Warning signals
- Busy periods do not create proportional cash
- Pricing is copied from competitors
- Custom scope is treated as standard delivery
- Gross margin is unknown by offer
- The owner absorbs exceptions to protect the customer experience
Self-audit questions
- What is the fully loaded cost to deliver each offer?
- Which customer or scope variations destroy margin?
- Does pricing reflect risk, complexity and value?
- How quickly does a sale become usable cash?
- Which offer would the business stop selling if revenue were not the only measure?
The 30/60/90 repair sequence
Days 1–30 · Establish truth
- Calculate direct cost, delivery time and gross margin by offer
- Map deposits, payment timing and cash conversion
- Identify the three largest sources of scope leakage
- Separate standard delivery from paid exceptions
Days 31–60 · Repair the mechanism
- Repackage the offer around a defined outcome and boundary
- Set a price floor and approval rule for discounts
- Introduce scope-change and payment controls
- Remove or redesign the weakest-margin offer
Days 61–90 · Prove and operationalize
- Compare projected and realized margin
- Review win rate after price changes
- Build a monthly offer economics dashboard
- Choose one scalable offer for focused growth
Measures that matter
- Gross margin by offer
- Cash-conversion time
- Average discount
- Scope-change frequency
Decision gate
Do not add volume until the mechanism is becoming more reliable.
At day 90, continue only what has a named owner, a visible measure and evidence that the constraint is weakening.
Work through the constraint