The Decided Business — Self-Authoring Audit

Part One

Your Current Systems

A system is a decision you made once so you never make it again. Answer for how the business actually runs — not how it runs on a good week.

1. When a customer asks for a discount, what happens?

There is a written rule. I quote the rule. The conversation ends. I have a rough policy in my head, but I bend it for the right person. I decide each time, based on how the conversation feels. I usually give it. Saying no feels like losing the job.

2. How does new work get priced?

A fixed price list or pricing formula that I do not deviate from. A formula exists, but I adjust it depending on the client. I estimate from experience, job by job. I price to win the work, then hope the margin survives.

3. When the scope of a job changes mid-stream, what happens?

Nothing proceeds without a signed variation. No exceptions. I usually document it, but small changes slide through. I absorb the small stuff and argue about the big stuff later. I just do the extra work. Raising it feels awkward.

4. If you were unreachable for two weeks, what would happen to the business?

It would run. The rules are written down and someone else enforces them. It would limp. People know roughly what to do but check everything with me. It would stall. Most decisions wait for me. It would stop. I am the system.

5. How do you handle payment terms and overdue accounts?

Fixed terms, automatic follow-up, and a stop-work rule that actually fires. Terms exist on the invoice; enforcement depends on the relationship. I chase when cash gets tight. I avoid the conversation. Some debts just age out.

6. Which decision do you make most often that you have never written down? Name it.

Part Two

What You Believe About Success

Every undecided business is held together by beliefs the owner has never examined. Mark each statement honestly — not as you would defend it at a barbecue.

7. "Being flexible on price is what keeps my customers loyal."

Strongly agree — flexibility is my advantage. Mostly agree. Mostly disagree. Disagree — customers stay because the business is consistent, not because it bends.

8. "Hard rules would cost me sales I can't afford to lose."

Strongly agree. Agree — in this market you take what you can get. Disagree — some sales cost more than they pay. Strongly disagree — a rule I will lose a sale over is the only rule a prospect believes.

9. "Working harder is how this business grows."

Strongly agree — effort is everything. Mostly agree. Mostly disagree. Disagree — the business grows when decisions stop repeating, not when hours increase.

10. "Success means being busy."

Agree — a quiet diary makes me nervous. Partly — busy at least proves demand. Mostly disagree. Disagree — busy is often the most expensive way to avoid one hard decision.

11. "If I put my prices up, my customers will leave."

Agree — my market is brutally price-sensitive. Probably true for most of them. True for some — and those may be the ones costing me money. Disagree — I have never properly tested it. The belief is older than the evidence.

12. Where did your strongest belief about money come from? Name the person or the moment.

Part Three

Self-Image: Who Is Running This Business

A business cannot hold a rule its owner does not believe they are entitled to hold. This section is about entitlement — the quiet kind.

13. When you state your price, what happens in your body?

Nothing. It is a fact, like the weather. Slight tension, but I hold the number. I talk past it — explaining, justifying, softening. I often discount before the customer has even objected.

14. Which sentence is closest to the one in your head?

"This is how we work. It suits some people and not others." "I know what I'm doing, but I still need them to see it." "Who am I to charge that?" "I'm lucky to get the work at all."

15. When you imagine enforcing a hard rule and losing the customer, what do you feel first?

Relief. The rule did its job. Acceptance — short-term cost, long-term gain. Anxiety about the gap in the pipeline. Something close to shame, as if I failed them.

16. Complete the sentence in writing: "The kind of operator I am becoming is one who…"

Part Four

The Monthly Truth — A Simple Budget

A business that has not decided its numbers will negotiate them with itself every month. Enter monthly figures. The owner's wage is an expense, not a leftover — that is the first rule this planner enforces.

Money In	Monthly ($)
Sales / fees / commissions
Other income

Money Out	Monthly ($)
Owner's wage — paid first, every month
Wages & subcontractors
Rent / premises / vehicle
Materials / stock / cost of goods
Insurance, registrations, software
Marketing
Tax set-aside (decided %, not leftovers)
Everything else

Total In

Total Out

Surplus / Shortfall

Owner's Wage as % of Income

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Part Five

Your Result

The score measures one thing: how much of your business is decided, and how much is still being improvised in front of customers.

Where should we send your results?

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