Stop / Start / Continue Business Review

How to use this tool. This is for owners and senior managers who want to cut through busyness and decide what actually deserves their time and money. Set aside 90 minutes with a pen or a spreadsheet and work through the five stages in order. You will finish with a short list of decisions, each with an owner, a date and a measure.

Why it matters

Most small and medium businesses only add: a new service, a new system, a new report, a new standing meeting. Very little is ever removed. Over time the business carries work that no longer earns its place, and the owner has less capacity for the things that would move the business forward.

A Stop / Start / Continue review forces three decisions that are easy to avoid:

• Stop: what is costing time, money or focus without a fair return.
• Start: what is missing or under-done that would clearly help.
• Continue: what is working and needs protecting, so it is not lost in the next round of changes.

The value is not in the lists. It is in choosing a few items, committing to them and checking back.

The method: five stages

Stage 1: Frame the review

Decide the boundaries before you start, so the review does not turn into a vent.

• What period are you reviewing? Use the last 6 to 12 months.
• What are the one or two outcomes that matter most over the next 12 months (for example, healthier margin, less owner dependence, a steadier pipeline)?
• Who else should contribute? A manager, a leading hand or an office lead will often see things you do not.

Write your outcomes here. Every item you consider later is judged against them.

Stage 2: Sweep for evidence

Work through each area of the business and write down candidates quickly. Do not judge them yet. Use real evidence where you can: job profitability, quote win rates, debtor days, rework, staff turnover, customer complaints and praise, your own calendar.

Prompts to use in each area:

• Stop: What do we do out of habit? What takes more effort than it returns? What would I not start today if I were beginning afresh?
• Start: What do customers or staff keep asking for? What problem keeps recurring because nobody owns it? What do our best competitors do that we do not?
• Continue: What do customers praise? What has made us money reliably? What would we regret losing?

Stage 3: Test and score

You now have too many ideas. Score each Stop and Start candidate from 1 to 5 on three questions:

• Impact: How much would this help the outcomes you set in Stage 1? (5 = a great deal)
• Confidence: How sure are you, from evidence rather than instinct, that it will work? (5 = very sure)
• Effort: How much time, money and disruption will it take? (5 = a great deal)

Priority score = (Impact x Confidence) ÷ Effort. Higher scores go first. Write "S" for Stop or "N" for Start (new) in the type column.

For Continue items, no score is needed. Choose the three most important and note what could erode each one (a busy season, a staff departure, a new system).

Before you finalise any Stop, run this checklist:

• Do I have evidence it is not paying its way, not just a feeling?
• Who is affected (customers, suppliers, staff) and how will I tell them?
• Is there a contract, warranty, or commitment I must honour first?
• If it involves changing someone's role, hours or duties, have I considered my Fair Work obligations and sought professional advice where needed?
• What fills the time or money freed up?
• Is this a pause, a phase-out or a hard stop?

Stage 4: Decide and commit

Choose no more than three Stops, three Starts and three Continues. If everything is a priority, nothing is. For each, define the first step and a way to check it worked.

Rules for this table: one named owner per line (not "the team"), a first step that can be done within seven days, and a measure you can check without a special report.

Stage 5: Communicate and review

A decision nobody else knows about is only an intention. Brief the people affected, then diarise a review.

Script for briefing the team

"I have reviewed what we do and where our time goes. Over the next 90 days we are going to stop [item], start [item] and keep protecting [item]. The reason is [link to outcome]. Here is what it means for you: [specific change]. [Name] owns it, and we will check progress on [date]. If you see a problem with this, tell me before then, not after."

Script for telling a customer about a Stop (service, product or arrangement)

"From [date] we will no longer be offering [item]. We have chosen to focus on [what you do well], so we can do it properly for you. For anything already booked or under warranty, nothing changes. If you need [item] in future, I can suggest [alternative or referral] if that helps."

Worked example (fictional)

Karri Ridge Mechanical Services is an invented 14-person commercial refrigeration and air conditioning business in Perth. The numbers below are illustrative only.

The owner, Dale, set one outcome: lift gross margin on service work and stop being the person who prices every job. After the sweep, these scored highest.

Dale also chose to continue the Friday toolbox meeting and the follow-up call after every major service, because staff and clients both valued them. He noted that the busy summer season was the main risk to both.

His commitments: Stop domestic quoting from the first of next month (owner: office manager, with a referral message to send to enquiries). Start the job profit review on Tuesdays (owner: Dale, with the leading hand). Start the quote template within 60 days (owner: estimator). Review all three at 90 days.

How to read the results

A good review looks like this:

• Stops are real. At least one item removes work, not just reshuffles it. If your Stop column is empty, you have probably been polite.
• Starts are small and specific. "Review job profit weekly" is a Start. "Improve profitability" is not.
• Every commitment has an owner and a date. If you cannot name one, the item is not ready.
• Continues protect strengths. They are things you will actively defend, not things you merely approve of.
• The load is realistic. Nine commitments is a ceiling. For many businesses, five or six is right.

At the 90-day review, mark each decision as done, partly done or not done, and ask what the evidence now says. Drop or rewrite anything that no longer fits.

Common mistakes

• Treating it as a brainstorm. Ideas without scoring and commitment tend to fade within a fortnight.
• Stopping nothing. Adding Starts without Stops overloads the team and quietly cancels the improvement.
• Using instinct as evidence. Check quote win rates, job margins or debtor ageing before declaring something a loser.
• Doing it alone. Your team often knows which tasks are wasteful. Ask them.
• Ignoring knock-on effects. Stopping a service can affect customers, contracts or people's roles. Plan the exit and get professional advice for employment matters.
• Vague owners. "Everyone" means no one.
• No review date. Without one, the review becomes a document, not a decision.

Put it to work this week

1. Book 90 minutes in your diary in the next three days, and invite one manager you trust for the Stage 2 sweep.
2. Complete Stages 1 to 4 in one sitting and finish with no more than nine commitments.
3. Send the Stage 5 briefing to the people affected within 48 hours, and prepare any customer message for a Stop.
4. Complete the first step of every commitment within seven days.
5. Put a 30-day check-in and a 90-day review in the calendar now, and bring this document to both.

Where Lotus helps

Lotus Strategic Services can facilitate this review with you and your leadership team, bring an outside view of your numbers and help turn the shortlist into a practical 90-day plan. We work with Australian B2B businesses to make decisions that are measured, specific and followed through. Book a free 30-minute discovery call at lotusstrategic.com.au.