Austin and Manor
Business coaching for local owners.
You book an hour. You bring a real problem from your business. We work it out together. If something is worth building, I can build it and you own it.
This is real help, not a sales pitch.
Who I work with
Local owners, around Austin and Manor.
The brainstorm
What is a brainstorm?
One hour to think out loud with someone who isn’t your employee, your customer, or your family.
Why would you book one?
- A To bounce an idea off someone with no stake in it
- B To solve one problem that keeps eating your week
- C To finally understand something new, like AI
- D To plan a software build before you spend a dollar
$200 a brainstorm.
Pricing
What it costs.
Three ways to work together.
Brainstorms
$200
An hour to work through a problem .
Custom Training
Custom
Learn a specific thing at your pace: the basics of AI, launching a business or product, or whatever you want to understand.
Custom Software
Custom
Built for your problem, and you own it.
Who do you talk to?
The people closest to you can’t help with this.
- Did you get the scheduling sorted?
- Not even close.
- I thought you fixed it last week?
- I patched it. Then two jobs landed on the same morning again.
- Can you just block the calendar better?
- It’s deeper than that. The whole way I take jobs is the problem.
- That’s past me. I wish I could help.
- I know. I think I just need to talk it out with someone.
- Didn’t you find that brainstorm thing? Go do that.
- Yeah. I’ll book it.
- How’s business, man?
- Busy. Kinda stuck though.
- Stuck how? You’ve got more work than ever.
- That’s the problem. I can’t keep up and I don’t know what to change.
- Hire a guy?
- Maybe. Can’t tell if the money works, and nobody to run it past.
- Ha, don’t look at me, I pour concrete.
- I know.
- For real though, go talk it out with someone. Wasn’t there a brainstorm thing?
- Yeah. Guess I’ll try it.
- How’s the business going?
- Busy. Good busy, mostly.
- You always say that. What’s actually on your mind?
- Trying to decide if I should hire help or just keep grinding.
- What’s holding you back?
- I can’t tell if I’d be saving myself or sinking the boat.
- That’s a big one. I wish I had the answer, but it’s not my world.
- Yeah.
- Talk it out with somebody. Didn’t you mention a brainstorm?
- Okay. I’ll set it up.
- You’ve got that look again. The hiring thing?
- Yeah. Can’t tell if I can afford another person or just need to work smarter.
- What’s your gut say?
- My gut’s been wrong before. That’s the problem.
- Want to walk through the numbers together?
- It’s not really the numbers. It’s the whole direction.
- Then you need someone to think it through with. Not me.
- I know. Gonna book that brainstorm.
- Still doing every job yourself?
- Pretty much. It’s wearing me out.
- So bring someone on, dude.
- Easier said. Not sure the money works, and I’d have to train them.
- Yeah, that’s a whole thing.
- And I keep going in circles on it.
- That’s over my head. You need to talk that out with somebody.
- Yeah. Booking the brainstorm.
- Did you figure out what to do about the slow season?
- Still chewing on it. Cash gets tight those months.
- Your dad always dreaded those too.
- I remember. I just don’t have a plan for it yet.
- Could you line up other work?
- Maybe. I need to actually think it through instead of worrying.
- Then talk it through with someone. Don’t sit on it alone.
- Yeah. I’ll book the brainstorm.
- How’d the new pricing go over?
- No clue if it’s too high or too low. Nobody’s said anything.
- Silence is usually fine, right?
- Or they’re all quietly going somewhere cheaper. I can’t tell.
- You’ve been stewing on this for weeks.
- I know. I keep second-guessing it.
- Run it past someone outside it. You’ll drive yourself nuts otherwise.
- Fair. Booking the brainstorm.
- You ever fix that quoting headache?
- Nope. Still eats my whole evening.
- Every night?
- Pretty much. Same questions, same back-and-forth.
- Can’t you automate it or something?
- Maybe? I don’t even know where to start.
- Then talk it through with someone. Not me, obviously.
- Ha. Yeah, I’ll book that brainstorm.
- You always sound busy when you call.
- It’s a lot to keep up with.
- Anything I can do?
- Not really. It’s all decisions only I can make.
- You don’t have to make them alone, though.
- Feels like it some days.
- Then talk them out with someone. That’s not weakness.
- Okay. Booking that brainstorm.
A spouse, a friend, a parent. They want to, but they are too close to it. A brainstorm is just someone outside it to talk to. Book a brainstorm.
About
Hi, I’m Jeff Wickert.
I have spent my career building and fixing how businesses run. At Amazon, I worked on the first two Prime Days, back when it was a quiet experiment nobody had heard of. I built a school to teach AI in 2016, before most of us realized how big it would get. I ran a startup accelerator, sitting with founders through their hard calls, and then I left to start my own company.
So I am a business owner too. Mine just happens to be helping yours. I learn how your business actually works and give you honest perspective on the few things that matter. If we build a software solution together, great. If we revamp a process, great. And it is just as good if we only talk it through and you solve it yourself.
I am not a coach and I am not a therapist. I am someone outside it who will listen and tell you the truth, owner to owner. You would be talking to me directly. Find me on LinkedIn.
A few words from people I’ve worked with:
Will challenge you and help you think profoundly, and drives improvement as a result.
— Mike M.
Brilliant and driven, but also results-oriented, consistently delivering exceptional outcomes.
— Katie H.
Transforms challenges into opportunities.
— Kate B.
If you want work done
I build it, you own it.
If something is worth building, I build it for your exact problem and set it up the way you already work. You own the software.
If we want to build something, we build it. I can take whatever role fits: hand it off when it is done, support it, or stay on for regular work. We will figure that out together, after a brainstorm or two.
Custom software used to cost too much to bother. That changed with AI. It is the only reason this is on the table.
Learning something new?
Not knowing something does not put you behind.
Maybe you would rather learn the skill yourself. Right now that usually means AI, though it could be any new tool people suddenly expect you to know. You have probably been told you are behind.
You are not. You run a business, and you have taught yourself harder things than this when you needed to. You just have not needed this one yet. Sit down with me and we will figure out how to learn it together. I do not have to be the expert on it. What I am good at is taking something new, finding a way in, and breaking it into steps you can use.
Questions
What is a brainstorm, and what does it cost?
A one-hour call where you bring a real problem and we work it through, in plain words and in confidence. You leave with honest, practical advice you can use. A brainstorm is $200. Custom build work is separate.
Is the first one really free?
This month, yes. A brainstorm is normally $200, and your first is on me while the offer runs. It is a real hour, not a teaser. No card, no obligation, and no pitch waiting at the end.
Is it confidential?
Yes. What you share stays between us, and I am glad to sign an NDA. I am not your employee, a customer, or family, so there is no one for it to get back to. That is part of why it works: you can be completely straight.
Do we have to build anything?
No. Plenty of brainstorms end with you solving it yourself, and that is a win. If something is worth building, I can build it, but that is your call, never the goal.
If you build something, do I own it?
Yes. I build it, set it up for how you already work, and hand it over. You own it outright. No retainer, no monthly fee, and no being tied to me to keep it running.
What does custom software cost?
It depends on the problem, so I scope it before I price it. We figure out what is worth building in a brainstorm, and you get a plain number before anything starts.
What kinds of businesses do you work with?
Local, owner-run service businesses. Landscaping and home services, cleaning, detailing, personal care, pet and event work, solo bookkeeping, and the like. The fit is the situation, not the trade.
Book a brainstorm and talk it through.
One hour, in confidence. Useful whether or not anything gets built.
$200 a brainstorm.