ABC Program Workflow

The ABC Program (Seattle's Business Capital and Capacity program) is Launch's highest-volume TA contract. This SOP covers how a consultant intakes a new ABC client, runs the engagement, and documents the work back to the program.

The ABC Program is disorganized. This is well-known. Multiple applicants take weeks to get matched. The right consultant doesn't always get assigned. Don't take it personally — the program is short-staffed and we're one of many TA providers. Our job is to be the most organized partner in their ecosystem.

Who's involved

Program contact: abcprogram@seattle.gov — the program's shared inbox. Slow, but it's the official channel.
Internal Launch lead: Monica (program owner). Stacia handles consultant assignment and intake calls.
Active Launch consultants on ABC: Andrea, Stacia, Teah, Whitney, Dene', Ryan, Veronica (as they orient), plus Monica
System of record: Airtable (program-supplied), plus our Supabase clients table

How a client lands with us

The flow looks like this:

Applicant fills ABC Program intake form  →
City of Seattle reviews + approves →
Applicant assigned to a TA provider (us, or another firm) →
We get notified, often unevenly →
We schedule intake, do the work, document back to ABC

The handoff from City of Seattle to Launch is the messy part. Sometimes we get a clean email; sometimes the client is told to email us directly; sometimes the client just shows up. Be flexible at intake.

Intake procedure

Confirm the client is actually ours

When a new ABC client comes in, before doing anything else:

Look them up in Airtable (the program-supplied base)
Confirm they're flagged as assigned to Launch
Confirm what service area they were assigned for (business development, accounting, marketing, etc.)

If they're assigned to Launch for only one service area but their needs span more (e.g., they were assigned to us for accounting but they need business development too), this is resolved through the program, not unilaterally. See the "Requesting additional consultant assignment" section below.

Schedule the intake call

Use your Calendly link (50-minute initial consultation — bumped up from 25 in May 2026 because intake takes longer than people expect)
Add hello@launchindustries.biz to the Zoom invite
CC abcprogram@launchindustries.biz on any confirmation email

Run the intake call

Standard intake covers:

Business name, legal entity status, ownership structure
Stage: pre-revenue / in-business / growing / restructuring
Top 3 challenges they need help with
Their goals over the next 6 months
Past TA support received (avoid duplicating what another consultant just did)
Specific deliverables they're hoping for
Frequency they want to meet

This is a discovery call. Don't sell, don't pitch. Listen, take notes, end with "here's what I think we should do over the next 3 months."

Document the intake in Airtable

This is the step that consultants forget. After every ABC intake call, log into Airtable and:

Update the client's record with the date of the intake call
Add deliverable notes (what you'll work on with them)
Update status to Active — in service
Note next planned touchpoint

The program audits this. New requirement as of May 2026: deliverable notes are required on every intake.

Sync to Launch systems

In parallel:

Add the client to Supabase clients with program = "ABC"
Create their Drive folder under Government → ABC Program → [Client Name]/
Create a ClickUp list under "ABC Clients" with their initial deliverable tasks
Add them to Nutshell with tag:abc-program and tag:active-client

Running the engagement

Plan deliverables in 30-60-90 day chunks

ABC engagements typically run 3-6 months of consulting time. Plan in chunks:

30 days: discovery, baseline assessment, immediate fires
60 days: medium-priority deliverables, capability building
90+ days: longer-arc work, exit planning

Document the plan in the client's ClickUp list with target completion dates.

Meeting cadence

Default: every 2 weeks for the first 60 days, then monthly. Adjust to fit the client's pace, but never disappear for more than 4 weeks without checking in.

Log every session in Airtable

Every meeting + significant deliverable goes in the program's Airtable. This is what gets us paid and renewed. The program tracks utilization closely.

The Airtable session log should include:

Date
Duration (in minutes)
Topics covered
Deliverables produced (link to Drive)
Next steps

Use Launch tools for the actual work

Airtable is the program's accountability layer; it's not where we do the work. Do the work in:

Drive folder (deliverables: documents, decks, financial models)
ClickUp (task tracking)
Supabase client_engagement_log (Launch-side log of work performed)
Harvest (time tracking for Launch internal accounting)

Requesting additional consultant assignment

When a client needs help in an area outside what we were assigned:

Don't do the extra work informally and hope no one notices — the program tracks scope
Do have the client email abcprogram@seattle.gov themselves requesting additional consultant assignment, mentioning Launch by name as the requested provider

We're the provider, not the requester. Have the client make the request. The program is more responsive to participants than to consultants.

Template language for the client to send:

Hi ABC Program team — I'm working with Launch Industries on [original service area]. I'd also like to receive support in [additional area]. Could you assign Launch Industries to provide [additional area] services as well? Thank you.

Once they send it, Stacia follows up internally with the program contact 7 days later if no response.

Monthly ABC sync meeting

As of May 2026: Launch is establishing a monthly ABC sync meeting for all consultants actively assigned to ABC clients. The purpose:

Compare notes on how clients are progressing
Identify cross-consultant referrals (if Andrea's client needs marketing, hand to Andrea; if Teah's client needs HR, hand to Teah)
Align on Airtable documentation standards
Surface any program-side blockers to Monica for escalation

Cadence: monthly, 60 minutes, calendar-poll managed by Lorena.

Attendees: every consultant with at least one active ABC client.

Output: meeting notes in Drive Programs → ABC Program → Internal → Monthly Sync Notes/, plus any action items to ClickUp.

Consultant orientation for new ABC consultants

When a new consultant joins the ABC roster (most recently Ryan and Veronica, May 2026):

Stacia schedules orientation

A 60-minute orientation call covering:

What ABC is + the political context (Seattle small-business equity program)
The Airtable system + read-write expectations
The Calendly setup (50-min intake calls, hello@ + abcprogram@launch CCs)
The Drive + ClickUp + Supabase + Nutshell stack
How to handle the "additional consultant assignment" request
This SOP as the canonical reference

Add them to systems

Airtable: invited as a contributor with access to Launch's view
Slack: added to #abc-program channel
Drive: added to Government → ABC Program shared folder
Nutshell: standard user access

Shadow first intake

The new consultant shadows Stacia (or Monica) on their first ABC intake call before running one solo.

Add to monthly sync

New consultant is added to the calendar invite for the next monthly sync.

Documentation: what gets logged where

What	Airtable	Supabase	ClickUp	Drive	Harvest
Intake call notes	✓	✓	—	✓	✓
Deliverable plan (30-60-90)	✓	—	✓	—	—
Session logs	✓	✓	—	—	✓
Actual deliverables (docs, decks)	link	link	—	✓	—
Time tracking	—	—	—	—	✓
Client status (active / paused / completed)	✓	✓	—	—	—
Survey-readiness flag	✓	—	—	—	—

The double-tracking (Airtable + Supabase) is on purpose. Airtable is the program's; Supabase is ours.

Closing out an ABC engagement

When the deliverable plan completes:

Mark Airtable record as Service complete — survey ready
Set Supabase status to program_completed
Send the client the ABC Program Survey link (the program sends this; we just remind)
Move ClickUp tasks to "Completed"
Archive Drive folder per retention policy
Send a brief goodbye email with a referral offer if they want continued non-ABC support

What we DO NOT do on ABC engagements

We do not bill the client directly — ABC pays us per program guidelines
We do not promise outcomes the program hasn't authorized (we can't change their tax status, can't approve them for grants)
We do not skip Airtable updates — the program's auditing of Airtable is what determines our renewal
We do not contact abcprogram@seattle.gov for individual client routing — have the client do it
We do not refer ABC clients to paid Launch services during the program engagement (allowed only after the ABC engagement closes)

Common edge cases

Client never shows up to scheduled intake

Reschedule once, no charge
Second no-show: pause the engagement, note in Airtable, notify ABC program contact
After 30 days of no response: mark dormant in Airtable, ABC program will handle re-engagement

Client is well outside our service area

If during intake you realize this client really needs (e.g.) a CPA-licensed accountant for a specific tax matter, route them out:

Tell the client up front
Note in Airtable
Refer to ABC program for re-routing to a more specialized TA provider
Don't try to muddle through outside our expertise

Client wants more time than the program offers

ABC has a cap on TA hours per client. If they hit the cap and want to keep working with us:

Document the cap reached in Airtable
Offer paid Launch services (Launch's standard pricing — flat fee or managed plan)
This handoff is allowed after the ABC engagement is formally complete

Related: TA Client Kickoff covers the 90-minute kickoff model used at start. Programs Overview lists all active TA programs.

⚠️

v1 draft. Confirm Airtable field names and ClickUp list paths against current setup. Last updated 2026-05-27.

Overview TA Client Kickoff