How We Work
How a Meridian engagement starts and runs
Three steps, and you can stop after any of them. No lock-in at any point, on either track.
The three steps
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1
A free Discovery Session
Sixty minutes with the founder who runs the track you're asking about. No pitch, no deck, no slides. You tell us what's going on, and we tell you honestly whether we can help.
If neither track fits, we'll say so. That happens, and it's a better outcome than selling you something that doesn't work.
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2
A diagnostic or a trial
Track A: a 2-week Operational and AI Diagnostic. We work out what's actually slowing the business down and hand back a prioritised plan. Some people stop here and run it themselves, which is a legitimate outcome.
Track B: a 2 to 4 week trial on your real backlog, so you can see how it goes before anything ongoing starts.
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3
An ongoing engagement
A retainer at the number of days a week that fits: one, two or three. Month to month, no lock-in, and adjustable as the need changes.
Engagement Formats
Three ways to structure the work
Same work either way. The structure depends on whether the need is ongoing, bounded, or occasional.
Monthly retainer
The usual arrangement on both tracks. A set number of days a week, one, two or three, so you have reliable capacity and we have enough continuity to be useful.
Month to month. No lock-in, and adjustable as the need changes.
Fixed-scope project
One defined outcome, one agreed price, agreed before we start. The 2-week Diagnostic works this way, and so does a specific build: a reporting pack, an automation, a governance framework.
Best when you know exactly what you want done and want certainty on the number.
Hourly, for occasional work
For genuinely ad-hoc requests: a board pack before a meeting, a month-end crunch, a second opinion on something specific.
It's the exception rather than the model. Ongoing work priced by the hour turns into task-watching, which is the opposite of what either track is for.
Two adjustments that sit on top of any of the three: smaller non-profits on Track B have a community arrangement built for non-profit budgets, and Track A works fully remotely from the start for clients outside South Africa.
The Handoff
One bridge between the tracks, and it runs one direction. If a Track A engagement produces a system your own team can't run day to day, Mandy joins the engagement and does the work.
It's scoped and quoted separately, and it only comes up once the need is real. It is never proposed upfront as a bundle.
What It Costs
Scoped to the engagement, quoted after Discovery.
We don't publish a price list, because the honest answer depends on what you need, how many days a week it takes, and which track you're on. Quoting a number before we understand the problem would just be a guess.
What we can tell you upfront: you'll be quoted as a monthly retainer, a fixed-scope project, or hourly for occasional work, whichever fits. Both tracks start with a low-commitment diagnostic or trial, retainers run month to month, and there's no lock-in. You'll have a clear number in front of you before anything ongoing begins.
Start Here
Start with a conversation.
Sixty minutes, free, with the right founder. Nothing follows unless you want it to.
Email us at hello@meridianimpact.co.za
or pick the track that sounds like you:
Track B: Operations & Admin Partner
Email Mandy to book
or call Mandy on +27 83 269 7873