pholvarexin

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Business Plans That Actually Work in Practice

We've spent fifteen years working with Australian businesses that needed more than templates. Real planning takes time, honest assessment, and a willingness to adjust when assumptions meet reality. That's what we teach.

Explore Our Program
Strategic business planning session

How We Got Here

Started in a shared office space in Sydney. Built something sustainable by focusing on what actually helps business owners make better decisions.

2010

First Workshop Series

Started teaching business planning fundamentals to small business owners in Western Sydney. Twenty participants. Half of them still check in occasionally, which tells us something stuck.

2016

Curriculum Revision

Realised our materials were too academic. Spent eight months rewriting everything based on actual feedback from business owners who'd tried applying what we taught. Made it more honest about the messy parts.

2021

Online Program Launch

Pandemic forced us digital. Turned out regional business owners needed this content just as much. Sometimes constraints push you toward improvements you should've made earlier.

2025

What's Next

Working on modules about succession planning and exit strategies. Because business plans shouldn't just focus on growth. Sometimes the smartest planning involves knowing when you've built something worth stepping away from.

Why Most Business Plans Sit in Drawers

They're written for banks and investors, not for the people actually running the business. We've seen hundreds of beautifully formatted documents that nobody ever looked at after week three.

Good planning happens in conversations. The written plan is just documentation of decisions you've already stress-tested through discussion. That's the approach we teach.

And yeah, it takes longer than filling out a template. But you end up with something you might actually use when things get complicated.

Business planning workshop discussion

Our Teaching Approach

Three stages that build on each other. No shortcuts, but also no unnecessary complexity. Just the work that actually matters.

1

Honest Assessment

We start by helping you identify what you actually know versus what you're assuming. Most business plans fail because assumptions go unquestioned until they collide with reality.

2

Scenario Testing

You'll work through realistic scenarios based on actual business situations. Not hypotheticals designed to have neat answers. The kind of situations where the right choice isn't immediately obvious.

3

Plan Development

By this stage, you're building a plan that reflects decisions you've already made through the assessment and testing process. It's documentation, not wishful thinking.

Financial planning strategy session

What You'll Learn Through Practice

Our program runs over six months starting October 2025. That timeline isn't arbitrary. Business planning concepts need time to settle. You'll be applying ideas to your actual business between sessions, seeing what works and what needs adjustment.

We cover financial projections that acknowledge uncertainty. Market analysis that goes beyond demographic summaries. Competitive positioning that's honest about your limitations. And operational planning that accounts for the fact that you can't do everything at once.

The cohort size stays small because meaningful discussion requires it. You'll be working with other business owners who are dealing with similar challenges, which tends to produce more useful insights than expert lectures.

Programme Details

What Past Participants Say

We don't track employment rates or income increases because that's not what we're teaching. But we do hear from people about how the planning process changed their approach.

Real Results From Applied Learning

The value shows up in different ways for different businesses. Some participants avoided expansion decisions that would've stretched resources too thin. Others identified growth opportunities they'd been overlooking.

What's consistent is that people leave with clearer thinking about their business decisions. They're better at distinguishing between what they know and what they're guessing. And they have frameworks for testing assumptions before committing resources.

That's not as flashy as promising percentage growth. But it's honest about what business planning education can actually deliver.

Declan Whitmore participant

"Changed how I approach decision-making. I'm less focused on having all the answers upfront and more comfortable with testing assumptions as I go. That shift alone was worth the investment."

Declan Whitmore
Logistics Coordinator, Brisbane

Ready to Start Planning Properly?

Our next intake opens for October 2025. We'll be accepting applications through August, with interviews happening in early September.

The programme requires commitment. Weekly sessions, homework between meetings, and active participation in group discussions. It's designed for business owners who have time to engage seriously with the material.

If you're still figuring out whether this is right for you, get in touch. We're happy to discuss what the programme covers and whether it matches what you're looking for.

Get In Touch
Business strategy discussion with colleagues