The Growth Audit.
Find the real problem.

No. Acquisition is one part of the customer journey. An audit may focus on activation, retention, lifecycle communication or measurement, depending on the business goal and available evidence.

Yes. Start with the reliable evidence you already have, such as a clearly defined spreadsheet, customer feedback and a walkthrough of the experience. Be explicit about what you cannot measure and avoid conclusions the data cannot support.

Keep a short record of the decision, customer group, review period and evidence. Describe the observed pattern without assuming its cause. Then explain the most plausible interpretations and the next action that would help distinguish between them.

A growth audit note should be understandable to someone who did not create the dashboard. Define unfamiliar events, show the relevant denominator and link to the source where appropriate. If a number is incomplete or estimated, make that visible beside the conclusion it affects.

Choose a change that addresses an important uncertainty and can be implemented responsibly with the resources available. Consider the likely customer impact, the strength of the evidence and the dependencies. A smaller test with a clear interpretation can be more useful than a broad redesign that changes several things at once.

The growth audit should explain why this experiment comes first. Name the audience, primary outcome, guardrails and review point. If the team cannot measure the intended outcome, the first task may be improving the measurement rather than changing the customer experience.

An inconclusive result is not proof that the idea works or fails. The sample may be too small, the reporting window too short or the implementation different from the intended test. Review those conditions before deciding what the result means.

Return to the original growth audit question and identify what remains uncertain. You may need a longer observation period, better data or a different way to investigate the problem. Document that choice so the next review does not begin from an unexplained number.

Only with care. Different acquisition sources, markets or customer needs can produce different behaviour even when the product experience is identical. A combined average may hide that variation. Define the segments and check whether the comparison addresses a useful business question.

A growth audit can help identify where a more focused analysis is needed. Avoid drawing a universal conclusion from a segment that does not represent the customers you want to serve. Explain which group a recommendation applies to and which group still needs investigation.

Choose a review rhythm that matches the decision and the time needed for meaningful evidence to appear. A weekly operational check and a longer review of retention may serve different purposes. The calendar should support learning rather than force a conclusion before the data is useful.

Revisit the growth audit when the product, audience, acquisition mix or measurement changes materially. Keep the original context so the team can understand why priorities moved. A useful record shows how the evidence changed the decision, not only which tasks were completed.