The 90-Minute Business Bottleneck Review — Offer + Deliverable Definition

Last updated: 2026-06-04 · The productized front door for Hook Street Services. This doc defines what the client receives (so it's a repeatable service, not a one-off) + how it's sold. Reuses the _staging/ engagement kit + the operations-systems-build / underwriting-method skills.

The product is judgment, not the build

The diagnosis IS the sale. The client isn't buying a dashboard, automation, AI, or a spreadsheet — they're buying "tell me what's actually wrong and what to do next." The system is fulfillment that comes after, only if they want it. This decouples revenue from "is the portal/MIS/system finished" — Sam can sell this today.

Positioning (lead with this, every time):

"Most businesses don't have ten problems. They have one or two problems creating ten symptoms. I help find which is which — then I give you a clear plan to fix the right one first."

One-liner: "I help business owners find the 1–3 bottlenecks costing them time, money, or control, then give them a clear 30-day fix plan. If useful, I can also build the system."

Price

Standard: $1,500–$2,500 (90-minute focused review + the written deliverable).
Fallback pilot: $750–$1,000 (to close a first one fast / a warm relationship).
Implementation: quoted separately if they want it built (the operations-systems-build vertical).
Terms: 50% to book, 50% on delivery. Deliverable within X business days of the call. (Pattern from _staging/engagement-playbook.md.)

The free front door — the 3-question intake (NOT a free 90 minutes)

You never give away the 90-minute review. The free, low-friction hook is 3 questions the prospect answers in a ~90-second voice note each (≈5 min of your time to review — no calendar, no free consult). From their answers you reflect back the 1–2 bottlenecks you already see, then quote the paid review. Keep it to what matters, not 20 questions:
1. What's the business, and what does a good month look like?
2. Where do things feel like they fall through the cracks — cash, follow-up, reporting, delegation, or operations?
3. If one thing got fixed in the next 30 days, what would make the biggest difference?

The 90-minute review + the written deliverable (below) is the PAID product ($1,500–$2,500), delivered only after this free intake hooks them. The intake is the qualifier + the taste; the review is the sale.

The call (90 minutes, 5 beats)

From _staging/discovery-call-discipline.md: Open → Listen (convert every urge-to-give into a question) → one taste of insight + the gate → Reflect back what you heard → Close. Don't demo; diagnose. The gate: "Let me put the three together in writing and send it to you."

⭐ THE DELIVERABLE — what the client receives (2–4 pages)

A short, sharp written document. This is the repeatable artifact Mildred can help format/track:

Executive Summary — one paragraph: the single root problem creating the symptoms, and the headline recommendation. (The "if you read nothing else" read.)
Top 3 Bottlenecks — each named plainly, with: what it is · where it's getting stuck · who/what it depends on.
What Each Is Costing — quantified impact: time lost, cash tied up / leaking, revenue not captured, or control/owner-dependence. (Even a defensible estimate beats none.)
30-Day Action Plan — the fix-the-right-one-first sequence: 3–6 concrete moves, each with an owner + a "done looks like."
90-Day Roadmap — the next two phases once the 30-day wins land (what to systematize, in order).
Optional Implementation Scope + Quote — only if they'd want it built: what Hook Street would set up (sheets / cadence / command inbox / tracker / reporting), rough effort, and a price band. Soft, not a hard sell — the review stands on its own.

Deliverable skeleton (copy to start each one)

HOOK STREET — BUSINESS BOTTLENECK REVIEW
Client · Date · Prepared by Sam Treitel, Hook Street Capital

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
  [The one root problem + the headline fix, in 3-4 sentences.]

THE TOP 3 BOTTLENECKS
  1. [Name] — what it is · where it sticks · what it's costing
  2. [Name] — …
  3. [Name] — …

30-DAY ACTION PLAN (fix the right one first)
  • [Move] — owner — done looks like
  • …

90-DAY ROADMAP
  Phase 2 (days 30-60): …
  Phase 3 (days 60-90): …

OPTIONAL — IF YOU WANT IT BUILT
  [What Hook Street would set up · rough effort · price band]

Not financial, legal, or tax advice. A focused operational read based on what you shared.

Who it's for

Owner-operators running too much from their own head: operational chaos, cash-flow/collections friction, staffing/delegation gaps, no single source of truth. RE / service / school / ops-heavy businesses (Sam's pattern-recognition zone: CFO, underwriting, STR, acquisitions, schools, operations).

What Sam says to a guy

"I'm kind of a business-bottleneck guy. I help owners figure out where things are getting stuck, what's costing money, and what needs to happen next."

If he asks more: "I usually do a 90-minute review — cash flow, follow-up, reporting, delegation, operations, whatever's causing the most pain — and I give you the top three fixes in order."
Price: "Depends on the business, but the first review is usually $1,500 to $2,500. If it turns into implementation, that's separate."

Do / Don't

✅ Lead with the diagnosis + the symptoms framing. ✅ Show the 2–3 that matter, not everything. ✅ Gate on materials. ✅ One clean written deliverable.
❌ Don't lead with AI / automation / dashboard / spreadsheet. ❌ Don't give the diagnosis free on the call (that's the product). ❌ Don't promise a build before the diagnosis is sold.