Small business tutorials
Work through pricing, estimating, production planning, and the records behind a small business. Follow a worked example, then explore the matching workbook or free tool.
Explore 21 free tutorialsA few good places to start
Three free lessons from across the workshop. No purchase needed.
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21 tutorials to explore
All tutorials are listed below. Enable JavaScript to search and filter the library.
Run a business
Price your work, plan production, and keep the operation moving.
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How to Price a Custom Cake Order
The quoting workflow a custom cake order runs through end to end — inquiry, guest count, tier stack, per-serving base, decoration by the minute, structure and delivery, a cost-floor check, the deposit, and won or lost in the log.
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How to Price Laser-Engraved Products
Price a laser-engraved product from sheet yield, machine-hour cost, hands-on labor and your own measured waste rate — not a flat guess.
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How to Plan Your Handmade Holiday Season
A step-by-step tutorial for planning a handmade holiday season — forecast, demand curve, make-hours, materials, markets, discount floor, and make-by dates.
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How to Set Up a Craft Fair Booth Table
A step-by-step tutorial for setting up a craft fair booth table — the five zones, why height beats a flat card, where the payment sign goes, and pack-down.
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Reconciling Your Etsy 1099-K
Why your Etsy 1099-K never matches your bank deposits, and the eight-step method to walk Box 1a down to what actually reached your account — refunds, fees, sales tax and the year-end timing gap, named one at a time.
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How to Price Custom Shirts (DTF & Embroidery)
Cost the blank, then cost the decoration in the units its method actually bills in — and see why the same design costs different amounts at 12 and at 48.
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How to Write a Change Order
A step-by-step tutorial for writing a contractor change order — the scope change, the price, the schedule impact, the running contract amount, and getting it signed before the work starts.
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How to Write a Budget Narrative
A step-by-step tutorial for writing a grant budget narrative — explain every line as arithmetic, justify staff time, defend indirect costs, and pre-answer the questions a reviewer would ask.
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How to Write an SOP for a Small Business
How to write a standard operating procedure for a small shop: which ten to write first, the seven sections one page needs, how to write a step somebody else can follow, and how to keep it true.
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Policies a Small Nonprofit Needs
The governance policies a small nonprofit is actually asked for, which four to adopt first, and the ninety-second step that turns a draft into policy.
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How to Cost a Candle
A step-by-step walkthrough of costing an 8 oz tin candle — pack prices to cost per ounce, batch vs. per-unit lines, labor, overhead, and the retail and wholesale price that follow.
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How to Price Handmade Jewelry
A step-by-step tutorial for pricing a handmade piece — metal by weight, components by the unit, studio overhead, bench time, and what retail, wholesale and consignment each pay you per hour.
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How to Price Stickers
A step-by-step tutorial for pricing stickers from real cost — printable area, loaded sheet cost, pieces per sheet after bleed and gutter, spoilage, packaging, labor, postage and channel fees.
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Calculate Your True Rideshare Hourly Rate
Find your true rideshare hourly rate: total a shift's earnings, hours, and miles, subtract your cost per mile, and net it to real dollars per hour.
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How to Price a Brand Deal
A step-by-step tutorial for pricing a brand deal from reach — average reach, a floor CPM, base rates per deliverable, usage and exclusivity uplifts, and the effective CPM check.
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How to Calculate Airbnb Profit
A step-by-step tutorial for finding the real profit on a short-term rental stay — the gross booking, the channel fee, the payout, and the net after the cleaner and supplies, plus RevPAR.
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How to Price Handmade Products
A step-by-step tutorial for pricing handmade products from true cost — materials, packaging, your labor, overhead, markup vs margin, and marketplace fees.
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How to Track Reselling Profit
A step-by-step tutorial for finding the real profit on a flip — true cost of goods, the platform fee, net shipping, and the net-profit and ROI math.
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How to Price a Photography Package
A step-by-step tutorial for pricing a photography package from cost — cost per hour, the real hours, direct costs, margin, the price, and the effective hourly.
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How to Bid a Remodeling Job
A step-by-step tutorial for bidding a bathroom remodel — takeoff, materials, loaded labor, subs, overhead and markup, the final bid, and a change order.
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How to Estimate a Landscaping Job
A step-by-step tutorial for estimating a paver-patio job — materials, equipment, loaded labor, disposal, overhead and markup, the bid, and a change order.
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No tutorials found
Try a broader term, such as “home” or “pricing”, or clear your filters to explore the library.
One small change.
A different bid.
A markup and a margin aren’t the same thing. Change the cost or gross margin to see what happens to the price.
Illustrative numbers in USD. Gross margin is the share of the price left after direct costs, to cover overhead and profit.
Learn how to build the whole bid$7,000.00 ÷ (1 − 30%)
Enter a cost from 0 to 1 billion and a margin from 0 to 99%.
This shows a $7,000 cost at a 30% gross margin. Enable JavaScript to try different numbers.
Start with a free tool
A small, useful first step. No email or signup needed.
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Decoration Cost Calculator (DTF, Vinyl, Screen Print & Embroidery)
What the decoration ACTUALLY costs — per square inch, per ink color, per thousand stitches. Free, no signup.
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Sticker Yield & Cost-Per-Sticker Calculator
How many stickers really come off a sheet — and what one GOOD one costs. Free, no signup.
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Brand-Deal Rate Calculator
Price one brand deal from your real reach — a suggested fee and effective CPM. Free, no signup.
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Put this method to work
Optional paid downloads to help you apply what you learn. All tutorials above are free to read—no purchase required.
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Maker's Holiday-Season Production Planner
For candle and soap makers: carrier cutoffs worked back to the day each product must be finished, plus order-by dates and discount floors. Excel & Sheets.
Excel / Google Sheets / LibreOffice
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Custom Cake Pricing & Quote Calculator
Type the guest count and this custom cake workbook sizes the tier stack for wedding or party portions, prices the design by the minute and prints the quote.
Excel / Google Sheets / LibreOffice
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Laser Engraving Business Workbook
A laser engraving workbook for Excel & Google Sheets — true cost per piece from sheet yield and a measured failure rate, then re-price the whole catalog.
Excel / Google Sheets
View paid template