Why Strategy Costs $10,000 — and How We Changed That

Why Strategy Costs $10,000 — and How We Changed That

Because expertise shouldn’t be a luxury.

The $10K Question

Why do so many consultants charge more than a used car for a strategic plan?

You’ve probably seen it: a glossy proposal, endless meetings, and a deck thick enough to use as a doorstop — followed by a five-figure invoice. For most small businesses, that price tag isn’t just out of reach; it’s unjustifiable.

The reality is that you’re not paying for insight.

You’re paying for layers — layers of staff, meetings, and overhead that have nothing to do with your results.

“You shouldn’t need a five-figure budget to buy clarity.”

Where the Money Goes

Traditional consulting firms follow a familiar formula: stack people on your project, bill hourly, and justify the cost with a binder full of “research.”

A Typical $10,000 Consulting Breakdown

Category % of Total Cost What You’re Really Paying For
Project Management 25% Coordination, scheduling, and endless check-ins
Discovery & Research 35% Junior staff collecting data you could Google
Partner Oversight 20% Senior review and “final touches”
Presentation Design 15% Slide formatting, not actual strategy
Actual Strategic Thinking 5% The part that drives real business results

Only five cents of every dollar goes toward the insight you actually need.

According to IBISWorld (2024), U.S. management-consulting fees average $250–$350 per hour. Multiply that by multiple team members and you arrive at the infamous $10,000 project fee.

Even Harvard Business Review notes that “consulting’s real expense lies in time lost to the process itself.” (HBR 2023)

You’re not buying clarity.

You’re buying bureaucracy.

What You Actually Need

Most small-business owners don’t need a 40-page market audit or twelve stakeholder interviews.

They need three things:

  • A clear understanding of where they stand

  • Three priorities that move the needle

  • A roadmap they can actually follow

Complexity is expensive. Clarity saves money.

That’s the premise of The Bridging Method — strip away the unnecessary and deliver only what creates actionable change.

How AI Changed the Math

Here’s the simple truth: 60–70 percent of “consulting hours” go to data collection and pattern analysis — tasks AI can complete in minutes.

Generative AI can scan industry reports, surface competitor patterns, and cross-reference frameworks faster than a room full of analysts.

But AI alone doesn’t build strategy — humans do. It accelerates thinking; it doesn’t replace it.

“AI is the microscope. The strategist decides what to examine.”

At Bridging the Divide, we use AI to handle the repetitive research so the human hours focus on context and decision-making.

McKinsey (2024) estimates AI can cut strategic-research costs by up to 70 percent while improving decision speed by 40 percent.

That efficiency isn’t about shortcuts. It’s about equity — making expert frameworks financially accessible to the people who actually need them.

As critical theorist Andrew Feenberg reminds us, technology is never neutral; it reflects its designer’s values (Feenberg 2002).

We chose to design AI that redistributes expertise instead of hoarding it.

Our Pricing Philosophy

We ditched hourly billing entirely.

Every Bridging Method plan is fixed-scope, fixed-price, and fully transparent.

Bridging the Divide — Transparent Pricing

Package Price What You Get (in Plain English)
Level the Playing Field Snapshot $149 48-hour competitive analysis + five actionable quick wins
30-Day Content Kickstart $249 30-day content system with brand voice, calendar & batching tools
30-Day Bridge Strategy $399 Full roadmap of 3 strategic priorities, weekly plans & KPI tracking sheet

Fixed scope. Fast delivery. No surprises.

Each package includes the same expert-level frameworks consultants use — minus the overhead and mystery fees.

Fixed scope. Fast delivery. No surprises.

A Real-World Snapshot

A regional boutique retailer recently used our $149 Snapshot.

In two days, they received a clear competitor matrix and five low-cost tactics to differentiate their offers.

Within a month, their Google Business Profile views jumped 42 percent and sales inquiries rose by one-third.

They didn’t buy “strategy hours.”

They bought clarity they could act on immediately — and they paid a fraction of the industry rate.

The Bottom Line

Traditional consulting costs so much because you’re paying for layers, not insight.

The Bridging Method eliminates those layers — without compromising depth or quality.



Strategic clarity shouldn’t require a five-figure invoice.

It should be accessible, actionable, and honest.

Because expertise shouldn’t be a luxury — and clarity should never cost $10,000.

References

  1. IBISWorld (2024). Management Consulting in the U.S.

  2. Harvard Business Review (2023). The Hidden Cost of Consulting.

  3. McKinsey & Company (2024). The Economic Potential of Generative AI.

  4. Feenberg, A. (2002). Transforming Technology: A Critical Theory Revisited. MIT Press.

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What Is The Bridging Method — and Why It Works