01 Consulting
When the workshop is not enough.
Some problems do not fit in a room and a day. When you need somebody in the work with you, this is what that costs and how it runs.
02 Engagement shapes
Three shapes this usually takes.
We do not sell retainers you cannot get out of, and we do not staff a bench that needs feeding. If a piece of work should take 12 hours, it is quoted at 12 hours. If you are earlier than that, start with an AI workshop or the free readiness assessment.
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Post-workshop implementation
Your team left the workshop with a plan and then the quarter happened. We come back and build the two workflows that mattered, with the person who will own them.
Usually 8 to 20 hours across a month
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Process automation build
One process, start to finish. We map it, cut the steps that should not exist, build what is left, and hand over documentation your team can actually maintain.
Usually 20 to 60 hours across six to ten weeks
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Fractional AI advisory
A standing half-day a month with your leadership. You bring the decisions, we bring the read on what is real, what it costs, and what to leave alone this quarter.
Monthly, cancel with 30 days notice
03 Before and after
The same Monday, twice.
One list before we started, one after two workflows were running. Drag the divider. What survives on the right is the work that actually needed a person.
04 Rates
Here is what it costs.
Published, because you should be able to budget this before you talk to anyone. Estimates are given as a range with the assumptions written down, and we tell you when we are about to go past one.
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$175 to $225 per hour
Standard implementation
Building the workflow, wiring up the tools, training the person who will own it.
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$250 to $300 per hour
Executive advisory
Working with owners and leadership on where this fits, what it costs, and what to skip.
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$125 to $150 per hour
Nonprofit rate
For registered nonprofits doing work in Northern Colorado.
Two-hour minimum in person. Remote work is billed in the same increments with no minimum.
What you can hold us to
- A written estimate with its assumptions before any work starts
- A call before we cross an estimate, not an invoice after it
- Documentation your team can maintain without us
- An honest answer when the right recommendation is to stop
05 When to skip this
When we will tell you not to.
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Your data is somewhere nobody can get to it
If the information a workflow needs lives in one person's head or in a filing cabinet, the first project is not an AI project. We will say so and point you at the cheaper fix.
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The process changes every month
Automating something still in flux means rebuilding it in eight weeks. Wait until it settles, then it takes a fraction of the time.
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Nobody on your team wants to own it
Workflows without an owner stop working within a quarter, quietly, and usually nobody notices until a customer does. If we cannot name the owner, we do not build it.
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The savings do not cover the work
If a build costs $4,000 and saves 90 minutes a month, we will tell you the arithmetic rather than let you find out later.
06 Questions
Questions before you book consulting
When is consulting the wrong next step?
When the information a workflow needs lives in one person's head or a filing cabinet, when the process still changes every month, when nobody on the team will own it, or when the savings do not cover the build. In those cases we will say so and point you at the cheaper fix first.
Do you sell locked retainers?
No. Work is quoted in hours with assumptions written down. Fractional advisory is a standing half-day a month that you can cancel with 30 days notice. If a piece of work should take 12 hours, it is quoted at 12 hours.
What does post-workshop implementation usually cost?
Usually 8 to 20 hours across a month at the standard implementation rate of $175 to $225 per hour. A full process automation build is usually 20 to 60 hours across six to ten weeks. You get a written estimate before any work starts.
Should we do a workshop first?
Often yes. Consulting fits when the workshop plan exists and the quarter got in the way, or when the problem does not fit in a room and a day. If you are still deciding what is real, start with AI Essentials or the free readiness assessment.
07 Next step
Describe the process that keeps breaking.
Tell us what it is and roughly how often it costs you. We will tell you whether this is worth doing and what it would take.
ideacollaborative.com hello@ideacollaborative.com (970) 286-0922 Loveland, Colorado