For Owners With 2 to 50 People and No HR Department
HR Without an HR Department
Nine AI agents for owners with 2 to 50 people. Hiring, contractors, the complaint, the conversation you keep putting off, the day someone quits, and letting someone go, handled the way a 19-year HR pro would handle them. Plain words. Minutes, not meetings. Works in any state.
You Just Hit 15
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Employee or Contractor?
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First Hire Setup
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Hiring Across State Lines
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Interview Builder
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The First Hard Conversation
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When an Employee Complains
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She Just Quit
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Letting Someone Go
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You Just Hit 15 ✳︎ Employee or Contractor? ✳︎ First Hire Setup ✳︎ Hiring Across State Lines ✳︎ Interview Builder ✳︎ The First Hard Conversation ✳︎ When an Employee Complains ✳︎ She Just Quit ✳︎ Letting Someone Go ✳︎
Who handles HR at your company?
If the answer is “me, I guess,” this page is for you.
When you run a business with 2 to 50 people, the HR moments land on your desk between everything else. The hire you rushed because you needed someone Monday. The helper you pay as a contractor because it was easier. The complaint that came in Tuesday. The employee who keeps showing up late, and the conversation you have rehearsed in the car but never had. The office manager who just gave two weeks. The 15th hire that quietly changed which laws apply to you.
At a big company there is always someone to call. At a 12-person company, you are the someone.
The Small Business Play puts that someone in the room. Nine AI agents, each built for one moment, each one built from what I did for 19 years when a manager called and said “I don’t know what to do.”
Dear business owner,
For 19 years I was the person managers called when it got hard. Target, Cisco, AppDynamics, DataRobot. Performance problems, investigations, terminations, layoffs. I have been in the room for all of it.
Here is what I learned: the hard moments follow patterns. The owner waits too long. The feedback is vague. Nothing gets written down. The firing comes as a surprise. The contractor was really an employee the whole time. None of that comes from bad people. It comes from nobody ever telling you what to say or what to do next.
At a company with an HR department, that is my job. At yours, it is nobody’s job, so it becomes yours at 9pm after everyone has gone home.
I built The Small Business Play because most businesses will never have someone like me down the hall, and they should not have to run payroll, hire, and have the hard conversation alone. These nine agents walk you through those moments the way I would if I were sitting across from you. They ask one or two questions at a time, they use plain words, and they tell you plainly when it is time to call a CPA or an employment lawyer. And they work wherever your people are.
And I am still here. Reply to any email, or book a call, and you get the actual person.
Sara
Sara Rodgers
Founder, Sara Rodgers Consulting
Generic AI writes whatever you ask for. These refuse.
A salon owner asked one of these agents to write a “really strong contractor agreement” for stylists who work her schedule, use her chairs, and charge her prices. It said no, explained that a stronger contract would only make the misclassification look intentional, and showed her what would have to change for it to be a real contractor relationship.
That is the product. The Small Business Play will not:
Write a firing script for an owner who has not decided yet, or who plans to do it alone
Let you “pull him aside and tell him to knock it off” the night a complaint comes in
Build a hard conversation on “bad attitude” instead of something a camera would have recorded
Help you match a counteroffer you wouldn’t have given next month anyway
Write interview questions for a job you cannot describe
Keep going past a timing red flag (a pregnancy, a leave request, an injury, a complaint) without telling you to call a lawyer first
Make up a number. Every federal rule comes from a dated reference file, and every state rule comes from your payroll provider, your broker, or your lawyer, because the agent will not guess it
The Nine Agents
Nine AI agents, each built for one moment, from your first hire to the day someone quits. Each one runs inside Claude and works in any state.
You Just Hit 15
Nobody sends a letter when your business crosses 15 employees. Or 11, or 20, or 50. This agent builds a one-page map of what already applies at your size under federal law, what just changed, and what is waiting at the next number, then hands you the questions your own state will answer.
Ask it: “We just hired our 15th person. What changed?”
First Hire Setup
From “yes” to a solid first month, in order. If this is your first employee ever, the one-time setup. Then the offer letter, salaried or hourly (and why that matters), the I-9 and W-4, the first day, the first week, and a 30-60-90 plan the new hire can read.
Ask it: “She starts Monday. What do I need?”
Interview Builder
One structured interview, designed once, run the same way for every candidate, scored before anyone compares notes. It will not write questions for a job you cannot describe in outcomes, and it will tell you which questions are off limits and what to ask instead.
Ask it: “I need a front office manager who doesn’t need babysitting. What do I ask?”
When an Employee Complains
The first 48 hours after a complaint lands, which is when owners make it worse. What to say in the moment, what you can’t promise, the same-day note, who to call, how to keep people apart without punishing anyone, and the one line for the person it’s about. It won’t let you investigate it yourself.
Ask it: “She says he’s been making comments about her body. Can I just talk to him?”
She Just Quit
The resignation conversation, the counteroffer question (one honest question decides it), working the notice or paying it out, the handoff of everything only that person knows, the exit conversation, what to tell the team, and the last-day checklist.
Ask it: “My office manager just gave two weeks. Should I match the offer?”
Letting Someone Go
It confirms the decision is real and fair, screens for timing that could look like retaliation, and then builds the meeting script, the day-of checklist, and what to tell the rest of the team. It will not build a solo firing; someone is always in the room with you.
Ask it: “I have to let her go. What do I actually say?”
Employee or Contractor?
“I just pay him as a 1099” is the most expensive sentence in small business HR. Describe the work and get a plain verdict: likely employee, likely contractor, or too close to call. Then what it costs to get it wrong, and the fix if you already did.
Ask it: “Can I pay my part-time helper as a contractor?”
Hiring Across State Lines
Your best candidate lives two states away, or your office manager wants to move and keep her job. This agent maps what one out-of-state employee turns on (registrations, workers’ comp, that state’s rules, the remote I-9) and writes the exact email for your payroll provider.
Ask it: “My new bookkeeper lives in Texas. What do I need to do?”
The First Hard Conversation
The exact words, said early and said kindly, while it is still a moment and not a crisis. Built on the Say the Thing method I have taught managers for years: the fact, the impact, the ask. It checks whether the person ever heard what good looks like, and walks you through simple documentation if it keeps happening.
Ask it: “He’s opened late three Saturdays this month. How do I bring it up?”
Note: This is a subscription that runs in Claude. One link connects it, with no downloads or setup. Three more agents are in testing with owners right now: Paying People Right, Time Off and Accommodations, and Your First Handbook. They reach you automatically when they ship, at no extra cost.
Built for Any State, and Dated
Federal law is the floor, and it is the same everywhere, so that is what is built in. Your state adds its own rules on top, and most start at a smaller headcount than federal law. So every agent ends with a State check: the four to six questions you have to get answered for your state and city, each with who answers it. Usually that is your payroll provider, in one call. The agents never guess a state number. They write the question, name the person, and tell you to put the date next to the answer.
Every federal rule shows when it took effect and when it is expected to change next, so you know when to run the agent again. Rules last verified October 2026; next full check by January 2, 2027.
How The Small Business Play Works
Step 1: about 2 minutes
Subscribe on ProvenSkills
One subscription covers your company, so the office manager or bookkeeper who actually handles the paperwork can use it alongside you.
Step 2: about 10 minutes, once
Connect It to Claude
Connect it to Claude with one link. No downloads, no setup, nothing to install. It works on your laptop and your phone, so it is there when the question comes up in the truck or between customers.
Step 3: as needed
Describe What Is on Your Desk
Open Claude and describe what is happening in plain words. No employee names needed. The agent asks one or two questions at a time, the way I would across a table.
Step 4: usually under 15 minutes
Get the Map, the Verdict, or the Script
You get the map, the verdict, the checklist, or the script, date-stamped, with the moment to call a CPA or lawyer marked, and the State check for your state at the end.
This is for you if…
You own or run a business with 2 to 50 people, and HR is you
You are the office manager or bookkeeper who inherited HR because you were the organized one
You are about to make your first hire, or your first hire in another state
You have people on 1099s and a nagging feeling about it
You have been putting off a conversation with an employee for weeks
Someone just complained, or someone just quit, and you want to get the next 48 hours right
You advise small businesses (CPA, bookkeeper, fractional HR) and want a defensible process to hand your clients
This is not for you if you want something that makes the decision for you. These agents prepare you; you still decide. It is not for you if you need a lawyer. This is not legal advice, and the agents will tell you when to get some. If you have 50 or more people and an HR team, the Performance, Coaching, Investigation, and Restructuring Plays were built for you. And if you are dealing with a threat, a safety incident, or someone in danger, the agents will stop and send you to the right help, on purpose.
And the Best News Is… You Don’t Have to Do Any of This Alone
No more guessing whether the helper on a 1099 is really an employee
No more rehearsing the hard conversation in the car and never having it
No more 9pm searching for what to do the night a complaint comes in
No more wondering which laws turned on when you hired your 15th person
No more firing meeting planned alone the night before
No more state rule guessed from a blog post. You get the exact question and the person who answers it
Stop Being the HR Department Alone
Nine agents. One subscription. Any state.
Plain words, dated rules, and a refusal every time a shortcut would get you in trouble.
Want to see it work first? The next free session, HR Without an HR Department, is Wednesday, November 18 at noon Central. Bring your hardest people question. Save your seat.
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No to both. The agents ask you one or two plain questions at a time, the way I would across a table. If you can describe what is happening in your business, you can use this.
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A Claude account (claude.ai) and your ProvenSkills subscription. You connect the two with one link. It works on your laptop and your phone, so it is there when the question comes up in the truck or between customers.
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No. These agents are HR process and judgment, built from 19 years of practice, not a law firm. Every agent tells you plainly when it is time to call a CPA or an employment lawyer, and several of them stop and will not keep going until you do. That is on purpose.
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Federal law is built in and applies to you wherever you are. For your state and city, every agent ends with a State check: the exact questions to get answered (minimum wage, final paycheck deadline, paid leave, workers’ comp, and so on) and who answers each, usually your payroll provider in one call. The agents never guess a state rule. That is a feature: a wrong number said with confidence costs you more than ten minutes of confirming it.
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Every federal rule an agent cites shows the date it took effect and when it is expected to change next. The rules were last verified in October 2026, and the next full check is January 2, 2027. I re-verify every January and each quarter, and the agents warn you when a rule you are relying on is about to change.
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You never need to type a last name, a Social Security number, or a pay stub. First names or initials are plenty, and most owners use none at all (“my front desk person”). If you want help turning off the setting that lets your AI provider train on your conversations, email me and I will walk you through it.
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Yes. One subscription covers your company, so the person who actually handles the paperwork can use it alongside you.
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Reply to any email from me or book a 30-minute call. I still take cases that need a human, and I run a free monthly session for owners, HR Without an HR Department, where we work real situations live. The next one is Wednesday, November 18 at noon Central: save your seat here.
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Tell me. The three newest agents (the complaint, the resignation, the out-of-state hire) came straight from what owners asked for during testing. Your question is how the next one gets built.
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The Performance, Coaching, Investigation, and Restructuring Plays were built for HR teams and fractional HR partners at companies with 50 to 500 people. They assume there is an HR person in the room. The Small Business Play assumes there is not, and that the person in the room is you. If you grow into an HR team someday, the other Plays will be waiting.
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Yes. The first 14 days are free, and after that you can cancel anytime in the billing portal. Your access runs through the end of the period you paid for. If it is not a fit, email me in the first 14 days and you get a full refund.
Things to Know As You Get Started
Final Words
The hardest parts of HR, handled. That has been true for the HR teams I work with, and now it is true for the owner who is the HR team.
If you are not sure this is for you, email me the situation sitting on your desk right now, no names needed, and I will tell you which agent to open first.
Sara Rodgers
sararodgers@sararodgersconsulting.com