Short Work Co. Mike JacksonBusiness Systems & Practical AI Book a First Look

Renewal season shouldn't depend on who remembers what.

Short Work Co. helps association management companies of 5 to 75 people get the work of running many associations out of a few people's heads. I start with how your team actually runs renewals, registrations and reporting, then fix what slows it down inside the tools you already pay for.

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The work that comes around every cycle

Running several associations means the same jobs come around for each one: dues and renewals, event and course registrations, board reports and member records.

In many firms that work is spread across an association management system, a payment processor and a few spreadsheets, with someone in the middle keeping them in step. If you run an association management company, some of this may sound familiar:

  • “Renewal notices go out, but someone still checks by hand who has actually paid.”
  • “Every board wants its report a little differently, so we build each one from scratch.”
  • “Registrations come in through one system and get typed into another.”

If one of those is yours, that's a good place to begin.

Before you shop for new AMC software

The association management system you already pay for often does more than it's set up to do.

So I start with the tools you already use. I recommend a new system only when nothing you have can do the job, and I'll write down why.

How it works and what it costs

  1. First Look

    Free

    Thirty minutes on how your business runs. From your answers I draw a one-page map, then we spend 20 minutes on it within 2 days. You keep the map.

  2. Business Map

    $4,500

    Your whole business on one page, plus the two areas that matter most mapped step by step. You get a ranked list of fixes, each with a price.

  3. Build

    Usually $5,000 to $15,000

    I build the top fix inside the tools you already pay for, at a fixed price agreed before work starts, and make sure the people using it every day are comfortable with it.

  4. Keep it running

    $2,000 every four weeks

    Optional. I look after what we built, make small changes as you need them, and check it's still helping. Cancel any cycle.

Nothing gets built until we both agree it's the right thing to build.

If the problem is already clear, we can skip the Map and go straight to a build.

What a fix can look like

Here is the kind of change a Build makes, shown before and after. It's a made-up example, so it carries no hours or dollar figures.

Before and after

Renewal reminders

Illustrative example. Not a real client.

Before
Renewal notices go out from the association management system. Payments land in the payment processor. Every week someone exports both, matches them in a spreadsheet, and emails the members who haven't paid.
After
Payments are recorded against the member record the system already keeps. Reminders stop on their own for anyone who has paid, and one saved view shows who is still outstanding for each association.
The simpler option I considered
A shared spreadsheet for each association. It would help, but it becomes one more place to keep up to date.

Who you'd be working with

I'm Mike Jackson, the founder of Short Work Co. I've been in business for 21 years, the last 15 running operations at a 47-year-old training company.

I lead every engagement myself, from the first conversation through the recommendation, the work, and the handoff.

Questions

Do you replace our association management system?

Usually not. I start with the system you already pay for and get more of the work done inside it. If it can't do the job, I'll tell you why in writing before anything new is built.

Do our association clients' boards need to be involved?

Not for the First Look. It's about how your own team works. If a fix would change something an association's board has to approve, we'll plan for that before anything is built.

Do you work outside Austin?

Yes. I'm based in Austin, TX, and I work with clients anywhere in the US by video.

What happens in the First Look?

Two short calls. First, 30 minutes on how your business runs, and you do most of the talking. From your answers I draw a one-page map, with the spots where work waits on one person marked. Within 2 days we spend 20 minutes on it together.

Start with a free First Look

Answer plain questions about how your business runs and you get a one-page map of it, with the spots where work waits on one person marked. Then 20 minutes on it together. You keep the map and leave with one or two ideas you can use, whether or not we work together. If I can help, I'll tell you what I'd do first and roughly what it would cost. Written recommendations and prices are the paid Map. No pressure.

Book your free First Look

Free30 minutes, then 20Google Meet