already use.
You get the areas of your business named in writing, the workflows in each ranked with a source on every row and a named owner, a written list of what I recommend against, and a recommendation for which tier and which area to start with.
If the map says Operate will not pay for itself, I say so, and you keep the map.
Where the price lands: closer to $2,500 for a single-site company near the $5 million mark, closer to $7,500 for several locations or a process that crosses departments.
OPERATE
One area,
or two.
An area is one team or one process family, with one owner. Marketing is an area. Newsletters, social captions and review replies are workflows inside it.
The first 90 days are the same in both tiers. After day 90, the difference is how much work is in progress at once: one area keeps one workflow in progress at a time; two areas keeps two, one in each area. Each starts the next as one is handed over.
Every month, in both tiers: work on the next workflow in the queue, fixes and upkeep on everything already built, the AI use policy kept current, tool and vendor decisions, a monthly memo sent with the invoice and a quarter-end review you could hand to your bank.
The memo is one page: the number that matters, what ran this month, what was done, what broke and how it was handled, next month, one number to watch, and one decision needed from you, or none.
The first workflow is running in shadow mode within 30 days of readiness. Two are handed over within 90 days of readiness. Readiness means a named owner, system access and baseline data. The schedule pauses whenever any of those is missing.
A faster pace, or training your own people to build their own, is quoted separately.
HOW EACH WORKFLOW IS FINISHED
The handoff test.
Then the warranty.
Every workflow goes through The Handoff Method: the scope, the build, the governance minimum, the handoff, the handoff test, the warranty and the results memo. It has no separate price, and the first 90 days of Operate are the first Handoff.
In the handoff test, your named owner runs the workflow while I watch and say nothing, then breaks it on purpose and restores it from the runbook alone. The date goes in the results memo.
Before each build, I agree with you in writing on a set of sample cases and the pass rate the workflow must hold. For 90 days after the handoff test, if it falls below that pass rate on those cases, I fix it at no charge. The warranty ends if anyone else changes the workflow, its instructions or its connected tools.
You keep the instruction set, the knowledge base, the prompt library and every account.
What you provide
One defined area, someone who can set priorities, and a named person who will run each workflow. No named owner, no workflow.
PUT IT NEXT TO
Put it next to what else you could do.
- ANOTHER ADMIN HIRE
Salary, benefits, training, and the months before they are useful. A hire inherits the mess and asks you how things work. A system removes the mess first.
- A FRACTIONAL COO
Experienced operators on a monthly retainer. The map and the specs tend to leave when they do.
- AN AUTOMATION VENDOR
Usually keeps the keys, the accounts and the documentation. You rent the result.
- DOING IT YOURSELF
Free, except for the nights and weekends you have already been giving it.
QUESTIONS
The questions everyone asks about the number.
Who have you done this for?
Owner-run companies in e-commerce and marketing services, through my own practice before it was called inHaus. The work page shows what was built and who runs it now, without names.
Is this AI consulting?
Partly. AI is how the work gets built. What you are buying is the work coming off your desk and staying off, run by your own person.
Do you replace our ERP or accounting software?
No. I build inside the systems you already run. If a tool needs replacing, Architecture says so in writing before you spend anything.
What happens if something breaks?
Your named owner has a runbook that covers how to tell it is broken and how to switch it off. Before each build, I agree with you in writing on a set of sample cases and the pass rate the workflow must hold. For 90 days after the handoff test, if it falls below that pass rate on those cases, I fix it at no charge. The warranty ends if anyone else changes the workflow, its instructions or its connected tools. On Operate, upkeep is part of the fee anyway; the warranty is what you keep if you leave.
Who leads the work, and what if you can't?
I lead every engagement today. If I cannot work for more than 10 business days, the engagement pauses or ends at your choice, and the unearned part of that month is refunded. Everything built is already in your accounts.
Why is Architecture paid when others give their assessment away?
The number is built from your own payroll with your own finance person, and that number decides whether Operate is worth paying for. Architecture is its own fee. There is no credit from Architecture toward Operate.
Why would I pay $7,500 instead of $5,000?
You might not. Two areas means more people to train, more systems to connect and more owners to hand to. If one area is where the work is stuck, buy one area. Architecture tells you which, in your own numbers, before you sign anything.
What if we need more than two areas?
That is priced after Architecture, once the map shows what each area involves.
Can we start with one area and add another?
Yes. Most companies should. You add the second area when the first is running.
Why a three-month minimum?
The first quarter is when the evidence arrives: the first workflow live in month one, handed over and measured in month two, the second delivered and the quarter totaled in month three.
What does the schedule depend on?
You. The schedule starts when you provide the named owner, access to the systems involved and the baseline data, and it pauses whenever any of those is missing.
When can we reach you?
Monday through Thursday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Central. One business day to respond when a workflow is down, two business days for everything else. No Friday, evening or weekend support.
What happens to our data?
A mutual NDA comes first, and everything I build lives in your accounts.
Why is this more than the freelancer who quoted us for an automation?
Their quote buys a build. This buys someone accountable for it next quarter: your person trained to run it, the accounts in your name and a report on what it returned. If a build is all you need, buy the build.
We already have an IT provider.
Good. Keep them. They run the network and devices; I take work off the owner's desk and hand it to your people.
We are outside Northwest Arkansas.
That is fine. Architecture needs time on site or several long calls. After that, the work runs remotely.
Do I have to start Operate after Architecture?
No. You keep the map either way.
We are under $5 million in revenue, or over $30 million. Does this still work?
Under about $5 million, Architecture shows whether Operate pays at your size, and if it will not, I say so. Over $30 million, ask, and expect Architecture at the top of its range.
YOUR NEXT STEP
The only thing left is whether it is a fit.
Thirty minutes. I will name the piece of work that is stuck on your desk and tell you if I am the wrong fit.
You already know the numbers. The call is about fit.