Case studies

Decisions scored before they were made.

These are anonymized composites from engagements run through North Star of Utah. No revenue figures, customer names, or testimonials are published.

Home services · Utah County

Add a second install crew before the spring rush

Owner: Owner / operations lead

The company had one install crew running at capacity and a waiting list growing through February. Adding a second crew meant a truck, tools, and a hire before revenue showed up. The owner had scored the decision informally for weeks.

Opportunity

captured demand already on the books plus the conversion rate of quoted-but-not-scheduled jobs.

Risk

the fixed cost of the crew if spring weather delayed the season by even two weeks.

Effort

hiring, training, and routing changes before the first job could be booked.

Outcome

The score pushed the decision one week later than instinct suggested. The owner used the delay to pre-book a partial schedule, which covered the fixed cost before the crew was fully staffed. The Index captured the difference between starting ready and starting early.

Anonymized composite. Figures describe the shape of the decision, not revenue.

Multi-location consumer care · Mountain West

Open a fourth location or expand hygiene capacity at existing offices

Owner: Managing partner

Two locations were at chair capacity. A third was still building patient volume. The partners were split: one wanted the prestige and patient base of a fourth office; the other wanted to add hygiene chairs where the phones already rang.

Opportunity

unscheduled recall value by location, not total patient count.

Risk

the fourth location would split marketing and management attention before the third location reached breakeven.

Effort

lease, buildout, staffing, and credentialing versus adding chairs and extending hours.

Outcome

The score favored expanding hygiene at the two busy locations first. The third location was given a six-month milestone before the fourth was reconsidered. The decision stopped a premature split in operating attention.

Anonymized composite. No patient or revenue numbers are disclosed.

Field and trade contracting · Northern Utah

Bid a fixed-price commercial maintenance contract

Owner: Estimator / project manager

A general contractor offered a one-year maintenance agreement across four properties. The scope was clear, but material pricing was volatile and travel time between sites was hard to predict. The owner liked the revenue; the estimator worried about margin.

Opportunity

guaranteed base load during the slow season and relationship depth with the general contractor.

Risk

price escalation clauses and the cost of callbacks if scope boundaries were not enforced.

Effort

scheduling, documentation, and a weekly check-in to keep the contract profitable.

Outcome

The score showed the opportunity was real but only if the contract included a materials escalator and a defined scope gate. The owner negotiated both before signing. The Index recorded the assumption and the verification date.

Anonymized composite. Contract terms are summarized, not quoted.

Professional services · Remote first

Promote a technician to client-facing engineer

Owner: Service manager

A fast technician was ready for more responsibility. Promoting him meant losing billable hours on the bench and adding client communication load. Waiting meant risking turnover. The service manager had delayed the decision twice.

Opportunity

client retention and ticket escalation reduction if the hire succeeded.

Risk

the revenue gap while backfilling the bench and the damage to the client if communication failed.

Effort

a 90-day transition plan with shadowing, defined handoff rules, and a review checkpoint.

Outcome

The score made the risk visible enough to design the transition before promoting. A 90-day plan was assigned and verified at each checkpoint. The decision was recorded so the next promotion of the same shape started from this template.

Anonymized composite. Individual details are obscured.

How to read these

Each case shows the same pattern. A decision that felt like a judgment call, broken into opportunity, risk and effort, with one named owner and a verification step after the decision was acted on. The details are disguised, but the shape of the decision is real to the engagements we run in Utah and the Mountain West.

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