Advisor For Hire

Book only when you need one — no retainer, no minimum.

The numbers checked. The instinct trusted. A decision you can actually move on.

Book a session See how it works
What this is

One hour. One real problem. No strings attached.

Advisor For Hire is a paid, one-hour advisory session — booked only when you actually need it. You bring a real business problem or decision, something you're stuck on or just want another read on, and we work through it together: the numbers and your instinct, tested against each other, until you know what to do next. There's no retainer, no ongoing engagement, and no obligation to book again. Just help exactly when you need it, from a CPA and business operator who's actually done this before.

The gap

Most owners at $500K–$5M don't have anyone to check their thinking against.

Not a board. Not a CFO. Not even really their team.

THAT'S THE GAP THIS FILLS.

What people bring me

The topics that come up most.

Hiring & Team Pricing Cash Flow Growth Acquisitions Org Structure Sales & Marketing Operations & Systems Leadership
How it works

We work it from every angle, numbers and instinct both, until you know your next move.

The format is simple on purpose. An hour is enough time to actually work a problem — long enough to get past the surface-level answer, short enough to stay focused on the one thing that matters most today. Here's what that hour actually looks like:

01 02 03
01

Quick intake

Before we talk, you tell me the problem or decision you're facing, what you've already tried, and what's making it hard to move on. I read it beforehand, so we're not spending your hour on background.

02

One hour, together

We work it in order — what's actually going on, where your instinct already leans, then where I'd go if it were mine to decide. I bring the numbers and the pattern recognition; you bring the instinct and the context only you have.

03

Leave with a brief

An AI-assisted summary: what we worked through, the key facts, and your next move — a full plan, or the next right step.

A few recent examples

A business knew leads were coming in, but couldn't say where they were actually being lost. We built a way to track every lead's lifecycle — how long it sat before being worked, how long proposals sat before closing.

The visibility exposed two different problems. One rep was cherry-picking easy leads and letting the ones the company paid for go cold. Another was stuck because proposals took too long to turn around — so we changed the process to get "good enough" proposals out faster.

Then a third problem showed up once those were fixed.

It wasn't a process problem anymore. It was a volume problem. Time to hire.

An owner hadn't raised prices in three years — worried the wrong clients would walk if he did. When we actually ran the numbers, the clients he was afraid of losing weren't the ones keeping the business afloat.

His best-fit clients barely blinked at a fair increase. The ones who did leave were often costing more in time and stress than they were paying for anyway.

The price went up. Revenue didn't move backward.

The fear was about losing clients. The math was about which ones.

An owner was ready to move on an acquisition — excited about the new customers, the timing, the story it would let him tell. Before signing anything, we stress-tested the assumptions sitting underneath that excitement.

What actually had to be true for the math to work. How likely that really was. Where the plan was hope dressed up as a plan.

Half the assumptions didn't hold up.

Excitement is a fine place to start. It's a bad place to stop.

An owner had grown revenue by 50% in two years and felt like the business had never been harder to run. Before touching pricing or headcount, we broke the growth down by what actually produced it — not just how much came in, but what each part cost to deliver.

One part of the business was carrying the whole company. Another looked busy but barely covered its own costs once labor was counted honestly.

More revenue wasn't the fix.

Less of the wrong kind was.

An owner wanted a better follow-up process — customers weren't getting called back after estimates, and the fix seemed obvious: write a clearer SOP. Before touching the process, we looked for who actually owned the outcome.

Three different people believed it was their job. Functionally, none of them did.

Once one person actually owned the result, the follow-up problem mostly solved itself.

Not a single word of the SOP had to change.

What you get
  • A structured intake, so the hour isn't spent on background
  • One full hour, one-on-one
  • A written brief afterward — yours to act on or hand to your team
  • The option to book again anytime. Never required to.
Who this is for

This isn't for every owner. Here's how to tell if it's for you.

This is for

  • Owners of $500K–$5M businesses working through a real problem or decision
  • Most industries, with particular depth in home services trades — HVAC, plumbing, electrical, landscaping, and similar
  • Owners who want a second set of eyes from someone who's actually built and run a business
  • Owners ready to work the problem, not hand it off entirely
  • Sometimes it's a five-minute question you're too embarrassed to ask your team. Sometimes it's the biggest decision you'll make this year. Both are welcome.

Not for

  • Ongoing, done-for-you implementation — no retainer, no ongoing work
  • Retail, restaurants, manufacturing, or hotels
  • Talking in circles without something real on the table
  • Multi-year turnarounds solved in sixty minutes — big problems get worked one piece at a time
Tiffany Kao, founder of Advisor For Hire
About

15+ years running things, not just advising on them.

I've spent 15+ years working across sales, marketing, operations, back-office systems, and the financial structure underneath it all — as a CPA, and as someone who's actually run a business, not just advised on one.

That's what Advisor For Hire is: one hour, booked only when you need it. Bring me a problem or a decision, clear or still messy, and you leave knowing your next move.

"For hire" doesn't mean I do the work for you — it means you can book this kind of thinking, one hour at a time, whenever you need it, without being locked into a retainer.
Pricing
Per session
$250*

Covers the intake, the full hour together, and the brief you leave with. Prepaid, one session at a time — never an obligation to book again.

Book a session

*Introductory rate. Increases as availability fills.

FAQ

A few honest answers.

What if my problem is bigger than one hour?

Most "big problems" are really a few decisions stacked on top of each other. We'll find the one piece that unlocks the most progress right now. If there's more to work through, you come back for the next piece when it's time.

Does "for hire" mean you'll do the work for me?

No — it means you can book this kind of thinking, one hour at a time, whenever you need it, without being locked into a retainer. You leave with clarity and a next move; the execution is yours.

What industries do you work with?

Most industries, with particular depth in home services trades. The exceptions are retail, restaurants, manufacturing, and hotels. Government contractors and nonprofits aren't ruled out, just not the focus.

How do I know this will be worth it?

You won't walk away with certainty — nobody can promise that in an hour. What you will have is a decision or problem worked from every angle you have access to, tested against real numbers, by someone who's actually made calls like this before. That's usually enough to move from stuck to moving forward.

Do you advise on legal or tax matters?

No — and if something comes up that needs that kind of specific expertise, I'll say so directly and point you to someone in my network who has it. I only advise on what I actually have real experience with.

Is my problem too small or basic for this?

No. Bring whatever's actually in your way — a quick question you haven't had time to sit with, or something much bigger. If it's genuinely a five-minute answer, I'll tell you honestly and we'll keep it short. Most "small" questions turn out to have more underneath them anyway.

Diagnose first. Prescribe second.

— from "Your SOP Might Not Be the Problem," Down To It
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