Built for owner-operators, by an owner-operator
The Standalone is operated by Stacey Tallitsch out of Louisiana. 30 years in technology, most of it spent in the kind of environments where the person making the decisions is also the person dealing with the consequences.
The diagnostic exists because of a pattern that kept showing up: business owners getting pitched AI solutions that were either too expensive for their stage, too complex for their team, or simply wrong for their situation. Enterprise consulting firms scoping $200,000 engagements for businesses doing $2 million in revenue. AI agencies recommending tools the business had no capacity to maintain. "AI strategists" selling frameworks instead of answers.
The Standalone takes a different approach. The diagnostic is a structured questionnaire that maps your actual operations -- where your time goes, what piles up, what your team can handle -- and produces a report that names specific tools, specific configurations, and specific costs. If your situation calls for self-implementation, the report says so. If you need hands-on help, the report says that too. And if the diagnostic is not the right fit for your business, you do not get charged.
The practice is deliberately small. The diagnostic serves US-based service businesses with $500,000 to $10 million in revenue. Businesses outside that band get referred to resources that fit better. There is no plan to expand beyond this scope. Staying focused is what makes the recommendations accurate.
"The market has enough people selling AI hype. What it needs is someone willing to tell you what actually fits your situation, even when the answer is smaller than you expected."
- Stacey Tallitsch, Owner, The Standalone
The philosophy
Every recommendation must be specific enough to act on. "Consider adopting a CRM" is not a recommendation. "Set up HubSpot's free tier with these three pipelines configured for your intake process" is.
The diagnostic is willing to recommend the lowest-cost option when that is the right answer. Tier 1 (self-implementation) does not generate follow-on revenue. That is by design. If you can do the work yourself with a good plan, paying for coaching you do not need would be a waste of your money.
Every deliverable is reviewed by a human before it is sent. The AI does the heavy lifting on analysis and drafting. A person confirms the recommendations make sense for your specific situation.