For owners with managers · start with the work
When to hire a general manager
You cannot keep running every part of the business yourself. A general manager may be the right hire. First make sure you can name the work and decisions the person will actually own.
- List the recurring management work and decisions you need to hand over.
- Define the authority, business result and review rhythm for the role.
- Ask current managers where work waits and what they cannot resolve.
- Check financial capacity and test one bounded delegation before committing to the hire.
Readiness depends on the role, not a universal revenue threshold
A general manager makes sense when there is continuing management work, meaningful authority you will transfer and sufficient resources to support the role. If priorities change daily, decisions are repeatedly reversed or essential information stays with you, a senior hire can inherit the same obstacle. Financial capacity and employment terms require their own qualified review.
- A genuine management-capacity gap: recurring coordination and decisions lack an accountable leader.
- Unclear decision rights: existing managers wait even when they have the necessary skills.
- A weak handoff: the role has a title but no agreed results, boundaries or usable information.
Before hiring a general manager or an operations manager
Write down the decisions the role owns, which teams it coordinates and where approval remains with you. Titles vary between companies; compare the actual responsibility rather than assuming the titles are interchangeable. A small delegation test can expose an unclear mandate. It cannot prove that a candidate will succeed or replace recruiting advice.
Worked example · fictional
From an explanation to something you can check
An owner plans to hire a general manager to stop delivery escalations. Independent accounts suggest the missing link is who can trade off urgent sales work against committed delivery. Before hiring, the owner tests an explicit priority rule with an existing manager. If the workload still exceeds available management capacity, that evidence makes the role definition sharper. Fictional example; no hiring outcome is claimed.
Read the complete fictional investigation · Design a small test
A Reality Check of one recurring business problem
Bring one problem. We help you run the check.
Best suited to owners of established B2B service businesses with roughly 20–75 people and managers in place. You have already tried a fix and are considering a hire, a delegation change or a new process. Start with two or three people who have seen the work firsthand.
- Your starting picture. Describe the desired result, your explanation and what you need to find out.
- Independent accounts. We help frame a neutral question about the work. Contributors answer before seeing your explanation or each other’s responses.
- A comparison by an agreed date. We bring together the accounts, supporting records, disagreements and missing voices. Missing evidence stays missing.
- One test and a dated review. You choose the action, its limits and expected result. We agree when to compare it with what happened and what to report back to contributors.
Delivered with hands-on help from the founder. This is a manually coordinated check. Before anyone contributes, we agree how responses will be collected, who can see them and the review dates. A named response is not anonymous; confidentiality does not guarantee candour. There is no promise to identify the true root cause or solve the problem.
Scope and price before you start
Introductory cohort: 3–5 accepted companies, no fee. One problem, two or three contributors, one comparison and one follow-up review. Acceptance and dates are confirmed personally; sending a request does not reserve a place.
Next cohort: proposed one-off fee of $750 per assisted check. That cohort is not open for purchase here. Availability, the work included and the price are confirmed in writing before you agree. There is no automatic renewal.
Continuing software use is separate: current annual company licenses are $2,400 / $4,800 / $9,000 for 20–50 / 51–100 / 101–150 people. See annual license scope. Preparing a card or sending this request creates no company access, invitation or payment.
Look · your own starting view
Prepare your Focus Card.
Write four short lines in your own words. This is a local draft in this page, not an activated company pilot. Your words stay in this page unless you request the optional card email or send the separate assisted-check request below. They are not transferred to sign-up. Download the card before leaving if you want to keep it.
Free now: prepare and download this card, or request a place in the introductory assisted-check cohort. We confirm participation personally before work begins.
Current annual company licenses: 20–50 people: $2,400/year · 51–100: $4,800/year · 101–150: $9,000/year. Software licenses are separate from the assisted check. See license scope.
Example starting lines, not a diagnosis. Edit them to describe your own situation before sharing.
Focus Card · owner-authored local draft
Your starting picture
- What result do you want?
- Not entered
- How do you currently explain the situation?
- Not entered
- What is the most important thing you do not know yet?
- Not entered
- What question would be worth investigating?
- Not entered
Review a request for help with this card →
Copying the card below does not send it. Review the outline and give your consent before submitting.
A draft to examine, not an accepted diagnosis. No company has been created and no invitation has been sent.
Request an assisted check
Send the situation you want to examine.
Use the card above, or write a short outline here. We will review whether one assisted check fits your situation and reply to agree the scope and dates. No account or payment is needed to request it.
Request received
Your request is ready for review.
We will review the situation and reply to the email you provided. Your place and dates are not confirmed yet. No meeting has been booked automatically.
Request reference:
Explore the platform