A projection is a decision tool, not a formality
Most business plans get written because somebody asked for one. The useful version answers questions you actually have: at your current price, how many jobs a week covers your bills? What happens to your margin when you hire your first helper? How many months of slow season can you survive? What do you need to charge to pay yourself properly rather than whatever is left?
Those answers change decisions. Plenty of owners discover their price is 20% too low the first time someone works the numbers through with them.
How we build it
We start with what you charge now and what each job actually costs you — materials, fuel, labour, the equipment you are wearing out. We add your fixed costs: insurance, software, phone, vehicle. Then we model capacity honestly, because a one-truck operation has a ceiling that no amount of marketing moves.
From that we produce three years of projected revenue, costs, profit and cash flow, plus the plan document that explains the business behind the numbers: what you do, who buys it, what you charge, who else does it in your area and how you get work.
The projections are built on your assumptions, and we label them as assumptions. They are a model, not a promise. When real numbers start arriving from your books, we compare the two in your quarterly review and adjust.
Signs you need this
- You are not sure whether your prices actually cover your costs.
- You want to quit a day job and do not know what the business has to make first.
- A lender or grant programme asked for a plan and projections.
- You are considering a second truck or a first employee.
- Busy months and broke months keep happening at the same time.
- You have never worked out what one job really costs you.
If two or more of these sound familiar, take the free business checkup — ten questions, two minutes, and you get the list of gaps either way.
How it works
Job costing
What each service actually costs you once materials, fuel, labour and equipment wear are counted.
Fixed costs
Insurance, software, phone, vehicle and anything else that bills whether you work or not.
Capacity model
How many jobs a week you can genuinely do, because that is the ceiling marketing cannot move.
Plan and projections
Three years of revenue, cost, profit and cash flow, plus the written plan behind the numbers.
What is included
- Written business plan covering offer, market, pricing and operations
- Three-year revenue, cost, profit and cash flow projections
- Job-level costing for your main services
- Break-even analysis: jobs per week to cover your costs
- Pricing review against your actual capacity
- A version formatted for lenders and grant applications
All of this sits inside one package — the Whitelow Launch + Back Office Partnership — rather than being quoted as a separate service.
Who it is for
- Owners about to go full-time on the business
- Anyone applying for a loan or a grant
- Businesses deciding whether to hire or buy equipment
- Owners who suspect they are underpriced and want to know
What affects the price
Whitelow sells one package with two ways to pay: $2,497 one-time plus $597 a month, or $0 up front in exchange for a 15% stake in the LLC. Government fees and your QuickBooks subscription are passed through at cost on both. These are the factors that move what this piece of the work involves:
| Factor | Why it matters |
|---|---|
| Number of services modelled | Costing three services takes longer than costing one, and gives you a more useful answer. |
| Quality of existing records | If there are books to work from, the model is faster and far more accurate than starting from memory. |
| Intended use | A plan formatted for a specific lender or grant programme has requirements a general plan does not. |
| Complexity | Multiple locations, crews or revenue streams add work to the model. |
See both payment options side by side, including what each one costs in year one.
Frequently asked questions
Do I need a business plan if I am not borrowing money?
You do not need the document, but you do need the numbers in it. Knowing your break-even point and your real job margin changes how you price and who you say no to. The written plan matters when a lender, a grant programme or a large commercial client asks for it.
What does a business plan cost separately?
A plan with real financial projections commonly runs in the range of $1,500 to $3,000 when bought on its own. It is part of the launch work in the Whitelow partnership rather than a separate engagement.
Are the projections a guarantee of what I will earn?
No. Projections are a model built on assumptions about your pricing, your capacity and your close rate, and we state those assumptions openly. They tell you what has to be true for the business to work. Real results come from your books, and we compare the two every quarter.
Can you use the plan for an SBA loan application?
Yes — we format a version for lender and grant use, and the same material feeds our funding readiness work. Whether a specific lender approves anything is their decision, and we will never tell you an application is approved before it is.
What if my projections turn out to be wrong?
They will be, to some degree — every projection is. The value is in knowing what has to be true for the business to work, so you notice early when it is not. We compare the model to your real books every quarter and adjust it.
Can you tell me what to charge?
We can tell you what your costs are, what your capacity is and what you would need to charge to hit a given income. What the market in your area will pay is the other half, and that is where our partner DubLow Digital and your own experience come in.