The Proof
Real owners. Real results. Real independence.
Successful owners who had become the one thing their business could not run without, and who transformed it into one that performs, scales and holds its value without them. These are their businesses, their numbers, and their words.
What's actually limiting your growth?We are two owner-operators who have worked inside businesses from global enterprise to owner-led firms, across every sector.
87 owner-led businesses · 60+ years of combined owner-operator experience · built, scaled and sold across six continents
In every one of these, the work started in the same place.
Not with the business. With the owner.
Case study one · Rosemount Kitchens, Melbourne
From the engine of the business to its strategic leader.
A family-owned kitchens and bathrooms business that had outgrown the way it was built.
Five years on, it runs on a leadership team and a factory of its own, and the owner leads it instead of carrying it.
Where it started. When the work began in 2021, Rosemount was turning over around fifteen million and leaned heavily on its owners. Mark and Julia carried most of the leadership, the decisions and the operational load. Manufacturing was outsourced across suppliers in Melbourne and Sydney, so quality, timing and cost were never fully theirs. There were no formal departments, no leadership structure, no operating rhythm. The business had the demand, the reputation and the room to grow. It had outgrown the structure of a family business and had not yet built the structure of a managed one.
What the work involved. The task was to turn a business that depended on its owners into one that runs on its leaders. Over an engagement that began in 2021 and is still going, the work covered four fronts. Leadership and structure: a full organisational redesign, departments with clear head-of-department ownership, the recruitment of a General Manager, leadership development across the business, and governance through a board that now meets monthly. Operating rhythm: a leadership cadence, annual strategic planning, executive accountability, and KPI discipline. Manufacturing control: the strategy, capital decision and launch of Rosemount Joinery, bringing quality, timing and price control fully in house. Growth enablement: sales process discipline, pipeline management, and the Leadership Academy run across the whole team.
The moment it turned. The start of 2025 was hard. A new General Manager had just joined and the leadership team was under pressure. Instead of reverting to owner-led firefighting, the owners held the line and carried the team with them. Mid-year the leadership team reset, clarified direction, reinforced accountability and doubled down on execution. The result was a record year across every major measure. That was the moment Rosemount stopped being a large family business and became a professionally led enterprise.
Revenue
$15M to $19.3M, still climbing
Ambition
A vision of $30M+, and the structure to reach it
Leadership
6 Heads of Department running their own divisions
Governance
A board that now meets monthly
Operations
A General Manager leading day to day
Manufacturing
Rosemount Joinery, control brought fully in house
The Owner
From operational engine to strategic leader
The Business
Structured to scale, hold its value, or stand as a legacy
"We had the problem of being reasonably successful and growing a business, and as it continued to grow, parts of your business grow beyond you ... That relationship with Mike and Lyn to work with us has been absolutely critical and a large part of the success of our business."
Mark Tonkin, Owner, Rosemount Kitchens
The change reached the whole team
"I've directly seen ... people talking about the positive changes ... It would have been very different if it was just two of the heads of department doing the Academy, but everyone doing it at the same time and learning the same tools."
Matt Tonkin, Rosemount Kitchens leadership team
"Our business has changed massively. It's improved so much. There's been challenges in the last five years that I'm not sure we would have made it through, and made it through successfully, if it wasn't for Zento."
Jake Tonkin, Rosemount Kitchens
The owner changed first. Everything else followed.
Case study two · Brigham City Smiles, Utah
Run by numbers, not by one person.
A dental practice that used to run on its owner solving every problem as it landed. Now it runs on standards, structure and a leadership team, and the owner leads at the level the business needs.
Where it started. Dr Murdock, the owner and principal dentist, was carrying too much of the business himself. He solved problems as they came and made decisions on instinct rather than structure or data. He knew something had to change, but he did not have a clear way to step out of the weeds and lead at the level the practice needed.
What the work involved. The work put simple, powerful systems around the things that decide whether a business depends on its owner or runs on its leaders: leadership meetings, one-to-ones, recruitment, role clarity and accountability, applied directly to the realities of the practice. It challenged a culture that had quietly tolerated casualness and a lack of ownership. And it kept the owner out of the day to day and on the bigger picture, not the issue of the week: running the business by numbers rather than personalities, and building a structure that does not rely on the owner being involved in everything.
Where it is now. Expectations are clearer, conversations are more direct, and accountability is no longer ambiguous. The practice runs on higher standards, stronger communication and a shared understanding of what good looks like. It is building leaders, not just filling roles. And it is positioned for its next phase of growth, with the structure to scale without burning out the person at the top.
"What I value most is the strategic discipline Mike and Lyn bring. Coaching sessions are no longer about firefighting the issue of the week. We stay focused on the bigger picture: running the business by numbers rather than personalities, making better decisions, and building a structure that doesn't rely on me being involved in everything. I feel more in control, more confident, and far clearer on where we are heading."
Dr Murdock, Owner and Principal Dentist, Brigham City Smiles
The owner changed first. Everything else followed.
A longer track record.
Leaders who have worked with Lyn and Mike across thirty-five years.
Outcomes for any audience
"Mike's great strengths are his deep experience in delivering training targeted to his audience and his ability to facilitate outcomes for any kind of audience from senior executives to cynical technical experts."
Lindsay O'Sullivan,
CEO and Company Director
The message hits the mark
"He has the ability to engage with colleagues of all levels and ensure that the message hits the mark every time."
Sam McCready,
Chief Digital Officer, AFG
Increased top-line sales over four years
"Mike worked with the RACV City Club on sales and service strategies over a 4 year period delivering increased top line sales and customer satisfaction result ... his ability to engage a broad group has ensured our centre has gone from strength to strength."
Rebecca Arcuri,
Arcuri Consulting
The Untapped Value Scorecard
What's actually limiting your growth?
The Untapped Value Scorecard shows you, in a few minutes, what your business is capable of and the one thing most in the way. For most owners, it isn't the thing they'd have named.
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