Will it be a business, or a job you've bought yourself?

A business runs without you and can be sold. A job stops when you stop. Most plans I read are jobs. That's fine, if you know it before you sign the lease.

Most start-up advice is about getting started. Very little of it is about what you're building.

The test is simple. Who does the work when you're ill? What does a customer cost to win, and what do they leave behind? Could someone buy it from you in ten years?

£750 + VAT. One week.

You send me the plan and the numbers, however rough. I read them the way a lender, a buyer and an accountant would.

You get a written note: whether it's a business or a job, what it would take to make it a business, and the three numbers to watch in year one.

If the plan works as it is, the note says so.

I don't write business plans or raise finance. I tell you what you're building before you build it.