01 of 05. Operating Profit Diagnostic
A thorough, strategic read of how the business actually operates, and where the money is.
The diagnostic is the starting point for everything else we do. It exists so that you spend money on the right problem, once.
Why this matters
The gap is rarely the people. It's that nobody is running the operating level. That's what the diagnostic finds.
OutcomeWhat you get
You get the Profit Acceleration Report: a written read of the operating business from the numbers up, the specific places margin is leaking, what each one is worth in dollars, and the order to fix them in.
Includes an AI readiness analysis: where AI tools and systems can improve the business first.
You leave knowing what to do first, what it will take, and whether you need us for any of it.
GuaranteeYour money back
Money-back guarantee
If the final report does not show you at least $5,000 a year in profit you can recover, we refund the $5,000.
The guarantee holds when you give the diagnostic what it needs:
- Accurate accounting reports: 24 months of profit and loss and balance sheet.
- The owner, and whoever runs the numbers, at both working sessions.
- Our data requests answered.
- Your corrections to the draft returned.
- Your refund request in writing within 14 days of the final report.
AI readinessWhere AI pays first
We walk the work as it is done today, from the handoffs and re-keying to the waiting and the reports nobody reads, and find where hours and errors live. The report names the places where AI pays back in months, each with its cost, its owner and the number it moves, so you know what it would change, in dollars, before you spend.
Inside the reportA sample page
Sample page. Client details redacted. Shared as an example of format.
Maturity of the delivery process
Prepared for
| Discipline | Score | Reading |
|---|---|---|
| Data model | 5 of 5 | Clean, indexed, readable. The strongest asset. |
| Technical design | 4 of 5 | Sound in code; no architecture document of record. |
| Technical specifications | 4 of 5 | Well-structured code serves as a living spec. |
| Product specifications | 3 of 5 | Decisions live in plan files; no requirements document. |
| Test plan | 3 of 5 | Infrastructure exists; coverage is partial. |
| UX and UI design | 2 of 5 | No design source of record. |
| Project management | 1 of 5 | No tracker, no cadence, no structure above the work. |
The pattern. The product is strong wherever the discipline lives inside the code, and weak wherever it has to live in the system around the code. That is a structure problem, and structure problems are solvable.
Every report scores what it finds, names the pattern behind the scores, and ends with the order of work.
ProcessHow it runs
- 01Discovery call, freeThirty minutes on your company. We decide together whether the diagnostic is the right thing.
- 02First working sessionNinety minutes with Elliot and John. We walk the P&L, the systems, the vendors and the people, and we ask for the numbers we need.
- 03The draftA draft report for you to react to. What we got wrong, you tell us.
- 04Second working sessionNinety minutes on the draft, the corrections, and the order of work.
- 05The reportThe final Profit Acceleration Report, in writing, with the leaks named and valued and the AI readiness analysis included. You receive it at the readout.
- 06The readoutA 60-minute meeting with Elliot and John to present the Profit Acceleration Report and the order of work.
ExecutionWho does the work
The diagnostic is the read, not the fix. If you want the fix, the report becomes the plan on paper for a Profit Architecture or a Service orchestration engagement, and nothing is re-diagnosed.
The benchAssociates, by subject
If a leak sits in a subject we do not own ourselves, a specialist from the bench joins the second session. You are told who and why before they arrive.
FitWho this is for
Owners of companies from $1M to $100M and up, and well-capitalized startups, who are doing well on revenue and know they should be keeping more of it, or who cannot tell where the money goes between the top line and the bottom line.
Self-checkThis is you if
- Revenue is up and profit is not keeping pace.
- Cash feels tight even in good months.
- You could not say, today, which three things are costing you the most.
- You have had advice before and nothing got installed.
Free guide
The Owner’s Operating Playbook
Six stages from diagnosis to execution: the questions we ask at each, what each one produces, where AI actually helps, and a 20-question scorecard that shows where to start.
Start with a free 30-minute call.
Bring the three things that keep you up. In thirty minutes you’ll know whether we’re the right fit and what we’d look at first. Nothing to sign.