Proof 4 of 8

The Month

Why a buyer cares

If the business needs you every day, the buyer is buying a job, and pays accordingly. A month away is the test.

How this proof is scored

Each piece of evidence below gets a score. The score for The Month is the lowest of its four evidence items. A buyer looks for the weak spot, so the weak spot sets the score.

0. Not proven: You believe it, but cannot show it.
1. Partly: Evidence exists but is incomplete, late, or needs you to explain it.
2. Proven: A third party could verify it from documents alone.
3. Proven and tested: Verified and stress-tested: an outsider reviewed it, or it held up when it mattered.

The four pieces of evidence

Each piece starts with the question a buyer will ask. Then it shows what a good answer looks like, and what makes it hold up under pressure.

Evidence 1

Core systems documented

A buyer asks this to find out whether the numbers and claims hold up without you in the room.

The buyer's question

Is the way you do the work written down?

What Proven looks like

A third party could verify it from documents alone.

Each core system from first call to final payment is documented and has a named owner.

What Proven and tested adds

Verified and stress-tested: an outsider reviewed it, or it held up when it mattered.

A new hire has been trained to standard using the SOPs alone.

Evidence 2

People trained and tracked

A buyer asks this to find out whether the numbers and claims hold up without you in the room.

The buyer's question

Who else can do each critical step?

What Proven looks like

A third party could verify it from documents alone.

A Training Tracker shows at least 80 percent of the team trained on the SOPs for their role.

What Proven and tested adds

Verified and stress-tested: an outsider reviewed it, or it held up when it mattered.

Two people can perform every critical step; cross-training is proven by coverage during absences.

Evidence 3

Owner's tasks handed off

A buyer asks this to find out whether the numbers and claims hold up without you in the room.

The buyer's question

What do you personally do that nobody else can?

What Proven looks like

A third party could verify it from documents alone.

A list of everything you personally do, each item reassigned to a role with an SOP.

What Proven and tested adds

Verified and stress-tested: an outsider reviewed it, or it held up when it mattered.

Your hours in daily operations have been under ten a week for a full quarter.

Evidence 4

The month away

A buyer asks this to find out whether the numbers and claims hold up without you in the room.

The buyer's question

Take a month off. What happens to revenue and the phones?

What Proven looks like

A third party could verify it from documents alone.

One full month away, documented: revenue, margin and customer scores before, during and after. (Two weeks scores as Partly.)

What Proven and tested adds

Verified and stress-tested: an outsider reviewed it, or it held up when it mattered.

Repeated in a second year, or taken with no contact at all.

Readiness documents

These are the documents that back up this proof. Keep each one current. A document that is a year out of date tells a buyer the business only gets organised when someone asks.

Document	What it is and why	Refresh
Systems Library	The list of core systems, each with an owner and review date.	Quarterly
SOPs for the critical path of a job	First call to final payment, written so someone new can follow it.	Quarterly
Training Tracker	Who is trained on which SOPs, with dates.	Monthly
Owner task handoff list	What the owner used to do, and who does it now.	Quarterly
Month-away report	Dates away and results before, during and after.	Annually

Score The Month

Be honest. Score what you could show a buyer this week, not what you plan to fix.

Score this proof in the Scorecard

The Team The Relationships