Your pain.
What’s broken? What’s slowing your staff down, frustrating your team or failing the people you serve? It starts with listening to what isn’t working.
THE HELMSMAN PROJECT ROADMAP
Bring the mess. Leave with a plan.
Too many opinions, no clear owner and a growing list of “we should probably…” Aaron steps in, listens to what’s hurting and what you’re hoping for, and hands your team a clear plan: what to do, who owns it and how it will run.
$2,500 fixed fee, credited in full toward a Helmsman build that starts within 6 months.
Ask about a Project Roadmap
SOUND FAMILIAR?
Everyone has an idea. Nobody has the plan.
One proposal says rebuild. Another says switch platforms. Someone on staff thinks a smaller fix would do. Without agreed priorities, the same decision comes back at every meeting, and the project stays stuck. Or it gets built, and it’s the wrong thing.
HOW AARON WORKS
Pain first. Then the dream. Then a plan your team can own.
A beautiful tool your team can’t use is worthless. Systems should serve people, not force people to serve systems.
Your dream.
In a perfect world, how would it work? What would lift the load, delight your team and make the work feel lighter? Bring the whole wish list. Aaron helps you sort out what comes first.
Your owners.
Who will own each outcome and run it day to day, and what do they need? Plus the real limits: budget, timing and the tools you already have.
Your plan.
Aaron goes heads-down on everything he’s heard, then comes back with a written plan: what to do first, who owns it, how it will run and how you’ll know it worked. Clear solutions, not theories.
In practice: a prep sheet so your team arrives ready, a 90-minute working session on video, Aaron’s written Roadmap about two weeks later and a 45-minute walkthrough with your team.
WHY AARON
The one who steps up and steers.
Aaron knows how much time a project wastes without a plan, and what a relief it is when someone takes the helm. He has led complex projects for nonprofits, tech startups and other organizations. At Calvary Global Network, big initiatives touched many teams and needed someone to steer. It wasn’t in his job description, but Aaron stepped in and saw those projects through to launch. CGN’s leadership later called that work vital.
An ally, not a new boss. Aaron has watched consultants walk in and bend a team toward their own vision. He works the other way: he helps your team find its vision, then, if you want him to, stays alongside as your project manager to bring it to life.
“Working with you was probably one of the smoothest, well-coordinated experiences we’ve ever had with a contractor. Well done.”
WHAT YOU GET
See a sample Roadmap.
This sample follows a real church website project Aaron led, with the details changed. It’s what your team holds at the end: what hurts, what you’re hoping for, who owns what and the plan to get there.
Sample Roadmap
HELMSMANFictional church · details changed
PROJECT ROADMAP / CHURCH WEBSITE
Help newcomers find their way. Give staff their time back.
The decision: keep patching the current website, or rebuild it around visitors and the staff who run it?
01 / Your pain
What we heard in the working session.
- The homepage is a stack of image sliders. Service times and the address are buried.
- Staff enter every event twice: once in Church Center, again on the website.
- More than 15 ministries, and every ministry page is built differently.
- Multiple services, a Spanish service and Mandarin translation, and newcomers can’t tell which is for them.
02 / Your dream
What success looks like, in your words.
- A first-time guest finds when and where to show up within seconds.
- Events are entered once and appear everywhere.
- Every ministry leader has a page they can actually use.
- The site feels like the church: real people, real photos, the mission up front.
03 / Who’s responsible
Who owns each outcome and runs it day to day.
- Executive pastor: final decisions and budget.
- Communications director: homepage, service details and site content.
- Office administrator: events in Church Center, which feed the website automatically.
- Ministry leaders: their own page, using a shared template.
- Helmsman: strategy, design, build and staff training.
04 / Your written plan
Recommended direction: rebuild the website around a visitor’s first questions. Keep Church Center and the sermon platform the church already uses; connect them to the site instead of replacing them.
- Phase 1 · Weeks 1–3Front door. Site map, a homepage that leads with the mission, service times and location, and quick links to sermons, staff, beliefs and Sunday details.
- Phase 2 · Weeks 4–6Connect the systems. Church Center events sync to the site. The sermon library is embedded so it feels native.
- Phase 3 · Weeks 7–9Ministries and the details. One ministry template for 15+ pages, clear cards for every service and language, and a statement of faith with jump links.
- Phase 4 · Week 10Launch and equip. Staff training, a short how-to guide and a 30-day check-in.
What can wait
A full Spanish-language site and a giving-page redesign. Worth doing, not first.
How you’ll know it worked
Guests find service times without clicking. No event is entered twice. Ministry leaders update their own pages.
A DEFINED SCOPE. A CLEAR INVESTMENT.
Project Roadmap
$2,500 USD
Fixed fee, credited in full toward a Helmsman build that starts within 6 months.
Ask about a Project Roadmap- One defined initiative, with up to three people from your team
- A prep sheet, so your team arrives ready
- Review of agreed documents and samples
- A 90-minute working session with Aaron, on video
- Your written Roadmap about two weeks later: direction, order of work, who owns what, and budget and timing ranges
- A 45-minute walkthrough and one round of corrections
Your Roadmap sets the direction. Detailed design, technical specifications and implementation are scoped separately.
The plan is yours. Build it with Helmsman, with your own team or with another partner. Payment is due before work begins, and we agree on the scope and schedule first.
GOOD QUESTIONS
Before we begin.
Is the first conversation free?
Yes. The free conversation is to see whether the project and Helmsman are a fit. The Roadmap is the paid work that follows.
Why not just ask agencies for free proposals?
A free proposal is a pitch for one company’s solution. A Roadmap is your plan, built around your team, that any capable partner can price and build.
How long does it take?
About two weeks from the working session to your written Roadmap. We agree on the dates before you commit.
Can Aaron come to us?
Sessions are on video by default. Within about 90 minutes of Oklahoma City, Aaron can meet in person at no extra cost. Elsewhere, an on-site Roadmap is $7,500 plus travel expenses at cost and includes a half-day working session with your team, with $2,500 credited toward a Helmsman build, the same as the video Roadmap.
What if we can’t afford everything on our list?
That’s common, and it’s what the plan is for. Your Roadmap shows what to do first with the budget you have and what can wait.
Does every project need a Roadmap?
No. If the work is already clearly defined, we can go straight to a project proposal. Bigger projects with many systems or large archives may need a broader discovery, which we’ll scope with you.
LET’S FIND THE RIGHT NEXT STEP
Bring the mess. We’ll find the next step.
Tell Aaron what’s not working, what you’re hoping for and who needs to agree on the direction.
If there is a fit, we’ll arrange a free introductory conversation. The Roadmap is a separate paid engagement. We confirm the scope, fee and schedule before you commit.
Tell Aaron about your project
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