This guide tells you exactly what tools to use, what to build, in what order, for each service. You already have the skills. This is the map.
The thing nobody tells you about consulting: Your clients don't hire you because you know something they don't. They hire you because you'll do the thing they don't have time to do. You organize what's already there. You build the system they keep saying they'll build "next month." You already know how to do this — you did it at Evergreen (logistics workflows), at Scent Stories (e-commerce backend), at Amore Sydney (catalog systems). You just need to know how to do it for other people's businesses now.
This is step zero for every project. Before you open Notion, before you build anything — send this form. The answers tell you exactly what to build. Without this, you're guessing. Use Google Forms or Notion form. Keep it simple.
What this is in plain language: You're building a business's "brain" — one central place where everything lives, everyone knows what's happening, and tasks don't fall through the cracks. Think of it like building a filing system, a team dashboard, and a process guide — all in one Notion workspace.
Starter ($800) · Standard ($1,300) · Advanced (from $2,000)
A Notion page called "📋 Tasks" with a database where the client can see all their active work at a glance. They can filter by person, by project, by due date. No more "what am I supposed to be working on today?" — they open this page and know.
A clean Notion page with sections: "This week's tasks," "Quick links," "Active projects," "Team." They open it Monday morning and immediately know what's happening without checking 5 different places.
What automation is in plain language: You connect two tools so that when something happens in one, something else automatically happens in another — without the person having to do it manually. "When a client fills out this form → automatically create a task in Notion + send a confirmation email." That's an automation.
Starter ($600) · Standard ($1,200) · Advanced (from $2,200)
The client shares a link to their inquiry form. Someone fills it out. 10 seconds later — a new entry appears in their Notion CRM, the client gets a warm auto-reply, and the business owner gets pinged. They did nothing manually.
Learn Zapier before your first client. Go to zapier.com/learn → free tutorials. Spend 4–6 hours building practice automations for yourself. Connect your own Gmail, Notion, and Google Sheets. Once you've done 3–4 personal automations, you'll understand 80% of what clients need. Make is worth learning after — same concept, more powerful.
What this is in plain language: You already know how to do this. You built Shopify stores from scratch for Scent Stories and Amore Sydney. That is website systems work. For non-Shopify clients, you'll use Framer (which you already use for ruesolutions.com) or Webflow. You're not starting from zero here — you have real experience.
Landing Page ($900) · Business ($1,600) · Advanced (from $2,500)
Setup ($500) · Advanced Setup ($800) · Monthly (from $600/mo)
Start with free tools only. You don't need to pay for anything until you're making consistent income. Every tool listed here has a free plan that covers everything you need for your first 3–5 clients.
Your main build tool. Every Backend Org System is built here. Task systems, dashboards, SOPs, workflows, content calendars — all Notion. Learn this first and deepest.
Connect apps without code. "When X happens in App A → do Y in App B." Start here before Make. Free plan: 5 automations (Zaps), 100 tasks/month.
More powerful than Zapier. Better for multi-step automations. Learn this after you're comfortable with Zapier. Free plan: 1,000 operations/month.
You already know this — it's what ruesolutions.com runs on. Use for service business websites. Client pays for their own hosting plan (~$10–15/mo).
You already know this from Scent Stories + Amore Sydney. Use for clients who sell physical or digital products. Client pays their own Shopify plan.
Free, beautiful forms. Use for client intake forms, discovery call prep, and any form that feeds into a Notion database via Zapier. Much better looking than Google Forms.
Record your screen while you talk. Used for: delivering the system walkthrough, showing clients how to use what you built, recording your demo workspace. Free: 25 videos, 5 min each.
Send contracts for e-signature. You already have your service agreement and proposals built here. Free plan: 5 documents/month — enough to start.
Send invoices and receive USD from international clients. Low fees, fast transfers. Required for your DNV evidence — Wise monthly statements are your proof of income.
Free scheduling link. Clients pick a time slot from your availability. Connects to Google Calendar. The link on your "Book a call" button points here.
You're already using this. Schedule LinkedIn + Instagram posts in advance. Free plan: 3 channels, 10 posts per channel queued.
Single-page websites, fast. Good for clients who only need a landing page or simple one-pager. Takes 2–4 hours to build. Free plan works for most use cases.
Don't try to learn everything before you start. Learn just enough to take the first client. You'll learn the rest while doing it. Every real consultant does this. The goal is: know how to build a basic Backend Org System in Notion before you accept money for one.
"You don't need to know everything.
You need to know enough to solve
the problem in front of you.
The rest, you learn while doing it."