I help business owners think more clearly. Whatever the weather.
Business coach. Fractional manager. Someone who has sat on your side of the table.
I work with owners of small and medium-sized businesses — predominantly in manufacturing — who are navigating difficult decisions, uncertain markets, or periods of change they didn’t quite have time to prepare for.
Most often through business coaching and fractional management via Mike Alpha Consulting ➞, the advisory firm I founded in 2020.
Why I do this.
I spent years working in corporations. I learned a great deal. Every decision carried responsibility to hundreds of shareholders expecting results every quarter. But in a corporation, few people lose sleep over where the company will be in five years. They don’t sweat it. Unlike a business owner who has their entire investment in one company. Their own. In a corporation, the interests belong to anonymous thousands of shareholders. In an SME, to one person.
And that’s exactly why I’m here. Not as a consultant with a presentation full of charts, but as someone who sits down next to you in situations where there’s no manual — and helps you find the way.
Demand down from last year. A key person who leaves at the worst possible moment. The decision whether to sell, restructure, or hold on. A team that isn’t delivering. And an owner who isn’t sure whether the problem is in the team, the strategy, or in themselves.
I’ve noticed that the hardest part usually isn’t the problem itself. It’s that owners face it alone.
Their teams can’t know everything. Family sometimes doesn’t fully understand. The accountant looks backwards. And most advisors arrive with answers before they’ve truly listened to the owner.
That’s exactly the space I work in.
What I bring
I’ve been in it. Not as a consultant observing from the outside, but as someone with the controls in hand. I’ve worked as a fractional COO and CEO in real companies, with real pressure, real deadlines, and real consequences. When you tell me about a cash flow problem or a difficult restructuring, I don’t need to imagine it. I know what it looks like from the inside.
I’m a certified business coach. I have formal coaching training, I understand the difference between coaching and consulting, and I know when each is appropriate. I don’t ask questions for the sake of form. I ask ones that open something up.
I work with a small number of clients. Coaching is about depth and continuity. At any given time I cooperate with a limited number of people, so I can follow your story, remember what you said three sessions ago, and notice what has changed.
I’ll tell you when I can’t help you. If what you need is operational support, a fractional manager, or a referral to someone else — I’ll say so directly.
Who I work with
The most often with:
owners of manufacturing SMEs going through a difficult period — stagnating revenue, margin pressure, operational challenges, or uncertainty about the company’s future;
founders and entrepreneurs growing into a new version of themselves as leaders, discovering that what got them here won’t get them further;
business owners facing a major decision — a sale, restructuring, bringing in a partner, stepping back. Owners who want clarity in their thinking and a trusted outside perspective before they commit.
I communicate primarily in Slovak, Czech, and English.
How coaching works with me
We meet twice a month, always 60 minutes — in person or online, depending on where you are.
Every session starts with one question: What matters most to you right now?
Your agenda. Your pace. Your decisions.
Between sessions I’m available for quick questions, a rapid thought before an important conversation, or moments when you need to think something through and can’t wait for two weeks.
The first conversation is always free, 45 minutes to find out whether this makes sense for both of us. No sales pitch, no pressure.
A note on the difference between coaching and consulting
People sometimes ask me whether they need coaching or consulting. My view:
Consulting is for when the problem is in the business, and you need someone with expertise to help you solve it. I do that too, through Mike Alpha.
Coaching is for when the problem is in the decision-maker, not as a deficiency, but as a natural consequence of leading a complex organisation under uncertainty. You have more clarity than you think. You just need the right conditions to access it.
Sometimes you need both. We’ll figure it out together.
Beyond coaching
I’m the founder of Mike Alpha Consulting, an advisory firm working with SMEs in Slovakia and the Czech Republic.
Through Mike Alpha, our team provides fractional management services (part-time COO, CEO, CFO, CMO, HR director, sales director…), operational and strategic consulting, and support for M&A and investment readiness.
If what you need goes beyond coaching, we can talk about that too.
Let’s talk.
If something on this page resonates, or you’re simply curious whether this kind of collaboration might be useful to you, I’d love to hear from you.
The first 45 minutes are free. No agenda of mine. Just a conversation.