What It Really Takes: Inside the Business Excellence Certification and the 2025 Recipients

About the Episode

What It Really Takes: Inside the Business Excellence Certification and the 2025 Recipients

What does it mean to run a truly great business? Not just a profitable one, but one that takes care of its customers, its team, and its finances all at the same time?

That’s exactly what NCG’s Business Excellence Certification is designed to measure. In this episode of *Out of the Hourglass*, host Molly Nolan sits down with NCG Senior Business Coach and Director of Operations Kathryn Freeman to break it all down — what the certification is, how it works, and which businesses earned it in 2025.

What Is the Business Excellence Certification

This certification isn’t just about making money. It looks at three big areas: your finances, your safety record, and your company culture.

Kathryn puts it simply: “Being a good business is not just one thing or another.” That idea is what the certification was built on. About ten years ago, Kathryn and a colleague started asking what actually makes a business good — and the answer wasn’t a single number. It was a combination of things. Over time, with input from different people on the NCG team, the framework was built. And every year, the team reviews it to make sure the targets still make sense.

How the Process Works

The certification happens in two steps — and the first one is a hard gate.

Every year after NCG wraps up annual financial benchmarking, client results are compared against the certification’s financial targets. Only businesses that hit those numbers move forward. Those businesses are then invited to show that they’ve also met the culture and safety standards.

Your coach plays a big role in this process. They know your business and can flag things the review committee might not see in the numbers alone. This is one reason it’s so important to be open with your coach. As Kathryn says, “If you don’t tell me, I can’t help you.”

The Metrics and What They’re Really Telling You

The financial side covers things like gross profit, operating profit, days cash on hand, and safety numbers like your mod rate (which measures your workers’ comp history). These targets aren’t the same for every business — they vary by trade type and by how much of your work is residential versus commercial.

Some of the trickiest metrics to hit? Days cash on hand and gross profit, especially in years when material costs change fast. If you don’t adjust your prices quickly when your costs go up, your gross profit takes a hit.

But some of the most important numbers are on the balance sheet, specifically your current ratio and your debt ratio. These aren’t just standalone numbers. They can be early warning signs.

“There’s leading indicators and lagging indicators,” Kathryn explains. “Some of those balance sheet numbers, if you’re paying attention and looking at them over time, can really tell you a story of a business that’s maybe struggling.”

Business Excellence standard sits at a current ratio of 2.0 or above and a debt ratio of 0.6 or below. When those numbers are consistently off, it usually means there’s something bigger going on — and it’s time for a real conversation with your coach.

Culture and Safety: The Second Step

Once a business clears the financial review, they’re invited to show how they show up for their people and their customers.

On the customer side, the certification looks at whether you have a real process for asking for feedback — and what you do with it. It’s not about having a perfect score. It’s about whether you’re asking and responding.

On the team side, businesses need to show they’ve done some kind of employee survey — and that they’ve followed up on what they heard. NCG isn’t looking for a perfect satisfaction score. They’re looking for engagement. Did you ask your team? Did you do something about it?

Congratulations to the 2025 Recipients

After the financial review, safety metrics, and culture application, four businesses earned the full certification.

**Kennedy Painting** — Sean Kennedy and his team are back for what may be their sixth year in a row. They’re also a Summit Highest Honors business.

**Olympic Painting** — A newcomer to the list in their first full year in the Summit program. They took the process seriously from the start.

**River Birch Builders** — A well-earned spot on this year’s list.

**Textbook Painting** — Michael Murray and his team are a repeat, and no one is surprised.

“It’s an elite group of people,” Kathryn says. “They are in that category, head and shoulders above others.”

Want to Be on This List Next Year?

Start with the certification tab in the NCG Financial Workbook. Figure out which category applies to your business, then look at where you are now versus where you typically land at year-end.

One specific tip: if your accountant usually tells you to spend down cash at the end of the year for tax reasons, get a tax planning conversation on the calendar in August. The certification looks at your December numbers — and protecting your reserves then requires planning ahead.

“We’re not gonna change a goal post mid-game,” Kathryn says. The metrics get reviewed every year, but the team is committed to keeping the targets fair and stable.

The certification metrics are available at **nolancg.com**. And if you’re an NCG client, they’re right there in your Financial Workbook — tab three.

*Have questions about the Business Excellence Certification or want to start working toward it? Reach out to your NCG coach or visit nolancg.com.*