A growth plan answers one question: where should the next dollar and the next hour of your time go? We build it from your sales history, margins and capacity, rank the realistic options, and write a plan short enough that you will actually open it in March.
What the plan contains
The finished plan is six to ten pages plus a one-page scorecard. It is deliberately short. Every section ends with a decision, not a discussion.
- Profit map: each service or product line ranked by gross margin per hour of labour, not just revenue.
- Customer map: which customer types pay on time, refer others and buy again, and which cost you more than they bring.
- Area map: revenue and travel time by municipality, from the core to the West Shore and the Peninsula, so you can see which areas are worth the drive.
- Three to five targets: each with a number, a deadline and the person responsible.
- Stop list: services, customers or habits you will drop to free up capacity.
- Scorecard: six to eight figures you check on the first Monday of each month.
Who it suits
It suits owner-run firms that have grown by saying yes and now need to choose. We see it work well for trades shops with three to fifteen staff, multi-chair clinics, independent retailers and small hospitality groups.
Typical triggers include a crew that is fully booked but not very profitable, an offer to buy a competitor, a lease decision, or a partner who wants to grow faster than you do. If you are at the very start, with no sales history, the plan has nothing to rank yet, and an advisory session is a better first step.
How the work runs
Most plans take four to six weeks from first data to final version.
- Week 1: you send twelve months of sales by service and customer, a payroll summary and your current marketing costs. We send a list of gaps.
- Week 2: two working calls with you and, if useful, a manager or partner. We test assumptions such as how many jobs a crew can really do in a week.
- Week 3: draft profit, customer and area maps. You correct anything that doesn't match reality.
- Weeks 4–5: options are ranked, targets drafted and the stop list agreed.
- Week 6: final plan and scorecard, plus a walk-through with your team if you want one.
Plan sessions happen in person or by video call. You keep every file, spreadsheet and model.
A short worked example
Ranking by margin per labour hour often reorders a business. Imagine a Saanich landscaping firm with three lines of work:
| Line | Annual revenue | Gross margin | Labour hours | Margin per hour |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Weekly maintenance | $420,000 | 38% | 6,200 | about $26 |
| Hardscape installs | $310,000 | 32% | 2,900 | about $34 |
| Irrigation service | $90,000 | 55% | 700 | about $71 |
Maintenance is the biggest line, but irrigation service earns almost three times as much per hour. A plan here might hold maintenance steady, raise its prices at renewal, and put marketing effort behind irrigation checks in spring. The numbers are illustrative; yours will tell their own story.
How we measure whether it worked
We measure the plan against the scorecard it sets, month by month. Typical scorecard lines are gross margin by line, revenue per labour hour, enquiries by source, quote-to-win rate and days from job completion to payment.
If you keep a monthly advisory session, we review the scorecard together and adjust. If not, the scorecard is designed so you can run it alone in about an hour.
Mistakes we help you avoid
Most failed plans fail for the same few reasons.
- Chasing revenue instead of margin. A busier year can be a poorer one.
- Too many targets. Twelve priorities means none.
- No stop list. Growth needs capacity, and capacity comes from dropping something.
- Ignoring geography. Travel time across the region is a real cost, and a plan that treats Sooke and Oak Bay the same will underprice one of them.
- No owner for each target. If everyone owns it, nobody does.
Related work
A growth plan often leads straight into one other service. If the plan depends on more enquiries, the marketing spend review decides where they should come from. If it depends on doing more work with the same team, the operations review comes next. Fees for both are on the pricing page, and our one-page plan guide shows how to draft a rough version yourself first.
Frequently asked questions
How is this different from a business plan for the bank?
A lender's business plan is written to secure financing. This plan is written for you and your managers to run the year: fewer pages, more numbers, and a clear list of what you will stop doing.
What if my bookkeeping is behind?
We can work from bank statements and invoices for the past year. Rough but honest figures are enough to rank options; we flag where better data would change the answer.
How much does a growth plan cost?
It is quoted as a fixed project within the $3,500–$25,000 range, plus 5% GST. A single-location firm with one or two service lines sits toward the lower end.
Can you promise we will hit the targets?
No one honest can promise that. We set targets from your own history and capacity, track them monthly, and change the plan when the evidence says so.