Chops Consulting Rejects the Advice-Only Model, Deploying a 'Get Sh!t Done' Brigade to Execute Overlooked Projects for Growing Businesses

For many small and medium-sized business owners, a persistent, nagging reality exists alongside daily operations: the growing backlog of critical projects that never get done. These are not minor tasks, but foundational initiatives overhauling a CRM, mapping and automating core processes, building a data dashboard, or designing a scalable hiring system. These projects are perpetually deferred, victims of the "capacity trap," where the very team needed to execute them is fully consumed by the work of running the current, often inefficient, business. This creates a frustrating stagnation; growth is desired, but the operational machinery to support it is lacking, and hiring a full-time specialist for each function is financially prohibitive.

Chops Consulting has built its practice by attacking this exact bottleneck. The Langley, British Columbia-based firm positions itself as a hybrid between strategic advisor and embedded execution team. It consciously distances itself from the "business coach" model that provides only high-level advice and the "virtual assistant" model focused on discrete administrative tasks. Instead, Chops offers what it terms "strategy AND implementation." Its consultants first diagnose operational inefficiencies and craft a roadmap, then they or a dedicated specialist from their team roll up their sleeves to build the systems, configure the software, and implement the processes they've recommended. This end-to-end service is designed to close the notorious "advice-to-action gap" that plagues many consulting engagements.

The company's approach is rooted in a deep, almost obsessive, focus on the mechanics of business operations. Founder Celene Hoag describes her team as "absolute geeks" when it comes to business systems. This manifests in a service portfolio that unifies four traditionally siloed functions: operations (process mapping, audits), technology (software selection, CRM customization), marketing (web design, SEO), and fractional leadership (strategy, coaching). By bundling these capabilities, Chops aims to be the single point of contact for a business owner looking to streamline their entire company, ensuring that, for example, and a new marketing CRM is not just installed but fully integrated into sales workflows and supported by automated lead-nurturing processes.

The Project-Based and Retainer Revenue Engine

Chops employs a flexible, dual-path revenue model that aligns with common client needs. For businesses with a single, large-scale problem (e.g., a software conversion or hiring system build), the firm charges project-based fees. This provides a clear scope, budget, and outcome, appealing to owners who need a definitive solution to a specific bottleneck. For clients seeking ongoing operational support and continuous improvement, Chops offers retainer-based engagements, where it functions as a fractional operations department. This model creates predictable, recurring revenue for the firm while providing clients with a cost-effective alternative to hiring multiple full-time managers. The ability to seamlessly transition a client from a project fee to a retainer after demonstrating value is a key growth lever, increasing client lifetime value.

Operational Efficiency as Direct Profit Driver

The firm's core value proposition is that its work directly impacts the client's bottom line through tangible efficiency gains. By mapping processes and implementing automation, Chops reduces time wasted on repetitive manual work. In a service business, these recovered hours can be re-deployed to revenue-generating client work. By selecting and properly configuring industry-specific software, the firm eliminates wasted spending on redundant or ineffective tech subscriptions. The consultants' focus on creating "well-oiled systems" is framed not as an abstract improvement but as a direct contributor to profit margins and owner capacity, allowing leadership to focus on strategic growth rather than daily firefighting.

The 'Anti-Generic' Specialization Strategy

While serving a wide range of industries, Chops avoid being a generic consultancy through its intentional team composition. The firm actively recruits consultants with deep, varied backgrounds from law firm management and healthcare administration to manufacturing logistics and government operations. This allows Chops to match clients with a consultant who possesses not just general business acumen but also intrinsic understanding of industry-specific challenges, compliance needs, and jargon. This "diverse team" approach is a market differentiator that builds immediate credibility and allows for faster, more relevant solution design, justifying premium fees over generalist advisors.

Integrated Service Synergy

Perhaps the firm's most distinctive strategic choice is the integration of marketing within its operations-centric offering. While many ops consultants avoid marketing, and most marketing agencies avoid deep systems work, Chops connects the two. It understands that a lead generation system is only as good as the CRM and follow-up processes that support it. By offering web design, SEO, and funnel building alongside CRM consulting and process automation, it ensures these critical business functions are not operating in silos. This integrated approach solves a common client pain point the frustration of hiring separate specialists who don't communicate and creates a more holistic, sticky service relationship where Chops becomes the architect of the entire client-facing and internal operational engine.

In an economic climate where efficiency and lean operations are paramount, the demand is shifting from advisory services to partners who can deliver measurable, implemented change. Businesses are weary of paying for plans that collect dust. Chops Consulting’s "get sh!t done" ethos is a direct response to this market fatigue. Its future hinges on its ability to continue scaling its execution capacity without diluting the hands-on, detail-oriented craftsmanship that defines its work, proving that for many growing companies, the most valuable consultant is not the one with the fanciest framework, but the one who can competently and reliably clear the project backlog that is blocking their path forward.

Celene Hoag, Founder & CEO

“We saw that businesses were drowning in advice but starving for execution. Our role is to be the crew that comes in, builds the systems, and gets the ship sailing smoothly.”