Thirty years in this field will teach you a lot of things, but one of the most uncomfortable lessons had nothing to do with HR regulations or labor negotiations. It was about pricing. I spent decades helping organizations manage complex labor relations and helping small businesses handle everything from a single bad hire to a full workforce restructuring. And no matter how much I wanted to help the smaller company in the room, the math rarely worked in their favor.
The Fee Had to Match the Value — and That Left People Behind
To make consulting worth my time, and worth the client's investment, the fee had to reflect the level of expertise going into it. That's not a complaint about the model — it's just how professional services work. But it created a real gap. A large company could absorb that cost easily. A five-person shop or a thirty-person operation often couldn't, even though their HR risk was just as real. They needed the same level of insight a bigger company would pay for, they just couldn't pay for it the same way.
That gap sat with me for a long time. I had the expertise. I just didn't have a way to deliver it to the businesses that needed it most, at a price that made sense for them.
Real-Time Problems Need Real-Time Answers
The idea that eventually became the app was simple: what if I could take that same level of expertise and deliver it in real time, curated to the exact situation a business owner was facing, at a fraction of what a traditional engagement would cost? Not a watered-down version of the advice. The same judgment — just delivered differently, the moment it's needed instead of after a retainer conversation and a signed agreement.
A First Responder for HR Problems
I don't say this to diminish what actual first responders do. But that's the closest way I can describe what I wanted The HR Consultant App to be: something a business owner turns to the moment a problem shows up, not weeks later.
There was a fight on the floor — what do I actually do right now?
Someone called out sick again — this is the fifth time this month. Is that a pattern I can act on, or a risk if I do?
I need to hire someone, and I'm not sure what I'm allowed to ask in the interview.
I need to let someone go, and I'm in Washington, D.C. — are the termination rules here different than they'd be in Florida or Virginia?
That last one matters more than people realize. The rules genuinely do change by state, sometimes by city, and a business owner following generic advice off the internet has no way of knowing whether it applies to them. The app is built to close that gap: real answers to the real question, in the moment the question is actually being asked.
Something a business owner turns to the moment a problem shows up, not weeks later.
Expertise With an Affordable Price Tag
That's the whole idea behind The HR Consultant App. Thirty years of experience advising companies of every size, restructured so that a business with one employee or a hundred can get an answer to the specific problem in front of them, at a fraction of what it used to cost to get that same level of insight. Not because the expertise got smaller. Because I finally found a way to deliver it without the price tag standing in the way.
Coming next month: full subscription users — Professional and Advisory — will receive monthly emails on changes that may impact their business. Minimum wage changes, IRS mileage increases, legislative updates, end-of-year reminders, and more. Every update is based on the user's profile — the state(s) where you operate, your industry, and your employee headcount. We only send an update when something affects your business. No filler emails.
Where You Can Find Us
The HR Consultant App is live now on the Apple App Store, Google Play, and the Microsoft Store, as well as on the web at app.thehrconsultant.org. Every plan starts with a 14-day free trial, so there's no cost to seeing whether it gives you what you need the next time a problem comes up. Monthly subscriptions start at $29 per month, with access to the HR expertise a small business needs to get started.
The Ask
If you run a small business, try it the next time something comes up — a hire, a termination, a policy question, anything needing HR guidance. See if it gives you the same answer I'd have given you across a conference table. And if you know another business owner who's been putting off getting real HR guidance because of what it costs, pass this along. That's exactly who I built it for.
The businesses that needed my expertise the most were the ones who could least afford my rate. The app was built to close that gap.
