The GPC Model: Which Dial Are You Turning in Your Business?

By Tony Monisse

Most business owners work harder each year without seeing the results they expect. They chase revenue growth, pursue new opportunities, or cut costs, but often focus on the wrong things. Understanding which levers genuinely drive your business forward matters more than ever.

My experience is that business owners often focus on activities that make little difference to their outcomes. The GPC Model (Growth, Profit, and Cash flow) can help you understand what truly drives your business’s economic engine and which dials to turn to make the most significant difference.

The Growth Dial: Four Levers That Drive Revenue

There are four specific levers you can pull to increase growth.

Number of customers: Increase conversions through improved lead generation and sales processes. Often the opportunity lies in converting more of the leads you already have.

Frequency of customer spend: Build stronger relationships that encourage repeat purchases. How effectively is your business nurturing those existing relationships?

Average customer spend: Use up-selling, cross-selling, and bundling to increase transaction values.

Price: Review your pricing strategy. If you haven’t reviewed pricing in 12-18 months, particularly with rising costs, you may be leaving profit behind.

The Profit Dial: Understanding What Actually Makes Money

It’s important that businesses understand that profit (not just revenue) determines your financial health and business value. A $5 million business at 15% margin is worth considerably more than a $7 million business at 8% margins.

There are often parts of the business that lose money whilst others generate substantial returns, but when looked at in total, this isn’t clear. From our experience working with businesses across many industries, segment analysis reveals a common issue: parts of the business that appear profitable at the gross margin level may negatively impact value once all costs are properly allocated.

The challenge lies in the allocation itself. Direct costs are easy to see, but overheads, management time, and working capital requirements often hide the true profitability picture. A product line or customer segment might look healthy until you factor in the full cost of serving it.

This is why profit optimisation often requires moving beyond top-line metrics. The key is analysing profitability by customer types, product lines, territories, or channels—then making strategic decisions about where to invest and what to exit. Sometimes the best growth strategy involves selective pruning, even when it means walking away from revenue that’s costing more than it’s worth.

The Cash Flow Dial: Your Forward View

Cash to a business is like oxygen, we can’t survive without it.  Without a rolling forecast, business owners are often in the fog, lacking the forward visibility essential for confident decision-making.

The 13-week rolling forecast provides this forward view, long enough to spot emerging issues but short enough to be accurate and actionable. Once you have the forecast, you can better understand the key actions needed to achieve those outcomes and address potential issues before they become crises.

There are three primary levers: accelerate receivables by improving invoice cycles and collections; extend payables by renegotiating supplier terms; and optimise stock levels to free up capital. The objective is to get paid before you need to pay suppliers, and to fund operations.

Which Dial Should You Turn First?

An important question to consider is: which dial will make the biggest difference in your situation right now?

Turn the Growth dial first when you have healthy margins (15%+), stable cash flow, and capacity to serve more customers. Turn the Profit dial first when revenue grows but profit doesn’t, or you don’t understand which parts of your business make money. Turn the Cash Flow dial first when you’re constantly managing cash crises or can’t predict your cash position 90 days out.

From our experience, successful businesses understand how all three interconnect. Growing revenue without profit focus can lead to “busy-ness” not business value. Improving profit without cash flow visibility creates hidden vulnerabilities. Optimising cash flow without growth limits potential.

Ask yourself three questions: Can you articulate the four ways you’re increasing revenue and measure progress on each? Do you know which parts of your business are profitable and which destroy value? Can you accurately predict your cash position 13 weeks from today?

If you answered “no” to any question, that’s your starting point. Begin by ensuring your financial information is accurate, relevant and timely. It is like running your car without a speedometer if you do not have this information. Many business owners look at their profit and loss statement but rarely examine their balance sheet and cash flow statement—yet often, the issues are in the balance sheet and cashflow statement.

It’s essential to understand what drives your business’s economic engine and which dials to turn to make the most significant difference. Focusing on the right dials can make an enormous difference to outcomes, unlike other dials which make very little difference to results. Understanding your business through the GPC lens isn’t a one-time exercise—it’s an ongoing discipline that transforms how you make decisions.