Home inspection · owner-led, local
Over seven years we grew from about $250K to $550K. The bigger win was getting cash flow from negative to reliably positive by getting clear on the numbers.
Fractional COO
Nathan Stockbridge
Helping owners get their time back and their margins up.
Operations leadership, team systems, and practical AI for owner-led service and trade businesses, so the business stops running through you.
Free 8-minute scorecard. See how much the business still depends on you, and what it costs.
Who this is for
Owner-led businesses, roughly $1–10M and 5–100 people, where growth or profit is stuck because operations can’t keep up.
- “We’re busy, but the margins don’t show it.”
- “Everything still runs through me. I’m the bottleneck.”
- “We’re about to hire an ops manager.” Often the wrong first hire. Systems first.
- “I don’t trust our numbers.” / “It’s all in spreadsheets and one person’s head.”
- “We keep dropping balls as we grow.”
- “We should be using AI but don’t know where to start.”
How an engagement moves
The goal is an operation that runs without you: systems documented, team trained, owner out of the weeds.
- DiagnoseFind where time and margin are leaking
- StabilizeCalm the fires, restore rhythm and clarity
- SystemizeSOPs, ownership, scorecards
- AutomateAI on the repetitive layer
- Hand offYour team owns the machine
In scope
- Operational turnaround: chaos to scalable systems
- Team build-out: hiring, onboarding, coaching daily ops
- Financial visibility: KPIs, margin, cash-flow infrastructure
- Sales & CRM operations: the machinery around sellers
- AI & automation: custom tools and agentic workflows inside the operation
- Operating cadence: weekly leadership rhythm and scorecards
Out of scope
- Bookkeeping / accounting execution
- Marketing & sales campaign execution
- Building software products outside your operation
- 24/7 on-call firefighting
Engagements often start in emergency mode. The point is to exit it.
Where I’ve learned this
Pest control division · General Manager
Helped build a division from the ground up. Revenue doubled year over year for two years, without adding headcount at the same pace.
National field marketing · Director of Operations
Came in when operations were stretched thin. Rebuilt the core day-to-day systems alongside the team, and trained the people who now run them.
Custom ops tools · in daily use
An operations portal for campaign status and kit logistics, a work-order intake that replaced Airtable and feeds the project system automatically, and a spend-control layer that ties event spending to approved budgets. Built with the team, used by the team.
“Nathan was our General Manager and was always so pleasant to work with! He was innovative and developed systems that helped our company track things better and established a stronger outreach in marketing, financial, and personnel. We would recommend him to anyone who wants to improve all avenues of their business!”
“Nathan provided a deep understanding of sales, marketing, and organization. His ability to develop talent is unmatched as is his drive for continuous improvement. Ultimately his leadership is service oriented and ethical, a complementary disposition for his commitment and accountability.”
Client reviews: Upwork · GoFractional
About Nathan
I help owners build operations that run without them, pairing hands-on leadership with the right tools so the gains last instead of creating new bottlenecks.
13+ years leading operations in owner-led service businesses: home inspection, pest control, and field marketing. Currently Director of Operations at Vibrance Marketing. Previously General Manager at Extermicore, Systems Strategist at Inspecticore, and Company Manager at Ace Home Inspections.
- Commitment
- Starts with a fixed-scope diagnostic · then 10–15 hrs/week
- Location
- Remote nationwide · on-site in West Michigan · leading remote teams since 2020
Free tools for owners
Start here. Both take less than ten minutes and give you something useful whether we ever talk or not.
Scorecard · 8 minutes
The Owner Bottleneck Score
Real-world questions about your week, your people, and your numbers. Get your operator profile, what it costs you in hours and dollars, and the first fix for your two biggest bottlenecks.
Get my score →Guide · 8-minute read
5 Ops Leaks Keeping Owner-Led Businesses Stuck
Where time and margin quietly drain out of growing businesses, what each leak costs, and one first fix per leak you can start this week.
Read the guide →Next step
Free 30-minute discovery call
No obligation. Useful even if it isn’t a fit. You’ll leave with clearer next moves either way. Email to schedule, or take the scorecard first so we start with your numbers.
Know someone this might help? Forward this page or introduce us by email. I’ll follow up and keep you posted.