Business Reset Bootcamp

The mission plan

1. 1

   Mission 1

   Honest diagnosis

   Cash, debt, stock and where money leaks.

   Open the lesson

   Do this

   1. 1.Write down the cash you actually hold today — bank plus float. Not what is owed to you.
   2. 2.List every rand going out each month: stock, rent, transport, data, salaries, repayments, subscriptions you forgot about.
   3. 3.List money owed to you and by you, each with a date. Late money is not income.
   4. 4.Divide your cash by your monthly outflow. That number is your runway in months — write it at the top of the page.
   5. 5.Name the single biggest leak you can already see, and say out loud how long you have known about it.

   Template · Reset diagnosis sheet

   Worksheet

   • Cash on hand today: R____
   • Money out per month: R____
   • Owed to me (and when): R____
   • Owed by me (and when): R____
   • Runway in months: ____
   • Biggest leak I already know about:
   • How long I have known:

   Worked cases

   • Musa · printing shop

     Thought he was making money because the shop was full. Runway was 0.8 months and 41k sat in unpaid invoices. Chasing three clients funded his next stock order.

   • Refilwe · salon

     Found 2 900 a month in subscriptions, a second unused card machine and airtime for a phone nobody carried. Cancelling them alone turned her month positive.

   • Ahmed · spaza

     60k of stock, 9k of it dead for eight months. Marked the dead stock down to clear and used the cash for fast movers.

   Where people go wrong

   • You count invoices and orders as cash.Fix: Only money in your hand pays wages. Track promised money separately, with dates.
   • You avoid writing the runway number because you fear it.Fix: The number is already true. Writing it is what gives you time to act instead of react.

   Build it with your coach

   Not sure how to fill this in? The coach asks you one simple question at a time, shows an example answer, then writes it up as a proper structure you can keep.

   Start guided build
2. 2

   Mission 2

   Profit by product and client

   Find what actually earns and what drains.

   Open the lesson

   Do this

   1. 1.List your top eight products or services and, next to each, the direct cost of delivering one.
   2. 2.Add the hours each one really takes, including travel, rework and chasing payment.
   3. 3.Work out profit per sale and profit per hour for each line. Rank them.
   4. 4.Do the same for your five biggest clients — revenue minus cost minus the hours they consume.
   5. 5.Circle the bottom three. Those are the candidates for the next mission, not your favourites.

   Template · Profit ranking

   Worksheet

   • Line / client:
   • Price: R____ Direct cost: R____
   • Hours per sale (incl. chasing): ____
   • Profit per sale: R____ Profit per hour: R____
   • Keep / fix / stop:

   Worked cases

   • Musa

     Banners looked like his hero product until hours were counted — 38 an hour. Business cards, which he almost dropped, ran at 210 an hour.

   • Refilwe

     Her biggest-spending client rebooked constantly but cancelled late. Once no-shows were costed, that client was her second-worst line.

   Where people go wrong

   • You rank by revenue instead of profit per hour.Fix: Revenue tells you how busy you are. Profit per hour tells you whether being busy is worth it.
   • You leave your own time out of the cost.Fix: If your hours are free, every line looks profitable and nothing ever gets cut.

   Build it with your coach

   Not sure how to fill this in? The coach asks you one simple question at a time, shows an example answer, then writes it up as a proper structure you can keep.

   Start guided build
3. 3

   Mission 3

   Cut and simplify

   Stop the activities costing you the most.

   Open the lesson

   Do this

   1. 1.Take your bottom three lines and decide for each: stop it, reprice it, or fix the cost. One word each, written down.
   2. 2.Set the date you stop. A decision without a date is a wish.
   3. 3.Write the sentence you will say to the clients affected — short, factual, no apology tour.
   4. 4.Cancel one recurring cost this week that does not create revenue.
   5. 5.Bring your stop list to your circle check-in and let them ask you why each cut is safe.

   Template · Stop / fix / double decision

   Worksheet

   • Line 1: ____ → stop / reprice / fix, by ____
   • Line 2: ____ → stop / reprice / fix, by ____
   • Line 3: ____ → stop / reprice / fix, by ____
   • What I will say to affected clients:
   • Recurring cost I cancel this week:
   • What I double down on with the freed time:

   Worked cases

   • Ahmed

     Stopped selling airtime at a 2% margin that ate his counter time. Used the space for cold drinks and cigarettes and lifted counter profit by a third.

   • Refilwe

     Kept the loss-making treatment but moved it to deposit-only booking. Half the no-shows disappeared and it became profitable without a price rise.

   Where people go wrong

   • You keep a draining line because it brings 'exposure'.Fix: Exposure that never converts is a marketing cost. Price it or stop it.
   • You cut everything at once and starve the business of demand.Fix: Cut costs and bad lines, never the two activities that actually bring customers in.

   Build it with your coach

   Not sure how to fill this in? The coach asks you one simple question at a time, shows an example answer, then writes it up as a proper structure you can keep.

   Start guided build
4. 4

   Mission 4

   Reprice and repackage

   Rebuild the offer around real margins.

   Open the lesson

   Do this

   1. 1.Rebuild the price of your best line from cost up: direct cost, your hours at a real rate, 15% for waste and rework, then your margin.
   2. 2.Package it so the customer chooses between options instead of yes or no — small, standard, done-for-you.
   3. 3.Write the new prices with a start date and put the old ones beside them so you can see the gap.
   4. 4.Prepare one line for pushback and one thing you can add instead of discounting.
   5. 5.Tell five existing customers the new price before you tell the world — their reaction is your test.

   Template · Reprice builder

   Worksheet

   • Line: ____
   • Direct cost: R____ My hours × rate: R____
   • Waste and rework (15%): R____ Total cost: R____
   • New price: R____ Profit per sale: R____
   • Small / standard / done-for-you options and prices:
   • What I say when they push back:
   • What I add instead of discounting:

   Worked cases

   • Musa

     Raised business cards 40% and offered a same-day option at double. A third of walk-ins chose same-day; his worst week became his best.

   • Ahmed

     Repackaged singles into a three-pack at a small saving. Same margin per unit, bigger basket, less counter time per rand.

   Where people go wrong

   • You raise prices quietly and hope nobody notices.Fix: Give a date and a reason. Customers accept clarity far better than a surprise.
   • You discount to hold on to a customer who was never profitable.Fix: Losing an unprofitable customer is a cost cut. Let them go politely.

   Build it with your coach

   Not sure how to fill this in? The coach asks you one simple question at a time, shows an example answer, then writes it up as a proper structure you can keep.

   Start guided build
5. 5

   Mission 5

   Win back demand

   Reactivate past customers and referrals.

   Open the lesson

   Do this

   1. 1.List 20 people who bought from you before and have gone quiet. Names, not a vague number.
   2. 2.Write one short message that references what they bought and gives them a reason to come back this month.
   3. 3.Send it to all 20 in one sitting, one at a time, no group blast.
   4. 4.Ask your five happiest customers for one referral each, naming the exact kind of person you want.
   5. 5.Log every reply — yes, no, later — because 'later' is your follow-up list for next month.

   Template · Win-back list

   Worksheet

   • Name / what they bought / when:
   • My message to them:
   • Reason to come back this month:
   • Referral ask (exact kind of customer I want):
   • Replies: yes ____ / later ____ / no ____

   Worked cases

   • Refilwe

     Messaged 20 quiet clients with a Tuesday-only slot. Nine booked; six became monthlies and filled her deadest day.

   • Musa

     Asked five loyal clients for one referral each, specifying 'small offices that print monthly'. Three referrals turned into recurring accounts.

   Where people go wrong

   • You chase brand-new customers while old ones sit forgotten.Fix: Someone who has already paid you is the cheapest sale you will ever make.
   • You send one vague 'we miss you' blast.Fix: Name what they bought and what is in it for them now. Specific beats friendly.

   Build it with your coach

   Not sure how to fill this in? The coach asks you one simple question at a time, shows an example answer, then writes it up as a proper structure you can keep.

   Start guided build
6. 6

   Mission 6

   Recovery roadmap

   Weekly targets and an early-warning dashboard.

   Open the lesson

   Do this

   1. 1.Set one 90-day money target you would call a genuine recovery, in rands.
   2. 2.Break it into 12 weekly numbers — sales, cash collected, and one cost you keep under control.
   3. 3.Choose four numbers you will check every Friday in under ten minutes: cash on hand, sales this week, money owed to you, profit per hour on your top line.
   4. 4.Write the trigger line: if cash drops below R____ or sales fall for two weeks, here is what I do first.
   5. 5.Post your weekly number in your circle each Friday. Numbers said out loud get hit more often.

   Template · 90-day recovery dashboard

   Worksheet

   • 90-day target: R____
   • Weekly sales target: R____ Weekly cash collected: R____
   • Cost I hold down: ____ under R____
   • Friday four: cash ____ | sales ____ | owed to me ____ | profit/hour ____
   • Trigger: if cash < R____ or sales fall 2 weeks, I will ____
   • Who I report my number to every Friday:

   Worked cases

   • Ahmed

     Checked four numbers every Friday for a term. Caught a stock leak in week three instead of at year-end and saved roughly 14k.

   • Musa

     Posted his weekly number in his circle. He missed target twice, both times fixed by the following Friday because someone asked.

   Where people go wrong

   • You build a beautiful plan and never look at it again.Fix: A ten-minute Friday check beats a 20-page plan. Keep it to four numbers.
   • You set a target you cannot influence weekly.Fix: Break big goals into something this week's actions can move, or they become background noise.

   Build it with your coach

   Not sure how to fill this in? The coach asks you one simple question at a time, shows an example answer, then writes it up as a proper structure you can keep.

   Start guided build
7. 7

   Mission 7

   Fix the blocked constraint

   Name the one thing you cannot fix from inside the business.

   Open the lesson

   Do this

   1. 1.Look back at missions 1 to 6 and list every fix you have already made yourself. Read the list — that is your recovery so far.
   2. 2.Now write the one thing standing between you and your 90-day target that no amount of your own effort has moved.
   3. 3.Test it honestly: is it a decision you keep avoiding, a skill you can learn this month, or a resource you simply do not have — a supplier, funding, or paperwork someone must approve?
   4. 4.If it is a decision or a skill, set the date you handle it. Do not outsource what is really hesitation.
   5. 5.If it is genuinely a missing resource, write it as one specific sentence with a number and a date, then keep working the rest of your plan while you fill that blank.

   Template · Constraint statement

   Worksheet

   • Fixes I made myself so far:
   • The one thing still blocking my target:
   • Decision I'm avoiding / skill to learn / resource I don't have:
   • If decision or skill: date I handle it ____
   • If resource: exactly what I need, how much, by when:
   • What I keep doing regardless:

   Worked cases

   • Musa

     Assumed he needed a loan. His constraint was a decision — dropping banners. Once cut, cash recovered without borrowing a cent.

   • Refilwe

     Her constraint was a skill: she had never costed a treatment. Two evenings with mission 2 solved what she had blamed on 'the economy' for a year.

   • Ahmed

     His was real: one supplier, 40% above market, no alternative he could find locally. He named it precisely and kept trading while he hunted, instead of freezing.

   Where people go wrong

   • You call it a money problem before you have done the cutting and repricing.Fix: Money poured into a leaking business disappears quietly. Most owners find their constraint was a decision, not a shortage.
   • You wait for the missing piece and stop everything else.Fix: Keep collecting, keep selling, keep the Friday four. Waiting is the most expensive thing a struggling business can do.

   The blank you can't fill yet

   This last line is the only one you cannot fill from your own records — a supplier, funder or piece of paperwork that has to come from outside your business.

   You have worked your own list and this line is still blank. That is the honest signal: this is the constraint you can't see from inside the business. Owners who stall here usually burn another quarter of cash before they get an outside read on it.

   The diagnosis, the profit ranking, the new prices and your Friday four stay yours either way — the missing piece is the outside view on this one blank, not the work you've already done.

   Build it with your coach

   Not sure how to fill this in? The coach asks you one simple question at a time, shows an example answer, then writes it up as a proper structure you can keep.

   Start guided build