Built for service business owners
We help you fix what is slow, grow what works, and get ready to hand it on.
Altus Financial is a business coaching firm in Northampton, MA. We work with all kinds of service firms. Think trades, medical, and specialist practices. You run the business all day. We step back and look at all of it: the money, the people and who runs it next. Then we help you fix what comes first.
- Steps: a call, a plan, then monthly coaching
- 3Steps: a call, a plan, then monthly coaching
- Coaches, plus the army behind them.
- 2Coaches, plus the army behind them.
We're in this with you from start to finish. When the job needs someone else, we bring in a specialist. We stay on your side of the table.
The Odds
Your business is most of what you own. Half of all exits are not planned.
98%
of business owners don’t know the value of their business – and it’s the single largest asset in their portfolio
50%
of business exits in this country are unplanned. The list of causes is short: divorce, death, disability, distress, disagreement. None of them check your calendar.
80%
of the average owner's net worth is the business itself. One asset, and it is the one they work in.
41%
of owners have no written contingency plan for any of them.
5%
of baby-boomer owners have built a formal exit advisory team. Most of this work is not especially hard. It is just nobody's job.
49%
of owners want out within five years. Half the room is on a five-year clock.
78%
of business owners expect the sale of their business to fund retirement, but most haven’t completed a formal valuation
82%
of businesses that fail do so because of cash flow problems.
Who It's For
Most service businesses get stuck in one of three places.
One of them is usually the reason you are here.
- 01
Working harder, earning the same
You hit a ceiling and cannot get past it. The work is there. The profit is not.
- 02
Losing ground
Sales are sliding. Good people are leaving. What used to work has stopped working.
- 03
Changing hands
You will hand this business on one day. You do not know yet what it is worth, or who takes it.
The Path
Start with a short call. Stop after any step.
Each step leaves you with something. A clear answer, then a written plan, then a monthly look at what moved.
The Scorecard
Does your businessrun without you?
A short scorecard for owners. Answer plain questions about your week. See where the business still leans on you, and what to hand off first.
The Owner Scorecard: Does Your Business Run Without You? · PDF
The Record
What the long look looks like, start to end.
Case study
Six months inside a plumbing firm that was busy and broke
- The situation
- The owner was flat out. Trucks were booked weeks ahead. The money never showed up at the end of the month, and nobody could say which jobs were losing it.
- How we approached it
- We spent six months in the business. We read the books, sat in on quoting, and went out with the crews. Then we wrote up what we found and what to work on first.
- The outcome
- A short written plan. Which work to stop taking. What to charge. And the two numbers to watch every week.
Illustrative example. Not a description of a specific engagement, and not a promise of comparable results.
Questions
Questions owners ask before they call.
- What does a business coach do?
- A business coach looks at how your business runs and helps you fix what is slow. We look at the money, the people, sales and the plan for when you step back. Then we meet each month to check what moved.
- Do I need a coach if I have an accountant?
- Your accountant keeps the books and files your taxes. We look at how the business runs day to day: prices, people, sales and who runs it next. We work with your accountant, not in place of them.
- How do I know my business needs outside help?
- Most owners call when they are busy but not making more, when good people leave, or when they start to think about who takes over. If any of that sounds like you, a short call will tell us both.
- How much does business coaching cost?
- The first call costs you 20 to 30 minutes. After that, we set the price from the size of your business. You see the number before any paid work starts.
- Where are you based?
- Our office is in Northampton, MA, in the Pioneer Valley. If you are local, we aim to meet in person. If not, we meet by video or phone, so where you are does not matter much.
Where to start
Which one sounds like you?
Each one starts the same way, with a short call. It takes 20 to 30 minutes, and we both find out if we fit.
- 01
Working harder, earning the same
We go through the whole business and come back with a plan for what to fix first.
- 02
Losing ground
We find what is actually going wrong before you spend money on the wrong fix.
- 03
Changing hands
A short call to start, then a plan for what to sort out before it changes hands.