Windwer Growth Partners.
Operational Growth Consulting · Healthcare & Multi-Site Services
Steven Windwer, DC, PT

Built from 1 clinic to 170+ locations. Now helping founders scale healthcare and multi-site service businesses without losing control of what made them successful.

Founded by Steven Windwer, DC, PT

Successfully navigated growth from founder-led startup to multi-state platform and private equity partnership.

35 years as CEO. A founder-led platform built one location at a time across five states. A successful private equity partnership. Now advising a small number of founders, operators, and investors.

Working with only 3 to 4 clients at a time. Direct access to Steve. No junior consultants.
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170+
Locations
35
Years Operating
5
States
Successful
PE Partnership
About Windwer Growth Partners

One owner, talking to another.

In 1990 I opened my first office in Quincy, Massachusetts, with my hands as the only product. Over the next three decades, using a replicable operating model I call the Manager Partner model, that one office grew into a multi-state healthcare services platform: more than 170 offices across five states, and one of the largest privately owned practices of its kind in the country.

Every kind of decision that growth requires got made along the way: senior hires, new markets, manager comp, regional structure, capital, and eventually a partnership with a private equity firm. I continue to serve in a Founder and Executive Chairman capacity in the businesses I built.

Windwer Growth Partners is how I bring that experience to other owner-operators. The product is not a slide deck or a written diagnostic. It is a standing conversation between two business owners. You bring the decisions in front of you. I bring the perspective of having made most of them before.

Today I serve as Executive Chairman of the organization I founded while advising a small number of founders, operators, and investors. I intentionally limit my practice because I prefer deep involvement over broad reach.

— Steve
Who I Work With

A limited number of operators and investors.

Typical clients range from 5 to 100+ locations.
How I Help

Four areas of focus.

Growth Strategy

Scaling without losing operational control. New markets, new locations, and the unit economics that make growth durable.

Leadership Development

Building the next generation of leaders. Manager Partner structures, succession depth, and the team that runs the business when the owner steps back.

Operating Systems

Creating repeatable processes that support growth. Standards, cadence, and KPIs that compound rather than break under pressure.

Transaction Readiness

Preparing organizations for private equity, recapitalization, or sale. The diligence-ready operating model and the right partner conversation.

The Journey

35 years, one location at a time.

  1. 1990
    Opened first clinic in Quincy, Massachusetts. One office, one operator.
  2. 1995
    Created the Manager Partner model, the operating system that made replication possible.
  3. 2010
    Multi-state expansion. Crossed from regional to multi-state operations.
  4. 2019
    Successful PE partnership. Selected the right partner after multiple years of inbound interest.
  5. 2024
    Executive Chairman. Transitioned to a board-level role at the company.
  6. Today
    Windwer Growth Partners. Advising a small number of founders, operators, and investors.
The Operating Philosophy

Three principles that scale a business.

Growth is engineered, not improvised.

Repeatable site economics. A predictable new-location playbook. A hiring pipeline that scales with the footprint. Growth that lasts is the output of a system, not a sprint.

Operations is the moat.

Competitors copy your service, your pricing, your locations. The thing they copy last is your management system. Standards, cadence, and KPIs are what compound, and what win.

Scale leadership before locations.

The Manager Partner model makes operator-owners at every site, so growth does not break the business. The leadership team gets built two stages ahead of the footprint, every time.

Selected Lessons Learned

What 35 years of scaling actually teaches you.

Three lessons that show up in almost every engagement, in some form, sooner or later.

Lesson 1

Growth breaks communication before it breaks finances.

Every owner I work with assumes that capital is the next constraint. Almost never is. The first system that fails as you cross from one location to four, or four to ten, is information flow. The owner stops knowing what is happening at each site. Managers stop knowing what other managers are doing. The leadership team starts solving the same problem twice.

The fix is unglamorous: a forced cadence of written updates, a weekly operating rhythm, and a small set of numbers everyone sees on the same day. Get this right and the next layer of growth is possible. Get it wrong and the numbers eventually catch up with the broken communication, but by then the damage is done.

Lesson 2

Most founders become the bottleneck long before they realize it.

The founder is usually the last person in the building to notice that every decision routes through them. The team has adapted. They wait. They escalate. They confirm with the owner before acting. From the inside, it feels like the founder is just being responsive. From the outside, the business has stopped scaling.

The unwind takes 12 to 24 months and starts with a brutally honest map of every decision the founder still owns. Most of them belong with a manager, a director, or a board. The founder’s job is to give those decisions away, support the people who now own them, and resist the temptation to take them back the first time something goes wrong.

Lesson 3

Culture does not scale accidentally.

In the first location, culture is the founder. In the second location, it is the founder by proximity. By the fifth location, the founder cannot be in every room, and culture either gets engineered or it dilutes. The signs are quiet at first: a manager hire who does not quite fit, a client complaint that lingers, a team meeting that feels like a different company.

What actually scales is the Manager Partner model: operator-owners at every site who carry the standard themselves, hire to it, and defend it. Documents and slogans do not do this. People do. Investing in the right people two stages ahead of the footprint is the work.

Ideal Clients

Who I work best with.

I work best with

  • Healthcare founders
  • Multi-site service businesses
  • Physical therapy and rehabilitation operators
  • Chiropractic groups
  • Home healthcare providers
  • Healthcare entrepreneurs preparing for private equity
  • Founder-led businesses between $2M and $50M revenue

Not a fit

  • Startups seeking fundraising advice
  • Businesses looking for generic consulting reports
  • Companies unwilling to execute
How We Work

Four engagements. Owner-to-owner conversations.

The work is straightforward: regular conversations between two business owners. You bring the decisions in front of you. I bring the perspective of having made most of them before. Cadence scales with the stage you are in.

Practice is capped at 3 to 4 active clients. Spots are filling quickly. Once full, the waitlist opens.

Growth Advisor
$5,000 / month
  • Two 60-minute conversations per month
  • Text and email access between sessions
  • A second pair of eyes on the decisions that keep you up at night
  • Best for solo founders under $5M revenue
Discuss This Tier
Operating Partner
$10,000 / month
  • Weekly 60-minute CEO conversation
  • Monthly check-in with the leadership team when it helps
  • On-call for the harder calls between sessions
    • for 5 to 25 location operators in active scaling
Discuss This Tier
Scaling Engagement
$15,000 / month
  • Two conversations per week, plus ad hoc access
  • Deep involvement in the major calls: hiring, expansion, structure
  • Pattern-matching against what worked and what did not at platform scale
  • 6 to 12 month commitment
  • Best for operators in an aggressive growth window
Discuss This Tier
Transaction Advisor
$20,000 / month
  • For owners running or preparing a PE process
  • Weekly conversation, more often during active deal phases
  • Sounding board through banker selection, diligence, and partner evaluation
  • The view from the operator side of a successful transaction
  • 3 to 6 month commitment
Discuss This Tier
First Conversation Always free. 15 minutes. Tell me what you are working on. If a retainer makes sense after that, we will talk through the right tier.
Advisory & Governance

Advisory Board & Independent Director Roles.

I selectively join advisory boards and governing boards for founder-led healthcare and multi-site service businesses where I can contribute meaningful operating experience.

Areas of focus

  • Scaling operations
  • Leadership development
  • Multi-site expansion
  • PE readiness
  • Governance
  • Founder transitions

Engagement terms

Each seat is structured to the company and the stage. Typical engagements pair a modest cash retainer with advisory equity vesting over two years. Limited availability.

Discuss a Board Role
The Process

Simple. No consulting jargon.

1

Introductory conversation

A 15-minute call. Tell me what is in front of you.

2

Assessment

A working session to map the current challenges and goals.

3

Determine fit

Both sides decide. No pressure either way.

4

Advisory engagement

Tailored to your stage. Standing time on the calendar.

What Clients Say

From two locations to five.

“

Thank you Steve for being not only an incredible support, but a great friend and shoulder to lean on with any legal, operational, or marketing advice over the past two years. I started working with Steve two years ago, with only two locations and a team of 8 therapists. Now we officially are operating in three locations and have a team of 15 therapists across the board. We are signing our next two leases hopefully this week for our 4th and 5th locations.

Steve not only advised us on how to run better systems and organize teams, but he also tapped into his full corporate team allowing us to get access to some of the best in the industry. Steve has streamlined our processes to scale and grow at an optimal level. He even recommended books to help me personally develop as the individual I needed to become to successfully be the leader of a multi-location organization and run teams efficiently.

He eliminated me as the bottleneck in my organization. Steve not only provides the best advice, but also gave me the tools necessary to accomplish any task at hand. Whether it’s platforms he used in his organization to be successful or leadership tools provided to achieve my goals, I am forever grateful for meeting Steve and having the opportunity to work with him. Thank you.

2 → 5
Locations
8 → 15
Therapists
2 yrs
Working with Steve
PT Practice Owner · Multi-location
Get in Touch

Start with a 15-minute call.

The first conversation is unpaid and unstructured. Tell me where the business is, where you want it to be, and what is in the way. If a retainer makes sense after that, we will talk through the right tier.

A note on timing: the practice is capped at 3 to 4 active clients. Spots are filling quickly. If the work looks like a fit, let’s talk this week.

Based in Palm Beach Gardens, FL
Available Monday through Friday, by appointment
Coverage Nationwide; on-site quarterly for retained clients

Steve reads every message and replies within two business days.
Thank you. Your message has been sent. Expect a reply within two business days.