A business plan that shows where the money runs out

Six steps, one plan: what it costs to open, what you sell, what it costs to run, and a month-by-month projection. Nothing is uploaded — saving keeps it on this device only.

Home › Business › Business Setup & Financial Planner

1 · Your business

Just enough to label the plan. None of it is sent anywhere.

This planner runs the same tested arithmetic as the individual tools on this site, joined into one plan. It is a model, not a forecast — its job is to show you which assumption the answer depends on, so you can go and test that assumption in the real world.

2 · What it costs to open

Everything you pay once, before or around opening.

Fifteen percent contingency is not pessimism, it's the observed average overrun on things like fit-out, equipment and professional fees. If you know a number exactly, put it in exactly and lower the contingency — but don't lower it because the total looks uncomfortable.

3 · What you sell

Your prices, what each one costs you, and how many you expect to sell in a normal month.

The ramp is the single most over-optimistic input in most plans. Whatever you first write down, ask what would have to be true for it — how many customers a week, found how, by whom — and adjust until the answer is something you could actually do.

4 · What it costs to run

Everything you pay every month whether or not you sell anything.

People

Use the fully loaded cost, not salary. Employer taxes, benefits, equipment and non-productive time typically add 25–40% on top.

Paying yourself is a real cost of the business, not what's left over. Leaving it at zero makes every other number look better than it is, and hides the point at which you personally run out of money.

5 · Money going in

What you have, what you're borrowing, and what anyone else is putting in.

Loan repayments are not automatically included — if you're borrowing, add the monthly repayment as a running cost in step 4, or the plan will flatter you. Interest and repayment terms vary far too much to guess.

6 · The plan

Month by month

Where the money goes

This is a model, not a forecast, and not financial advice. It shows what follows arithmetically from the assumptions you entered. It knows nothing about your market, your competition, tax in your country, or whether anyone actually wants what you're selling. Take it to an accountant before you rely on it — and take the assumptions, not just the totals.
How the plan is calculated

Revenue climbs in a straight line to your steady-state volume over the ramp you set, and is collected the number of months later that you specified. Variable costs are paid in the month the sale is made; fixed costs are paid every month from the start.

Break-even is weighted by the sales mix you forecast, using contribution per unit after fees and shipping.

The funding requirement is taken from the lowest point the cash reaches, never the closing balance. A plan can end the period comfortably and still have run out of money in month six — and a business that runs out in month six does not get to see month twenty-four.

Not modelled: tax, loan repayments, stock held before it sells, seasonality, or anything at all about demand.

Why the profitable month and the solvent month are different

The most common way a viable business fails is not that the idea was wrong. It is that revenue arrived more slowly than the bills, and the money ran out during the gap. A plan showing a healthy profit from month eight can still need more cash than the founder has in month five — and the closing balance at the end of the year says nothing about it.

So this planner reports three separate dates: when you first make a profit, when you first collect more than you spend, and how deep the hole gets in between. The third one is what you actually have to fund.

Everything is computed in your browser. If you press Save, the plan is stored on this device only — there is no account, no upload, and nothing is transmitted anywhere.

More business tools

🧮 Core business tools 📊 Finance 🧾 Freelance & Clients 📣 Marketing & Sales ⚙️ Operations 🧭 Decisions & Docs 🚀 Starting Up 🏬 Premises & Venue