explainers
5 articles — every number sourced from our courses.
How to Find Your First 10 Customers
Your first ten come from three channels, not luck: the warm list, direct outreach, and the rooms where customers gather. Here is the arithmetic that turns ten into a weekly quota.
How to Price a Service: The Five-Competitor Method
Build your cost floor first, then mystery-shop five local competitors for real quotes. Why five, what to record beyond the number, and the conclusions you cannot draw.
LLC vs Sole Proprietorship: The Real Math
Sole prop is free and default; an LLC costs $35 to $500 up front plus annual fees, $800 a year minimum in California. Here is when the shield is worth the bill.
Self-Employment Tax Explained (And How Much to Set Aside)
The 15.3 percent you never saw on a paycheck, the 92.35 percent haircut, and a worked derivation of your set-aside percentage. Plan on the high twenties.
When to Make Your First Hire: The Honest Math
Hire when redeployed freed hours clearly beat the loaded cost of buying them, about 1.15 to 1.3 times the wage. The trigger math, the cost stack, and the fake reasons.