A business template is a ready-made starting point for one kind of business. It gives you three things at once:
- a simulation with a revenue table, costs and conservative, base and optimistic cases, where every figure is an illustrative placeholder until you give your own;
- the records that business keeps (for example inventory items or client projects), so actual figures have a place to live;
- the assistant tools that business needs (for example a reorder check or a day-rate calculator), each with its formula shown step by step.
The templates
| Template | For |
|---|---|
| Software as a service with subscription tiers | One software product sold as monthly and yearly subscriptions in tiers, with a free trial |
| B2B manufacturer of hardware and software systems | Systems sold to businesses by volume, with software licences, maintenance and customisation |
| Services firm selling people's time on projects | Agencies, IT and engineering services, consultancies: billable hours, projects and retainers |
| Solo consultant selling their own time | Freelancers and independent consultants working at a day rate |
| Direct-to-consumer packaged goods with inventory | Muesli, packaged food, coffee, wine and similar products sold online, by subscription and to shops |
| Marketplace earning a commission on orders | Platforms that keep a share of every order, with seller plans and promoted listings |
| Café, restaurant or shop at one location | Places guests walk into, where rent and staff are paid whatever the day brings |
Start one
- Open Planning → Business templates and pick the template closest to your business. Each card shows its revenue streams, the records it adds and the tools it brings, and what it deliberately leaves out.
- Choose what to add: the simulation, the records and the tools. Owners can add all three; anyone who uses the assistant can start the simulation. Records or tools you already have are never changed.
- The simulation opens in a new conversation with the assistant, which asks the few questions that turn the template into your business.
You can also ask the assistant, for example "I want to open a café, start from the template": it starts the simulation in your conversation. Adding the records and tools needs a person on the templates page.
Grow it into your business case
- Replace the placeholders in the canvas or by telling the assistant; the warnings list what is still illustrative.
- Save the version you trust. For subscription prices, Use in planning turns it into draft products, price plans, channels and costs for your forecast and business plan.
- Record your real orders, projects, stock or sellers under More data; the tools then answer from your own figures.
- Every tool run is traced: inputs, each formula with its values, and a PDF or Excel evidence report.
The formulas
The simulation's calculations are in the pricing simulation reference.