Our Process: How Business Coaching Works | Ondara
Our Process: How Business Coaching Works | Ondara
Step 1: Right fit call
The story of your business
This is a conversation, not a sales call. Zoom or in-person over coffee.
You do most of the talking here. I'm listening for the story of the business—background, what's stressing you most, where you're stuck. I'm gauging financial knowledge, coachability, business complexity, and whether we're a good fit for each other.
This isn't about convincing you. It's about seeing if the work makes sense.
After this call: If we both think there's alignment, I'll request reports for the financial health assessment.
Step 2: free financial assessment
High-level clarity on where you stand
This is not a full audit. It's a diagnostic snapshot.
What I need from you:
Three years of financial history (if available)
P&L and Balance Sheet from your accounting system
What I'm looking at:
Top-level accounts only—books don't need to be perfect, but they need to be directionally accurate
Operating revenue should actually be operating revenue (not mixed with grants, loans, or other income)
COGS should be accurate for your industry: any cost incident to and necessary to serve the end user or create the product you're selling
Payroll, marketing, and overhead below the gross profit line
As long as account names reflect reality, I can work with the numbers you have.
What you'll get: A written assessment sent to you before our review call. No surprises. You'll have time to read it, sit with it, and bring questions.
Step 3: assessment Review call
Walking through what the numbers are actually saying
This call walks through the assessment you've already received. We discuss observations, patterns, pressure points, and what service level makes sense as a starting point.
This is where we pause if:
The financials aren't accurate enough to trust
There are disagreements between owners about what the numbers say
The data itself is too messy to proceed
If any of those apply, we recommend the Financial Assessment & Cleanup engagement. We cannot do strategic work without solid ground. We go back, audit the numbers, clarify reality, and make sure everyone—you, your co-owners, and I—are on the same page about where things actually stand.
After the assessment is clear, I recommend a starting point:
Strategic Partnership if you need thinking support without execution
Clarity CFO if you need ongoing interpretation and a dashboard that translates numbers into language you understand
Stabilization CFO if you're down to 90 days cash on hand and need immediate triage
Reconstruction CFO if the business has outgrown its structure and needs redesign
Financial Assessment & Cleanup if we need to establish baseline truth first
Curious about what each service tier includes?
Explore our services →
Step 4: proposal + Decision
No pressure. No urgency.
I send a proposal after the review call. You decide whether to move forward.
If you accept, work starts immediately. If you don't, that's fine too. This only works if both of us are certain it's the right move.
Step 5: Onboarding + Kickoff
Getting access, clearing logistics, setting ground rules
Once you accept, I send requests for access, questions, and anything else needed to begin.
The first week is a deep dive into your business.
Within 48 business hours of starting, we schedule the kickoff call. This is where we:
Work out any tech or logistics issues with access requests
Lay ground rules for communication and expectations
Talk through the plan for the first month
This is also where I confirm what you need from me and what I need from you to make this work.
Step 6: Initial Strategy session
The first call where we discuss action
This happens 7–14 days after kickoff, depending on how long it takes to get what I need from you.
This is the first call where we talk about what to do.
By this point, I've analyzed your business at the account level. I've identified the KPIs relevant to your industry and current goals. I've built a rough one-year forecast and reverse-engineered it into monthly numbers—this becomes both your budget and your tracking mechanism for what's working, what's off, and why.
I bring the financial expertise:
Where improvements can be made
Where the business is doing especially well
Ways to optimize
Threads we can pull to analyze further
All of this is based on your goal and your definition of success.
You bring the industry expertise.
When I bring the what, you bring the how. You're the implementer. Maybe that's you directly, maybe you delegate to your team—but it's yours to own.
Step 7: ongoing work
The rhythm depends on the engagement
Strategic Partnership & Clarity CFO: Month-to-month engagements with consistent rhythms. You can pause, adjust, or upgrade as your needs change.
Stabilization & Reconstruction CFO: Project-based engagements with defined timelines. More intensive. More frequent check-ins. Work continues until stability is restored or structure is rebuilt, then we reassess what's next.
Financial Assessment & Cleanup: Project work that ends when the data is reliable. Once complete, we circle back to determine what level of ongoing support makes sense.
What we expect from you
Honesty. Engagement. Self-awareness. Willingness to look at reality.
Ego containment. This work can be emotional—I understand the stakes of burnout, business ownership, and the stress that comes with it.
Vulnerability. The precondition of knowledge is ignorance. You won't know everything, and neither will I. That's okay. Vulnerability leads to faster results because there are fewer barriers to break through.
What you can expect from us
We will tell you the truth.
We will not soften reality to make you comfortable, but we will never shame you for where you are.
We bring financial rigor, pattern recognition, and strategic clarity. We don’t bring hype, hustle culture, or motivational language.
We will hold you accountable to what you said. We will not let you avoid the numbers or the decisions.
We will respect your time, your intelligence, and your business. We will not upsell you or lock you into something that doesn't serve you.
Ready to see which service fits your business?
Review service tiers →
If you're ready, book a Right Fit call.
If you're not sure yet, that's fine too. This process only works when the timing is right.