Dimension 01
Decision Authority
Who makes decisions and who has to wait. Measures whether decision rights are distributed or centralized in one person.
If you were unreachable for 30 days, what would stop?
Owner Dependence Index
How much of your business still lives inside you?
The Owner Dependence Index measures exactly where your business still depends on one person and what that dependence is quietly costing you in growth, value and family optionality.
Take the ODIODI Dashboard · Sample
Low
Moderate
High
Critical
Decision authority
82
Key relationships
78
Operating systems
60
Leadership depth
55
Financial clarity
30
Succession readiness
70
Sample · your results will reflect your business
The pattern we see repeatedly
These are the signals.
Most owners recognize all five.
Decision bottleneck
Important decisions wait for you even when you’re not in the room.
Relationship lock
Key clients and vendors are loyal to you personally, not to the company.
Knowledge silo
Critical processes and history live in your head and nowhere else.
Accountability gap
The team performs when you push. It slows when you step back.
Value ceiling
The business is worth less than its revenue suggests to a buyer or your next generation.
What the ODI measures
Six dimensions of owner dependence.
One clear picture of where you stand.
The Owner Dependence Index is built specifically to surface where value in your business is still tied to one person and what that means for growth, succession and enterprise value.
Dimension 02
Key Relationships
Whether your most important client and vendor relationships live in the organization or in your personal network.
Which relationships exist only in your phone?
Dimension 03
Operating Systems
Whether the business runs on documented, repeatable processes or on the institutional memory of key individuals.
If your top three people resigned, what would be lost?
Dimension 04
Leadership Depth
Whether the leadership team can operate, decide and lead without the owner present or defers upward on decisions it should own.
Who steps up when you’re not available?
Dimension 05
Financial Clarity
Whether your financials are clean, current and readable by someone outside the family and whether the ownership structure reflects how the business operates.
Could an outsider understand your business from your financials?
Dimension 06
Succession Readiness
Whether there is a named plan, a prepared leader and a governance structure capable of carrying the business through a leadership transition.
Who is being prepared to carry the next stage?
How it works
Three steps. Seven minutes.
A clear picture you can act on.
01
Answer 24 questions
Focused questions across six dimensions of owner dependence. Honest answers take about seven minutes. There are no right or wrong answers. Only your current reality.
02
See your ODI score
Your score is calculated across all six dimensions and returned as an Owner Dependence Index: a number and a category: Low, Moderate, High or Critical.
03
Receive your report
Your personalized report names exactly where dependence is highest, what it costs the business and what to address first. No generalities. Your specific situation.
Owner Dependence Index · Confidential Report
High · 72/100
Sample Report James Smith
XYZ Inc. · New York, NY
72
High Owner Dependence
Your business carries meaningful risk tied to one person. Common at this stage and recoverable with intentional structural work.
Decision authority
82
Key relationships
78
Operating systems
60
Leadership depth
55
Financial clarity
30
Succession readiness
70
Priority recommendations
Define decision authority for each leadership role: who owns what without escalation.
Begin transferring three key client relationships to a named team member this quarter.
Document your top five critical processes before the next leadership review.
What you get
Your report is specific to your business. Not a template.
Every recommendation in your ODI report is generated from your specific answers. It names where dependence is highest, what the risk is and what to address first.
✓
Your ODI Score and category
A number and a category: Low, Moderate, High or Critical across all six dimensions.
✓
Your highest-risk dimensions
The specific areas where dependence is greatest and the enterprise value impact is most significant.
✓
Three priority recommendations
Specific actions to start reducing dependence in your highest-risk areas this week, not someday.
✓
Confidential by default
Your results are yours. You choose whether to share them with an advisor. No obligation attached.
“The businesses that create the most value to keep, to grow or to transition are the ones where value lives in the organization, not in the owner. Knowing your ODI score is the starting point for getting there.”
Michael Palumbos · Founder, Family Business Flywheel · Family Wealth & Legacy
Owner Dependence Index · Free Assessment
Know exactly where you stand.
Start reducing dependence today.
Seven minutes. Twenty-four questions. A personalized report that names exactly where your business still depends too heavily on one person and what to do first.
Take the ODI