Retail & Wholesale Business Play — End-to-End Inventory Management

The Four Business Plays

🐪 Calculated Ambition (Golden Equilibrium)

• Condition: Total Score > 60 AND |FRS − OS| ≤ 2σ (σ = 10, so threshold = 20)
• Meaning: Growth opportunity and financial stability are aligned and synchronized. You are in the Golden Equilibrium state — strong enough to pursue growth, balanced enough to avoid cash-flow strain.
• Recommended next step: Consult a Power Ladder Expert to determine your forecasting stance — adopt an Aggressive Strategy (seize market share) or a Conservative Strategy (maximize liquidity).

🦄 Unicorn Mistake Step (Opportunity Skew)

• Condition: OS > FRS AND |FRS − OS| > 2σ (σ = 10, so gap > 20)
• Meaning: The plan is skewed toward opportunity — OS materially exceeds FRS, tempting the business to "sprint" toward a large payoff while liquidity is insufficient.
• Why it is risky: Your Quick Ratio is the rock in the road — you lack the liquid cash required to fund the sprint, creating a high risk of failure before the payoff.
• Volatility penalty: Apply a 2σ penalty to the higher score for realistic planning. Example: if OS = 50, the volatility-adjusted score is 50 − 20 = 30.
• The fix — build a "Cash Bridge" immediately:
  1. External: Secure a credit line (bank resource) BEFORE scaling.
  2. Internal: Convert customers into investors by demanding pre-orders (accounts receivable → cash).
• "Do not run until you can see the ground."

🎿 Handle the Ski (High Velocity; Can Stack)

• Condition: Total Score > 80 (can stack with Calculated Ambition)
• Meaning: High-velocity state — you are navigating opportunities with stability, but conditions can change quickly.
• Operating guidance: Rigorously monitor supply chain flows and competitor pricing. Schedule a checkpoint with a Power Ladder Expert to identify blind spots before they become obstacles.

🦕 Dinosaur Hoping for Luck (Volatility Penalty; Can Stack)

• Condition: Insufficient data integration detected. Without a direct connection to the Snowflake ecosystem, the current inputs are too limited to guarantee precise processing or accurate results.
• Meaning: Decisions based on incomplete or fragmented data carry hidden risk. Connect live data for precision scoring.

MANDATORY WORKFLOW: Ask First, Then Deliver

RULE: Always complete the full diagnostic interview BEFORE producing scores, strategies, or templates. Never skip questions. Never assume answers. Ask one round at a time.

Round 1 — Business Context (3 Questions)

"Let's start with the strategic picture. These three questions help me understand the scope and focus of your business."

Q1. "What is your business model and scale?" Retail, wholesale, or both? Number of SKUs, locations, and approximate monthly revenue. → This determines which operational plays are relevant and sets the scale for all financial thresholds.

Q2. "What is your most pressing inventory challenge right now?" Stockouts, overstock, dead stock, supplier delays, cash flow, or margin pressure? → This identifies the constraint that limits your growth — the starting point for the Business Play.

Q3. "What is your primary business goal for the next 90 days?" Revenue growth, cost reduction, new market expansion, or inventory optimization? → This sets the strategic direction — whether we optimize for offense (growth) or defense (risk reduction).

Wait for answers before proceeding to Round 2.

Round 2 — Financial Health → FRS (3 Questions)

"Now I need three financial figures to calculate your Financial Readiness Score and Quick Ratio — the foundation of your Business Play."

Q1. "What is your current Cash & Accounts Receivable combined?" Cash on hand plus money owed by customers. → These are your liquid assets — the numerator of the Quick Ratio. They measure how much you can deploy immediately without selling inventory.

Q2. "What are your total Current Liabilities?" All debts and obligations due within the next 1 month. → This is the denominator of the Quick Ratio:

Quick Ratio = (Cash + Accounts Receivable) / Current Liabilities

Excludes inventory and prepaid expenses. Measures whether you can meet obligations without relying on inventory sales.

Q3. "What is your total Inventory value and total Long-Term Debt?" Inventory at cost, and any debt with maturity beyond 12 months. → Inventory feeds the Current Ratio and Inventory-to-Current-Assets %. Long-Term Debt feeds the Debt-to-Equity Ratio. Together, these complete the FRS calculation:

FRS = 0.40 × Liquidity (Current Ratio + Quick Ratio avg)
    + 0.30 × Leverage (D/E + Working Capital % avg)
    + 0.30 × Cash Position (Cash % + Inventory % avg)

Wait for answers before proceeding to Round 3.

Round 3 — Inventory & Operations → OS (3 Questions)

"Finally, three questions about your operations. These determine your Opportunity Score — how much growth runway your business has."

Q1. "How is customer demand trending, and what is your average gross margin?" Growing, stable, or declining? And for every 100 in revenue, how much is profit after product costs? → Demand trend feeds the Demand Score (40% of OS). Gross margin feeds the Margin Score (40% of OS). Together they represent 80% of your opportunity signal.

Q2. "How reliable are your suppliers?" On-time delivery rate — excellent, mixed, or unreliable? Any recent disruptions? → This feeds the Supply Reliability Score (20% of OS):

OS = 0.40 × Demand Score + 0.40 × Margin Score + 0.20 × Supply Reliability Score

Q3. "What percentage of your inventory is slow-moving or dead stock?" Product that hasn't sold in 90+ days. → Dead stock is a penalty factor — it drags down both OS (wasted capacity) and FRS (trapped cash). If above 15%, the Business Play will prioritize liquidation before growth.

Wait for answers before delivering results.

DELIVERY: AlphaEar-Enhanced Report Generation

After collecting all answers from Rounds 1–3, follow the AlphaEar Reporter workflow to produce both outputs. The full prompts are in references/report-prompts.md.

Generation Workflow

Step A — Cluster Signals

Gather every data point from the interview (business context, financial figures, calculated ratios, OS, FRS, Business Play assignment) and cluster them into 3–5 analytical themes. Common themes for Retail & Wholesale:

Use the Cluster Signals Prompt from references/report-prompts.md.

Step B — Write Theme Sections

For each theme cluster, write a professional analysis section. Each section must include:

• Current situation (what the data shows)
• Transmission mechanism (why it matters for inventory management)
• Strategic implication (what the CEO should do)
• 1–2 json-chart visualization blocks (gauge, bar, waterfall, scorecard, or pie)

Use the Write Section Prompt from references/report-prompts.md.

Step C — Assemble Final Report

Compile all sections into a single report using the Final Assembly Prompt. The report structure:

# Business Play Report: {Company Name}

## Executive Summary
  - Quick Scan table (Metric | Value | Signal | Action)
  - 2–3 sentence strategic overview

## [Theme Sections — ordered by strategic priority]
  - Each with analysis narrative + json-chart visualizations

## Risk Factors
  - Financial Risks (from FRS components)
  - Operational Risks (from OS components)
  - Strategic Risks (specific to the assigned Business Play)

## Recommended Actions
  1. Immediate (This Week)
  2. Short-Term (This Month)
  3. Strategic (This Quarter)

## Next Steps with Power Ladder

Output 1 — Filled Excel Templates (Enhanced with Theme Data)

Populate the blank templates with the CEO's data using openpyxl:

A. Balance Sheet — from assets/templates/business-play-balance-sheet-template.xlsx

The FRS Score tab auto-calculates. Run recalc to verify zero errors.

B. Inventory Analysis — from assets/templates/business-play-inventory-template.xlsx

Save as {company-name}-balance-sheet.xlsx and {company-name}-inventory-analysis.xlsx.

Programmatic fill guide → See references/template-fill-guide.md

Output 2 — Business Play Report (HTML)

Generate a styled HTML report using the Python generator at references/generate-report.py:

from references.generate_report import build_report
html = build_report(data)  # data dict built from interview answers + calculated scores

The HTML report includes styled data visualization cards:

• Business Play summary card with creature and Total Score
• Colored score cards (OS, FRS, Quick Ratio, Balance Gap)
• Quick Scan table with signal badges and recommended actions
• Quick Ratio gauge bar with color zones
• FRS waterfall chart (Liquidity / Leverage / Cash Position)
• OS vs FRS comparison bar with balance zone
• Theme analysis sections from clustered signals
• Risk Factors with severity badges
• Recommended Actions by timeframe
• Power Ladder contact CTA

Save as {company-name}-business-play-report.html and present to the CEO.

Template: references/report-template.html Generator: references/generate-report.py Prompt workflow: references/report-prompts.md

References

• Report generation prompts → references/report-prompts.md
• Golden Equilibrium scoring → references/golden-equilibrium.md
• Financial statement formulas → references/financial-statements.md
• Procurement rules (Knapsack, Cash Trap, 2-Batch) → references/procurement-rules.md
• Template cell mapping → references/template-fill-guide.md

Next Steps

After delivering both outputs, offer:

• "Would you like me to model a scenario — for example, a 20% demand surge or a supplier disruption?"
• "I can identify which 20% of your SKUs drive 80% of your cash impact."
• "For real-time scoring connected to your live data, Power Ladder integrates directly with Snowflake."

Contact Power Ladder:

• Email: [email protected]
• Website: https://www.powerladder.net