Our method
You can't fix a process until you know how it's supposed to run.
Our method comes from industrial maintenance troubleshooting, where it's called Theory of Operation. Before touching a machine, a good technician knows exactly what "working correctly" looks like. The gap between that and what's actually happening is the diagnosis. We apply the same discipline to your workflows.
Theory of Operation
Seven steps, in this order, every time
Observe
We watch how the work actually happens: who does it, when, in which tools, and what they do when something goes wrong. We ask you to walk us through a real day, not an ideal one.
Document
Every step, handoff, tool, and workaround gets written down, along with how often it happens and how long it takes. Undocumented know-how is usually the first thing we find.
Compare
We build the theory of operation: the fewest steps, the right tools, and a reasonable time, based on what the workflow exists to produce. Then we hold today's process against it.
Identify
We name each gap between the two. Where they match, we say so and leave it alone. We don't manufacture findings.
Determine
For each gap we choose the fix that actually serves the business: automate, an off-the-shelf tool, AI assistance, redesign, or stopping the task entirely.
Implement
We build the fix with your team in the room, with approval steps wherever work reaches a customer, involves money, or touches a legal or medical matter.
Measure
We check the time saved and the error rate against the baseline from step two, report it honestly, and adjust.
Determine
Five possible fixes. Automation is only one.
The most valuable finding is often the least exciting: a step you can simply stop doing.
| Fix | The gap looks like | Delivered through |
|---|---|---|
| AI-assisted | A smart person drafts, summarizes, or decides from scratch every time | AI Concierge |
| Automate | The right steps, but data is re-typed between tools that should sync | AI Automation |
| Off-the-shelf tool | Doing by hand what an affordable app already does | A recommendation |
| Redesign | More steps than the outcome needs, or the same work done twice | Process mapping and SOPs |
| Eliminate | The reason the task existed no longer applies | A recommendation to stop |
One-time engagement
The AI Tools Assessment
A focused diagnosis of your workflows using the Theory of Operation method, delivered as a clear written plan.
We start with a recorded conversation about how your business runs day to day. We map every workflow we hear about, including the ones you didn't flag as problems, and diagnose each against the five possible fixes. You get a prioritized plan showing what to fix first, what it's likely to save, and what it would cost.
The plan is yours to keep, whether you work with us afterward or not.
AI Tools Assessment
$999 one-time
- Recorded workflow discovery session
- Every workflow diagnosed against five possible fixes
- Impact and effort matrix
- Quick wins you can act on this week
- Recommended tools, with honest costs
- An implementation plan and financial impact estimate
Guarantee: backed by our 5-hours-a-week time-savings guarantee. Full terms are shared before you sign.
Ask about an assessmentWorking together
What you can expect from us
Plain English
No jargon. If we can't explain it simply, we haven't understood it well enough.
Proven tools first
We use tools that already work, like Claude, Google Workspace, HubSpot, Make.com, and Zapier, before we suggest anything custom.
Human approval gates
Customer-facing, financial, legal, and medical actions always go through a person.
Documented and maintainable
Consistent names, written runbooks, and nothing only we understand.
Your data protected
We work in your accounts, never store your client records in shared libraries, and flag sensitive data early.
Clear pricing
One-time implementation fees are kept separate from optional monthly support, and both are in writing.
Keep reading
See the method in action
Proof
Case studies
Step-by-step demonstrations, clearly labeled.
Guide
Theory of Operation
Where this method actually comes from, and why it works.
Guide
Mapping a workflow
Do steps one and two yourself, on paper.
Guide
The five fixes
What "determine" is actually choosing between.
Guide
AI SOPs
Turning tribal knowledge into a system your team actually uses.
Guide
What to automate
Sorting tasks into eliminate, standardize, automate, or keep human.
Flagship
AI Concierge
Where most engagements go after the diagnosis.