The Skills Transferred.
The Playbook Didn't.
You led people through high-stakes situations before most business owners ever read a leadership book. What the Army didn't prepare you for is the work on the other side of the mission: building revenue, managing margin, and transforming an organization as it grows.
Military Leadership Is Genuine Leadership.
Leading people under pressure. Building mission clarity. Developing subordinate leaders who can run operations independently. Thinking strategically when the situation is changing and the information is incomplete. These are legitimate, transferable skills — and they show up in how veteran-owned businesses are run. The problem isn't who you are as a leader. The problem is that business runs on capabilities the military never required you to build.
Three Things the Military Never Taught You.
The training never covered them. Running a business requires all three.
Budget Isn't P&L
In the military, your budget arrived at the start of each cycle. You planned how to spend it. Running a business is the reverse: you build the revenue that creates the budget. That means understanding margin, covering overhead, making payroll, and still having something left to invest in growth. It's a fundamentally different discipline — and most military leaders have never had to do it.
There's No Pipeline in the Army
The mission drove your activity. Customers didn't. In business, the mission is funded by customers you have to find, convince, and close — and then keep. Building a sales pipeline, developing a value proposition, creating a marketing function: none of that was part of your job description. Now it is.
Organizations Don't Stay the Same Size
A squad was always a squad. A company was always a company. You transitioned between units — you didn't transform them. In business, you have to take the organization that got you here and rebuild it for where you're going. Different management layers, different processes, different systems. The structure that works at five people breaks at twenty, and what works at twenty breaks again at sixty. Making those transitions is something military service never prepared you for.
Someone Who Has Built What You're Building.
Kyle Spinks served in the Army. After leaving, he spent 25+ years as an operational leader in business — owning P&L for 65+ products and services, managing operations and sales training, and leading product management across growing organizations. The three gaps above aren't theory. They're problems Kyle has built solutions for, in companies that look like yours.
He works with veteran-owned businesses as a Fractional COO, EOS® Integrator, or one-on-one advisor — depending on where you are and what you need. Early-growth companies that need a sounding board on P&L and first hires. Growing organizations that need an Integrator to build the system. Companies in the thick of scaling that need an experienced operator in the seat.
Results That Speak for Themselves.
"When J&G Aviation, LLC brought Kyle on as our Fractional COO and EOS Integrator, we had struggled with profitability through much of our early years as a company. Within ten months, that story had fundamentally changed. What stood out as much as Kyle's operational expertise was how quickly and genuinely he connected with our people — earning the trust and respect of our entire team. I recommend him without reservation."
Let's Talk About Where You Are.
A 30-minute call to talk through your business, what you're running into, and whether working together makes sense. No pitch, no obligation.