A complete example.
The same person through all three packages: concept, business plan and funding programmes – as planix outputs them.
Concept, business plan, funding programmes.
This is how you see it in planix: read, tick off tasks, download.
Develop the business conceptYour business concept
Project, offer, market and route to customers – to share with partners, co-founders and advisers.
- Company
- Sam Reid Gardens
- Project
- Garden maintenance for landlords and homeowners
- As of
- 19.10.2026
1Summary
Sam Reid starts Sam Reid Gardens as a sole trader in Milton Keynes in the real estate, construction and trades sector, maintaining gardens for landlords, letting agents and homeowners on regular contracts. The offer is for letting agents and private landlords who need tidy gardens between and during tenancies, and for households without time for their gardens. Unlike large grounds maintenance firms, he takes small contracts, and unlike many sole traders, he keeps fixed visit dates with a photo report. Revenue comes from maintenance contracts and one-off clearances and planting. The business is founded by Sam Reid, a trained horticulturist and former team leader in grounds maintenance.
2Company and founders
Company
Sam Reid Gardens is the trading name of Sam Reid as a sole trader in Milton Keynes in South East England in the United Kingdom, working in the real estate, construction and trades sector. The business starts in March 2027. He works from home and keeps his tools in a lock-up garage.
Sam Reid
Sam Reid founds the business on his own. He holds a Level 3 diploma in horticulture and worked for 7 years as a gardener for a grounds maintenance company, the last 3 as team leader for housing association sites. He holds certificates for the safe use of pesticides and garden machinery.
Assessment
Horticulture, machinery and working to schedules are what Sam Reid brings. Open is who covers visits when he is ill.
3Offer and business model
Problem and customers
Landlords and letting agents in Milton Keynes need tidy gardens between and during tenancies, but struggle to find gardeners who keep to a schedule. Many homeowners have no time for their gardens. Sam Reid offers fixed visit dates and a photo report after every visit.
Offer
A maintenance visit on a contract costs an average of £70. One-off clearances and planting cost an average of £420 per job.
Business model
The business earns money mainly from regular maintenance contracts, plus one-off jobs. Fuel, green waste disposal and plants are the main direct costs.
Assessment
Contracts give a planned income from spring to autumn, and one-off jobs often follow from a contract. The contracts carry the business.
4Market and competition
Target group
The target group are letting agents, private landlords and households on the estates of Milton Keynes. For rented homes, the letting agent decides.
Competition
Without this offer landlords hire whoever is free or leave the garden. Large grounds maintenance firms work for councils and housing associations and rarely take small contracts. Other sole traders are cheaper, but often unreliable with dates.
Positioning
Prices are in line with other local gardeners. Sam Reid offers fixed visit dates and a photo report after every visit, which letting agents need.
Assessment
Assumption: letting agents give him more properties once the first contracts run reliably.
5Marketing and sales
Reachable through
The target group can be reached through letting agents, leaflets on new estates and local online groups.
First channel
The first customers are two letting agents he knows from his previous job.
Sales process
Sam Reid visits a letting agent, offers a trial on a few properties with photo reports, and the first order is a seasonal contract.
Assessment
The route to growth depends on few letting agents. Open is how many households he wins directly.
6What your concept does not answer yet
Before a bank, Start Up Loans or a partner backs your project, they ask for figures.
- Question 1: You plan 2 offers between £70 and £420. How many sales a month cover your income?
- Question 2: You plan regular visits for letting agents and homeowners. How do you finance materials until your customers pay?
- Question 3: You start in March 2027. How much money do you need until the first revenue comes in?
- Question 4: You name 2 competitors, including large grounds maintenance firms. What happens to your result if you stay 20% below your plan?
Business & Financial Planning Pro answers these questions with your financial plan, on the web and as a PDF. Your answers are already in it.
Fictional example People and companies are fictional. Places, authorities, programmes and the calculation parameters are real; every number is calculated with the planix financial plan.
Questions
It shows what the self-employed interview is about: that your business is your main work, organised, regular and expected to make a profit. You bring invoices, bank statements and records yourself.
Tell Universal Credit as soon as you start your business. Register for Self Assessment with HMRC by 5 October after the end of the tax year in which you started.
Universal Credit continues, based on your actual monthly earnings. If you are gainfully self-employed and have not had a start-up period before, the minimum income floor does not apply for up to 12 months.
Develop business concept is free. Business & financial planning Pro costs £39, Find funding £75 – each one-off, no subscription.
No. planix delivers the documents and the order. Reporting and deciding – that stays with you and your work coach.
Tell Universal Credit straight away if you close your business or your earnings change significantly. Your claim then continues on your new circumstances.
The UK example is not online yet. Your own concept and business plan planix writes and calculates for the UK – with Universal Credit, HMRC and pounds sterling.
Yes. Programmes, providers and check date come from the planix funding table; only person and company are fictional.
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The concept first. The numbers and the funding when you’re ready.
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