AI / Automation / Operations
Technology with direction.
North Up helps owners make their business easier to run, easier to explain, and less dependent on information only one person can find. We do it with business sense first, then practical AI, automation, and connected tools.
Why North Up
A steady reference
When I fly, I prefer a map with north at the top. It gives me a steady reference as my direction changes. That is the idea behind North Up: helping you understand where your business stands and what to do next.
Technology keeps changing, but the questions stay practical. What is slowing you down? What already works? What is worth changing? I help you sort through the options and choose a next step that fits your business.
My first client was a local dentist, back when I was still in high school and building computers for my teachers on the side. A business degree came next, then my own consulting company, then seven years helping run the managed services side of an IT firm. Today I lead operations, IT, and security in a regulated industry. I have been the consultant making the recommendation and the operator living with it. That is why I start with the business, not the technology.
Alan Johnson, Founder
Who we work with
Aviation believes in a source of truth. Your business should too.
A source of truth means knowing where to find the current, agreed information. Pilots rely on operating handbooks, checklists, and maintenance records. At North Up, we bring that same discipline to business: clear instructions, reliable records, and a way to keep them current.
For an owner-run business, that means clear procedures, a record of customer commitments, and know-how your team can find and use. If a key person walking out the door would take half the business with them, you are who we built this for.
What we do
Four ways to help
Start with the problem that matters most. Sometimes the answer is AI. Sometimes it is a better process, a connection between tools, or a feature you already have. We agree what is useful before adding anything else.
Business and Technology Consulting
Work out how the business should run before choosing a tool. We look at the process, the people, and the costs, then recommend what to change, with or without new technology.
AI Coaching
Learn to use AI on real tasks in your business. We work alongside you, help you check its answers, and build habits you can use on your own.
Automation and Connected Tools
Connect the tools your business runs on to reduce repeated data entry. Set up routine steps, reminders, and checks around work such as customer follow-up, job tracking, and order handling.
Managed Platform
A maintained online home for your business instructions and reference information, connected to compatible AI tools so your team can use the information you have approved.
Your Accounts. Your Information.Our work
Built and running at Aviation Soul
At Aviation Soul, our family's aviation gift and challenge coin company, we use these systems in our own daily work. That experience shows us the details that matter when technology becomes part of running a business.
Customer and Job Tracking
Customer inquiries, quotes, and custom coin jobs tracked together, with dated tasks that keep the next follow-up visible.
Order Fulfillment Dashboard
Orders from the online store come to one screen for packing, shipping labels, and tracking updates.
A Company Handbook
Procedures, product standards, and decisions written down in one searchable place, so the business does not live in one person's head.
AI That Knows the Business
An AI assistant that can look up orders, customers, and procedures directly, and drafts follow-ups for a person to review before anything is sent.
These examples combine several tools. We agree which connections your business needs; they are not all part of the managed platform.
The managed platform
Your company's knowledge, working for you
Give your team a reliable place to find how the business works, and connect that information to compatible AI tools. We look after the platform, updates, and backups. Your team stays responsible for reviewing the business information and keeping it accurate.
What Is Included
- An online home for procedures, product information, and the know-how your team needs
- A controlled connection that lets compatible AI tools use the information you approve
- Access set up through accounts you own, for the people you authorize
- Backups, service checks, software updates, and recovery checks defined in your service plan
New automation and other improvements are agreed and priced separately when you need them.
You own your accounts and your data. Your website address, access accounts, and AI subscriptions stay under your control. We work through the access you grant us.
It is built to move. Your information can be exported, and the platform is designed to move to another suitable provider. Any move is planned and scoped separately.
How we work
Seven working principles
These principles guide what we recommend, how we build, and what we leave in your hands. They also guide the work we continue to support.
Understand the business first.
We listen to the people who do the work every day and look at real examples. We find where time gets lost, information gets scattered, and progress gets stuck before recommending a change.
Make complexity earn its place.
We use existing tools when they fit. A new system needs to justify its cost, the work of maintaining it, and the responsibility it adds.
Build capability in the client.
We explain decisions, work alongside you, and give your team time to practice. You should understand what was built and feel confident doing your part.
Keep human judgment involved.
We decide what AI can use, what it is allowed to do, and where a person must check the result. Automated work needs clear checks too.
Finish the work behind the demo.
A working demo is a beginning. For the systems we deliver, we plan access, backups, and recovery, and document how to use and maintain them.
Be clear about the relationship.
We agree on the scope, who handles what, and what happens if the work changes. You pay for the work we agreed on, not for the general tools we build for our own business.
Measure useful progress.
We agree what improvement should look like and compare it with how things work today: less time spent, fewer errors, clearer decisions, or tasks your team can now handle.
Working together
From first conversation to everyday use
We start with the work you want to improve and the people involved. Then we agree whether you need coaching, an implementation, or both, and how we will know it worked.
Start With One Problem
Tell us what keeps getting stuck, repeated, or left to you. The first conversation is free. Bring an example from your work. The answer can come later.
Map the Work
Before a deeper review, we agree what it will cover and any cost. Then we look at the tools, information, and people involved and recommend a practical starting point.
Build and Test
We build the agreed improvement or coach you through it. Together, we try it on real work, check the awkward cases, and resolve problems before relying on it.
Put It to Work
Your team gets practical instructions and practices on real work. Before handover, we agree who maintains what, how to get help, and any continuing support or platform service.
Scope in Writing
We write down the scope, what each of us will do, and which changes would need a new proposal.
Price Agreed Up Front
You see the scope and the price before you approve any work, so the invoice matches what we agreed.
Your Subscriptions Stay Yours
You own and pay for your AI and other software subscriptions directly. We explain those costs, including any that vary with use, before you commit.
Questions
Before you reach out
The things owners usually want to know before the first conversation.
What does the first conversation cost?
Nothing. Bring one example of something that is slowing you down. If we are not the right fit, we will say so, and point you somewhere better if we can.
Do I need to know what I want?
No. Most owners start with a frustration, not a plan. The first step is understanding how your business runs today; the right tool comes after that.
Is this only about AI?
No. Sometimes the answer is AI. Often it is a clearer process, a connection between tools you already have, or a feature you are already paying for and not using.
How is the work priced?
You see the scope and the price before you approve any work. If the work changes along the way, we agree any change in cost before continuing.
Who owns what you build?
You do. Your accounts, your information, and your subscriptions stay in your name, and every engagement ends with written documentation you keep, so the work can be understood and maintained without us.
What happens to my business information?
Alan's career includes years of IT security work in a regulated industry, and we work the same way here. AI tools only get the information you approve, access goes to named people, and we choose settings that keep your information out of model training.
Do you work outside Wisconsin?
Yes. We are based in Bristol, in southeastern Wisconsin between Milwaukee and Chicago, and most of the work happens online, so location is rarely a limit.
What happens after I reach out?
Alan replies personally. No automated follow-up sequence, no pressure, and no obligation past the first conversation.
Next step
What keeps landing back on your desk?
Email Alan with one example of work that takes too long, information you keep chasing, or a tool that is not doing its job. We can work out whether North Up is a fit.