Pricing
Every rate on the page. Every model explained.
Hourly, fractional, project and retainer work, and for the right engagement, a fee that follows the result. What it costs, how it’s billed, and what’s never billed at all.
The rate card
One rate card, the same for everyone.
| Work | Rate | How it’s billed |
|---|---|---|
| Consulting and hands-on work, business hours (Mon–Fri, 8am–5pm ET) | $150 an hour | Remote: 15-minute increments, no minimum. On site: one-hour minimum, then 15-minute increments |
| After hours, weekends and holidays, and anything you tell us can’t wait | $225 an hour | Same increments |
| Fractional or interim COO or CIO | $300 an hour | Monthly retainer of reserved hours; extra hours in 15-minute increments |
| Telling you whether we can help, and roughly what it will take | No charge | |
| The 20-minute review · the Operational Assessment · the Presence Review | No charge | |
| Managed IT plans | From $125 per user per month | At opsworq.net/pricing/ |
- A 20-minute fix is billed as 30 minutes, not an hour.
- Holidays: New Year’s Day, Memorial Day, Independence Day, Labor Day, Thanksgiving and the day after, Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.
- Rates are reviewed once a year, with 60 days’ notice of any change to existing clients.
Ways to work with us
Pick the model that fits the work.
| Model | Fits when | Price basis |
|---|---|---|
| Free first steps | You want to know where you stand | The 20-minute review, the Operational Assessment, the Presence Review: no charge |
| Hourly | The work is small, urgent or hard to scope | $150 an hour; $225 after hours, weekends and holidays |
| Fractional and interim leadership | You need a senior operator or technology leader for part of the week | $300 an hour, on a monthly retainer |
| Projects | The outcome can be defined: a map, a set of SOPs, an automation, a sale-readiness program | Quoted per client and fixed in writing |
| Operations partnership | After the build: keep it measured, maintained and improving | Reserved hours each month at $150 |
Five ways to work with us
IllustrativeFree first steps (the review, the assessment, the Presence Review) sit off the map: they cost nothing and commit nobody.
Hourly
The same rates for everyone.
No contract, no plan needed, the same rates for everyone. Good for a process that needs untangling this week, a policy to draft, a QuickBooks problem, a meeting with your CPA or attorney to prepare for, or an emergency. Prepaid blocks: buy 10 or 20 hours in advance at the same rate, drawn down in 15-minute increments, valid for 12 months.
Fractional and interim leadership
Reserved hours, at one published rate.
Advisory
$2,400/month
8 hours a month
A weekly hour with the owner, a monthly operating review, decisions in between
Part-time
$4,800/month
16 hours a month
Half a day a week: owns priorities, the numbers and one or two projects
Embedded
$9,600/month
32 hours a month
A day a week: runs the operating cadence and leads the team through a change
Interim
$300/hour
Quoted per week
Covering a vacant role through a transition
- Billed monthly in advance.
- A 90-day first term, because senior roles need a quarter to show results. Then month to month, with 30 days’ notice and no fee to leave.
- About 10% less with a 12-month commitment.
- Up to 25% of unused hours roll into the next month, then expire.
- Extra hours at $300, in 15-minute increments, agreed with you before they’re worked.
- Help hiring the permanent person is included.
Projects
Quoted per client, fixed in writing.
Every business is different, so projects are priced on what yours needs. So you can plan, here are typical ranges:
| Work | Typical range |
|---|---|
| Discovery and the Operational Map | $3,000 to $6,000 |
| Web presence build | $2,200 to $6,000 |
| Web presence care | $250 to $750 a month |
Larger or multi-location businesses are quoted to fit.
Every quote states
- The scope and what you get
- The test plan, so you know how each change is proven before it goes live
- The schedule and start date
- The fee and the payment schedule
- What’s billed separately and what isn’t included
- The term and notice
- How long the quote is valid (30 days)
The number on the quote is the number on the invoice. Changes are agreed in writing before any extra work.
Payment
Under $5,000, half at the start and half at acceptance. $5,000 and over, 40% at the start, 40% at the midpoint, 20% at acceptance. Automatic payment by card or bank transfer is available to everyone on the same terms.
Operations partnership
The retainer after the build.
| Partnership | Hours a month at $150 | Monthly | What it covers |
|---|---|---|---|
| Steady | 10 | $1,500 | A monthly operating review, SOP upkeep, automation maintenance, the quarterly audit and tune |
| Active | 20 | $3,000 | All of Steady, plus one improvement project at a time |
| Intensive | 40 | $6,000 | All of Active, plus hands-on work inside a change program |
Month to month, 30 days’ notice, no fee to leave. Up to 25% of unused hours roll one month.
Web presence
Run your own numbers.
New customers a year that cover the build and a year of care
4
If that looks out of reach, a smaller scope or no care plan may be right. We’ll say so in the review.
Your numbers. An estimate, not a quote.
Travel
Remote by default. Visits when they help.
Work anywhere in the U.S. is remote by default, with on-site visits when they help. Travel costs (airfare, lodging, mileage at the IRS standard rate) are passed through at cost, with no markup, and agreed in writing before anything is booked. Travel time isn’t billed on retainers or fixed-price projects. On hourly work it’s billed at half the hourly rate.
When the result is the point
A fee that follows the result.
Some engagements are built around a result you can measure: a margin, a cycle time, a cost per order, a second location that opens on plan. For those, we’ll consider tying part of our compensation to the result.
That can take three forms:
- A share of a measured improvement over a baseline we agree on before work begins.
- An equity position in the company, in place of part of our fees.
- A reduced fee with a success component, paid only if the agreed result is reached.
These arrangements are uncommon, and they aren’t right for every business. They need a baseline both sides accept, numbers both sides can see, a fixed term, and the agreement of your attorney and your accountant. Some transactions limit how outside advisors may be paid; if yours is one of them, we’ll tell you at the start. Where we can’t measure a result fairly, we won’t price the work this way.
If your situation might fit, we’d like to hear about it.
What’s never billed
What’s never billed.
- The 20-minute review.
- Telling you whether we can help.
- The Presence Review, and the Operational Assessment and its report.
- Re-explaining a quote.
- Fixing our own mistakes.
- Extra hours you didn’t agree to first.
Terms that apply to everything: nothing auto-renews · 30 days’ notice ends anything monthly · a mutual NDA on request, before any detail · quotes valid for 30 days · your documents, maps and procedures are yours whether or not you continue.
Value, in arithmetic
What it’s worth, worked out.
≈ ½
A senior operator half a day a week, for about half of one manager’s salary
16 hours a month at $300 = $57,600 a year, against a $105,770 national median wage for a general and operations manager, before benefits.
Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Outlook Handbook, May 2025 medians.
72h
The cheapest bad month is the one that doesn’t happen
The first 72 hours decide whether it’s a bad month or a bad year.
We don’t take on work we can’t see paying for itself. If we can’t, we’ll tell you.
Registered nonprofits: ask about the nonprofit program.
Questions
Questions people ask.
Why do you publish your rates?
Because you shouldn’t need a sales call to find out whether you can afford us.
Why $300 for leadership?
It buys one senior person who owns the outcome, for the hours you need instead of a salary. The calculator shows it against hiring, with your own numbers.
Can we start hourly and move to a retainer?
Yes. There’s no penalty either way.
What if a project runs over?
The number on the quote is the number on the invoice. If the scope changes, we agree the change in writing before any extra work.
Do you charge for travel?
Costs at cost, with no markup, agreed before booking. Travel time isn’t billed on retainers or projects, and is half rate on hourly work.
Will you take equity instead of fees?
For the right engagement, we’ll consider it. The conditions are in A fee that follows the result, above.
Talk to us
Tell us what isn’t working.
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1‑855‑OPSWORQ855‑677‑9677 · Mon–Fri, 8am–5pm ET
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