The two things that actually delay a launch

A launch timeline that shows which tasks really set the date, and a founder runway that shows how long you last before the business can pay you. Nothing you enter leaves your device.

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Launch timeline

Real dates, working days only, with the tasks that actually delay the launch marked.

In Waits for, list the task numbers this one can't start until — e.g. 1,3. Leave it blank if it can start straight away.

The tasks marked on the critical chain are the only ones where a day lost is a day added to the launch. Everything else has slack — which is where to look first when you need to free up attention.
How this is calculated

Each task starts the working day after the last of the things it waits for has finished, and runs for its duration in working days. Saturdays and Sundays are skipped; public holidays are not, so add a day or two around them.

The critical chain is found by walking back from whichever task finishes last, following only the dependency that actually drives each start date.

Anything that depends on someone else — a registration, a licence, a landlord, a bank account, an inspection — routinely takes two to three times the estimate. Those are the durations to pad.

Founder runway

Not how long the business lasts — how long you last before it can pay you.

Founder runway is the constraint that closes more new businesses than any other, and it's the one least often written down. A business that becomes profitable in month fourteen is no use to a founder whose savings run out in month ten.
How this is calculated

Each month you draw down the shortfall between your living costs and everything coming in — other household income plus whatever the business can pay. What the business pays is assumed to climb in a straight line from today's figure to your target by the month you give.

This deliberately ignores tax on your drawings, which will make the real position somewhat worse. Treat the month it runs out as an optimistic bound, not a forecast.

Business structure comparison

The trade-offs that apply almost everywhere — so you arrive at the professional's office with the right questions.

This is not legal or tax advice, and it cannot be. What a structure is called, how it is taxed, what it costs to run and what protection it actually gives all differ by country and often by state or province. The comparison below covers the general shape of the trade-offs only. Before you register anything, check the specifics with an accountant or lawyer who practises where you'll be operating — it is much cheaper to choose correctly than to restructure later.

Questions worth asking a professional

    Two things people get wrong. First, a limited company protects personal assets from business debts, but lenders routinely ask founders for a personal guarantee — which signs that protection away for the debt it covers. Second, the admin burden is real and recurring: filings, accounts and deadlines carry penalties whether or not the business made any money.

    Business name check

    Score a shortlist on the things that cause trouble later.

    This scores memorability and practicality. It cannot tell you whether a name is legally available — that needs a trademark search in every country you'll trade in, plus your local company register. A name being free as a domain means nothing about whether someone already holds the mark. Check before you print anything.
    What the scores mean

    Say it out loud — can someone spell it correctly having only heard it? This is the single best predictor of how much support email you'll spend on "I couldn't find your website".

    Distinctive — a descriptive name ("City Plumbing") is easy to understand and nearly impossible to protect or rank for. A distinctive one is harder at first and worth more later.

    Room to grow — does the name still work if you change what you sell or where you sell it?

    Scores are your own judgement, weighted and averaged. The tool organises the comparison; it doesn't know your market.

    The two things that actually delay a launch

    Almost every new business is late for one of two reasons: a task that needed someone else's approval took three times as long as planned, or the founder ran out of personal money before the business could pay them. Both are visible months ahead if you write them down, and neither is visible if you don't.

    Everything here is worked out in your browser. Savings, living costs, launch plans and name shortlists are not sent anywhere, and there is nothing to sign up for.

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