Stop being the
operating system.
Every decision, every exception, every “where are we on the Miller job” routes through you. The software didn’t fix it, because you bought seven tools that each wanted your business to work their way. So the business still lives in your head.
We build a custom operating system around how you actually run, then put an AI chief of staff on it that watches everything and briefs you on what needs you. Decisions stay yours. The chasing doesn’t.
Your business isn’t stuck because of leads. It’s stuck because it lives in your head.
Quotes in one app. Jobs in another. Schedules in a third. The money in a spreadsheet the bookkeeper sends on Tuesdays. None of it talks, so you are the integration. You are the one who knows the Miller job is waiting on the cabinet order, that the Ratliff quote went out nine days ago, that two invoices are late.
A chief of staff would carry that for you. Most owner-led companies can’t hire one, and the ones who do lose them in two years along with everything they knew. So the job stays with you, and the business stays the size of your attention.
Three moves. One system you own.
How it worksFind what runs through you
The Operations Audit. An hour with you and the office, then a week with your data. Where the business depends on you, which five systems don’t talk, and what to build first. Written findings, yours to keep.
Get it out of your head
One data layer, then the two or three workflows that take you out of the loop first: usually quotes and follow-up, scheduling, and the money view. Built with your team in the room, on your terms, not a vendor’s.
Supervised autopilot
The AI chief of staff goes on duty. Every morning it reads the system and briefs you on what needs a decision. We stay in the cockpit with you, keep building, and retire the subscriptions the system makes redundant.
It recommends. A person approves. Every action is logged with who, what and when.
What it does before you’ve finished your coffee.
- The brief. Cash position, jobs behind schedule, quotes going cold, customers waiting on a reply. One page, in order of what costs you most.
- Drafts the follow-up on the three quotes that have sat nine days or more. Sends nothing until you tap approve.
- Flags the Miller job: the cabinet order hasn’t shipped and the install is Thursday. Suggests moving the crew to Harper.
- Notices two invoices are past due and the bookkeeper hasn’t chased them. Queues the reminders for you to send.
- Watches the inbox, the calendar and the pipeline. Answers the office’s “where are we on…” questions so they stop asking you.
The Operations Audit
An hour with you and the office, a week with your data. We map what runs through you, which systems don’t talk, and what we would build first. Written findings, yours to keep, even if we never work together.
Book the audit →Black River Design Build, before and after.
Before: no CRM. Spreadsheets. Paying for Fieldwire, BuildXact, BuilderPrime and Jobber, two of which shipped with a CRM nobody had switched on. Under $5k a month in ads with no idea which dollar did what. The owner was the pipeline, the schedule and the forecast.
After: one system, Cerebro, built by us around how Black River runs. Source attribution, pipeline, forecast, cash flow and predicted close rates in one place. Four subscriptions retired. Revenue up 129% year over year, and a company raising capital on the strength of the platform.
Things owners ask before they sign on.
Frequently asked01What is an operating system for a business?
One place where the business actually runs: contacts, quotes, jobs, schedules, documents, money and the conversations about them, in a single data layer that you own. Not a dashboard on top of seven subscriptions. The thing the subscriptions were pretending to be.
02What does the AI chief of staff actually do?
It reads everything in the system every day and tells you what needs you: quotes going cold, jobs behind schedule, invoices past due, a customer waiting on a reply. It drafts the follow-up and waits for your thumbs-up. It recommends; a person approves. Nothing writes to your business without a human in the loop.
03Is this software or a service?
Both, in order. First we build the system around how you already run, with your team in the room. Then we run it with you until it sticks, and keep building. You end up with a system you own and a team that uses it, not a login nobody opens.
04Does it replace Jobber, Housecall Pro, BuildXact and the rest?
Usually some of them, eventually. We start by connecting what you have and getting the data flowing, then retire the tools the system makes redundant. Black River retired four subscriptions this way and keeps the ones that still earn their place. Nothing is ripped out on day one.
05Who owns it?
You do. The code, the database and the data are assigned to your company in the engagement agreement. If we parted ways tomorrow, the system keeps running and any competent developer can pick it up.
06What does it cost?
It starts with a paid Operations Audit, credited toward the build if you go ahead. The build is a fixed scope over the first ninety days, then a monthly retainer to run and extend it. We price it in the audit findings, against what the current stack costs you and what your time is worth. No menu, because no two businesses need the same system.
Don’t see yours? Book the audit and we’ll answer it on the call.