Design biz skills

/designbiz — Design Business Frameworks Dispatcher

Routes a design-business question or studio stuck-pattern to the right framework files in this library, reads them, and applies their Agent integration sections to the user's situation.

All paths are relative to this skill's directory (the design-biz-skills repo root).

Procedure

1. Classify the ask into one or two of: positioning (niche, differentiation, who we serve), pricing (rates, value pricing, negotiation), selling (calls, proposals, objections), clients (qualification, management, feedback, firing), operations (staffing, contracts, process, time), shape (solo vs hire, productize, retainers, exit).
2. Check the fast routes below. On a match, Read those exact files (2–4 max) and skip to step 5.
3. No fast-route match: pick 1–2 sets from the set map, Read each set's README.md (every README has a File | Framework | Use-it-when index table), choose 2–4 framework files.
4. Read the chosen files.
5. Apply, don't summarize. Execute each file's Agent integration rules against the user's actual situation. Give a concrete recommendation or a worked diagnosis, not a book report.
6. Name the frameworks used in one line at the end (Applied: market-sizing-tests, pricing-geode).

Hard limits: ≤4 framework files per pass. If the ask spans more, answer the sharpest slice and offer the next slice. Never dump file contents at the user — apply them.

Fast routes (situation → exact files)

Situation	Files
Choose/validate a niche or positioning	business-of-expertise/vertical-vs-horizontal-positioning.md, business-of-expertise/market-sizing-tests.md, business-of-expertise/six-positioning-principles.md
Afraid to niche / narrowing keeps stalling	business-of-expertise/four-positioning-blockers.md, business-of-expertise/courage-vs-opportunity-spectrum.md, company-of-one/polarize-on-purpose.md
What to charge / raise prices	pocket-full-of-do/cost-price-value-ladder.md, brutally-honest/value-based-pricing-geode.md, business-of-expertise/pricing-maturity-levels.md
Underpricing myself / imposter pricing	business-of-expertise/confidence-or-opportunity.md, pocket-full-of-do/think-like-gucci.md, pocket-full-of-do/raise-until-no.md
Writing a proposal / quote	brutally-honest/proposal-anatomy.md, pocket-full-of-do/three-option-pricing.md, creative-strategy/scenario-analysis-selling.md
"We can't afford it" / fee negotiation	pocket-full-of-do/know-budget-objection.md, pocket-full-of-do/anchor-high-bracket-wide.md, brutally-honest/aggravation-factor-pricing.md
Sales/discovery call prep	pocket-full-of-do/diagnose-before-prescribing.md, pocket-full-of-do/sell-through-curiosity.md, brutally-honest/prospect-qualifying-questions.md
Vet a new prospect / red flags	brutally-honest/scored-client-qualification.md, brutally-honest/client-red-flags-and-green-flags.md, creative-strategy/know-when-to-say-no.md
Productize / subscription offer design	built-to-sell/teachable-valuable-repeatable-filter.md, built-to-sell/recurring-revenue-ladder.md, business-of-expertise/productize-the-pattern-library.md
Retainer on the table	brutally-honest/retainer-reality-check.md, built-to-sell/recurring-revenue-ladder.md, built-to-sell/charge-upfront-cash-cycle.md
Hire or stay solo	company-of-one/question-growth-first.md, business-of-expertise/underbuild-capacity-rule.md, brutally-honest/solopreneur-first-hire.md
Overloaded / demand spike	company-of-one/upper-bound-goals.md, company-of-one/raise-prices-not-headcount.md, built-to-sell/say-no-to-custom-work.md
Reading or writing a brief	creative-strategy/eleven-question-brief-audit.md, creative-strategy/four-foundations-of-a-brief.md, brutally-honest/creative-brief-discipline.md
Presenting work / feedback hell	creative-strategy/setup-before-reveal.md, creative-strategy/works-not-likes-feedback.md, brutally-honest/rasci-guided-approvals.md
Scope creep / client dictates process	business-of-expertise/direct-the-relationship.md, brutally-honest/plain-english-contract.md, company-of-one/word-as-contract.md
Fire a client / fix the roster	pocket-full-of-do/fire-unaffordable-clients.md, brutally-honest/client-red-flags-and-green-flags.md, built-to-sell/client-concentration-cap.md
Treated as order-taker, not strategist	business-of-expertise/implementation-drift-audit.md, business-of-expertise/two-rooms-one-entrance.md, creative-strategy/translate-tactical-requests.md
No leads / marketing the studio	business-of-expertise/demonstrate-expertise-six-channels.md, pocket-full-of-do/out-teach-the-competition.md, brutally-honest/relationship-curation-cadence.md
Case studies / portfolio strategy	brutally-honest/metrics-driven-case-studies.md, pocket-full-of-do/sell-your-thinking.md, creative-strategy/clients-rent-ideas-buy-you.md
Launch a new offer lean	company-of-one/smallest-version-now.md, company-of-one/sell-service-before-product.md, company-of-one/minimum-viable-profit.md
Kill or continue a struggling offer	company-of-one/quit-or-persevere-test.md, built-to-sell/switch-year-dip-and-proof-period.md
Owner-independence / sell the studio someday	built-to-sell/options-strategy-over-exit-strategy.md, built-to-sell/owner-independence-test.md, built-to-sell/instruction-manual-test.md
Income target / how much is enough	company-of-one/enough-number.md, company-of-one/life-first-business-design.md, business-of-expertise/hobby-job-enterprise-test.md
Client work meltdown / mistake recovery	company-of-one/own-the-mistake-protocol.md, pocket-full-of-do/underpromise-overdeliver.md

Set map (second-stage routing — Read the set README, pick from its index)

Set	Route here when the ask is about
business-of-expertise/	positioning, niching, pricing power, saying no, thought leadership, expertise signals
pocket-full-of-do/	value pricing, sales conversations, objections, personal brand, teaching content
brutally-honest/	studio ops — proposals, contracts, rates, staffing, qualification, approvals, pipeline
built-to-sell/	productizing, owner-independence, recurring revenue, cash flow, valuation, exit
company-of-one/	staying small, growth skepticism, enough-ness, lean launches, retention, solo systems
creative-strategy/	briefs, business objectives behind design, pitching, presenting, feedback, target research

Guards

• Blend lenses when routing is ambiguous: one positioning/pricing set (expertise/do) + one operational set (brutally-honest/built-to-sell) usually beats two of the same kind.
• Growth-direction conflicts are real: Built to Sell optimizes for a sellable firm; Company of One optimizes for staying deliberately small. When both apply, surface the tension and ask which end-state the user wants — don't silently pick one.
• Financial/legal frameworks are thinking tools, not advice — say so when the stakes are real money or contracts.
• These are book distillations: attribute ("per Baker's market-sizing tests…") so the user knows the source.