The Business Essentialism Handbook
Business Owner · Nº 97
The Business Essentialism Handbook
Fewer Customers, Products, and Projects, More Profit
Revenue is up, the team is maxed out, and there's less left at the end of the month.
24 tools to decide what your company keeps doing and what it stops: customers, services, projects, and routines, measured in hours and worked through on one marketing agency.
You get 24 tools to list what the company carries, measure each customer's margin per hour, cut the catalog to one page, cap open projects, usually at three, and keep it from creeping back. Plus a spreadsheet with 6 working tabs, filled in with the example.
A book explains the method. This handbook puts it to work: the tool, a worked example, and a spreadsheet with your numbers.
One-time payment of $29.00. The order form shows the final amount, with any taxes for your country, before you pay.
Digital delivery: PDF handbook, spreadsheet and access on the Consylion platform.
14-day money-back guarantee: if it isn't what you expected, request a full refund within 14 days of purchase.
Your order is processed by Digistore24, our authorized reseller. By purchasing, you accept the terms of use and purchase · refund policy.
You grew by saying yes. To every customer, every custom request, every idea that sounded good on a trip. Revenue went up. So did the overtime and the freelancer bills. The small customers take nearly as many hours as the big ones, the catalog has services nobody remembers adding, and the internal projects keep getting started while almost none get finished.
THE SPREADSHEET
Business essentialism spreadsheet
Use the completed example as a reference and enter your business data in the marked fields. Check the instructions and the calculations before you make a decision.
SOUND FAMILIAR?
Three situations this handbook solves
The team says it can't keep up
Before you post a job ad, you ask everyone to log their hours for two weeks and build the inventory. You see how much of the month goes to customers and how much goes to everything the company piled up.
A small customer renews by default
You check their margin per hour against the bar and their fit with the core. Then you know whether to keep them, propose a new price or scope, or plan an exit with notice and a referral.
A request that isn't quite you
You run it through the clear-yes filter. It misses a criterion, so anyone on the team sends the ready-made reply the same day, with a referral to a partner who does that kind of work.
INSIDE
What you'll find in each tool
Five parts, in the order you'll need them. List everything the company carries, with the hours each item takes. Decide customer by customer, by margin per hour. Trim the catalog to one page. Limit how many internal projects run at once. Then protect what's left with a filter at the door, a written no, and a quarterly pruning.
WHAT YOU GET
Everything included in your purchase
- The Business Essentialism Handbook in PDF: 24 tools, each with a step by step, a worked example, and an exercise
- The business essentialism spreadsheet in Excel and Google Sheets, with 6 working tabs, filled in with the example company
- The Template kit: 15 ready-made texts, including the adjustment proposal, the exit notice, the service menu, and the reply to a request outside the core
- 2 worksheets to fill in (customer weigh-in and quarterly pruning) and a 30-day plan, one week per stage
- Access to your handbook on the Consylion platform
Full table of contents
The 24 tools, in the order you'll use them
Part 1 · Part 1 · What the company carries
- 01The company inventoryCustomers, services, projects, routines, and tools on one list, with the hours each takes
- 02Why the company keeps addingAsk what you can remove before anyone suggests adding something
- 03The cost of complexityThe coordination hours every extra customer, service, and exception brings along
- 04The company's coreWhat you do best, for whom, and what you don't do, in one sentence
Part 2 · Part 2 · Fewer customers, more margin
- 05Each customer's margin per hourWhat each customer leaves per team hour, ranked against a bar
- 06Keep, adjust, or let goFour groups by margin per hour and fit with the core, each with a decision
- 07Adjust before you cutA new price, scope, or format for the core customer who doesn't pay their way
- 08Letting a customer go and leaving the door openNotice, a complete handover, and a referral, without burning the relationship
- 09The math of the cutRevenue, hours, and surplus month by month, and the cash you need for the dip
Part 3 · Part 3 · Fewer services in the catalog
- 10The fate of each serviceToday's, tomorrow's, and yesterday's breadwinners, plus the owner's pet project
- 11The exceptions that became servicesCustom work goes back to standard or becomes a priced extra
- 12The one-page service menuA few clear options that are easier to sell and to deliver
- 13Retiring a serviceA date, a notice to customers, and a partner to refer them to
Part 4 · Part 4 · Fewer projects at once
- 14Zombie projectsStalled for 60 days and still eating team hours
- 15The limit on projects in progressUsually three at a time; the next one opens only when one finishes
- 16The project that unlocks the othersOne project per quarter that makes the rest easier or unnecessary
- 17The go/no-go gatesThree dates and three numbers, set before the project starts
- 18Who has the authority to stopOne person who can propose ending any project, including yours
Part 5 · Part 5 · Protecting the essential
- 19The clear-yes ruleWritten criteria and a score of 9 or higher before anything new gets in
- 20The company's no, in writingReady-made replies to requests outside the core, so the no doesn't depend on you
- 21Making the essential effortlessTemplates that make the core work easier than everything else
- 22The pause testRoutines and meetings paused for 30 days; only what someone misses comes back
- 23The quarterly pruningOne hour every three months to remove what came in without a decision
- 24The essentials dashboardSix numbers a month that show whether the company is bloating again
Who it's for
It's for you if
- You serve too many customers and suspect the small ones eat the hours of the ones who pay well
- Your catalog grew one request at a time, and some services almost nobody buys
- You have internal projects that started months ago and never finished
- Revenue grows every year while profit and your team's breathing room shrink
- Before you hire again, you want to know where the hours are actually going
It's not for you if
- You want to sort out your own weekly schedule and priorities. That's The Productivity Handbook
- You need a full cost allocation method for the whole business. See The Cost Management Handbook
- You want to cut waste inside your production process. Start with The Lean for Small Business Handbook
- You want a promise of more profit. This handbook gives you the method to choose what stays and what goes, and the math to check it
Frequently asked questions
My company is small. Isn't cutting customers too risky?
It is if you do it all at once. That's why the handbook has you cut in waves, starting with the lowest margin per hour, and calculate the cash for the dip before the first notice goes out.
I don't run an agency. Will this work for me?
Yes. The example is a marketing agency, but every tool shows how it applies to services, retail, manufacturing and distribution, and independent professionals. Customers, products, projects, and routines pile up in any business.
I don't track hours. How do I get margin per hour?
Ask each person to log their hours per customer for two weeks. You don't need a system: a spreadsheet or a notebook will do. The included spreadsheet does the math from there.
What about a customer outside the core who pays well?
They stay. The handbook puts them in the keep, don't seek more group: you keep serving them well and stop looking for others like them.
Do I need a lawyer to end a contract or change its terms?
The handbook doesn't interpret contracts. Wherever notice periods, penalties, or scope changes matter, an In your country box tells you to read your contract and check with your lawyer before you act.
How long until I see a difference?
Ending zombie projects and pausing routines frees up hours in the first month. Customers and the catalog take three to six months, with a dip in the middle. The dashboard tracks it month by month.
What do I get, and in what formats?
Each handbook is a PDF of about 100 pages with 24 to 27 tools. Every tool has step-by-step instructions and a worked example. You also get the handbook's spreadsheet in Excel (.xlsx), which opens in Google Sheets too, with the example already filled in. The message, policy, and clause templates are in the Template Kit inside the PDF, ready to copy and adapt. Read it in the member area or download the files.
How do I know if it fits my business?
Each handbook's page shows the problem it solves, who it is for and who it is not for, the full table of contents, sample pages, and the company used in the examples. The examples come from small businesses in several industries, with illustrative numbers. If it is not a fit, you can ask for a full refund within 14 days of your purchase, as described in the Refund Policy.
What is the difference between a handbook, an area set, and the Series?
A handbook solves one problem. An area set brings together every handbook and spreadsheet in one of the 6 areas, for less than the price of 5 single handbooks. The Consylion Handbook Series brings together all 100 handbooks and 100 spreadsheets, for less than the price of 8 single handbooks, and includes the next handbooks in the Series. Products outside the Series, from Consylion Life or Consylion Business, have their own price. They are sold separately and are not part of an area set or the Series.
Do I need to read everything before I start?
No. Each tool works on its own. Open the table of contents, pick the tool for today's problem, and start there. You can also read it cover to cover.
Do I need to know Excel?
The basics are enough: open the file and fill in the marked fields. The formulas are already built, and the handbook's example is filled in for reference.
How do I pay, and when do I get access?
By card or bank transfer, as a one-time payment with no subscription. Once your payment is confirmed, you get access to the member area by email. Approved card payments are confirmed right away. Bank transfers are confirmed when the funds clear. If access does not arrive within 24 hours of confirmation, check your spam folder and write to team@consylion.org.
How long do I have access, and how can I use the files?
Access does not expire, and you can download the files for offline use. The license is individual. You may read the handbooks, print them for your own use, and fill in and adapt the spreadsheet and templates with your company's data. If you are a consultant, accountant, or manager, you may apply the tools with your clients and deliver the result of your work, not the files. You may not share, resell, or distribute the files or the access.
How do support and refunds work?
Support is by email at team@consylion.org, on business days, with a reply within 5 business days. It covers questions about access, files, and payment. It does not include consulting or advice on applying the material to your case. You can cancel within 14 days of your purchase, without giving a reason, and get the full amount back through the payment method you used. Send the request to the same email. The details are in the Refund Policy.
CONSYLION HANDBOOK SERIES
The 6 departments of your business, for less than the price of 8 single handbooks.
This handbook solves today's problem. The Series solves the next one, and the one after that, with nothing more to pay.
- 100 handbooks with 2,403 ready-made tools, to read on screen and download as PDFs
- 100 spreadsheets for Excel and Google Sheets
- 6 business areas
- Lifetime access, unlocked once payment is confirmed
One-time payment of $197.00. The order form shows the final amount, with any taxes for your country, before you pay.
Digital delivery: PDF handbook, spreadsheet and access on the Consylion platform.
14-day money-back guarantee: if it isn't what you expected, request a full refund within 14 days of purchase.
Your order is processed by Digistore24, our authorized reseller. By purchasing, you accept the terms of use and purchase · refund policy.
Business Owner · Nº 97
Make what stays a choice
Every customer you keep out of habit takes the place of one you would choose. This handbook gives you the tools, the spreadsheet, and a worked example to see what the company carries, decide item by item what stays, and keep the rest from slipping back in.
See all 100 handbooks · $197.00
One-time payment of $29.00. The order form shows the final amount, with any taxes for your country, before you pay.
Digital delivery: PDF handbook, spreadsheet and access on the Consylion platform.
14-day money-back guarantee: if it isn't what you expected, request a full refund within 14 days of purchase.
Your order is processed by Digistore24, our authorized reseller. By purchasing, you accept the terms of use and purchase · refund policy.