The Founder Bottleneck Calculator | The Step Back Program
The Step Back Program
Founder Bottleneck Calculator
For founders running $1M–$20M businesses

You Are the Bottleneck.
Here's the Proof.

In 5 minutes, this calculator shows you exactly which decisions are costing you the most time and money - and the single move to make this week to start getting your hours back.

Free. Takes 5 minutes. No email required to see your score.
Sound familiar?

Your team is capable. So why does everything still land on your desk?

  • You can't take a two-week holiday without things quietly falling apart.
  • Your team brings you decisions they could make themselves - and you say yes every time.
  • You're working more hours than anyone on your team, but the business still needs you to be "on."
  • You've tried delegating. It came back. You fixed it. It came back again.
  • You know the answer is "trust your team" - but there's no system, so you can't.
This isn't a people problem. It isn't a trust problem. It's a decision architecture problem. And it has a specific, measurable fix.
What you get in 5 minutes

Your personalised Founder Bottleneck Report

📊
Your Bottleneck Index Score (0–100)
A single number that tells you how founder-dependent your business actually is. Tangible, specific, and testable.
💸
The Dollar Cost of Your Bottleneck
Your top 5 decisions ranked by weekly hours and annual cost at your real hourly rate. The number is usually shocking.
🎯
The One Move to Make This Week
Not a 90-day plan. The single highest-leverage decision to move off your desk - with the exact three things needed to make it stick.
I thought I had a team problem. Turns out I had a decision architecture problem. The calculator showed me in 5 minutes what I'd been ignoring for two years. Moved three decisions in week one. Got 6 hours back.
James R. - Founder, $4.2M services business
No email required to see your score. Takes under 5 minutes.

List the decisions that hit your desk

Think about a typical month. What keeps landing on you? Don't filter - just list them. The more honest you are, the more accurate your score. Aim for at least 5.

Based on Dan Martell's Effective Hourly Rate & Buyback Rate methodology from Buy Back Your Time.
Decisions added: 0 / 10  ·  Minimum 3 to calculate
Your Founder Bottleneck Index
0 / 100
Calculating…

0 hrs/week
You're losing this much every week to decisions your team should be making - not you.
$0/yr
The annual cost of your time on those decisions, at your effective hourly rate.

Your Rates

Based on $500/hr default
Effective Hourly Rate
$500/hr
Buyback Rate
$125/hr
Your Buyback Rate is the hourly threshold below which any task or decision should be delegated. Every decision on your Top 5 list costs you significantly more than this. That is the mathematical case for moving them off your desk - today.

Framework credit: Dan Martell, Buy Back Your Time.
Your Top 5 Decisions to Move First
The Recommended First Move

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Move this decision this week. Hand it to the right person with three things. Miss any one and the decision boomerangs straight back to your desk.

Owner Name one specific person. Not "the team." One human who will make the call.
Authority Recommend (they prepare, you decide), Inform (they decide, tell you after), or Decide (fully theirs).
Trigger The ONE specific, testable condition that brings it back. "Deal over $50K" - not "if it's important."

All three present and the decision stays moved. Miss one and it comes back.

Save your full Bottleneck Report as a PDF

Your score, Top 5 decisions, first move, and rate breakdown - on one printable page. No email required.

The Step Back Program

Want the full system installed in 6 weeks?

The Step Back Program takes founders from "my business can't run without me" to "my team owns the decisions" in 6 weeks. You bring two senior team members. We install the system together.

A complete Decision Architecture for your business - every recurring decision assigned, with authority and triggers defined.
Live cohort of 10 founders maximum. You're not doing this alone, and you're not doing it in a course library you'll never open.
Your two senior team members join every session. The system gets built with them, not handed to them.
First wins typically land in week one. Most founders recover 8–12 hours per week by week three.
Apply for the Next Cohort →
10 founders per cohort. Next cohort opens soon.
Application takes 3 minutes. No obligation.