Ludus Novus — The One Thing
An X-ray
for your business.
It shows you the one thing that's holding everything back — so you can drive again instead of firefighting.
No more consultants. No IT project. No six-month analysis.
You're not stuck in firefighting mode because there's too much going on. You're stuck because one handbrake is still on — and no, you haven't already tried everything.
Dear business owner,
I know how your day goes.
You're on your phone before you're awake. Breakfast with the family, except you're not really there — you're already at the office in your head. And the moment you walk in, you're putting out fires.
Every decision runs through you. Nothing moves without you. You're not the boss — you're the bottleneck. And you keep it that way, because you've learned that when someone else does it, it gets done wrong.
The afternoon calls start. The agency blames your website. The supplier blames the agency. Nobody owns it. And it lands, like it always does, back on your desk.
You've run like this for years. And there's a sentence you say to yourself, quietly, that no business owner wants to think: I'm not running this anymore. It's running me.
Maybe that's you. Maybe it's something else.
Maybe you're the one who can't let go — and can't work out why the company won't grow.
Maybe you're spread across too much. Three businesses, none of them done properly, because you won't give up a single one.
Maybe it always worked — and you can feel that it doesn't anymore, but that thought is too expensive to look at.
Maybe you already know exactly what needs doing, and you still haven't done it. For months.
It doesn't matter which one you are. They all come down to the same thing.
You didn't try to fix it with knowledge. You tried to fix it with people. A consultant. An agency. Maybe a six-figure IT project that created more problems than it solved.
Every one of them worked on their piece. Every one of them left a deck behind. And the problem was still sitting there afterwards — only now there was a new invoice next to it.
That's not because they were bad at their jobs. It's because each of them only ever saw their piece. The accountant sees the numbers. The agency sees the traffic. Nobody sees how it all connects — and nobody touches the one thing sitting underneath all of it.
Because your problem isn't a technical problem.
You're not firefighting because too much is on fire. You're firefighting because one handbrake is still on. A decision you've been avoiding for three years. A person nobody will name out loud. A way of doing things that used to work and quietly stopped.
You can't see it. Not because you're blind — because you're too close. There's a word for it: you're inside-blind. And it's not a weakness. It hits the sharpest owners hardest — you're so deep inside the thing that the one spot where it's jammed is the one spot you can't see.
I call it the blind spot. And until someone names it, you can work as hard as you like. You'll still be firefighting.
You already know where this goes. I'll say it once anyway, plainly.
Margins slip. Slowly, then not slowly. One day you catch yourself checking the price of groceries. Whatever comes in is gone by the end of the month. You work more, not less. You stop being there for the people you're supposedly doing all of this for. And eventually your body sends you the bill.
That's not bad luck. That's just what happens when the handbrake stays on too long.
I find the handbrake. I name it. And I tell you what to do first — so you can drive again instead of firefighting.
That's the job.
Why 90 minutes can do what months couldn't.
You don't have an information problem. You have too many fronts and no order to them — you don't know which one to fix first.
That's not solved with more analysis. It's solved with a different kind of looking. In 90 minutes, I look at three levels at once:
Numbers & Strategy
Does the business still add up — or are you fighting math that was never going to work?
Offer & Sales
Does every sale actually make you money — or are you selling something well that nobody really wants?
The Human Level
The belief. The conversation you keep avoiding. The pattern of yours that's been quietly dressing itself up as a business problem. No specialist will go near this level. It's almost always where the real cause is.
The handbrake is almost never on one level. It's in the way the three connect. An accountant sees the numbers. A coach sees the person. Nobody sees the chain.
I see the chain. That's the X-ray.
The One Thing.
90 minutes. One diagnosis. The one thing to start with.
Not a program. Not coaching. Not a retainer. A diagnosis — done, with a clear answer in your hands.
Intake
You complete a short intake. A few sharp questions, so we don't open at zero — we open deep.
90 Minutes
In person, by video, or by phone. You bring the problem that's costing you the most sleep. I ask you the questions you don't ask yourself — and the ones you've been dodging.
The One Page
Within 48 hours. Written. One page. Not a word more. The core insight. The first lever. The next concrete move.
You drive again
You don't leave with fifty things to do. You leave with one. You go back to driving instead of firefighting.
$3,500
Two sessions a week. No more than that.
Same Day Refund.
If The One Page tells you nothing you didn't already know, you get every cent back. Same day.
No questions. No explanation. No discussion.
Marian van der Elst
Twenty-plus years in strategy, trading, and sales:
- Former executive at a Swiss energy corporation
- Killed €500 million in bad investments before they were made
- Turned around failing sales companies
- Built three companies of my own — my capital, my risk
- Marketing mentor to business owners
I've owned corporate strategy at the top — and I've lain awake at 3 a.m. because a company of my own was going under.
And I bring something most consultants simply don't:
Most consultants calculate, or they optimize. I also read the level no specialist will touch — the human one. The beliefs. The confrontation you keep avoiding. The owner's own pattern, quietly disguised as a business problem. That level is almost always the real cause. And it's the level I'm best at.
The One Thing isn't for everyone.
Don't book it if you:
- want a thirty-point plan. I give you one point — the first one. If you want the long list, you already have the problem: too many fronts, no priorities.
- want to be told you're right. I tell you what I see. Including the part you won't enjoy.
- need the cause to be anywhere but you. Often the blind spot is exactly there.
- are looking for someone to blame. I don't find culprits. I find the one thing you can actually move.
If you've read that and you're still here — you're probably exactly who this is for.
When knowing isn't the problem — doing it is
The Operation.
Sometimes The One Page isn't enough. The one thing is named, clearly — and you already know you won't get it done on your own.
Because the team blocks it. Because a partner stonewalls. Because the structure won't hold. Because you're too close to it to stay hard on it. Because something is going on in your company that you can feel but can't prove.
That's what the Operation is for. Six weeks, on site, with you.
I don't walk in as the visible consultant — the one whose presence tells everyone something's wrong. I walk in as whatever the situation needs. An external strategy partner. An extra pair of hands. Authorized by you, unremarkable to everyone else. And I stay until the one thing is done — not until a contract runs out.
$75,000. Three Operations a year. By request only.
Frequently asked questions.
You've been firefighting for months.
It won't stop on its own.
One handbrake is holding your business back. While it's on, every hour you work is an hour worked against it.
90 minutes. One diagnosis. The one thing to start with.