The methodology
How we run the Business Audit.
We publish the method because the audit's value depends on you seeing it. Five steps, two weeks, each one earning the next.
The path from interviews to the Money Slide.
The five steps
The audit, step by step.
MAP, TAG, PLOT, VALIDATE, LEDGER. Each step earns the next and produces a named artifact you can hold. By day 14, you have watched your business reflected back at higher resolution, with nothing taken on faith.
- 01MAP
Render the business as three engines.
Every company reduces to three engines: acquisition, delivery, support. We map each one end to end on the Ops Canvas. We run leadership and end user interviews in parallel. The biggest AI opportunities live in the gap between what leadership thinks the problem is and what the team actually does.
Acquisition EngineDelivery EngineSupport EngineSampleOps Canvas
Three engines, mapped end to end
- 02TAG
Tag every step with a friction type.
Three tags. Critical Process: steps essential to the engine. Time Sink: steps that burn manual hours. Quality Risk: steps prone to errors. The third tag justifies AI for risk reduction, not just speed. Without it, every recommendation collapses to "make this faster."
Critical ProcessTime SinkQuality RiskSampleOps Canvas
Three engines, mapped end to end
Critical ProcessTime SinkQuality Risk - 03PLOT
Place every friction on the Opportunity Matrix.
Effort on Y. Impact on X. Four quadrants: Quick Wins, Big Swings, Nice to Haves, Deprioritize. We color code items by engine, so the matrix doubles as a friction heatmap. Arrows in Quick Wins show order. The matrix forces a defense of impact, not just feasibility.
Quick WinsBig SwingsNice to HavesDeprioritizeSampleOpportunity Matrix
Effort against impact, by engine
AcquisitionDeliverySupport - 04VALIDATE
Co create the shortlist in a workshop.
A 90 minute session with stakeholders. We run four pressure tests on the shortlist. By the end, we did not pitch you. You agreed.
Co CreationFour QuestionsStakeholder OwnedSampleValidation Workshop
Four pressure tests, 90 minutes
- 01
Which Quick Wins resonate most?
- 02
What complications did we miss?
- 03
Which fixes will the team welcome or resist?
- 04
Does this fit our six to twelve month priorities?
- 01
- 05LEDGER
Translate the shortlist into the Money Slide.
Two part ROI math. Direct cost savings (hours saved times hourly rate times 52) in one column. Revenue uplift (hours freed times value per hour) in another. We never conflate them, and we walk every line through with you and your CFO. Your CFO defends it without us in the room.
Direct SavingsRevenue UpliftYear 1 ROISampleThe Money Slide
Year 1 ROI, opportunity by opportunity
Opportunity Direct
savingsRevenue
upliftYear 1
ROIAutomated CRM updates $145K $4.9M 426% Lead qualification assistant $73K $3.8M 154% Customer support drafting $43K $815K 128% Total $261K $9.5M n/a Illustrative figures. Direct savings and revenue uplift never conflated.
Honest tensions
Where the method is honestly fragile.
Naming the fragile parts is what makes this an audit, not a pitch.
- Tension
The "% time saved" estimate is fragile
It is the most fragile number in the Money Slide. We show you the assumptions, the sensitivity range, and how the number could move. We do not call it a fact.
- Tension
The 50% revenue uplift assumption is conservative
We assume only half of saved hours move to revenue work. The real figure is often lower unless you redesign operations on purpose. We name this on every Money Slide.
- Tension
The Quick Wins bias is real
Quick Wins build trust early but can push a bigger Big Swing down the list. We name the trade off in the workshop and let you make the call.
- Tension
The three engine model fits services better than manufacturing
For manufacturing, supply chain heavy, or operations dominant businesses, the three engine model misses parts of the value chain. We say so up front and recommend a different scope.
See the method applied to your business.
The diagnostic call is a 60 minute walk through of your Ops Canvas. We record it and send it to you. Yours either way.
Book a call