Survival

Dominant constraint: Cash flow

Priority actions to improve commercial clarity and cash flow:

• Offering: Clarify your core products and services.
• Target market: Clarify your ideal customer profile / avatar.
• Unique Selling Proposition: Clarify why you are the logical choice for your target market.
• Pricing and lead generation: Price appropriately for the value you provide and strengthen lead generation.
• Resource allocation: Responsibly reduce costs and prioritise cash-generating activities.

Building

Dominant constraint: Capability 

Priority actions to build capability:

• Culture: Clarify and document your company's purpose, vision and values.
• People: Clarify roles and responsibilities.
• Processes: Document core client execution and internal processes.
• Systems: Standardise work and quality using systems, SOPs, checklists and templates.
• Capability: Develop your team's capability through training and delegation.

Plateau

Dominant constraint: Founder dependency 

Priority actions to reduce founder dependency through leverage:

• Founder dependency assessment: Identify where the founder is the bottleneck.
• Process leverage: Standardise repetitive work (workflows).
• Technology leverage: Use AI and software to build digital assets that reduce founder dependency.
• Decision leverage: Delegate routine decisions using clear decision frameworks.
• Strategic leverage: Free the founder to focus on strategy, growth and key relationships.

Rebuilding

Dominant constraint: Stability 

Priority actions to restore stability:

• Root-cause clarity: Identify what caused the setback and what must change.
• Relationship repair: Rebuild trust with your team, customers and key stakeholders.
• Financial reset: Stabilise cash flow and restore financial discipline.
• Governance reset: Strengthen accountability, decision-making and oversight.
• Execution confidence: Restore momentum through consistent delivery and visible progress.

Traction

Dominant constraint: Scalability 

Priority actions to scale sustainably:

• Leadership depth: Strengthen leadership capability beyond the founder.
• Capacity planning: Build people, systems and resources ahead of growth.
• Operational excellence: Continuously improve processes, quality and customer delivery.
• Data-led decisions: Use timely information to anticipate risks and guide growth.
• Culture and governance: Protect values, discipline and accountability as the business expands.