Growth Lab: a business simulator for owners
Growth Lab is the business simulator in NRG Circle Premium. You run a company for twelve simulated months, make decisions on pricing, cash, clients and hiring, and see the consequences straight away. You finish with a star rating and a debrief showing your costliest choices and the lessons that cover them. It is practice for real decisions, not a prediction of how a real business will perform.
- A 12-month simulated year with real trade-offs on pricing, cash, clients and hiring
- Stars for every month, streaks, XP and founder levels
- Play a ready-made founder or your own business, in your own currency
- A debrief on your costliest choices, with a short lesson for each weak topic
- Your run is saved between sessions — play in short sittings
- Part of Premium, with a 14-day free trial
How does a business simulator work?
Each month you face a handful of real-world situations — a client asks for a discount, cash runs tight, a key hire is on the table — and pick one of four options. Every choice moves seven meters: cash, time, reputation, trust, compliance, credit and energy. Market news changes the picture from month to month, so there is rarely one right answer, only trade-offs.
What makes it feel like a game?
Each month earns one to three stars, strings of strong decisions build a streak, and every decision earns XP towards founder levels from Dreamer up to Founder. At the end of the year you get an overall star rating, and the hub shows your best score so you have something to beat on the next run.
Play a ready-made founder or your own business
Choose from a set of founders with different starting cash and difficulty — from a comfortable cushion to a tight budget where every spend matters — or play as your own business using your business name and real starting cash. The costs and rewards scale to your size and amounts show in your currency. It is a practice run: nothing touches your real business.
What you learn from the debrief
When the year ends, the debrief compares each choice with the highest-value option at that step, lists the five choices that cost you most, and scores how you did on each topic — pricing, cash flow, sales, hiring, compliance and more. Each topic links to a short lesson so you can fix the gap in a few minutes.
Frequently asked questions
What is a business simulator?
A business simulator lets you run a pretend company so you can practise decisions — pricing, cash, hiring, sales — and see their consequences without risking real money. Growth Lab simulates a twelve-month year and explains which of your choices helped and which hurt.
Is Growth Lab a prediction of how my business will do?
No. It is practice, not a forecast. The scenarios are realistic but simplified, so use it to sharpen your judgement and spot habits, then check important real decisions with an accountant or adviser.
How long does a run take?
A full year is made up of many short decisions, so most people play it over several sittings. Your run is saved, so you can stop and continue from the same month later.
Can I play as my own business?
Yes. Enter your business name and the cash you have today and Growth Lab scales the costs and rewards to your size, in your own currency. It is built mainly for service-style businesses, so some scenarios will feel closer to yours than others.
Do I need business experience to play?
No. Every situation is explained in plain language, and the debrief links to short lessons on the topics you struggled with, so beginners learn as they play.
How much does Growth Lab cost?
It is included in Premium. New members can try Premium free for 14 days with no card required, and the rest of NRG Circle has a free-forever plan.