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 Financial Leader (Fractional CFO) 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 ## One business doubled inside six months, two more grew twenty-five percent, and the owners have put their names to it. 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. I'm James Walls – 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.