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Profit and cash flow are different questions.
A business can report a loss and still have cash in the bank. See why that happens, using the same restaurant forecast from start to finish.
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Practical guides for the decisions behind your next business. From the first idea to the numbers and the pitch.
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68 guides
Marketing agency profitability: billable hours and owner pay
Use Signal Grove’s three-person delivery calendar to connect sold agency fees, paid management and the first-year loss.
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Mobile mechanic revenue: the hours left after driving and parts runs
Follow RouteReady Auto’s one-van forecast from scheduled owner time to completed maintenance packages, parts and cash.
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Plumbing service cash flow: parts, payroll and collected fees
Use Copperline’s two-technician forecast to separate service revenue, material purchases, supplier terms and payroll.
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Agricultural consulting: seasonal fees and year-round payroll
Follow FieldLedger Advisory’s seasonal workload, one paid consultant pool and cash through the quiet months.
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Trauma cleanup business planning: screened jobs and opening cash
Use Quiet Harbor’s bounded fictional forecast to examine screened jobs, paid specialist coverage, collection delay and opening cash.
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Electrical contractor margins: price purchased field work correctly
Follow the customer fee through purchased field work, materials and paid management before judging contractor margins.
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Advertising agency revenue: fees versus the client's media budget
Separate agency service fees from client media spending, then test the paid creative and campaign roster.
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Podcast production pricing: fit sessions and editing into one calendar
Convert recording, editing and clip packages into one paid production calendar before promising episode volume.
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Digital marketing agency fees: test the channel workload
Map channel deliverables to the specialists who produce them while retaining the full paid cost of direction and operations.
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Event planning revenue: count agency fees and completed events
Distinguish completed agency work, future bookings and client-paid vendor budgets before testing the planning roster.
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Chimney sweeping: budget one van through the seasonal calendar
Test the whole seasonal year for a paid owner-technician and one van rather than judging the route by a busy autumn month.
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Professional organizing pricing: allow for travel and preparation
Allow for travel, assessment and preparation before turning organizer time into paid session volume.
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Supply chain consulting cash flow: fund delivery before collection
Separate selling time, earned consulting fees and later collections when funding a three-person advisory team.
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Computer repair revenue: approved jobs versus bench capacity
Connect approved repair orders to active bench time and the two technicians’ total paid calendar.
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Construction revenue: earned project progress versus collected cash
Use earned renovation progress as revenue, then follow separate customer collection and supplier payment dates.
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Water well drilling budgets: one rig, one crew-day calendar
Keep one rig’s saleable crew days separate from paid helpers, launch equipment and working-capital reserve.
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Handyman pricing: reserve the owner's time before selling jobs
Remove administration once, then allow for unsold field time before pricing an owner-operated maintenance route.
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Trucking revenue: loaded miles must fund empty movement
Test loaded-mile fees against the whole paid fleet, including the empty movement that reduces realized loaded miles.
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Law firm financial planning: attorney hours are not collected fees
Keep paid attorney capacity, expected collectible fees and receipt timing separate in the practice forecast.
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Dump truck pricing: sold truck-hours versus fleet costs
Use sold truck-hours to pay the two-truck fleet without adding customer material or disposal budgets to revenue.
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Property cleanout margins: crew days, disposal and delayed payment
Follow authorized cleanout crew-day fees through disposal, compensated field work and delayed property-client payments.
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Cybersecurity consulting revenue: price scoped work within paid capacity
A scoped security practice calendar connects specialist hours, paid coordination and reserve-funded losses.
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Towing business revenue: completed calls versus paid truck time
A two-truck towing case prices completed calls against standby, dead travel, paid dispatch and outside recovery help.
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Locksmith service margins: parts, travel and nonbillable time
An hourly locksmith case connects hardware, route time, paid owner management and the difference between EBITDA and net income.
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HR consulting pricing: separate advisory work from staffing revenue
A two-adviser HR practice separates fee income, purchased review and shared capacity from staffing or payroll flows.
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Auto body shop revenue: productive bay-days versus parked vehicles
A six-bay collision-shop example separates productive bay-days, parked vehicles, worker availability and parts-funded cash.
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Automotive locksmith revenue: price the supported job mix
A two-van vehicle-key case separates completed-job pricing, physical parts, token services and the paid dispatch calendar.
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Chatbot development revenue: implementation fees and ongoing costs
A two-engineer chatbot studio prices implementation effort, development compute and maintenance without inventing SaaS revenue.
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Creative agency pricing: put revisions inside the delivery budget
A paid creative studio connects approval rounds, purchased rights and one shared delivery calendar to project contribution.
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Accounting firm capacity: budget review work before the deadline
A two-accountant practice budgets preparation, review and client deadlines without double-counting support or client remittances.
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Architecture studio fees: fund reviews and outside consultants
An hourly architecture case budgets internal review and purchased consultants without adding construction value or extra design capacity.
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Private investigator business costs: scope the case before pricing
A two-investigator case prices preparation, reporting, purchased records access and collection within a bounded commercial scope.
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Duct and HVAC cleaning: compare scopes using whole-crew hours
Two cleaning cases keep crew-hour definitions, included components, paid owner roles and forecast cash separate.
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Funeral home revenue: at-need case fees and purchased services
An at-need funeral-home case separates expected case fees, goods, outsourced services, paid coverage and excluded receipts.
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Stretch ceiling pricing: installed area and the crew calendar
An installed-area ceiling case connects materials, specialist purchases and one paid crew without doubling square footage by headcount.
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Clutter cleanup pricing: crew-hours and disposal are separate costs
A three-person clutter-cleanup case separates whole-crew hours, contents decisions and outside hauling from paid employee costs.
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Animation studio budgets: reviews, rendering and paid artist time
A commissioned animation case budgets shared artist hours, delayed reviews, rendering and rights without promising a universal minute rate.
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Consulting firm profitability: budget paid nonbillable work
Separate the consulting delivery calendar from paid sales, management and support, then test what remains after purchases and slow collection.
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Commercial roofing cash flow: seasonal work and early material payments
Trace seasonal individual roofer hours into earned progress, material commitments and cash received by a commercial roofing contractor.
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Remodeling budgets: protect paid capacity when scope changes
See why a remodeling change needs a new scope, paid-hour allocation and collection decision, even when the customer accepts a higher contract value.
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Plumbing and HVAC planning: one team across the service mix
Allocate six plumbing and HVAC scopes to one field roster, with installed prices, seasonal work and parts cash kept distinct.
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Oilfield consulting cash flow: fund technical work before payment
Separate a technical adviser’s earned fees from oil production and trace the paid team through a long operator invoice cycle.
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Customs brokerage revenue: service fees are separate from client duties
Build fee-only customs brokerage revenue from disjoint service jobs, excluding duties, shipment value and client-money float.
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Finish carpentry pricing: materials and paid workshop time
Price one employed carpentry-hour pool with ordinary materials included, customer-supplied major units and separately paid estimating work.
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Business brokerage cash flow: expected closings are uneven receipts
Read expected brokerage closings as an uncertain pipeline average, then plan the actual fee receipts needed to support paid transaction work.
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Engineering consulting fees: pay for review within the same roster
Include the principal in one engineering roster, reserve real review capacity and fund fees through a long invoice cycle.
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Hourly financial advice practice: fees versus client assets
Build an hourly fee-only advice budget from one paid adviser calendar, with client support and client assets kept separate.
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Solar installation cash flow: hardware and purchased crew labor
Distinguish aggregate purchased crew-hours from individual workers and trace equipment-inclusive solar fees into hardware and working capital.
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Market research budgets: fund recruitment, data and paid analysis
Price commissioned research around the analyst calendar and project-specific recruitment, incentives and data purchases, without inventing a panel product.
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AI consulting pricing: fund the pilot without assuming product revenue
Separate paid AI advisory work from successful-pilot assumptions, product revenue and uncounted specialist or compute purchases.
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Healthcare construction revenue: earned area versus a whole contract
Use earned progress-square-foot equivalents to explain construction revenue without treating a whole healthcare building as a new monthly sale.
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Welding shop revenue: extra stations do not add paid welders
Treat four welding stations as equipment flexibility while one three-person paid roster serves workshop, mobile and specialist work.
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Mobile app studio revenue: client project fees versus app sales
Budget bespoke mobile app delivery from one paid studio calendar, excluding app-store sales, client hosting and automatic maintenance renewals.
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Recurring home cleaning: sell crew visits, not cleaner headcount
Start with crew time, then apply booked demand and cancellations. Two crews do not mean four independent appointment calendars.
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Deep-cleaning quotes: price the whole appointment
Compare the quoted fee with total appointment time, including travel and rework. The working owner’s salary belongs in the cost base even when no employee is hired.
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Move-out cleaning: fund the crew before the invoice clears
Fund the vehicle, tools and setup first, then keep cash for payroll and delayed receipts. A paid invoice is not available at the moment the crew starts work.
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Rental turnover cleaning: monthly capacity is only the first check
Monthly hours are only a screening limit. Several units can need service in the same short window, so the actual changeover calendar decides whether the promise fits.
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Office cleaning contracts: revenue before cash
The team is paid while receivables build. Test collection timing beside the active-client ramp and reserve enough opening cash for that delay.
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Finish-cleaning startup costs: define the site before the equipment
Budget the selected vehicle, tools and setup, then preserve the operating reserve. Keep excluded hazard remediation outside the promised service rather than assuming a vacuum makes it covered.
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Window cleaning: a booking is not a completed sale
Cancelled slots remove completed sales while the owner’s salary and vehicle costs continue. Treat the cancellation allowance as a sales assumption and inspect cash as well as annual profit.
Read the guideRead the decisions behind the business plan.
Use an example to understand the customer, the operation and the assumptions. Then build a plan around your own business.
Read the guideStartup costs are only part of the funding question.
Separate what you spend before opening from the cash you need after opening. A worked example shows how those amounts fit together.
Read the guideBuild the pitch around one clear business story.
Give each slide a purpose. Keep the offer, operating model and funding request consistent with the longer plan and financial forecast.
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The same meal. A different business model.
Counter service, full service and delivery first sell different units, carry different commitments and need different demand tests.
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What does it take to open the doors?
Separate premises and equipment, pre-opening expense, stock and the cash needed after launch. Three worked budgets show the distinction.
Read the guideHow much can a restaurant earn?
Use defined profit measures, include the working owner’s pay and test demand against fixed commitments. The first-year loss is part of the answer.
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Will the cash last through the ramp?
Follow proposed funding into launch uses, opening cash and monthly balances. The low point matters more than the opening balance alone.
Read the guideA DIFFERENT STARTING POINT
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Read the restaurant plan, follow its forecast and inspect all ten pitch slides.
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