We find the bottleneck. Remove it. And plan stable growth, smoothly.
A growth practice that embeds in the business, finds what holds it back, and stays on to find new market opportunities for growth.
We stay until it works.
Most outside help leaves when the report is delivered. The plan is the easy part. Keeping it alive is the work, so that is what we do.
The founder does the work, every call. No hand off to a junior after the pitch.
Tracking, scorecards and scenario plans. The business is read in numbers, every week.
Calls on a fixed rhythm until the metric moves. Persistence is the product.
Named after a scale with no top.
In 1964 the astronomer Nikolai Kardashev ranked civilisations by the energy they can harness. Each type is about ten billion times the one before. We read a business the same way: by what it can harness, and what unlocks the next level.
- Type 0Todayabout 0.7
Humanity is not on the scale yet. Most businesses are here too: running on what they happen to have.
- Type IPlanetary1016 W
Harnesses all the energy of its planet. In a business: every resource it already has, working.
- Type IIStellar1026 W
Harnesses its whole star. In a business: the market it is in, owned.
- Type IIIGalactic1036 W
Harnesses its galaxy. In a business: new markets, one after another.
Kardashev, Transmission of Information by Extraterrestrial Civilizations, Soviet Astronomy, 1964. Watt figures and the 0.7 for humanity follow Carl Sagan's 1973 version of the scale.
Not every problem has a number attached.
Sound familiar?
We know what to do, we just don't stick to it.
I'm too close to my business to see it.
The plan died in execution.
I'm carrying the growth on my own.
The agency spent the budget and nothing moved.
I don't know which numbers decide the month.
Owners and teams usually know roughly what to do. They do not stick to the plan, and they are not obsessive about what they track. So the plan is not the product. The cadence that keeps it alive is.
It is not just you. The research says the same, and here is what we do about it.
The best evidence comes from large companies, where it has been measured.
“The plan died in execution.”
of large organisations struggle to implement their own strategy.
The execution loop. Calls on a fixed cadence pull the plan back before it decays, and every call starts from where it slipped, not from a fresh deck.
Illustrative data, not a client result.
“Nobody can name the priorities.”
of middle managers could name even one of their company's top five priorities. The rest could not name one.
One scorecard with the few numbers that decide the month. It is opened on every call, so the priorities are not a slide, they are what gets checked.
Illustrative data, not a client result.
“Something is strangling the business, and we can't see what.”
No study measures this one for small businesses, so we do not quote a number. It is the thing the deep dive is for.
Find the bottleneck, remove it, repeat. Orders pile up at one point, a checkout, a stock gap, an ad account, and everything behind it waits. Open that point and the whole flow moves. Then we find the next one. Click the graphic to toggle the constraint.
Illustrative data, not a client result.
“We know what to do, we just don't stick to it.”
The knowing doing gap: firms know what to do, then mistake plans, analysis and meetings for action.
A cadence chosen together after the diagnosis, weekly, bi weekly or monthly. The rhythm does the remembering, so doing is not left to willpower.
Illustrative data, not a client result.
What actually happens after you hire us.
Four stages, the same loop each time: find the bottleneck, agree a checkpoint together, remove it, find the next one.
Find it.
Access first, then the deep dive into how the business really runs. Then the diagnosis: a strategy problem, doing the wrong things, or a work problem, not sticking to the right ones. It ends with the bottleneck named in hours and money, and the plan written around it.
Bottleneck 01, found and named
The plan and the first targets, agreed together on the day 30 call.
You receive the plan: 6 to 12 months, scenario predictions, visuals of money and hours saved.
What you hand over at the start
- The numbers Revenue, costs and the reports you already keep.
- The ads Read access to the ad accounts.
- The processes How sales and operations run today, written or walked through.
- The team One conversation with each person who owns a function.
Illustrative data, not a client result.
Remove it.
Work on the first bottleneck starts and the cadence starts with it: weekly, bi weekly or monthly, chosen together. The scorecard goes live and every call opens on it. What slipped is set aside, rebuilt and run again. It ends on the first measured change, read in your own numbers.
Bottleneck 01, being removed
The few numbers that decide the month, agreed, then read on every call.
You receive a scorecard, every call.
Illustrative data, not a client result.
Find the next one.
With the first constraint gone, the second one shows itself. That is not the plan failing, it is how growth works: the weakest link moves. We name the new one, agree the next checkpoint and run the loop again.
Bottleneck 01 removed. Bottleneck 02 found
A new target for the new constraint, agreed together. A missed one is rebuilt, not buried.
You receive the plan, updated around the new constraint.
Illustrative data, not a client result.
No ceiling.
The tracking, the playbooks and the cadence are now your own operating rhythm. Each loop finds the next bottleneck and removes it. This is the Kardashev scale in business terms: level after level, no top rung.
Bottleneck 03, 04 and on, found on the cadence
Checkpoints set together for the next level, and read on the same calls.
You receive an operating rhythm the business keeps.
What it buys you, over time
- Time back The hours the owner loses to the bottleneck, returned and pointed at the work only the owner can do.
- The plan kept A plan that is still running in month six, because the cadence does not let it slide.
- Money found The spend, the hours and the leaks the diagnosis names, priced in the plan.
Illustrative data, not a client result.
Timings describe the shape of an engagement, not a promise of results. Scope and pace are agreed after the deep dive.
An agency runs a channel. A consultant leaves a report. A hire sits inside the problem. We do the one thing none of them do: stay on the bottleneck until it is gone.
| KARDASHEV SYSTEMS | One off consultant | Agency | Full time hire | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Diagnosis before the planFinds the bottleneck first | ||||
| Strategy and executionPlans it and runs it | ||||
| Stays until it worksNo end date on the loop | ||||
| Owns the trackingScorecard on every call | ||||
| Whole business viewSales, operations and ads together | ||||
| Outside eyesNot inside the problem | ||||
| No hiring overheadNo salary, search or onboarding |
Proof, not promises.
The job
Media buyer and creative strategist, Sep 2023 to Jan 2025.
What we did
- Paid social across US, ES, DE, NL and PL
- Buying and creative strategy run together
- Attribution on Triple Whale and Hyros
Results
- €180k in spend
- €360k in revenue
- Five markets live
The job
Paid acquisition on the account, over 12 months.
What we did
- Paid ads on a yearly budget of €35k and up
Results
- ARR from €50k to €150k in 12 months
- 4 ROAS on €35k+ a year
The job
Lead media buyer at Hoski, Nov 2025 to Apr 2026.
What we did
- Led media buying across the agency's 7 figure brands
Results
- $100k to $150k a month in spend, led
- Across multiple 7 figure brands
The job
Creative director, Feb to May 2024, on a $300k a month brand.
What we did
- Creative direction across video and static
Results
- 250+ video ads
- 50+ statics
The job
Founder of our own DTC Shopify stores, May 2021 to May 2026.
What we did
- Built, launched and ran direct to consumer stores
Results
- 25+ stores since 2021
Each result is work done by the founder on that brand, in the role named, before and under the new name. The brands were not retainer clients of this service. Hoski figures are the agency's portfolio, led in the role of lead media buyer.
Want this kind of work on your numbers?
Book a bottleneck callA sample plan.
2. Diagnosis
The founder spends 14 hours a week rebuilding the ad spend and margin report by hand. Scaling, creative and stock decisions all wait on it. This is a work problem, not a strategy problem: the right things are known, they do not get done.
3. Scenarios, 12 months
The same plan, run three ways. The difference between the two plan lines is the cadence, nothing else.
Why it exists.
I named the company after the Kardashev scale: civilisations ranked by the energy they harness, level after level, with no top rung. Growth works the same way. Remove one constraint and the next one shows up.
The practice ran as Scaling Systems first: $1.25M in ad spend managed, $3M in revenue generated, lead media buyer at Hoski, creative director on Mystic Heals, 25+ DTC stores of our own since 2021. I have also tracked my own days, hour by hour, for years. That habit is the product: someone outside the business who keeps the scorecard and does not let it slide.
KARDASHEV SYSTEMS is Scaling Systems under a new name. Same founder, same method, same record, a name for where it goes.
Before you book.
A good fit
- An owner led business with revenue, a team and a real bottleneck
- You will share the numbers, the ads and the processes
- You want a partner on a cadence, not a report
Not a fit
- You want a one off plan to file away
- You only want someone to run ads
- You are not ready to change how the week runs
Not sure which side you are on? That is what the first call is for. See what it covers
Terms and questions.
Fee quoted on the call, matched to the size and the stakes of the business. Scope agreed after the deep dive. Cadence chosen together. Not selling a plan. Selling a guarantee of persistence.
Is KARDASHEV SYSTEMS a new company?
No. It is Scaling Systems under a new name. Same founder, same method, same record. The results on this page are the work done so far, on the brands named, in the roles named.
Why not hire someone?
A hire takes months to find and onboard, costs a salary whether the plan works or not, and sits inside the problem. An outside partner sees the business from the outside, carries the cadence, and needs no seat.
What do you need access to?
The numbers, the ads, the processes and the team, listed in section 03. Read access is enough for the deep dive. Nothing is changed without you.
How fast do we start?
The deep dive starts as soon as the access is in. The start date is set on the call.
Why is there no price on the site?
Because the scope depends on what the deep dive finds. The fee is quoted on the call, matched to the size and the stakes of the business.
Find the bottleneck. Remove it. Repeat until it works.
- Where the business is stuck, in your words
- The bottleneck we would look at first, and why
- What the deep dive needs from you
- Whether this is a fit. If it is not, you hear it on the call