Every Business Growth Check-Up activates one of three pathways through the firm. The MEL report calls them Pathway A, B, and C. They sit on different timelines, serve different audiences, and require different measurement methods.
Pathway A: the founder
Diagnostic completed → Archetype identified → Action map issued → At least one action taken → Operating discipline improves → Bankable, investable, partner-ready.
This is the most common pathway. It is also the most measurable. We track founder reply rates to advisory letters (~60% qualitative), 30-day action taken, separation of personal and business accounts, and conversion to paid advisory engagement.
Pathway B: the institution
Cohort segmentation delivered to partner → Partner routes portfolio through diagnostic → Partner improves SME pipeline quality → Measurable improvement in underwriting, programme, or capital productivity.
Institutional pathways move slower than founder pathways but produce larger downstream effects. A single bank or accelerator routing its portfolio through CFOIP surfaces tens or hundreds of founder pathways in parallel.
Pathway C: the system
Cohort intelligence published → Segment patterns become visible to the ecosystem → Ecosystem actors recalibrate programme design → Segment-wide capability uplift.
Pathway C is the longest-running and the hardest to attribute. It is also where the 44% women-led finding belongs: a piece of cohort intelligence that, once visible to the ecosystem, changes how other actors design SME support.
“Each operates on a different timeline. Each requires different MEL methodology to assess.”