Pilot Light Consulting
Pilot Light Consulting is a boutique hospitality strategy studio founded in 2016 in Asheville, NC, that advises restaurants, social enterprises, and food and beverage CPG brands through its proprietary How My Restaurant Works® methodology, delivering launch, advising, and education services.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2016
- HeadquartersAsheville, United States
- Headcount1–10
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingServices
What Pilot Light Consulting does
Pilot Light Consulting, LLC is a boutique professional-services firm founded in August 2016 and headquartered in Asheville, North Carolina, with an additional office in San Francisco, California. The firm operates as a strategy studio for hospitality ventures, social enterprises, and consumer packaged goods (CPG) brands in the food and beverage space. Its core offering is the How My Restaurant Works® (HMRW) system, a registered, proprietary methodology built on a Human-Centered Systems Design framework that integrates restaurant strategy, operations, and team development into a single holistic approach. Service lines span three categories: Launch (Concept & Feasibility, full Launch Services including project management, menu development, and operational systems), Advising (Strategy Sprints for acute problems, recurring Executive Advising, and fractional/interim executive services), and Education (Leadership & Team Alignment sessions, Owner Visioning, and Team Goal Setting workshops).
The firm delivers services through custom, sales-led engagements tailored to client scope and concept. Revenue mechanics are professional-services-based, with no publicly disclosed pricing, standardized tiers, or subscription model. Distribution is direct via the company's website (pilotlightconsulting.com) and inbound from content channels including the How My Restaurant Works® Substack and a forthcoming podcast, "Running the Pass." The team is small (1–10 employees) and founder-led by Owner & Managing Director Courtney Blake, with specialists covering beverage development, front-of-house and back-of-house operations, marketing, and business innovation. Pilot Light is bootstrapped and founder-controlled; no institutional investors, parent entities, funding rounds, subsidiaries, or acquisition activity are disclosed. The proprietary HMRW trademark and methodology represent the firm's primary intangible asset, and the office footprint is limited to two U.S. locations (California and North Carolina).
Pilot Light Consulting firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Pilot Light Consulting
- Legal name
- Pilot Light Consulting, LLC
- Website
- https://pilotlightconsulting.com
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2016
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 1–10 employees
- Short description
- Pilot Light Consulting is a boutique hospitality strategy studio founded in 2016 in Asheville, NC, that advises restaurants, social enterprises, and food and beverage CPG brands through its proprietary How My Restaurant Works® methodology, delivering launch, advising, and education services.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Pilot Light Consulting industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Hospitality Consulting Services
- NAICS
- Management Consulting Services (54161), Administrative Management and General Management Consulting Services (541611), Other Management Consulting Services (541618)
- SIC
- Services-Management Consulting Services (8742), Services-Management Services (8741)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Corporate Strategy Advisory (BPAHADAA)
- akta.pro secondary industry
- Corporate Development & Strategic Partnerships Advisory (JVs, Alliances, Carve-outs) (BPAHAOAG)
Keywords
Where Pilot Light Consulting is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Asheville
- HQ country
- United States
- HQ region
- North America
Offices2 records
Markets served
Pilot Light Consulting business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Services
- Cost components
- Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Others
Revenue model
- Advising Services: Provides consulting services through strategy sprints for acute business challenges, executive advising on a recurring basis, and fractional/interim executive services for key leadership roles during inflection points.
- Launch Services: Delivers concept and feasibility analysis, investment and operational pro formas, investor deck guidance, project management for openings, menu development, operational systems building, and staff training for restaurant launches.
- Education Services: Provides leadership and team alignment sessions including Owner Visioning Sessions and Team Goal Setting Sessions, along with workshops and resources for hospitality teams.
Go-to-market motion1 record
Distribution channels2 records
Marketing channels3 records
Pilot Light Consulting product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Pilot Light Consulting is a strategy studio that helps hospitality ventures, social enterprises, and CPG brands design, launch, and operate restaurants and food-and-beverage businesses. Its core is the proprietary How My Restaurant Works® (HMRW) system, a human-centered systems design framework integrating strategy, operations, and team development. The firm delivers this through short-term strategy sprints for acute challenges, multi-month launch engagements for restaurant openings, and ongoing executive advising or fractional executive support.
Product overview
Pilot Light Consulting is a strategy studio for hospitality ventures that offers a single unified system called How My Restaurant Works® (HMRW). This core system integrates strategy, operations, and team-building components to serve clients through sprints and long-term partnerships. The portfolio includes Strategy Sprint for acute problem-solving, Concept & Feasibility and Launch Services for restaurant openings, Executive Advising and Fractional & Interim Executive Services for ongoing leadership support, and Leadership & Team Alignment for organizational development. Content extensions include the How My Restaurant Works® Substack and the forthcoming Running the Pass podcast.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Brands
- How My Restaurant Works®: The core methodology system encompassing strategy, operations, and team components used for restaurant launches and hospitality business design.
Products and services
- How My Restaurant Works® (HMRW) System Proprietary, registered-trademark human-centered systems design framework that integrates strategy, operations, and team development for hospitality businesses, designed to shift operators from 'people serving systems' to 'systems serving people.'
- Strategy Sprint
- Launch Services (Concept & Feasibility + Opening)
- Executive Advising
- Fractional & Interim Executive Services
- Leadership & Team Alignment Education
Companies that use Pilot Light Consulting
Customer profileSegments3 records
Ideal customer profiles3 records
Pilot Light Consulting technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed No
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Feature1 record
Pilot Light Consulting partnerships and signals
Strategic signalScale indicators2 records
Recent moves6 records
Expansion highlights4 records
Pilot Light Consulting competitors and assessment
Company assessmentMarket position
Competitive moat2 records
Key risks6 records
Key highlights6 records
Customer concentration
Pilot Light Consulting social profiles
Digital presencePilot Light Consulting financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Pilot Light Consulting leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles7 records
Pilot Light Consulting funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Pilot Light Consulting M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Pilot Light Consulting
What does Pilot Light Consulting do?
Pilot Light Consulting is a strategy studio that helps hospitality ventures, social enterprises, and CPG brands design, launch, and operate restaurants and food-and-beverage businesses. Its core is the proprietary How My Restaurant Works® (HMRW) system, a human-centered systems design framework integrating strategy, operations, and team development. The firm delivers this through short-term strategy sprints for acute challenges, multi-month launch engagements for restaurant openings, and ongoing executive advising or fractional executive support.
Is Pilot Light Consulting a public or private company?
Pilot Light Consulting is a private company. It is classified as founder individual operated bootstrapped and is currently operating.
When was Pilot Light Consulting founded?
Pilot Light Consulting was founded in 2016. It employs 1 to 10 people.
Where is Pilot Light Consulting based?
Pilot Light Consulting is headquartered in Asheville, United States, in the North America region.
How does Pilot Light Consulting make money?
Three revenue lines are on record. Advising Services are the primary driver. The others are launch Services and education Services.
Does Pilot Light Consulting have an API?
No public API is recorded for Pilot Light Consulting.
What industry is Pilot Light Consulting in?
Pilot Light Consulting's product category is Hospitality Consulting Services. Its primary akta.pro industry code is BPAHADAA, Corporate Strategy Advisory, with a secondary code of BPAHAOAG, Corporate Development & Strategic Partnerships Advisory (JVs, Alliances, Carve-outs). Its NAICS code is 54161 and its SIC code is 8742.