Your numbers, not our averages
Tell us whether you're running a service business, a real estate project or a product business, and the fields change to suit, enquiries and close rate, units and absorption, or visitors and order value. Put in what you already know and we'll show an estimated 12-month return range for each service, so you can see what's worth doing first.
Nothing is sent anywhere. The maths runs in your browser, and every assumption is written under each result so you can argue with it.
Your numbers
Start by telling us what kind of business this is, the fields and the maths change with it. Estimates are fine.
A rough guess is fine, last year's sales, or what this year is tracking toward.
Most established businesses sit between 5% and 12%; launches and growth pushes run higher. Move either slider and your monthly spend below fills in for you, or type your own number straight in.
Ads, tools, contractors, everything you already pay for each month.
Calls, forms, DMs, anyone who reaches out.
Out of every 100 enquiries, how many become paying work.
What a typical customer is worth on their first project.
What's left after delivering the work. Guess if you have to.
Re-typing the same info, copy-pasting between tools, chasing status updates, basic scheduling, manual quotes, sorting enquiries, or cleaning lists, anything a person does over and over that doesn't require judgment.
Loaded cost of the person doing that repeatable admin, include salary, benefits, and the overhead of interruptions.
Service business
5.0
25 enquiries × 20% close rate
How many enquiries actually turn into paid work each month.
$360,000
5.0 jobs × $6,000 × 12 months
First-project value only. Repeat work and referrals sit on top of this.
$144,000
$360,000 × 40% gross margin
What's left after delivery. Most of the ranges below are a share of this.
Ranges below are built on your full gross profit, because in a service business the phone, the quote and the follow-up are the whole sale. Also used: $36,000 annual spend ($3,000 × 12) and $14,040 a year in repeatable admin (6 hrs/week × $45 × 52).
Estimated 12-month return, per service
Sorted by upside at your numbers. A negative range means it isn't worth it yet; we'd rather tell you that here than after an invoice.
Websites & follow-up
Investment $7,900 – $11,800Recovering profit that currently leaks through slow or missed replies ($144,000 of annual gross profit at stake), 12–18% in the Plan case, 18–26% at Target, 26–35% at Vision.
Plan
+46% – +228%
Value returned $17,280 – $25,920
Best-case payback ~4 months
Target
+120% – +374%
Value returned $25,920 – $37,440
Best-case payback ~3 months
Vision
+217% – +538%
Value returned $37,440 – $50,400
Best-case payback ~2 months
Sources: Portent: Site Speed is (Still) Impacting Your Conversion Rate; HBR: The Short Life of Online Sales Leads
Events & activations
Investment $10,000 – $18,000A share of annual gross profit from tracked enquiries in the fortnight after the room, rather than photos alone, 14–20% in the Plan case, 20–27% at Target, 27–35% at Vision.
Plan
+12% – +188%
Value returned $20,160 – $28,800
Best-case payback ~4 months
Target
+60% – +289%
Value returned $28,800 – $38,880
Best-case payback ~3 months
Vision
+116% – +404%
Value returned $38,880 – $50,400
Best-case payback ~2 months
Sources: Bizzabo: Event Marketing Statistics and Benchmarks; Splash: An Outlook on Events 2025
Brand & creative
Investment $7,100 – $10,500A lift on $144,000 of annual gross profit, from more people asking for a price, 9–13% in the Plan case, 13–18% at Target, 18–24% at Vision.
Plan
+23% – +164%
Value returned $12,960 – $18,720
Best-case payback ~5 months
Target
+78% – +265%
Value returned $18,720 – $25,920
Best-case payback ~3 months
Vision
+147% – +387%
Value returned $25,920 – $34,560
Best-case payback ~2 months
Sources: Lucidpress State of Brand Consistency; HBR: The Short Life of Online Sales Leads
Strategy & planning
Investment $3,500 – $5,000Redirecting part of your $36,000 annual spend away from work nobody ranked, 18–24% in the Plan case, 24–32% at Target, 32–42% at Vision.
Plan
+30% – +147%
Value returned $6,480 – $8,640
Best-case payback ~5 months
Target
+73% – +229%
Value returned $8,640 – $11,520
Best-case payback ~4 months
Vision
+130% – +332%
Value returned $11,520 – $15,120
Best-case payback ~3 months
Sources: Nielsen Marketing ROI Blueprint 2025; McKinsey: How to reallocate marketing budgets to drive growth
AI & automation
Investment $3,500 – $6,500Removing part of 6 hours a week of repeatable admin (re-typing, chasing, sorting, scheduling) at $45 an hour, 50–65% in the Plan case, 65–80% at Target, 80–92% at Vision.
Plan
+8% – +161%
Value returned $7,020 – $9,126
Best-case payback ~5 months
Target
+40% – +221%
Value returned $9,126 – $11,232
Best-case payback ~4 months
Vision
+73% – +269%
Value returned $11,232 – $12,917
Best-case payback ~3 months
Sources: McKinsey: The State of AI 2025; Zapier: Marketers lead the pack in automation at work
One team, one call
Investment $21,600 – $38,400Less wasted spend on $36,000 a year (14–18% Plan, 18–22% Target, 22–26% Vision), 8–14 owner hours a week back at $68 an hour, plus 6–16% of annual gross profit.
Plan
+9% – +153%
Value returned $41,760 – $54,540
Best-case payback ~5 months
Target
+42% – +212%
Value returned $54,540 – $67,320
Best-case payback ~4 months
Vision
+75% – +278%
Value returned $67,320 – $81,540
Best-case payback ~3 months
Sources: McKinsey: The State of AI 2025; HBR: The Short Life of Online Sales Leads
How to read these numbers
Each service shows three cases. Plan is conservative: average or worse market conditions, a crowded market or a weak competitive edge, thinner margins, the floor we'd expect this to hold. Target assumes average conditions and typical margins; it's what we aim for. Vision assumes better conditions, low competition or a strong edge, and healthier margins, the upside, not the promise. Where you land depends on things this page can't see: how fast decisions get made, whether your offer is priced right, and whether anyone owns follow-up on a Monday morning.
The assumptions change with the kind of business you picked, because each service moves a different lever. In a service business the phone, the quote and the follow-up are the whole sale, so reply speed carries the most weight. On a real estate project, positioning and launch moments carry the phase, but land, build and finance own most of the margin, so only a thin slice is credited to marketing. In a product business paid traffic is already measured, so there's less waste to redirect, while brand and order operations move conversion, order value and hours more than they would for a trade.
These ranges come from work we've contributed to alongside clients and partners, so credit for the results is shared. They're a way to sort options, not a promise. If a service shows a wide range, that usually means the outcome depends more on your inputs than on ours.
The honest next step is the paid diagnostic. Two weeks, $1,990, and it checks whether your real numbers land inside these ranges before you commit to a build, which is how you avoid paying for a beautiful version of the wrong thing.


