Engagements

Pick how much you want fixed.

Three ways to work together, priced right here. Every one is month to month, and every one starts with what gets fixed in the first thirty days.

How it starts

Four steps. The first three are free.

You see the cost before you talk to me, and you see my thinking before you pay me.

  1. Find your Bottleneck Cost FreeTwo minutes. What the founder seat costs you a year, emailed as a report. Run the numbers
  2. Book a 30-minute call FreeGoogle Meet. No deck, no pitch. We look at what is slowing you down and whether I can help. Pick a time
  3. Get a one-page summary FreeWithin 24 hours: what I would fix first and why. Yours to keep whether or not we work together.
  4. Start month one Pick a level below. Month one names the fix and the date it lands.
Ways to work together

Same method. Different pace.

The level sets how fast things move. It does not change what gets fixed first. The call tells us which one fits.

Month to month

The Monthly Session

$1,500/ month

One 90-minute working session a month on the constraint costing you the most.

One built artifact a month: a role scorecard, a capacity model, a handoff designSend what's on fire, get an answer inside two business daysMarketing, operations, or the handoff between them
Month one
  1. Week 1The audit. Delegation readiness, your operating archetype, your ideal week mapped against the real one.
  2. Week 2Our working session. Your top three constraints named and ranked by what they cost.
  3. Day 30The first fix built and handed over. One artifact aimed at constraint #1, usually the scorecard that moves a recurring decision off your desk.
Book a 30-minute call
Month to monthTwice the pace

The Deeper Build

$2,500/ month

Same structure, twice the pace. For businesses past $3M, or a push with a real deadline attached.

Two working sessions a monthTwo built artifacts a monthAnswers inside two business days
Month one
  1. Week 1The audit, and session one. Top three constraints named and ranked.
  2. Week 3Session two. The first fix installed with the person who will own it.
  3. Day 30Two artifacts in use and the first recurring decision off your desk.
Book a 30-minute call
Month to month

Embedded

$3,500+/ month

I'm in the business every week, working alongside your team on the redesign.

Weekly operating involvement with your teamReal work on the redesign, not advice from the sidelinesMost founders don't start here. The call tells us if you should.
Month one
  1. Week 1The audit, from inside your meetings and next to your team.
  2. Week 2Top three constraints named. A weekly operating meeting running on a scorecard.
  3. Day 30The first constraint fixed in practice, not on paper, and your hours back counted against where you started.
Book a 30-minute call
How we keep score

Hours Back.

Your Bottleneck Cost sets the starting line: the hours a week you spend on work someone else could own. We count again at day 30 and day 90. If the number isn't moving, you'll hear it from me first, and we change the plan or stop.

The Fulcrum Blueprint

Three moves. In this order.

A small weight in the right place moves a lot of stone. The work is finding the place.

01

Find it.

The call, the one-page summary and the month-one audit. What slows you down most, and what it costs.

02

Fix it.

Ninety days of real work on the biggest problems. Your team gets clear jobs. You get your hours back, and we count them.

03

Keep it fixed.

With the operation steady, we turn to growth: positioning, the marketing system, and the handoff from lead to close.

Five modules
Founder CapacityRoles and OwnershipWeekly Operating SystemStrategic PlanningCommunication Systems

Runs inside EOS or alongside it. Your call.

Clear lines

What you're buying. And what you're not.

What I do

Diagnose the constraint. Build the scorecards, role designs, operating rhythm and handoffs. Sit with the people who will own them until they do. Tell you the truth about what I see, including the parts with your name on them.

What I don't do

I'm not in your Slack all day. I don't manage your team, and I don't sit in your client meetings. I build, your people execute. The decisions stay yours.

Month to month

No contracts, no lock-in. Stay because it's working.

Move up or down

Change levels at the start of any month. Most founders start at the Monthly Session.

Small stays small

If you need me every week, that's Embedded, and we say so out loud instead of drifting there.

Questions

Straight answers.

Anything else, ask me directly. markskalla@fulcrumfractional.com

How is this different from hiring a full-time COO?

No salary, no benefits, no six-month search. You get senior operating judgment for the hours the business needs, and the systems stay when I step back.

Which level should I pick?

Most founders start with the Monthly Session. Past $3M, or with a deadline, the Deeper Build. Embedded is for a business that needs someone in the seat every week. The call settles it.

Is there a paid diagnostic first?

No. The one-page summary after our call is the diagnostic, and it's free. Month one is the first thing you pay for, and it already names the fix and the date.

Do we have to run EOS?

No. If you run EOS, I've been the Integrator inside it. If you don't, the Blueprint stands on its own.

How fast does anything change?

The summary lands within 24 hours of the call. In month one, the first fix lands by day 30 at the Monthly Session and sooner at the other two levels.

Is it operations or marketing?

Both. The most expensive leaks I find sit between the two.

Do you work in person?

In person across the south Denver metro. Remote everywhere else.

We're under $1M. Too early?

Probably, for a retainer. Start with the book and the Bottleneck Cost. The thinking scales down even when the engagement doesn't.

Mark Skalla

Thirty minutes. That's the whole ask.

If there's something worth fixing, you'll leave the call knowing what it is, and the one-page summary follows within 24 hours. If there isn't, I'll tell you that too.