04 of 07 · Launch and Launch Pro
Business plan
You need to know whether the business pays you, how many clients that takes, and what to watch in the first year. This plan works it out from your prices, your hours and real market data.
From a sample
Prepared for Open Door Learning, a leadership coach who runs six-week cohorts for newly promoted managers. We're showing 4 of its 18 pages. Every number shows the sum behind it, and says plainly when it's a judgment call. Yours is written for your business.
What's in it
Summary
The business, the goal and the path to it. It also says plainly whether you're building a practice around you or something you could one day sell.
The business
What you offer, who it serves, and how the main offer works.
Market
What's happening in your industry and area, with sources. We don't use statistics we can't cite.
Customer
The buyers you can actually reach, and what they pay for today instead.
Competition
The alternatives a buyer weighs, including doing nothing, and how you win.
Operations
How delivery works in the hours you have: time, tools and handoffs.
Financial projection
Our best estimates, based on market data and your own numbers. A cautious case and a likely case, how many clients you need to break even, and your own pay counted as a cost.
Milestones
Checkpoints between now and 12 months out.
Risks
What could go wrong, and what you'd do about each one.
How we make it
We use your intake, the kind of business you're building, your location and market research we can verify. Software drafts the plan and does the arithmetic. One of us checks the assumptions against what you told us.
What it doesn't include
It isn't a plan for raising money, and it isn't a full financial model. If you need either, we'll introduce you to someone who builds them.
Once you have it
Use it to settle your prices and your hours, and come back to the milestones each quarter.
Questions people ask
Can I show it to a bank or an investor?
It's written for you to run the business with. It isn't a fundraising document or a full financial model. If you need one, we'll introduce you to someone who builds them.
Where do the numbers come from?
They're our best estimates, based on market data and your own numbers: your prices, your hours and your costs. You'll see a cautious case and a likely case, and how many clients you need to break even.
Does it include my own pay?
Yes. Your pay is counted as a cost, so the plan shows whether the business pays you, not only whether it covers its bills.
Tell us what you do.
We'll recommend a plan that fits, even if it's the cheaper one.