[Home](https://stoneforgegroup.com/) · Business Growth Sarasota Sarasota · Bradenton · Lakewood Ranch · Venice · North Port # Business growth help in Sarasota, when working harder stopped working. Stoneforge is a Sarasota firm working with owner-led services businesses from $1–20M. Two fractional leadership seats – revenue and finance – and a set of free instruments you can run on your own business before you speak to anybody. 01 The shape of it You built something good and it works. It pays people. From the outside you have made it. And somewhere along the way it stopped feeling like that – the phone buzzes on a Sunday and your stomach drops, you are writing quotes late at night because nobody else can, and the money no longer matches the effort. That is not failure and it is not a marketing problem. It is a stage, and the reason the usual fixes bounce off it is that the real cause is almost never the one you would name first – and it is different in every business. 02 Find out where you actually are Start with something free rather than a conversation. [The Anatomy of a Well-Run Business](https://stoneforgegroup.com/anatomy-of-a-well-run-business/) runs eleven areas and eighty-one specifics across the whole business and ranks where the attention belongs. [The 30-second test](https://stoneforgegroup.com/where-its-stuck/) sorts whether the block is the selling or the numbers. Or take [one of the two scorecards](https://stoneforgegroup.com/scorecards/) directly. None of them ask for an email and none of them save what you answer. There are also five [one-page instruments](https://stoneforgegroup.com/tools/) for specific situations, and [a plain-language glossary](https://stoneforgegroup.com/glossary/) of the forty-odd terms owners actually meet. 03 The two seats [A fractional CRO in Sarasota](https://stoneforgegroup.com/fractional-cro-sarasota/) – revenue strategy, the system that runs it, and the team that delivers it. From $3,000 a month. [A fractional CFO in Sarasota](https://stoneforgegroup.com/fractional-cfo-sarasota/) – cash flow, margin, pricing and the read on what is ahead. Typically $2,000 to $8,000 a month. Both run on a standing rhythm rather than as a one-off project, and both are on a thirty-day notice. Some businesses need one seat, some need both, and some need neither – [what we do](https://stoneforgegroup.com/what-we-do/) sets out the difference. 04 Owners here, in their own words “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. Also they have been instrumental in preparing myself for winding down my hours from 60 hrs to and a start of 50 hrs with further reduction of hrs coming. Highly recommend! Thank you Stoneforge” **Bob Friedman · Owner, Ace Electric, Sarasota** “Two months later, Kristina and James have helped me to institute protocols allowing me to see where my time is being wasted, how I can leverage technology and people to do the jobs that I should not be doing, and how to set up my marketing to reach the people that can help me grow my business. 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, Bradenton** The rest are on [the proof page](https://stoneforgegroup.com/proof/), in the clients' own words. 05 Questions owners ask ## Why has growth flattened when we are working harder than ever? Because the plateau is a stage rather than a failure, and pushing harder from the front is what holds it in place. The business has matured, every decision still routes back through the owner, and the owner is standing out in front of it taking every hit first – which means the business cannot move past them. The full answer, on video and in plain text, is at why has my business plateaued. ## Is our problem the selling or the numbers? Those are the two seats, and they fail differently. Revenue problems look like deals stalling, growth flattening, and winning work depending on the owner. Financial problems look like profit on paper and tight cash, pricing set by guesswork, and decisions made without a clear read. Plenty of businesses have some of both. The 30-second test sorts it quickly and costs nothing. ## Do we need a consultant, a coach, or something else? A consultant produces a recommendation and leaves. A coach develops the person. What we do is take a seat in the business on a standing rhythm and stay in it – doing the work with you rather than to you. Whether that is the right shape depends on the business. It is a fair thing to test in a first conversation, and we will tell you plainly if it is not. ## What size business does this suit? Owner-led services businesses roughly between $1M and $20M in revenue, where the work is considered and high-value, the relationships matter, and the owner is still the one holding it together. Below about $1M the honest answer is usually something simpler and cheaper than us. There are eleven of these answered in full, on video and in plain text, in [the question library](https://stoneforgegroup.com/questions/). 06 When you want to talk Forty-five minutes on your business, with James or Kristina, ending in a plain read on what we would look at first and whether this is the right fit. If it is not, we will point you to someone better suited. [Talk to Us](https://stoneforgegroup.com/contact/) Sarasota, Florida · [(941) 231-1971](tel:+19412311971)