Margin and operating-economics diagnostic
A focused review of what each customer, product and activity really costs to serve, so cost decisions follow the numbers.
Book a diagnostic intro
Timeline /
2-3 weeks
Engagements typically start at /
$15,000
You receive /
5 deliverables
Who it’s for
Margins are shrinking
Costs rose and no one can say which ones matter.
Growth costs more than it earns
New customers do not seem to add much profit.
Cuts feel risky
Leaders fear trimming the wrong thing.
Fit
Fits when
You have a live business with cost and revenue data you can share, and margins are lower than expected. The team cannot say where the money goes.
Does not fit when
You have no live business or cost history yet. Building a financial model from nothing is a separate service.
How it works
1
Discovery call
How the business earns and spends, your goals, the stack, and where you think margin is slipping.
2
Finance and cost data
Cost, revenue and usage tables with notes on what each holds, or someone who can explain them. First data request.
3
Cost review
Tuesday and Thursday updates on what the numbers show, open questions, and where the diagnosis is heading.
4
Results review
Each margin drain, its size, the evidence, and a ranked set of recommendations.
5
Optional: act on the plan
Stay on and carry out the changes together, scoped separately.
Your own view of where margin goes gets tested, not assumed. The biggest drain is often not the obvious one.
What you receive
Margin and KPI review
Cost-to-serve analysis
Margin opportunity map
Cost and pricing recommendations
90-day savings and margin plan
If the numbers cannot confirm a cause, I will say so rather than guess.
Examples
Marketing looked profitable on paper, but payback depended on renewals
Profitability remained elusive despite healthy-looking marketing margins. Cohort analysis exposed omitted sales commissions and marketing salaries: acquisition unknowingly depended on renewals to pay back, yet renewals were not a focus. Pricing was already near the top of the market, making a simple price rise difficult.
Hidden acquisition costs left no simple path to profitability
With the true payback picture clear, I laid out the choices: prioritize renewals and accept longer payback; reduce marketing salaries or paid acquisition; improve the product to justify a higher price; or add a revenue stream. The outcome was a clear set of trade-offs, not a claimed profitability gain.
Questions