So you built a profitable creative business. Now you're stuck in it.

You're making money but always feel broke.

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I'm Rita Ono. I spent 18 years in finance, Big 4, HBO, NBCUniversal, Amazon Ads, and CFO through a media company acquisition, and I've seen the same pattern with every seven-figure creative founder.

You're saying yes to custom work that doesn't scale. You're paying expenses before clients pay you. You don't know which projects are actually profitable. You're making $100K+ decisions, like pricing, hiring, which projects to take, all without real data.

I help you see which projects are actually profitable, where cash is going, and what's keeping you founder-dependent, so you can finally make decisions with confidence instead of gut feel.

If this sounds familiar, let's see if I can help.

THE PATTERN + REAL PROBLEM

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Every creative founder I work with discovers the same thing.

Your finance problems aren't finance problems. They're visibility problems.

Bookkeepers track expenses. Tax accountants file returns. Neither helps you see which projects are actually profitable, where cash is really going, or what's keeping you stuck.

When founders finally get visibility, they discover their business model was breaking for months. That's why cash was always tight. They just couldn't see where it was going.

The 4 pillars that separate founder-dependent businesses from ready-to-scale companies.

The businesses that scale profitably, attract capital, and give founders freedom all do four things right. Most creative businesses fail at least two of them, and don't realize it until they're bleeding cash or fielding acquisition interest with no clean books to show.

I call it the 4-Pillar Framework.

  • Without clear positioning, you're in "convince mode" on every sales call. Clients shop you like a vendor instead of seeking you out as a partner. When positioning is right, clients understand your value before the conversation starts and acquisition interest comes inbound.

  • If every project is custom, you're reinventing the wheel for every client. Your team can't build mastery because no two projects are the same. When you have a standardized core offering, your sales team closes deals without you and revenue grows faster than headcount.

  • No proprietary IP. No recurring revenue. No systems that compound value over time. You're trading time for money at scale, which means your business is capped by your personal capacity. When you build repeatable frameworks and strategic partnerships, you multiply reach without multiplying effort.

  • You're paying expenses before clients pay you. You don't know which projects or clients are actually profitable. Your books are cash-based, so you can't see what's coming. When you fix this, you have positive cash flow and real-time clarity on margins, financials clean enough that an investor or acquirer would take you seriously.

HOW TO WORK WITH ME

Start with clarity. Scale with confidence.

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My clients start with the Business Readiness Assessment to see where they're vulnerable. From there, we determine what makes sense based on what needs fixing and how fast you need to move.

Business Readiness Assessment

$3,500
See what your gut already suspects, confirmed in data.

You know something's off. You're profitable on paper but cash is always tight. You've hired people but you're still the bottleneck. Revenue is growing but margins are shrinking.

The assessment tells you where you're exposed, what's fixable, and what to do first. You'll walk away knowing exactly what's keeping you stuck, and whether we're the right fit to fix it together.

What you get

A written diagnostic across four pillars, Positioning, Scalability, Leverage, and Earnings. with a prioritized action plan and a 90-day roadmap. Includes a kickoff session to pressure-test the findings.

Who this is for

Founders running creative businesses who know something needs to change but aren't sure where to start.

After our business assessment, I’ll recommend one of three paths.

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Path 1

Strategic Foundation

Starting at $5,000/mo
Complete financial infrastructure buildout with integrated execution (2-4 months)

Your books are a mess, or just good enough to be dangerous. Maybe the numbers are technically correct, but they're not tracking what actually matters, like profitability by project, by client, by service line. You can't make real decisions because your financials weren't built to answer real questions.

I design the system. My trusted partners (controller/bookkeeper) build it. In 2-4 months, you'll have clean books, reliable reporting, and numbers you can actually use. Then we can shift to strategic partnership.

Good for founders whose financial infrastructure is broken or missing. You're done flying blind and ready to build the financial infrastructure your business should've had from the start.

Path 2

Strategic Finance Partnership

$5,000/mo
Your ongoing strategic thought partner once the foundation is set.

You've built this without outside money, and you want to keep it that way. But scaling without a financial gut-check is how profitable businesses quietly become unprofitable ones. The wrong hire. The project that looked good but bled margin. The client you kept too long.

Monthly strategy sessions to stress-test your biggest decisions with someone who knows your numbers. Between calls, I'm a text away when the decision can't wait.

Good for founders who are scaling on their own terms. No investors, no debt spiral, no growth-at-all-costs. You want a financial partner who gets how creative businesses actually work, and who'll help you grow without breaking what you've built.

Path 3

Growth & Capital Strategy

Starting at $8,000/month
Strategic finance partnership for M&A, fundraising, or major transformation.

You're preparing for the biggest financial moment of your business. Maybe you're getting ready to sell. Maybe you're raising capital. Maybe you're restructuring to survive, or to finally become the business you should've been all along.

This isn't the time to figure it out alone. You need someone who's been in the room when deals get done, who knows what buyers and investors actually look at, and who'll make sure your numbers tell the story you need them to tell. I know how creative businesses get valued, and undervalued. I'll make sure yours doesn't leave money on the table.

Good for founders facing a high-stakes inflection point. You're selling, raising, restructuring, or making a major strategic bet, and you need your financials to be bulletproof. Books must already be clean. If they're not, we start with Strategic Foundation first.

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Ready to find out where you're vulnerable?