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Fixed-price business advisory for owner-led companies.
For owners of $1M to $20M businesses who have become the bottleneck. Two weeks to find what to fix first, ninety days working on it with your team.
First call free. Diagnostic $3,500, fixed.
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When the business runs through you
Somewhere between ten and a hundred people, many owner-led companies hit the same wall. The work is good and customers stay, but every decision still waits for one person.
- “Nothing gets quoted until I have looked at it.”
- “Revenue is up, and the bank balance does not show it.”
- “My managers bring me problems, not decisions.”
- “I cannot remember my last full week off.”
A coach works on you. Your accountant reports on last quarter. We work inside the business on the operating problems, at a price agreed before we start, and the readout is yours to keep either way.
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How an engagement works
Three engagements, always in this order. Each is priced before it starts and ends on a set date, and you can stop after any of them. A North & Keel advisor does the work with you and your team.
2 weeks, $3,500
Diagnostic
Your advisor interviews you and your leadership team, reads the numbers, and follows how work actually moves through the company.
You get A written readout of what is slowing the business down and what to fix first, in order. It is yours to keep, whether or not you continue.
3 months, $12,000
90-Day Plan
Your advisor works alongside your team on the readout's top priorities.
You get A weekly check-in with your advisor, a scorecard your team runs, and each change owned by a named person.
Holds if someone on your team owns each change.
$2,500 a month, optional
Monthly Advisory
Keeps the fixes in place once the 90 days end.
You get One working session a month, help by phone or email between sessions, and a quarterly scorecard review. Stop with 30 days’ notice.
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What we work on
Most of what we fix falls into five areas. The Diagnostic tells you which of them matter in your business, and in what order.
Cash and numbers
Late invoices, a month-end close that takes three weeks, and cash nobody forecasts.
Roles and people
Who decides what, written down, so managers stop routing everything through you.
The sales pipeline
A pipeline someone owns, quotes that get followed up, and pricing that is not set from memory.
Operations
How a job moves from order to invoice, and where it sits waiting.
Your week
Which hours only you can spend, and a plan to hand off the rest.
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What two weeks produces
The Diagnostic ends with a short written readout, not a deck: what we found, the order to fix it in, and a scorecard to run it from.
Holds if you and your leadership team make time for the interviews, about an hour each.
Example readout
- Every quote over $5,000 waits for the owner. Median wait is four working days. Two sales reps have stopped quoting larger jobs.
- Invoices go out 12 days after delivery. Delivery notes reach the office by hand, once a week. This is most of why cash feels tight.
- The warehouse lead has no say over staffing. Shift changes go through the owner, usually by text, often at night.
- Nobody owns the monthly numbers. The close takes three weeks, so decisions run on last quarter.
| When | Change | Owner |
|---|---|---|
| Weeks 1 to 3 | Invoice on delivery | Office manager |
| Weeks 2 to 6 | Written pricing rules; reps quote up to $25,000 | Sales lead |
| Weeks 5 to 9 | Warehouse lead runs the shift plan | Warehouse lead |
| Weeks 8 to 12 | Close the month in ten working days | Outside bookkeeper |
| Measure | Now | Target |
|---|---|---|
| Days from delivery to invoice | 12 | 1 |
| Quotes waiting on the owner | 9 | 2 |
| Days to close the month | 21 | 10 |
| Owner hours on scheduling, per week | 6 | 1 |
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Stories from owner-led companies
These are illustrative stories, written to show how an engagement runs. They are not real clients, and no results are implied.
Illustrative story
Every quote came to my desk, so quotes took a week. The readout put that first. We wrote pricing rules, and my estimator sends most quotes now without me.
Owner, commercial HVAC contractor, Columbus, Ohio Illustrative story
Sales were fine and cash was always tight. The Diagnostic found we were invoicing two weeks after delivery. That was the fix, and it was not glamorous.
Founder, packaging distributor, Tacoma, Washington Illustrative story
My partner and I had stopped agreeing on who decides what. The 90 days gave us a written split of roles and a weekly meeting that ends on time.
Co-owner, engineering practice, Raleigh, North Carolina
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Three fixed prices
Every price is agreed in writing before work starts. No hourly billing, no retainer without an end, and no commission on anything we recommend.
North & Keel provides general business advisory. We are not your attorney, accountant, or investment adviser, and nothing we provide is legal, tax, accounting, or investment advice. We describe the work, not guaranteed results.
Diagnostic$3,500Fixed. Two weeks.
- Interviews with you and your leadership team
- A review of your financials and operations
- A written readout of the changes that matter most, in order
- The readout is yours to keep, whether or not you continue
90-Day Plan$12,000Fixed. Paid as three monthly payments of $4,000. Available after a Diagnostic.
- Work alongside your team on the readout's priorities
- A weekly check-in
- A short scorecard, built with you
Holds if someone on your team owns each change.
Request a consultationMonthly Advisory$2,500 a monthStop with 30 days’ notice.
- One working session a month
- Help by phone or email between sessions
- A quarterly review of the scorecard
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About North & Keel
North & Keel is a business advisory firm for owner-led companies of 10 to 150 people. We work with the owner directly, on the business you already have, from its own numbers and people.
- How we work
- Fixed scope, fixed price, a set order. We write things down, and keep the readout and scorecard short enough to use.
- Who we are not for
- Companies under about $1M in revenue, which usually need a good bookkeeper first. Owners who want someone to run the company for them.
- What we leave out
- Hourly billing, a share of results, and commission on the software, lenders, or hires we suggest.
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Questions owners ask
- Do I need an advisor, or just a better accountant?
- An accountant reports on what already happened and keeps you compliant. We work on how the company runs: who decides, how work moves, where cash gets stuck. Many owners need both. If yours is a bookkeeping problem, we will say so on the first call.
- How much of my time will it take?
- A few interviews during the Diagnostic, about an hour each. During the 90-Day Plan, one weekly check-in, plus the time the changes need from you.
- Will the scope keep growing?
- No. Each engagement has a fixed price and a fixed end. Monthly Advisory stops with 30 days’ notice.
- What if I stop after the Diagnostic?
- You keep the readout and owe nothing more. Some owners hand it to their own team and do the work themselves.
- Is this legal, tax, or financial advice?
- No. It is general business advisory. Keep your attorney, CPA, and financial adviser for those questions; we work alongside them.
- How do I know if we are a fit?
- The first call is free, 30 minutes, with no pitch deck. It is a fit check, and if the business does not need us, we say so.
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Request a consultation
Tell us a little about the business and pick a time window for a free 30-minute call. It is a fit check, with no pitch deck and no obligation.
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Contact
Questions about an engagement, billing, or anything else.