The language of a business that runs well.
These are the terms I use with clients, in plain language. Some are standard, like rebooking rate. Some are mine, like Profit Vampires and the 30-Day Test. If a word on this site made you pause, the definition is here.
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The 30-Day Test
Saba Chishti's question for owners: could your business run for 30 days without you? Write down the first things that would stop working. Each one is a dependency that limits your freedom and lowers what a buyer would pay. Learn more
A
Asking price strategy
How a seller decides what to ask for a business and how to defend it. A strong asking price strategy rests on profit after a proper owner's salary, client loyalty and how little the business depends on the owner, not on revenue alone. Learn more
B
Buyer Evaluation
Inara's review of a clinic or service business for someone thinking of buying it. Saba looks at client loyalty and rebooking, owner dependency, team stability, pricing and true profit, and gives the buyer an operator's read to take to their CPA, attorney and broker. It is not a formal valuation. Learn more
C
Client retention
How well a business keeps the clients it already has. In appointment-based businesses, retention shows up in rebooking rate, plan completion and visit frequency. Inara's view: it's almost always easier to keep a client than to find a new one. Learn more
Coaching vs. consulting
A coach usually helps you build skills and reach your own answers. A consultant gets into your numbers, schedule and team and recommends what to change. Inara is consulting first, from someone who has owned, grown and sold the kind of business she advises. Learn more
E
Exit readiness
How prepared a business is to be sold for a fair price. Buyers look for clean numbers, loyal clients, a strong brand and reputation, a team that stays and a business that doesn't depend on the owner. Inara's advice: build it like you're going to sell it, even if you never do. Learn more
Exit Strategy Audit
The first phase of Inara's Exit Readiness work: a review of the business's financial preparation, readiness for sale, asking price strategy and value improvement opportunities, ending in a three-hour strategy session. Learn more
F
Founder Bottleneck
When every decision, approval and problem in a business waits on the owner. It caps growth, wears the owner out and lowers what a buyer will pay. The fix is systems, clear roles and decision rules so the team can move without the founder.
The Founder's Suite
Inara's six-month, one-on-one consulting program for owners of established service businesses: 20 private calls, a custom Pulse Doc and Voxer access for real-time decision support. $2,200 a month. Learn more
I
Ideal Caseload Method
Saba Chishti's self-paced program for clinicians and clinic owners on building a full, consistent caseload through retention, plan presentation and referrals. It's based on the method she used to build six caseloads across different cities and clinics. Learn more
L
Lead generation
Marketing aimed at finding new clients. Inara doesn't do lead generation. Its work is on earning more from the clients a business already has.
O
Owner dependency
How much a business relies on its owner to deliver work, make decisions or keep clients. High owner dependency limits the owner's freedom and is one of the first things a buyer discounts. See the 30-Day Test.
Owner's salary
What the owner would have to pay someone else to do her job. Inara recommends paying yourself that market salary before calculating profit, so you know whether the business makes money or just pays you for working in it.
P
Plan completion
The share of clients who finish the plan of care, package or program they started. Low plan completion usually means revenue is leaking after the first few visits. Learn more
Profit Vampires
Inara's name for the quiet leaks between revenue and profit: underpriced services, payroll that has drifted, unused capacity and clients who never rebook. Finding them is often the fastest way to lift margins without adding clients.
Pulse Doc
A custom dashboard Inara builds for each Founder's Suite client, tracking revenue, expenses, profit margin after owner pay, rebooking and visit frequency. It's how decisions get made from data instead of from how the month feels. Learn more
R
Rebooking rate
The percentage of clients who book their next appointment before they leave. It's one of the clearest early signals of consistent revenue in a clinic, wellness or service business. Learn more
Rebooking system
The repeatable process a business uses to keep clients coming back: how the plan is presented, how the next visit gets booked before the client leaves, and how the team follows up. Rebooking systems are Saba Chishti's specialty. Learn more
S
Sale Advisor Support
The second phase of Inara's Exit Readiness work: ongoing guidance once a business is ready to sell, including buyer communications, team communication, strategic input and the owner's own transition. Inara works alongside the owner's broker, CPA and attorney. Learn more
Strategic Audit
Inara's three-hour, one-on-one business strategy session for owners of service businesses. You bring the decision or problem you're stuck on and leave with a 90-day roadmap. Learn more
T
True profit
Profit after paying the owner a proper market salary. Revenue tells you how busy a business is. True profit tells you how well it works.
V
Value adds
Extra services, packages or experiences that existing clients already want. They create new revenue from people who already trust the business, without new marketing. Learn more
Visit frequency
How often a client returns within a period. Along with rebooking rate and plan completion, it shows whether revenue is steady or has to be rebuilt every month.
Want to know your own numbers?
A Strategic Audit puts these terms to work on your business: your rebooking rate, your true profit and the dependencies the 30-Day Test turns up.
