Advisory retainer
An advisory retainer is ongoing strategic counsel on a fixed monthly fee: a senior advisor who knows your business, available for the decisions that do not wait for a project. The fee is set by cadence and quoted in writing: three-month minimum, quarterly review, at any client size. Published pricing for the small-business retainer is on the packages page.
Who we work with
Leaders whose decisions outpace their access to counsel: founders and executives between programs, operators who want a standing outside perspective, and organizations that finished a transformation and want the judgment that shaped it to stay within reach.
The shape of a month
Standing sessions
Recurring working sessions, at a cadence set by scope, on whatever carries the most weight that month: a pricing move, a hire, a client situation, an operational decision.
Counsel between sessions
Questions rarely schedule themselves. Retainer clients bring them as they arise, asynchronously, and get an answer from someone who already has the context.
Quarterly review
Every quarter we step back: what the retainer has covered, what it produced, and whether the priorities for the next quarter have changed.
Honest boundaries
A retainer is counsel, not capacity.
Common questions
How is the fee set?
As a fixed monthly fee based on advisory cadence, agreed in writing before we begin. Three-month minimum, quarterly review. The fee does not change unless the cadence does. Program-tier retainers are quoted privately. The small-business retainer has a published rate on the packages page.
Why a three-month minimum?
Context takes time. The first month is catching up; by the third, advice comes from someone who already knows your business. Shorter than that and you are paying for introductions.
Can a retainer follow a program?
Yes. Many do. The diagnosis, design decisions, and context are already in place, so counsel starts with real ground under it.
What if we need more than advice one month?
We say so and scope it separately, usually as a Focus Build or a program. The retainer does not quietly absorb delivery work.
Is there a smaller version for small businesses?
Yes. The small-business Advisory Retainer is published with its monthly fee on our fixed packages page. Same counsel model, sized for owner-led businesses.