Coaching & Consulting

Plan it, grow it, strengthen it — or get it ready to sell.

Coaching and consulting for entrepreneurs, established companies, and mission-driven organizations — led by a founder who's built businesses from the ground up and has performed his own exits along with aiding others in their exits. We help you plan, grow, sharpen operations, and prepare for a confident exit or continued operations with better operational trajectory.

Schedule a Consultation Explore Services
Plan
A roadmap built on real research
Grow
Strategy that drives revenue
Exit
Positioned and sale-ready
Who we help

Tailored to where your business stands.

Every organization is at a different point on the map. The plan you need depends on where you are — and where you're trying to go.

Startups

Bold vision, big ideas, and limited runway. For founders, the hard part is rarely the destination — it's the route. We help you chart a course and navigate the calm stretches and the rough ones alike, turning an idea into a plan you can actually act on.

Established Businesses

When you already have something worth protecting, change carries risk. The goal is to move the business forward without breaking what already works — which means truly understanding your operations, teams, and workflows before we touch a thing.

Nonprofits & Municipalities

Mission-driven organizations answer to boards, members, and communities rather than shareholders, with their own funding realities and stakeholders. The dynamics differ — but the need for a clear, honest, workable plan is exactly the same.

What we do

Practical expertise across the moments that matter most.

01

Problem Solving

When the business hits a wall, we get to the root of it — then build a clear, actionable path through.

02

Business Planning

A custom plan built on real market research, realistic assumptions, and conservative projections — the kind lenders and investors take seriously.

03

Strategic Advisory

Clear, realistic strategy beneath everything you do: financing, growth, marketing, sales, operations, and people.

04

Exit & Sale Preparation

We position your business to attract the right buyers and command its full value when it's time to step away.

05

Operational Streamlining

We tighten how the business runs day to day — reducing friction, clarifying roles, and freeing you to focus on growth.

06

Coaching & Strategy

One-on-one guidance for owners and leaders making high-stakes decisions — think clearly, decide confidently, lead well.

Fractional Executive Leadership

Not just advice — leadership that embeds with your team.

Some moments call for more than a consultant. They call for someone who sits at the table, owns outcomes, and helps lead. Motivate USA can step in as a fractional executive — the strategic vision of a CEO, the operational execution of a COO, or both — without the cost of a full-time hire.

StrategyLeadershipSystemsResults
Fractional CEO

"Executive leadership without the full-time executive cost."

Strategic leadership, growth planning, and accountability — the direction and decision-making a CEO provides, on a fractional basis that fits your stage and budget.

What a Fractional CEO drives

  • Strategic planning & business direction
  • Growth initiatives & revenue and profitability improvement
  • Leadership development & organizational alignment
  • Executive decision-making support
  • Exit planning & succession planning
  • Board & stakeholder communication

Best fit for

  • Founder-led & family-owned businesses
  • Companies navigating growth challenges
  • Roughly $1M–$25M in revenue
  • Businesses preparing for acquisition, sale, or transition
Fractional COO

"Turning strategy into execution."

Operational excellence, systems, and accountability — the engine that turns a plan into consistent, repeatable results your whole team can run on.

What a Fractional COO drives

  • Operational leadership & execution support
  • Process improvement & workflow optimization
  • KPI development & team accountability
  • Customer experience improvement
  • Scalability planning & organizational efficiency

Best fit for

  • Growing & service-based businesses
  • Multi-location, manufacturing & distribution companies
  • Teams struggling with execution & operational consistency
Entry option

Executive Advisory

Want senior-level perspective on a lighter cadence? Executive Advisory gives you strategic guidance, leadership coaching, and accountability through regular executive sessions — a natural first step that can grow into a fractional CEO or COO engagement.

Strategic guidanceLeadership coachingAccountabilityMonthly executive sessions

Many companies need both strategic vision and operational execution. Motivate USA can provide either — or step in as both — to build sustainable growth, stronger profitability, and a more scalable organization.

How we work

Intensive, thorough, and genuinely collaborative.

Most clients tell us the process of building the plan ends up more valuable than the document itself.

01

Discovery

We learn your history, goals, stakeholders, and the outside forces acting on you — through interviews, research, and honest conversation.

02

Strategy

We pressure-test assumptions and set a direction that's clear, realistic, and tied directly to how you make money.

03

Iteration

We expect to revise — more than once. The first draft is never the last. If you're not satisfied, neither are we.

04

Beyond the Plan

Raising capital? We'll stress-test your plan through an investor's eyes and help prepare the pitch and materials.

The person behind the work

Meet Joseph Stern.

Joseph Stern, Founder and President of Motivate USA
Joseph SternFounder & President, Motivate USA

Joe isn't a consultant who learned business from a textbook. He's a founder who built one from nothing — and sold it.

Starting as a bootstrap startup, Joe grew Ceramic Pro Sarasota into a multi-million-dollar operation: a 20,000-square-foot facility, a team of 25-plus, and a national ranking in the top five of more than 5,000 certified installers. In 2021, he completed his own exit through a corporate asset and commercial property acquisition. He knows what it takes to build, scale, and step away — because he's lived every part of it.

That founder's perspective is what he brought to Gear Re-Store, North America's largest outdoor-apparel repair company, where he spent more than two years as a C-level consultant. He helped bring in 30-plus new brand accounts at a company working with names like Patagonia, Arc'teryx, and Canada Goose, built out SOPs and a leadership-development program, and helped guide the company through a 12-month sale and ownership transition — drawing directly on his own exit experience.

Across two decades he's led operations and growth everywhere from early-stage startups to a Fortune 500 distribution center, in industries spanning automotive, outdoor retail, hospitality, and energy. He holds a B.S. in Organizational and Innovative Management from Colorado State University.

In his own words, he's a problem solver and a company evolver — too driven to sit still, and genuinely energized by helping other owners reach their goals. Motivate USA is how he puts that experience to work for you.

  • Built & sold a multi-million-dollar company — as the founder, start to exit.
  • Guided a 12-month company sale and ownership transition as a C-level consultant.
  • Ranked top 5 of 5,000+ installers nationwide in a competitive licensed network.
  • Led teams from startups to a Fortune 500 operation across multiple industries.
20+
Years in business leadership
Multi-$M
Company built & sold
Let's talk

Schedule a consultation.

Tell us a little about your business and what you're looking to achieve. We'll review your message and reach out personally to set up a conversation.

Available remotely nationwide and in person throughout the Sarasota & Tampa Bay, Florida area.