Craig and Jessica Laughlin, founders of Laughlin Business Advisors

Laughlin Business Advisors · Alexandria, Virginia

Build a business
you could sell
tomorrow.But don't want to.

Most owners try to fix a money problem by selling more. The money is usually already in the business, sitting in a handful of places most owners never check, like pricing, costs and follow-up. We help you find it and fix it in order.

Find Your Path

Nine questions, about two minutes.
Your result shows on screen, and your email is optional.

Want the math first? See what five small fixes are worth

What we do

We turn the revenue you already have into more profit.

$90,158New profit, year one

Five small fixes of five percent each, on a $500,000 business that keeps 10 percent of its revenue as profit.

5% + 5% + 5% + 5% + 5% is not 25%.

Added up, five fixes would mean 25 percent more profit. They multiply instead, because each fix builds on the one before it. Profit goes from $50,000 to $140,158. Up 180 percent.

Sample figures from our Profit Simulator. Run your own numbers

The fixYear one
Cut your costs5%$22,500
Stand out from competitors5%$12,500
A better offer5%$13,125
Raise your prices5%$27,563
Sell more to each customer5%$14,470
Added to the bottom line$90,158

Our influences

We studied the best. Then built our own.

None of the math was invented here, and that is the point. We kept what held up with real owners and built it into one system you work in order, on your own numbers.

Opening a business

The E-Myth RevisitedMichael GerberWhy people who are good at the work still fail at the business.
$100M OffersAlex HormoziHow to build an offer people feel foolish saying no to.
The Lean StartupEric RiesHow to test an idea cheaply before you bet the business on it.

Making it pay

Getting Everything You Can Out of All You've GotJay AbrahamHow to get more from the customers you already have.
Profit FirstMike MichalowiczPay yourself first and run the business on what is left.
Blue Ocean StrategyKim and MauborgneHow to stop competing on price by competing somewhere new.

Selling it well

Built to SellJohn WarrillowThe eight things that decide whether a buyer wants it.
Finish BigBo BurlinghamWhy most owners regret their exit, and what the others did.
Walking to DestinyChristopher SniderEleven actions an owner takes to grow what the business is worth.

Coaching other owners

The Coaching HabitMichael Bungay StanierSeven questions that help people find their own answers.
Million Dollar ConsultingAlan WeissHow to price advice on the value it creates, not the hours.
The Prosperous CoachChandler and LitvinHow to earn clients by coaching them, not by selling to them.

Companies that have these profit levers dialed in

We also studied the businesses that stay the most profitable year after year. Each one has at least one of the 12 profit levers working every day.

McDonald'sUpsell and cross-sell“Would you like fries with that?” Every customer is offered a little more.
AppleRaise your pricesIt charges more than almost every competitor, and people line up anyway.
Southwest AirlinesCut your costsFor decades it flew one type of plane, so every pilot, mechanic and spare part works on every plane.
DisneyBundle what you sellDisney+, Hulu and ESPN+ sold together for one price.
StarbucksPartner with other businessesCafes inside Target and Barnes & Noble reach customers in someone else's store.
Domino'sMarket onlineIt rebuilt itself around online ordering, and most of its U.S. orders now come in online.

The path to freedom

Four steps to a business that runs without you.

We find where your business loses money, fix it in order, and track the results on your own numbers every week.

01 · AwakeningYou see the cost.What the business costs you at work, at home and in yourself becomes a number.
02 · SubmittingYou stop pretending.More hours will not fix it. You admit the problem is real and decide it is yours to change.
03 · BecomingYou do the work.Weekly, then monthly, then quarterly, until the new way is how you run the business.
04 · LiberatingYou break free.The business pays you and your time is yours. Then you help the next owner get free.

One owner's week, before and after: see what freedom looks like

Where you are today

Which one is true right now?

Most owners walk more than one of these, usually in this order. Start with the one that is true for you today.

Launch Acceleration

I want to open my own business.

Open a local service business in 90 days, with every step laid out in order.

Explore Launch

Profit Acceleration

It is open, and it underpays me.

Find where profit is leaking, fix it in order, and keep more of what you sell.

Explore Profit

Exit Acceleration

I want to sell it well one day.

Build a business a buyer would pay for, whether or not you ever decide to sell.

Explore Exit

Coach Acceleration

I want to guide owners like me.

Turn what you have lived through into a coaching business on a proven system.

Explore Coach

Above every path sits The Boardroom. Craig works 1:1 as the chief growth officer on your business, with a weekly call plus quarterly and annual planning. The roster is capped at five clients at a time, and each seat runs on its own signed agreement.

Find Your Path

Not sure which one fits? Nine questions will tell you.

The Council table at 950 North Washington Street in Alexandria at dusk, set with notebooks and coffee under a single pendant lamp

The Owners Council · now open in Alexandria

Once a month, local owners take a seat at this table.

The Alexandria Small Business Owners Council brings together owners in and around Alexandria, Virginia. Each month opens with a training on one part of the business. Later that month, the owners at the table work it on their own numbers, and at the next meeting the table asks what you did.

How the Council grows: each hub is one table of up to 30 owners from the same area, meeting once a month. Every hub shares one online community and one monthly training, so your network grows each time a new hub opens. Alexandria is the first hub.

30Seats at the table, owners only

The Council meets on Zoom while the founding seats fill, then in person at 950 North Washington Street.

See the Alexandria Council, VA Bring the Council to Your Town: Join the Waitlist

Who you would be working with

I failed so you don't have to.

Craig Laughlin Jr, founder

I lost a marriage and a business to hustle culture, and rebuilding my life took years. I studied the coaches I hired, and I studied what the most profitable companies in the world do to make profit repeatable. That became the frameworks we teach today.

Jessica and I are equal partners. I lead the advisory work. Jessica runs delivery and keeps every piece of it on track, the way a certified project manager does.

Read the whole story

Portrait of Craig Laughlin Jr
Craig Laughlin JrFounder · Master Business Coach
Portrait of Jessica Laughlin
Jessica LaughlinFounder · PMP®
16Years as a business owner

Craig has built, run and fixed businesses of his own.

PMP®Jessica, certified

Jessica runs delivery as a certified project manager.

250+Owners coached a year

Five and a half years as a Director of Coaching, in four countries.

5×Certified

Three Acceleration certifications, Master Coach, Warrior Trainer.

Start this week

Bring the problem that's keeping you up at night.

Join The Profit Room free for seven days.

Post your question the day you join. Craig and Jessica answer in the community, and every week brings one proven fix, small enough to run that week, alongside a room of owners working the same fixes.

You may not solve it in a week, but you won't be solving it alone. I can't serve you if I can't see you. So bring it in.

Start Your Seven Days Free

Seven days free, then $97 a month or $697 a year.
Cancel it yourself any month.

The Profit Room on Skool: local business owners, get your money and your nights back

Your seven days

  • Post your hardest question on day one
  • One proven fix every week, sized to run that week
  • Cancel it yourself before day eight and pay nothing
  • Month to month, no contract and no refunds

To cancel, email [email protected] or send Craig or Jessica a DM in Skool.

For scale

The Boardroom, 1:1 with Craig above every path, is $7,497 a month or $74,970 a year. The Profit Room is $97 a month.

It was never about effort

You were never supposed to carry the business alone.

The money you need is already inside your business. Nine questions, about two minutes, and you will know which path to start on. Your result shows on screen, and your email is optional.

Find Your Path

Rather talk it through first? Book a call with Craig