---
name: three-pillars-marketing-operations-finance
description: "See which part of the business needs help first."
category: Strategy & Measurement
stage: —
definitive_article: /9-triangles-framework-scalable-home-service-businesses/
status: complete
---

# Three Pillars (Marketing, Operations, Finance)

See which part of the business needs help first. This guide looks at sales, the work you deliver and the money you keep. Start with the owner’s goal and one useful number for each part.

**The path:** Business goal → Three functions → Supported constraint → Review plan

**Start when:** A whole-business review must locate a supported constraint before reallocating effort.

## Inputs

- The accepted goals, current roles and recurring work.
- Sourced sales/pipeline, delivery/quality and finance records for comparable periods.
- The owner and relevant function leads, with the scope of decisions they can make.

## Steps

1. Define the three functions from the source: Marketing/Sales creates demand and sales; Operations delivers the promised work; Finance plans and tracks money and resources. These are functional lenses, not a newly certified reconstruction of the nine-part diagram.
2. Map in-scope work and roles to their primary function, retaining real cross-functional dependencies. A task that spans functions is not automatically irrelevant or a delete candidate.
3. Choose a useful measure and target for each function. Examples are qualified pipeline, on-time delivery with quality, and margin or available cash. The responsible owner must define the metric and source rather than accepting a generic dashboard label.
4. Compare the values with the goals and operating limits. Distinguish a missing measure from a weak measured result. Check whether the proposed constraint actually limits the business, using supporting records.
5. Draft a concrete response for the best-supported constraint, with owner, time/budget limits and expected signal. A staffing, pricing or financial decision follows its existing authority; this review does not make it automatically.
6. Save the functional map, evidence and unresolved questions. Set the agreed review condition and carry the three functions into the relevant weekly or strategic report.

## Definition of done (QA checklist)

Quality assurance (QA) means checking the result against its agreed requirements; see the [Article Guidelines](https://localservicespotlight.com/article-guidelines/).

- [ ] Functions and shared dependencies are mapped truthfully.
- [ ] Each key metric has a definition, source, period and target or an explicit gap.
- [ ] The proposed constraint and bounded response have evidence and a responsible owner.

## Example(s)

**Fictional teaching example. This is not a client result or proof of a completed run.**

A fictional shop has enough booked work but misses three of ten promised dates. Its cash figure has not been supplied. The review investigates delivery capacity first while keeping finance unknown. It does not declare finance healthy or hire another person just because the operations metric is weak.

## Handoff and Content Factory context

[Assign the accepted next work](https://local-service-spotlight.github.io/task-library/?task=management-communicate-iterate-delegate#task-management-communicate-iterate-delegate) receives the plan; [Write the agreed weekly report](https://local-service-spotlight.github.io/task-library/?task=submit-weekly-maa-report-every-friday#task-submit-weekly-maa-report-every-friday) receives the function evidence where relevant.

This work supports the [Content Factory: Produce, Process, Post and Promote](https://blitzmetrics.com/content-factory/) across its relevant stages. It uses the actual inputs and next owner above; a strategy or measurement guide does not manufacture transcripts, clips or other unrelated stage outputs.

## Start with an agent

Give the AI worker this recipe, the real Inputs, the desired result and the actions already authorized. Ask for the saved output, source evidence, passed and failed checks, and the next owner. A skill is a set of instructions. Loading it does not prove access, install a scheduled job or complete the work. Use the [current installation guide](https://localservicespotlight.com/install/) only if reusable setup is needed; a ZIP contains instructions and is not an access grant.

Use the actual supported app and verified source access. A model name is not a promise of browser control, memory or unattended work. For recurring work, inspect the real job’s trigger, owner, timezone and observed firing; this recipe creates no schedule. Before any media playback, mute the player and set volume to zero. A silent review does not prove sound was heard.

## Record the real execution

Open the run record when work begins. Keep one execution ID, the exact starting recipe revision, input sources and actual state. Write a [meta article, the record of one real execution](https://blitzmetrics.com/meta-article-prompt/) with results, checks, failures and next owner. Link it to this task in the [Task Library](https://local-service-spotlight.github.io/task-library/). Writing is required; public release follows existing authority.

Reuse the same execution ID for internal reviews, meta writing, revisions and retries. A blocked run stays open with its dependency and owner, without an invented finish time. Keep historical public examples as dated evidence; article counts alone are not verified execution frequency. Use supported findings to propose and verify a recipe improvement.


<!-- factory-layer:start -->

## Factory chain (do not treat this as isolated)

- **Phase:** —
- **Importance:** 3/5 `●●●○○` — frequency 3, revenue 3, gating 2 (supporting)
- **Suggested previous station:** —
- **Suggested next station:** —
These stations are generated neighbors, not verified prerequisites or handoffs. Follow the task’s actual Inputs and Handoff sections.
- **Handoff:** Save this task’s actual output, source, date and checks where the receiving owner can read them. Follow the Inputs and Handoff sections for its next step.

## Model routing (same factory, any engine)

- **This task's lane:** `any` — Any capable chat model (Claude, ChatGPT, Grok, Gemini). SOP following, drafts, checklists.
- **Single-engine path:** Use the capable AI app you already have. Check its required tools and access before starting. Pass the actual result and proof to the next task.
- **Optional multi-engine:** A tested local model may draft; a stronger model may review facts and voice. Use supported tools for approved actions. Pick models from observed quality and cost; a model name does not prove it can run this task.
- **Never** store the working state in one vendor's memory. Files in the Content Library are the bridge.

<!-- factory-layer:end -->
## Definitive article & links

- [Maintained source guide](https://blitzmetrics.com/9-triangles-framework-scalable-home-service-businesses/)
- [This task in the Task Library](https://local-service-spotlight.github.io/task-library/?task=three-pillars-marketing-operations-finance#task-three-pillars-marketing-operations-finance)
- [Article Guidelines](https://localservicespotlight.com/article-guidelines/)
- [Definitive article and task recipe standard](https://blitzmetrics.com/definitive-article-guide/)
- [How recipes and run records work together](https://localservicespotlight.com/meta-articles/)

## Review and evidence still needed

The inherited contributor status is `complete`. It is preserved, not promoted by this rewrite. That label alone does not verify document readiness, account access, an actual execution or a client outcome.

A relevant real execution, source evidence, independent reviewer and accepted handoff remain to be recorded. The fictional example teaches the method and does not fill a real-run evidence gap. The opening and full method need a named semantic reviewer; the task-specific path is source guidance, with visible desktop/mobile presentation still to check.