You run a 2 to 4 week fixed-fee sprint that gives a small company a clear positioning statement and messaging its team and website can use right away.
Small companies often describe themselves in words buyers skim past. The website, sales deck, and founder pitch each say something different, so prospects need long calls to understand the offer and deals take longer to close. In a Gartner survey of 646 B2B buyers published in March 2026, 67% said they prefer a rep-free buying experience, which puts more weight on messaging that works without a salesperson in the room.
Founders sit too close to the product to hear it the way a buyer does, and few small teams employ a senior brand marketer. Positioning agencies quote $15,000 to $75,000 and 2 to 3 months for a full project, which is more time and money than most small teams can commit.
You run a 45 minute call to hear how the founder describes the company and where deals stall.
You send a 1 page proposal with a fixed fee, a 2 to 4 week timeline, and the exact deliverables.
You collect a deposit, book 5 to 8 customer interviews, and schedule the positioning workshop.
They own the pitch and feel the pain when prospects and new hires cannot repeat what the company does.
A fixed fee with a set end date is easier for a founder to approve than an open-ended agency retainer.
What buyers pay: $7,500 to $15,000 per sprint at small firms (Brendan Dell, SF Marketing Agency, McClurg Marketing); April Dunford lists $50,000 for startups at the top of the market.
They are changing their story for a raise, a new market, or a new website and want it done in weeks.
There are 4 places to start, in the order most people find their first buyers.
Message former colleagues who now lead marketing or run companies and offer 1 sprint slot this quarter.
Partner with web designers, copywriters, and fractional CMOs who need positioning settled before they build.
Run a short positioning workshop at startup accelerators, founder meetups, or industry associations.
Post short teardowns of real homepage headlines on LinkedIn to show how you think.
Every idea has weak spots. These are the ones to test before you spend money.
List what the sprint excludes in the proposal and price follow-on work separately.
Tie every recommendation to customer interview quotes and get sign-off at the midpoint.
Sell a named deliverable set at a fixed fee and show brand results from your career.
Read your employment agreement for moonlighting and noncompete terms and avoid clients in your employer’s market.
Starts from this career
Start-up cost and time to first offer are our estimates. Prices come from the sources above and change over time, so check them before you set yours.
You bring your career history. You leave with 3 candidate directions of your own and the 4 tests that cut them down to one.
Questions about the toolkits, Plan A, mentorship, or whether any of this fits where you are right now. Send it here and a real person answers, usually within a day.
