For providers
Opportunities that arrive already scoped, already approved.
By the time you see an opportunity, the business has completed discovery, the need has been defined, alternatives have been considered, and the requirements have been approved by the owner. You compete on fit and substance, not on prospecting. This page tells you everything about how that works before you apply.
What Automation Labz is, and what we are not
Automation Labz is the trusted advisor for business automation decisions. Businesses come to us before they buy software, commission custom work, or hire a provider. We evaluate their objective, their current systems, and every practical option, and we recommend a path. We do not sell software and we do not perform implementation, which means we are never competing with you for the work.
We are not a directory, and we are not a lead-generation list. We do not sell contact information, we do not blast opportunities to everyone in the network, and we never send you a "lead" that is really a cold form fill. An opportunity only exists after a business has been through our advisory process and approved a recommendation that includes outside implementation.
The work itself spans the full range of what businesses actually need: implementing and configuring established off-the-shelf products you specialize in, connecting systems, automating workflows, and custom builds where custom is genuinely justified. If your specialty is making one excellent tool work brilliantly, that is as matchable as building from scratch.
That matters commercially: the business arriving in your inbox has already decided outside help is justified, already knows what it needs, and already trusts the process that selected you. The discovery work you normally do unpaid, and the trust you normally build from zero, is done before you spend a minute.
What an opportunity actually contains
Every invited provider receives the same package, built from the advisory process and approved by the business before it reaches anyone:
Opportunity package
Same for every invited provider- Business objective
- The outcome the business wants, in its own approved words
- Current state
- Systems in place, relevant workflows, and where the gaps are
- Approved requirements
- The scope the business has reviewed and signed off on
- Constraints
- Timeline, operational realities, and known limitations
- Alternatives considered
- What was evaluated and why outside implementation was recommended
- Invitation terms
- How many providers are invited, and the flat introduction fee for this opportunity
Some opportunities are exclusive to a single provider. Others invite a small number. That is always stated up front, before you decide to respond, along with the fee.
The process, end to end
- 01
Apply
Tell us your systems, your use cases, your typical project profile, and your track record. The application is thorough because matching is thorough: everything we ask maps to a matching factor.
- 02
Review
We review your application against the matching factors below, including demonstrated outcomes and references where relevant. We reply by email either way.
- 03
Get matched
When a business-approved opportunity fits your experience, you receive the full opportunity package, including the number of invited providers and the flat introduction fee. You choose whether to respond. Declining never counts against you.
- 04
Propose in a structured format
Every invited provider responds to the same approved requirements in the same structure: approach, deliverables, timeline, cost, assumptions, dependencies, support, risks, and relevant experience. The business compares proposals on substance, organized by us.
- 05
Introduction
The business chooses whom it wants to meet. If that is you, we make a warm introduction with full context already shared. The introduction fee applies at this step, and only at this step.
- 06
The relationship is yours
After the handoff, you work directly with the business: your contract, your pricing, your delivery, your client. We do not sit in the middle of the engagement and we do not take a cut of it.
How we decide who gets invited
Matching is evidence-based, against the approved requirement, never against who applied most recently or paid most. We consider:
- Direct experience with the relevant tools and systems
- Directly relevant use-case experience
- Industry familiarity
- Project size and complexity fit
- Availability and timeline
- Communication quality
- Pricing approach
- Demonstrated results and references
The recommendation to the business is completed before any provider is invited. There is no way to pay for placement in it, because it is finished before you enter the process.
The commercial model, in full
What you pay
- Nothing to apply, and nothing to be in the network
- Nothing to receive or review opportunity packages
- Nothing to submit a proposal
- A flat fee per introduction, when a business chooses to meet you
How the fee is set
Each opportunity states its flat fee up front, before you respond. Fees vary by project size, opportunity quality, industry, required specialization, estimated contract value, exclusivity, and the number of providers invited. The fee is never a percentage of your project, and it never changes after you accept.
We do not earn more when a project becomes larger, more complex, or more expensive. That protects the business, and it protects you: nobody upstream is inflating scope.
The same model is published to businesses in our provider disclosure. What they read is what you read.
What we expect from providers
- Prompt, clear communication with us and with the business
- Proposals priced to the approved requirement, not padded beyond it
- Honest capacity: respond only to opportunities you can actually deliver
- Honest scoping: if the requirement looks wrong, say so rather than build it
- Run whatever technical discovery your build requires. Our process defines the business need; your discovery serves the delivery
- Outcomes you are willing to stand behind with references
Who this is not for
- Firms that sell one platform regardless of what the business needs
- Firms that use discovery to grow the project rather than deliver it
- Volume shops looking for a lead list to run sequences against
- Anyone expecting to pay their way into recommendations
Provider questions, answered plainly
Does it cost anything to apply or to be in the network?
No. There is no application fee, no membership fee, and no subscription. The only fee in the model is the flat introduction fee, paid when a business chooses to meet you.
How many opportunities will I receive?
We will not promise a number, because we will not invent one. Opportunity flow depends on demand from businesses and on how well your experience fits what they need. Applying costs nothing, and every opportunity you do receive arrives scoped and approved.
Can I decline an opportunity?
Yes, at any point before introduction, without penalty. Honest capacity is something we expect, so declining when you are full is the right call, not a mark against you.
When exactly is the fee due?
At introduction: when the business has reviewed proposals and chosen to meet you. Reviewing an opportunity costs nothing. Proposing costs nothing. The fee, stated in the opportunity package before you respond, applies only when the introduction happens.
Does paying make me more likely to be recommended?
No, structurally. The recommendation to the business is completed before any provider is invited to participate. Fees pay for access to an approved opportunity, never for influence over whether that opportunity exists.
Who owns the client relationship after the introduction?
You do. Your contract, your pricing, your delivery. We do not intermediate the engagement and we do not take a percentage of it.
What if the business hires nobody?
That can happen. Businesses remain free to use their own team, delay, or decline all proposals. If no introduction happens, no fee happens. We tell businesses the same thing, because their freedom to say no is what makes their yes worth competing for.
What kinds of work do opportunities involve?
Whatever the approved recommendation calls for: implementation and configuration of established off-the-shelf products when you specialize in them, system integrations, workflow automation, data and reporting work, and custom development where it is genuinely justified. Our evaluation is vendor-neutral, so the work you see reflects what the business needs, not what is easiest to sell.
What kinds of businesses will I see?
Primarily small and midsize businesses: owners and operators with real operations, several disconnected systems, and a defined objective that has survived our evaluation. If the right answer for them was software they already own, you never see it as an opportunity, which is exactly why the ones you do see are worth your time.
If your work holds up to this process, apply.
The application is thorough, because the matching is. Expect a few minutes, not thirty seconds.