The Business Operations Guy
Meet Cole Kline, Founder of Edge
“Not all business structures are equal. If you want to go far, get in the right vehicle.”
Cole’s Story
Built across 28 states. Rebuilt around what a business is actually for.
Cole Kline is a builder first. He started his last company from scratch and spent about a decade growing it from a one-man operation into a national services business operating across 28 states, averaging roughly $12 million in annual revenue and reaching about $17 million in its best year. His team took on complex, high-stakes commercial and industrial work across the country, from a collapsed Walmart distribution center to a $6.2 million industrial metal roof system, while Cole also served two terms as president of a national 501(c)(6) industry trade association.
On paper, the business was winning. In real life, Cole was leaving home around five in the morning and getting back around ten or eleven at night. Even with a large team and eight-figure revenue, too many critical decisions still routed through him. He had built a successful company, but every year of growth was costing him more of the life he wanted with his family.
The turning point came far from the office. When Mike Posner announced a group trek to Everest Base Camp, Cole applied, got accepted, and stepped off the grid. Out on the trail, with space to think, he recognized how much of his identity had become tied to being the person who solved every problem, and how far he had drifted from the passions and balance he cared about most.
He came home with a different standard for success: build a business that gives you a life, not one that consumes it. Today, through Edge Operations Managers, Cole helps service business owners build what he wished he had built sooner: companies driven by capable Operations Managers, structured training, and practical operating systems that work without the owner directing every move.
“You can build a multi-million-dollar business across 28 states and still end up with a profitable job that consumes your life. Real freedom comes when capable people and practical systems carry the weight with you.”
Proof in the Field
A founder who has carried the weight at national scale.
Cole isn’t a theorist teaching from a textbook. Before founding Edge Operations Managers, he built and led teams delivering eight-figure operations, multimillion-dollar industrial projects, and national legislative defense.
On-site at a collapsed Walmart distribution center, one of the high-stakes commercial projects Cole's team handled while operating across 28 states.
Aerial view of a $6.2 million industrial metal roof system project, coordinating people, scope, and execution at scale.
Alongside leadership from the 501(c)(6) national trade association Cole served two terms as president of, doing defensive legislative work on two national model acts.
- Founder & CEO, National Services Business (28 States)
- Founded the company from scratch and led it for about a decade across 28 states. Averaged approximately $12 million in annual revenue with a best year of approximately $17 million, delivering complex commercial and industrial projects including a collapsed Walmart distribution center and a $6.2M industrial metal roof system.
- Two-Term President, National 501(c)(6) Trade Association
- Elected for two terms to lead a volunteer-driven national 501(c)(6) nonprofit industry trade association. Coordinated national advocacy, lobbying across the country, and defensive legislative work across two national model-act efforts, where progress depended on aligning independent owners around a shared purpose through complex legislative red tape.
- Founder, Edge Operations Managers
- Turns operational philosophy into service through full-time Operations Managers, structured training, Fractional COO guidance, and EdgeOS systems implementation. The focus is never cheap task labor; it is developing a second in command who owns meaningful responsibilities.
- Husband, Father & Adventurer
- Indiana-based husband and father who believes business should create room for a meaningful life. Trekked to Everest Base Camp with Mike Posner, summited Kilimanjaro, climbed Mount Aconcagua, and is a certified Wim Hof Method instructor.
How Cole Approaches Operations
More help is not the same as more ownership.
Running a multi-state business and leading a national trade association taught Cole that sustainable operations come down to three disciplines: who truly owns the outcome, whether the process actually makes the work easier, and whether leadership inspects what matters.
01
Clear ownership, not just more help
A team can be busy all day while the owner still carries every important decision. Real operational ownership means training an Operations Manager who understands the outcome, has the authority to act, and knows when to escalate.
02
Involve the person who does the work
A documented process is not automatically a good process. Simplify the work before turning it into a playbook or automation, and involve the practitioner closest to the job. As Cole puts it: “The person who does the thing should make the playbook, because they do the thing.”
03
Focus on the constraint and track it
At any given time, one constraint is limiting progress. Fix that constraint first instead of chasing twenty improvements at once, then track the result on a weekly scorecard, because “people do what you inspect, not what you expect.”
Getting to Know Cole
High standards for the work. Real candor with the people doing it.
Owners connect with Cole because he doesn’t show up as a corporate consultant or a guru pretending every experiment worked. He talks like a fellow founder who has scaled to 28 states, carried real risk, and cares as much about your family dinner time as your weekly scorecard.
He knows the difference between a busy team and real ownership.
Running an eight-figure company across 28 states showed Cole how easily an owner becomes “the brain with a thousand hands.” Even when revenue is strong, if every answer still runs through you, the business owns your calendar. He built Edge to train and support Operations Managers who take real responsibility off the owner's plate.
He learned about smart growth with his own capital on the line.
In his previous business, Cole reinvested significant capital into a sales-team expansion that added overhead faster than operational capacity. That decision taught him a discipline he brings to every owner today: before spending another dollar chasing growth, identify the single operational constraint holding the business back and solve that first.
He respects the person closest to the work.
Cole is demanding about standards, but he combines direct feedback with genuine humility. He tells his own team and clients alike: “My opinions are suggestions. You’re going to know best. If you have a gut feeling, trust it.” He believes training should build people's judgment, not make them dependent on a manager's checklist.
He lives by three standards: Be Elite, Be Sincere, Be Better.
For Cole, Be Elite means “Good will steal from Great every single time.” Be Sincere means “Feedback is oxygen, not optional,” shared directly and with respect. And Be Better means growing across what he calls the Core Four: Body (health and movement), Being (breathwork, meditation, and cold exposure), Balance (marriage, fatherhood, and relationships), and Business.
He believes a business should give you a life.
Whether he is climbing Mount Aconcagua, summiting Kilimanjaro, cutting a hole in a frozen river as a certified Wim Hof Method instructor, or sitting down with a business owner in Indiana, Cole's filter is the same: success only counts if the company you build leaves room for a life worth living.
Today, Cole puts everything he learned building across 28 states into the companies Edge serves, so you can run a sharper, more durable business without sacrificing your life to do it.
Talk to Edge about your business
Book a call to see how a trained Edge Operations Manager and practical systems can take the day-to-day off your shoulders. Read what changed for other owners in our client stories.