BUSINESS PLAN / STARTING POINTS
A first draft.
A clearer next step.
Choose a business that works like yours. Explore its assumptions, make it your own, and bring the open questions to your adviser.
FIVE WAYS A SMALL BUSINESS CAN WORK
Find a useful starting point.
The business model matters more than the name. Every example is editable and fictional.
A restaurant, shop or mixed business may need more detail about premises, stock, staffing and cash. Start with the closest pattern or your own idea, then use the gap review to identify what needs adding.
FROM EXAMPLE TO ADVISER CONVERSATION
Turn an example into your first draft.
- Choose and change.
Read a filled-in example. Change the customer or offer to something you understand. Replace teaching numbers with your estimates when ready.
- Find the questions that matter.
Try the calculator and open See my brief. Record customer evidence, delivery limits, cost quotes, cash needs and launch checks.
- Leave with a next step.
Download or print the draft with its gaps. Choose one question to investigate, who will do it and when. Bring the draft to your adviser when you are ready.
Where the examples come from
We Can Do It Consulting adapts Rebecca’s SBA example. Wooden Grain Toy Company draws on Andrew’s lean example and traditional example. They are two businesses, with the lean and detailed approaches combined here.
Mesa Yard Care, Porchside Bike Tune-Ups and SafeStart Property Testing are original Fieldwork examples organized around SBA planning topics. Fieldwork adds original scope, operating details, illustrative financial inputs and review questions to all five.
All calculator numbers are fictional teaching assumptions, not current prices, demand evidence or SBA forecasts. Historical market and regulatory claims from the source plans are not carried forward. These are independent planning exercises, without SBA endorsement. The result is an initial draft for discussion; further research and forecasts may be needed for financing or launch.