Forge
Where great businesses are forged

Your business is worth
more than you think.

Let us prove it.

Forge Advisory Partners works with owner-operated businesses across Ohio — helping you build value, understand your numbers, run more efficiently, and make your next move with confidence.

Request a Free Diagnostic → See how we work
Hands–On
We show up like we work there
Ohio–First
Owner-operated, founder-led
Expert–Led
Strategic rigor, owner-side alignment
100%
Aligned with your outcome
The Problem

Most owners leave real money on the table. Not because they don't work hard — because no one ever told them the score.

You've spent years building something. But when it comes time to understand your true value, attract the right buyers, or simply run more profitably, you're navigating blind.

Forge Advisory was built for exactly this gap — the owner-operated business that's too sophisticated for generic advice and too focused on operations to carve out real time for strategy.

  • 01
    Flying blind on financials
    Monthly reports arrive weeks late. Decisions run on gut — and margins suffer for it.
  • 02
    Trapped in the business
    Every critical function runs through you. The business grows — but so does your dependency.
  • 03
    Untapped operational capacity
    Hours disappear to manual work, duplicated effort, and broken handoffs your team has normalized.
  • 04
    No clear path forward
    You know the business needs to change — but between running day-to-day operations and putting out fires, there's no bandwidth left for strategy.
  • 05
    Generic advisors, generic results
    Big firms want big clients. Your CPA doesn't think like an operator. There's no one in your corner thinking about the full picture.
What We Do

Three ways we move the needle — together.

We don't hand you a deck and walk away. We sit inside the business with you — applying real expertise until the results are real.

01

Financial Clarity & Performance

We apply a sharp financial lens to your business. Real-time dashboards, margin analysis, early warning indicators — so you make decisions from data, not memory.

Financial Intelligence
02

Operations & AI Implementation

We find where the hours are going — then we eliminate the friction. Real AI workflows, process automation, and team enablement that your people actually use.

Operational Excellence
03

Strategic Advisory & Business Positioning

When the time comes to make a big move — we make sure you're ready. Strategic preparation, deal structuring, and guidance from people who are entirely on your side.

Strategic Advisory
Who We Serve

Owner-operated businesses across Ohio.

We work exclusively with founders and operators — the people who built it, who run it, and who have the most to gain from getting strategy right.

Where We Work
Ohio & Midwest
Owner-operated · Founder-led · Field-tested
Home Services
HVAC Plumbing Electrical Roofing Pest Control
Commercial Services
Facilities Janitorial Landscaping Security
Industrial & Specialty
Light Manufacturing Industrial Services Equipment Services Specialty Contractors
Environmental
Remediation Waste Management Water & Air Quality Compliance
The Forge Diagnostic

Where every engagement starts.
No cost. No obligation.

Before we talk about working together, we want to understand your business. The Diagnostic is complimentary — and genuinely useful whether you hire us or not.

Step 01
Discovery Conversations

We sit with you and your key people — understanding the business from the inside out, not just from a spreadsheet.

Step 02
Financial & Operational Review

We apply an expert financial lens to your numbers — identifying margin leaks, inefficiencies, and hidden growth constraints.

Step 03
Your Live CEO Dashboard

We build a real-time view of your business — KPIs, performance trends, and early warning indicators, all in one place.

Step 04
Written Findings Report

3–5 prioritized recommendations with clear expected impact. Then an honest conversation about whether we move forward.

"If we can't clearly identify enough value to justify working together, we'll be the first to say so — and we'll work with you to figure out what does make sense."
The Forge Promise
Honest.
Always.
What Actually Changes

The outcomes that matter
to a business owner.

Not deliverables. Not slide decks. Real changes in how your business runs and what it's worth.

Real-Time Business Visibility

You stop making decisions based on gut and end-of-month reports. A live dashboard gives you an honest picture of your business — every day.

Hours Back Every Week

The time your team wastes on manual tasks and broken processes gets automated. That capacity goes back into the work that actually grows the business.

Growth Without Headcount

The instinct is to hire. We help you find the capacity that's already there — in your existing team, your existing data, your existing systems.

AI That Actually Helps

Not ChatGPT as a search engine. Real AI workflows that take tasks from an hour to five minutes — that your team actually knows how to use and build on.

Financial Clarity

A seasoned financial lens on your business. You'll understand your margins, your risk, and your levers — and make better decisions because of it.

A Partner, Not a Vendor

We show up like we work there. Your wins are our wins. We don't hand you a strategy deck and walk away — we stay until the results are real.

Dan Stewart with his family
About the Founder

Dan Stewart

Founder & Managing Partner

Dan built Forge Advisory on a simple premise: owner-operated businesses deserve the same quality of financial and strategic thinking that the biggest companies get — without the overhead, the jargon, or the misaligned incentives.

Before founding Forge, Dan spent years evaluating and analyzing companies through the lens of a major bank's investment arm — developing the discipline of seeing businesses not just as operations, but as assets. He knows what sophisticated buyers look for, what the numbers really say, and where owners tend to leave the most value on the table.

He brings that same rigor to every client engagement — and none of the Wall Street distance. Dan is based in Columbus, and he works the way Midwesterners do: straightforward, hands-on, and in it for the long haul.

Husband and father of three
Columbus, Ohio
Golfer. Family Line Cook. Amateur Photographer.
Let's Start the Conversation

Your business is ready
for the next level.
Let's find out what's in the way.

Start with the Forge Diagnostic — complimentary, no obligation, and genuinely useful whether you work with us or not.

Request Your Free Diagnostic → Ask a question first
dan@forgeadvisorypartners.com  ·  Columbus, Ohio