I help small business owners get to their first $100,000 in revenue — fast. Twenty years leading software development, fifteen years running a paid in-house dev team, and five businesses I've personally scaled past $1M in sales. Where most operators struggle in the trenches, this is where I thrive.
Most small business owners get caught in the same trap: they're great at the work, but they can't get past the revenue ceiling that comes from doing everything themselves. That's the gap I fill.
I work shoulder-to-shoulder with founders, sole proprietors, and early-stage operators to build the brand, the ads, the automations, and the infrastructure that turn one-off wins into predictable, recurring revenue. Not theory. Built systems that have moved real money — including my own.
I started in 1999, fresh out of high school, in the mortgage business. By 2003 I'd co-founded my own — RT Mortgage, which generated over $1M in revenue. Arc Mortgage came next as a turnaround. The 2008 collapse taught me what most operators only learn the hard way: the only edge that lasts is the one you build yourself.
During the mortgage years I also founded Allied Marketing Services — a marketing company that staffed and contracted 10–30 phone reps at any given time to generate mortgage leads. With no funding and no savings, I bootstrapped the operation by selling half of every night's leads to competing mortgage companies just outside my market area — covering the weekly cost of operations and turning lead generation into its own profit center. That single insight — leverage what you produce until it pays for itself — has shown up in every business I've built since.
That lesson sent me into e-commerce. Recycleabook moved over $10M in lifetime sales reselling college textbooks across Amazon and Half.com — built on top of proprietary pricing software, a 10-million-title database, and a 100,000-book warehouse. Then came Covert Cabinets, a concealment furniture brand I built to $1M+ in revenue from product design through overseas manufacturing and DTC distribution.
In 2020 I co-founded Automatemygig, a marketing services firm that did $1M+ in sales serving major insurance agencies. We built automated recruiting infrastructure, ran a 15–20 person phone team, and developed the licensed-agent database that would later become the backbone of PropHog. Toward the end of that run, I began taking on direct consulting clients — that's when my consulting practice was born, and it's been the work I love most ever since.
What I love most isn't the building. It's the unlock — when an operator sees the system click into place and the revenue starts compounding.
Today I'm doing two things: I'm growing PropHog, the software platform I built for real estate investors and insurance recruiters, and I'm spending my best hours working with other operators in the trenches — helping them brand their businesses, run advertising that converts, build automations that work, and engineer the predictable revenue most small business owners never figure out alone.
I've founded plenty of businesses across my career. Five of them I've personally scaled past $1M in sales — and the patterns that got each one there are the same patterns I bring to every operator I work with. I build systems. I find leverage. I move fast. And whether it's my business or yours, I treat it like the operator who has to live with the decisions — because that's exactly what I am.
My best work is with sole proprietors and small business owners who are great at what they do — and stuck on what comes next. Here's the playbook.
Most operators don't have a revenue problem — they have a system problem. I find the actual choke point: brand confusion, no lead engine, no follow-up, no automation, no offer. Whatever it is, we name it.
Brand, ads, automation, infrastructure — built to fit your business, not crammed in from a template. I've built dozens of these. I know what actually works for sole proprietors and small teams.
The first $100K is the hardest. After that, the math gets easier and the system carries you. I help operators cross that line — and turn one-off wins into recurring monthly revenue.
I don't want to be a permanent dependency. The goal is to leave you with a system you understand and can run without me — and the confidence to keep building.
A real example. A real operator. The kind of work I do best — and the result that comes from doing it right.
A small single-owner cleaning business — sole proprietor, no team, doing the work themselves. Great at the craft. Stuck on the growth.
We built the brand, set up the lead engine, dialed in the offer, automated the follow-up, and stood up the infrastructure to convert calls into recurring contracts. No fluff. No theory. Just the system that gets a sole-proprietor service business from chaos to consistent revenue.
The result: the business scaled to over $75,000 in annual recurring revenue — a real, repeatable monthly engine. This is what I love about this work. It's not glamorous. It's just an operator who needed help building the system, and a partner who knew exactly what to build.
I'm not a developer who started a company. I'm an operator who learned to lead developers — because every business I've built ran on custom software I specced, owned, and shipped.
I've been leading software development for 20 years. Not occasional projects — a continuous, paid in-house development team has been building under my direction for the last 15 years straight.
That's how Recycleabook handled 100,000 books and a 10-million-title database. That's how Covert Cabinets ran. That's how Automatemygig automated job-site integrations. And that's the foundation PropHog is built on today.
PropHog itself isn't one database — it's multiple specialized databases: insurance agents, agencies, realtors, mortgage brokers, and small business owners. Each one demands its own acquisition strategy, its own data structure, its own quality controls, and its own development roadmap. Building a database that actually works for an industry is a craft — not a script you copy-paste.
What that means for the operators I work with: I know the difference between a build that scales and a build that breaks. I know how to spec features that solve real business problems. I know how to manage developers without getting bulldozed. And I can build — or have built for you — the proprietary infrastructure that gives your business an actual moat.
A collection of businesses founded across mortgage, marketing, e-commerce, manufacturing, services, real estate, and SaaS. Five of them I've personally scaled past $1M in sales.
Proprietary software platform built on five specialized databases — insurance agents, agencies, realtors, mortgage brokers, and small business owners. Powers data-driven outreach, skip-tracing, and recruiting at scale. Mobile-first, growing fast.
Hands-on consulting for sole proprietors and small business owners — brand, ads, automation, and revenue infrastructure built to get operators to their first $100K. Recent work includes scaling a single-owner cleaning business to $75K+ ARR.
Active wholesaling and rental acquisition built on data-driven targeting. 100+ closings and a growing rental portfolio across Ohio markets — using PropHog as the lead-gen engine.
College textbook reselling business operating across Amazon, Half.com, and other liquidation channels. Built proprietary pricing, payroll, and inventory software at scale — 100,000-book warehouse, 10-million-title database. Software was later sold.
Concealment furniture brand built from concept to scale. Ran product design, transitioned manufacturing from local to overseas import operations, managed logistics and DTC distribution, and grew the brand to a national audience.
Marketing services firm for major insurance agencies. Automated job-site integrations, ran a 15–20 person phone team, and developed the licensed-agent database that became the foundation of PropHog.
Founded a marketing company during the mortgage years that staffed and contracted 10–30 phone reps at any given time generating mortgage leads. Bootstrapped with no funding by selling half of every night's leads to competing mortgage companies just outside my market — turning lead generation into its own profit center.
Two mortgage ventures: RT Mortgage co-founded in 2003, generating $1M+ in revenue. Arc Mortgage acquired and operated as a turnaround through the lead-up to the 2008 financial crisis. Foundational lessons in operations, compliance, and leverage.
Twenty-six years of starting things, scaling them, and rolling the lessons forward into the next venture. Below is the trail.
Built the proprietary software platform that's redefined how real estate investors find vacant properties and how IMOs recruit licensed agents. Personal investment of $100K+ in development. Now a growing team and a growing book of paying users.
The work I love most. My consulting practice was born toward the tail end of Automatemygig — taking on direct operators who wanted what we were building for big agencies, but tailored to their own businesses. Today it's full-time work with sole proprietors and small business owners — building the brand, ads, automation, and infrastructure that take an operator from chaos to predictable recurring revenue. Recently scaled a single-owner cleaning business to $75K+ ARR.
Active wholesaling and rental acquisition in Ohio markets — using PropHog as the lead-gen engine and reinvesting profits back into long-term real estate holdings.
Co-founded a marketing services firm serving major IMOs (FFL, SFG, Equis). Automated job-site integrations with Indeed and ZipRecruiter, ran a 15–20 person phone screening team, and originated the licensed-agent database that powers PropHog today.
Founded a concealment furniture brand. Ran product design, transitioned manufacturing from local to overseas, managed container logistics, and built distribution to a national audience.
Built a college textbook reselling business operating across Amazon, Half.com, and liquidation channels. Wrote proprietary pricing, payroll, and inventory software handling 100,000 books and a 10-million-title database. Sold the software for additional exit value.
Held a commissioned notary license for several years during the mortgage era — a complement to the closing and compliance work that came with the territory.
Held an active real estate agent license for roughly 12 months at the tail end of the mortgage business — putting boots on the ground in transactions to better understand the buyer side of the equation.
Acquired and revitalized a failing mortgage company. Operated through the lead-up to the 2008 financial crisis — earning lessons in compliance, leverage, and the realities of cyclical industries.
Founded a marketing company during the mortgage years that staffed and contracted 10–30 phone reps at any given time generating mortgage leads. Bootstrapped the operation with no funding by selling half of every night's leads to competing mortgage companies just outside my market — covering the weekly cost of operations and turning lead generation into a profit center. The same playbook for cash-flowing the cost of operations has shown up in every business since.
First major venture. Co-founded a mortgage operation built on strategic partnerships and client-focused sales — generating over $1M in revenue and learning what it takes to scale a regulated, sales-driven business.
Continued operating in the mortgage industry — refining sales, loan processing, and client acquisition — while pursuing a 50% ownership stake in another mortgage company. The lessons from that period directly shaped what I built when I co-founded RT Mortgage in 2003.
Entered the mortgage industry straight out of Fairmont High School. Foundational training in sales, client relations, and loan processing.
Different industries, same disciplines. These are the levers I pull every time I build something — for myself or for a client.
Hands-on work with operators in the trenches — sole proprietors and small business owners who need a real partner, not a slide deck. The work I love most.
20 years leading software builds. 15 years with a paid in-house dev team. I spec, manage, and ship — as the operator who's going to be the first user.
Cutting through the noise. Building the message that makes a small operator look — and feel — like a legitimate, premium brand.
Lead engines that produce booked appointments — not vanity metrics. Built across multiple industries, multiple platforms, real budgets.
HighLevel-grade infrastructure. CRM pipelines. Auto-follow-up. The operational glue that turns a chaotic small business into a system.
The ultimate goal. Engineering the offer, the pricing, and the systems that turn one-off transactions into predictable monthly revenue.
Built and led teams from 2-person dev squads to 20-person phone operations. Hire for ownership, train for leverage, build the systems that make people great.
100+ closings. Active wholesaler and buy-and-hold investor running on the same data-driven targeting I help clients build.
10M+ title database at Recycleabook. 5+ year licensed-agent database powering PropHog. I treat data as a moat — collect early, structure right, leverage forever.
Across e-commerce, manufacturing, mortgage, services, and SaaS ventures.
From zero to a million in mortgage, e-commerce, manufacturing, services, and SaaS.
Continuous software development direction since 2005 — proprietary builds, every venture.
A team of paid developers has been working under my direction for the last fifteen years.
Real estate investors and insurance recruiters paying for the platform every month.
Wholesale deals and acquisitions closed in just two years across Ohio markets.
Sole-proprietor cleaning business scaled to $75K+ in annual recurring revenue under my coaching.
Working since 1999 — started in mortgage out of high school and never stopped building.
Where most operators struggle in the trenches, that's exactly where I do my best work.
Chris Harbaugh