10 questions. 3 minutes. A honest look at whether you're building a business that scales, or one that breaks the moment you step back.
Every founder who's scaled past £1M knows the feeling. Revenue is growing. The team is bigger. And somehow you're working harder, not less.
That's not a discipline problem. It's a structural one. And it has a name: Founder Dependency.
This audit measures it. Ten questions across five areas where dependency shows up, decisions, revenue, operations, team, and strategy. It takes three minutes. The answers will tell you whether your business is scaling or just stretching.
Read each statement below. For each one, honestly assess: True, Partly true, or Not true. Count your "True" answers at the end. Be honest, this only works if you are.
Most significant decisions in my business require my approval before work can proceed.
There is no written document that defines which decisions my team can make without asking me.
If I stopped selling personally today, new revenue would slow significantly or stop within a quarter.
My single largest client's primary relationship is with me, not with someone else in the business.
I can name at least three areas of the business that would genuinely break if I stepped away for 90 days.
If revenue doubled in the next six months, our operations would struggle to deliver without quality collapsing.
When an unexpected problem surfaces, my team's instinct is to bring it to me rather than resolve it themselves.
I have delegated tasks to my team, but not the authority to make decisions about how those tasks are done.
My leadership team could not present a coherent 12-month strategic plan without me in the room.
I don't know my contribution margin by customer segment with confidence.