b1rdmania Income Opportunity Scorer
A structured framework for evaluating business ideas, projects, and income opportunities. Adapted from the scoring methodology in 5 Day Weekend by Nik Halik & Garrett Gunderson.
Overview
This skill provides two scoring instruments that work together:
- Income Opportunity Score (IOS) — evaluates whether an idea is worth pursuing at all
- Passive Income Score (PIS) — evaluates how passive/hands-off the income stream is
Used together, they answer two questions: "Is this a good opportunity?" and "Will it free up my time?"
When to use which mode
- Single idea, interactive: User describes one idea and wants to think through each criterion carefully. Walk through each question, discuss it, then score.
- Single idea, auto-score: User describes one idea and wants a quick assessment. Claude estimates all scores from context, flags low-confidence items, and presents the result.
- Batch / portfolio: User has multiple projects/ideas and wants them ranked or wants to know what to drop/keep/double down on. Run auto-score on all, present a comparison table, then let the user adjust.
Infer the mode from context — do not ask. Single idea described → auto-score. Multiple projects mentioned → batch. User says "walk me through it" or "let's go through each one" → interactive. Only ask if the input is genuinely ambiguous with no other signals.
Instrument 1: Income Opportunity Score (IOS)
10 criteria, each rated 1–10. Maximum score: 100.
The 10 Criteria
For each criterion, Claude should explain what it means in context of the specific idea being scored. Don't just read the label — contextualise it.
| # | Criterion | 1 (Low) | 10 (High) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Inspiration / Passion | No personal interest or energy for this | Deeply excited, would do it for free |
| 2 | Profitability Potential | Marginal returns, low ceiling | Unlimited wealth creation potential |
| 3 | Scale of Impact | Affects very few people | Could impact millions or entire markets |
| 4 | Complement to Existing Work | Isolated, no synergy with current activities | Perfect complement, creates flywheel effects |
| 5 | Delegatability | Must do everything yourself, founder-dependent | Can delegate all execution to a team |
| 6 | Automation Potential | Every step requires manual work | Can automate the entire operation |
| 7 | Spinoff Potential | Dead-end product, no extensions | Naturally generates multiple derivative products/services |
| 8 | Mission Alignment | Contradicts personal/business mission | Perfectly fulfils core mission |
| 9 | Speed to Profitability | May never turn a profit | Revenue before expenses (pre-sold, etc.) |
| 10 | Capital Accessibility | Requires capital you can't access | Requires no capital, or capital is already available |
IOS Scoring Bands
| Score | Verdict | Action |
|---|---|---|
| < 70 | Discard | Don't spend time or money. Kill it or shelve it. |
| 70–85 | Examine | Worth a closer look, but don't over-invest yet. Validate key assumptions. |
| > 85 | Move forward | Strong opportunity. Build a plan and execute. |
Scoring guidance for Claude (auto-score mode)
When auto-scoring, Claude should:
- State the idea/project name clearly
- For each of the 10 criteria, provide:
- A score (1–10)
- A one-sentence rationale
- A confidence flag: ✅ (confident), ⚠️ (uncertain — ask user), ❓ (no basis to score — must ask)
- Sum the total
- State the verdict (Discard / Examine / Move Forward)
- Highlight the weakest 2–3 scores as "risk factors" and the strongest 2–3 as "key strengths"
If more than 3 criteria are flagged ❓, switch to interactive mode for those items. If there is no prior conversation context to draw from, ask one clarifying question before scoring (e.g. "What's the revenue model?" or "How much time would this require from you?").
Instrument 2: Passive Income Score (PIS)
6 criteria, each rated 1–5. Maximum score: 30.
This instrument measures how passive/hands-off an income stream actually is. A high IOS with a low PIS means "great opportunity but it'll eat your time." A high PIS means the income runs itself.
The 6 Criteria
| # | Criterion | 1 (Low) | 5 (High) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Immediate Cash Flow | Income is far off or uncertain | Income starts immediately |
| 2 | Regular Cash Flow | Sporadic, unpredictable income | Predictable, recurring revenue |
| 3 | Sustainable Cash Flow | Limited lifespan, one-off income | Continues indefinitely |
| 4 | Increasing Cash Flow | Flat or declining over time | Income grows over time |
| 5 | Time to Manage | Requires many hours per month | Requires zero hours per month |
| 6 | Location Independence | Must be physically present | Never need to be onsite |
PIS Scoring Bands
| Score | Verdict | Action |
|---|---|---|
| < 10 | Restructure or eliminate | Too active — rethink the model or drop it |
| 10–25 | Modify | Has passive potential but needs work to get there |
| > 25 | Great passive investment | Runs itself, keep and protect |
Output Formats
Render all output directly as markdown (not inside a code block).
Single Idea Output
[Idea Name] — Opportunity Assessment
Income Opportunity Score: XX/100 — [VERDICT]
| # | Criterion | Score | Confidence | Rationale |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Inspiration/Passion | X/10 | ✅/⚠️/❓ | [one sentence] |
| [repeat for all 10 criteria] | ||||
| TOTAL | XX |
Key Strengths
[Top 2–3 scoring criteria and why they matter for this idea]
Risk Factors
[Bottom 2–3 scoring criteria and what to do about them]
Passive Income Score: XX/30 — [VERDICT]
| # | Criterion | Score | Rationale |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Immediate Cash Flow | X/5 | [one sentence] |
| [repeat for all 6 criteria] | |||
| TOTAL | XX |
Combined Assessment
Write 1–2 paragraphs synthesising both scores: is this worth pursuing, and will it free up time?
Batch / Portfolio Output
Portfolio Comparison
| Project | IOS | PIS | IOS Verdict | PIS Verdict | Top Strength | Top Risk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| [one row per project] |
Ranking (by IOS)
[numbered list]
Ranking (by PIS)
[numbered list]
Recommended Focus
[Which 1–2 projects to prioritise and why, based on combined scores]
Consider Dropping
[Any projects scoring < 70 IOS or < 10 PIS, with reasoning]
After presenting any batch table, always ask: "Do you want to adjust any scores before I give the final recommendation?"
Interactive Mode Flow
When running interactively (not auto-scoring), walk through it like this:
- Ask for the idea/project name
- For each criterion (1–10 for IOS, 1–6 for PIS):
- Explain what it means in context of their specific idea
- Ask them to rate it
- If they're unsure, offer a suggested range based on what you know
- After all scores are in, present the full scorecard
- Discuss the results: strengths, risks, and whether to proceed
- Ask if they want to score another idea or compare
Keep it conversational. Don't dump all 10 questions at once — go 2–3 at a time to keep it digestible.
Batch Mode Flow
- List all the projects/ideas to score
- Auto-score each one (IOS + PIS)
- Present the comparison table
- Flag any scores the user should verify (⚠️ or ❓)
- Let the user adjust scores
- Re-rank after adjustments
- Give a clear recommendation
Tips for Better Scoring
- Be honest about passion (criterion 1). A project you dread working on will stall no matter how profitable it looks on paper.
- Score delegation and automation separately. You can delegate something that can't be automated (e.g., hiring a chef), and you can automate something you can't delegate (e.g., a cron job only you understand). Both matter for time freedom.
- Speed to profitability (criterion 9) is about cashflow timing, not total revenue. A project that earns £100 next week scores higher than one that might earn £1M in three years.
- Capital accessibility (criterion 10) includes sweat equity. If the main "capital" required is your time and skills, and you have those, score it high.
- Complement to existing work (criterion 4) is about synergy. Does this project make your other projects better? Does it share an audience, a skill set, a distribution channel?
- For PIS, "time to manage" (criterion 5) should be scored based on steady-state, not setup. Every project takes time to build — score based on what it looks like once it's running.
Advanced: Weighted Scoring (Optional)
Some users may want to weight certain criteria more heavily. If requested, apply multipliers:
- For time-freedom focused users: weight criteria 5 (Delegatability) and 6 (Automation) at 1.5x
- For mission-driven users: weight criteria 1 (Inspiration) and 8 (Mission Alignment) at 1.5x
- For cash-strapped users: weight criteria 9 (Speed to Profit) and 10 (Capital) at 1.5x
When using weights, the maximum score changes. For IOS: normalise to a percentage (weighted total / weighted max × 100) and apply the same bands (< 70% discard, 70–85% examine, > 85% move forward). For PIS: same approach (weighted total / weighted max × 100), bands at < 33%, 33–83%, > 83%. Do not mix raw IOS and weighted IOS scores in the same comparison table.
Attribution
This scoring framework is adapted from the Income Opportunity Score Sheet and Passive Income Score Sheet in 5 Day Weekend: Freedom to Make Your Life and Work Rich with Purpose by Nik Halik and Garrett Gunderson (2017). The original tools are available at 5dayweekend.com.