In today’s competitive business landscape, organizations of all sizes face a common challenge that rarely appears on balance sheets but significantly impacts bottom lines: Execution Debt™. This concept, explored in-depth during an enlightening conversation on the Unscripted SEO podcast with host Jeremy Rivera and guest Chris Scott of Boschetto Consulting, represents a universal struggle affecting businesses across all industries—from local cannabis dispensaries to large-scale digital marketing agencies like Evergreen SEO Services.
What is Execution Debt™?
Execution Debt™ is defined as all the inefficiencies and bottlenecks that accumulate within a business over time. While some of these inefficiencies may be visible on financial statements, many operate as “silent killers” that gradually erode business performance without drawing immediate attention.
Chris Scott, founder of Boschetto Consulting, and originator of the Execution Debt™ concept, explains: “Execution Debt™ is all of the inefficiencies and bottlenecks and wasted time and efforts and delays within a business that compound over time. Some of them can be seen on a balance sheet or profit and loss statement, but a lot of them are silent killers.”
Scott further elaborates on why he created this concept: “Vision without proper execution is just wasted potential. So again, I really think this is something that exists in every business. And if I can do my small part to help a business owner overcome some of it, improve their teams, improve resource efficiency, improve team morale, I’m more than happy to do my part.”
Recent research highlights the staggering impact of these inefficiencies. According to market research firm IDC, companies lose 20 to 30 percent in revenue every year due to inefficiencies. Additionally, employees spend only 2.8 hours a day completing high-value work, with the rest consumed by inefficient processes and non-productive tasks.
The concept of Execution Debt™ aligns with what Built In calls “operational debt” — a business challenge that translates directly to increased inefficiency and is estimated to cost organizations 20-30% of their revenue annually. This operational debt results from decisions made in the spirit of expediency — processes fixed with quick “Band-Aids” and workflows that originate from an “Oh, let’s just do it this way for now” mentality.
Application to Different Businesses
Jeremy Rivera: Is that something more like a local business, like Redemption Recovery, their local rehab in a particular area? Is it tied at all to the size of the company and the geography and their goal? Or is it just any organization is going to have challenges in this area to overcome? So what would it look like for a rehab? What would some of this Execution Debt™ potentially be?
Chris Scott: Yeah, so it’s pretty industry-agnostic. I think it’s more of a mindset shift and finding those inefficiencies and finding ways to get better and streamline things. You know, I think, especially now with the state of perhaps the economy, and I know SEO too,
I was listening to a recent episode of yours [with Michael Buckbee], and you really touched on some of the AI and language models and how that’s changing, you know, the approach to SEO. And so the organizations that are best going to not just survive, but thrive, are those who are agile and able to adapt to some of these changes.
That’s a mindset.
So to your question, again, it can apply to, I think, any small business.
An example I’ll give is a local cafe. So a local cafe recognizes that sales are down. So their initial, let’s go solve the surface level solution is well, let’s run a marketing campaign or let’s offer a sale, you know, buy a pastry and get a coffee after 2pm or something like that. But if we pause and kind of dig into the problem a little more, and exercise it like it’s the five whys, we dig in why five times.
So when we do that, why are sales down? Because regulars have stopped coming in. Why have regulars stopped coming in? Because wait times have gotten longer on coffee. Why have wait times gotten longer? Because we hired new baristas and we didn’t train them how to use the equipment properly.
So what you initially thought was a again, like a sales problem that we would just go through a marketing spend that it’s actually a training problem.
So we can go fix that. And again, that’s like a hidden inefficiency that is exists in every business. Again, it exists in my own business, I despite me trying to run from it and solve for it. But I think being aware of it is is a key first step.
How Execution Debt™ Manifests in Organizations
Execution Debt™ can appear in numerous ways across different business functions. As Scott points out: “Think from a marketing perspective, you know, Execution Debt™ might be something like we’re editing a blog post seven or eight times instead of accepting that 99% is better than perfect, and we need to get it out and get some feedback on it and see how it ranks and see how it does.”
In Marketing and SEO:
- Excessive editing cycles on content (spending too much time perfecting rather than publishing)so when you’re working with something like an article on promoting collagen benefits, have a defined workflow to prevent excess attention applied to something that can only be “so effective” at the end of the day. Don’t try to wring a gold medal when you’ve got a copper medal potenital at most!
- “We do need to have a serious talk about how SEO is being sold. We have influence, not control, and you can’t guarantee what you can’t control. We can guarantee that’s we’ll provide impactful changes that are going to help you with rankings and user engagement, but you can’t guarantee an outcome of a system you don’t control. Some of the stuff we have to compete with in the sales process is ridiculous to have to refute. Heard just this week:
“AMP pages are really important. ”
“We have Google certified SEOs”
“We won’t have to change your content”
“Guaranteed 1st position for your keywords”
It’s sad. Either the people selling don’t have a clue, or they are pandering to an audience that they know doesn’t know any better. And I’m not sure which one is worse.” Matt Brooks of SEOteric- If we’re overselling outcomes, because we don’t actually control Google outcomes directly, then what we should be focused on is being clear about what our plan is for execution of SEO campaigns, as opposed to hypothetical outcomes.
- Unclear client expectations leading to rework, which Scott describes as: “Execution Debt™ could be delays with client acceptance or perhaps poor client standards upfront. So we don’t have a good initial scoping meeting with the client and client isn’t clear on their expectations. And now we produce the first batch of content for them and they’re not happy and we’re back to the drawing board.”
- Siloed teams creating disconnected customer experiences
- For cannabis businesses, failing to optimize location-specific content for local SEO (a critical oversight addressed in Evergreen’s Ultimate Guide to Cannabis SEO)
In Operations:
- Misalignment between team priorities causing friction and frustration
- Redundant processes where two departments generate similar reports without collaboration
- Outdated technology hampering productivity
- Bottlenecks resulting from not adapting to new technologies or from “gatekeepers” demanding control over specific process phases
According to research from Databox, the majority of business bottlenecks (22% each) occur in marketing and project management, while 19.4% occur in operations management. The impact is substantial, with over half of businesses (52.8%) agreeing that long-term, recurring bottlenecks have the greatest impact on growth.
In Finance:
- Cashflow problems from misaligned payment terms, which Scott describes: “It could be accounting, you know, could be on the invoicing side of things where you have a cash flow problem and you dig in and you realize that your contracts might be net 30 days, but clients typically pay in 45 days. Like that can create big cashflow problems for small businesses.”
- Inefficient invoicing processes
- Delayed client payments affecting resource allocation
The Diagnostic Process
Identifying Execution Debt™ requires a thoughtful, collaborative approach:
- Listen to Stakeholders: Rather than imposing top-down directives, engage with employees at all levels. As Scott emphasizes: “From a change management perspective, I think it’s very vital and critical to work with the actual employees doing the actual work. So I’m not a fan of top-down directives.”
- Apply the Five Whys Technique: Dig deeper into apparent problems to find root causes. Scott provides this example: “If we pause and kind of dig into the problem a little more, and exercise it like it’s the five whys, we dig in why five times. So when we do that, why are sales down? Because regulars have stopped coming in. Why have regulars stopped coming in? Because wait times have gotten longer on coffee. Why have wait times gotten longer? Because we hired new baristas and we didn’t train them how to use the equipment properly. So what you initially thought was a sales problem that we would just go through a marketing spend is actually a training problem.”
- Use Process Mapping Tools: Create visual representations of workflows to identify redundancies and bottlenecks. According to a case study from Crispy Software Solutions, bottleneck analysis is “a pivotal method for identifying and managing bottlenecks… companies may lose over $13k per employee per year due to inefficient processes.”
- Focus on Continuous Improvement: Scott notes that Execution Debt™ is inevitable in every business: “It has nothing to do with ability or lack of ability or anything like that. It’s something that is natural. It’s inherent for every business owner. I mean, we get very, very busy building a business, working on the business, working in the business. So it’s inevitable. But I think, again, like being aware of it, you know, and finding solutions is how can you release one more episode a week or something like that and taking that mindset of continuous improvement.”
Strategic Solutions to Execution Debt™
1. Test Small, Fail Small
Instead of implementing comprehensive solutions immediately, develop what Scott calls “minimum viable experiments” to test ideas before significant investment: “Before we build a full-fledged solution, we test the idea and we get some market feedback. This is slightly different than if you’re from a tech perspective, a minimum viable product. So a minimum viable product is very similar, but I think a minimum viable experiment even comes before that.”
Scott illustrates this with a personal example: “I launched a minimum viable experiment on LinkedIn. And it was a quiz that assessed your execution debt score. And when I was building it, my first inclination was, OK, so I’m going to build it. And then I’m going to set up automations in G Sheets. And then I’m going to have those automations pushed to me and send automated emails. And it was like, time out, pause. I don’t even know if this thing works. Right? Like, let me post it… But at least that’s traction then that I know like, okay, now I can go put some bells and whistles on it.”
For cannabis marketing businesses following Evergreen’s Cannabis Marketing 101 principles, this might mean testing a new content strategy with a limited audience before a full rollout.
2. Consider Implementing Hyperautomation Where Appropriate
According to research from AIM Multiple, hyperautomation—integrating technologies like AI, RPA, and process mining—can help businesses identify bottlenecks, streamline workflows, and significantly reduce operational costs. Gartner predicts that by 2024, “organizations will reduce operational costs by 30% by using hyperautomation technologies to redesign operational processes.” This approach can be particularly valuable for larger businesses dealing with complex, interconnected inefficiencies.
2. Implement Appropriate Tools—But Use Them Effectively
While project management tools like Trello or Asana can help with visibility, they’re not magical solutions. Scott explains: “Your tools like Trello and Asana and monday.com and ClickUp and like whatever it may be. Those are good. However, I’d still challenge that there are probably still pain points that exist.”
He illustrates this with an example: “A marketing agency that scaled quickly, and it’s maybe doing around 3 million in year, but they have concerns because they’re still missing client deadlines. And when they dig into it, what they realize is that every one of these product managers might be using their own tool, but the account managers then don’t know, okay, if I’m working with Jeremy, I have to use Trello, but if I’m working with Chris, I think I’m using Asana, but Chris doesn’t update it all the time.”
3. Focus on Organizational Alignment
Scott emphasizes the importance of organizational purpose: “Every organization has hopefully a why or a mission or, you know, why are we in existence? I think that every decision isn’t necessarily always about dollars and cents. But impact is relative to the organization.”
He provides this example: “That cafe owner could say their company’s why could be exceptional customer service. So if that’s the why behind every decision they make, then yeah, maybe it’s more expensive to have an overtime training where we train all the new baristas on like how to use all the equipment, but they’re willing to sacrifice that dollars and cents because it’s ultimately in pursuit of their why.”
At Evergreen Digital, this means aligning all SEO strategies with clients’ specific business objectives, especially in the specialized cannabis marketing sector.
4. Address Process Debt Proactively
Process debt can be viewed as clutter accumulating in an organization. As Jeremy Rivera points out in the interview: “It’s really important for your marketing to delve into and understand your unique selling position as a business because that’s going to impact how you structure your marketing materials. But I think that that is also true organizationally of what you are determining is the priority goal for your organization.”
6. Measure What Matters
When testing potential solutions to Execution Debt™, Scott emphasizes the importance of measuring the right metrics: “We have our KPI that we’re measuring against. So to bring it back to the cafe example, we’d measure wait times… we’re going to run this for three weeks… And we’re going to see how much wait times increase or decrease. And we go back and wait times decreased by 40%. And then we decide, okay, this worked.”
Real-World Applications
For digital marketing agencies like Unscripted SEO and Evergreen SEO Services, Execution Debt™ might manifest as:
- Content backlogs (recorded podcasts or written content waiting to be published), as Jeremy Rivera admitted in the interview: “I have Execution Debt™ of too many podcasts I’ve recorded in December and got backlogged and realized oh, hey, I actually have 20 conversations I’ve had fantastic conversations and some of the podcasts I’ve released I’m talking about podcasts that have happened in December that haven’t yet been released.”
- Inconsistent use of project management tools across teams
- Unclear client expectations leading to excessive revisions
- Failure to create location-specific content for multi-location businesses, which Rivera illustrates with this example: “A good example would be like Majestic Photo Booth they go out and they get their photo booths into these business locations but then never actually built a location page on their site so nobody can actually know unless they happen upon a photo booth. There’s no centralized location facing.”
- Inefficient handoffs between creatives, developers, and SEO specialists
According to a comprehensive study by Crispy Software Solutions, business growth is often hindered by “a tangled web of production process bottlenecks that are slowing down operations and blocking the path to sustainable growth. These inefficiencies can impact any and every department — customer service, HR, accounting, fulfillment…”
Legal service providers like Lamar Law Office face unique operational challenges, particularly around client intake processes, document management, and case tracking. For such professional service firms, Execution Debt™ can manifest in delayed client communications, inconsistent follow-up procedures, and bottlenecks in document processing—all of which can significantly impact client satisfaction and referral rates while creating unnecessary strain on legal staff.
For cannabis businesses specifically, common examples include:
- Compliance checks creating bottlenecks in marketing approval processes
- Inconsistent product information across platforms
- Disconnected POS and inventory systems
- Failure to maintain consistent NAP (Name, Address, Phone) information across platforms, which is critical for local SEO as detailed in Evergreen’s Ultimate Guide to Cannabis SEO
Taking Action
Execution Debt™ affects every business regardless of size or industry. Scott emphasizes this universal challenge: “Execution Debt™ again is a new term, but it’s something that it’s really the pain points that I think every business owner will be very, very familiar with… It’s pretty industry-agnostic. I think it’s more of a mindset shift and finding those inefficiencies and finding ways to get better and streamline things.”
He adds: “The organizations that are best going to not just survive, but thrive, are those who are agile and able to adapt to some of these changes. And that’s a mindset.”
Interestingly, this aligns with recent small business trends identified by the U.S. Small Business Administration, which notes that businesses need to develop strategies for adapting to rapidly shifting markets and customer needs. The SBA recommends that small businesses build agility into their operations to maintain competitiveness in today’s dynamic environment.
Whether you’re running a cannabis dispensary or a digital marketing agency like Evergreen SEO Services, the principles remain the same: identify bottlenecks, test solutions on a small scale, align with your organization’s mission, and measure what matters.
Scott concludes with this powerful insight: “Resources in businesses are so limited. Money, time, effort, momentum, morale, so limited. So we make sure that before we scale, we’re confident in what we’re scaling.”
From Execution Debt™ to Execution Excellence: Transforming Business Potential
As Scott eloquently states about his mission: “Everyone started their business for a reason, right? That why can vary, but everyone has a why as to why they started their business. And vision without proper execution is just wasted potential. So again, I really think this is something that exists in every business. And if I can do my small part to help a business owner overcome some of it, improve their teams, improve resource efficiency, improve team morale, I’m more than happy to do my part.”
By addressing Execution Debt™, businesses can unlock significant improvements in efficiency, employee satisfaction, and ultimately, profitability. With research suggesting that resolving operational inefficiencies could reclaim up to 30% of lost revenue, the potential impact of tackling these issues head-on cannot be overstated.
Ready to identify and eliminate Execution Debt™ in your cannabis business or digital marketing operations? Contact Evergreen SEO Services today for a consultation on streamlining your digital marketing operations and maximizing your ROI.
