Skip to content Skip to footer
Close

About

Practioners Who Have Built.
Advisors Who Deliver.

323 Ocean is a Business Advisory and Guidance Company founded on a simple premise: the best advisory comes from those who have done the work, not just studied it. Five exits, eleven acquisitions, and seventeen years of building from startup to national scale taught us what actually works, and what consultants get wrong.

The 323 Ocean Story

323 Ocean exists because mid-market companies deserve better. They deserve advisory from practitioners who have built companies through the challenges they face. Who have hired and fired. Who have watched cash run short and found ways through. Who have negotiated deals from both sides of the table.

Michael Crafton is an entrepreneur, advisor, and builder who has spent two decades operating at the intersection of discipline and disruption.

323 Ocean is a strategic advisory firm that helps business owners and executives unlock growth, build enterprise value, and prepare for transformative outcomes, under Michael’s leadership. Alongside 323 Ocean, he is also the founder of Flex Alpha, a strategic investment firm focused on small to mid-market businesses with recurring revenue models, and CEO of Healthcare Chaos Management (HCM), where he is leading a full-scale transformation of healthcare revenue cycle management through next-generation automation and AI.

Michael is best known for founding what became Nelbud Services Group in 2005 with $800 and a pickup truck, growing it into the largest NFPA 96 fire and life safety platform in the United States. His strategic vision drove three successful exits, nine acquisitions, and a seven-time Distinguished Top Workplace award. Today, he brings that same intensity and operational discipline to every engagement.

Explore Our Services

Our Team

Michael Crafton

Entrepreneur, CEO, Advisor, Industry Disrupter

Learn More
About Michael Crafton

Michael started 360 Services in 2005 with no outside capital, no industry connections, and no safety net. He chose grease cleaning, a service category that nobody wanted to master, because it was hard, unforgiving, and considered impossible to manage at scale. He spent years in the field, working long nights in brutal weather conditions, proving that there was a better way. That company became Nelbud Services Group, eventually growing to more than 20 offices serving over 40,000 customer locations annually across the United States.

He navigated the 2008 economic downturn by investing heavily in automation and technology when competitors were cutting costs. He rebuilt after the 2020 pandemic wiped out 70 percent of his customer base, leading the company to record growth within months. His approach has always been the same: outwork the problem, out-think the competition, and build a culture that people want to be part of. The result was three successful exits, nine strategic acquisitions, and a seven-time Distinguished Top Workplace award.

Michael’s leadership philosophy is built on a simple belief: Employees First, Customers Second. He has always maintained that a happy employee guarantees a happy customer. By developing strong individuals and building world-class teams, he was able to dramatically reduce the cost of customer acquisition and increase lifetime customer value, resulting in market-leading returns. Technology was never support. It was strategy.

Outside of business, Michael created the 4CAP framework, a personal development philosophy centered around four dimensions of being: Physical, Mental, Emotional, and Spiritual. CAP stands for Capable, Able, and Prepared. He completed SEALFIT KOKORO, a 50-plus hour endurance evolution modeled after Navy SEAL Hell Week, ran with the bulls in Pamplona, and completed The Process, an elite endurance challenge. These are not credentials. They are expressions of the same mindset he brings to business: do hard things, stay present, and never stop moving forward.

Michael is the CEO of Healthcare Chaos Management and serves on the boards of Polygon Composites, Freije Engineered Solutions, Lushin and Associates, and YPO Indiana, where he currently serves as Chapter Chair. He holds a B.S. in Business from Indiana University’s Kelley School of Business.

Ann Marie Moorman

Chief of Staff, Client Liaison, Strategic Planner

Learn More
About Ann Marie Moorman

Ann Marie Moorman serves as the operational backbone of 323 Ocean, coordinating complex engagements and ensuring seamless client experiences. With experience spanning financial services and hospitality, she brings exceptional organizational capability and client relationship skills to every project.

Ann Marie manages large-scale initiatives, supports executive operations, and leverages advanced AI technologies to optimize processes and drive strategic initiatives. Her ability to coordinate across multiple workstreams while maintaining attention to detail makes her invaluable to 323 Ocean's delivery excellence.

She ensures that the practitioner experience Michael brings to strategy translates into flawless execution.

PROVEN RESULTS

0
Acquisitions Led
0
Sell-Side Exits
0
Advisory Projects
0
Recognitions & Awards

The numbers tell part of the story. Eleven acquisitions taught us what makes deals work. Five exits showed us what buyers actually value. Twenty-five advisory projects refined our approach. Sixteen awards, including seven Top Workplace recognitions, validated our Employees First philosophy. But the real proof is in the outcomes our clients achieve.

Strong
Foundation

Reputation For:

  • Quickly assessing opportunities
  • Scaling enterprises through acquisitions
  • Deploying organic growth accelerators
  • Market diversification
  • Surgeon-like precision
  • Gaining companywide buy-in
  • Enterprise value creation

Progressive
Thinkers

Advanced Understanding Of:

  • Cloud-based technologies
  • AI & machine learning
  • Natural language progression
  • Business analytic platforms
  • Metrics that matter
  • IT interconnectivity
  • Predictive analytics

Situational
Experiences

Pivoted Businesses Through: 

  • Impossible start-up conditions
  • The economic downturn of 2008
  • Uncomfortable capital issues 2016
  • Challenging acquisition integrations 2017
  • The Pandemic of 2020/2021
  • Crisis Management 2023
  • Organizational Restructure 2023

Key Milestones

2005
2005

THE BEGINNING

Started with $800, a pickup truck, and handwritten invoices. No investors. No systems. Just the willingness to do the work.
2008
2008

CRISIS AS OPPORTUNITY

When the economic downturn hit, most companies froze. Michael automated field operations, secured national contracts, and grew revenue while competitors retreated. Lesson learned: sometimes the best defense is strategic offense.
2010-2018
2010-2018

SCALING THROUGH ACQUISITION

Expanded to twenty offices nationwide through eleven strategic acquisitions. Learned the mechanics of deal-making from the buy side, what works, what fails, and what creates lasting value versus temporary gains.
2015
2015

FIRST MAJOR EXIT

Completed the first of five successful exits, experiencing the sell side of transactions. The perspective from both sides of the table now shapes every transaction advisory engagement.
2018
2018

SECOND MAJOR EXIT
2020
2020

THE ULTIMATE TEST

The pandemic caused 70% business attrition overnight. Rather than accept decline, rebuilt the model from the ground up. Nine months later, posted record earnings. The experience now informs every turnaround engagement.
2021
2021

THIRD MAJOR EXIT
2022
2022

323 OCEAN FOUNDED

After seventeen years of building, launched 323 Ocean to help other founders navigate the challenges we had lived through. Practitioner experience, not consulting theory.
PRESENT
PRESENT

CONTINUED BUILDING

CEO of Healthcare Chaos Management (HCM), board member for multiple companies, YPO Indiana Chapter Chairman. Still building, still learning, still applying lessons to help others grow.
What We Believe

Core Philosophies

Employees First, Customers Second

Most companies say customers come first. We built Nelbud on a different principle. When you genuinely prioritize your people, invest in their development, and create an environment where they want to stay, they take care of your customers better than any customer-first mandate could produce. Seven Top Workplace awards validated the approach.

Experience Over Theory

We have made payroll during cash crunches. We have fired people we cared about. We have watched deals fall apart at the finish line. We have rebuilt from near-collapse. These experiences, not case studies or frameworks, shape how we approach your challenges. We know what actually works because we have lived it.

Discipline Creates Freedom

The unglamorous work, financial controls, accountability systems, documented processes, operating rhythms, is what creates the freedom founders seek. Without discipline, you are trapped in firefighting. With discipline, the business runs whether you are watching or not. We install the fundamentals that make everything else possible.

Everything Connects to Value

Every engagement, whether operations, technology, culture, or leadership, connects to building lasting enterprise value. We do not optimize for optimization’s sake. We build value you can measure and eventually monetize. Advisory should be an investment with returns, not an expense that produces reports.

The 4CAP Methodology

Strengthening the Individual. Elevating the Leader.

The 4CAP methodology emerged from Michael’s recognition that business success without personal alignment is hollow. After years of building companies, he pursued deliberate development across physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual dimensions. The framework synthesizes those learnings into a methodology for developing the whole leader.

4CAP is not coaching, which implies someone who knows your path better than you. It is guidance from someone who has walked the path and can help you navigate your own journey.

4

Physical 

Mental

Emotional

Spiritual

CAP

Capable

Able

Prepared

 

Concepts

Personal

Professional

Mindfulness

 

Explore Leadership Guidance
michael crafton

Active Positions

#
Role
Organization
Type
01
Founder
323 Ocean
Business Advisory & Guidance
02
CEO
Healthcare Chaos Management (HCM)
Healthcare FinTech
03
Chapter Chairman
YPO Indiana
Young Presidents Organization
04
Board Member
Polygon Composites
Manufacturing
05
Board Member
Freije Engineered Solutions
Engineering Services
06
Board Member
Lushin & Associates
Sales Training & Consulting

Start the Conversation

323 Ocean accepts limited engagements to ensure every client receives principal-led attention. If you are facing growth challenges, transaction opportunities, operational complexity, or leadership development needs, we welcome the conversation.

Share your situation. We will determine together if there is a fit.

Request Consideration

About Ann

Ann Marie Moorman serves as the operational backbone of 323 Ocean, coordinating complex engagements and ensuring seamless client experiences. With experience spanning financial services and hospitality, she brings exceptional organizational capability and client relationship skills to every project.

Ann Marie manages large-scale initiatives, supports executive operations, and leverages advanced AI technologies to optimize processes and drive strategic initiatives. Her ability to coordinate across multiple workstreams while maintaining attention to detail makes her invaluable to 323 Ocean’s delivery excellence.

She ensures that the practitioner experience Michael brings to strategy translates into flawless execution.

About Michael

Michael Crafton founded 323 Ocean to channel decades of building experience into advisory that helps leaders scale with confidence. He is also CEO of Healthcare Chaos Management (HCM), a fast-growing healthcare revenue-cycle company improving financial performance for provider groups nationwide.

Michael is best known for turning an $800 startup into Nelbud Services Group, one of the nation’s largest fire and life safety companies. Over seventeen years, he expanded from a pickup truck and handwritten invoices to more than twenty offices serving 40,000 customer locations nationwide. He orchestrated five successful exits and led eleven acquisitions, learning what buyers look for and how deals succeed or fail.

When economic shocks arrived, Michael did not retreat. During the 2008 downturn, he automated field operations and secured national contracts that grew revenue while competitors struggled. In 2020, when the pandemic caused 70% attrition, he rebuilt the business model from the ground up. Nine months later, the company posted record earnings.

Michael blends executive discipline with entrepreneurial grit, leveraging AI-driven systems, people-first leadership, and his 4CAP performance framework to build resilient, growth-minded organizations.

Throughout these cycles, Michael held firm to his Employees First, Customers Second philosophy. The counterintuitive approach reduced customer acquisition costs, raised customer lifetime value, and earned seven Top Workplace awards. When you take care of your people, they take care of your customers.

To institutionalize this mindset and address leadership development holistically, Michael created the 4CAP methodology. The framework strengthens leaders across physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual dimensions, making them Capable, Able, and Prepared for whatever comes next. The methodology emerged not from textbooks but from personal experience, including completing SEALFIT Kokoro, a 50+ hour crucible with retired Navy SEALs, running with the bulls in Pamplona, and the harder internal work of reconciling with the past to become fully present.

Michael currently serves on the boards of Polygon Composites, Freije Engineered Solutions, Lushin and Associates, and YPO Indiana, where he serves as Chapter Chairman. His selection for YPO Learning Year 2024-2025 reflects peer recognition of his commitment to continuous development.

Away from the boardroom, Michael pursues experiences that reinforce resilience and expand perspective. These adventures, from endurance challenges to global exploration, inform how he approaches business: with boldness, preparation, and willingness to step into discomfort.

He holds a B.S. in Business from Indiana University’s Kelley School of Business and brings a global, adventure-driven perspective to every engagement, grounded in performance, purpose, and high standards.