High Definition Leadership

Portfolio/Tools to try

When could the business reach its goal at this pace, and what would move the date?

Set the goal, then see the path to it. The dashboard takes the business as it is today, projects it forward month by month, and shows when you may get there at this pace, where growth may stall if nothing changes, and which single change could close the gap. It shows the revenue it may take for you to step back from the day to day, and what each hire and each extra cost does to that date. The sliders let you test a decision before you make it. Nothing you enter leaves your browser.

How this was built

I first built this for the members of a financial education platform I run, as one of its 25+ tools, then rebuilt it here in this site's design. Underneath, it runs a five-year model a month at a time: each recurring line grows on its own joins, churn and referrals, one-off revenue grows until it meets the capacity you set, and employer National Insurance, pension and an estimate of tax come off each month under the 2026/27 UK rules. The levers come from a search that tries each single change in turn and finds the smallest one that reaches your goal by your date.

01Where the business is now

Last month's actual figures, not the good month. Everything here is monthly unless it says otherwise.

How is the business set up?

Where does the money come from? Pick every one that applies.

Pick at least one so the dashboard knows how your revenue behaves.

% a month

Time & materials and product sales only. Recurring revenue grows from joins and churn instead.

02Adding recurring revenue later

The most common way a one-off business stops starting from zero every month. It can be modelled here before it is built.

03What it costs to run

Fixed costs are the same whether you sell one or a thousand. Variable costs rise with every sale. Both decide where your break-even sits.

Fixed costs a month

Depreciation is not a cash payment, which is why operating profit is measured before it.

Variable costs as a share of revenue

% of revenue
% of revenue
% of revenue

Team and your own pay

/ year
/ month

Up to £10,500 a year off employer NI.

04How customers arrive, and how they leave

This is what sets your ceiling. A business winning ten customers a month and losing five per cent of them each month stops growing at two hundred, however hard it sells. How many join each line is set in section 01; this is what it costs to win them, and who else sends them.

CAC. Your marketing spend divided by customers won.

% refer / yr

Share of customers who send you one new customer a year. Costs nothing and compounds.

05What you are aiming at

Name the goal and the date. The dashboard works backwards from it and shows what would have to be true.

/ year

Leave blank and it just tells you the date you reach it.

What would being hands-off mean for you?

/ year

Salary before employer NI and pension. The dashboard adds those on top.

% EBITDA

Measured as EBITDA. 10-15% is a healthy service business; product and software run higher.

This is an educational model, not financial, tax or business advice, and not a personal recommendation. It applies published 2026/27 UK employer and tax rules (employer NI 15% above £5,000, Employment Allowance £10,500, auto-enrolment on £6,240 to £50,270, Corporation Tax 19% to 25%) to the figures you enter, and shows the criteria worth weighing in growth and hiring decisions. The levers are criteria to weigh, not instructions.

Projections assume your figures hold and nothing else changes, which is never quite true: overheads and headcount stay where you set them unless you move the sliders, so the net margin tends to look as if it rises with scale. The model does not know your market, your pipeline or your contracts, and it does not tell you what to do. Anything that matters could be checked with your accountant before you act. Rates change every April.

The model runs in your browser: nothing you enter is sent anywhere or stored.