Dr. Paul Borosky, DBA, MBA
Finance Crash Course · Book 1
Budgeting for Small Businesses: Dr. Paul’s 90-Minute Crash Course
The best month of his life. Short on payroll by Friday.
A street fair, a line out the door, $68,000 in sales. Then a $5,400 bank balance on payday and $9,200 owed to the crew. If a busy month has ever left you broke, the problem is not sales. It is the plan you never wrote down. This crash course fixes that in one sitting, on one page.
Last Updated: 10/27/2026 · Written by Dr. Paul Borosky, DBA, MBA
The Problem
Why Does a Great Month Still Leave You Short?
Because every number lives in your head. Sam, the diner owner in the 90-Minute edition, rang up $68,000. After food, labor, overhead, and his own pay, about $8,200 was really left. A walk-in cooler died mid-month and ate $6,200 of it. And the $4,760 in sales tax he collected? Already spent. It was never his.
Sam does not have a money problem. He has a budgeting problem, and that is the better problem to have, because you can fix it. A budget is a plan for your money, written down before the month starts, then checked against what really happened. Before, and written down. That is the whole idea.
Want the step-by-step version first? Read how to create a small business budget, then grab the book for the full method and the stories that make it stick.
Two Editions
Which Edition Is Right for You?
Same five steps. Same one-page budget. Two ways to learn it.
90-Minute Crash Course
Straight, fast, in dollars
- Set in Super Slick Sam’s Diner, a real-world restaurant
- Every example in dollars you can copy
- Five-question self-check before you start
- One-Page Counter Guide at the back
- Best for owners and managers who want it plain
Fabled Forest Version
A business fable, in coins
- Doctor Owl helps Louie Waffles of the Waffle Woofs cafe
- One coin reads as one dollar, so the math carries over
- Three forest owners: one gets it right, two do not
- One-Page Field Guide at the back
- Best for readers who remember stories longer than tables
What You Will Do
Five Steps, Fifteen to Thirty Minutes a Month
The book walks each step, then watches the owner do the whole thing. Here is the short version.
- Find your starting point.Last month’s sales, your fixed costs, and your variable slice. Rough is fine.
- Build next month’s budget.Sales, minus costs, minus your pay, equals what should be left. Wall off sales tax.
- Track what happens.A light weekly tally. No new software.
- Compare plan to actual.Read the gaps line by line and find the biggest one.
- Fix one gap and repeat.Change the number that is actually broken, then rebuild next month.
| Expected sales | 21,000 |
| Ingredients, hourly help, card fees (about 60%) | −12,600 |
| Fixed monthly overhead | −5,200 |
| Louie’s own pay | −2,800 |
| Planned operating surplus | 400 |
A decent month, above break-even, leaves only 400 coins. The page is not broken. The business is thin. Which one number did Louie change to drop his break-even by more than 2,000 coins a month? That is in Step 5.
Read Before You Buy
Read the Opening: The Worst Morning at Waffle Woofs
Here is how the Fabled Forest Version begins.
Introduction
The Worst Morning at Waffle Woofs
“So where was the money?”
“Louie,” he said, setting the hinges down, “you look like a dog who lost his favorite bone. What is it?”
Louie’s voice dropped. “Payroll is Friday. I have got nine hundred coins in the account and I owe my two bakers and my morning server twenty-four hundred. And here is the part that makes no sense. I just had the best month of my whole life.”
He said it the way an owner says it right before the floor gives way. The autumn fair had come through the forest, the line at Waffle Woofs had run out the door for two weekends straight, and the café had rung up twenty-four thousand coins. Louie’s nephew had clapped him on the back and told him the hard part was finally over.
Doctor Owl asks for a napkin and a pen, and writes down where the best month of Louie’s life actually went. The rest is in the book.
Keep Reading on Amazon →The One-Page Field Guide
The Whole Book on One Page
Both editions end with a single page meant to live on your wall. It names three warning signs you are running without a budget:
- A “great” month still leaves you short.
- You judge the business by how busy it feels.
- Sales tax and repairs surprise you every time.
Then it gives you the three actions, the five steps, the break-even formula, and a fill-in budget you can copy onto any sheet. Break-even gets its own walkthrough in how to calculate your break-even point.
Go Deeper
After the Budget, the Cash
A budget tells you whether the month’s plan makes money. The timing of the cash is the next lesson.
Rich on paper, broke on Friday. The crash course on timing.
Free GuideHow to Make a 13-Week Cash Flow ForecastSee the lean week coming, three months out.
The Full PlaybookSmall Business Finance for BeginnersBudgeting, cash, pricing, and growth in one guide.
Free GuideHow to Create a Small Business BudgetThe budget and forecast method, step by step.
Beyond the Book
Need Help With Your Own Numbers?
Do it yourself, hand it off, or work through it together.
Business Plan Templates
The statements, prebuilt. A Word plan plus an Excel model for your industry.
See the Templates →Business Plan Writing
Hand it off. Dr. Paul writes the plan and the numbers that back it up.
See Plan Writing →Business Consulting
Straight answers on the numbers that run your business, from Dr. Paul.
See Consulting Options →FAQ
Questions About the Budgeting Book
Which edition of Budgeting for Small Businesses should I read?
How long does it take to build a small business budget?
Do I need accounting software to follow the book?
Is Budgeting for Small Businesses available in paperback?
One page. Fifteen minutes. Before the month starts.
About the Author: Dr. Paul Borosky, DBA, MBA
Business Consultant, Fractional CFO & Author | 14+ Years
Dr. Paul Borosky has built budgets, cash forecasts, and financial projections for more than 1,000 small business clients across the United States and Canada, with more than $100M in funded projects. He holds a DBA and an MBA focused in finance, has taught finance at the college level, and has published over 1,000 business videos on YouTube.
This page is for general educational purposes only. It is not legal, financial, tax, accounting, or lending advice. Tax rules change by place and by year. Super Slick Sam’s Diner, Waffle Woofs, Louie Waffles, and Doctor Owl are fictional composites from the book, and their figures are illustrations, not projections for your business.