What does an operations consultant actually do?

An operations consultant figures out which tasks should not exist in a business, then builds the systems that handle the rest. The work is mostly connecting tools the business already pays for, automating repetitive tasks, and integrating AI where it makes sense. The result: the founder stops being the bottleneck.

What is the difference between an operations consultant and a virtual assistant?

A virtual assistant executes tasks you assign them. An operations consultant figures out which tasks should not exist in the first place, then builds the systems that handle the rest. VAs handle work. Operations consultants eliminate work. Most small businesses need both eventually. If a founder is choosing where to start, the operations consultant should come first.

How can I integrate AI into my small business?

Start by identifying the 5 to 10 repetitive tasks that consume the most time in a typical week. AI integration works best when it handles a clearly defined repeatable task with structured input and output (inbox triage, content drafting, meeting summarization, lead scoring, SOP generation). The Coastal Collaborative offers an AI Power Hour ($197) to work out which tools actually fit a specific business, then builds the workflows as a scoped engagement from there.

What does The Coastal Collaborative cost?

Discovery call is free, and so are both assessment tools: the 5-Minute Ops Quiz and the AI Visibility Scan. From there, the Full Visibility Dashboard is $297, the AI Power Hour is $197, and the Operations Audit is $597. AEO, GEO, and SEO optimization is priced by how many pages need changes: $1,500 up to 10 pages, $2,400 up to 25 pages, and from $3,600 for larger or more complex sites. Ongoing is tiered: Site Care is $397 per month for updates, security, backups, a monthly contact form test and small changes on the client's own hosting account, and Visibility Care is $797 per month which adds a monthly rescan across three AI engines, a written report, and two content fixes shipped live every month. Coastal Built starter websites are $2,500 through the sister brand Get Coastal Built, with Coastal Signature at $4,500 and Site + System at $5,500. Larger systems and automation work is quoted per engagement.

Who does The Coastal Collaborative work with?

Small business owners and solopreneurs, typically $100K to $5M in revenue, with 0 to 8 employees. Industries include healthcare, financial services, federal contracting, nonprofits, tech startups, agencies, coaches, and service businesses. Common signals: too many tools that do not talk to each other, processes that live only in someone's head, work falling through the cracks because there is no system, or burnout from holding it all together alone.

Do you only work with clients in Wilmington, NC?

No. The Coastal Collaborative is fully remote and works with clients across the United States and internationally. The team is based in Wilmington, NC, but every engagement happens online.

What tools and platforms does The Coastal Collaborative specialize in?

Asana (Certified Pro and Ambassador), HubSpot (Inbound, Sales, and CRM certified), GoHighLevel, Zapier (300+ integrations built), Make, Claude AI (Builder certification in progress), ChatGPT, Slack, Google Workspace, Calendly, Stripe, DocuSign, Notion, Granola, Otter, Fireflies, Bluevine, Gusto, Kit, and Toggl. Also builds custom-coded websites that integrate with whatever stack the client is running.

How fast can you start working with a new client?

Discovery call within 48 hours of inquiry. Contract and onboarding wrap inside one week. First active work begins within 7 to 10 days of the initial conversation.

Every number, one page

What it costs. All of it.

No packages off a shelf and no discovery call before you are allowed to see a price. Free tools, $197 to $597 diagnostics, $1,500 to $5,500 projects, ongoing care from $397 a month.

Every project gets a fixed scope and a fixed price in writing before anything starts.

FIRST, WHICH ONE ARE YOU

Pick your lane before you read the prices

If you can feel that something is leaking but cannot point at it, start with a free tool. Five minutes, a real score, and you will know which lane you are in.

If you already know what is broken and you want it fixed once and properly, you want a one-time project. Those have an end date and they run without me afterwards.

If you are still not sure, book fifteen minutes and I will point you at the right rung.

If someone tells you that you need a retainer before they have looked at anything, that is a sales process, not a diagnosis.

Talk it through with me

START FREE

Start free

No call and no card. You get the score.

5-Minute Ops Quiz

Free

Six questions, a real score on where your business is leaking time, and one tool matched to your weakest spot.

See what is included

AI Visibility Scan

Free

Paste your URL. Up to 25 pages scored on whether Google, ChatGPT and Perplexity can find you and read you, with the top three fixes in each area.

See what is included

OPERATIONS + AI

Get your day back

For the owner doing everything, and wondering what AI could actually take off the plate. One hour, one audit, or a flat monthly retainer with no timesheet.

AI Power Hour

$197

One hour, one screen share, no course and no homework. You tell me where your day gets stuck, what you would love to hand off, and which tools you keep hearing about. I show you what to use and we set it up together on the call, in your business, on your screen. You leave with something working that makes tomorrow easier.

See what is included

Operations Audit

$597

I go through your business the way a real customer and a real team member would, then walk you through every leak on a call. You leave with a prioritized fix list.

See what is included

Systems Retainer

$1,500/month

Flat rate, no timesheets. Every month: one build, tested and live in your business, sized to a single workflow connected end to end, like an intake flow, a follow-up sequence, one sales pipeline, or a handoff between two tools. Plus a 30-minute weekly call, written documentation so your team can run it without me, questions answered within one business day, and fixes to anything I built, always included. Month to month.

See what is included

Partner Retainer

$2,500/month

Everything in the Systems Retainer, plus up to two builds live a month or one larger workflow that spans several tools, a seat in your Slack, same-day response, up to an hour a week on calls, and a quarterly systems review. For the businesses where I am effectively the ops department. Capped at three accounts. Three months to start, then month to month.

See what is included

GET FOUND

Get named when a customer asks

When someone asks ChatGPT for a plumber in Wilmington, it names somebody. This lane makes sure it is you, and that what it says about you is right.

Full Visibility Dashboard

$297

Up to 80 pages, every finding across Google, ChatGPT and Perplexity, and every fix ranked by what it is costing you. Self-serve, delivered by the engine, no call needed.

See what is included

Get Found, up to 10 pages

$1,500

The behind-the-scenes setup that lets Google, ChatGPT and Perplexity read your site and trust it, plus the FAQ rewrite AI actually quotes. Done for you, with an end date.

What is technically inside

llms.txt
Schema markup
Robots configuration for AI crawlers
FAQ rewrite in answer-first structure

See what is included

Get Found, up to 25 pages

$2,400

Same work, more surface area.

See what is included

Get Found, larger or messier

from $3,600

Bigger sites, or ones where the structure needs sorting before the optimization means anything. The base scope is the 25-page project; what raises the price is page count and cleanup.

See what is included

Visibility Care

$797/month

Everything in Site Care, plus a monthly rescan across ChatGPT, Perplexity and Google AI, a written report of which buying questions you show up for and which competitors are winning the ones you do not, and two content fixes shipped live every month against what that report actually says. Month to month.

See it at Wilmington Leak Report

WEBSITES

A site you are not embarrassed to send

Fixed scope, fixed price, agreed in writing before anything starts. Websites start at $2,500. You own the domain, the code, the content and the hosting account from day one.

Website builds are delivered by Get Coastal Built, my sister brand that does nothing but websites. Same person, same prices, same timelines. Half to start, half at launch.

The Site Teardown

$297

Fifteen minutes of me going through your existing site out loud, plus a written fix list ranked by what each problem is costing you rather than by how easy it is to fix. Delivered in three business days, with no call to book. The $297 credits in full against any build started within 60 days.

See it at Get Coastal Built

Coastal Starter

$2,500

Up to 3 pages, custom-coded, built so Google and ChatGPT can read it from day one, live in 10 business days.

See it at Get Coastal Built

Coastal Signature

$4,500

5 to 6 pages, answer-first structure, the full behind-the-scenes setup for AI search, live in 15 business days.

See it at Get Coastal Built

Site + System

$5,500

Everything in Signature plus booking, payments, CRM and follow-up wired and tested, live in 20 business days.

See it at Get Coastal Built

Site Care

$397/month

Your site looked after by an actual person, on your own hosting account. Updates, security scan, uptime monitoring, backups, a monthly contact form test from a real phone, a one-page health email, and small changes. Month to month.

See it at Get Coastal Built

THE OTHER LANES

This page is one of three

Same person behind all of them. Every price is listed here. Each lane's own site carries the detail and the checkout.

The Coastal Collab

Operations, automation, AI search and the retainers. Everything priced above on this page.

You are here.

Get Coastal Built

Websites, custom coded, live in 10 to 20 business days. The builds, the care plans and the Site Teardown are all sold there.

getcoastalbuilt.com

Wilmington Leak Report

Local AI visibility for Wilmington businesses. Whether the assistants your customers ask first are naming you or naming the shop down the road.

wilmingtonleakreport.com

PRICING FAQ

The money questions, answered plainly.

How much does an operations consultant cost?

Mine runs $197 to $597 for a diagnostic, $1,500 to $5,500 for a one-time project, and $397 to $2,500 a month for ongoing work. The 5-Minute Ops Quiz and the AI Visibility Scan are free. Every number is on this page, and you get a fixed price in writing before anything starts.

What is the cheapest way to start?

Free. The 5-Minute Ops Quiz scores where your business is leaking time and the AI Visibility Scan scores whether Google, ChatGPT and Perplexity can find you. Neither needs a call. If you want the full findings list after the scan, the Full Visibility Dashboard is $297 and it is self-serve.

Do I have to sign up for a retainer?

No. Most of what I do is a one-time project that runs without you needing me afterwards. A retainer makes sense once you have several offers running and want the repetitive work pulled off your plate every month. The Systems Retainer is $1,500 a month, flat, with no hour count. Site Care is $397.

How much does AI search optimization cost?

Get Found is priced by how many pages actually need changes: $1,500 for up to 10 pages, $2,400 for up to 25, and from $3,600 for larger or more complex sites. It is a scoped project with an end date, not a monthly retainer.

Why is there no cheap website option?

Because I tried it and it lost money, which meant it also got the least attention, which is the worst possible outcome for the person who bought it. Websites start at $2,500 and that is the floor.

Who owns the site, the domain and the code?

You do. The domain, the code and the content are yours from day one, and the site sits on a hosting account in your name, paid by you, with me added as a collaborator. I do not host client sites. If you ever want to move on, nothing has to be handed back, because none of it was ever mine.

Is there a minimum term? How do I cancel?

Site Care, Visibility Care and the Systems Retainer are month to month from day one, and you can cancel any time by email. The Partner Retainer is three months to start, then month to month. One-time projects have no term at all: they end when they launch.

Can I pay in installments?

Yes, on websites and Get Found projects. Half to start, half at launch.