Fit
Who we work with, and who we don't
Owner-led professional services firms, 5–49 people, $1M–$10M revenue. Plus the five situations where we tell you not to buy, and why that is the honest answer.
This works when
- Owner-led. The owner still touches delivery
- 5–49 employees, roughly $1M–$10M revenue. Big enough to need it, small enough to move fast
- Consulting, marketing and creative agencies, architecture and engineering, IT services, accounting and tax
- A bookkeeper, maybe an office manager. No COO, no IT department
- 8–15 tools that mostly don't talk to each other
- Tried tools before. Still open to doing it properly
Owner-led is the gate. Revenue ($1M–$10M) and headcount (5–49) are indicators.
Which line is yours
Same firm profile, different disposition. Do not make the reader guess.
We build it
“I want it working. I don't want to learn this.”
- Something broke, or someone left
- No time. That is the point
- You get the system, running
We teach you to build it
“I want this capability in-house.”
- You already tried, and it stalled
- A block of time you will protect
- You get the system, and the next one
The question that decides it: Who would own this?
Free tools don't make it free. Forty hours of building and debugging is forty hours you didn't bill. The question isn't whether to pay, it's which way.
This does not work when
- 1. Volume is too low. The work happens four times a year. A checklist is the right answer.
- 2. The process is still changing. It changes monthly because the business is still figuring it out. Automating it freezes a guess.
- 3. The real problem is a hiring decision. The work needs judgement, not throughput.
- 4. The tool genuinely cannot do it, and replacing it costs more than the problem.
- 5. Nobody will own it. No internal champion, no sign-off, no adoption.
Frequently Asked Questions
- Who is STOA for?
Owner-led professional services firms with 5 to 49 employees and roughly $1M to $10M in revenue, where the owner still touches delivery and the firm runs 8 to 15 tools that mostly do not talk to each other. Owner-led is the gate; revenue and headcount are indicators.
- When should a business not automate a process?
When it happens four times a year, when the process still changes monthly, when the work needs judgement rather than throughput, when replacing the tool costs more than the problem, or when nobody internally will own it. STOA declines these and says why.
- Do you work outside North Carolina?
Yes. STOA is based in Durham and works with clients across the United States. The Triangle is the home market, not a boundary.
- How does an engagement start?
With a free 90-minute Operations Walkthrough that produces a one-page map of three systems in priority order, with prices. There is no obligation on either side.
Operations Walkthrough
Leave with a one-page map
90 minutes, free. Three systems in priority order, with prices.
Free · 90 min · no obligation