O(1) Solutions
Business Improvement Award: Official Rules.
One business receives one agreed business-improvement project, free, within the fee and service limits below. Selection is based on published judging criteria. No purchase or observation booking is required.
1. Sponsor.
The sponsor is O(1) Solutions LLC, 132 Lyons Street, New Britain, CT 06052. Contact Jim Peterson at jim.peterson@o1solutions.us or 860-372-2407.
The Business Improvement Award selects one business by the judging criteria below, not chance.
2. Dates.
Applications open on October 24, 2026. The deadline for receipt of complete applications is December 31, 2026 at 11:59:59 p.m. Eastern Time. Selection and initial notification are on January 1, 2027. Project work begins on a mutually agreed date in 2027.
3. Eligibility.
The applicant must be a resident of the United States, at least 18 years old and at least the age of legal majority where they live, and authorized as an owner, officer or manager to represent an active, lawful business operating in the 50 U.S. states or Washington, D.C.
One application per business. Sponsor employees, judges, people administering the award, and their immediate family or household members are not eligible. Eligibility is checked before award acceptance.
4. How to apply.
Submit the application form directly on the website. No email app is required. After your application has been stored, the website shows a confirmation with an application reference. You can also email the same required information directly to jim.peterson@o1solutions.us as an alternate way to apply.
Your name, phone number, business name, role or authority, business city and state, and an answer to each question below are required. An email address in the form is optional. Each answer may contain up to 800 characters.
- What major problem do you want to solve, and how does it affect your business?
- What would a successful outcome look like, and how would you measure it?
- Why does this matter to you, and why now?
- What can you and your team commit to making changes over 12 weeks?
Confirm that you meet the age and authority requirements, agree to these Official Rules and have read the Privacy Notice. A direct email application must include these acknowledgements and the same required details and answers.
You may request a free observation using the optional checkbox. Requesting, booking or attending an observation is not required to apply or receive the prize. Applicants receive the same review regardless of an observation request. Booking or contacting the sponsor alone does not constitute an application.
No fee, purchase, marketing consent or agreement to paid work is required to apply or receive the free prize. Referrals, sales conversations and future purchases do not improve a score or affect selection.
A complete application must be received before the deadline. The form confirmation and application reference confirm that the application was stored; they do not confirm eligibility, an observation booking or an award. If you apply by email, the email must reach the sponsor before the deadline; sending it alone does not confirm receipt.
5. Judging and tie-breaks.
Jim Peterson judges eligible, complete applications using the following 100-point rubric. Selection is not random.
| Criterion | Maximum | What Jim will assess |
|---|---|---|
| Problem clarity and business impact | 30 points | A specific problem, a recent example and a clear explanation of its effect on the business. |
| Goal and measurement | 25 points | A clear desired outcome and a practical way to measure progress. |
| Why this matters and why now | 15 points | Why solving the problem matters to you and a concrete reason it is a priority now. |
| Readiness and feasibility | 30 points | The team's time, decision-making, access and involvement, and a feasible project within 24 total hours of work over 12 consecutive weeks. |
Each criterion is scored from 0 to 5: 0 means no usable support; 1 limited support; 2 partial support; 3 clear and credible support; 4 strong, specific support; and 5 exceptionally strong, well-supported fit. The criterion's score is multiplied by its maximum points divided by 5. The four weighted scores are added.
The highest total is selected, subject to eligibility and acceptance. A tie is resolved by the higher readiness and feasibility score, then problem clarity and business impact, then goal and measurement, then the earliest complete application received. No random tie-break is used.
The sponsor retains the scores and reasons for an objective eligibility or completeness rejection. False, incomplete or ineligible applications may be rejected on those grounds. The amount of any optional commercial discount is not a judging criterion.
6. One grand prize and its limits.
One grand prize: one agreed project, free.
The selected business receives one feasible business-improvement project with up to $24,000 in waived project fees, based on O(1) Solutions' ordinary, good-faith written project quote.
Service is limited to up to 2 hours of project work per week for 12 consecutive weeks, with a maximum of 24 total hours. The agreed project's normal quoted fee must be no more than $24,000 and is waived in full. Service ends when that project is complete, 24 hours of project work have been delivered or the 12-week period ends, whichever comes first.
All project time counts toward the allowance, including meetings, preparation, analysis, planning and implementation. The project scope, ordinary fee and service plan will be written down before acceptance. The project must fit within the free prize limits; no paid upgrade is required to receive it. There is no cash payment or credit for unused value.
Third-party hardware, software, subscriptions and outside services are excluded. The agreed free project must be feasible without requiring you to buy any of these or pay a balance.
The fee cap is not a verified market valuation or a promise of business results. Fees are custom and value based. Actual waived fees depend on the agreed project; forecasts of business benefits are not guaranteed.
The prize is service for one mutually agreed, feasible business-improvement project. It is not a cash award, a fixed amount of profit, a guarantee of estimated benefits or a commitment to ongoing services after the limits are reached. No paid upgrade is required to receive a project within the free limits.
O(1) Solutions uses custom, value-based project pricing rather than a standard hourly rate. The ordinary fee is documented using the same pricing method used for comparable paid work, with the scope and assumptions recorded before acceptance. It is not increased because the work is a prize or a discounted offer. Forecast business benefits are separate from the service fee and are not guaranteed.
The sponsor and selected business agree to a project that can be delivered within the free limits. Work is limited to up to 2 hours per week for 12 consecutive weeks from the mutually agreed start, with no more than 24 total hours and no more than $24,000 in waived normal project fees. All project time counts, including preparation, meetings, analysis, planning and implementation.
If a proposed project's normal fee exceeds $24,000, the free scope is narrowed to fit; the winner does not need to pay a balance to accept the prize. Third-party hardware, software, subscriptions and outside services are excluded, and the agreed free scope must be feasible without requiring any purchase. Unused fees or time do not become cash, transferable credit or a required purchase.
7. Notification and acceptance.
Selection and initial notification take place on January 1, 2027. The sponsor contacts the selected applicant using the supplied phone number or optional email address and provides a written offer. The selected business has seven calendar days after the written offer to confirm eligibility and accept the written project scope, ordinary fee and service plan.
If the selected business declines, is ineligible or does not accept within that period, the next highest-ranked eligible business is considered under the same rules.
The project starts on a date mutually agreed in 2027. Its service period runs for up to 12 consecutive weeks from that start, subject to the prize limits.
8. Separate optional commercial offer.
Other eligible applicants can request a separate quote for optional paid work at 30% off O(1) Solutions' normal written project fee. This is a commercial discount, not a second prize, and recipients are not additional award winners.
Before any paid agreement, the written offer states the ordinary project fee, the 30% discount, the resulting net fee, project scope and quote expiration. There is no obligation to buy. Applying, receiving the free grand prize and judging do not depend on accepting this offer.
The general free observation and personalized roadmap are available through the ordinary O(1) Solutions offer and are not prizes in this award.
9. Information and taxes.
Application information is used to review eligibility, judge applications, contact applicants and administer the award, as described in the Privacy Notice. An application does not provide automatic consent to unrelated marketing.
Do not include Social Security numbers, bank details, passwords or sensitive records. If tax information is required for a selected business, it is requested securely after selection rather than in the application.
The recipient is responsible for taxes that apply to the services received. Any required reporting is based on the actual services delivered and applicable fair market value, with an accountant determining the appropriate 2027 treatment. The quoted fee cap alone does not establish tax value.
10. Questions.
Contact jim.peterson@o1solutions.us with questions about the rules or your application. A request for information is not an application.
Apply for the award