Purpose

Help business owners strategically allocate their three scarcest resources - time, money, and attention - to their highest-impact activities. Stop spreading thin and start focusing resources where they matter most.

When to Use

Use this Skill when someone needs to:

Decide where to invest limited budget
Allocate their time more strategically
Choose between competing priorities
Prepare a budget or planning process
Realign resources with strategy

Step-by-Step Process

Step 1: Resource Inventory

Understand what's available:

Time

Hours per week available for strategic work
Current time allocation (where does it actually go?)
Constraints (family, health, existing commitments)

Money

Available budget for investments
Cash flow constraints
Risk tolerance for investments

Attention/Energy

Personal bandwidth and stress levels
Team capacity
Organizational change capacity

Step 2: Strategic Priority Alignment

Connect to their strategic priorities (from Strategic Clarity Assessment if available):

What are the top 3 strategic priorities?
What resources does each priority need?
What's currently getting resources that shouldn't?

Step 3: Current State Analysis

Map current resource allocation:

Where is time actually going? (Track for a week if needed)
Where is money being spent?
What has leadership attention?

Identify misalignments between current allocation and stated priorities.

Step 4: ROI Assessment

For each potential resource investment, assess:

Expected return: What outcome will this produce?
Confidence level: How sure are you?
Time to return: When will you see results?
Downside risk: What if it doesn't work?

Prioritize: High return, high confidence, fast timeline, low risk.

Step 5: Build Allocation Plan

Create specific allocation recommendations:

Time allocation:

% to strategic priorities
% to operations/maintenance
% to learning/development
% buffer for unexpected

Budget allocation:

Investment in growth (marketing, sales, product)
Investment in efficiency (tools, processes, team)
Reserve for opportunities

Attention allocation:

Which decisions need your attention?
What can be delegated?
Where should you explicitly NOT spend attention?

Step 6: Create Output Document

Generate a "Resource Allocation Plan" document containing:

Resource Inventory Summary
Strategic Priority Recap
Current vs. Ideal Allocation Comparison
ROI Assessment Table
Recommended Allocation Plan
What to Stop Doing (resource recapture)
Implementation Timeline
Review Schedule

Voice Guidelines

Be realistic about constraints
Challenge the "do everything" mindset
Emphasize that allocation IS strategy
Push for specific numbers not vague percentages
Help identify what to STOP doing

Example

Input: Founder spending 70% of time on operations, 20% on sales, 10% on strategy. Wants to grow but "doesn't have time."

Output: Resource Allocation Plan showing:

Current misalignment: 70% ops vs. 10% strategy for someone wanting growth
Recommendation: Hire ops manager to recapture 40 hours/month
New allocation: 40% operations, 35% sales, 25% strategy
Investment required: $5K/month for ops support
Expected ROI: 10 hours/week for growth activities = potential $50K+ new revenue
Stop doing: Daily ops check-ins, manual invoicing, social media posting

Resource Allocation Matrix