190 tools. Each one answers a question.

Brand Strategy Workbook

What does this business stand for, in words I would actually say? Why the business exists, who it is for, and what it will not do. Mission, vision and values come out of this in one sitting — written separately they become wall decoration. Related: before Brand Identity Guide, Brand Messaging.

Brand Identity Guide

What does it look like, and where does the logo go? Two colours, one typeface, one logo and the rules for using them. Enough consistency that a van, an invoice and a quote look like the same business. Related: after Brand Strategy Workbook · before Website Checklist.

Elevator Pitch

What do I say when somebody asks what I do? One sentence you can say without hesitating, and a longer version for when they ask more. Most people answer this question badly a hundred times a year. Related: after Brand Strategy Workbook · before Brand Messaging.

Brand Messaging

What do I say, and in what order? The handful of things you say about the business, ranked, so the site, the quote and the doorstep all lead with the same one. Related: after Brand Strategy Workbook · before Homepage Copy.

Customer Promise

What can a customer count on, every time? The two or three things you will always do, written as a promise you would be embarrassed to break. It is worth more than any marketing on this page, and it is the only one with consequences. Related: after Brand Strategy Workbook · before Service Strategy Guide.

Brand Voice Guide

How do we sound in writing? A short note on how the business writes, so a quote, an email and a reminder all sound like the same person. Mostly this is a list of things not to say. Related: after Brand Strategy Workbook.

Service Cost

What does one job of this type actually cost me? Costs one job rather than one hour. The Cost Calculator gives you the hourly floor; this multiplies it out for a specific piece of work, including the parts nobody quotes for. Related: after Cost Calculator · before Pricing Calculator.

Product Cost

What does one unit really cost me, landed? The true cost of one unit — not the invoice price. Delivery, duty, breakage and the time spent handling it all belong here, and leaving them out flatters every margin you will ever calculate. Related: after Cost Calculator · before Margin Calculator.

Break-even Calculator

How much do I have to sell before I start earning? The point where the month stops costing you money. Knowing it turns a vague worry into a number you can check on the fifteenth. Related: after Cost Calculator · before Profit Calculator.

Profit Calculator

What did I actually keep? Money in, money out, what is left. Deliberately simple, and deliberately including your own drawings so the answer is not flattering. Related: after Cost Calculator · before Margin Calculator.

Margin Calculator

What share of the price do I keep? Margin is what you keep as a share of the price. Its twin, markup, is what you added as a share of the cost. Confusing the two is the most expensive arithmetic mistake in small business, so both live here side by side. Related: after Cost Calculator · before Pricing Calculator.

Markup Calculator

How much do I add to cost? The same arithmetic from the other side, kept separate because trades genuinely work in markup — it is how suppliers quote and how estimators think. It converts to margin here so the two never get mixed up again. Related: after Product Cost · before Margin Calculator.

Customer Interviews

What do I ask, and how do I stop leading them? The questions, the order, and the discipline of asking about the past rather than the future. What somebody did last month is evidence; what they say they would do is a wish. Related: before Customer Problem Worksheet.

Surveys

How do I ask a lot of people something short? Five questions or fewer, sent to people who already know you. Useful for counting things you already suspect — and useless for discovering anything new. Related: after Customer Interviews.

Market Research

Is there enough work out there for me? Sized for a small business, which means five conversations and an afternoon — not a report. You are looking for whether enough people nearby have this problem and already pay somebody for it. Related: before Competitive Analysis.

Competitive Analysis

Who else does this, and what are they actually like? Three competitors you genuinely lose work to, and what happens when a customer chooses between you. Prices live in Competitor Pricing; this is everything else. Related: after Market Research · before Comparison Sheets.

Persona

Who am I actually selling to? For a business with a handful of customers, a persona is not an invention — it is a description of your three best ones and what they have in common. Related: before Marketing.

Journey Mapping

What is it actually like to buy from me? The steps from their side, with how long each one takes and how it feels. Written from the customer's chair, not from your process. Related: after Customer Interviews · before Operations.

Opportunity Matrix

Which of these is actually worth chasing? Scores the options against each other so the decision is made once, in daylight, rather than repeatedly at eleven at night. Related: after Customer Feedback · before Product Roadmap.

Welcome Series

What does somebody get after they first hear from me? Two or three emails after somebody first gets in touch, so the first impression is not silence. Also the parent for the other sequences. Related: after Opt-in Forms · before Newsletter.

Newsletter

Should I send one, and what goes in it? An honest look at whether a newsletter is worth it for you, and if so, the shape that a busy owner can actually keep up. Related: after Welcome Series.

Win-back

What do I send somebody who used to buy from me? A former customer is the warmest lead you have. This is the message, and the honest question of whether you should ask why they left before selling anything. Related: before Complaint Resolution.

Customer Appreciation

How do I say thank you without it being a sales email? The messages that are not selling anything. They are the cheapest loyalty available and almost nobody sends them. Related: before Referral Funnel.

Lead Magnet Builder

What can I give away that proves I know what I am doing? Something useful enough that somebody hands over an email for it. For a service business the best ones are short, specific and slightly too generous. Related: after FAQs · before Opt-in Forms.

Opt-in Forms

What do I ask for, and what do they get? The form itself. Every extra field costs you replies, so this is mostly an exercise in taking things out. Related: after Lead Magnet Builder · before CRM Integration.

Sales Funnel

How does a stranger become a customer? The path, with the numbers at each step, so you can see where people fall out rather than guessing. Most small businesses have a funnel; almost none have written it down. Related: before Referral Funnel.

Referral Funnel

How do I get customers to send me other customers? The highest-converting and cheapest source of work for a service business, and almost always the one nobody manages. This turns it from luck into a habit. Related: before Review Request.

CRM Integration

Where do leads actually land, and who looks at them? Where an enquiry goes and who is responsible for it. Honestly: at your size a spreadsheet with four columns beats a CRM nobody updates. Related: after Opt-in Forms.

Business Formation Checklist

How do I actually set this up properly? From an idea to something that can legally take money, in your state. Everything else in Legal depends on this being done, and most of it is a single afternoon of forms. Related: before Operating Agreement, Business License Tracker.

Operating Agreement

What happens if the people involved disagree? The document that says who decides what, who owns what, and what happens if somebody wants out. Most states do not require it. Every business with more than one person needs it anyway. Related: after Business Formation Checklist. When: trades as an LLC or similar entity.

Partnership Agreement

What did we actually agree between us? Who does what, who gets what, and how it ends. The absence of this document is behind most small-business partnership disputes, and it is always written after the argument rather than before. Related: after Business Formation Checklist. When: has business partners.

Business Startup Timeline

In what order, and how long does each bit take? The sequence with real lead times, so you do not discover in week six that the bank needs a document you have not filed for yet. Related: after Business Formation Checklist.

Business License Tracker

What do I hold, and when does it run out? The register of every licence, permit and registration, with the two dates that matter: when it expires and how much notice the renewal needs. One of those is usually missing. Related: after Industry License Checklist · before Government Filing Tracker.

Industry License Checklist

What does my trade actually need, where I am? What your trade and your location require before you can legally work. For some trades this is nothing; for others it comes before everything else including taking a deposit. Related: before Business License Tracker.

Inspection Checklist

What happens if somebody turns up to inspect? What an inspector looks for, prepared in advance rather than on the morning. Related: after Industry License Checklist. When: trade or premises are subject to inspection.

Government Filing Tracker

What do I have to file, and by when? Every recurring filing — annual reports, tax returns, employment returns — with its deadline and who does it. Missed filings are cheap to prevent and expensive to fix. Related: after Business Formation Checklist · before Tax Center.

Local Compliance Guide

What does my town or city require that the state does not? The local layer — signage, parking, waste, noise, working hours, home-business rules. Small, easily missed, and the source of most complaints against small businesses. Related: after Industry License Checklist.

Client Service Agreement

What are we agreeing before I start work? The main agreement between you and a customer. Most small-business disputes are not about bad work — they are about scope, access and payment, and all three live here. Related: after Terms · before Statement of Work.

Statement of Work

What exactly is being done, this time? The specific job under a broader agreement — what, when, how much, and what done looks like. It is the document that decides whether a job is finished. Related: after Client Service Agreement · before After the job.

Independent Contractor Agreement

What am I agreeing with somebody who is not an employee? The agreement with somebody self-employed. It matters more than it looks, because getting the status wrong is expensive and the tax authority decides, not the paperwork. Related: before Employment Agreement. When: uses subcontractors or self-employed people.

Employment Agreement

What am I offering, in writing? The written terms of a job. Required in most places, and useful everywhere, because it is what both sides refer back to when something is unclear. Related: after Hire your first person · before Employee Handbook. When: has or is hiring employees.

Vendor Agreement

What am I agreeing with a supplier? The terms with somebody you buy from. Usually theirs rather than yours, which makes reading the three clauses that matter the whole exercise. Related: after Choosing a supplier.

NDA

How do I have a conversation without it getting repeated? A short agreement to keep a conversation private. Genuinely useful in a few situations and requested far more often than it is needed. Related: .

Non-Compete

Can I stop somebody competing with me afterwards? Restricting what somebody can do after they leave. Heavily restricted in many places and unenforceable in some, so the narrower version is usually the useful one. Related: after Employment Agreement. When: has employees or partners with customer relationships.

Purchase Agreement

What am I agreeing when I buy something substantial? For anything large enough that a receipt is not enough — what you are buying, its condition, and what happens if it is wrong. Related: before Business Assets. When: buys equipment, vehicles or stock of significant value.

Sales Agreement

What are the terms when I sell goods rather than services? The terms for selling goods — delivery, condition, returns, and when it becomes theirs. Related: after Terms. When: sells physical products.

Insurance Checklist

What cover do I actually need? What your trade needs, what you hold, and — the part that catches people — when each renewal decision is actually due. Several licences and many customers will not proceed without it. Related: after Industry License Checklist · before Risk Assessment.

Risk Assessment

What could hurt this business, and who owns each one? The honest list, scored by how likely and how bad, with a name against each. The scoring matters far less than the names — an unowned risk never moves. Related: after Insurance Checklist · before Business Continuity Plan.

Incident Report

Something happened — what do I record? What happened, when, who was involved and what was done. Written the same day, because memory is worse than people think and this is the document that matters if there is a claim. Related: before Risk Assessment.

Business Continuity Plan

What happens if I cannot trade for a week? One page somebody else could pick up. Not a disaster plan — an answer to the likely question: flu, a broken wrist, a written-off van, a family emergency. Related: after Risk Assessment.

Asset Register

What do I own, what is it worth, and what stops if it breaks? Everything the work depends on, with the column that matters: what stops without it. Also what the insurer and the accountant will ask for. Related: before Insurance Checklist.

Tax Calendar

What is due, when, and has the money been put aside? Every tax deadline for your jurisdiction and entity, with the preparation date rather than just the deadline — and the reserve beside each one, because a known date with no money against it is the most avoidable crisis in small business. Related: after Business Formation Checklist · before Estimated Tax Planner.

Sales Tax Tracker

Am I collecting the right tax, and is it set aside? What you collect on somebody else's behalf, where it goes and when. It is not revenue and treating it as revenue is how a business appears profitable and then cannot pay. Related: after Tax Calendar. When: sells taxable goods or services.

Payroll Tax Checklist

What has to happen every time I pay somebody? The deductions, the payments and the returns that follow every payroll. Highly automated by most payroll software, and the deadlines are yours regardless. Related: after Workplace Compliance Checklist · before Tax Calendar. When: has employees.

Estimated Tax Planner

How much should I be putting aside, and is it enough? Works out the reserve from your actual figures rather than a guess, and checks it monthly against what you have actually set aside. Related: after Tax Calendar.

Audit Preparation Checklist

If somebody asked to see everything, could I produce it? What an auditor, an inspector or a tax authority would ask for, and whether you could produce it this week. Most small businesses do things properly and cannot evidence it. Related: after Tax Document Organizer · before Internal Audit Checklist.

Tax Document Organizer

What do I keep, where, and for how long? Where the records live and for how long. Boring, and it turns the annual return from a fortnight of searching into an afternoon. Related: before Audit Preparation Checklist.

Internal Audit Checklist

Does what we say we do match what we actually do? An hour, twice a year, checking a handful of things against the records rather than against memory. Not an audit in the formal sense — a sampling exercise that finds problems while they are still small. Related: before Corrective Action Log.

Governance Calendar

What has to happen this year, and when does preparation start? Everything recurring in one place — filings, renewals, reviews, the quarterly look-back — with preparation dates rather than only deadlines. Related: before Policy Reviews Due.

Corrective Action Log

What went wrong, what did we change, and did it hold? Every finding, complaint and incident with the change made and — the column that matters and is always missing — whether it was checked afterwards. Related: after Internal Audit Checklist · before Root Cause Analysis.

Internal Controls Matrix

Who checks what, and where could one person do damage alone? For a small business this is not a control framework — it is the honest question of which tasks one person can complete unchecked, and which of those would matter. Related: before Internal Audit Checklist.

Legal Matter Tracker

What is unresolved, what is it costing, and what happens next? Anything unresolved with a legal edge — a dispute, a claim, a debt, a complaint that escalated. The point is that each one has a next action and a date, because these do not resolve by being left. Related: after Complaint Resolution · before Claim Register.

Claim Register

What have I claimed for, and what happened? Insurance claims, in and out, with the outcome. Also the record that explains your premium at the next renewal. Related: after Incident Report · before Insurance Checklist.

Root Cause Analysis

Why did that actually happen? Getting past the first answer. Most incidents are blamed on a person when the cause is a process, and a fix aimed at the wrong one guarantees a recurrence. Related: after Incident Report · before Corrective Action Log.

Crisis Communication Plan

Who says what, to whom, if something serious happens? Written now, because in the moment the instinct is either silence or over-explaining. Covers the realistic version: an injury, a serious complaint, a data breach, a customer's premises damaged. Related: after Business Continuity Plan · before Data Breach Response Plan.

Marketing KPI Dashboard

Which five numbers will I actually look at? Choosing the handful of numbers you will check weekly. Most marketing measurement fails because twenty numbers are collected and none are acted on. Related: before Executive Marketing Summary.

Customer Acquisition Cost Tracker

What am I actually spending to win customers? Collects the spend — including your hours — so the cost per customer can be calculated honestly. The dashboard reads what this records. Related: after Marketing KPI Dashboard.

ROI Calculator

Did that spend come back? One channel or campaign, in and out, in margin rather than revenue. Small enough to do on the back of an envelope, which is why it actually gets done. Related: after Customer Acquisition Cost Tracker.

Executive Marketing Summary

What would I tell somebody in five bullet points? The monthly one-pager — what happened, what it cost, what worked, what you are stopping, what you are doing next. Written for somebody who will not read more. Related: after Marketing KPI Dashboard.

Google Business Profile Checklist

Where do people look for me, and am I actually there? The one job behind ten chips: claim, complete and verify the places people look. For most local businesses the Google listing alone produces more customers than everything else on this page combined. Related: after Brand Identity Guide · before Website Checklist.

Website Checklist

What does the site actually need? A small business site needs six things and no more. This is the list, in the order that matters, so a site takes a weekend rather than three months. Related: after Claim your listings · before Homepage Copy.

Homepage Copy

What does the front page actually say? The words on the page somebody lands on. One job: make it obvious what you do, who for, and what to do next, before they scroll. Related: after Brand Messaging · before Services Page.

Services Page

How do I describe what I do without listing everything? What you sell, in the customer's words, with enough price to be useful. Pulls from your catalog so it never disagrees with a quote. Related: after Service Catalog · before Contact Page.

About Us

What do I say about myself without it being a CV? The page people read before deciding to trust you with keys, a building or their money. It is about reassurance, not history. Related: after Brand Strategy Workbook.

Contact Page

How do people actually reach me? The simplest page and the one most often broken. A number that dials, an address if you have one, and what happens after somebody gets in touch. Related: after Website Checklist.

Portfolio

What proof can I show? Photographs of finished work, with a line about each. For a trade or service business this is the most persuasive thing on the entire site. Related: before Case Studies.

Case Studies

Can I show a whole job from start to finish? One job told properly — the problem, what you did, what changed. Three of these are worth more than a page of testimonials. Related: after Portfolio · before Sales Sheets.

Privacy Policy

What do I do with people's details, and what do I have to say about it? If you hold customer names, addresses or card details, you need one. This produces a plain-English policy covering what you hold, why, how long, and who to contact. Related: after Website Checklist · before Terms.

Terms

What are people agreeing to when they hire me? Your terms of business — payment, cancellation, access, what happens when something goes wrong. The document that decides who is right when there is a disagreement. Related: after Get paid properly · before Contracts & Agreements.

Starter Package

What is the easiest way for somebody to start buying from me? The way in. The smallest complete thing you can sell that proves you are worth more — and that leads somewhere rather than ending. Related: after Package Builder · before Professional Package, Upsell Packages.

Professional Package

What should most of my customers be buying? The default. The one you want most people to take, priced and described so it is the obvious choice rather than the middle option. Related: after Starter Package · before Premium Package, Package Pricing.

Premium Package

What do I offer the customers who want more, and can I deliver it? The top tier. What it adds, who genuinely needs it, and — the part usually skipped — what has to be true for you to actually deliver it when somebody buys. Related: after Professional Package · before Package Pricing, Capacity Planner.

Enterprise Package

What changes when the customer is a big organisation? Larger customers buy differently — purchase orders, contracts, insurance certificates, multiple sites, somebody in procurement who has never met you. Mostly this is admin, and the admin is what you price. Related: after Professional Package · before Contracts & Agreements.

Upsell Packages

What do I offer next, and when do I offer it? The moment and the offer. Most upselling fails on timing rather than on the offer — asked at renewal it is a price rise, asked the day something went well it is an obvious yes. Related: after Package Builder · before Cross Sell Matrix.

Cross Sell Matrix

What goes with what? A grid of what somebody already bought against what usually comes next, so the suggestion is based on what customers actually do rather than on what you want to shift. Related: after Upsell Packages · before Quote.

Strategic Partnership

Who sells to my customers without competing with me? Finding and setting up the handful of businesses whose customers also need you. For a service business this is usually the second-best source of work after referrals, and the one nobody organises. Related: after Referral Funnel · before Networking Tracker.

Referral Program

What exactly do people get for sending me work? The offer itself, written down — what a referrer gets, when they get it, and how anybody knows who sent whom. Without the last part it turns into an argument. Related: after Referral Funnel.

Affiliate Program

Should I pay people a commission for sales? A referral programme with a percentage and a tracking link. Works where the thing sold has a fixed price and no site visit; rarely works for bespoke service work. Related: after Referral Program. When: sells online, digital goods or something with a fixed price.

Cross Promotion

Can we recommend each other to our own customers? The lightest form of partnership — two businesses telling their own customers about each other. No money changes hands, which is why it survives. Related: after Strategic Partnership.

Sponsorship

Is sponsoring something worth it? Local sponsorship — a team, an event, a hall. Usually bought for the wrong reason and defended for the right one. This makes the reason explicit before the money goes. Related: before Community Outreach.

Community Outreach

How do I become known locally without advertising? Where your customers already gather — business groups, trade associations, local forums, charities. Slow, cheap, and for many service businesses the most reliable channel there is. Related: before Networking Tracker.

Networking Tracker

Who did I meet, and did I follow up? The follow-up is the whole value of meeting anybody, and it is the part that does not happen. Four columns and a weekly glance. Related: after Community Outreach.

Employee Handbook

What are the rules here, written down once? Everything people need to know about working here, in one document issued once. Ten of the policy chips in this playbook are sections of this — written separately they contradict each other within a year. Related: after Employment Agreement · before New Hire Checklist. When: has employees.

Safety Policy

How do we keep people safe on site? Applies whether or not you employ anybody, because it reaches subcontractors, customers and their premises. For most trades this is also the document an inspector or an insurer asks for first. Related: after Risk Assessment · before Workplace Compliance Checklist.

Expense Policy

What can people spend, and on what? Really a spending-limit decision rather than a policy. Written down once, it stops six phone calls a month asking permission to buy cloths. Related: before Approval Flows.

Customer Data Register

What information do I actually hold, and where? The list everything else in this playbook depends on. You cannot write a privacy policy, set retention rules or handle a breach without knowing what you hold and where it lives. Related: before Privacy Policy, Data Retention Policy.

Data Retention Policy

How long should I keep things, and what do I delete? How long each kind of record is kept and what happens at the end. Keeping everything forever is a decision, and it is usually the wrong one — you cannot lose what you no longer hold. Related: after Customer Data Register.

Information Security Policy

How is the information actually protected? The technical half — accounts, devices, backups and access. The staff-facing half is a section of the handbook; this is what is actually in place. Related: after Customer Data Register · before Cybersecurity Checklist.

Cybersecurity Checklist

What are the practical things that actually stop this going wrong? The short practical list. Small businesses are targeted because they are easy, and almost every incident comes from one of five things. Related: after Information Security Policy · before Data Breach Response Plan.

Data Breach Response Plan

What do I do in the first hour if information gets out? Written now, because in the moment everybody either panics or hopes it will go away. Several jurisdictions have reporting deadlines measured in days. Related: after Cybersecurity Checklist · before Incident Report.

Consent Forms

What do I need permission for, in writing? Short permissions for the things you will want to do later — photograph finished work, name a customer, send them something, hold their keys. Related: after Customer Data Register · before Portfolio. When: photographs work, markets by email, or works on customer premises.

Vendor Data Assessment

Who else touches my customers' information? Everybody outside the business who can see customer data — the bookkeeper, the software, the answering service, subcontractors. You remain responsible for it regardless of who holds it. Related: after Customer Data Register · before Vendor Agreement.

Trademark Tracker

Is my name protected, and when does that lapse? Registering the name and keeping the registration alive. Cheap now and expensive later — the usual pattern is discovering somebody else has registered it after you have put it on a van. Related: after Brand Strategy Workbook · before Domain Portfolio.

Domain Portfolio

What web addresses do I own, and when do they expire? The list, with expiry dates and who controls the account. A domain that lapses is quickly bought by somebody else, and getting it back is expensive or impossible. Related: after Trademark Tracker.

Copyright Register

What have we created that is worth recording? Copyright usually exists automatically, so this is a record of what you made and when — which is what matters if it is ever copied. Related: before IP Assignment Agreement. When: creates written, photographic, design or recorded work.

IP Assignment Agreement

Do I actually own what I paid somebody to make? One short agreement transferring ownership of work you commissioned. Without it, the logo on your van may not be yours. Related: after Copyright Register. When: uses designers, photographers, writers or developers.

Licensing Agreement

What are the terms when somebody else uses what I made? Letting somebody use something of yours without giving it away — what they can do, for how long, and what you get. Related: after IP Assignment Agreement. When: licenses material, methods or software to others.

Patent Tracker

Have I invented something worth protecting? Honestly: rare for a service business, expensive, and slow. This exists so the question gets answered rather than avoided — and for most readers the answer is a quick no. Related: . When: has invented a product, process or device.

Brand Protection Checklist

Is anybody using my name or my work? A short quarterly check, and what to do when you find something. Most infringement by small businesses is accidental and stops with a polite email. Related: after Trademark Tracker.

New Hire Checklist

What has to happen before and on somebody's first day? Everything that must be in place, in order, so a first day is useful rather than administrative. Several items on it are legally required and have deadlines. Related: after Employment Agreement · before Employee File Checklist. When: has employees.

Employee File Checklist

What should be in somebody's file? What you keep, where, and for how long. It is the file an inspector, a tribunal or an accountant asks for, and it is usually incomplete. Related: after New Hire Checklist. When: has employees.

Offer Letter

How do I put an offer in writing? The short letter that confirms what was agreed before the full agreement is signed. It prevents the commonest early misunderstanding, which is about money. Related: after Hire your first person · before Employment Agreement. When: hiring.

Background Check Authorization

What can I check, and what permission do I need? What you may check, with written permission, and what you must not. Heavily regulated in most places, and the rules differ sharply by jurisdiction and by role. Related: after Offer Letter · before Employee File Checklist. When: roles involve keys, vulnerable people, driving or money.

Performance Documentation

How do I record how somebody is doing? Short notes, written at the time. Almost every difficult employment situation is decided by whether the concerns were recorded when they happened or reconstructed afterwards. Related: before Termination Checklist. When: has employees.

Termination Checklist

What has to happen when somebody leaves? Written while everybody is happy, because it is impossible to write calmly on the day. Covers both kinds of leaving, and the practical items people forget. Related: after Performance Documentation · before Exit Interview. When: has employees.

Exit Interview

Why are they actually leaving? Twenty minutes and four questions. The cheapest research available about your own business, and the one nobody does because the moment is uncomfortable. Related: after Termination Checklist. When: has employees.

Workplace Compliance Checklist

What am I required to have in place as an employer? The statutory obligations that arrive the moment you employ somebody. Most are cheap, several are notices you display, and all of them are things you find out about at the wrong time. Related: after Hire your first person · before Employee Handbook. When: has employees.

Pricing Calculator

What should I actually charge for this? Takes your floor and turns it into a price you can say out loud. The other eleven templates here are methods; this is the one that produces the number. Related: after Cost Calculator · before Price Book, Discount Strategy.

Cost Plus Pricing

What is the safe price, and what does it cost me to play safe? Cost plus a margin. The simplest method, the easiest to defend, and almost always the least profitable — because it prices from your costs rather than from their problem. Related: after Cost Calculator · before Value Based Pricing.

Value Based Pricing

What is solving this actually worth to them? Prices from the customer's side — what the problem costs them, what it is worth to remove. Earns most, takes the most evidence, and needs you to be able to say the number out loud. Related: after Customer Problem Worksheet · before Proposal.

Competitor Pricing

What is everybody else charging, and does it matter? A record of what others charge and what they include. Useful for context and dangerous as a target, because their costs are not your costs. Related: before Pricing Calculator.

Pricing Matrix

How do I quote a job in two minutes instead of an evening? A grid of job type against size, so most quotes become a lookup rather than a calculation. This is what turns quoting on site from an ambition into a habit. Related: after Cost Calculator, Service Catalog · before Quote.

Package Pricing

What should each package cost? Prices the packages the Package Builder assembled. Build them there first; this decides the three numbers and the gaps between them. Related: after Package Builder · before Price Book.

Discount Strategy

When am I allowed to discount, and what do I get for it? Decides in advance when a discount is allowed, how deep, and what has to come back the other way — so it is never decided at the moment somebody is asking for one. Related: after Cost Calculator · before Quote, Approval limits.

Price Increase Planner

How do I put prices up without losing everybody? Works out the size of the rise, who to tell, when, and in what words. Also works out how many customers you could lose and still be better off — which is usually more than people expect. Related: after Pricing Calculator · before Price Book.

Subscription Pricing

What should the monthly price be, and what does a year cost? Prices what Subscriptions set up. The monthly number, the annual discount, and what the whole relationship is worth so you know what to spend to win one. Related: after Subscriptions · before Cash and runway.

Tiered Pricing

How do I make choosing easy? The mechanics of good, better, best — how many tiers, what separates them, and which one is designed to be chosen. Tiers are how people decide; packages are what is in them. Related: after Package Builder · before Package Pricing.

Premium Pricing

Can I charge more than everybody else, and what has to be true? Charging above the market on purpose. It works, and only when something is demonstrably different — otherwise it is the same price with a worse win rate. Related: after Competitor Pricing · before Value Based Pricing.

Psychological Pricing

Does how I write the number change anything? How prices are presented — rounding, ordering, anchoring. Worth twenty minutes once. It is the smallest lever on this page and it is the one people reach for first. Related: after Pricing Calculator.

Service Catalog

What do we actually sell, and what does each one earn? Everything a customer can buy from you, with the time it takes and what it earns. This is what is for sale — not the descriptions you paste into quotes, which is the Service Library. Related: after Cost Calculator · before Package Builder, Price Book.

Product Catalog

What physical things do we sell, and at what margin? Everything physical a customer can buy, with cost, price and margin. The service equivalent is the Service Catalog; the reusable descriptions live in the Product Library. Related: after Cost Calculator · before SKU List, Bundles.

SKU List

How do we tell our variants apart without a conversation? A short code for every item and variant, so ordering, counting and invoicing all refer to the same thing. Only worth doing once you hold stock in more than one size, colour or pack. Related: after Product Catalog · before Inventory Categories.

Package Builder

How do I sell outcomes instead of hours? Groups what you sell into two or three packages, priced so the middle one is the obvious choice. A menu makes people compare; a package makes them choose. Related: after Service Catalog, Cost Calculator · before Price Book, Proposal.

Product Library

Where do the descriptions live so I stop rewriting them? The reusable description of each item — the words, the photo, the specification — so quotes, proposals and the site all say the same thing. The Catalog is what is for sale; this is how it is described. Related: after Product Catalog · before Proposal, Site copy.

Service Library

What wording do I drop into a quote without rewriting it? The reusable wording for each service — what it covers, what it excludes, how long it takes — so every quote says the same thing and the exclusions never get forgotten under time pressure. Related: after Service Catalog · before Proposal, Statement of Work.

Product Categories

How should a customer find their way around what we sell? How you group things for the person buying. Not how you group them for counting — that is Inventory Categories, and the two are almost never the same. Related: after Product Catalog, Service Catalog · before Site copy.

Inventory Categories

How do we group stock so counting it is quick? How you group things for counting, ordering and storing. Deliberately different from the customer-facing categories — this one follows the shelf, not the sales page. Related: after SKU List · before Inventory & Stock.

Digital Products

What do we sell that costs nothing to deliver twice? Anything delivered without your time — a guide, a template, a recording, a licence. It earns differently from everything else you sell, because the second copy is free. Related: after Cost Calculator · before Subscriptions.

Subscriptions

What do customers pay for every month without being asked? Recurring revenue and the terms behind it. It is the difference between starting every month at zero and starting it with the lights already on. Related: after Service Catalog · before Memberships, Cash and runway.

Memberships

What are people paying to belong to rather than to receive? Access rather than delivery — a rate, a priority slot, a community, first refusal. Different from a subscription because the value is what they can reach, not what arrives. Related: after Subscriptions · before Capacity Planner.

Bundles

What sells better together than apart? Two or more things sold as one, at a price that is not simply the sum. Worth doing where a bundle removes a trip, a delivery or a decision — not where it just removes margin. Related: after Service Catalog, Package Builder · before Price Book.

Customer Feedback

What do customers keep telling me? One place for everything customers say, so the thing three of them mentioned stops looking like one person being difficult. Related: before Product Improvements.

Product Improvements

What should I change about what I sell? The list of changes worth making, with the reason beside each one. Collecting is Customer Feedback; deciding the order is the Product Backlog. Related: after Customer Feedback · before Product Backlog.

Product Backlog

In what order should I do these? Puts the improvements in an order and keeps the list short. A backlog nobody deletes from is a list of things you have decided not to do, written optimistically. Related: after Product Improvements · before Product Roadmap.

Innovation Pipeline

What new ideas are worth testing? Ideas from first thought to tested, with a rule that only two can be in flight at once. Most small businesses do not lack ideas; they lack the discipline to finish testing one before starting the next. Related: before Product Validation Checklist.

Beta Testing

Who tries it before everybody else does? A small group who use it first and tell you what is wrong, agreed in advance so their feedback is expected rather than a complaint. Related: after Product Validation Checklist · before Product Launch Checklist.

Release Notes

What changed, and who needs to know? A short note of what changed, written for customers rather than for you. Related: after Product Backlog.

Version Tracking

Which version is everybody on? What exists, what is current, and who is still on something old. Related: after Release Notes.

Launch Plan

What actually happens, and in what order? The plan itself — what happens, when, and who does it. The Product Launch Checklist decides whether you are ready; this decides what you will do. Related: after Product Launch Checklist · before Launch Calendar.

Marketing Plan

How will anybody hear about this? The marketing for this launch specifically — not a marketing strategy. One or two channels, the ones that have actually produced customers before. Related: after Launch Plan · before Launch Budget.

Announcement Templates

What do I actually say? The words, written once for each audience — existing customers, people who enquired before, and everybody else. The three need different messages and usually get the same one. Related: after Launch Plan · before Email Campaign.

Email Campaign

What do I send, and to whom? Two or three emails to a list of people who already know you. Not a sequence, not a funnel — a small number of short messages with a reason to reply. Related: after Announcement Templates.

Social Campaign

What do I post, and where? A small number of posts on the one channel your customers actually use. Not a content calendar — three or four posts around a date. Related: after Announcement Templates. When: uses social media for the business.

Landing Page

Where do people land, and what do they do there? One page with one job. What it is, who it is for, what it costs, and one thing to do next. Related: after Announcement Templates. When: has a website.

PR Checklist

Is this worth telling anybody outside my customers? Local press and trade press, honestly assessed. Most launches are not news, and the honest answer here saves a fortnight. Related: after Launch Plan. When: launching something genuinely newsworthy locally.

Launch Calendar

What happens on which day? The dates on one page, working backwards from the launch so the things with lead times get done in time. Related: after Launch Plan.

Launch Budget

What is this costing me, including my own time? What you will spend, and what it has to bring back to have been worth it. Related: after Launch Plan · before Launch Dashboard.

Pricing Experiments

What happens if I change the price? One price change at a time, with what you expected written down before the result arrives. Otherwise every outcome looks like it confirms whatever you already believed. Related: after Pricing Calculator · before Price Book.

A/B Testing

Which version works better? Two versions, split traffic, and enough volume for the difference to mean something. Honestly: most small businesses do not have the volume, and the alternative is better anyway. Related: before Pricing Experiments. When: has enough traffic or volume to compare two versions.

Product Sunset

How do I stop selling something without upsetting anybody? Retiring something properly. The Product Lifecycle decides what to retire; this is how you do it without a customer finding out by being told no. Related: after Product Lifecycle.

Quarterly Reviews

What actually happened this quarter? An hour every three months looking back honestly. The single highest-return hour in the product, and the first one dropped when things get busy. Related: after Product Roadmap · before Product Roadmap.

Product Strategy Workbook

Decide what you sell, what you charge for it, and one thing you will stop. The owner completes this — nobody else can. At the end you will have a short list of offerings, a price floor, and a decision on each one.

Cost Calculator

Work out what one hour of your work actually costs you, so every price has a floor underneath it. The owner completes this. At the end you will have one number — your floor — and the product will use it in every quote, proposal, and pricing decision from then on.

Customer Problem Worksheet

Is this a problem anybody will pay to fix? Describes the problem before you design anything to solve it. Most businesses build the thing first and look for the problem afterwards.

Value Proposition Canvas

Does what I sell match what they actually want? Puts what the customer wants beside what you offer and shows where the two do not meet. You end with a sentence you can say on the phone.

Business Offering Canvas

What exactly am I selling, and what is not included? Turns a value proposition into something sellable — what is in it, what is not, how it is delivered, and whether it earns above your floor.

Service Strategy Guide

How do we deliver this the same way every time? What the customer experiences, who does what, and what has to be true for it to go right — so it survives you not being there.

Product Roadmap

What are we doing next, and what are we deliberately not doing? Turns decisions into a sequence. One thing per quarter, each tied to a customer problem.

Product Lifecycle

Which of my services are growing, and which should I retire? Sorts everything you sell into new, growing, steady or fading, so retiring something becomes a decision rather than a drift.

Product Validation Checklist

Do I have real evidence, or just encouragement? Checks what you actually know before you spend real money. Separates what customers said from what customers did.

Product Launch Checklist

Am I actually ready to sell this? The things that must be true before you tell anybody. At this size a launch is a price list, a page and three phone calls.

Review Request

How do I ask for reviews without it being awkward? The highest-return fifteen minutes in this batch. Reviews are what people read before ringing you, and most businesses have none because nobody ever asked. Related: after Claim your listings · before Testimonial Collection.

Testimonial Collection

How do I get words I can actually use? A public review and a usable testimonial are different things. This gets the specific sentence you can put on a page, with permission attached. Related: after Review Request · before Case Study Interview.

Case Study Interview

What do I ask to get a story worth writing up? The twenty-minute conversation that produces a case study. The questions matter more than the writing, and most of them are about before rather than after. Related: after Testimonial Collection · before Case Studies.

Net Promoter Survey

Would my customers recommend me? One question and a follow-up. Honestly: with seven customers you do not need a score, you need the conversation. The number becomes useful somewhere north of thirty. Related: before Review Request.

Complaint Resolution

What do I do when somebody is unhappy? The order to do things in, decided in advance, because in the moment everybody defends first and listens second. A complaint handled well produces a more loyal customer than one who never complained. Related: before Did the fix hold.

Sales Script

What do I actually say on the call? Not a script to read out — a structure so you never forget the three things that decide whether this becomes a job. Most enquiries are lost by forgetting to ask something. Related: after Discovery Questions · before Follow-up Emails.

Discovery Questions

What do I need to know before I can quote? The questions that stop you quoting blind, plus the two that tell you whether this is a customer you want. Related: before Sales Script.

Quote Template

What goes in a quote so it does not come back as an argument? The structure of a quote — what is included, what is not, what it costs, how long it stands. The exclusions are the part that matters and the part written last, badly, in the evening. Related: after Pricing Calculator · before Follow-up Emails.

Follow-up Emails

What do I send when they have gone quiet? Three short messages at set intervals. The second follow-up wins more work than the first quote does, and almost nobody sends it. Related: after Quote Template.

Demo Checklist

What do I show, and in what order? What to show, what to skip, and the question to ask at the end. Related: after Discovery Questions · before Follow-up Emails. When: demonstrates a product or gives a walkthrough.

Sales Playbook

How does selling work here, so somebody else could do it? Everything about how you win work, in one place — so it survives you being busy, and so a second person could pick it up. Related: after Sales Script · before Pipeline Templates.

Pipeline Templates

What are the stages, and what moves a deal along? The stages and — the part that matters — what has to happen for something to move. A stage with no exit condition is a place deals go to sit. Related: after Sales Playbook.

Meeting Agenda

What is this meeting for? Four lines sent beforehand. It is the cheapest way to halve the length of a meeting and the easiest thing to skip. Related: before What the meeting cost.

Sales Sheets

What do I leave behind after a visit? One page they can show somebody else. Most decisions in a business are made in a room you are not in, and this is what speaks for you there. Related: after Business Offering Canvas · before Comparison Sheets.

Price Lists

What do I hand somebody who asks how much? The published version of your prices — what is included, what is not, and what changes the number. It is also the thing that stops quoting being reinvented every time. Related: after Pricing Calculator · before Quote.

Brochures

Do I need printed material, and what goes in it? Printed material earns its place in specific situations — a doorstep, a counter, a trade stand. Everywhere else the one-page sales sheet does the job for nothing. Related: after Sales Sheets.

FAQs

What do people ask me every single time? The questions you answer weekly, written once. It shortens every sales conversation and removes the ones that were never going to buy. Related: before Objection Handling.

Comparison Sheets

Why me rather than the other quote? An honest side-by-side of you against the realistic alternatives, including doing nothing. Honest, because a comparison where you win every row convinces nobody. Related: after Competitive Analysis · before Objection Handling.

Objection Handling

What do I say when they hesitate? The four or five things people say before deciding, and what you say back. Written calmly in advance, because none of them are ever thought through in the moment. Related: after Comparison Sheets · before Proposal.