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Business operations retainer

The admin that runs itself.

Custom workflows and automations, taking repetitive admin off your team one build at a time. I find where the hours go, then remove them.

How soon it runs
Something running in the first month
You own
Every automation, documented, in your accounts
Runs monthly
The whole service, on a flat fee

No figure appears on this page. Your free plan comes back with the price of every size, and with what the whole job costs together.

01

What it is

Custom workflows and automations, taking repetitive admin off your team one build at a time. I find where the hours go, then remove them.

An hour of admin removed is removed every week after, which is why this compounds harder than almost anything else you can buy. The retainer works a build queue every month, highest value first: the quote that follows itself up, the invoice that chases itself, the report that writes itself on the first of the month.

Everything runs in accounts you own, and every automation ships with written documentation, so nothing becomes a mystery the day someone asks how it works. The audit comes first: where the team's hours actually go, measured, before anything gets built.

02

This is for you if

  • The team spends hours on work a machine should do
  • Quotes go unfollowed and invoices go unchased
  • Every report is assembled by hand, every month, again
  • Hiring feels necessary but the work is mostly repetition

One of these is usually enough. If none of them is true, this is not the first thing I would build for you, and the plan will say so.

03

Why it comes where it does

An hour of admin removed is removed every week after. Three or four builds in, the retainer is paying for itself in recovered time.

Nothing has to be built before this one, so it can be the first thing you do. Your free plan still puts it in order against everything else you are considering.

Worth knowingA retainer, paid quarterly in advance. An annual commitment paid in advance carries a lower rate, quoted on the call.

04

Three sizes, by scope

The sizes differ by how much is in them, not by how well it is done. Start at the size that matches the business today; moving up later is normal.

The Essentials

One build a month, compounding.

  • An audit of where the team's hours actually go
  • One automation built and shipped each month
  • Written documentation for every automation
  • Everything running in accounts you own

Something running in the first month

The usual choice

The Standard

The full queue, worked monthly. Most businesses choose this.

Everything in the size before, plus:

  • A build queue worked every month, highest value first
  • Multiple builds per month as the queue allows
  • Quarterly review of what each automation saves
  • Team training on everything shipped

Something running in the first month

The Works

An operations engineer on tap.

Everything in the size before, plus:

  • Dedicated capacity every week, not a shared queue
  • Same-week turnaround on small automations
  • Process redesign, not just automation of the old process
  • A named monthly session with Stuart on what to remove next

Something running in the first month

The figure for each of the three sizes is not published here, because it depends on what else you are building at the same time. Build your free plan and the figure for each size comes back with it, along with what the whole job costs together.

05

How it is built

  1. 01

    The audit first: where the team's hours actually go, measured rather than guessed.

  2. 02

    The queue built and ranked by hours saved against build cost, and agreed with you.

  3. 03

    The highest-value build shipped, documented, and running in your accounts.

  4. 04

    The next build starts, and the queue is re-ranked as the business changes.

  5. 05

    A quarterly review of what each automation actually saved, against what it was meant to.

  6. 06

    Training for the team on everything shipped, so nothing depends on remembering me.

Before you decide

Three things people get wrong.

They sayA retainer is just paying for someone to be available.

Every month ends with something built and running, documented, in your accounts. If a month produced nothing, you would be right to stop paying, and I would agree with you.

They sayAutomating admin means letting people go.

In most businesses it means not hiring the next person, and giving the ones you have their afternoons back. What stops is the repetition, not the judgement.

They sayWe should buy the builds outright instead.

You can, and for one or two builds that is usually the better deal. The retainer is for businesses with a long list, where the value is a build shipping every month without a new conversation each time.

Your options

The alternatives, side by side.

Doing it yourself and hiring it out are both real answers. Here is how the three compare on the things that actually decide it.

Slide the table sideways to read every column.

OptionWhat it costsWhat you ownTimeOutcome
Keep doing it by handThe hours, every week, foreverNothing newNowThe same admin next year, with more of it
Hire an operations personA salary plus leave, KiwiSaver, sick days and trainingA person, who can leaveWeeks to hire, months to trainThe work is done faster, and still done by hand
This retainerA monthly fee, billed quarterly in advanceEvery automation, documented, in your accountsSomething running in the first monthThe list worked down, highest value first, month after month

In practice

Typical first builds

The quote follow-up nobody sends, the invoice reminder nobody enjoys, and the month-end report that used to take a morning.

Straight answers

Questions I get asked about this.

01Where do you start?

With the audit: where the team's hours actually go. Then the queue is worked highest value first, one build at a time, so every month ends with something real running.

02What does quarterly in advance mean?

The retainer bills three months at a time, in advance. It keeps the queue funded and the cadence honest. An annual commitment paid in advance carries a lower monthly rate, quoted on the call.

03What happens to the automations if we stop?

They keep running. Everything is built in accounts you own and shipped with written documentation, so nothing switches off and nothing becomes a mystery.

04How is this different from buying the builds one at a time?

Same work, different arrangement. Buy outright when you want two or three specific things. Take the retainer when there is a long list and you want one shipping every month without renegotiating each time.

The next move

Business operations retainer, priced in context.

The free plan asks a few questions about the business, then comes back with this service at the size that fits, anything that has to come first, and the figure for each part and for the whole job. Nothing is charged and nothing is booked at the end of it.

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