Starting a D365 CE / Power Platform Boutique Firm: Transitioning from Solo Architect to Subcontractor Model (Input Appreciated)

Hi everyone,

My core positioning focuses on helping orgs regain control of environments that have grown overly complex or difficult to manage over time. Rather than doing digital transformations for the sake of it, the focus is on business analysis, governance, operational improvement, and UAT/release readiness.

I have strong experience in D365 CE administration/consulting, CIJ, Power Platform, Dataverse, requirements gathering/AS-IS TO-BE mapping, and end-to-end delivery. I’m comfortable at the intersection of business process and technical execution.

Common scenarios I address include:

• Environments where no single person has a complete picture of apps, flows, and dependencies
• Critical automations tied to disabled accounts or individual employees
• Teams using spreadsheets and workarounds outside of Dynamics 365
• Unclear system ownership, sparse documentation, and unstructured testing processes
• Power Platform growth that has outpaced its governance model

Pricing and Scoping Discovery:

• How do you typically price initial assessment/discovery phases when taking on messy, legacy environments (e.g., organic growth, unmanaged flows, orphaned automations)? Do you lean toward fixed-price audits or capped hourly discovery?

I would greatly appreciate any insights, lessons learned, or warnings from anyone who has taken this path on the Power Platform side!