i8Strategy, numbers and execution · Umeå, Sweden
The next
move matters.
- 01 Question
- 02 Model
- 03 Move
- 04 Learn
- ↻ Iterate
I help founders and owner‑led companies in Sweden make consequential business decisions and then carry them out: financial models, pricing, prototypes, funding preparation, day‑to‑day operations and acquisitions.
What decision are you facing?
Opens the five-question brief at your answer. No signup; your written summary appears on screen at the end.
Growth is easy to measure.
Strength takes more work.
Revenue tells you how much a business sells. Margins, cash flow and operational capacity tell you whether that growth is creating value.
I build the financial model, test the assumptions and help turn the decision into a workable operating plan.
01Who this is for
I have an idea
Find out whether people will pay before you commit a year to it. Shape the model, then build the smallest version that can prove it.
Test the idea
I run a business
See which locations, products or customers earn the margin, fix the weekly rhythm, and stop being the bottleneck yourself.
Strengthen the business
I'm preparing to raise
Prepare a narrative, model and data room that hold up under an investor's or lender's questions. Preparation only, no introductions.
Get funding ready
02Engagements and prices
Four engagements, sized to the question.
Start with a single session or go straight to a sprint. Prices are indicative starting points in SEK, excluding VAT, and every engagement except the Clarity Session is confirmed in a short written proposal after a scoping call.
- 01
Clarity Session
75 minutes on one business problem, prepared in advance from what you send me. Afterwards you get a short written brief: what matters, what to set aside, and the step I would take first.
SEK 2,900
fixed · ex. moms
- 02
Decision Sprint
One defined question, worked through in 5 to 10 working days. Examples: should we open a fourth location, are our prices right, can we afford this hire. You get a model or plan plus a one-page decision memo.
from SEK 14,900
5 to 10 working days · ex. moms
- 03
Build Sprint
For questions only real users or real investors can answer. Either a scoped MVP and a working prototype people can try, or a funding narrative, deck and model. Scope and price are fixed in the proposal.
from SEK 29,900
scope agreed in proposal · ex. moms
- 04
Operating PartnerOngoing
Part-time operating leadership (a fractional COO). Reserved days each month, a weekly priorities meeting, monthly numbers review and named owners for each KPI. I share accountability for whether the plan actually happens.
from SEK 35,000
per month · ex. moms
03Areas of work
Six areas of work, done by the person you speak to.
Find the opportunity
Decide whether an idea deserves the next twelve months of your time before you spend them.
Make the numbers work
A financial model built around the decision in front of you, with assumptions you can check and defend.
Build what matters
The smallest working version that tests the assumption your plan depends on most.
Get funding ready
Prepare a narrative, model and documents that hold up when an investor or lender asks hard questions.
Run it better
Part-time operating leadership for companies where every decision still runs through the owner.
Grow or acquire
Model a new location or an acquisition carefully before you sign, then plan the first 100 days after.
04How every engagement runs
Name the decision precisely. What would change if you knew the answer?
- 01
Understand
- 02
Model
- 03
Decide
- 04
Execute
- 05
Measure / Iterate
05What you receive
Files your team can open, change and keep using.
A Decision Sprint usually ends with a spreadsheet model and a one‑page memo, both yours. The example here uses fictional numbers so you can see the format without seeing anyone's business.
- Three scenarios built on different assumptions, so each one tells you something
- Assumptions register with sources and confidence
- Cash trough flagged before it arrives
- One-page decision memo on top
Fictional co. · Quarterly view · MSEK
Three-scenario operating model
| Line | Q1 | Q2 | Q3 | Q4 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | 1.90 | 2.10 | 2.30 | 2.50 |
| Gross margin | 41% | 41% | 41% | 41% |
| Closing cash | 2.40 | 2.35 | 2.40 | 2.55 |
Randy Cottin · Founder06A note from the founder
"I work at the intersection of business strategy, financial planning, acquisitions, multi-site operations and digital product development. My perspective comes from operating businesses and building systems, not simply advising from the sidelines."
I've led and developed multi-location consumer and service businesses in Sweden. i8 next exists because the hard part is rarely knowing what to do. It is doing it, measuring the result and adjusting while there is still time.
Randy Cottin Founder, i8 AB · Umeå
07Free to use
Check your own numbers first.
01 · Make the numbers work
A forecast is a decision tool
Most forecasts are built to get approved. A forecast built around one decision tells you which assumptions matter and what you would do if they turn out wrong.
8 min read →
02 · Build what matters
Why your MVP should be smaller
An MVP grows when nobody has written down the single assumption it must test. Write that sentence first, and most of the backlog disappears.
7 min read →
03 · Run it better
The first operating system for a growing business
Somewhere between ten and fifty people, running everything through the founder stops working. Four simple habits, introduced early, take the pressure off.
8 min read →
08Fit
When this works, and when it doesn't.
A good fit
- You own or run the business and can make the decision
- There is a specific question with money or time riding on it
- You want the work done, not only a report about it
- You are comfortable working in English
Look elsewhere if
- You need investor introductions or someone to raise money for you
- You need legal, tax, audit or certified valuation work
- You need a full engineering team to build production software
- You want a large agency with many people on the account
Bring the decision you are stuck on.
The brief is five questions, takes about four minutes and needs no signup. You get a written summary on screen. Sending it to me is optional.