If you feel stuck in the chaos of running your business, there is a way to get in control of it.

ESCAPE is a business system for small local businesses. We coach you through putting it in place. The result is an owner in control, a team that handles the day-to-day so you can lead, and a business you enjoy again.

Book a free discovery call Take the free scorecard

Home

This week

Weekly SyncRan
ScorecardEnter numbers
Quarterly GoalsReview
Owners' TableIn 2 days

Your year

Envision
Strategy
Connection
Accountability
Profit
Expand

Do this first

Role Clarity Map

Every role, who is in it, and the one number it owns.

ESCAPEThe ESCAPE Business System

The Owner's Escape Plan

Where you want to end up, and what freedom looks like for you. The business gets built to serve this page, not the other way round.

Where I want to be

Picture an ordinary week three years from now, if everything went right.

My health

Score each one today, 1 (poor) to 10 (great).

My time

Two blocks on the calendar every week, before anything else goes in.

My pay

Your pay for the job you do, plus a share of profit.

My path

Where is this business headed for you?

My proof

Two things prove it's working.

The Weekly SyncThe Execution System

Sixty minutes, same day and time every week, with the leadership team (solo counts).

Good news

One personal, one business each.

Scorecard

Each owner reads their number.

Quarterly Goals

Each owner says on track or off track.

Headlines

One line each.

To-dos

Last week's new to-dos: done or not done.

Issues

Record every issue, then work the biggest ones.

Conclude

Everyone rates the meeting, 1 (poor) to 10 (great).

Delegation LadderExpand

The work leaving your plate: who takes each piece, which of five steps it's on, and the date it's fully theirs.

The five steps

Every handoff climbs the same five steps.

The ladder

For each piece of work: who takes it, the step it is on (circle it), since when, and when it is fully theirs.

MonTueWedThuFri

Call with your coach · Tuesday 8:00

The Owners' Table · every two weeks

Coaching · Community · Command Center

Where does it hurt?

Tap the yellow notes that sound like you this month.

0 of 6 tickedYou can move the notes around too.

Tap the yellow notes that sound like you.

Take the free scorecard

Three minutes, and you get a score for all six.

What it is

Most owners have never heard of a business system. Here is what it means.

Click an area to read what it covers.

Pillar 1 of 6

Envision

Why the business exists, what it stands for, and where it is going.

You write down why the business exists, where it is going, and the values you hire and lead by.

A business system is a few things you do on purpose, on a schedule, so the business stops depending on what you remember that week. Everyone knows what matters, every part of the business has an owner, and the numbers get looked at every week.

ESCAPE is that system for small local businesses. It starts with a plan for you, works through the six areas above one at a time, and the ESCAPE Execution System keeps it going after the coaching call ends. It was built and run first inside a building materials business that two partners started with $5,000. It now has two locations and is approaching $50 million in sales since it opened.

The first year

What the first year looks like

Your planEnvisionStrategyConnectionAccountabilityProfitExpand

Q1Q2Q3Q4

Your plan
Envision
Strategy
Connection
Accountability
Profit
Expand

Quarter one

Your own plan, the Owner's Escape Plan, and the ESCAPE Execution System set up on four calls: a few numbers you check each week, a list of problems to solve, your first goals for the quarter, and one weekly meeting. Then Envision, plus a grip on your numbers and the first work handed off your plate. First Quarterly Planning.

Quarter two

Strategy: who you serve best, what you sell them, and why they pick you. Connection starts with the one line that says what you do. Second Quarterly Planning.

Quarter three

Connection finishes, with steady lead sources and your sales conversation written down. Then Accountability, until the team runs the weekly meeting and owns its numbers. Third Quarterly Planning.

Quarter four

Profit, so you know the five money numbers that matter and which sales make money. Expand, so the work leaves your plate and the key processes are written down. Then you plan the year ahead.

After that

There is no finish line. The Execution System keeps running, and each quarter you pick what to deepen. Most of it is steady improvement, quarter after quarter.

The Weekly Scorecard

The number	Target	Week 1	Week 2	Week 3	Week 4	Week 5	Week 6
Leads per week	target
Close rate	target
New reviews	target
Gross margin	target
Average job value	target

Role Clarity Map

OwnerYou

SalesDanaLeads per week

OperationsMarcoJobs on schedule

OfficePriyaDays to get paid

KEEPER Scan

Person	K	E	E	P	E	R	Action
Dana	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓	KEEPER
Marco	✓	✓	–	✓	✓	–	Develop
Priya	✓	✓	✓	✓	–	✓	KEEPER

How you're supported

You do not do this on your own.

Coaching

Your coach is Shane Chapman, founder of The Unlocal and the ESCAPE Business System. He built ESCAPE inside his own business, a building materials company with two locations, and he coaches the calls. He walks you through the first month and stays with you through the year: at the Owners' Table every two weeks, and on a call every week for Inner Circle members.

The community

Owners' Table call

The next call · every two weeks

Mike · Landscaping
Anyone have a starter scorecard for a seasonal business? Mine has nine numbers.
4 replies
Daniel · Decks and renovations
Who runs your Weekly Sync when you are out on a job?
3 replies

Community

Members talk between calls in a private community: ask how another owner handled something, share a sheet that worked, and get an answer from someone who has been there. Every two weeks everyone meets at the Owners' Table, a call where you say what you committed to and whether it got done, one owner brings a problem for the group to work on, and one thing gets taught.

Weekly Scorecard

The number	Target	Wk 1	Wk 2	Wk 3	Wk 4
Leads per week	25	22	27	24	26
Close rate	40%	44%	41%	36%	33%

AI Business Coach

What should I bring to Thursday's Weekly Sync?

Close rate has been under target for two weeks. Put it on the Issues List and work it first.

Command Center

Your meetings, your numbers, your goals and your team's roles live in the Command Center, the app you log in to, and every framework also comes as a sheet you can print and fill in. The AI Business Coach inside it knows the system and your numbers, and answers questions about your business at any hour.

What changes

Today, and a year in.

Slide it across.

You are stuck, and most days feel like chaos.

People problems sit for months because you never get to them.

You find out how the month went when the accountant calls.

You are burning out, and the business is not what you pictured.

A week away means the phone never stops.

Every decision lands on your desk.

You are not sure which jobs actually make money.

Leads come in waves, then dry up.

Meetings drift, or there are no meetings.

You have not paid yourself properly in years.

None of that is promised in a month. It is what the system is built to produce over a year, and it keeps improving after that.

Who it's for

This is built for a particular kind of owner.

A trades business owner beside his work truck — Trades

A clinic owner in his treatment room — Clinics

A restaurant owner in his kitchen — Restaurants

This is for you if

You run a small local business: a trade or service company, a shop, a clinic, a salon, a restaurant or an agency.
You feel stuck, and you want to grow but are not sure how.
You have people problems you have been carrying too long.
You do not really know the numbers until the accountant tells you.
You have a few people, roughly two to twenty, and do somewhere between a quarter of a million and ten million a year.

It probably isn't if

You are looking for a quick fix.
You want someone to do the work for you.
You are not ready to change how the week runs.

If you are not sure, that is what the free call is for. We will tell you honestly.

If you have looked at other options

How ESCAPE compares

Some owners have read a business book, paid for a course, or talked to a consultant before they find us. Those can all help. What we hear most often is that the ideas were good and nothing stuck.

How ESCAPE compares
	A book	A course	A consultant	ESCAPE
Someone on the call with you	No	No	Yes	Yes
An execution system that keeps going	No	No	Sometimes	Yes
Your numbers in the tools	No	No	No	Yes
Other owners doing the same work	No	Sometimes	No	Yes
Someone does the work for you	No	No	Sometimes	No
A contract	No	No	Usually	No

ESCAPE is built to be used every week. The frameworks are in the Command Center, the meetings have agendas, the numbers have a home, and a coach is on the call with you from the first month. There is no contract.

From members

In their own words.

**Roberta K.** · Owner, Kitchens Renewed

The encouragement and shared ideas with business owners pulling in the same direction — that's huge. I love our business, and I love talking about business with others who get it.

Barclay K. · Owner, landscape construction, 8 years in business

Thanks for the nudge — almost finished the first pillar and have scheduled 30–60 minutes each day to work on the rest. Please keep sending these to keep us accountable and get the most out of what you have built.

David K. · ESCAPE Business System member

Start with a conversation.

The discovery call is free, takes about half an hour, and there is no obligation. You talk through where your business is, what is getting in the way, and whether this would help. If it is a fit, you will hear how the memberships work. If it is not, you will hear that too, along with free resources that might help.

Not ready to talk? Take the free scorecard

Free discovery callAbout 30 minutes

No pressure. An honest answer either way.

You talk with Shane, who coaches the calls
Where your business is today
What is getting in the way
Whether ESCAPE would help, and an honest answer if it would not

Pick a time that suits youBook the call

Questions owners ask

Do I need to know what a business system is before I start?

No. The first month is where you learn it, with your coach, by putting the first pieces in place in your own business.

How much time does it take?

In the first month, four half-hour calls and a couple of hours of setup. After that, a weekly meeting of about an hour, some time each week on the piece you are working on, and a planning day every three months. Your coach will help you protect that time.

My business is different. Will this fit?

The system is the same for every small business, and the answers are yours. The plan you write in month one, the customers you choose, the numbers you track, and the roles you define are all about your business.

What if I am not ready?

Take the free scorecard. It takes three minutes and shows you where the business is strong and where it is stuck, and you can book the call whenever you want.

Is there a contract?

No. Membership is month to month, or yearly if you prefer, and you can cancel at any time.

Is my business information private?

Yes. It is protected by encryption and secure sign-in. The AI Business Coach runs on Anthropic's Claude, and your information is never used to train AI models. You can ask for a copy of your data, or for it to be deleted, at any time. The privacy policy has the details.

What if it isn't right for me?

Every membership has a 30-day money-back guarantee. If it is not right for you in the first month, you get a full refund.

Two memberships. Both include the whole system.

Every member gets the full ESCAPE Business System, the guided year, the Owners' Table, the community and the Command Center. The difference between the two is how much time you spend one on one with your coach.

Every member gets

The whole system. Your Owner's Escape Plan, the six areas of the business, and the ESCAPE Execution System.

Your coach. On the four calls in month one, and at the Owners' Table every two weeks after that.

The Command Center. The app where your meetings, numbers and goals live, with the AI Business Coach inside it. It knows the system and your numbers, and answers at any hour.

The community. Other owners doing the same work, between calls and at the Table.

Every piece on paper. Printable sheets for owners who think with a pen.

No contract. Month to month, with a 30-day money-back guarantee.

Elite

Self-guided, with group coaching

$497 CAD a month

About US$360 a month. Charged in Canadian dollars.

You work through the system in the Command Center, with your coach on the four calls in month one and at the Owners' Table every two weeks after that.

How it runs

The next step always on screen, with the AI Business Coach beside it
Your coach at the Owners' Table every two weeks
The affiliate program, if you want to refer other owners

Join Elite or book a free call first

Most hands-on

Inner Circle

Weekly one-on-one coaching

$1,497 CAD a month

About US$1,080 a month. Charged in Canadian dollars.

Everything in Elite, and a 30-minute call with your coach every week for as long as you are a member. Ten members at a time, because your coach is on a call with each one every week.

Beyond Elite

A weekly call with your coach, and a direct line between calls
Action plans written for your business
Priority support and early access to new tools
The option to have your quarterly planning day facilitated in person

Book a free call or join Inner Circle now

See both memberships in full

The Unlocal Group · Regina, Saskatchewan, working with owners across Canada and the US · ESCAPE is the system the founder built and runs in his own business. The story is on the About page.

The work	Who takes it	Step (circle)	On it since	Fully theirs on