☐ Fit check run one more time, with your household present.
☐ Garage confirmed: space for one car plus workbench and shelving.
☐ Zoning / home-occupation answer obtained from city or county office; HOA covenant checked if it applies.
☐ Business entity registered; separate bank account opened.
☐ Insurance bought: garagekeeper's and general liability, sized for the car values you will hold.
☐ Core tools bought in order: compressor and welder first, hand tools and safety gear second. Stop there.
☐ Lane picked, one marque or era, the lane the market can find.
☐ Club joined with an actual membership, not a bookmark.
☐ Business name reserved on the platforms where builds get documented; photo record starts day one.
Day-15 gate: entity, insurance, tools, lane chosen. Fail response: extend setup one week, no more.
Days 16-30: choose the project
☐ Thirty-minute walk-around discipline applied to every candidate, without exception.
☐ Passing candidate valued against valuation tools at the condition grade you can deliver.
☐ Estimate built line by line; napkin math survived contact with real quotes.
☐ First project chosen: your own car or a small client job. Not a frame-off, not two flips at once.
☐ Funding correct: client money through deposit plus phase one, or bounded own capital on a condition-ladder flip.
☐ Estimate, payment schedule, and tracking sheet written before the car arrives.
Day-30 gate: one funded, well-scoped project. Fail response: keep sourcing; do not lower standards.
Days 31-60: do the work in daylight
☐ Phase one executed with the camera running; everything photographed.
☐ Disassembly bagged and tagged; every part tracked in the per-car spreadsheet.
☐ Every hour logged against the estimate.
☐ First gate hit: first milestone invoice issued, or first go-or-revise decision on the flip.
☐ Weekly updates sent if a client is watching.
☐ One cruise night or club meeting attended as a participant; car talk only, cards later.
Day-60 honest review (schedule it now, keep it): hours logged vs hours estimated, money collected vs money spent, your gut vs the day-one fit check. Grinding by day sixty is data; the cheapest exit is the one taken at a gate. Fail response: review pricing and scope honestly.
Days 61-90: convert and decide
☐ Phase one (or the flip's mechanical milestone) finished.
☐ Conversion made: documented project becomes the portfolio piece; club acquaintance becomes the referral; the shop that declined the old car sends it to you.
☐ The two questions asked at the moment the work lands: the quotable sentence, and the name of one friend with an old car.
☐ Hourly estimates recalibrated with sixty days of tracked reality.
☐ Rate reviewed against the local market with one finished job behind you.
☐ Next project booked: against the dealer ceiling if a flip, against calendar capacity if client work.
Day-90 gate: one documented outcome, next project booked. Fail response: consider the smaller-job lane or exit at a gate.