Diagnostic · 10-Question Self-Check

Is positioning your constraint?

Before you spend a dollar or an afternoon on vertical-market positioning, one honest question: is it actually the thing holding your growth back? Ten questions, answered Yes, Partial, or No — about five minutes. Nothing is sent to us; it scores in your browser. At the end you get a plain read on whether positioning is your binding constraint — or whether a delivery, capacity, or demand problem should come first. If it's the latter, we'll say so.

Start the self-check ↓ Read the brief

How to answer

The check is only useful if you answer it about the firm you actually run today.

Yes means it's genuinely, honestly true right now. Partial means it's half-true, inconsistent, or true in one area and not another — and when you pick it, we'll ask you to note it in a word or two. No means it isn't true. There's no email wall and no score is sent anywhere; the only person this report is for is you.

Honest note: this check can tell you positioning isn't your problem — and if that's the answer, it's the one we'd rather you have before spending anything. A high score means positioning is very likely your constraint. A low score means a delivery, capacity, or demand problem should be solved first.

A · Delivery & Capacity

A1 You can reliably deliver enterprise-grade work at the standard a serious vertical-market buyer expects.

Note it — goes in your report

A2 You can staff and support the work you already win — technicians and delivery capacity are not your binding limit.

Note it — goes in your report

A3 Your estimating, project management, working capital, and bonding could absorb more of the right work if it arrived.

Note it — goes in your report

B · How Your Buyers Decide

B4 Your buyers do meaningful independent research — reading, comparing, shortlisting — before they ever call you.

Note it — goes in your report

B5 Your problem isn’t a shortage of leads you couldn’t serve — it’s that the right buyers don’t see what makes you different.

Note it — goes in your report

C · The Symptoms

C6 You keep ending up as one interchangeable name on a shortlist of firms that look the same.

Note it — goes in your report

C7 You lose deals at the quote to firms you know you can out-perform.

Note it — goes in your report

C8 What you genuinely know about your buyers’ world is far deeper than what your website lets a buyer see.

Note it — goes in your report

D · Depth & Will

D9 You have real, demonstrable depth in at least one vertical you’d be willing to commit to.

Note it — goes in your report

D10 You’re willing to plant a flag in one vertical and show that expertise publicly — before asking the buyer for anything back.

Note it — goes in your report

Security Marketing Resource · Positioning Self-Check

Is positioning your constraint?

Score: / 10 · Result:

· self-reported · not transmitted

Is positioning your constraint?

The check is only useful if you answer it about the firm you actually run today.

Is positioning your constraint?

What to resolve or confirm first