Quality Business Plan · Education Center

Free Business Education in Three Tracks

Most small businesses don't fail because the idea was bad. They fail because the planning and the numbers were never nailed down. When your projections, processes, and growth plan live only in your head, you end up reacting to problems instead of leading with a strategy. This is where that changes.

Just starting out? Begin with How to Start a Business, a ten-step guide that takes you from idea to growth in the right order. This education center has three tracks. Learn the Numbers teaches you to read a real company’s financial statements and ratios, then run your own small business finances like a CFO would. Plan and Fund shows owners how to write a business plan that fits their industry and build financial projections a lender will trust. Run and Grow, Dr. Paul's Fabled Forest Business School Series, teaches how to manage, lead, and run the business once the doors are open. Want the money mindset behind all three? Mindset, Leadership & Money is the free guide to Dr. Paul’s book Become Your Version of Rich. Stuck putting out fires every day? Overwhelmed Running Your Business? walks through the fixes from his book Stressed Out, Burned Out, Tapped Out. Every resource is grounded in real business plan writing and consulting work, and organized around Dr. Paul Borosky's Organize-Plan-Grow™ Strategy. It's built for startups, funding-driven owners, and established businesses that want clarity instead of guesswork.

~50%

Of small businesses don't make it to year five, and about 65 percent are gone by year ten. The ones that last tend to plan, track their numbers, and adjust on purpose.Source: US Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2024 data

Key Takeaways

  • Start a business in the right order with a free ten-step guide, from idea to growth.
  • Read a real company’s financial statements and ratios, then run your own numbers like a CFO would.
  • Write business plans that match how your industry actually operates.
  • Build financial projections that lenders and investors trust.
  • Make growth decisions with structure instead of guesswork.
  • Learn to manage and lead with Dr. Paul's Fabled Forest Business School, one book and one guide per business subject.
  • Decide how much money is enough for you, then build the habits, leadership, and power to get there with the free Become Your Version of Rich guide.
  • Every resource follows the Organize-Plan-Grow™ framework and comes from real consulting experience.

Start Here · Starting a Business

Starting From Zero? Start Here

Starting a business is one of the best decisions you can make. Do it in the right order and the bank, the landlord, and the state all say yes. This free guide gives you ten steps, from checking the idea to growing the business, built on Dr. Paul’s Organize-Plan-Grow™ Strategy.

GOGuide Live New Owners and Idea Stage How to Start a Business: Ten Steps, in Order Validate the idea, write the plan, build the projections, register the business, find funding, get your licenses, set up the books, win your first customers, build the operations, and grow. You do not need all ten today. You need to know which one you are on. Read the how to start a business guide →

The Ten Steps

Why the Numbers and the Plan Matter This Much

The most common reasons businesses fail aren't bad luck. They're gaps in planning and money management, the exact things education fixes. When you understand your market, your cash, and your plan, you stop guessing and start deciding.

47%

Of failed startups pointed to a lack of financing or investors, the top reason founders gave.Source: Skynova survey of 492 failed startup founders, November 2022

44%

Of failed startups simply ran out of cash, the second most common reason.Source: Skynova survey of 492 failed startup founders, November 2022

58%

Of those founders said that if they did it again, they would do more research and write a stronger business plan before launching.Source: Skynova survey of 492 failed startup founders, November 2022

Read those again. Funding, cash, and planning. Every one is something an owner can learn and control. That's the whole point of this center.

Detroit's Motor City Match program awards cash grants and technical help in rounds to entrepreneurs opening in the city. Learn more about local options through business plans for Michigan owners.

Track 1 · Learn the Numbers

Learn to Read Financial Statements

A plan gets funded on its numbers, and a business survives on them. These three free guides teach you to read the three financial statements, the ratios that grade them, and the formulas behind them. The first walks through Apple’s real 10-K, line by line. The second shows what a CFO would tell a small business owner about the same numbers. The third solves the core finance formulas step by step, with Excel and video.

FSGuide Live Students, New Investors, and Owners How to Read Financial Statements (Apple Example) Five years of Apple’s real numbers, compared with Microsoft and graded like an analyst would. 34 short guides cover every line of the income statement, balance sheet, and cash flow statement, plus 26 financial ratios, with a free glossary. Read the financial statements guide → SBGuide Live Small Business Owners Small Business Finance for Beginners: What Your CFO Would Tell You Startup costs, funding, pricing, paying yourself, working capital, and the 13-week cash forecast, taught through one owner’s landscaping business from launch to growth. Read the small business finance guide → FFGuide Live Finance Students and Owners Finance Formulas With Excel Examples Future value, present value, WACC, NPV and IRR, and more, each solved step by step, checked in Excel, and taught on video by Dr. Paul. Includes real company financial analysis examples. Open the finance formulas lessons → Beginner’s Guide to Understanding Financial Statements and Financial Ratios, Third Edition, book cover The Book Third Edition · Paperback Beginner’s Guide to Understanding Financial Statements and Financial Ratios Dr. Paul’s best seller. Read and grade a real company’s financials, line by line, with no accounting background. Get the book on Amazon →

Start With These Five Guides

Track 2 · Plan and Fund

Plan and Fund Your Business

Five resource libraries, each built to take you from a rough idea to a funded, lender-ready plan. Start wherever you are.

Start Here How to Write a Business Plan All ten sections in the order that works, with a video, samples, and a full guide for every step. Write the executive summary last. Plan by Industry How to Write Industry-Specific Business Plans Step-by-step guides for 36 industries, from trucking and restaurants to real estate and assisted living. Each one shows the real problems owners face and how to fix them inside the plan. Master the Numbers Pro Forma Financial Projections Tutorials Learn to build projections lenders trust: income statements, cash flow, and balance sheets. Understand how assumptions drive outcomes and why accurate forecasting wins funding. Do It Yourself Business Plan Templates Industry-specific templates with a formatted Word plan and an editable Excel financial model. The structure lenders expect, with video tutorials that walk you through the Word plan and the Excel model. Write It Right Business Plan Writing Tutorials Turn a generic template into a clear, professional, lender-ready document. Section-by-section guidance from the executive summary to the funding request and projections.

Industries Covered in the Planning Guides

  • Transportation, Logistics & Mobile Services
  • Construction, Trades & Skilled Services
  • Automotive & Equipment Services
  • Food, Beverage & Hospitality
  • Bars, Lounges & Specialty Venues
  • Retail, eCommerce & Specialty Stores
  • Personal Services, Beauty & Wellness
  • Health, Care & Community Services
  • Real Estate, Property & Development

Track 3 · Run and Grow

Dr. Paul’s Fabled Forest Business School Series

Planning and numbers get a business funded. Running it well keeps it alive. The Fabled Forest Business School is Dr. Paul’s 10-book series on the subjects every owner has to learn, taught through business fables where the lessons are real, the businesses are struggling, and the owners are animals. Every business term is taught by its real name, so it works for owners, new managers, and business students.

Eight books are out now, and each one has its own free guide here in the Education Center. Start with Book 1, or jump to the subject that is costing you the most right now.

MORTAR, a Cincinnati nonprofit, runs entrepreneur training for owners in neighborhoods going through redevelopment. It pairs well with the lessons here and with business plans for Ohio owners.

01Guide Live Book 1 · Management and Leadership Small Business Management: 20 Foundations Every Manager Should Know Nobody teaches you how to manage. This guide covers the 20 foundations of running the work and leading the people, from SOPs and delegation to hiring, feedback, and change, with a free 60-second self-check and a sample chapter from the book. Read the management guide → 02Guide Live Book 2 · Accounting and Finance Small Business Accounting and Finance: 20 Foundations Every Owner Should Know Profit is not cash. This guide covers keeping the score and using it, from bookkeeping and the income statement to cash flow, pricing, and break-even, with a free self-check and a sample chapter. Read the accounting and finance guide → 03Guide Live Book 3 · Operations Small Business Operations: 20 Foundations Every Owner Should Know Busy should not mean broken. This guide covers building the machine and keeping it running, from standard work and capacity to scheduling, bottlenecks, and maintenance. Read the operations guide → 04Guide Live Book 4 · Marketing Small Business Marketing: 20 Foundations Every Owner Should Know Good work nobody knows about is a secret. This guide covers getting found and getting chosen, from your target market and value proposition to referrals, reviews, and what to count. Read the marketing guide → 05Guide Live Book 5 · Sales Small Business Sales: 20 Foundations Every Owner Should Know Found is not the same as sold. This guide covers asking for the order honestly and keeping the customer, from your price and the quote to follow-up, objections, and a sales process anyone can run. Read the sales guide → 06Guide Live Book 6 · Strategy Small Business Strategy: 20 Foundations Every Owner Should Know Busy is not a direction. This guide covers deciding where the business is going and lining everyone up behind it, from vision and mission to SWOT, action plans, and a one-page strategic plan. Read the strategy guide → 07Guide Live Book 7 · Growth Small Business Growth: 20 Foundations Every Owner Should Know Bigger is not always better. This guide covers growing in the right order, from knowing when you are ready and where to grow to paying for it and holding quality and cash together at twice the size. Read the growth guide → 08Guide Live Book 8 · Human Resources Small Business Human Resources: 20 Foundations Every Owner Should Know You are the HR department. This guide covers hiring the right person, paying fairly, reviews and hard conversations, and keeping your best people, from job analysis to bench strength. Read the HR guide →

Coming Next in the Series

  • Book 9 · Technology and AI
  • Book 10 · Survival

See every title in the series, plus the Fabled Forest editions of Cash Flow Management and Budgeting, on Dr. Paul’s business books page.

Mindset, Leadership & Money · The Book Behind the Plan

Define Your Version of Rich

A plan and the numbers tell you how. They do not tell you how much is enough. Dr. Paul’s book Become Your Version of Rich starts there, then covers the five traits behind financial success: motivation, creativity, habits, leadership, and power. This free guide turns the book into 21 short pages, each built around a real business story, with a glossary of 38 terms.

RICHGuide Live Owners, Business Students, and Managers Become Your Version of Rich: How Much Is Enough? Find your enough line, climb the six rungs from motivation to a money plan, and see why Benjamin Franklin retired at 42 while Napoleon died on a rock. Twenty-one short guides, one for each idea in the book. Read the Become Your Version of Rich guide → A-ZGuide Live Plain-English Terms Become Your Version of Rich Glossary 38 terms defined, from the enough line to earned power to a stop line, each with a link to the guide that teaches it. Read the glossary → Become Your Version of Rich by Dr. Paul Borosky, DBA, MBA, book cover The Book Paperback Become Your Version of Rich How motivation, creativity, habits, leadership, and power lead to financial success. Define what rich means for you, then go build it. Get the book on Amazon →

Start With These Four Guides

Owner Burnout · The Book Behind the Fix

Overwhelmed Running Your Business?

When every day is a fire, the problem is usually the system, not the owner. These guides come from Dr. Paul’s book Stressed Out, Burned Out, Tapped Out and walk owners, managers, and business students through the fixes: what to fix first, how to stop firefighting, how to delegate, document, price, plan, and review so the business stops running on you.

FIRESGuide Live Owners, Managers, and Business Students Overwhelmed Business Owner? Fix the System, Not Yourself See the fires that wear owners down, sort the urgent from the foundational, and follow the Organize, Plan, Grow path to a business that runs without you holding every piece. Read the Overwhelmed Business Owner guide → A-ZGuide Live Plain English Terms Stressed Out Glossary Business terms for owners and managers defined in plain English, from firefighting and RACI to customer acquisition cost and backward planning. Read the glossary → Stressed Out, Burned Out, Tapped Out book cover by Dr. Paul Borosky The Book Book Stressed Out, Burned Out, Tapped Out The full playbook for owners who feel stuck putting out fires, with the stories, checklists, and step by step fixes behind every guide here. Get the book on Amazon →

All 16 Stressed Out Guides

Business Glossaries: Every Term in Plain English

Rather Have It Built With You?

Education is the start. When you're ready for a done-with-you plan, Dr. Paul works with owners one-on-one on the plan, the projections, and the strategy to fund and grow. No junior consultants. No hand-offs.

Call/Text (321) 948-9588 See Consulting & Plan Prices

Frequently Asked Questions

Where should I start in the education center?

Start with the library that matches your need. If you're writing a plan, go to the industry guide for your business. If your numbers are the weak spot, start with the financial projections tutorials. Want to move fast? Grab a template. Most owners use two or three of these together.

Is this education enough to write my own plan, or do I need help?

For a lot of owners, the guides, tutorials, and templates are enough to build a solid, lender-ready plan on their own. If you're short on time, stuck on the numbers, or the stakes are high, that's when one-on-one consulting pays for itself. The center is built to support both paths.

Does any of this help an existing business, not just a startup?

Yes. The planning guides especially are written for owners who are already open and want to fix what's draining the business. Established companies use this material to tighten cash flow, sharpen projections, and make growth decisions with structure instead of guesswork.

Why does business education matter so much for survival?

Because the top reasons businesses fail are learnable problems. In one survey of failed startup founders, the top reasons were a lack of financing and running out of cash, and most said they would research more and write a stronger business plan if they did it again. Education targets exactly those gaps, which is why it's one of the best investments an owner can make.

What is Dr. Paul's Fabled Forest Business School?

It's Dr. Paul's 10-book series on the subjects every small business owner has to learn, from management and accounting to operations, marketing, sales, strategy, growth, and human resources. Each book teaches real business terms through short business fables, and each one gets its own free guide in this Education Center, starting with Small Business Management.

Where can I learn to read financial statements?

Start with the free How to Read Financial Statements guide. It walks through Apple's real income statement, balance sheet, and cash flow statement, then 26 financial ratios, one short guide at a time. If you run a small business, the Small Business Finance guide shows what the same numbers mean for your own company.

How do I start a business from scratch?

Start with the free How to Start a Business guide. It walks you through ten steps in order: validate the idea, write the plan, build the projections, register the business, find funding, get licenses and permits, set up accounting, win your first customers, set up operations, and grow. You do not need all ten today. You need to know which one you are on.

What is Become Your Version of Rich?

It's Dr. Paul's paperback on how much money is enough and how to build toward it. It covers five traits behind financial success: motivation, creativity, habits, leadership, and power. The free guide in this Education Center breaks the book into 21 short pages with real business stories and a glossary of 38 terms, so you can read the ideas before you buy the book.

Dr. Paul Borosky, DBA, MBA, business plan writer and consultant behind the Small Business Education center

About the Author

Dr. Paul Borosky, DBA, MBA

Dr. Paul Borosky, DBA, MBA is a CEO Partner and business consultant, founder of Quality Business Plan, creator of Dr. Paul's Organize-Plan-Grow™ Strategy, author of business books on Amazon, and publisher of more than 1,000 business-focused videos on YouTube. For over 14 years he has helped more than 1,000 entrepreneurs and small business owners turn ideas and struggling operations into fundable, profitable companies. Learn more about Dr. Paul.

Last Updated: 11/08/2026 · Reviewed by Dr. Paul Borosky, DBA, MBA

Economic statistics and figures on this page are presented to the best of our knowledge based on publicly available information at time of publishing. Figures may change over time. Always verify current details before making business decisions.