The Virtual Compass
“Do the right things, in the right order, with the right spirit.”

Steve Godfrey, Quiet Waters Consulting

What’s the issue?

  1. You have broken systems.

    The fires: broken processes, reactive IT, issues nobody owns.

  2. Your systems don’t talk to one another.

    Data re-entered three times, and nobody trusts the numbers.

  3. You know there is a better way to do things, but you don’t have time to figure it out.

    You are the bottleneck. It holds once the first two do.

Who do we help?

Owners of privately held distribution businesses that are growing faster than their systems.

Nothing is on fire. It is just heavier. Orders get re-entered. Two people keep the same list. A key person leaves and something quietly breaks. You are still the one who fixes it at nine at night.

  • You are the owner, often the second or third generation.You know your business better than anyone and you are tired of being the only answer.
  • Growth is the problem, not the goal.Demand went up and the business bent. You need it to grow without breaking.
  • Between 5 and 100 employees.Big enough that spreadsheets are failing. Small enough that nobody has a full time systems person.
  • You move product.Warehouse, fleet, customers, margin. The details are physical and they matter.
How do we help?

We find what is actually holding you back, then we fix it in the order that holds.

How we work with you

  1. 1
    Virtual Compass

    Four plain questions, on your own time. It gives you a clear read on where you actually are, and options you may not have considered. No sales call at the end.

  2. 2
    Discovery Sketch

    A free 30 minute conversation where we draw your situation on one page: what is working, what is stuck, and what order things should move in.

  3. 3
    Guided Journey

    We do the work with you, step by step, at a pace your team can absorb. Small changes that keep working when we are not in the room.

What we do

  • FixWe fix what is broken and needs to work.
  • IntegrateWe integrate what needs to work better together.
  • TransformWe transform your business through a 3-step process we call Listen Together, Learn Together, Win Together.
But what if?

The three things owners actually say, answered straight.

This sounds like consulting I can't afford.

Fair concern. Most consulting is priced for companies far larger than yours, and arrives as a deck and a retainer.

The Discovery Sketch is free. You leave with a page you can act on whether or not we work together. If we do, we scope it small and specific, priced against what the change is worth to you.

I don't have time for this.

You do not, and that is the problem rather than an excuse. The hours are already going somewhere: re-entering orders, chasing the same information, fixing what broke again.

The compass takes about ten minutes, once, at night if that is when you have it. After that, the work is mostly ours.

I've been burned by someone like this before.

Probably true, and a fair reason to be careful. Someone sold you software or a process, it did not fit your business, and you carried the cost.

We start with your situation, not with a tool. If what you need is nothing we sell, we will say so. The first step is free, so finding out costs you time, not money.