The greatest risk facing Practis is not choosing the wrong growth initiative. The greater risk is spreading limited resources across too many possibilities — or not making a meaningful choice at all. The purpose of this "document" is to contextualize what we've discussed. Assuming we remain aligned, then I'll produce an actual SOW.
Why This Matters
Trade shows, partnerships, private equity channels, digital campaigns, adjacent markets and direct sales expansion are all valid options. Some are more attractive than others. However, pursuing one inevitably means delaying, de-emphasizing, or simply not pursuing another.
This is where structured planning can help. By assessing market attractiveness, investment requirements, expected outcomes and execution complexity, we can make deliberate choices about where Practis should concentrate resources between Labor Day and Thanksgiving.
The objective is not to eliminate risk. The objective is to confront risks and improve the quality of the decision before budget, time and personnel are committed to execution.
The Objective
Make the trade-offs visible. Assess the options. Commit to a direction with confidence.
The Timeframe
July through Thanksgiving — a focused window to plan, prioritize, and execute.
Sooner or Later, We Use a Gambling Analogy
Decide the Game
We need to decide what game we want to play. Where we believe we have the best odds.
Place the Chips
Eventually, we place our chips on the table and commit. The right conversations produce results.
Protect the Bankroll
Part of your job is ensuring there is enough bankroll to stay in the game long enough to win. Enough spins of the wheel or hand dealt!
Part of my job is helping identify the best game available and making sure we play the smartest hands possible.
What We Need to Figure Out
Before we start spending money on conferences, sponsorships, travel, partnerships, etc., we need clarity around five questions.
Which markets deserve our attention?
Home services is producing results. Do we double down, expand into adjacent opportunities, or test new markets?
Which events are actually worth attending?
Not all conferences are born equal. Do we focus on industry, functional, or investment events? Which ones give us access to the highest concentration of prospects?
Who specifically do we want to meet?
For every event and initiative, we should know which companies, people, partners and conversations matter.
What supporting activities are required?
Events don't work in isolation. What should happen before, during and after to maximize return on investment?
What does success by Thanksgiving look like?
More meetings? More pipeline? More revenue? If we don't define success up front, we can't know if the investment was worthwhile.
What I Would Be Doing
Over a four-to-six-week period, I would work with you to develop a focused Fall 2026 market development plan. The work falls across six areas.
Working Sessions
Conversations with you (and others) and ongoing discussion of priorities, current efforts, assumptions, and threats.
Market Assessment
Evaluate home services, private equity and agreed adjacent market opportunities. Prioritize based on attractiveness and likelihood of success.
Event Planning
Research relevant conferences, assess costs, sponsorship vs. attendance, and identify key attendees, speakers and partners.
Target Identification
Develop lists of target organizations, key executive stakeholders, strategic partners and relevant private equity firms. Adopt an intentional approach.
Event Support
Develop event-centered outreach strategies, referral opportunities, partner opportunities, and follow-up and relationship-building approaches.
Commercial Positioning
Review and refine messaging, evaluate market-specific value propositions, and align conversation themes to target markets.
Execution Planning
The final piece of the work is building a concrete September–November action plan — defining priorities and sequencing, identifying resource requirements, recommending budgets and investment levels, and defining success metrics.
July/August
Build & finalize plan, confirm events, launch outreach
September/October/November
Execute events, activate partnerships, build pipeline
December
Follow-up, relationship-building, measure results by Thanksgiving. Plan for January!
What I Need From You
This only works if I understand how you're currently thinking. I don't need months of data or a pile of reports, but I do need access to your thinking, to expand on the conversations we've had.
Product demo and overview access
The markets you believe are most attractive — and the ones you're curious about exploring & why? Thoughts on the real problems we're addressing in these markets.
What success would look like by Thanksgiving
Current opportunities, partnerships and initiatives already underway
What's worked in the past and what hasn't
The Goal
The goal isn't to start from scratch. It's to combine your market knowledge with my perspective so we can make better decisions about where to focus time, money and effort over the next six months.
I also want to pre-empt any assumptions, constraints or expectations coming from investors, advisors or the leadership team, and make sure we have discussed all of them.
Anticipating Questions & Trade-Offs
Addressing the key questions that you're bound to get ensures we make informed decisions and avoid getting blind sided.
Conventional GTM?
Practis has experimented with "conventional" approaches - SDR's, outbound, RevOps, etc. The question will emerge again. But this not new - will more of that yield materially better results? This plan is not a GTM plan, but we'll need to consider such alternatives.
Planning Before Execution?
The goal is to improve decision quality. An investment in planning will prevent execution mistakes and wasted resources. While we can, and will, use AI in the process, using AI is a "part" of that process, it's not "all" of it. We might not be storming the beaches of Normandy, but neither can we "show up & throw up."
Why focus on events?
The hypothesis is that concentrated, personal access to buyers and partners yields higher-quality opportunities than broader, activity-based approaches. Digital channels are crowded, and we just don't have the budget to break through the noise …yet.
What Comes Out of This
At the end of the process, I would expect us to have a clear, actionable plan — and just as importantly, clarity on what not to pursue.
Market Focus
A clear view of where Practis should concentrate its effort
Event Strategy
A recommended conference and event strategy with specific investment guidance
Target List
A prioritized list of target organizations and relationships to pursue
BD Plan
A practical event support & business development plan ready to execute immediately after Labor Day
Roadmap
A September–November execution roadmap with defined success metrics
Future Direction
A clearer understanding of where future investment should — and should not — be directed
The Investment
Fixed-Fee Engagement
Four-to-six weeks
What This Is — and Isn't
My recommendation is a fixed-fee planning engagement of $8,000 over a four-to-six-week period.
The purpose is not to create a report, or a broad GTM plan. The purpose is to help make better decisions, focus resources, and create a practical plan that can be executed immediately following Labor Day.
Let's Play the Smartest Hand Possible
We need to decide what game we want to play, where we believe we have the best odds, and what conversations are most likely to produce results.
Part of your job is ensuring there is enough bankroll to in the game long enough to win. Part of my job is helping identify the best game available and making sure we play the smartest hands possible.
Make Better Decisions
Improve decision quality before budget, time and personnel are committed
Focus Resources
Concentrate Practis's energy on the highest-probability opportunities
Execute with Confidence
Enter the Fall with a clear plan and the conviction to commit
Practis: Fall Revenue Planning & Market Development