Aperture Score™

Every business is read across the same seven lenses, in the same order, against the same criteria. That is what makes one X-Ray comparable to another and what lets us re-score you later and prove the difference rather than assert it.

The lenses are weighted. The percentages below are the weights we use, and they are the same for every client; the order reflects what actually decides whether an owner-run business thrives.

1. 01

   Finance

   “Do we actually make money, and will we still be here in a year?”

   Margin by product and location, the cash cycle through a full year, unit economics, how costs have moved, and whether the books can be trusted for decisions.

   Why it weighs what it does. Cash and unit economics are what actually end businesses of this size. It is also the most reliably evidenced lens: the P&L exists whether or not anything else does.

   What we need. Profit & loss and balance sheet, three years plus year-to-date. Payment terms and debt.

   20%

   of the score
2. 02

   Operations

   “If demand doubled tomorrow, what breaks first?”

   The physical ceiling on volume, where work backs up, whether the bottleneck is measured or merely felt, whether the supply of licensed or qualified people caps what you can bill, and whether capacity is planned against demand or absorbed by overtime.

   Why it weighs what it does. In a place-based business the constraint usually binds physically: chairs, bays, rooms, vehicles, staffed hours. Someone can point at it.

   What we need. Capacity and utilization, monthly volume, seasonality, how the work actually flows, and any license or qualification that limits who can do it.

   18%

   of the score
3. 03

   Customers & Retention

   “Who pays us, why, and are they coming back?”

   Where customers come from and what each channel costs, repeat behavior measured rather than assumed, how concentrated revenue is, and why customers leave when they leave.

   Why it weighs what it does. Retention is the highest-leverage and most commonly mismeasured area in an owner-run business. Owners routinely believe their repeat rate is far higher than it is, and it is usually cheaper to fix than acquisition.

   What we need. Transaction history by customer, marketing spend by channel, and what you know about churn.

   18%

   of the score
4. 04

   Market & Competition

   “Why does anyone choose us over the alternative?”

   Whether there is a defensible reason to choose you, who you actually lose to and on what, where the market is heading, and how much of your catchment you hold.

   Why it weighs what it does. This sets the ceiling on everything else. A well-run business in a shrinking market has a strategy problem that no operational fix reaches.

   What we need. Who costs you business and where, how far customers travel, and what is changing around you.

   14%

   of the score
5. 05

   Leadership & Team

   “What happens if you take a month off?”

   Which jobs only one person can do and what revenue rides on them, whether anyone could cover them tomorrow, whether the work is written down well enough to hand over, how much reports directly to you, and whether decisions get made or quietly stall.

   Why it weighs what it does. Key-person risk is existential at this size, and it is the single most common reason an owner-run business cannot be sold. We put a number on it, the revenue exposed if a role goes dark for ninety days, because that is the version of the problem a buyer, a lender and a tired owner all understand. Weighted above Processes for that reason.

   What we need. Roles rather than names: who does what, what would stop, who could cover, and what is written down. A staff list by role, and an initiative that stalled.

   12%

   of the score
6. 06

   Processes

   “Does the work survive the person doing it?”

   What is documented and actually followed, what still runs on memory, a spreadsheet or a piece of paper, and whether broken processes ever get fixed.

   Why it weighs what it does. Weighted lower on purpose. Weak process is usually a symptom of Operations or Leadership rather than a root constraint; treating it as the disease is a common and expensive mistake.

   What we need. How work gets done today, and which process would change the most if it ran properly.

   10%

   of the score
7. 07

   Technology & Data

   “Can you see what you need to see, when you need to see it?”

   Whether systems cover the core without manual re-entry, whether the numbers are trusted and rightly so, and whether decision-makers can answer their own questions.

   Why it weighs what it does. Weighted lowest, deliberately. Technology is almost never the binding constraint in a business this size; it is an enabler. Weighting it higher produces 'buy software' recommendations, which is the failure mode of this entire industry.

   What we need. Your systems, where you do not trust your own numbers, and what you wish you could see.

   8%

   of the score

Where the evidence will not support a lens, we mark it insufficient rather than estimating it, and we say so on the face of the report. An honest gap is more useful than a furnished one, and it is usually the fastest thing to fix.