We build business infrastructure so you don’t have to be the power source that keeps the flowing.

A foundation for work that’s powerful, invisible, and critical.
You’ll wonder how you ever worked without it.

We give you the tools to do what you do, better.

The Confluence Group is a creative consulting team that works with maturing businesses that have reached a breaking point: your once-scrappy startup is now an established company, and what got you here has stopped working. Everything feels like it might crack under the pressure. Including you.

We redistribute the pressure, by embedding flexible digital systems that transform how you do what you do. We help you build the finance/admin infrastructure that empowers your team to focus on the impact you're here to make, instead of the effort required to make it happen.

The result? A sleek, efficient, remote-team-friendly internal operating environment that connects, clarifies, and calms your nerves. So you can focus on doing the work, instead of fighting uphill just to manage it.

We’re led by the vision and values of good infrastructure, but for business:

Good infrastructure provides the resources and connections for a community to do more than just survive. You’re not a startup anymore. You’ve got a team that needs support to thrive. You need systems for leading and working that deliver - adaptably, reliably, resiliently, and on-demand.

Good infrastructure is designed to include everyone, now and into the future. It’s not a shortcut. It’s not about immediate results. It’s an investment in intergenerational equity, legacy, big picture potential, and the strength to weather the inevitable storms.

Good infrastructure is something everyone relies on, but nobody sees. It just works, allowing people to travel at high speeds, see in the dark, summon water and power, work collectively and for the public good. It’s always available, because it’s not just YOU.

No, you can't clone yourself (not yet, anyway). But with the right digital environment custom built for your team, one of you will be more than enough.

The right business infrastructure provides all the basic necessities:

Operational Control

Rise above busywork and constant check-ins. Get near-automated reporting, transparency, and feel on top of things, all the time. (Yes, it’s possible.)

Illumination

Clarify the picture by keeping everyone in the know, and claim the insight for better diagnosis, planning, and decision-making. The future stays bright.

Power

Plug into what’s possible when money, imagination, and strategy join forces across your team.

Transportation

Bridge the gap from where you are to where you want to be. Arrive safely without the sweat.

And when everyone has what they need, this is where the energy goes:

Impact

You don’t do your job to host meetings, chase reports, or send emails. You do it for what your work does in the world. Instead of pushing uphill to make things go smoothly, solid infrastructure means that so much more can take care of itself. You can focus on your vision, and the impact it has.

Legacy

Good infrastructure is a long-term investment in growing and maintaining capacity. You know this journey isn’t a race, but it’s not a marathon either. It’s a relay. Building capacity means the ability to hand off a well-oiled machine, whether that’s for a sabbatical, a succession, or a sale. Allow the impact you make to extend well beyond your effort.

Who We Are

Confluence is led by Certified Management Consultant Larry Sparks (CMC, PMP). Larry has over 25 years of experience working with business leaders to solve tough problems.

His expertise comes by way of the real life ups and downs of being a business owner, an executive director, a board member, and a champion for infrastructure asset management (the physical kind: pipes, roads, etc.).

He came to the realization that infrastructure, though often invisible, often taken for granted, is the key that opens the door to so much collective good. For businesses, it means healthier workplaces, farther-reaching results, and stability and sanity for freshly energized leaders.

We’re here to invite you to a new era of how you do what you do. Our mission is to support the dynamic, the human, the aspirational attitudes that drive your team’s unique character, energy, and culture. We’re here to be a contagious force for positive change.

~ Larry Sparks, Client Experience Lead

Why Us?

We may not be big, but we’re small.

The passion and grit of small business is in our DNA. We know the unique challenges and the heartfelt solidarity of running with a small team, because we’ve been there and we are one. Your dreams are bigger than life, but your budget is down to earth. We see you. We got you.

We prioritize people and profits.

Not one or the other. Both. You know that increasing profits is important, but not just for its own sake. Margins mean you can realize the changes you care about, for the quality of life of everyone around you.

We make sure the work is worth it.

No busywork or pointless data gathering just to pad out a glossy report. We don’t dash off an opinion then leave you in the same place you were. We’re in it for the deep work that moves the needle, and we respect the effort that goes into good change that lasts. We stay by your side and empower you to achieve real gains (in profits, people, culture, and vision) and a new way to work.

We set you up, then set you free.

The tools, the data, the decisions are all yours. You’re never locked in long-term, or reliant on our systems or software. You can keep the party going if you want to, not because you have to.

Get in touch

We’d love to hear your story. Where you’ve been, and where you want to go. If you’re curious about the work we do, set up a free consultation to find out what an investment in business infrastructure can look like.

Fill out the contact form to get in touch. You’ll hear back from a member of our team within three business days.