Why a 13-week cash forecast is more use than a yearly budget
Thirteen weekly columns show the tight weeks before they arrive (sample).
A plan for the next thirteen weeks, and help to carry it out
Marlow Street Advisers (sample) work with owners of shops, trades and cafes in Springfield. We look at the numbers with you, agree the few jobs that matter, put them on the weeks and stay until they are done.
Sample plan: Corner Loaf bakery
Week 6 of 13 (sample)
Job, who does it
12345678910111213
Health check: sales, costs and cash
Adviser, weeks 1 to 2
Done, weeks 1 to 2
Review the price list, 40 products
Owner and adviser, weeks 2 to 4
Done, weeks 2 to 4
Set up a 13-week cash forecast
Adviser, then the owner, weeks 3 to 5
Done, weeks 3 to 5
Wholesale offer to three cafes
Owner, weeks 5 to 9
Under way, weeks 5 to 9
Hire and train a shift lead
Owner and adviser, weeks 6 to 11
Under way, weeks 6 to 11
Weekly numbers routine, 30 minutes
Owner and bookkeeper, weeks 8 to 13
Planned, weeks 8 to 13
Review, and the next quarter's plan
Owner and adviser, week 13
Planned, week 13
Done Under way Planned This week
What owners tell us at the first meeting
Most owners come to us with one sentence. These four come up every month, and each has a usual place to start.
We are busy every day, but the bank balance never moves.
Usually prices that have not kept up with costs, or customers who pay late. We look at both in the first fortnight.
I do not know which products actually make money.
We cost your main products or jobs line by line, so you can see which ones carry the business.
Everything still goes through me.
The first manager is the hardest hire. We write the role with you and help with the first month.
I know what to do. I never get round to it.
A plan on the weeks, a fortnightly meeting and someone who asks how it went.
Services and how long they take
Fixed fees, agreed before we start. The bar shows where each service usually sits on a 13-week plan.
Business health check
Sales, costs, cash and how the week runs, with a short written list of what to fix first.
Under way, weeks 1 to 2
Two weeks, weeks 1 to 2
From $950
Cash flow and pricing
A 13-week cash forecast you can keep up yourself, and a price list checked against what each product really costs.
Under way, weeks 1 to 6
Six weeks, weeks 1 to 6
From $2,400
Bookkeeping and systems
Accounts software, bank feeds, invoicing and a weekly numbers routine that takes half an hour.
Under way, weeks 2 to 5
Four weeks, weeks 2 to 5
From $1,200
Hiring your first manager
The role, pay, advert, interviews and a handover month for the first person who runs things when you are away.
Under way, weeks 3 to 10
Eight weeks, weeks 3 to 10
From $1,900
13-week growth plan
The whole plan: we agree the jobs, put them on the weeks and meet you every fortnight until week 13.
Under way, weeks 1 to 13
Thirteen weeks, weeks 1 to 13
From $5,800
Monthly adviser
One meeting a month and a phone line in between, for owners with a plan who want someone to keep them to it.
Under way, weeks 1 to 13
Ongoing, monthly, weeks 1 to 13
From $450 a month
Example prices, before tax.
How an engagement runs
Four phases on the same thirteen weeks. You do most of the work, because it is your business; we bring the numbers, the plan and a fortnightly meeting that keeps it moving.
An engagement, week by week
Typical 13-week plan
Phase
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Look
We read the numbers and watch a normal week, weeks 1 to 2
Under way, weeks 1 to 2
Plan
We agree the jobs, who does each one, and by which week, weeks 3 to 4
Under way, weeks 3 to 4
Do
You run the jobs; we meet every fortnight, weeks 5 to 12
Under way, weeks 5 to 12
Review
What got done, what did not, the next plan, week 13
Under way, week 13
Done Under way Planned
The plan stays on your wall, not in our files
Every job has a name next to it and the weeks it should take. When something slips, we move it on the plan together and say why, so the next quarter starts from what really happened.
Businesses we know well
Owner-run firms with two to fifty people. Most of our clients fall into three groups, and the first jobs are often the same.
Shops and retail
Stock, margins and the quiet months between the busy ones.
- Margin by product line
- Stock that sits too long
- Opening hours that pay
Trades and contractors
Quotes, deposits and being paid on time for work already done.
- Pricing a job properly
- Deposits and stage payments
- When to take on the next person
Cafes and food
Food costs, rotas and the wholesale order that could fill the slow mornings.
- Recipe costing
- Rotas against takings
- Wholesale and catering
Fees, fixed before we start
Business health check
Two weeks, with a written list of what to fix first
$950
Cash flow and pricing
Six weeks, forecast and price list included
$2,400
Hiring your first manager
From the role to the end of the first month
$1,900
13-week growth plan
Paid in three parts: weeks 1, 5 and 9
$5,800
Monthly adviser
Cancel with a month’s notice
$450 a month
Example prices, before tax. No hourly billing.
Included every time
- The same adviser from the first meeting to the last week
- A written plan you keep, even if you stop working with us
- Meetings at your business or at our office
- No commission from banks, suppliers or software firms (sample terms)
The first meeting is free
Forty-five minutes, at our office or at your business, Tuesday to Thursday (sample). You leave with a straight answer: whether we can help, and which job would come first.
- Last year's accounts or tax return
- A recent bank statement
- Your price list or a few recent quotes
- The three things you would fix first, if you had the time
Notes for owners
How to check your prices without losing customers
Most owners need to change a handful of prices, not the whole list (sample).
Hiring the first person who runs things when you are away
The first manager is the hardest hire in a small business. Start with the jobs you do every week (sample).
Visit the office
14 Marlow Street, Springfield (sample)
Ground floor, next to the post office
Monday to Friday
8:30 to 17:30
First meetings
Tue to Thu, 9:00 to 16:00
Parking
Two spaces behind the building
Opening times (sample).
