Former Chief Credit Officer · Two $1B+ lenders

A business that runs without you.

For business owners, from the first $500K to $100M a year

20 years judging which businesses hold up. Now he guides owners: fix the bottlenecks, rebuild margin, step back.

Book my 30-minute diagnostic → See how it works

30 minutes · Free · No pitch deck · No follow-up sequence

$5B+credit overseen
20 yrsin credit & risk
1 pageyou leave with, either way
Key-person risk detected
-25% valuation exposure
First fix named
Findings memo Sample · what you leave with
FIRM ExampleREVENUE $3.8MBY T. Stepro
01 Approvals route through the owner$8,400+ decisions wait 6 days on average. Two clients flagged delays. HIGH
02 Margin leak in unpriced scopeRoughly 4 points of margin delivered free across 3 service lines. MED
03 Second line is promotableTwo seats ready for authority with a 90-day handoff plan. READY
Signed · T. Stepro · 30-min diagnostic Reviewed
The problem, drawn

Every line runs through you.

Buyers call this key-person risk. They pay less for it.

0/8 functions on this map route through the owner when we draw a typical owner-run business
YOU the bottleneck runs without you
Any size

A local shop and a $100M company break in different places.

Different problems, different fixes. Not one template. The same discipline, sized to you.

The local business$500K–$5M
What we see at this size
Only you can quote a job, so sales stop when you doStalls
Cash swings job to job, payroll month is a coin flipCash
One good guy quits and half the business walks outRisk
Prices set by gut, so busy months still make no moneyMargin

The goal: a shop that earns while you take the week off

There is no structure yet. Just you, working harder. Travis builds your first one: real prices, real roles, one number to watch.

The scaled company$5M–$100M
What we see at this size
Managers push every hard call back up to youStuck
No one owns margin by service line, so it leaks quietlyLeak
Approvals sit on your desk for days and deals cool offSlow
The org chart never caught up to the growthStrain

The goal: a company that decides and grows without you

The structure exists. It just all points at you. Travis rebuilds it: real authority below you, margin you can see.

$500K
$100M Both end the same place: a business that runs without you
The path

Where you are. Where you're going.

The bridge between the two is a structured roadmap. That is where Travis steps in.

Today

  • Everything routes through you
  • Busy, but margins are flat
  • Two weeks off feels impossible
  • Worth less than it should be
01DiagnoseFind what leaks and what leans on you
02PrioritizePick the three fixes worth making
03RestructureRight people in the right seats
04RunThe business holds it without you

Travis walks it with you, month by month.

Where you're going

  • The team decides without you
  • Margin you can see and defend
  • Real time away, nothing breaks
  • A business a buyer would pay for
The diagnostic · 30 minutes

A straight read. Then next steps.

Three steps. One written page. Yours either way.

STEP 01 · READ
Owner hours per week61
Gross margin41.8%
Owner-routed approvals6-day wait
Second-line authority1 of 5 seats

We look at how the business actually runs

Who decides, who executes, what stalls when you are out.

You leave with an honest map of where it depends on you

STEP 02 · FIND
KEY PERSON WRONG SEAT MARGIN LEAK

I mark what holds the business back

Single points of failure. Margin leaks. Wrong seats.

You leave with your three biggest risks, named

STEP 03 · DECIDE

RISK #1 · KEY PERSON

WORTH FIXING · YES

Memo delivered

You get it in writing. You decide.

One page: what I saw, what it costs you, what to fix first.

You leave with the memo, either way

Book my 30-minute diagnostic →

Free · The memo is yours, fit or no fit

The operating record

Figures, not adjectives.

The same read that judged billion-dollar loan books, pointed at your business.

The operator TS Travis Stepro, former Chief Credit Officer
Travis SteproChief Credit Officer at two $1B+ lenders · 20 years in credit & operations
$0B

Lending fund under my authority as Chief Credit Officer

AgAmerica Lending · 141-person team
$0M+

Securitization overseen across 18 states and ~2M acres

Ag Resource Management · CC&RO
0×

Team throughput doubled while headcount fell 50% by attrition

Quality standards held
0 days

Full risk and revenue split delivered on a board deadline

Customer experience intact

From the operating record. Founding-client memos are being written now. That is why the diagnostic costs nothing.

The alternatives

Every other option covers a piece. Travis covers the whole thing.

How much of the job each option actually covers

Peer groups & chairsVistage, EOS peer groups
Advice from the sidelines$$$$
Enterprise advisorybig-firm consultants
A report, then they leave$$$$
EOS implementersystem install, year one
Structure, not judgment$$$$
Fractional COOpart-time executive
Another exec to manage$$$$
Travisweekly working sessions, month to month
The clear choice
The whole job, in one seat$$$$
Book my 30-minute diagnostic →

Free · No pitch. No proposal after.

A fraction of what a fractional COO costs. Month to month, no annual contract. Early clients get founding terms while the first case studies are written. Exact number on the call, and it will not surprise you.

This is for you if

  • You own the business, whether it does $500K or $100M
  • The business grew faster than the structure under it
  • Too much still routes through you, and you know it
  • You want a straight read, not a program

It is not for you if

  • You are pre-revenue or still finding the model
  • You want a cheerleader instead of an honest answer
  • You want it run for you. This is advisory, not staffing.
  • You want a magic fix instead of doing the work.
The agenda

The 30 minutes, exactly.

0–5 minYour business, quickly. What you sell, who does what.
5–20 minWhere the biggest risks and opportunities sit.
20–30 minWhether it is worth fixing, and how. Straight answer.
Working session, not a sales pitch Memo in your inbox in two business days Confidential. NDA on request. Not a fit? I say so on the call
Book it

Thirty minutes. You will know where you stand.

Bring nothing. Leave with your three biggest risks in writing.

You meet Travis directly. No handoff. What you share stays between you.

30 minutes · Free · No pitch deck · No follow-up sequence