1. Start with you
Worksheet 1AYou, and the year so far
15 minutes · a pen, your 2026 calendar · Core
What it's for: Writing the year down as it really happened, before your memory changes it.
| What I actually do all week (the verbs) | Do the roster. Order milk and bread. Make coffees when someone's sick. Fix the dishwasher, again. Chase catering bills. Answer reviews. Drive cakes between the shops. |
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| What I want out of the next year or two | Two days a week off the floor. Both shops paying their way. No more doing the books at 10 at night. |
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| 2026 so far in one sentence, to someone who wasn't there | Lots more coffees going out the door, but less money left at the end of the week. |
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| Three things that happened that nobody planned | - The big fridge at the station shop died in February. $6,800.
- The offices near the station went to three days a week in the office, so Mondays and Fridays went quiet.
- Tom's sister started baking for us on the side. Her banana bread now sells more than our muffins.
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| One thing I expected that didn't happen | The catering deal with the local school. They went with a canteen company. |
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| Something that changed quietly | Hardly anyone pays cash now. Some days the station shop takes less than $50 in notes. |
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| What felt heavier than it used to | The roster. Every week someone needs a swap, and it's me on the phone at night sorting it. |
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| The decision I'm still thinking about | Whether to go card-only. We've talked about it for a year. |
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1. Start with you
Worksheet 1BThe year in numbers
20 minutes · this year's figures (estimates are fine; mark them "~") · Core
What it's for: Seeing your five main numbers side by side, so far and by the end of the year, before you plan anything.
| So far this year | Expected by 31 December | Against last year (up / flat / down) | What's behind it |
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| Sales | ~$905,000, both shops, January to September | ~$1.21 million | Up a little | Coffee went up 30c in March. More people at main street, smaller spends at the station. |
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| Margin (what's left after direct costs) | ~64c in the dollar after food, milk, coffee and cups | About the same, maybe 63c | Down. It was ~67c | Milk went up twice. Beans once. Takeaway cups too. |
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| Cash (in the bank, and owed to us) | ~$41,000 in the bank. ~$5,200 owed for catering | ~$30,000 after Christmas wages and stock | Flat | The new fridge came out of cash. Catering clients pay slowly. |
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| Customers kept (and who left) | Most regulars at main street. Lost the Monday and Friday office crowd at the station. Lost one catering client when their office moved | Same | Up at main street, down at the station | People working from home. The new flats near main street. |
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| Staff capacity (who's stretched, leaving, away) | Tom is doing 50+ hours. Mai and Jess both asked for four-day weeks. One casual leaves for uni in February | Short one casual from February | Down | I'm covering the gaps myself. |
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The next three months
| Christmas and shutdown: which days we're closed, who's covering | Main street closed 25 and 26 December and 1 January. Station shop closed 24 December to 4 January, as the trains are empty. Tom and two casuals cover main street. I cover the rest. |
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| Commitments due before March (orders, bills, tax, leases, promises to customers) | 12 Christmas catering orders booked. Coffee machine service in January, ~$900. Hire a new casual by the end of January. GST and tax paperwork (the BAS) at the end of February. Station shop lease: we have to say if we're renewing by 31 March. |
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| When cash is tightest, and what we'll need then | Mid January. The station shop is shut, main street is half empty, and rent and wages still go out. We need ~$20,000 sitting there. |
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| The number I'm most worried about | How much I keep from each dollar. It's 64c and still going down. |
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2. Your inhabitable future
Worksheet 2An ordinary day in late 2027
20 minutes · a quiet spot, your answers from 1A · Core
What it's for: Picturing a normal working day you'd actually want, clearly enough to aim for it.
| What I'm working on | The menu, the catering side, and training new staff. Not the coffee machine. |
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| What I've stopped doing | The roster. Driving cakes between the shops. Doing the books at night. |
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| Who's around me. Who isn't | Tom runs main street. Mai runs the station shop. Jess runs the kitchen. There's a second barista at each shop who can open up alone. I'm not at the station shop every morning. |
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| What customers would say about us | "They know my name and my order." "Quick in the morning, nice to sit in on the weekend." |
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| The thing nobody could copy that's still there | Knowing the regulars. Staff who stay for years. The banana bread. |
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| How it looks for the team, the sector, the community | Staff on steady hours they picked, some on four days. We still buy bread from the bakery two doors down. Main street is where the school mums and the tradies both end up. |
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| How it feels | Calmer. Still busy, but nobody running on empty, me included. |
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| What I can decide myself | The menu, prices, rosters, opening hours at main street. |
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| What needs someone else's yes, and whose | Anything over $10,000 needs Dan. The station shop's hours and lease need the landlord. More tables on the footpath need the council. |
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3. What's weighing on it
Worksheet 3What's weighing on it
15 minutes · the decision you keep putting off · Core · Private if you're working as a team
What it's for: Naming the decision that keeps coming back, and what kind of stall is holding it.
| The decision I keep putting off | Going card-only at both shops. |
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| What would change my mind (the evidence) | How much cash we take each week at each shop. What the bank charges us to handle cash, next to what card fees cost. Whether the older regulars would really mind. |
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| When I'll decide by (a date) | Monday 30 November. |
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| What kind of stall is it? (not enough evidence / other things come first / no money / something from before) | Not enough evidence, and something from before. |
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| What happened last time, and what I'm most worried about | Years ago we stopped taking cheques for catering, and one long-time customer took it personally and never came back. I'm worried about the couple who pay in coins every morning, and a few others like them. |
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| What people grumble about, and where | Closing up at night. Counting the coins takes 25 minutes. The casuals hate the bank run. Tom says the float is always short. |
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| The next move (get the evidence / give it a date / find the money or park it / look at last time) | Get the evidence. Pat pulls six weeks of cash and card sales for each shop by Friday 13 November. I ask ten regulars what they think. |
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4. What no longer fits
Worksheet 4AThe carry-forward audit
20 minutes for ten items · calendar, task list · Core
What it's for: Sorting everything you're carrying, so something actually comes off the list.
| What we're carrying | Notice if we stopped? | Obvious difference if we keep it? | Trouble if ignored? When? | Act / Monitor / Defer / Stop | Owner, and the date |
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| Delivery app at the station shop | Hardly. ~15 orders a week | No. The app takes about a third | No | Stop | Leah, from 1 December |
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| Bags of ground coffee for sale | No. ~6 bags a week | No | No | Stop | Mai, when the stock runs out |
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| Paper stamp cards | A few regulars would | No. People lose them | No | Stop. Points on the card machine instead | Mai, from 1 March |
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| Monday meeting with Tom and Mai | Yes | Yes, if it was shorter | Yes, things fall through the cracks | Act. 20 minutes, standing up | Leah, from 2 November |
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| Catering | Yes | Yes. It's where we make the most money | Yes, if bills keep coming in late | Act. New menu, and bills due in 14 days | Leah, by 15 January |
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| Gluten-free cakes made in our kitchen | Yes, a few people | Yes, but it takes Jess hours | Yes. Those people go elsewhere | Act. Buy them in from the bakery | Jess, by 1 February |
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| Footpath tables at main street | Yes | Yes, on weekends | Yes. Council permit due in February | Act. Renew the permit | Leah, by 1 February |
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| Weekly social posts | A bit | Not sure | Slowly | Monitor. Count how many people mention a post at the counter. Act if it's under 5 a month | Tom, look in March |
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| New coffee machine for the station shop | No | Not this year | Only if the old one dies | Defer | Leah, decide on 30 June |
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| Saturdays at the station shop | A few regulars | Not really. ~$600 each Saturday | No | Couldn't sort it yet | Leah, with the lease, by 31 March |
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| The things I couldn't sort, and why | Saturdays at the station shop. It's tied up with the lease, and with whether the new chain café opens on weekends. |
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| Our stop list: what stops, from when, and who needs to be told | The delivery app at the station, from 1 December: tell Mai, the kitchen and the app, and put a sign up. Ground coffee bags, when they run out. Paper stamp cards from 1 March; we'll still take old ones until June. |
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4. What no longer fits
Worksheet 4BMoney and effort
15 minutes · last year's numbers (estimates are fine) · Optional
What it's for: Seeing which customers or services pay their way, and which quietly cost you.
| Customer or service | What it brings in | What's left after direct costs | Pays on time? | Effort (low / medium / high) | Keep / reprice / rethink |
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| Morning takeaway coffee, both shops | ~$9,500 a week | ~$7,000 | Yes, on the spot | Low | Keep |
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| Weekend brunch at main street | ~$6,000 a week | ~$3,600 | Yes, on the spot | High. Kitchen flat out, lots of remakes | Reprice |
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| Office catering | ~$2,400 a week | ~$1,500 | No. 45 days on average | Medium | Keep, but bills due in 14 days |
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| Delivery app orders | ~$450 a week | ~$150 after the app's cut | Paid weekly | Medium | Rethink. Stopping it |
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| Saturdays at the station shop | ~$600 a day | ~$380, but wages that day are ~$520 | Yes, on the spot | Medium | Rethink |
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5. What's already arriving
Worksheet 5What's already arriving
20 minutes · 2027 calendar, recent customer emails · Core
What it's for: Listing what's already on its way to you, and placing each thing in time.
| What's arriving | Window (business / customers / people / tech) | Real now / emerging / noise | When (now / next / after next / beyond) | Where I saw it, and when | A decision it could change |
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| Main street parking goes from 2 hours free to 1 hour paid, from March | Customers | Real now | Now | Letter from the council to every shop, September | Weekend brunch. How quickly tables free up. Where we tell people to park. |
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| A big chain café opening in the station shopping centre, April | Business | Real now | Now | Sign on the shopfront, August. The landlord says it's true | The station shop's hours, prices and lease. |
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| Staff wanting four-day weeks | People | Real now | Now | Mai and Jess asked in July. A job applicant asked in her interview | Rosters. Hiring a second barista. |
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| Hardly anyone paying cash | Customers | Real now | Now | Our own till reports, all year | Card-only. The bank run. |
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| Milk going up again | Business | Emerging | Now | Letter from our milk supplier, September | Our prices in February. |
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| The one I'd most regret ignoring | The chain at the station. If we don't give people a reason to pick us by April, the morning rush walks straight past. |
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6. What it sets off
Worksheet 6ARipples
20 minutes · one thing from 2026, one decision for 2027 · Core
What it's for: Following one change past its first ripple, to the second and third, where the surprises are.
| From 2026: milk prices going up | Coming in 2027: the chain café at the station |
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| First (direct, obvious) | We keep less from every coffee. We put coffee up 30c in March. | Commuters try the chain. Our mornings drop for a few weeks, maybe longer. |
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| Second (consequences of the consequences) | Some regulars go from two coffees a day to one. Tips in the jar are down. | Fewer morning shifts, so the casuals lose hours and start looking around. The landlord says the centre is busier and wants more rent when the lease comes up. |
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| Third (what becomes possible, or threatened) | Plant milks now cost us about the same as dairy, so we could drop the extra 80c and charge one price for all milks. What worries me is coffee turning into a treat, not a daily habit. | We become the café that knows your name, and they're the fast one. What we could do: let regulars order ahead by text. What's at risk: the station shop, if the rent goes up and the mornings don't come back. |
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| Who gains? Who loses? | Gains: the supermarket, as people make more coffee at home. Loses: us, and the casuals' hours. | Gains: commuters in a rush, the landlord. Loses: Mai's team, unless we change something. The newsagent next door too. |
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| What's the signal it's already arriving? | Takeaway cups used are down a bit since June, while people sitting in are steady. | The sign went up in August. Their job ads for the station store are out now. |
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6. What it sets off
Worksheet 6BThree possible years
15 minutes · your two or three biggest decisions · Optional
What it's for: Seeing which of your big decisions hold up whatever kind of year arrives.
| The decision | A year like this one | A tight year (money short, costs up, a big customer wobbles) | The ground moves (new competitor, new rule, new technology) | So: go / adapt / wait |
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| Go card-only at both shops | Works. No more bank run | Works. Saves the time we spend on cash | Works. Most places near us already are | Go, after a trial at the station |
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| Renew the station shop lease for 5 years | Fine | Risky, if catering slows and the rent goes up | Risky, with the chain next door | Adapt. Ask for 2 years, with the option of 2 more |
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| Four-day weeks for Mai and Jess | Works | Harder. Costs more to cover | Works. Keeps two good people | Go. Trial from 1 February |
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7. Who decides
Worksheet 7Who decides
20 minutes · ten regular decisions · Core · Optional for small, hands-on businesses
What it's for: Putting a name and a kind of decision beside the calls your team makes every week.
| Decision | Who decides now (a name) | Who should | Kind now (hand over / AI, person checks / person, AI advises / people only) | Kind it should be | Did anyone choose to move it? |
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| The weekly roster | Leah | Tom for main street, Mai for the station | Person, AI advises. The roster app suggests shifts | Person, AI advises | No |
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| Milk and bread order | The supplier's app. It reorders on its own since an update in June | The app, with Mai checking on Mondays | Hand over. Nobody checks | AI, person checks | No, an update did it |
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| Remakes and refunds | Whoever is on the till | Whoever is on the till, up to $20 | People only | People only | Yes, we agreed it last year |
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| Coffee and menu prices | Leah | Leah, with Tom and Mai | People only | Person, AI advises. A cost sheet that updates itself | No |
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| Catering quotes | Leah | Jess | People only | Person, AI advises. AI drafts it from our price list | No |
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| Social posts and replies to reviews | Whichever casual likes doing it, with AI writing the words | AI writes, Tom checks any bad review | Hand over. Nobody looks | AI, person checks | No, it just drifted |
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| Hiring casuals | Leah | Tom or Mai, and Leah meets them | People only | People only | No |
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| Who gets a four-day week | Nobody yet | Leah, with Dan | People only | People only | Not yet |
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| Where we're checking everything, and what it costs us | I check every catering quote and every big order twice. About 3 hours a week. |
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| Where our comfort drops away, and the decisions we'd never hand over | Anything about someone's hours, pay or job. Any bad review that names one of our staff. Those stay with a person. |
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8. Who does the work
Worksheet 8One task, step by step
20 minutes · one real weekly task · Core · Optional for small, hands-on businesses
What it's for: Breaking one task into steps and giving each step to whoever or whatever does it best.
| The task | A catering order for an office morning tea. |
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| Step | Who or what does it now | Who or what should (person / machine / AI / mix / stop) | Why |
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| 1. The order comes in by email or phone | Leah | Mix. AI sorts the emails and marks the new orders. A person replies | Quicker, and they still hear from a person |
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| 2. Write the quote | Leah, from scratch each time | AI drafts it from our price list. Jess checks it | Jess knows what the kitchen can do that day |
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| 3. Put the order on the kitchen whiteboard | Leah | Machine. The order system prints a kitchen ticket | The whiteboard gets wiped by mistake |
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| 4. Make the food | Jess and Ravi | Person. Jess and Ravi | It's the part they come to us for |
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| 5. Deliver it | Leah, in her own car | Mix. A casual on a set run, or the customer picks up. No free delivery under $150 | Small deliveries lose us money and eat my morning |
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| 6. Send the bill and chase it | Leah, when she remembers | Machine sends it, with a reminder at 7 days. Leah rings at 21 days | We're waiting 45 days now |
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| For each step a person keeps, what they bring (judgement, trust, accountability, or not sure yet) | Jess checking the quote: judgement about the day. Making the food: care, it's why they order. Me ringing a late payer: trust. Plus a text the next day to ask how it went, which is how we get the next order. |
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| Steps only one person knows how to do (include yourself) | The catering price list and who gets a discount: only me. Resetting the station shop's grinder: only Mai. The bank login: only me and Pat. |
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9. Your immediate futures
Worksheet 9AMy immediate futures
25 minutes · Worksheets 1B, 2 and 5, your diary · Core
What it's for: Turning everything you've written into your first and next steps, each with a name, a date and a way to know it worked.
| What I'll do (a verb) | Who does it | By when | What it takes (money / time / attention) | How I'll know it worked | Easy to undo? |
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| 1. Stretch: Open the station shop at 6 am, with order-ahead by text for regulars | Mai | From 1 March, an 8-week trial, before the chain opens in April | ~$1,200 to set it up. Mai's early starts. My attention in February | 40 regulars ordering ahead by the end of April, and mornings within 10% of last year | Yes |
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| 2. Safe: Pull six weeks of cash and card sales for each shop | Pat | Friday 13 November | 2 hours of Pat's time, ~$150 | I decide on card-only by 30 November | Yes |
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| 3. Trial four-day weeks for Mai and Jess, and hire a casual barista to cover | Leah | From 1 February, for 10 weeks | ~$400 a week more in wages at first | Nobody leaves, fewer sick days, and both still want it in April | Yes |
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| What I'm waiting on, what for, and when I'll look again | The new coffee machine for the station, until 30 June. Saturdays at the station, until the lease talk in March. |
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| Date already on 2027's calendar | What has to be true before it |
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| March: paid parking on main street | Brunch tables free up faster on weekends. Regulars know where the free parking is. |
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| 31 March: say yes or no to the station shop lease | We know if the station shop can hold up against the chain. Dan has said yes or no. |
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| April: the chain café opens at the station | Order-ahead is running, and regulars have signed up. |
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✓Quick check, last week of January (15 minutes), in the diary. Friday 29 January, after close. Did the steps happen? Did the measures move? What's changed?
✓Proper look, end of March, in the diary. Wednesday 31 March. What would make us look sooner: the chain opens early, or we lose a catering client.
9. Your immediate futures
Worksheet 9BThe one page
15 minutes · everything you've written · Core · For your first day back
What it's for: Putting the whole review on one page you could show your team.
| Where we're heading (our ordinary day in late 2027, in two or three lines) | Two shops that run well without me on the floor every day. Tom and Mai run them. I work on the menu and the catering, and I'm home for dinner. |
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| Our numbers: so far, by December, and the one to watch (from 1B) | Sales ~$905,000 so far, ~$1.21 million by December. I keep ~64c from each dollar. The one to watch: that 64c. |
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| What we learned this year | Small costs add up faster than big ones. Milk, cups and the delivery app cost us more than the new fridge did. And the regulars come back for the people as much as the coffee. |
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| What's arriving that we're getting ready for | Paid parking on main street in March. The chain at the station in April. Staff wanting four-day weeks, which is now. |
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| What we're stopping | The delivery app at the station, from 1 December. Ground coffee bags. Paper stamp cards, from 1 March. |
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| Who decides what (the calls we've settled) | Tom and Mai do their own rosters. Jess does catering quotes. Remakes up to $20 are the till's call. The milk app orders, and Mai checks it. |
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| Our first steps: what, who, by when, and how we'll know | Pat pulls cash and card sales by 13 November, and I decide on card-only by 30 November. Four-day week trial from 1 February (me). Order-ahead at the station from 1 March (Mai): 40 regulars by the end of April. |
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| What we're deliberately waiting on | The new coffee machine, until 30 June. Station Saturdays, until the lease talk in March. |
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| When we look again | Last week of January (quick check), end of March (proper look), or sooner if: the chain opens early, or we lose a catering client. |
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| Future me leads with more… | Training. Saying yes to my team's ideas. The catering side. |
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| Future me lets go of… | The roster. Driving cakes around. Checking everything twice. |
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