Asset
What do customers already value that we know, do, own or can access—and are not using fully?
Example: the cleaning company’s procedures and staff training for passing hospital hygiene inspections.THE IDEA BEHIND THE WORK
What is Trapped Growth?
Trapped growth is value your business already knows how to create that your current offer or route to customers is not fully capturing.
Where it shows up.
Trapped growth is not a sign that something is broken. Plenty of companies that have it are already growing. It is the gap between what your team is able to do and what your current offer, buyers and routes to market actually sell.
It usually shows up in one of three situations. These are illustrations, not a diagnosis:
Customers value something you do not sell.
A capability customers rely on—your know-how, a process, the way you deliver—sits inside what you already sell or is given away, instead of being offered on its own terms.
The opportunity: a clearer offer and customer outcome.
A problem you solve for one buyer matters to another.
The problem you solve well for one kind of customer may be just as costly for a different buyer you are not reaching yet.
The opportunity: a new buyer.
A useful relationship never becomes defined work.
Trusted access to customers, partners or a market produces goodwill and the occasional referral, but no agreed offer, terms or route.
The opportunity: a new route to market.
Trapped Growth is also the name of the asset commercialization practice of Hicks Enterprises. We help established B2B businesses find that value, build an offer around it and launch the first market test with their team.
From a possibility to one test.
Most businesses can name several possibilities. The useful work is choosing one and making it specific enough to put in front of the market. Four things need to be clear:
- 01The buyer
- Name who would pay. A specific kind of organization and the person there who feels the problem.
- 02The problem
- Say what it costs them today, in time, money or risk, and why they would act now.
- 03The economics
- Estimate the price, what it costs to sell and deliver, and whether your team has the capacity.
- 04The test
- Pick the smallest real market action that could justify continuing, revising or stopping—and agree beforehand what evidence would decide it.
An earlier example.
Insurance technology
The asset was an existing offer and the commercial capability to deliver it. We refined the rollout strategy and offer positioning, and brought on a BDR who booked and handled appointments. Live sales activity began within roughly two and a half weeks. Over the following three months, the company generated more than $250,000 in additional revenue. Our work contributed through positioning and sales execution.
Multiple factors contributed. This was an earlier engagement, not a result from the newly packaged Intensive or a forecast for your company.
A.S.S.E.T. / FIVE PRACTICAL QUESTIONS
Put one possibility on the page.
Use these questions with your team now: Asset, Specific problem, Sponsor, Economics and Test. Note what you know, the evidence behind it and what remains an assumption. The examples continue the illustrative cleaning company above. This is a worksheet, not a diagnosis or maturity score.
Specific problem
Which buyer has a costly, specific problem this capability could solve?
Example: outpatient clinics face similar inspections without that expertise in-house.Sponsor
Who has authority to support a test, and who inside our company will own it?
Example: a clinic operations director who can agree to a pilot; the company’s operations manager runs the test internally.Economics
What would the buyer receive and pay for; what would selling and delivery cost, and can we deliver?
Example: a fixed-fee inspection-readiness review. Estimate hours, who delivers it and whether existing contracts can still be served. Treat every untested number as an assumption.Test
What is the smallest credible market action, who will do it and what evidence will decide the next step?
Example: offer the review to ten clinics; record conversations, objections and any paid agreement, then decide to continue, revise or stop.Notes stay in this open page only; they are not sent or saved. Copy them before leaving.
HOW YOUR TEAM BECOMES MORE CAPABLE
From effort to ownership.
Effort
Growth depends on more activity and your own involvement.
Next: Uncover value already inside the business before adding more work.
Insight
You see possibilities in what customers value and your existing strengths.
Next: Turn one insight into a clear offer and put it into action.
Action
You learn by building and testing one opportunity with your team.
Next: Teach the reasoning so your people can lead the next opportunity.
Ownership
Your team recognizes value, makes decisions and acts on evidence.
Next: Keep decisions connected to customer feedback and sound economics.
Mixed patterns are normal. These stages describe how a leader and team recognize value, make decisions and act—not a rigid score. The Intensive helps turn insight into shared action and teaches the reasoning. Sustained team ownership develops through repeated use, not a universal 15-day finish.
Learn it, or build it with us.
Learn for free. At Trapped Growth Live, every Tuesday at noon Mountain Time, we look at one real business together and work through these questions. It is practice, not a finished offer or a paid engagement.
Build it with us. In the Trapped Growth Intensive, we build one defined opportunity with your team and launch its first market test in 15 business days, across five 90-minute working sessions and about 50 combined client-team hours.
Questions about the method.
Do we need a selected asset or a partner?
No. Start with the company. We compare its underused strengths and choose a route after understanding the buyer. Partnership is only one possible route.
Does a test mean the opportunity will sell?
No. A test produces evidence about a defined commercial assumption. We separate projected revenue, signed commitments and collected cash. Buyer decisions remain theirs.
What does the team retain?
The materials, reasoning, evidence and playbook, plus a coached rehearsal and next action plan. Continued use develops the ability to lead the next opportunity.