Blake Linde
How Engagements Work

Investment levels, outcomes, and how the work is sequenced.

Every engagement starts with a Systems Diagnostic and moves into cleanup, automation, and AI only when the sequence makes sense.

Start with a Systems Diagnostic

No retainer. No sales pitch. Roadmap delivered in 1–2 weeks.

Typical Engagement Investment

Three phases. One operating system.

These are not isolated services — they are phases of the same buildout. Most businesses need the diagnostic before anything else.

Systems Diagnostic
Systems Cleanup & Automation
Practical AI & Automation
01Start here

Systems Diagnostic

Identify the bottlenecks before spending anything on a fix.

A structured assessment of your ERP, CRM, and financial systems — where the data breaks down, where manual work is filling the gaps, and what to fix first. Produces a prioritized 90-day roadmap.

What this produces

  • Identify broken reporting and data quality issues
  • Map automation and integration opportunities
  • Surface hidden profit leaks from manual overhead
  • Clear execution plan — actionable whether or not we work together

Timeline

1–2 weeks

Deliverable

Prioritized 90-day systems roadmap

02Phase two

Systems Cleanup & Automation

Fix what's broken. Eliminate the manual work.

Hands-on systems repair — ERP reconfiguration, reporting layer fixes, workflow automation, integration cleanup, and custom data pipelines. The goal is an operating system your team works through, not around.

What this produces

  • Clean reporting layer leadership can trust
  • Automated workflows replacing recurring manual tasks
  • Reliable operational visibility without spreadsheet workarounds
  • Systems configured to match how the business actually runs

Timeline

4–8 weeks

Deliverable

Clean, reliable operating system with automated workflows

03Phase three

Practical AI & Automation

Use automation and AI where the foundation can support it.

Practical AI and automation built on top of stable systems — decision support, anomaly detection, executive briefings, and workflow automation that reduces friction instead of creating it.

What this produces

  • Summarize meetings, reports, and operational data automatically
  • Search company knowledge and historical context quickly
  • Executive briefings generated from live system data
  • Anomaly detection surfacing issues before they compound

Timeline

2–4 weeks

Deliverable

Targeted automation and AI workflows tied to existing business systems

Investment ranges reflect typical scope. Complex or multi-system engagements may vary.

Return on Systems

What clients typically gain.

Here's what businesses in the $2M–$30M range typically recover when systems are configured to produce what the business actually needs.

Hours recovered

Less manual reporting work

Finance teams routinely spend hours each week exporting, reformatting, and reconciling data that a properly configured system produces automatically.

Faster close

Month-end cycle reduction

SMBs with manual reporting cycles typically close in 10–15 business days. Businesses with clean systems and automated reporting close in 3–5.

Fewer errors

Downstream from clean data

Manual data transfers and spreadsheet-based reporting introduce consistent error patterns. Automated pipelines eliminate them.

Better decisions

Faster access to trusted numbers

When leadership can see reliable data without waiting for someone to manually pull and reconcile it, decisions happen sooner and with more confidence.

Context

What this costs compared to the alternative.

For most businesses at this revenue level, the choice is a full-time hire or fractional systems work.

Full-Time Systems / Operations Leader

Full-time cost

Salary, benefits, onboarding, ongoing overhead

  • 3–6 month ramp before productive output
  • Ongoing cost regardless of active project work
  • One set of system experience from one person
  • Recruiting time and cost if it doesn't work out

Fractional Systems Architecture

Project-based

Scoped to the problem, sequenced, and delivered

  • Week-one start, no ramp period
  • Scoped to current need — no ongoing overhead
  • Cross-system experience across ERP, CRM, and integration
  • Diagnostic-first sequencing prevents wasted spend

Get Started

The easiest first step.

Book a Systems Diagnostic. Two weeks. A clear picture of what's broken and what to fix first. Actionable whether or not we work together beyond it.

Start here.

No retainer commitment. No sales pitch. A practical starting point with a clear deliverable.