The short answer: less than you think. You make a few decisions, show us real work, and try the results. We do the preparing, building, testing and writing up in between. Meetings are short and have a purpose.
Sidekick is a service, not software you have to learn. You will not be handed a manual, a login and a wish of good luck.
Before we start
Whichever way you work with us, we ask for the same few things:
- One area of work that keeps taking too long or keeps coming back to you.
- A few real examples of that work: past emails, a proposal, a report, meeting notes. Whatever you are allowed to share.
- The tools you already use. We build around them. You keep your own accounts.
- What we may and may not use. You decide what information is in bounds.
- Who checks the results before they are used. For most people, that is you.
If your company has an IT provider, we ask for one contact there. They confirm access. That is usually one or two short conversations, not a project.
If you are one person (Solo)
Solo is built around your own work. After the fit call and the agreement, you share your examples. We set up your workspace before your onboarding session, so the first time you sit down there is something real to try.
Then you use it on real work, with refinements and support along the way. If something does not fit how you work, we adjust it. The exact sessions, support window and price are on the Solo page.
Your time: the sessions, plus the normal work you were already doing, now with a prepared start.
If it is your team or business (Fractional)
Fractional runs over at least 90 days with one accountable person on our side. It starts with one important area of work and a small group of people who do it, not a company-wide rollout.
The first week is one kickoff meeting to agree what should improve, how the work happens today, and who owns what. Then each starting person shows us their real work, and we build the first useful pieces with them.
By day 30 we sit down with the sponsor and answer plain questions: what was delivered and used, what improved, what needs fixing, what is blocked, and what the next 60 days should focus on.
From there we improve what people use, bring in more people where it fits, and hand responsibility to someone on your team. Near day 90 we give one recommendation: continue, scale down, do a fixed piece of work, or stop. Your team keeps the workflows, the operating context, the controls and the decision record.
Your time, roughly
These are planning ranges for Fractional. Your exact schedule is agreed before you start.
- Executive sponsor: about three to four hours across 90 days.
- Each starting user: about three to five scheduled hours, plus normal use and feedback.
- One internal owner: about an hour a week during the active rollout.
- IT provider: normally one to three hours for access and rules.
Everything else, the building, testing, documentation and coordination, happens between meetings and is ours to do.
What you decide and what we do
You decide what to improve, what information is allowed, who reviews results, and whether to continue. We prepare, build, test, coach, document and keep the work moving. Important decisions stay with a person. Nothing goes out to a client or a customer without someone on your side approving it.
What we cannot promise
We cannot promise a set number of hours saved or a revenue result. We can commit to a defined outcome for one area of work, clear ownership, sensible rules, evidence you can use to decide what comes next, and a handover you can keep.
If you want to know how access and data are handled, read Is my data safe with AI? What will IT say?.
