Definition

The iBD North Star™ is your annual ownership plan. It joins what you want the year to produce in Time, Cash Flow and Wealth with the business capabilities you intend to build to support those goals.

Your Owner’s Scorecard sets the longer-term destination. Your Roadmap shows the capabilities currently installed. The North Star brings those two inputs together for the coming year.

Why This Matters for Owners

A goal to work fewer operating hours needs someone able to carry the responsibility. A distribution target needs available cash. The North Star makes those connections visible before you commit to the year.

For example, hiring a finance leader may help release your time while adding company expense. The annual plan needs both the responsibility transfer and a supported financial path. A goal remains a goal until the work behind it supports the commitment.

How It Works

The exercise has two sides. The front records the year’s ownership goals and the company valuation supporting them. The back records the Roadmap’s current and intended year-end scores, plus the four quarterly priorities you expect to pursue.

Keep the bases clear: Time is a typical week, Cash Flow covers a period, and Wealth is a value at a date. The tool labels W-2 salary as gross annual pay and owner distributions as after tax. Identify the period and tax basis of other income. Use supported take-home pay to calculate an after-tax total; leave that total pending until the conversion is supported. Your share of company value belongs in your personal wealth; it is different from the value of the whole company.

Test the goals against the three-statement model, annual budget and leadership commitments. A proposed score increase is a target, not evidence that the capability is installed. The four quarterly priorities are an intended sequence; later quarters can change as you learn. The Game Plan makes the immediate quarter specific.

Review the same direction through the year

Monthly and quarterly reviews compare results with the adopted goals. The annual reset prepares the next year’s direction. If a material change requires a new decision sooner, preserve the previous version and record why the plan changed.

Put the idea to work

Explore Module 3 to connect this idea to the work, evidence and tools. Browse all concepts or see the complete system.