Stop Building a Business You Can Never Sell
The Victory Circle™ Process for Exit-Ready Operations
Most artisan food and authentic manufacturing businesses are built around the founder. Great for control, terrible for valuation. We use our proprietary Victory Circle™ framework to build systems that create real business value – whether you plan to sell in 5 years or 50.
How We Help Artisan Food & Manufacturing Businesses Build Exit Value
Operations Leadership
Build Systems That Run Without You
– Fractional Operations Management
– Team Training & Development Programs
– Quality Control Systems That Scale
– Production Planning & Capacity Management
– Marketing-Production Alignment Systems
*Perfect for: Businesses where everything runs through the founder*
Marketing Strategy & Oversight
Marketing That Matches Your Operations
– Campaign Strategy Based on Production Capacity
– Channel Strategy (Direct vs. Wholesale Optimization)
– Brand Messaging That Operations Can Deliver
– Lead Management Without Demand Chaos
– Performance Tracking & Optimization
*Perfect for: Businesses with operational foundations ready for growth*
– Content Creation & Brand Storytelling
– Email Systems & Lead Nurturing
– Social Media That Showcases Your Craft
– Marketing Automation & Process Documentation
– Comprehensive Campaign Management
*Perfect for: Businesses ready for comprehensive change*
Combination
Packages
Complete Business Transformation
– Operations + Marketing Integration
– Full-Service Growth Partnership
– Executive-Level Strategic Leadership
– Performance-Based Partnership Options
*Perfect for: Businesses ready for comprehensive change*
Starting Investment:** $4,000-$18,000/month depending on scope and business size
Why Operations First?
Because Marketing Agencies Get It Backwards
Here’s what happens when you hire a marketing agency without fixing your operations first:
- They create campaigns you can't fulfill consistently
- Your production team gets overwhelmed by demand spikes
- Quality suffers because systems weren't built to scale
- Customer complaints increase because marketing promises don't match delivery reality
- Growth feels chaotic instead of systematic
Sound familiar?
At Formula Done, we flip the script.
Operations first, marketing second, founder freedom always.
Before we touch your marketing, we need to understand how your business actually works:
- Can your production handle a 50% increase in orders next month?
- Would your business survive if you took a 3-week vacation?
- Do your team members know what to do without asking you first?
- Can you consistently deliver what your marketing promises?
We use our proprietary Victory Circle™ Assessment to diagnose exactly where your business breaks down. Only then do we build the systems that make growth predictable and your business valuable to potential buyers.
Because here’s the truth:
A founder-dependent business will never command premium valuation.
Step 1:
Find Your Stuck Points with The Victory Circle™
The Victory Circle™ isn’t another generic business assessment. It’s specifically designed for artisan food producers and authentic manufacturers who face unique challenges that software companies and service businesses never deal with.
We examine your business through three critical lenses:
1. Starting Grid (Your Foundation):
- Revenue Reality Check: Are your financial systems actually accurate?
- Offer Clarity: Can you explain what you do in one sentence? (Most can't.)
- Market Position: Do you really know who buys from you and why?
- Seasonal Factors: How do seasonal ingredients/demand affect your cash flow?
Example: A craft brewery discovered their “bestselling” seasonal ale was actually losing money because they hadn’t tracked ingredient cost fluctuations
2. Track Performance (Your Operations Engine)
- Production Capacity: Can your systems handle growth without breaking?
- Quality Control: What happens to quality when volume increases?
- Marketing-Production Alignment: Does your marketing calendar match your production capacity?
- Team Structure: Who has to ask you before making ANY decision?
- Channel Management: Are direct-to-consumer and wholesale orders creating operational conflicts?
Example: An artisan food producer was promising 2-week delivery but their seasonal production schedule meant 6-week delays half the year.
Victory Plan (Your Scale Readiness)
- Delegation Depth: What percentage of daily decisions require your personal input?
- Exit Readiness: If you wanted to sell tomorrow, what would buyers see as major red flags?
- Growth Planning: Can you predict what will break first when you double revenue?
- Systems Documentation: Could someone else run your business for a month using your existing processes?
The Output: Your Scalable Growth Flywheel™
All insights get mapped to our Scalable Growth Flywheel™, showing your strengths and weaknesses across 6 critical areas:
- Marketing Consistency – Campaigns that align with production capacity
- Team Enablement – People who can make decisions without you
- Delivery Systems – Operations that maintain quality at scale
- Measurement & Dashboards – Metrics that actually matter for your business
- Owner Elevation – Your role shifts from doing to directing
- Systems & Automation – Processes that run without constant oversight
**Most founders are shocked by their results.** They think they know where they’re stuck, but the real bottlenecks are usually different.
Want a Preview?
Take our free Scale-Ready Assessment – it uses the same Victory Circle™ principles to give you initial insights into your Flywheel balance.
Step 2:
Build Your Exit-Ready Roadmap
Armed with your Victory Circle™ results, we design systems that work for makers and creators. Not generic business solutions – frameworks that preserve your craft while building real business value.
Our collaborative strategy sessions focus on:
Operations That Scale
– Quality Systems: Maintain your standards while increasing volume
– Production Planning: Align capacity with marketing and sales goals
– Team Training: Document your craft so others can execute your vision
– Seasonal Management: Build systems that handle your unique seasonal challenges
Marketing That Works
– Marketing-Production Alignment: Campaigns that reflect what you can actually deliver
– Channel Strategy: Serve wholesale and direct customers without operational chaos
– Message Consistency: Brand promises that your operations can fulfill every time
– Lead Management: Systems that handle demand spikes without overwhelming production
Exit Readiness
– Founder Independence: Build systems that run without your daily involvement
– Value Documentation: Create the operational records that buyers want to see
– Growth Planning: Scale systems alongside revenue to maintain business value
– Succession Preparation: Position the business for eventual sale or transfer
**The result:** A custom growth roadmap with prioritized initiatives, clear timelines, and defined success metrics that increase your business valuation.
Step 3:
From Roadmap to Results
We don’t just hand you a plan and disappear. We partner with you to build the systems, whether that’s operational leadership, marketing execution, or both.
Operations Leadership
– Fractional operations management for artisan/craft businesses
– Team training and development programs
– Quality control systems that scale with volume
– Production planning that aligns with marketing goals
Marketing Strategy & Oversight
– Campaigns designed around your production capacity
– Channel strategy that doesn’t create operational conflicts
– Brand messaging that your operations can consistently deliver
– Lead management systems that prevent demand chaos
Full Marketing Implementation
– Content creation that tells your craft story authentically
– Email systems that nurture leads without overwhelming sales
– Social media that showcases your process and quality
– Automation that handles routine tasks so you can focus on craft
Our Focus
We embed new systems into your daily operations, ensure team adoption, and establish processes for ongoing optimization. **Our goal is to build a business that runs without you being the bottleneck.**
What Happens When Operations and Marketing Actually Work Together
Real Results from Real Businesses:
Your Path from Founder-Dependent to Exit-Ready
Assess your foundation, Design your roadmap, Implement the systems.
It’s a structured approach designed for lasting results.
Ready to Build a Business You Could Actually Sell?
The first step is understanding where you stand today. Book a Discovery Call to discuss your specific challenges and learn how the Victory Circle™ Assessment can show you exactly what needs to be fixed first.
On our call, we'll cover:
- Your biggest operational bottlenecks (the ones costing you money daily)
- Which systems are preventing your business from being valuable to buyers
- The specific next steps for your situation
- Whether Formula Done is the right fit for your business
