The Evening Shift systems you own
For small business operators

You run the business. I'll run the back office.

Simple systems you own that do the busywork: order lists, weekly numbers, review replies, follow-ups, the to-do list. Run them yourself, or I'll handle them for you.

Request a 20-minute call Why me →
The work

What I build and run

Even the best operators skip planning, because something is always on fire. These six systems keep the ordering, the numbers, the reviews, and the follow-up moving, so the time you get back can go to growing the business instead of the day-to-day.

Each one runs on the same $20-a-month AI you'd use to write an email, plus tools you already have or can get for free. You do the human part.

A spreadsheet titled Order List, Saturday, with a salon's backbar counts, keep-on-hand numbers, and an order column filled in
The order list, written for you The count goes in, and the order list writes itself, in your quantities, against your keep-on-hand numbers. Nothing to retype. 30 to 40 minutes a night back. Replaces the inventory add-on your POS sells, typically $100–300 a month.
A one-page weekly report: sales, labor, purchases, and profit tiles with a daily sales chart and a plain-words summary
Your week on one page Sales, labor, and costs on one page every week, pulled from wherever they live: your POS, your schedule, a door counter, a spreadsheet, an inbox. You never build the sheet, key in a number, or fix a formula. Hours of spreadsheet time down to about ten minutes. Replaces the reporting add-on your POS sells, typically $50–200 a month.
An email in an inbox: a new four-star review of an HVAC company with a reply already drafted below it and a Copy reply button
Reviews answered in your voice A thoughtful reply to every review matters, and it's the first thing to slip when the week gets busy. Each new review lands in your inbox with the reply already drafted from what the customer said. Review it, update it if needed, and post it. Replaces a reputation-management service, typically $100–300 a month.
A one-page staffing forecast for next week: expected visits by day against last year, people per shift set by the owner's rules, and a reason for each day
Next week, before it gets here Expected traffic or sales by day, next week and beyond. You order and schedule against an informed number from your own history. You see next week before you're standing in it. Replaces the forecasting tier your scheduling app or POS sells, typically $60–150 a month. Available as a custom build, or included in Run.
A spreadsheet follow-up list: open estimates, an overdue invoice, and a tune-up due, each with days waiting and a next step
The follow-up list Every unsold estimate, overdue invoice, and client due back on one list, oldest first, with the next step written in. The list is ready each Monday; you work it through the week. Replaces the follow-up add-on your booking app or job software sells, typically $20–100 a month.
A spreadsheet to-do list with tasks pulled from email, due dates, and finished items checked off
A to-do list you don't keep Tasks pull themselves out of your inbox onto one list. Finished ones get checked off. Two minutes each morning instead of digging through your inbox. Replaces a per-seat project management app.

The samples are real layouts with the numbers changed.

Start with a free call.

A free 20-minute call. I'll recommend the service that fits what you're dealing with and quote it. Email me and I'll send back a few times that work.

Request a 20-minute call or write to hello@theeveningshift.com
Work with me

Pick how much you want handled.

A plan in writing, a system handed to you, or the recurring work done for you.

One time

Look

$600a written plan

A written report: your biggest time sinks, ranked, and the steps to fix each one yourself with AI. Best if you want to know what to fix first.

What a written plan covers →
One time

Build

$750–900a standard build

One job, automated, in your accounts, yours outright. Best if there's one job you're done doing by hand.

How a build works →
Ongoing

Run

$500/modelivered monthly

The finished work in your inbox on schedule, with notes on what to do next. Best if you want it done for you, every week or every month.

What Run covers, with samples →

Full detail, samples, and how it works →

Tell me what you'd like to stop doing.

Email me or write to hello@theeveningshift.com

Two or three sentences: your business and the thing you'd most like to stop doing. Within a business day you'll get the service I'd recommend and a quote. If it isn't a fit, I'll say so.

Stuck on the words? The prompt at the bottom of this page writes the email for you.

Who's behind this

I'm Kristen Keen.

I work in tech full time, and in the evenings, usually after my kid's bedtime, I build back-office systems for a real small business: the kind with a register, a schedule taped to the wall, and inventory that used to get counted on a clipboard at 9pm.

The back office is where I grew up. My parents have run their own businesses my whole life, and I've been in them since high school: counting inventory, working the register, making schedules, running the marketing. I waited tables at a family-owned restaurant through college. Since then, a marketing degree, an MBA in supply chain, and ten years building systems for marketing and operations teams: first at an ad agency, then a manufacturer, then Google, now a tech company. AI is the newest tool in that work.

If a software rep has ever quoted you a number that made you laugh, we're going to get along.

Kristen Keen
Free guide

The $20 Back Office

Rather build it yourself, or just want to see how I think first? The guide walks through six systems: the steps, the prompts, and the advice. The $20 a month is what the AI costs to run; the guide costs nothing.

6 Systems You Can Build With AI in an Evening

  • The nightly count that turns into tomorrow's order list by itself
  • Your weekly numbers on one page: sales, labor, and costs finally side by side
  • A review responder that sounds like you
  • What each system replaces, and what that would've cost per year
You'll get the guide today, then one system a week. Look for a confirmation email first; one click and the guide is yours. Unsubscribe anytime.
If you're stuck

Not sure how to describe it?

Paste this into whatever AI you already use (ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, any of them) and answer its five questions. It writes the email for you: what repeats, how it works today, where your numbers live, and what fixed would look like. That is everything I need to reply with a real answer.

Show the prompt
Answer the five questions, then send what it writes to hello@theeveningshift.com.