Get Your Business Running Without You Running Ragged
Bill Stratton spent 30+ years running companies before he started coaching them. He grew one from $13M to $115M. He turned around another as CEO. Now he helps leadership teams across Central PA build businesses that actually work -- with a triple-certified toolkit most coaches don't carry.
No pressure. No pitch. Just a real conversation to see if we're the right fit.
You Built Something Real. So Why Does It Feel Like It's Running You?
You're the bottleneck and you know it.
Every decision runs through you. Your phone buzzes all weekend. You hired good people, but somehow you're still the one putting out every fire. You didn't build this company to become its most overworked employee.
You've tried consultants. They didn't get it.
They showed up with frameworks and slide decks, but they'd never made payroll. Never had to lay someone off. Never stared at a cash flow report wondering how to make it work. You need someone who's actually sat in your chair -- not someone who read about it in a book.
You know you should be growing faster, but you can't name what's holding you back.
The business isn't broken. It's just... stuck. Revenue plateaus. The same issues come up in every meeting. Your best people are frustrated and your worst people are comfortable. Something has to change, but you can't quite put your finger on what.
A CEO Who Lived the Transformation Before He Started Teaching It
Bill Stratton isn't a career consultant. He spent 30+ years running real companies -- managing global operations, making payroll, and sitting in the same chair you're sitting in right now.
At Adhesives Research, he helped grow a small manufacturer from $13 million to $115 million over 27 years. He managed a $25 million division with full P&L responsibility across three continents. Then he was recruited as CEO of Inclinator Company of America, a 95-year-old family-owned manufacturer that was losing money.
That's where everything changed -- not just for the company, but for his entire career. The transformation was so profound that Bill walked away from the corner office to dedicate himself to helping other business owners experience the same thing.
Today, he's led 350+ full-day sessions with 41+ leadership teams across Central PA. He brings three distinct certifications to every engagement -- a structured business operating system, instinct-based team assessment, and performance-aligned incentive design. He's not here to tell you what to do. He's here to help your team find the answers that are already in the room.
“I'm not a consultant. I'm a teacher, coach, and facilitator. The answer is always in the room with the people -- the leadership and team members. My job is to bring out that answer along the way.”
Bill works with leadership teams using EOS® (the Entrepreneurial Operating System®) -- a proven set of simple, practical tools used by over 250,000 companies worldwide to get what they want from their businesses. Learn more about EOS and Bill's practice.
How a Struggling 95-Year-Old Company Changed Bill's Life -- and His Career
In September 2014, Bill Stratton was recruited as the sixth President and CEO of Inclinator Company of America -- a family-owned manufacturer of residential elevators founded in 1923. The company had nearly a century of history. It also had a serious problem: it was losing money.
Bill did what experienced operators do. He made tough calls -- including a 10% workforce reduction in his first week. He stabilized cash flow. He built a stronger leadership team. But the business was still stuck. Sales had plateaued and he couldn't figure out why.
Then, at a Vistage meeting in Lancaster in 2016, a speaker handed him a copy of Traction® by Gino Wickman. Bill read it. Something clicked. He brought in a facilitator and started running a structured operating system with his leadership team that September.
What happened next is the reason Bill does what he does today. Through disciplined weekly meetings and a rigorous approach to identifying and solving issues, his team uncovered something they'd been missing for years. The root cause of their stagnant sales wasn't the product. It wasn't the team. It was the business model. Competitors were selling directly to builders while Inclinator was stuck in a wholesale-only model.
In May 2018, Bill proposed a bold pivot to the board: create a brand-new direct-installation division. Instead of selling a $13,000 wholesale elevator, they'd sell and install a $28,000 product with significantly higher margins. The board approved it. The company expanded to a full fleet of trailers and vans. Within months, Inclinator doubled in size and regained its position as the industry leader in residential elevators.
The experience changed Bill's trajectory. He'd spent 30+ years running companies. But this was different. He'd watched a simple, proven system unlock something his team had been sitting on all along -- the answer was in the room the entire time. They just needed the right process to find it.
Bill became a Certified EOS Implementer® in late September 2018. He signed his first client in January 2019. He hasn't looked back.
He didn't become a coach because he was looking for a second career. He became one because he couldn't keep something this powerful to himself.
A Teacher's Approach to Building Better Businesses
Bill discovered his love of teaching as a graduate school teaching assistant at Penn State. That thread -- the belief that the best answers come from drawing out what people already know, not lecturing them -- runs through everything he does.
He doesn't show up with a stack of answers. He shows up with the right questions, the right structure, and 30+ years of experience knowing what to listen for. His sessions are interactive, direct, and grounded in the real-world challenges his clients face every day.
The Answer Is Already in the Room
Bill doesn't bring outside solutions. He believes your leadership team already knows what's wrong and what needs to happen -- they just need the right framework and the right facilitation to get there. His job is to bring that out.
Practitioner, Not Theorist
Every recommendation Bill makes is backed by something he's actually done -- growing a company from $13M to $115M, turning around a failing manufacturer, managing global operations. He's not teaching from a textbook. He's teaching from the trenches.
Abundance Over Scarcity
Bill operates from a mindset of abundance and generosity, not fear and competition. He's part of a collaborative group of seven local business coaches who refer clients to each other for best fit. He mentors entrepreneurs for free through SCORE. He shares openly because he believes there's enough to go around.
People First, Always
After 30+ years of leading teams, Bill is convinced that the vast majority of organizational issues are people issues -- not having the right people in the right roles doing work they're wired for. Fix the people piece and most of the other problems solve themselves.
Bill's approach is direct, honest, and sometimes uncomfortable. He won't sugarcoat what he sees. But every business owner who's worked with him will tell you the same thing: that directness is exactly what they needed.
Three Disciplines. One Integrated Approach to Building a Better Business.
Most business coaches address strategy or leadership in isolation. Bill brings three distinct, certified disciplines that work together -- each one solving a different piece of the puzzle that keeps companies stuck.
Business Operating System Coaching
Give Your Leadership Team a Proven System to Run On
Bill coaches leadership teams through a structured set of practical tools that align your vision, build accountability, and create a disciplined rhythm for identifying and solving your biggest issues. Over approximately 10 full-day sessions across two years, your team learns to run the business together -- with clarity, consistency, and a shared plan everyone believes in.
- A leadership team aligned around a shared vision and plan
- A weekly rhythm that surfaces and solves issues before they fester
- Clear accountability so every seat in the organization has an owner
- A business that runs on a system, not on the founder's willpower
Kolbe Consulting
Know How Your People Are Wired Before You Put Them in a Seat
Using the Kolbe A™ Index, Bill assesses the innate problem-solving instincts of every person on your team. This isn't personality typing or behavioral assessment -- it's the only validated instrument that measures conation: the part of the mind that drives how people naturally take action. Most hiring decisions are based on resume and interview performance. But a person who interviews brilliantly may be fundamentally mismatched for the role they're filling. The Kolbe A Index reveals how someone is hardwired to get things done -- so you can match people to roles based on instinct-fit, not just skill-fit.
- Measurable insight into how each team member naturally operates
- Better hiring decisions based on instinct-fit, not just resume-fit
- Reduced turnover by placing people in roles they're wired for
- Fewer team conflicts from mismatched working styles
ProfitWorks Coaching
Turn Your Team Into Owners -- Without Giving Up Equity
Bill is among the first seven coaches in the country certified in the ProfitWorks Solution® -- a system for designing employee incentive plans that actually change behavior. Most bonus structures become entitlements. Employees expect them regardless of performance. The company pays out whether profits grew or shrank. Nobody's behavior changes. Nobody thinks like an owner. ProfitWorks flips the model. Bill helps you design No-Entitlement, self-funded incentive plans where employees actively participate in finding incremental profit. When the company wins, they win. When it doesn't, they don't. The plans are simple to explain, easy to administer, and they turn your workforce into a team of people who think and act like they have skin in the game -- because they do.
- Self-funded incentive plans where employees find the profit to fund their own payouts
- Compensation that shapes behavior, not just rewards showing up
- Employees who think and act like owners without equity dilution
- Plans that are simple to explain, understand, and administer
Bill often uses all three disciplines together -- the business operating system for structure and accountability, Kolbe for team alignment, and ProfitWorks for compensation that drives the right behavior. During your free call, he'll help you identify which combination fits where your business is right now.
Real Numbers From Real Companies. Not Hypotheticals.
A 95-Year-Old Manufacturer Doubled in Size
Inclinator Company of America
Transformed from a money-losing wholesale manufacturer into an industry leader by creating a direct-installation division that turned a $13,000 product into a $28,000 installed solution with significantly higher margins. The company doubled in size.
Bill led this transformation as CEO -- the same approach, discipline, and leadership principles he now brings to every client engagement. He didn't just coach this turnaround. He lived it.
From Stuck to Spectacular in Five Years
A Central PA professional services firm
Tripled revenue over five years with strong sales, utilization, and profitability -- after years of feeling stuck with no clear path to growth.
Under Bill's guidance, the leadership team focused intensely on getting the right people in the right roles. Once they solved the people puzzle, the growth followed.
A Small Manufacturer Became a Global Player
Adhesives Research, Inc.
Grew from $13 million to $115 million in revenue. Expanded from a national business to a global operation with markets across North America, Europe, and Asia.
Bill spent 27 years in progressive leadership roles at this company, managing a $25 million division with full P&L responsibility and leading its Lean Six Sigma transformation.
What You Get That You Won't Get Anywhere Else
He transformed his own company using the same system he now teaches.
Bill didn't learn this from a certification course and start selling it. He used it to turn around a struggling 95-year-old manufacturer as its CEO. He's sat in your chair. He knows what it feels like when the process challenges your assumptions -- and he knows what it feels like when it works.
30+ years of making payroll, not making slide decks.
Before becoming a coach, Bill ran divisions, managed global operations, and carried full P&L responsibility. He grew a company from $13 million to $115 million. He managed a $25 million business across three continents. When he walks into your session, he brings the perspective of someone who's lived the reality of running a business -- not just studied it.
A triple-certified toolkit that solves the whole problem, not just part of it.
Most coaches bring one tool. Bill brings three certified disciplines that work together: a structured operating system for your leadership team, the Kolbe A Index to measure whether your people are wired for their roles, and ProfitWorks incentive design to get your entire workforce thinking and acting like owners. Strategy, people, and compensation -- aligned under one guide.
Rooted in Central PA -- not parachuting in from somewhere else.
Bill lives in Lititz, works out of Lancaster, and is actively involved in 8+ local business organizations from the Lancaster Chamber to the Manufacturers' Association. He's not a big-city consultant making day trips. He's your neighbor who happens to have 350+ sessions of experience helping companies just like yours.
Is This the Right Fit for Your Business?
Bill works best with entrepreneurial business owners and leadership teams who know their company can do better -- they just haven't found the right path forward yet. Most of his clients are in Central PA, and many come from industries where he's spent his own career.
Stuck Growth-Stage Companies
You've built a real business, but growth has plateaued. Revenue is flat. The same issues keep recycling. You're working harder than ever but the needle isn't moving. You're ready for a disciplined approach to break through.
Manufacturing & Construction Firms
You run a company in an industry Bill knows from the inside -- 27 years in manufacturing, Lean Six Sigma expertise, and deep relationships across Central PA's industrial ecosystem. He speaks your language.
Owners Ready to Work ON the Business, Not Just IN It
You're tired of being the answer to every question. You want a leadership team that can run the business without you in the room for every decision. You want your time back -- and you're willing to do the work to get it.
Bill is probably not the right fit if you're looking for a quick fix or a consultant who'll hand you a report and disappear. This work requires commitment from your entire leadership team -- showing up, being honest, and doing the hard work between sessions.
If you see yourself in any of these descriptions, a free call with Bill is the easiest way to find out if there's a fit.
Three Steps to a Business That Works Without You Working Nonstop
Book a Free Call
A casual, no-pressure conversation where you share what's going on in your business and Bill shares his background and approach. He'll help you identify which of his three disciplines -- leadership team coaching, Kolbe team assessment, or ProfitWorks incentive design -- is the right starting point for where you are.
Bring Your Leadership Team for a 90-Minute Session
If it makes sense, Bill meets with you and your leadership team for a free 90-minute session. Your team walks away with real, actionable tools they can use immediately -- whether or not you decide to move forward.
Build a Business That Runs on a System, Not on You
Your leadership team masters a proven set of practical tools, builds a culture of accountability, and creates a business where the right people are in the right roles doing the right things. With Kolbe and ProfitWorks woven in where they fit, every level of the organization gets aligned -- from the leadership team's vision down to the incentive plan that drives daily behavior.
The first call costs you nothing. The 90-minute session costs you nothing but your time -- and your team walks away with tools they can use regardless. There's no long-term contract and no commitment until you're ready.
You Already Know Something Needs to Change.
You've read this far because something resonated. Maybe it's the stuck feeling. Maybe it's the exhaustion of being the answer to every question in your company. Maybe it's the nagging sense that your business should be further along than it is.
The companies Bill works with felt the same way before they started. Now they have leadership teams that are aligned, accountable, and actually enjoying the work again. Their people are in the right roles, wired for the work, and compensated in a way that drives the right behavior.
The first step is a conversation. That's it.
No pitch. No pressure. Just a real conversation about your business.
“It doesn't cost you any money; it just costs you 90 minutes of your time. And if nothing else, you're going to get some tools you can take back to your business.”