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Toolkit

What we run the business on.

Every tool here is in daily use at Birch Run. Nothing is listed because someone paid for the spot, and no link on this page earns us anything.

AI

Where most of the drafting, coding and thinking out loud happens.

  • Claude

    Our daily assistant for writing, analysis and planning. Projects keep client context in one place.

    Free tier; Pro and Max plans for heavy use.

  • Claude Code

    The agent that does the hands-on work in this business: it edits this website, builds Power BI models, files invoices and logs time, working directly in our folders.

    Included with Pro and Max plans.

  • ChatGPT

    Second opinion, voice-mode rehearsals and quick research. We teach both tools in AI training because clients have both.

    Free tier; Plus for voice and projects.

  • Ollama

    Runs open models locally for the documents that should never leave the building.

    Free.

Data and reporting

The Microsoft stack we build on for clients, and the tools that make it manageable.

  • Microsoft Fabric

    Lakehouses, notebooks and Direct Lake models. Our own SEO reporting runs on a small F2 capacity.

    Capacity billed hourly; F2 is the entry point.

  • Power BI

    Still the reporting layer for nearly every engagement. Pro licensing is enough for most small businesses.

    Pro per user; Premium Per User for larger models.

  • Tabular Editor

    Semantic model development, the Best Practice Analyzer, and the command-line tool we script model deployments with.

    Free edition; paid TE3 for the full desktop app.

  • pbir CLI

    Builds and edits Power BI reports from the terminal, which lets an AI agent lay out a report and validate it before publishing.

    Free, open source.

Running the business

The unglamorous tools that keep a one-person consultancy on time and paid.

  • Microsoft 365

    Email, calendar, Bookings for the free 30-minute conversation, and OneDrive as the file system every other tool reads from.

    Business Standard per user.

  • Harvest

    Time tracking and invoicing. Every engagement is hourly with a not-to-exceed number, so the timesheet is the contract.

    Free for one person; paid for teams.

  • Linear

    The backlog for each client project. Meeting notes become issues the same day.

    Free tier covers a small team.

  • Wispr Flow

    Dictation and meeting notes. Transcripts land in the client folder and feed the project backlog.

    Subscription.

  • 1Password

    Shared vaults per client, single sign-on through Microsoft Entra.

    Per user.

  • GitHub

    This website, our Power BI project files and every script live in repositories. Merging a pull request is how changes ship.

    Free for private repositories.

  • Azure

    Hosts this site on a free Static Web App, plus DNS and the Key Vault our automations read secrets from.

    Pay as you go; partner credits cover ours.

Hardware

The desk and the closet. Nothing exotic; all of it earns its place.

  • MacBook Pro, M3 Pro, 36 GB

    The whole business runs on this one laptop. 36 GB is what lets a local AI model, Power BI Desktop in a VM and a dozen browser tabs coexist.

    Buy more memory than you think you need.

  • LG UltraWide monitor

    One wide screen instead of two. Report on the left, model on the right, terminal in the middle.

    Any 34-inch UltraWide will do.

  • NuPhy Air96 keyboard

    Low-profile mechanical keyboard. Quiet enough for calls, tactile enough to type all day.

    Mid-range.

  • Logitech MX Master 3S

    The mouse. Pairs with the Mac and the iPad and switches between them with a button.

    Mid-range.

  • Shokz open-ear headset

    Bone-conduction headset with a microphone for client calls. Ears stay open, so the doorbell and the family still get through.

    Mid-range.

  • iPad Pro, M2, Apple Pencil and keyboard folio

    Reading, marking up client documents, and the second screen on the road.

    The Pencil earns its keep on PDF reviews.

  • iPhone 15 Pro Max and AirPods Pro 2

    Bookings, email and the Claude app between meetings. The AirPods handle calls when the headset is at the desk.

    Standard kit.

  • Proxmox home server

    A self-built server on an ASUS ROG Strix board with 128 GB of RAM and Samsung NVMe drives. It runs the virtual machines for Power BI Desktop, testing and local AI models.

    Proxmox is free; the hardware is a one-time build.

  • Ubiquiti UniFi networking

    Wired and wireless networking that stays out of the way. Reliable video calls are a business requirement, not a nicety.

    Buy once.

Want help choosing the stack for your business?

Thirty minutes, no cost, no pitch. We will tell you which of these you actually need.

Book a 30-minute conversation

Rather write first? contact@birchrunconsulting.com