How it works — Working with Frank Andolina

The four steps

One conversation, one honest recommendation, one engagement that fits, one working rhythm.

Most prospective clients go through all four. Some stop after step two with a clear set of recommendations to run themselves — that's a fine outcome too.

Step One

The first call

Thirty minutes, free, no slide deck. I ask about the business — what's eating your time, what's bleeding cash, what would change if you could take a week off. I listen more than I talk.

What you walk away with: a clear sense of whether I think I can help, what I'd recommend, and what it would cost — or an honest "I'm not the right person for this, here's who might be." Either way, you get a recommendation in hand, not a sales pitch.

30 min Free No deck No follow-up sequence

Step Two

The recommendation

After the call I write up a short, plain-English recommendation — usually a page and a half. It says what I think is actually going on, what the next 90 days of effort should focus on, and what I think it would cost.

What you walk away with: a written recommendation you own, even if we don't keep working together. Most owners use it as a clarifier — they hadn't seen the picture put together in one place. The deck-and-strategy industry would charge $X,000 for this. I include it because I'd rather have you leave with something useful than walk away empty-handed.

1 page, plain English Yours to keep No obligation

Step Three

The engagement

If we're a fit, we pick one (or a mix) of four ways to work together: a workshop with your team, a scoped project, a monthly retainer, or the software (Ando Finance) — built and handed off or subscribed.

What you walk away with: a one-page scope and a number. Quoted up front, no surprise invoices, no scope creep. Monthly engagements are month-to-month — no annual contracts. Projects are fixed-fee. You know what you're paying before we start.

Scoped up front Fixed-fee or month-to-month Mix and match

Step Four

The work — and a real rhythm

Once we're working, you get me — not a delivery team. We set a cadence that fits your business (weekly check-ins are the default for monthly engagements; projects have milestone checkpoints). I do the work, you stay in the loop, the team knows what's happening.

What you walk away with: things changing in the business. Real systems, real numbers, real time back on your calendar. Not a deck — a different week-to-week reality. And the know-how stays with you when the engagement ends.

Weekly cadence Frank does the work You own the result

The week-to-week

What working together actually feels like.

A real human rhythm — not a project-management dashboard, not a Friday status email written by a junior, not weeks of silence followed by a 40-slide reveal. Here's what most monthly engagements look like once we're underway.

Weekly

30-min working call

Same time each week. No slides. Quick read of where we are, what's next, what's blocking. The team can join when it makes sense.

Ongoing

You can text me

A short text or email gets answered fast. The good clients use this when they're about to make a decision and want a second set of eyes. That's the value of a fractional COO between weekly calls.

Monthly

Written recap

Once a month, a page in writing: what we changed, what's working, what we should stop doing next month. Plain English. Yours to keep.

Fit check

When this works — and when it doesn't.

I'd rather lose a sale early than take on work I can't do well. So here's the honest version.

This works when…

You own a home-services business doing roughly $1M–$15M
You want senior operations help that fits an owner's budget
You're willing to make changes, not just talk about them
You read your own numbers (or want to start)
You'd rather have one experienced person than a team of juniors
You're OK with a working call, not a slide-deck industry

This isn't a fit when…

You're under ~$500K revenue (you need bookkeeping more than consulting)
You're over ~$15M (you need a full-time COO, not fractional)
You want a big-firm brand to show your board
You want to delegate the change to someone else instead of leading it
You're hoping a consultant will save a business that has a fundamental product or market problem
You're not actually ready to spend money — better to wait

From first call to running on a system.