BBG Owner's Manual
Case file · open

Every decision is a case. Investigate it before you close it.

Running a business, a department or a team means making calls nobody else will make for you. You don't have to figure it out alone. This guide teaches one habit: step outside yourself, question the easy answer, work through the what-ifs, and only then decide.

No jargon. No judgment. No sugarcoating either. Just practical tools and a straight answer about what it takes, from someone who has been in the trenches too.

■ Why this manual exists

Built for people who learned business on the job

A lot of people running businesses never planned to. They took over the family business, turned a skill into a company, or stepped in when someone left. Others chose to become entrepreneurs, but couldn't take years off or pay for a business degree first. And many people climb the ladder, from supervisor to team lead to manager to department head, until one day they're responsible for a team, a budget and hard decisions, and nobody hands them a manual.

Most of them learn the hard way: by trial and error, with real money and real people at stake. This manual exists to make that easier. It gives you the tools and ways of thinking that business school and experienced mentors teach, in plain language, for free, so you can run your business, department or team smoothly without going back to school.

You fell into it

The accidental owner

You inherited the business, took it over or grew a skill into a company. You're great at the work, and now you're also the boss, the bookkeeper, the salesperson and the person who has to make every hard call.

You chose it

The self-taught entrepreneur

You decided to build something of your own. You have the drive. What you need are practical tools for decisions, money, customers and people, without a degree program or expensive consultants.

You're moving up

The leader in charge

You were promoted for doing your job well. Now you're a supervisor, team lead, manager or department head. You lead people, own results and make decisions with incomplete information. That's an owner's job, at a different scale.

Owners and leaders at every level need the same mindset

A business owner, a department head and a supervisor running a shift do the same kind of job. Each is responsible for results they can't produce alone. Each manages people, time, money or resources, customers and risk, and each makes hard decisions without perfect information. The difference is mostly scale, and who signs the checks. The thinking is the same, so this manual is written for all of them.

No degree is required. Every idea is explained in plain words, every tool is free, and you can start with whatever problem you're facing today.

■ Find your page

What are you dealing with right now?

I never planned to run a business, and now I doStart with the five-step starter path.The starter path → I was promoted and now lead a teamRead the manual for your team or department.For supervisors and managers → I have a big decision to makeOpen a dossier and work it through seven steps.The Dossier Method → I need an outside opinion but can't hire a consultantAdvise yourself in the third person, then act in the first.Be Your Own Consultant → I don't have a clear plan for the yearWrite a vision, priorities and a weekly scorecard on one page.The One-Page Plan → We compete on price and blend inFind your real edge and who you're for.Where You Compete → I need more clientsStrengthen your offer and run the sales math.Sales Process → Clients keep leavingFind the leak and fix onboarding and check-ins.Keep Your Clients → A client is a problem, or my prices feel wrongScore the client and find your price floor.Clients & Pricing → Cash is tight or I don't trust my numbersCheck runway, collections and the monthly close.Cash Flow → I never seem to pay myselfSplit every dollar before the spending starts.Profit First → Should I spend money on this?Run the Dollar Test and the payback calculator.Reality Check → Things feel loose, and stuff is slippingFind the drift and set a weekly routine.Tight Ship → Everything depends on meWrite procedures and audit where your week goes.Systems & Procedures → I need to hire someoneBuild a role scorecard and interview like a detective.Hiring → My team isn't working well togetherCheck team health and build trust.Team & Culture → I have a negotiation coming upKnow your walk-away point and their interests.Negotiation → We're growing fast, maybe too fastSee what breaks and how much cash growth needs.Grow Without Breaking → Something just went wrongFollow the first 24 hours and the playbooks.Crisis Mode → The business model isn't working anymorePlan a 30/60/90-day pivot and review every role.Pivot to Survive → Can software or AI do some of this work?See what to hand off and why people still check.Technology & AI → I'm the bottleneck, or I'm burning outTake the vacation test and set owner tripwires.Protect the Owner →
Free download · 155-page PDF

The complete BBG Owner's Manual, as a book

Everything on this site in 30 chapters and 7 parts, with a review and an exercise at the end of every chapter, plus printable worksheets. Read it front to back, or jump to the chapter you need.

Download the book

■ The system behind this site

The Dossier Method

Detectives don't start with the answer they like. They open a file, collect evidence, test every theory, and only close the case when it holds up. The Dossier Method is that process for business decisions: seven steps, one letter each, and every important decision ends as a one-page dossier you can look back on. Every page on this site connects to one of these steps.

  1. D

    Define

    Write the real question, the deadline and what success looks like.

  2. O

    Outside view

    See it in the third person and check how cases like it usually go.

  3. S

    Sort evidence

    Split facts from assumptions from guesses.

  4. S

    Scenarios

    Best, worst and likely. Then "and then what?"

  5. I

    Interrogate

    Build the strongest case against your plan.

  6. E

    Execute

    Decide, set tripwires and tell the people affected.

  7. R

    Review

    Grade the reasoning on a set date, not just the result.

Read the full Dossier Method →  ·  Download the free Dossier PDF

Where to begin

Whether you own the business, run a department or supervise a shift, you don't need an MBA to use this manual. You need to be willing to slow down for ten minutes before a big call and be honest about what you don't know.

The hardest part of being in charge is that the people around you stop pushing back. Employees want to keep their jobs, customers want to be polite, and friends want to be supportive. So the person in charge has to supply the pushback themselves. That is what this method is for.

Start with the Dossier Method, or go straight to the Dossier Builder and open a file on a real decision you're facing now.

■ The companion guide

Deciding is half the job. Saying it well is the other half.

Every decision in this manual eventually becomes a conversation: a proposal, a hard talk, a meeting, an email, a negotiation. Clear at Work is the free companion guide to communication in business, by the same author, with the same plain-language approach and its own interactive tools.

Look for the "Say it well" notes throughout this manual. They point to the part of Clear at Work that fits the page you're on.

  • Business writing and email tone
  • Presentations and running meetings
  • Persuasion, negotiation and getting to yes
  • Hard conversations and workplace relationships
  • Sales and consulting communication

Visit Clear at Work →

■ What's inside

Everything in the manual

Method
Strategy
Customers
Money
Operations
People
Hard Times
About