Every guide to starting a business tells you to write a business plan, but as a solo founder, a traditional business plan is the wrong tool. Most of those guides are wrong — or at least, wrong for solo founders. A 40-page document isn’t going to get you your first customer. Three numbers might.

The traditional business plan is built for a different era. As a solo founder, you need clarity, not ceremony. They’re designed for companies seeking investors, bank loans, or partners who need convincing. If you’re a solo founder trying to figure out whether your business is viable and how to make it work, a business plan is the wrong tool entirely.

What you actually need is clarity on three numbers. Get these right, and you’ll know more about your business in twenty minutes than most people learn from writing a full plan.

Number One: Your Monthly Nut

This is the minimum you need to cover every month to keep things running — rent, subscriptions, food, insurance, transportation, phone, software, everything. Not what you want to earn. What you need to survive and keep the business operational.

Most people have never actually added this up. They have a vague sense of what they spend, but not a real number. Do it now. Open a spreadsheet or a piece of paper and list every recurring cost you have — personal and business. Add them up.

The number is usually lower than people expect. This is either reassuring or alarming, depending on where you are. If it’s lower than you thought, that’s good — your runway is longer and you have more room to be patient while you build. If it’s higher than what you’re currently earning, that’s the problem to solve first.

Don’t round down. Include the things you pay for every month but forget about — the streaming services, the cloud storage, the annual subscriptions that come out quarterly. Include a buffer for variable expenses like utilities that fluctuate. Your number should be the real floor, not an optimistic version of it.

Number Two: Your Price Per Client

What does one customer pay you? If you already have clients, this is easy — it’s your average monthly revenue per active client. If you’re just starting out and haven’t set prices yet, this is the number you need to decide on before anything else.

When setting this number, start with one that feels slightly uncomfortable. The instinct for most new service providers is to price low to win clients. That instinct is almost always wrong. Low prices attract clients who are optimizing for cost rather than outcome, and those clients are almost always the most difficult to work with.

A better starting point: research what experienced professionals in your field charge, then price somewhere in the middle of that range. You’re not the cheapest option and you’re not claiming to be the best. You’re pricing yourself as a competent professional, which is exactly what you are.

If you offer different services at different price points, use a weighted average — or, more practically, think about what your typical engagement looks like. What does a normal client relationship with you actually cost? That’s your number.

Number Three: Your Break-Even Client Count

This is the simplest calculation in business, and one of the most useful. Divide your monthly nut by your price per client. The result is the number of clients you need to not lose money.

For most solo service businesses, this number lands somewhere between three and eight. Not fifty. Not five hundred. Three to eight people who pay you regularly is enough to cover everything and pay yourself a livable income.

Let that sink in for a moment. You don’t need viral growth. You don’t need a massive social following. You don’t need to be everywhere online. You need three to eight clients. That’s a relationship problem, not a marketing problem — and relationship problems are much more solvable.

Once you know your break-even number, you can work backwards from it. How many sales conversations do you need to have to close one client? How many people do you need to reach out to in order to get those conversations? Now you have a weekly activity target — and that’s something you can actually act on.

Why These 3 Numbers Beat a Business Plan for Every Solo Founder

A business plan is mostly a document about the future — projections, assumptions, and scenarios that may or may not play out. It feels productive to write, but very little of what you put in a business plan survives first contact with actual customers.

These three numbers, by contrast, are grounded in reality. Your monthly nut is real. Your price is a decision you make today. Your break-even count is a simple calculation with no assumptions required. You can update these numbers as things change, and they stay accurate.

More importantly, they change the question you’re asking. Instead of “how do I build a successful business?” — which is overwhelming and abstract — you’re asking “how do I find five clients this month?” That’s a question you can answer on a Tuesday morning.

What to Do Once You Have All Three

Write them down somewhere visible. These aren’t just planning numbers — they’re operating numbers. Your monthly nut tells you when you’re in trouble and need to act fast. Your price tells you whether a potential project is worth taking. Your break-even count tells you whether you’re ahead or behind at any given moment.

Review them every month. Your monthly nut will change as your business grows and your expenses shift. Your price should increase over time as you build experience and a track record. Your break-even count changes with both of those. Keeping these numbers current takes ten minutes a month and keeps you oriented.

And if you ever feel lost about what to do next in your business, come back to these three numbers. They’ll tell you whether you need more clients, whether you need to raise your prices, or whether you need to cut costs. Everything else — the strategy, the marketing, the positioning — flows from getting these right.

Start there. Worry about the business plan later — if ever.

For more on this topic, check out SCORE business planning resources.

How to Calculate Your Monthly Nut With Precision

Most solo founders underestimate their monthly nut because they forget about irregular expenses. Your monthly nut is not just rent and groceries. It includes quarterly insurance payments divided by three, annual software subscriptions divided by twelve, estimated taxes set aside each month, and a buffer for unexpected costs like car repairs or medical bills. Missing any of these creates a false sense of security that collapses when the bill arrives.

Start by pulling your last three months of bank and credit card statements. Categorize every expense into fixed costs that stay the same each month, variable costs that fluctuate, and irregular costs that hit quarterly or annually. Add the fixed costs directly. Average the variable costs over three months. Divide the annual costs by twelve. The sum is your real monthly nut — the number your business plan should be built around.

Add a 15 percent buffer to whatever number you calculate. This covers the expenses you forgot, the ones that increase without warning, and the emergencies that inevitably show up. A monthly nut calculated with a buffer gives you a realistic survival number rather than an optimistic one. Solo founders who skip this buffer end up making desperate decisions when an unexpected expense pushes them into the red. That desperation leads to accepting bad clients, undercharging for rush work, and making short-term choices that damage long-term growth. Your business plan works only when the numbers beneath it are honest.

Setting Your Price: The Value-Based Approach

Your price per client should not be based on what you think people will pay. It should be based on the value you deliver. If you help a client save ten thousand dollars in wasted ad spend, charging one thousand dollars for that service is a bargain from their perspective — regardless of how many hours it took you. This is the foundation of value-based pricing, and it is far more profitable than hourly rates for solo founders who skip the traditional business plan.

To determine your value-based price, ask three questions. First, what is the financial impact of the problem you solve? If a client is losing five thousand dollars per month due to poor email marketing, and you fix it, your service is worth a significant fraction of that savings. Second, what would it cost the client to solve this problem another way — by hiring an employee, using a different service provider, or doing nothing at all? Your price should be less than those alternatives while still reflecting your expertise. Third, what are comparable professionals charging in your market? This gives you a range, not a fixed number, and you want to position yourself in the upper half of that range.

The biggest mistake when setting your price is starting too low with the intention of raising it later. Raising prices on existing clients is awkward and often unsuccessful. It is much easier to start at the right level and offer introductory terms to early clients — such as a three-month commitment at a slightly reduced rate — than to begin low and try to move up. Your first price sets the anchor for every future conversation about money. Make sure that anchor reflects the value you deliver, not the insecurity you feel about charging for your work. This principle alone separates founders who need a business plan from those who simply need the right numbers.

Using Your Three Numbers to Make Every Business Decision

Once you have your three numbers — monthly nut, price per client, and break-even client count — they become a decision-making framework for your entire business. Every opportunity, expense, and strategic choice can be evaluated against these numbers. Should you invest in a two hundred dollar per month software tool? Only if it helps you acquire or retain enough clients to justify the increase to your monthly nut. Should you take on a client who wants to pay half your standard rate? Only if you have spare capacity and it does not prevent you from finding a full-price client instead.

These three numbers also tell you when to invest in growth versus when to optimize what you have. If you are consistently above your break-even count, you have room to experiment — try new marketing channels, invest in better tools, or raise your prices to increase profit margins. If you are at or below break-even, your only priority is getting more clients at your current price. Everything else is a distraction from survival. This clarity is exactly why three numbers work better than a traditional business plan for solo founders. A business plan gives you a vision document. Three numbers give you a decision-making algorithm that works in real time.

Track these numbers in a simple spreadsheet updated weekly. Every Friday, record your current client count, monthly revenue, and any changes to your monthly nut. Over time, this weekly tracking creates a clear picture of your business trajectory that no business plan could provide. You will see seasonal patterns, identify which months are strongest for new client acquisition, and know exactly when you can afford to raise prices or take time off. This ten-minute weekly habit replaces hours of complex financial analysis and keeps your strategy grounded in reality rather than projections and assumptions.

When Your Numbers Change: Adapting Your Strategy Each Quarter

Your three numbers are not static. They change as your business evolves, and reviewing them quarterly prevents you from operating on outdated assumptions. Your monthly nut increases as you invest in better tools, move to a larger workspace, or add business insurance. Your price per client should increase as you gain experience, build a portfolio of results, and develop a stronger reputation. Your break-even count shifts with both of these changes, sometimes in surprising ways.

Quarterly reviews should answer three questions. First, has my monthly nut changed significantly? If your expenses have crept up without a corresponding increase in revenue, you need to either cut costs or ensure your income has grown proportionally. Second, am I charging enough for the value I deliver? Compare your current rates to the market every quarter. If you have been delivering consistently strong results and accumulating testimonials, your price should reflect that growth. Third, is my break-even count realistic given my current capacity? If you need eight clients to break even but can only handle six well, you have a structural problem that requires either raising prices or reducing expenses.

The beauty of the three-number approach over a traditional business plan is its adaptability. A formal business plan becomes outdated within weeks of writing it because assumptions change, markets shift, and opportunities appear that you did not anticipate. Three numbers can be updated in five minutes and remain accurate indefinitely. They scale with your business from your first client to your hundredth. They work whether you are a freelance designer, a consultant, a coach, or any other type of service provider. And they keep you focused on the only three things that actually determine whether your solo business survives or fails: how much you spend, how much you charge, and how many people pay you each month.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do I really need a business plan for a solo business?

No, you do not need a traditional 40-page business plan. Solo founders need three numbers instead: monthly expenses, price per client, and number of clients needed. A simple business plan built around these numbers is more useful than any formal document.

What are the three numbers every solopreneur needs?

The three numbers are: your monthly nut (all expenses including your salary), your price per client or project, and the number of clients needed to hit your monthly target. These three numbers form the only business plan you actually need.

How often should I review my business numbers?

Review your three key business plan numbers weekly. Check revenue against your monthly nut every Friday. Adjust your client pipeline and pricing strategy based on what the numbers tell you. Monthly reviews are too slow for solo businesses — weekly keeps you responsive.

What if my numbers show my business is not viable?

If your business plan numbers do not work, you have three options: raise your prices, reduce your expenses, or find more clients. Start with pricing — most solopreneurs are undercharging. If the math still does not work after optimizing all three, consider pivoting your offer.

Keep Reading

• How to Price Your Services When You’re Just Starting Out
• Why Most Solo Businesses Fail in Year One (And What Actually Works)
• How to Create Multiple Income Streams as a One-Person Business