The Business Operating System
One connected system for your sales, delivery, operations and team.
As a business operating system consultant, I help small businesses build one connected setup for their sales, delivery, operations and team. Most small businesses are running on a mix of tools that are not joined up. Leads come in through one place, projects get managed somewhere else, client information lives in a spreadsheet, and the team is copying and pasting between all of them.
That is not a tools problem. It is a systems problem.
A business operating system is the connected set of tools, processes and automations that run your business day to day. When it is working properly, things move automatically. Nothing falls through the gaps. You can see what is happening without having to chase anyone for an update.
I build these systems for small businesses and service-based teams. The tools I use most are Pipedrive, Asana, Airtable, Notion and Make.com, with AI built into the workflows where it makes sense.
Common outcomes:
- Leads and deals managed in one reliable pipeline
- Projects created automatically when a deal is won
- Client data in one place, not scattered across spreadsheets
- Handoffs between tools that happen without anyone copying and pasting
- A team that knows exactly what to do and when
Working internationally. All work delivered remotely.
Here is what changes when your tools work as one system.
We had tried to link our CRM to our project management tool and just could not get the final steps to work. Chris not only solved the problem but showed us why it was failing and how to avoid similar issues on our other workflows.
Chris created a workflow for a task we had been doing manually for months. We must have saved around 8 hours per week by having him automate this for us.
Most small businesses have the tools. The problem is they are not joined up.
You probably already have a CRM, a project management tool, a place for documents, and something for automation. You have invested in the software. But the tools do not talk to each other, so your team fills the gap by copying and pasting, updating two systems, and chasing information across four different apps.
That is not a technology problem. It is a systems problem. And it gets more expensive the longer it goes on.
Every week without a joined-up system, someone is spending time on admin that should be automatic. Leads are falling through gaps between your CRM and your delivery process. New team members are taking longer to onboard because the process is in people’s heads, not in the tools.
The fix is not more software. It is getting the software you already have working together as one system, with clear processes and automations that handle the handoffs.
The five layers of a business operating system.
Every business operating system I build covers the same five layers, in different combinations depending on how you work.
Sales and pipeline — Pipedrive
How leads come in, how deals move through your pipeline, and how follow-up happens without anyone having to remember to do it. Pipedrive is the tool I use here: clear stages, clean data, and automations that make sure every lead gets a consistent next step. See Pipedrive consulting.
Project and task management — Asana
How work gets planned, assigned and tracked once a client says yes. Asana gives teams one place where everything lives: who is doing what, by when, with clear visibility for managers and no chasing for updates. See Asana consulting.
Data and operations — Airtable
The database layer. Client records, project data, reporting: structured so your team can trust it and your reporting runs automatically. Airtable sits at the centre of the operations layer for most of the businesses I work with. See Airtable consulting.
Knowledge and documentation — Notion
Where your processes, SOPs, internal knowledge and team wiki live. Notion keeps this in one place rather than scattered across Google Docs, email threads and people’s heads. See Notion consulting.
Automation and AI — Make.com
The layer that connects everything else. Make.com handles the handoffs between tools automatically: when a deal is won in Pipedrive, a project is created in Asana. When a form is submitted, a record is created in Airtable. When a project is complete, the client gets an update. No one has to remember to do it. See Make.com consulting.
Not sure where to start? Book a free call and we will work it out together.
How the system works in practice.
The tools above are not a list of separate services. They are layers of the same system, each one feeding into the next.
- A lead comes into Pipedrive. The pipeline is clear, stages match your sales process, and follow-up reminders fire automatically so nothing goes quiet.
- The deal is won. Make.com creates a project in Asana automatically, with the right tasks already in place and the client record added to Airtable. No one copies anything manually.
- The team delivers the work. Everything lives in Asana. Notes and process documentation go into Notion. The client record in Airtable stays current without anyone updating it by hand.
- Reporting runs automatically. Dashboards pull from Airtable. The right people get the right information at the right time. Nobody builds a report in a spreadsheet on a Friday afternoon.
That is what a joined-up business operating system looks like. Every step is connected. Every handoff is automatic. Your team focuses on the work, not the admin.
Why I do this work.
I started building business operating systems because I kept seeing the same pattern. A business would buy a CRM, add a project management tool, start using Notion for documents, and then realise nothing talked to anything else. The team was filling the gaps manually and getting frustrated with the admin overhead.
What I do differently is start with how the business actually works before touching any tools. I map the real workflow: how leads come in, how work gets handed over, where information needs to be and when, what the team finds genuinely useful versus what they avoid. The system design follows from that.
I have been doing this for 25 years across more than 400 businesses. I am a certified Pipedrive Partner, certified Google Cloud Partner, and certified project manager. But the thing that matters most to clients is that I build systems they can understand, maintain and adapt themselves after I hand over.
I work best with business owners and team leaders who know their operations need sorting but do not have the time to figure out the right combination of tools and automations themselves. They want it done properly and handed over so they can run it.
I have worked across more than 400 businesses in professional services, consultancies, agencies, NGOs and product companies. The common thread is always the same: good people, useful tools, and a gap between them that is costing time and money. Closing that gap is what a business operating system consultant does. Not by adding more software, but by getting what you already have working together properly.
A recent example.
Client: A professional services consultancy, 12-person team
The situation: Leads were tracked in Pipedrive but the handover to the delivery team was done manually over email. Projects were managed in a spreadsheet. Client notes lived in individual inboxes. Nobody had a clear view of what was happening across the business.
What we did: Connected Pipedrive to Asana via Make.com so that when a deal was won, a project was created automatically with the right tasks already in place. Built an Airtable base for client records and delivery data. Moved process documentation into Notion. Set up reporting dashboards that pulled from Airtable automatically.
The result: The manual handover email was eliminated on day one. The spreadsheet was gone within a week. Within a month, the founder had a weekly dashboard that took two minutes to review instead of an hour of chasing the team for updates.
Timeframe: Full system live in eight weeks. Noticeable change in team behaviour within the first two weeks.
Ways to work together.
The Business Operating System — done for you
A 90-day engagement where I design and build your full operating system. I handle everything: discovery, design, build, automations, documentation and team training. You finish with a complete, working system and a team that knows how to use it. See the Business Operating System service.
AI and Automation Discovery Workshop
A focused programme for businesses that want to understand where AI and automation will make the biggest difference before committing to a full build. We map your current processes, identify the bottlenecks, and prioritise the areas where automation would deliver the most value. See the Discovery Workshop.
Tool-specific consulting
If you already know which tool you need help with, I offer consulting on each part of the stack individually. Choose the layer that matters most right now.
Common questions about the Business Operating System
Do I need to already have these tools before working with you?
No. If you are starting from scratch, I can recommend the right tools for your situation and set them up properly from the beginning. If you already have some tools in place, we start from where you are and build from there. Either way works.
We already use some of these tools but they are not joined up. Can you help?
Yes, and this is one of the most common situations I work with. Most businesses have the tools already. The job is to get them talking to each other properly and build the automations that handle the handoffs. We start with a scoping call to map what you have and what needs connecting.
How long does it take to build a business operating system?
For the full done-for-you service, the process runs over 90 days: discovery and mapping, system design, build and automation, then training and handover. For tool-specific consulting on one part of the stack, timelines are shorter. I will give you a specific timeline in the proposal after the scoping call.
How much input is needed from me during the build?
Minimal. Your main involvement is the discovery conversations at the start, where I map how your business actually works, and a couple of review points during the build. I handle the heavy lifting. Most clients spend two to three hours with me across the full 90-day engagement outside of the handover and training sessions.
What happens after the system is built?
Your team gets a training session and full documentation covering how the system works and how to make common changes yourselves. Optional ongoing support is available if you want it, but the goal is always a system you can run independently.
Do you work with businesses of our size?
I work primarily with small businesses and service-based teams, typically 2 to 50 people. If you are a solo founder building your first system or a growing team whose current setup is creating friction, this is where I work best. If something else would serve you better, I will tell you honestly on the scoping call.
How much does it cost?
The cost depends on the scope: which tools need setting up or connecting, how complex your workflows are, and how much automation is involved. I do not publish set prices because every business is different. The scoping call is free, and the proposal will give you a fixed price before anything starts.
Do you work remotely?
Yes, entirely. I have been working remotely with businesses across the UK, Europe, and internationally for over 12 years. Everything is delivered via video calls, shared screens, and documentation. No on-site visits needed.
Ready to build a system that works?
Book a free 30-minute call. We will talk through how your business works, where the friction is, and what a joined-up operating system would look like for you. No obligation, no hard sell.
If you leave without booking, that is fine. But the tools will still not be talking to each other next week. The team will still be copying and pasting. And the longer that goes on, the harder it gets to change.
The Business Operating System vs Spreadsheets
Most service businesses think they have systems. In this video I explain what a Business Operating System actually is, what its five layers are, and why spreadsheets (however well-built) are not one.
Does Claude work with Notion and do they play nicely together ?
I use Notion as the operating system for my business. Everything lives there: client projects, task lists, content pipelines, SOPs, revenue tracking. So when I started experimenting with AI agents, the obvious question was: can Claude plug into this system and actually do useful work?
The knowledge layer of a Business Operating System – Part 6/6
If the answer to most questions in your business is “ask Chris”, that’s a structural problem. Layer 5 of the Business OS: Knowledge. How to build a knowledge base that means the business knows how to do things, not just the people in it.