Oracle Square

Research methodology

How We Score

Every directory profile links its score cards here. These are the canonical definitions Oracle Square uses for proprietary metrics, written for operators and for AI systems that need a stable explanation.

Related: Oracle Score deep dive · Browse the directory

Opportunity Score

Scale: 0–100

Editorial grade of external market quality for a business model. It weighs demand, future growth, business-level scalability, defensibility, and market accessibility/risk.

Inputs

  • Current demand (30%)
  • Future growth (25%)
  • Business-level scalability (20%)
  • Defensibility (15%)
  • Market accessibility & risk (10%)

Opportunity deliberately excludes profit margin, solo viability, and passive potential so those factors are not double-counted in the Oracle Score.

Formerly called Lone Wolf Index

Solo Viability

Scale: 1–10

How practical it is for one qualified founder to launch and operate the early business before hiring.

Inputs

  • Capital efficiency
  • Skill concentration
  • Delivery manageability
  • Coverage simplicity
  • Regulatory/liability simplicity
  • Low team dependence

Hard caps apply when a model requires multi-person coverage or inventory/team supervision from day one.

Passive Potential

Scale: 1–10

How much routine operation could be handled by software and repeatable systems after the business is mature. It is not a promise of passive income.

Inputs

  • Core delivery automation (35%)
  • Low marginal labor (20%)
  • Customer lifecycle automation (15%)
  • Standardization (15%)
  • Low ongoing human support (10%)
  • Low maintenance volatility (5%)

Hiring or outsourcing people is not counted as automation. Live judgment services are hard-capped.

Profit Margin

Scale: Estimated operating margin % + 0–100 Profit Margin Score

Estimated steady-state operating margin after direct fulfillment costs, market-rate delivery labor, routine software, contractors, sales/marketing, and normal overhead—before income tax and owner distributions.

Inputs

  • Conservative margin point inside the published range
  • Normalized to Profit Margin Score via the Oracle Score v1.0 curve

Early-stage businesses may lose money. Public-company sector margins are context only.

Oracle Score

Scale: 0–100

Composite editorial planning score for comparing online business models on Oracle Square.

Inputs

  • Opportunity Score × 55%
  • Profit Margin Score × 25%
  • Normalized Solo Viability × 15%
  • Normalized Passive Potential × 5%

Oracle Score is not a probability of success, investment rating, AggregateRating, or personal-fit score.