## Treating Your Bankroll as a Business Asset
The most sophisticated bettors treat their bankroll the same way a fund manager treats capital under management: with a formal plan, performance objectives, risk limits, and reporting.
## The Annual Bankroll Plan
Produce a written bankroll plan at the start of each year containing:
**Capital allocation:**
- Total bankroll: £X
- Exchange float: Y%
- Active bookmaker float total: Z%
- Reserve: R%
**Performance objectives:**
- Target ROI: X% (based on last year's CLV performance)
- Expected annual profit: £Y (bankroll × expected turnover × target ROI)
- Maximum acceptable drawdown: Z units
**Risk limits:**
- Maximum stake per bet: N units (typically 2–4)
- Stop-loss: daily, weekly, drawdown-based
- Account diversification: minimum 8 active accounts
**Review schedule:**
- Weekly balance review
- Monthly performance review
- Quarterly model calibration test
- Annual plan update
## The Capital Efficiency Metric
Track capital efficiency: profit per unit of capital deployed.
Capital efficiency = Annual profit / Average bankroll
A £10,000 bankroll generating £1,500 annual profit = 15% capital efficiency.
Compare this to your opportunity cost: could that £10,000 earn 7% in an investment account? Your 15% represents meaningful alpha over the alternative.
## The Exit Criteria
Define in advance when you would stop the operation:
- Sustained negative CLV for 12 months (edge gone)
- Loss of access to all competitive markets (restriction cascade)
- Capital falling below minimum operational size
- Personal circumstances changing
Having exit criteria in advance prevents the common failure mode of continuing to bet without edge out of habit or attachment to the activity.
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