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Fractional CAIO — Prospect Intake (v2)

About 15 minutes. Honest beats polished.
Three short parts. Only the questions marked * are required.

PART 1 OF 3

About you

First Name

Last Name

Company

City and state

How did you find me?

PART 2 OF 3

Your business today

Industry / What you do

Approximate annual revenue

Number of employees

Annual revenue: a number is fine (for example, $400,000)

How many people work in the business, including you? Who does what?

Who could take work off your plate today?

No one

Someone, with training

Someone ready now

If someone, who?

Walk me through a normal day: the main things you do, about how long each takes, and what interrupts you.

What could you stop doing tomorrow without causing a problem? ("Nothing" is a fine answer.)

1. The One Thing *

If you could fix one thing about how your business operates — not the market, not the economy, not a competitor — one internal thing that's actually within your control, what would it be?

Take your time with this one. The first answer that comes to mind is usually the right one.

2. What Happened Last Time

Think of the last time you tried to implement a significant change, new process, or strategic initiative in your business. It doesn't have to be recent. What happened between when everyone agreed on it and where things actually landed 60 to 90 days later?

3. Where Things Break Down

When your team walks out of a planning or strategy meeting, do they leave with the same understanding of what was decided, who owns what, and what happens next? What typically breaks down first?

PART 3 OF 3

Where you want to go

4. What Success Actually Looks Like

If we worked together and it was genuinely successful, what would be different about your business — and your day-to-day life — 12 months from now? Be as specific as you can. Not what sounds good. What would actually feel different.

5. If Nothing Changes

If nothing changes, what does your business look like six months from now?

Be specific: revenue, your hours, your team, and what you are still handling yourself.

6. An Honest Question

If an honest assessment of your business pointed to a leadership behavior, a cultural pattern, or a structural problem that starts at the top — how open are you to hearing that directly? And what would it take for you to act on it? This isn't a gotcha. It's how I figure out whether I can actually be useful to you.

7. How You See the Problem

On a scale of 1 to 10, how much of the challenge you described above is a systems and process problem versus a leadership or decision-making problem?

Walk me through your thinking

One Last Thing

Is there anything else happening in your business right now — something I wouldn't know to ask about — that feels relevant to why you reached out?

Your answers go only to me. Nothing is shared or sold.

That's it. I'll review this before we connect, and our first conversation will be built around what you wrote — not a generic introduction to what I do.

Looking forward to it.

— Ethan Hale
Strategic Execution Consulting | Fractional Chief AI Officer