Fractional leadership for owner-led businesses # You built something good. Then it quietly stalled – and you can't quite see why. Fractional Revenue Leader (Fractional CRO) and fractional CFO leadership for owner-led businesses, $1–20M. Growth has flattened, every real decision still runs through you, and pushing harder isn't moving it. The cause is rarely the thing you'd name first. 3 min [Why does my business feel stuck – and why doesn't working harder fix it? Watch →](https://stoneforgegroup.com/questions/the-plateau/) Where does it feel *stuck*? [“Deals stall and go quiet. Winning work depends on me. Growth has flattened anyway.” Start with the selling → Fractional Revenue Leader (Fractional CRO) · James Walls](https://stoneforgegroup.com/fractional-cro/) [“We’re making money, but cash feels tight. Pricing is guesswork. Big decisions get made in the dark.” Start with the numbers → Fractional CFO – Financial Leadership · Kristina Walls](https://stoneforgegroup.com/financial-leadership/) [“Not sure which – the selling or the numbers?” The most common answer – take the 30-second test →](https://stoneforgegroup.com/where-its-stuck/) 01 What's different about how we work ## We treat the cause, not the symptom. Most advice takes the problem you name at face value and starts fixing it. The real cause usually sits a layer underneath – and until you find that, every fix lands on the symptom and the business holds exactly where it was. The aim you name first is *almost always a symptom*. 3 min [Am I chasing the right aim – or just a number? Watch →](https://stoneforgegroup.com/questions/am-i-chasing-the-right-goal/) 02 One rhythm, two seats ## Whichever seat it is, the method is the same. We find the cause, fix what's broken, and leave alone what works – carried by a standing rhythm, in one seat or both. [The revenue seat · James Walls ### Fractional Revenue Leader (Fractional CRO) A pipeline that tells the truth Deals your team closes without you in the room A standing sales rhythm Your team, developed to sell The role, engagements, and cost →](https://stoneforgegroup.com/fractional-cro/) [The financial seat · Kristina Walls ### Fractional CFO – Financial Leadership Cash crunches spotted months ahead The hire, the price change, the loan – modeled first Numbers the team actually reads Funding lined up before it's urgent The practice, in full →](https://stoneforgegroup.com/financial-leadership/) [The method in depth →](https://stoneforgegroup.com/method/) 03 What it produces ## A business that doubled. Growth owners put their names to. Discipline you can see on one screen. Outcomes from engagements we've run, and owners who put their names to them. 2× one business, doubled A well-established marketing firm, around $4M revenue, came to us certain it was losing to competitors. Sixteen of its top twenty losses were really clients deciding to do nothing – so we requalified the pipeline, cut the dead deals, and put the energy where it could win. In the next half-year, the business doubled. [James tells the whole story](https://stoneforgegroup.com/questions/why-do-deals-stall-and-go-quiet/). 25% growth, in two businesses - **WindowWorks** was stuck in neutral. Craig Hauser puts this year's growth at 25%. - **A realty-related services firm** lifted revenue and profit by 25% and has sustained it – through sharper owner focus, clearer communication, and better execution. 4 months a financial transformation A professional services firm had been leaning on its owner for cash injections just to keep cash flowing. Within four months it was profitable, cash-flow positive, and sustaining itself. "Kristina has been supporting FotoFetch as CFO for the past 4 years and has been critical to our daily operations and management. I highly recommend Stoneforge for any businesses financial and business management needs." **Abed Husseini** · CEO, Fotofetch "Kristina and James have helped me to institute protocols allowing me to see where my time is being wasted […] If this is what they have accomplished in just two months, I am excited to see where I am in one year!" **Peter Pike** · Owner, Pike Law Firm "This is my first Business Coach and I am very happy we met. Kristina and James have been very helpful in direction of our business and understanding our financials. […] Highly recommend! Thank you Stoneforge" **Bob Friedman** · Owner, Ace Electric 2 min [Sixteen of twenty losses were never real deals. Watch →](https://stoneforgegroup.com/questions/why-do-deals-stall-and-go-quiet/) A client's Monday revenue dashboard The Monday view **You'll get yours, not this one** – built around how your buyers actually decide. We fix what's broken, and we don't replace what works. [Talk to us →](https://stoneforgegroup.com/contact/) [See the proof up close →](https://stoneforgegroup.com/proof/) 04 Watch ## The questions owners actually ask, answered. A new one every week – the full answers go deep, the rest are a couple of minutes, and every one leaves you something to do on Monday morning. In depth · the full answers, on video [### Why has my business plateaued when I'm working harder than ever? The full diagnosis: what a plateau really is, the root cause underneath it, a real business that doubled, and four things to do on Monday morning. Watch or read · 8 min](https://stoneforgegroup.com/questions/why-has-my-business-plateaued/) [### Where am I in this deal, really? The five stages every real deal moves through, in order – and why putting a price forward before you've earned it means you're selling blind. Watch or read · 8 min](https://stoneforgegroup.com/questions/where-am-i-in-this-deal/) Two-minute answers [Why do good clients leave when the work is good? Watch · 2 min](https://stoneforgegroup.com/questions/why-do-good-clients-leave/) [Will hiring someone fix the overwhelm? Watch · 3 min](https://stoneforgegroup.com/questions/should-i-just-hire-someone/) [Why can't I make the change I keep promising myself? Watch · 3 min](https://stoneforgegroup.com/questions/why-cant-i-make-the-change/) More from the library [Where should the owner stand in the business – and why does it matter? →](https://stoneforgegroup.com/questions/where-should-the-owner-stand/) [Why do deals stall at the proposal and quietly go nowhere? →](https://stoneforgegroup.com/questions/why-do-deals-stall-and-go-quiet/) [Do the opening minutes of a client meeting really matter? →](https://stoneforgegroup.com/questions/do-the-opening-minutes-matter/) [All the questions →](https://stoneforgegroup.com/questions/) 05 Who's in the room ## Twenty-five years on the revenue. More than twenty on the numbers. A quarter of a century leading revenue inside large, complex businesses – then running, scaling, and selling one of my own. I've sat exactly where you're sitting, with the same weight on the same shoulders. Twenty-five years **leading revenue** across complex, high-value B2B Owner-operator who **built, scaled and sold** a firm The same disciplines, **right-sized** for an owner-led business Kristina Walls has spent more than twenty years in strategic financial leadership – founding and running her own financial consulting firm, and holding finance leadership roles inside large technology businesses before that. What owners notice first isn't the résumé. It's the translation: complexity in, clarity out, every single time. More than twenty years of **financial leadership** Founded and ran **her own firm** – she's sat in your seat Master's in Economics · **complexity into clarity** The first conversation is free, and its purpose is not to sell you Stoneforge. It's to help – *or to point you to someone who can*. 06 Where to start ## See where you sit, before anyone talks to anyone. Two free scorecards, a couple of minutes each – one on the selling, one on the numbers. No email asked for, and nothing you answer is saved. [The selling ### The owner-led sales scorecard How far your growth runs without you Whether the selling is defined and repeatable On the plateau, owner-held, or built to sell Take the sales scorecard →](https://stoneforgegroup.com/scorecard/) [The numbers ### The financial scorecard Whether you can see cash coming What each thing really earns, once margin's counted Instinct-led, insight-driven, or outcome-led Take the financial scorecard →](https://stoneforgegroup.com/financial-scorecard/) ### Not sure which – the selling or the numbers? Six statements, 30 seconds – it points you to the right one. No email asked for, nothing you answer is saved. [Take the 30-second test →](https://stoneforgegroup.com/where-its-stuck/) ### Or read the whole business at once. The Anatomy of a Well-Run Business – eleven areas, the specifics under each, and where to focus computed from your own answers. Nothing you answer is saved or sent. [Run the Anatomy →](https://stoneforgegroup.com/anatomy-of-a-well-run-business/) ### If something in here landed, the next step is a conversation. Tell us where it feels stuck and we'll tell you plainly whether this is the right fit – and if it isn't, we'll point you to someone who is. [Talk to us →](https://stoneforgegroup.com/contact/) Forty-five minutes, about your business, with the person who'd hold the seat.