the Operating Scorecard · published in full · free

Six dimensions. Five stages. Where owner-led businesses actually sit.

The Operating Scorecard is the six-dimension framework we score inside a paid audit, published here in full and free. Each dimension is scored 1 to 5 — Reactive, Forming, Functioning, Scaling, Optimizing. The whole rubric is on this page. There is no sign-up and no email.

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The rubric

The Operating Scorecard, in full. Nothing held back.

The Review scores your operation across all six dimensions. Whatever scores lowest is what we recommend fixing first — the order comes from your numbers, not our preferences.

Dimension	1Reactive	2FormingThe stage the Review is built for.	3Functioning	4Scaling	5Optimizing
Revenue Recoverywhat happens to a lead nobody answered	A Saturday-night lead waits until somebody happens to check messages — or waits forever.	Missed inquiries get chased when someone remembers. Nobody counts how many slip.	Every inquiry has an owner and a deadline, and the misses are counted weekly.	Quotes are chased and quiet customers re-contacted on a set cadence, not a mood.	Leads, quotes and lapsed customers are worked from one queue, and recovered revenue is a line on a report.
Customer Experiencewhat the first weeks after payment feel like	After payment, silence — the next contact is whenever the customer complains.	Onboarding lives in one person’s head. Every new customer gets a different first week.	A written first-week sequence runs for every new customer, every time.	At-risk customers are flagged before they go quiet, not remembered after.	Repeat rate, at-risk flags and win-backs are run like a pipeline and reviewed monthly.
Operational Excellencewhat breaks when you are away for a week	A week with the owner out sick means missed quotes and unpaid invoices.	A few checklists exist. Every exception still walks to the owner’s desk.	Core processes are written down and mostly followed without reminders.	New staff learn from documentation, not shadowing, and exceptions have a written path.	Processes are measured and improved on a schedule; the owner reads reports, not tickets.
Growth Enginewhere new customers actually come from	New customers arrive by accident, and nobody can name the split by source.	Marketing happens in bursts, whenever the calendar starts to look empty.	The source split is tracked, and one channel is worked deliberately.	Cost per new customer is known by channel, and inquiries are qualified before they get a slot.	Budget moves between channels on measured return, not on habit.
Reputation & Referralwhether reviews and referrals happen on purpose	Reviews happen when a customer feels moved to write one — good or bad.	Someone asks for reviews now and then. A referral is a pleasant surprise.	Every finished job triggers a review ask, and the count is checked monthly.	Happy customers have a clear way to send you someone, and last month’s referral count is a known number.	Reputation has an owner: asks, responses and referral prompts all run on a system.
Executive Intelligencehow you know how last week went	How last week went is reconstructed from the bank balance.	The numbers exist — across spreadsheets that disagree with each other.	One weekly report answers how the week went, a day or two late.	The handful of numbers that predict the month sit on one page, current.	Decisions cite the report, and the report is trusted enough to argue with.

The Review is built for businesses at Forming.

Revenue Recovery

what happens to a lead nobody answered

1Reactive: A Saturday-night lead waits until somebody happens to check messages — or waits forever.
2Forming: Missed inquiries get chased when someone remembers. Nobody counts how many slip.
3Functioning: Every inquiry has an owner and a deadline, and the misses are counted weekly.
4Scaling: Quotes are chased and quiet customers re-contacted on a set cadence, not a mood.
5Optimizing: Leads, quotes and lapsed customers are worked from one queue, and recovered revenue is a line on a report.

Customer Experience

what the first weeks after payment feel like

1Reactive: After payment, silence — the next contact is whenever the customer complains.
2Forming: Onboarding lives in one person’s head. Every new customer gets a different first week.
3Functioning: A written first-week sequence runs for every new customer, every time.
4Scaling: At-risk customers are flagged before they go quiet, not remembered after.
5Optimizing: Repeat rate, at-risk flags and win-backs are run like a pipeline and reviewed monthly.

Operational Excellence

what breaks when you are away for a week

1Reactive: A week with the owner out sick means missed quotes and unpaid invoices.
2Forming: A few checklists exist. Every exception still walks to the owner’s desk.
3Functioning: Core processes are written down and mostly followed without reminders.
4Scaling: New staff learn from documentation, not shadowing, and exceptions have a written path.
5Optimizing: Processes are measured and improved on a schedule; the owner reads reports, not tickets.

Growth Engine

where new customers actually come from

1Reactive: New customers arrive by accident, and nobody can name the split by source.
2Forming: Marketing happens in bursts, whenever the calendar starts to look empty.
3Functioning: The source split is tracked, and one channel is worked deliberately.
4Scaling: Cost per new customer is known by channel, and inquiries are qualified before they get a slot.
5Optimizing: Budget moves between channels on measured return, not on habit.

Reputation & Referral

whether reviews and referrals happen on purpose

1Reactive: Reviews happen when a customer feels moved to write one — good or bad.
2Forming: Someone asks for reviews now and then. A referral is a pleasant surprise.
3Functioning: Every finished job triggers a review ask, and the count is checked monthly.
4Scaling: Happy customers have a clear way to send you someone, and last month’s referral count is a known number.
5Optimizing: Reputation has an owner: asks, responses and referral prompts all run on a system.

Executive Intelligence

how you know how last week went

1Reactive: How last week went is reconstructed from the bank balance.
2Forming: The numbers exist — across spreadsheets that disagree with each other.
3Functioning: One weekly report answers how the week went, a day or two late.
4Scaling: The handful of numbers that predict the month sit on one page, current.
5Optimizing: Decisions cite the report, and the report is trusted enough to argue with.

The rule that decides what we may propose

A score of 1–2 puts that system on the fix list, first in line. A 3 makes the list only if the revenue impact earns it. A 4–5 gets watched, not built.

We bind ourselves to it because it can stop us selling: a dimension that scores well does not get a proposal, whatever we would rather build.

We don’t show you a peer average, because we don’t have one worth showing.

Revenue Recovery is where money leaves fastest. Put your numbers in →

What a low score costs

A one or a two is not a grade. It is a monthly bill.

Revenue Recovery

Every inquiry you paid to generate and never answered is spend with no chance of return. This is the leak the Leak Calculator prices, and in the businesses we look at it is usually the largest single number in the report.

Customer Experience

A customer who buys once and drifts costs you the second sale and every one after it — and a stranger costs more to win than someone who has already trusted you with money.

Operational Excellence

When the answer to every exception is you, your payroll is doing rework and your best people are waiting in line at your desk. The cost hides in hours first, then shows up as quotes that went out late.

Growth Engine

If you cannot name where customers come from, you cannot stop paying for the channel that produces none of them. Spend without a source split is a bill, not an investment.

Reputation & Referral

Accidental reviews mean your public record is written by whoever felt strongest that day — and every referral that had no path to reach you went somewhere else instead.

Executive Intelligence

Running on recollection means every decision is a week late and argued from memory. The cost is not the missing report — it is the fix you never started because nothing showed you the problem.

A low score on a dimension is not a reason to buy anything today. It is a reason to know what that dimension costs you.

The self-check

Score yourself before anyone scores you.

Three questions per dimension — the same ones we open with in the first session. If an answer takes more than a beat, you have found your stage. You either run on records, or you run on recollection — only one of them survives an audit.

Revenue Recovery

What happens to a lead that arrives at nine on a Saturday night — exactly, step by step?
How many inquiries a week don’t convert — tracked, or guessed?
What is the reactivation process for customers who have been quiet ninety days or more?

Customer Experience

What happens in the seven days after a first purchase?
How do you know a customer is at risk before they disappear?
Do you track your repeat rate?

Operational Excellence

If you were out sick for a week, what specifically would break?
Which processes still require you personally?
When staff hit an exception, is the answer written down — or is it you?

Growth Engine

Where do new customers actually come from — do you know the split?
What does it cost you to acquire one?
Does every inquiry get a slot, or is anyone qualified first?

Reputation & Referral

Are reviews systematic, or accidental?
How many referrals came in last month — do you know?
Do happy customers have a clear way to send you someone?

Executive Intelligence

How do you know how last week went — a report, or reconstruction?
Can you name your retention rate right now?
What one number would tell you the business is heading the right way?

Eighteen questions, no form, and nothing on this page records your answers. If three or four made you look away, that is where a Review would start.

The next step

See your six scores in twenty minutes.

On the 20-minute call we walk the six dimensions against your operation: where you sit, what the lowest score is costing, and whether a Review is even warranted yet. If it isn’t, we say so and stop.

Book the 20-minute call +1 (202) 600-6027