Lessons for your trade
- Construction and building16 lessons, UK and US. Reviewed Oct 2026.See the lessons
- Plumbing, heating and electrical16 lessons, UK and US. Reviewed Oct 2026.See the lessons
- Cleaning and facilities16 lessons, UK and US. Reviewed Oct 2026.See the lessons
- Restaurants, cafes and bars16 lessons, UK and US. Reviewed Oct 2026.See the lessons
- Beauty, hair and aesthetics16 lessons, UK and US. Reviewed Oct 2026.See the lessons
- Shops and physical retail14 lessons, UK and US. Reviewed Oct 2026.See the lessons
- Online retail and ecommerce16 lessons, UK and US. Reviewed Oct 2026.See the lessons
- Consulting and advisory15 lessons, UK and US. Reviewed Oct 2026.See the lessons
- Landscaping and gardening16 lessons, UK and US. Reviewed Oct 2026.See the lessons
- Property management and rentals16 lessons, UK and US. Reviewed Oct 2026.See the lessons
Choose your team
Starter picks four specialists. Growth picks ten. Pick badly and you are missing the one you needed. (Start here)
- You are picking who you own, not who you talk toThe specialists you leave out are simply not there when you need them.Read the lesson
- Pick a lineup by what your business isEight starting points. Find yours, use it for a fortnight, then adjust.Read the lesson
- After two weeks, let your usage decideWhich specialists have you actually opened?Read the lesson
Your full team
All sixteen are on from day one. Here is how to use that without freezing. (Start here)
Ask better questions
The difference between a useless answer and a useful one is about twenty extra words. (Start here)
- Say what your business isAsk about a topic and you get a textbook. Describe a situation and you get advice.Read the lesson
- Say what you want backOtherwise you get paragraphs when you wanted an email.Read the lesson
- Push back on the first answerOne question, one answer, silence. That is where most people stop, and it is the worst way to use this.Read the lesson
- Pull in a second specialist mid-conversationMention them and they arrive having read the whole thread.Read the lesson
Engines, length and depth
Three settings quietly control every answer you get. Most people never touch them. (Start here)
- Which engine, and whenExpress is fast. Standard is the default. Advanced is for work you will act on.Read the lesson
- Length and styleTwo settings decide whether you get four lines or four pages.Read the lesson
- Longer is not smarterThe single most common misunderstanding.Read the lesson
Brief them once
Tell one specialist something and all sixteen know it. Ten minutes now removes a paragraph from every future message. (Start here)
- They share one memory of your businessTell MAYA your day rate and LEO knows it too.Read the lesson
- The ten-minute briefSix facts that change almost every answer you will ever get.Read the lesson
- Send the actual documentA specialist reading your real contract beats one imagining a typical contract.Read the lesson
Pricing and profit
Most small businesses are busy and broke for the same reason. They have never checked which work actually pays. (Money)
- Working out what to chargeNot what competitors charge. What covers your costs and leaves a margin.Read the lesson
- Is this job actually profitable?The one where the answer is usually no, and it is always the same type of job.Read the lesson
- Raising your pricesYou will lose some customers. That is usually the point.Read the lesson
- Writing a quote that winsThe cheapest quote does not always win. The clearest one usually does.Read the lesson
Cash, tax and getting paid
Profit is an opinion. Cash is a fact. Most businesses that fail were profitable on paper. (Money)
- Where the money actually goesBusy, profitable on paper, and the account never grows.Read the lesson
- When a customer will not payThere is an order to this, and skipping to the end costs you money.Read the lesson
- When a customer will not payThere is an order to this, and skipping to the end costs you money.Read the lesson
- Knowing what is due and whenFederal, state and quarterly. Nothing here is difficult, but the surprise is expensive.Read the lesson
- Knowing what is due and whenNothing about tax is difficult. It is the surprise that hurts.Read the lesson
- What you can and cannot claimMost people either claim nothing out of fear, or everything out of hope.Read the lesson
- When the books are months behindEveryone gets here. The way out is not to do it all in one weekend.Read the lesson
Getting more enquiries
Word of mouth got you here. It will not get you to the next stage on its own. (Winning work)
- Where your customers actually come fromMost owners are wrong about this, and it costs them the marketing budget.Read the lesson
- Testing one channel properlyThree half-hearted channels beat none, but one done properly beats all three.Read the lesson
- Being findable locallyFor most local businesses this is worth more than any advertising.Read the lesson
- Making word of mouth deliberateIt already works. It is just accidental.Read the lesson
Turning enquiries into work
Enquiries you already have are cheaper than enquiries you have to buy. (Winning work)
- Why quotes go quietIt is rarely the price. It is usually the wait or the wording.Read the lesson
- Following up without being a nuisanceTwo follow-ups is normal. Nought is the actual mistake.Read the lesson
- Winning a bigger type of clientThe route in is almost always someone you already know.Read the lesson
- A proposal that does the sellingThey are choosing between you and someone they have also never met.Read the lesson
People and hiring
The first hire changes what your business is. Most owners do it late and do it badly. (Running it)
- Your first employeeWhat changes the day someone becomes a W-2 employee rather than a contractor.Read the lesson
- Your first employeeWhat changes the day someone becomes staff rather than a subcontractor.Read the lesson
- Writing a job advert people answerMost small business adverts describe the employer, not the job.Read the lesson
- When someone is not working outHandled properly this is uncomfortable. Handled badly it is expensive.Read the lesson
- Keeping the good onesReplacing someone costs far more than keeping them.Read the lesson
Process, time and tools
If the same thing goes wrong twice, it is not bad luck. It is a missing process. (Running it)
- Working out what to stop doingFor owners doing sixty hour weeks with nothing to show for it.Read the lesson
- Stopping the same mistakeThe third time it happens, it is a system problem.Read the lesson
- Choosing software without regretting itThe best tool is the one your team will actually use.Read the lesson
- Scheduling work you can actually deliverOvercommitting is the most common way a good business damages its reputation.Read the lesson
Contracts and terms
Most disputes are not about bad faith. They are about two people who thought they had agreed different things. (Protecting it)
- Before you sign anythingTen minutes now against a year of argument later.Read the lesson
- Terms that actually protect youYour own terms, attached to every quote, doing quiet work.Read the lesson
- When the job grows mid-wayThe extra hour that becomes an extra week.Read the lesson
Rules, data and risk
Most compliance for a small business is simpler than the fear surrounding it. (Protecting it)
- Which rules actually apply to youThe short list, not the whole library.Read the lesson
- Holding customer dataThere is no single federal privacy law, which makes this harder rather than easier.Read the lesson
- Holding customer dataNames, addresses, photos of their property. That counts.Read the lesson
- Being able to prove itDoing the right thing and being able to show it are two different jobs.Read the lesson
Structure, VAT and status
The four decisions that quietly set your tax bill for years. (Where you trade)
- Sole trader or limited companyThe default is sole trader. That is often right, and often not.Read the lesson
- VAT: when, and what changesRegistration is not optional once you cross the threshold, and it changes your pricing.Read the lesson
- Subcontractors, IR35 and CISTwo schemes that catch out the trades and the freelancers respectively.Read the lesson
Insurance, premises and staff
The obligations nobody tells you about until something goes wrong. (Where you trade)
- The insurance you actually needOne is a legal requirement. The rest depend on what you do.Read the lesson
- Working from home or from premisesBusiness rates, use class and what you can claim.Read the lesson
- Holiday, sick pay and the minimum wageThe three that generate the most disputes, and the most back payments.Read the lesson
Entity, sales tax and licensing
Federal, state and sometimes city. Three layers, and only one of them is obvious. (Where you trade)
- LLC or S corporationThey are not alternatives. One is a legal structure, the other is a tax election.Read the lesson
- Sales tax and where you owe itSince Wayfair you can owe sales tax in states you have never visited.Read the lesson
- Licenses, permits and registrationsThree levels of government, and the city one is the most commonly missed.Read the lesson
Insurance, benefits and contractors
Where the US differs most from everywhere else, and where the numbers are largest. (Where you trade)
- The insurance you actually needOne is required by state law. Two more are required by your customers.Read the lesson
- Health insurance and benefitsThe single biggest cost difference between running a business here and anywhere else.Read the lesson
- Using 1099 contractors safelyMisclassification is one of the most expensive mistakes available to a small business.Read the lesson