About me
Built from the machines up. Now I build yours.
How I actually learned operations.
I started my first real company in a garage with a hand built CNC machine, Vcarve, AutoCAD, and zero formal training in operations. Kages Custom Reptile Enclosures wasn't supposed to become a $1M+ business. But when you design every product yourself, build your own supply chain, and figure out fulfillment by doing it wrong a hundred times — you learn operations at a level no MBA program teaches.
I self-taught AutoCAD and VCarve, programmed the CNC machines myself, sourced raw materials, and built every product from scratch. When COVID hit and supply chains collapsed, I didn't wait — I went on offense. Bought out competitor materials, acquired their domain names, ran redirects to capture their search traffic. Competitors exited the market. We dominated.
Then I sold the company.
That exit is the credibility anchor. I didn't just build it — I built something valuable enough to sell.
$4M+
Scaled organically, no investors
$1M+
Peak annual revenue
1
Company built and sold
2
Fractional COO spots available
Proof of work
Businesses I've built, operated & sold
Kages Custom Reptile Enclosures
Custom manufacturing · E-commerce
Garage to $4M+ in 6 years, 2 employees, $0 raised. Scaled to $1M+ in annual revenue with a two-person team before a successful exit — no investors, no debt, no outside operators.
Before
- Garage operation
- No systems or processes
- No fulfillment infrastructure
- No team structure
After
- Multi-million dollar brand
- Full ops infrastructure
- Custom manufacturing at scale
- Successful exit achieved
What was built
- Manufacturing systems
- E-commerce storefront
- Order fulfillment
- Supplier relationships
- Customer lifecycle
- Exit preparation
6 YRS
garage to exit
2
Employees total
(including owner)
$4M+
over 6 years
$1M+
Annual revenue at exit
0
Outside investment
Sold
Successful exit
1515 Properties
Real Estate · Commercial & Residential · Wound Down
Solo operator. Built and ran a full-service real estate company handling residential sales, commercial leasing, and court-appointed receivership — wound down upon relocation.
Before
- No existing book of business
- Solo — no partners, no staff
- Multiple deal types to manage simultaneously
After
- 6M+ in closed deals across 2 years
- 10+ transactions spanning 5 deal types
- $1.8M Commercial sale at 1610 Harmon Place
- Receivership of 16 unit residential protfolio
- $1.8
Deal Types
- Commercial Sale
- Commercial Leasing
- Luxury Residential
- Buy/Hold
- Foreclosure
- Court-Appointed receivership
$6M+
Deals Closed
$1.8M
Largest Single Deal
10+
Transactions
5
Deal Types
As seen in Minneapolis / St. Paul Business Journal
Still building.
The businesses I run today are proof the systems work.
TIDE + TIMBERS
SEO · Website Design · Digital Marketing Agency
Built a boutique SEO and web agency from scratch. Hit $100K in revenue in Q1 of year one — entirely through organic channels and referrals, no ad spend.
Before
- No clients
- No service infrastructure
- No delivery systems
- No recurring revenue
After
- $100K Q1 revenue
- Repeatable delivery process
- Client retention systems
- Organic growth engine
What was built
- Service delivery framework
- Client onboarding
- SEO systems
- Referral pipeline
- Pricing structure
- Retention process
$100K
Q1 revenue, year one
$0
Paid acquisition
Active
Still operating & Growing
Ghost Constrictors
Live Animal · E-commerce
Built a live animal e-commerce operation from zero — solving logistics challenges most operators never face. Custom storefront, live animal fulfillment, and a full customer lifecycle built from scratch.
Before
- No storefront
- No fulfillment process
- No customer lifecycle
- No repeat buyer systems
After
- Full Shopify architecture
- Live animal shipping solved
- Customer lifecycle automated
- Actively growing today
What was built
- Shopify store
- Live animal fulfillment
- Breeding program mgmt
- Customer lifecycle
- Repeat buyer systems
- Product sourcing
279%
increase in website traffic
25%
increase in orders
55
morphs available
48
states shipped to
Philosophy
Most consultants hand you a strategy doc and a monthly invoice. I've built a product company from a garage to $4M in revenue and sold it. The difference isn't methodology — it's that I've done the work with my own money, my own products, and my own company.
Zach Keifer
Fractional COO — Builder, Operator, Seller
Get in Touch
The thing I'm best at is the operational buildout.
After building and selling my own company, I realized what I actually do: I take a founder's vision and turn it into a scalable machine. Most businesses between $1M and $5M are stuck because their operations can't keep up with their ambition. I taught myself CAD, CNC, supply chain, e-commerce, and SEO — not in a classroom, but by building real things and fixing real problems. That same intensity is what I bring to your business. I take on 2 clients at a time. If you're ready to stop firefighting and start scaling, let's talk.
