The Napkin Business Plan That Changed My Life

Let’s be honest, the traditional, 50-page business plan is fantastic… if you’re wooing investors at a Fortune 500 board table. For the rest of us running lean, service-based businesses (Hi, Wedding Pros and Creative Founders 👋🏾), those documents are more paralysis than progress.

What actually moved the needle for me as a small business owner was a one-page plan I could sketch in minutes, keep visible, and use to make real decisions. I call it my Napkin Business Plan (inspired by Ryan Deiss’s simple framework), and it’s the planning approach I return to every single year. It’s not a cute theory. It’s the reason I set clean goals, book the right clients, and grow on purpose.

Below is exactly how I built it, how I use it, and how you can make your own today.

Why a napkin beats a binder

The thing about a napkin business plan is that it forces clarity. Think no fluff, no filler, just the four decisions that actually move your business forward. It’s quick to make, easy to share with your team (or future you), and simple to revisit monthly. Most importantly, it keeps your strategy grounded in math over wishful thinking.

Here’s how to get started. Grab a sheet of paper and divide it into four quadrants. We’re going to fill in:

1. Mission & Values
2. Services & Offers
3. Target Client
4. Money Math (Revenue, Profit, Volume)

1) Mission & Values

This is your “why” and your guardrails. In one tight paragraph, name the core problem you solve, the kind of business you’re building, and the non-negotiable values that guide how you show up.

Here are some prompts to help you write:

• What painful problem do I remove for my clients?
• What promise do I want to be known for?
• Which values do I refuse to compromise on in delivery or marketing?

My example: I help wedding pros and creatives generate consistent, high-quality leads with organic marketing. The business I’m building prioritizes freedom for my clients and my team. Everything I do runs on transparency above all else. If traffic or inquiries increase, my clients know exactly what lever we pulled to make it happen.

This section matters because it becomes your filter. New opportunities, ideas, even client requests, if they don’t align with your mission and values, they’re a “no.”

2) Services & Offers

List one to three offers. That’s it. Too many choices create decision fatigue for buyers and chaos for you.

For each offer, jot down:

• What it is (use plain language)
• How it solves the client’s problem
• Price range (or starting from price…)
• Delivery model (done-for-you, done-with-you, or DIY/template)

Here’s a real snapshot from my own business:

• Marketing Clinic (Done-for-You Intensive): We audit your organic channels, fix the leaks, and hand you a month-by-month growth blueprint.
• Monthly Organic Management (Done-for-You Retainer): We own your content, SEO, Pinterest/YouTube, and Google Business Profile, so you keep showing up and booking clients without lifting a finger.
• À La Carte Implementation: Blogs, SEO pages, or Pinterest build-outs for clients who already have momentum but want us to execute specific pieces.

Remember, if you can’t explain what you sell in one sentence each, your clients won’t be able to repeat it either.

3) Target Client

Describe your best-fit client in one or two sentences. Go beyond age and location; capture mindset and pain points. You can niche by person or by problem.

Examples:

• By person: “Busy wedding photographers who are brilliant at their craft and want consistent leads without living on Instagram.”
• By problem: “Service businesses that need to rank locally and convert organic traffic into booked consults.”

The goal of this section is to keep your messaging tight and your offers relevant. If you’re talking to “everyone,” you’ll resonate with no one.

4) Money Math

Think of this section as where dreams become a plan. You’ll set a 12-month revenue and profit goal (these are not the same). Let’s look at some quick math and how you can use this to set money goals for your business.

Let’s assume your revenue target is $60,000 and your average package costs $2500. This means that to meet your revenue goal of $60,000, you’ll need at least 24 bookings each year. Would this be possible for you?

• Revenue target: $60,000
• Average booking: $2,500
• Required bookings: 24 per year (about 2 per month)

In an ideal world, can you serve 2 new clients per month If yes, great. If no, you have two levers: raise prices or rethink delivery. The other thing to consider is your profit. When the cost of operating your business is deducted from the $60,000 revenue target, will the profit left work for you? If not, then you’ll need to rethink your revenue and profit targets, which will also impact your average package price and/or your required bookings.

The goal here is that your plan should work in real life, not only on paper.

How to build your Napkin Business Plan in 12 minutes

Here’s what I’d like you to do:

• Set a timer.
• Fill each quadrant with short, confident sentences.
• Don’t try to be a wordsmith, just write what comes to mind.
• When the timer ends, your first version is done.
• Tape it above your desk or save it as the first page of your business dashboard.

Then, within your first year of business I would like you to schedule a monthly 15-minute business plan review: What moved? What stalled? What’s the one thing to change next month (pricing, positioning, prospecting, packaging)?

How I actually use this (and why it stuck)

I’m a marketer who serves wedding pros and other creatives, one of the very few women specializing in SEO in this niche, and my clients know exactly what we’re doing and why. That level of transparency is a value, but it’s also a growth engine: clients trust what they understand.

The napkin plan keeps me honest. When I’m tempted to add a shiny new offer, I look at Quadrant 2 and ask, “Does this strengthen or dilute what works?” When a lead feels off, I reread Quadrant 3. When cash-flow planning gets fuzzy, I redo Quadrant 4 and recenter on the math.

The result is a business that grows simply because the plan is simple enough to use.

Fill-in-the-blank template

To help make writing your napkin business plan even easier, here are a few fill-in-the-blank templates that can help.

Quadrant 1 — Mission & Values
“We help [who] solve [painful problem] so they can [desired outcome]. The business we’re building values [value 1], [value 2], and [value 3].”

Quadrant 2 — Services & Offers

1. [Offer name] — [What it is + result] — [Price range] — [Delivery model]
2. [Offer name] — [What it is + result] — [Price range] — [Delivery model]
3. [Optional third]

Quadrant 3 — Target Client
“Our best-fit clients are [describe person or problem] who want [outcome] without [thing they hate].”

Quadrant 4 — Money Math
“12-month revenue: $____ | Profit: $____
Average sale: $____ → We need ____ bookings per month.
Capacity check: Can we deliver that? If not, we will [raise price / adjust scope / reduce volume].”

Print this, scribble it on a literal napkin, or drop it into your notes app, just make it real.

Credit where it’s due

The seed of this approach came from Ryan Deiss’s “Napkin Business Plan,” which championed the idea that simple, on-the-spot planning can be more effective than sprawling documents. This post reflects how I’ve adapted that spirit for service-based businesses and wedding industry pros who want clarity they’ll actually use.

What to do next

Pick a quiet 20 minutes and draft your first napkin plan. If you need support or would like my eyes on your napkin (or help turning it into a 90-day execution plan), you can schedule a call with me.