Perched Ocean · Business Consulting
You built the business.
Let's make it work better.
I'm Jay Dunbar. I work with solo entrepreneurs and small-business owners who want another experienced person in their corner — someone to help figure out what's working, what's getting in the way, and what makes sense to do next.
Massachusetts + New Hampshire • Virtual across the U.S.
Maybe this sounds familiar.
Business is coming in, but not as consistently as you'd like.
Most of your customers come from referrals, and you'd like another reliable source.
You're doing a lot, but you're not sure you're focusing on the things that actually matter.
You've tried different ideas and aren't sure what's really working.
The business has grown, but the way you run it hasn't quite caught up.
You've got an opportunity or idea and need another experienced person to think it through with you.
Or maybe things are going pretty well and you're just trying to figure out what comes next.
You don't need to have everything figured out.
Most of the people I work best with have already built something real — a service people want, customers who value it, and a business they've worked hard to build.
They don't necessarily need someone to tell them how to start a business.
They need another experienced person to help them figure out how to make this one work better.
You don't have to know exactly what kind of help you need before we talk.
Sometimes the problem is obvious. Sometimes it isn't.
Business Strategy
Figuring out what matters, evaluating opportunities, deciding what to focus on, and turning ideas into practical plans.
Operations
Processes, workflows, capacity, customer operations, measurement, KPIs, and making the business easier to run.
Customer Growth & Experience
Understanding how people discover the business, what happens before they become customers, what gets in the way, and how to create more consistent business.
Technology & AI
Choosing and implementing practical technology, software, CRM, automation, and AI tools based on actual business needs.
Websites & Digital Experience
Helping plan, improve, or build websites around what customers need to understand and what the business needs them to do.
Ongoing Business Support
An ongoing relationship with an experienced outside person who gets to know the business and can help with whatever deserves attention next.
Most real business problems touch more than one of these. That's why I don't try to fit every client into a fixed package.
Ways we can work together
Sometimes you need help figuring out what deserves attention first. Sometimes you want someone who already knows your business and can stay involved.
Both are good places to start.
Business Reset
$3,500
A focused 3–4 week engagement.
You know the business could work better, but you may not be sure what deserves attention first. We'll take a practical look across the business, figure out what's helping, what's getting in the way, and identify the things that matter most. Then we'll start working on the highest-impact priorities together.
- Look across the business, not just one isolated problem
- Identify what deserves attention first
- Build a practical plan
- Start making meaningful improvements
The goal isn't a giant report telling you everything that's wrong. It's to understand what's happening, decide what matters, and start doing something about it.
Ongoing Business Support
Can start around $500/month
An experienced person in your corner.
For owners who want someone who gets to know the business and stays involved. What we work on can change as the business changes.
One month it might be customer growth or pricing. Another month it could be a process that's driving you crazy, a website change, technology, customer experience, or a new idea you're trying to figure out.
The point isn't to fit the business into a consulting package. It's to have another experienced person who understands what's going on and can help you decide what to do next — and help get it done.
Not sure which makes sense?
That's fine.
You don't need to diagnose your own business or figure out which kind of consulting you need before we talk. Tell me what's going on. We'll start there.
I'm probably going to ask a lot of questions.
Before I tell you what I think you should do, I want to understand what's actually happening.
Understand it
What's happening? What's working? What's not? What are you trying to accomplish?
Figure out what matters
Separate the actual problem from the symptoms and decide what deserves attention.
Do something about it
Make a plan, build what is needed, try it, measure what happens, and adjust.
Hi, I'm Jay.
I've spent most of my career in operations and leadership roles — building teams, improving customer experiences, implementing technology, fixing processes, launching new ideas, and figuring out what to do when the answer wasn't obvious.
These days, I particularly enjoy doing that work directly with small-business owners.
I like understanding how a business really works, asking questions, and helping turn "we should probably figure this out" into something we actually do something about.
Real client work
What this looks like in practice
Helping a solo professional turn early traction into a more consistent business.
- 1Traction
- 2Understanding
- 3Changes
- 4More consistency
Where things started
Jay began working with a solo professional who had already proven people wanted the service. Clients were coming in, but business was inconsistent. Much of the growth depended on referrals, and there wasn't yet a dependable system for generating and converting new interest. The business itself was good. The challenge was making it more consistent.
What we worked on
Instead of treating this as simply a marketing problem, Jay looked across the business. The work included:
- website and messaging
- pricing and service structure
- customer journey
- how prospective clients discovered the business
- outreach and visibility
- operational processes
- technology
- how inquiries became actual clients
- what could make the business easier to operate as it grew
Where it went
Over time, the business moved from early traction and inconsistent client flow toward a more stable operation with more consistent monthly activity and clients.
That's the kind of work I enjoy — not solving one isolated piece of the business, but understanding how the pieces fit together and helping make the whole thing work better.
Let's talk about your businessBefore we talk
What happens if you reach out?
We'll talk about what's happening.
If I think I can help, I'll tell you what I think makes sense.
If we decide to work together, we'll agree on what that involvement looks like and go from there.
No complicated sales process.
What's going on?
Tell me a little about your business, what's happening, and what you'd like to be different. You don't need to have the problem perfectly figured out.