Dr. Paul Borosky, DBA, MBA
Business Plan Writer & Consultant
Kentucky Business Plan Writer: Plan Past Derby Week
Kentucky sales lean on a few big weeks and a few big buyers: Derby and Keeneland crowds across Kentuckiana and the Bluegrass, plus the Toyota, GM and Ford plants. The hard part is the quiet months, when the crowds are gone and the plants slow down, and Dr. Paul’s plan shows a lender how your business gets through them.
Thinking past Derby week? Call or text (321) 948-9588. Dr. Paul answers personally.
Last Updated: 10/31/2026 · Written by Dr. Paul Borosky, DBA, MBA
Funding and Licensing Snapshot
Who Reads a Kentucky Business Plan
Write for the reader. These are the offices and programs Kentucky owners meet most when they borrow, form or open.
SBA Kentucky District Office
The Louisville office serves every county in the Commonwealth, so SBA lender lists and events run through it whether you are in Ashland or Owensboro.
KSBCI Through KY Innovation
Loan participation and collateral support through participating lenders, plus seed-stage equity managed by Keyhorse Capital. None of it is a grant, so the plan still has to show repayment.
Louisville METCO and Covington
Louisville Metro’s METCO makes gap, midi and Go Green loans. Covington’s Small Business Incentive Program offers rent subsidies and facade grants to new businesses. Both want a real plan behind the request.
Kentucky SBDC
Run through the University of Kentucky’s Martin-Gatton College of Agriculture, Food and Environment, with centers statewide offering coaching, loan packaging and projection help.
Secretary of State
LLCs and corporations file an annual report each spring, with a deadline at the end of June. Miss it and the state can dissolve your company, and lenders check good standing.
City and County
Kentucky has no single statewide business license. Cities and counties set their own rules, so check where you open before you set your startup budget.
Pick How You Want to Plan Past the Big Weeks
Three ways to get a plan, plus consulting when the business side gets heavy. Each one starts with the weeks when nobody is buying.
Business Consulting
For Kentucky owners who run a great shop and get stuck on cash, pricing or when to hire. Dr. Paul works through those decisions with you.
See consulting options →Business Plan Writing
FeaturedYour full plan and projections, written by Dr. Paul, pull the big weeks and big buyers apart from the steady base a Kentucky lender wants to see.
Start your plan →Business Plan Templates
Build it yourself with an industry Word plan and Excel model, like the bar and lounge template a NuLu owner can stock and staff for Derby week.
Browse templates →Small Business Education
Free lessons and videos, plus the Fabled Forest Business School books, explain seasonality and customer concentration before you sign for a loan.
Start learning →How Dr. Paul Helps
How Dr. Paul Helps Kentucky Owners Plan Past the Big Weeks
Derby week and a Toyota purchase order both feel like security. Neither one pays the rent in a slow month. The plan has to show what does.
- Big weeks mapped as spikes. Derby week and the Keeneland meets go in as their own revenue spikes, so the ordinary weeks have to carry the rent on their own.
- One-buyer risk in plain numbers. If Toyota in Georgetown, GM in Bowling Green or Ford in Louisville buys most of what you make, the plan shows what happens when that order shrinks.
- Packaged for KSBCI. Kentucky’s KSBCI loan programs, loan participation and collateral support, run through participating lenders. Your plan gives the lender the projections and repayment math it needs to request them.
- A template for Derby week. NuLu owners can build their own numbers in the bar and lounge template, then stock and staff for the Derby crowd at Churchill Downs.
- Coaching and a concentration check. The Kentucky SBDC offers free coaching statewide, and Dr. Paul’s customer-concentration guide helps suppliers work out how much one plant should carry.
Kentucky plans that get turned down usually treat Derby week or the plant contract as if it were the whole year. Dr. Paul builds the quiet months first and stacks the big weeks on top. A lender who sees the business pay its bills in February trusts the May numbers a lot more.
Real work in Kentucky: Dr. Paul wrote an investor-ready business plan for a car wash in Kentucky in 2025.
City Spotlight
Four Kentucky Cities, Four Different Plan Problems
Louisville runs on Derby week. Lexington runs on Keeneland. Bowling Green leans on one plant, and Covington leans on the city across the river. Your plan has to know which one it lives in.
| City | What Drives Demand | The Plan Question |
|---|---|---|
| Louisville | Derby week at Churchill Downs, NuLu and Whiskey Row | Can one week carry the year? |
| Lexington | Keeneland meets and sales, Bluegrass horse farms | What fills the months between meets? |
| Bowling Green | GM’s Corvette plant, its suppliers, the Kentucky Transpark | What if the plant is the only buyer? |
| Covington | MainStrasse Village, Maifest and Oktoberfest, Cincinnati diners over the Roebling Bridge | What happens when the city rent subsidy ends? |
Derby week at Churchill Downs fills hotels first, then bars and restaurants in NuLu and down on Whiskey Row.
“Can a NuLu bar budget around Derby week?”
The Plan FixLock in bourbon allocations with the distributor months before Derby week, staff NuLu nights to the Derby week race schedule at Churchill Downs, and build the rest of the year on Butchertown and NuLu neighbors rather than the Whiskey Row tourist crowd.
Lexington runs on the equine economy: Keeneland’s spring and fall meets, its September yearling sale and the horse farms that ring the city.
“What goes in a Lexington equine services business plan?”
The Plan FixSchedule revenue around the April and October Keeneland meets and the September sale, then sell monthly farm-care retainers across the Bluegrass so the months in between still bring in work.
GM’s Corvette plant and its suppliers anchor the I-65 corridor and the Kentucky Transpark.
“How risky is a Bowling Green business that sells mostly to the Corvette plant?”
The Plan FixShow how much of your revenue comes from GM’s Corvette plant and its suppliers, and model a shutdown or retooling month at the plant off I-65 so the lender sees you get through it.
Covington’s Small Business Incentive Program pays rent subsidies and facade grants for new shops in MainStrasse Village and along Madison Avenue.
“How should a MainStrasse Village restaurant count a Covington rent subsidy?”
The Plan FixCount the city rent subsidy only while it lasts, price MainStrasse rent at full rate after it ends, give Maifest and the Goebel Park Oktoberfest their own staffing weeks, and track Cincinnati diners crossing the Roebling Bridge as a separate weekend line.
Selling or hiring across the state line? Dr. Paul also writes plans for owners in neighboring Tennessee, Ohio, Indiana, and West Virginia.
Learn It Yourself
Learn the Numbers Behind a Kentucky Plan
Dr. Paul thinks every owner should be able to explain their own plan to a banker. These free lessons get you there.
Watch
Kentucky Tips Worth a Few Minutes
Dr. Paul recorded these short tips for Louisville and Lexington owners. Both cover parts of the plan that owners tend to rush.
Goals, Keys and a TimelineA Louisville tip on setting goals, naming what it takes to reach them and laying out a timeline a lender can follow.
Networking Strategy in a Business PlanA Lexington tip on writing down how you will build the relationships that bring customers in.
From Dr. Paul’s Fabled Forest
A Book for Kentucky Owners Who Need Customers Beyond the Big Weeks
Dr. Paul’s Fabled Forest Business School · Book 4
Marketing for Small Businesses
Kentucky suppliers leaning on a single plant buyer, and shops leaning on Derby crowds, need marketing that finds steady customers beyond the big weeks. The Fabled Forest characters work through real marketing problems, like finding the right customer and keeping the ones you win, so the lessons stick.
When a single buyer fills your basket, that buyer also holds your future. Gather other customers while the large orders are still arriving.
Doctor Owl, Dr. Paul’s Fabled Forest Business SchoolFAQ
Questions Kentucky Owners Ask Dr. Paul
Which KSBCI programs work alongside my bank loan?
Do Louisville bourbon tourism businesses need a different kind of plan?
Where do Kentucky SBDC coaches help with loan packaging and projections?
Dr. Paul Borosky, DBA, MBA
Business Plan Writer, Consultant & Author | 14+ Years | 1,000+ Clients Served
Dr. Paul Borosky, DBA, MBA is the founder of Quality Business Plan. He writes business plans and financial projections for owners across the United States and Canada, works remotely with clients in every state, and has written plans behind more than $100M in funded projects. He is the author of the Dr. Paul’s Fabled Forest Business School series and has published over 1,000 business videos on YouTube. He has taught as an adjunct college instructor and teaches in Florida public schools.
This page is for general educational purposes only. It is not legal, lending, or financial advice. Program rules, loan sizes and local requirements change, so confirm them with the program or agency before you apply. The Fabled Forest and its characters are fictional.