How long does it take?

About five minutes. Score what's true today, not what you intend.

Should I ask someone else to score it too?

Yes, if you can. A colleague, co-director or your accountant will often see the business differently, and the gaps between your scores are often the most useful part.

What should I do with a low score?

A low score isn't a reason not to grow. It shows what to strengthen first, so the growth doesn't strain the business. Start with the lowest pillar and pick one statement in it to move up a point in the next quarter.

Free business tool

The Growth Scorecard

Is your business ready to grow, or will growth strain it? Score 24 statements across four pillars in about five minutes and see where to start.

How it works

Growth fails less often for lack of demand than for lack of capacity. This scorecard checks whether your business can carry the extra weight, using the four pillars from our Levers for Growth guide.

People

Can the business run, and grow, without the owner doing everything?

Strategy

Are we chasing the right customers, at the right price?

Execution

Do we do what we say we will?

Cash

Is growth turning into cash, or eating it?

Score each statement from 1 (not true) to 5 (fully true). Score what is true today, not what you intend.

Better still, ask a colleague to score it separately, then compare. The gaps between your answers are often the most useful part.

Who this is for

Owners who are planning to grow, perhaps adding a site, a product line or a big customer, and want to check the business can carry it. It's also useful when growth is already happening and it feels harder than it should.

What it measures

The scorecard asks you to score 24 statements from 1 (not true) to 5 (fully true) across the four pillars from our Levers for Growth guide:

People: whether the business can run and grow without the owner doing everything
Strategy: whether you're chasing the right customers at the right price
Execution: whether you do what you say you will
Cash: whether growth is turning into cash or eating it

How to read your results

Look at your lowest-scoring pillar first. Growth puts weight on all four, and it's the weakest one that gives way. A business with strong strategy and weak cash will win the work and struggle to fund it. A business with strong execution and weak people will deliver well until the owner runs out of hours. If a colleague scored it too, look at where your answers differ by two points or more. Those gaps are usually where the real conversation needs to happen.

Worked example: Brightwater Fabrications

In this illustrative example, Brightwater Fabrications scores well on strategy and execution. It knows its market and delivers on time. It scores lowest on cash: customers pay at 60 days and growth is absorbing more cash than the business makes. Its operations director scores people lower than the owner did, because too many decisions still wait for the owner. The scorecard points it to the Funding Growth Calculator, and to a conversation about who can take decisions without the owner.

Sample results · PDF

See Brightwater's full results: every figure, what it told them and what they did next.

Download the worked example (PDF)

Frequently asked questions

How long does it take?: About five minutes. Score what's true today, not what you intend.
Should I ask someone else to score it too?: Yes, if you can. A colleague, co-director or your accountant will often see the business differently, and the gaps between your scores are often the most useful part.
What should I do with a low score?: A low score isn't a reason not to grow. It shows what to strengthen first, so the growth doesn't strain the business. Start with the lowest pillar and pick one statement in it to move up a point in the next quarter.