No commission
A Guide earns no commission on any decision you make. A Guide is not paid a commission based on the decision you make. This keeps the conversation focused on what is right for you.
The Legacy Navigator standard
Certified Decision Guide
A standard for guiding one of the biggest decisions of your life: whether business ownership is right for you.
When you see CDG after a name at Legacy Navigator, it means that person has been trained, tested, and has signed a commitment to guide your decision honestly.
Take the Ownership Assessment
What CDG means
A guide to the decision, not a salesperson for the opportunity.
A Certified Decision Guide does not sell you a business. A Guide helps you understand your goals, your readiness, and your options, so you can make the right decision for you.
Sometimes that answer is yes. Sometimes it is no, or not yet. All three are good outcomes when they are true.
The credential rests on one philosophy: Alignment Before Opportunity. Before anyone asks whether a business is a good opportunity, a Guide helps you ask whether it is the right one for you.
The CDG Standard
Five commitments shape every decision conversation.
Three honest outcomes
Yes, no, or not yet. A Guide never treats no or not yet as a failure and never pushes you toward yes.
No pressure or urgency
Big decisions deserve time. A Guide will never rush you to commit.
Outside counsel
A Guide urges you to review any franchise disclosure document with a franchise attorney and an accountant and does not advise beyond their competence.
Continuing care
If you become an owner, your Guide remains available for scheduled follow-up. The relationship does not end when the paperwork is signed.
How a Guide works
The Alignment Framework
Five disciplines shape every conversation and keep the decision centered on the person, not the opportunity.
Listen
Understand your story, your goals, and what matters to you.
Discern
See clearly where you are today, including your readiness and finances.
Align
Test whether ownership fits the life you want to build.
Guide
Walk with you through the decision, step by step, without pressure.
Empower
Leave you able to decide with confidence, whatever the answer is.
How someone becomes a CDG
The credential is earned, not given.
Every candidate completes training, practical experience, assessment, peer review, and a written commitment to the standard. The credential is subject to ongoing review.
- Training in The Decision Series framework and the Alignment Framework
- Applied experience working alongside certified Guides
- A written exam with reference materials allowed, plus an applied assessment
- A final review in which each certified Guide asks the candidate one question
- A signed CDG Commitment to the Code of Ethics and Standard of Practice
Who stands behind it
A Legacy Navigator standard.
The Certified Decision Guide credential is created and administered by Legacy Navigator. It is our own standard, not a government license or an industry certification. We publish it here so you can hold us to it.
Full transparency
Guide compensation stays separate from your answer.
Legacy Navigator may receive a fee from a franchise brand when a client becomes an owner of that brand. Our Guides do not. The standard exists so the person helping you decide has nothing to gain from your answer.
Accountability
If a Guide falls short, tell us.
If you believe a Certified Decision Guide has not met this standard, contact [email protected]. We will acknowledge your message, review the concern, and respond with the appropriate next steps.
Begin with the decision
Is ownership right for you?
Start with the free Ownership Assessment. Your Relationship Advisor will send the private Alignment Review link as the next step.
Take the Ownership Assessment