Looking for a scholarship consulting business plan? You're in the right place.
A consultancy that sells college guidance has to answer questions a bank or a partner will ask early. What do families pay for, when the fee is for hours and never for an award? How many counselors does a September rush need? What happens in a spring when almost nobody signs? A blank template gives no sense of what a sensible answer looks like.
This article walks through a complete sample plan for a college admissions and scholarship consultancy in Richmond, Virginia, section by section. It covers the executive summary, the SWOT analysis and, in particular, all of the financials.
Here's what you'll take away:
- The executive summary: see how to describe a fee-for-time service in a way that makes no promise about admissions or awards
- The package ladder: learn how an entry package, a senior-year package and a multi-year package fit together, and what each earns per counseling hour
- The capacity calendar: see how hours needed rise and fall across a year of deadlines, so hiring dates are set before the rush and not during it
- The rules a scholarship service sets for itself: write down the fee, refund and advertising limits a family and a regulator would look for
- The start-up budget and first-year cash: find out how big a reserve a practice needs for the slow first half of the year
- The five-year profit, cash flow and balance sheet: understand how each hire, price rise and package mix decision shows up in the numbers
- The downside case: have an answer ready for "what if 20% fewer families sign?", with the steps the owner takes
If you're setting up a college or scholarship consultancy, read this before writing your own plan. The firm is fictional, so keep what fits and change the rest.
In this plan
If you need a scholarship consulting business plan template for your own plan, start it in the Toolkit.
Executive Summary
ScholarshipAssist is a Virginia college-planning practice that opens in Richmond on 1 January 2027. It works with high school students and their parents on three things: a realistic list of colleges, the applications and essays that go with it, and a plan for paying. That plan covers a scholarship search calendar and a side-by-side reading of aid offers. Founder Dana Whitfield owns 100% of the company.
Families pay for hours of counseling at a published fee. ScholarshipAssist does not guarantee admission, a scholarship or an amount of aid. It takes no share of any award, sells no list of "guaranteed" scholarships and ties no refund to an outcome.
The practice needs $100,000: $75,000 of Dana's savings and a $25,000 bank term loan. Of that, $70,800 is a cash reserve, $12,000 buys equipment and office fit-out, and $17,200 pays for legal work, licensing and the launch campaign.
| Year 1 | Year 2 | Year 3 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | $193,700 | $350,400 | $527,900 |
| Net income after start-up costs | ($45,602) | $32,880 | $36,565 |
| Closing cash | $39,597 | $67,583 | $98,438 |
About 70 new families sign in 2027, most of them between March and October. Revenue is $2,100 in January and $29,650 in September. The practice loses money in every month through May and earns an operating profit from June to October. Year 2 is the first profitable year.
The plan tests itself against a 20% shortfall in signed families. With later hires, a smaller marketing budget, a pay cut for Dana and no distributions, the practice stays cash-positive in every year of the model.
The offer is narrow. The packages sit on a published fee schedule, one named counselor reads every essay draft, and a family can see the hours, the price and the refund terms before signing.
The Practice
Legal name: ScholarshipAssist, LLC, a Virginia limited liability company. Owner: Dana Whitfield, 100%. Office: 800 square feet of leased space in west Richmond, with two meeting rooms and one open desk. Opening date: 1 January 2027, in time for the spring award-letter season and ahead of the first fall application rush. Stage: pre-launch. The lease is in draft, the fee schedule and engagement letter have been through a lawyer, and the website is built.
What families buy
Help with college choice, applications and paying for school, priced as fixed packages that each buy a stated number of counseling hours.
| Package | Fee | Counseling hours | Fee per hour | Share of Year 1 revenue |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Roadmap sessions: college list, budget and timeline | $1,050 | about 4 | $263 | 21% |
| Application Season: signed by early fall for the January deadlines | $3,600 | about 15 | $240 | 37% |
| Full Cycle: junior spring to senior fall, half billed at signing and half six months later | $6,600 | about 30 | $220 | 32% |
| Aid-offer review (spring) or form check (fall) | $500 | about 2.5 | $200 | 6% |
| Parent workshop, paid by the host organization | $900 | about 4 | $225 | 4% |
The aid-offer review sets the offers from several colleges side by side and explains each one's terms. The form check is a read-through of the federal aid form after the family has completed and signed it. A counselor looks for omissions and entries that do not agree with the family's records, and explains what each section asks. The practice does not fill in or submit the form.
Application Season clients who sign in October or November get a compressed schedule at the same fee, and the proposal says so. Some colleges set early deadlines in the first half of November, so the calendar is built around families signing in September or earlier.
Marks through 2030
- About 70 new families in 2027, from 127 discovery calls.
- Revenue of $350,400 in 2028 and the first profit after tax.
- An admissions counselor in post by March 2028, before the spring ramp.
- The bank loan repaid on schedule by the end of 2031, with owner distributions beginning in 2030.
Rules the practice sets for itself
The Federal Trade Commission's consumer guidance on scholarship and financial aid scams, read, makes several points that bear directly on this business. It says legitimate companies never guarantee scholarships or grants. It says to walk away from any "processing" or "redemption" fee charged to win an award. It says to get the total cost, the services and the refund policy in writing. It adds that some legitimate companies sell scholarship lists or run database searches, but they do not promise awards.
ScholarshipAssist writes its working rules to match:
- Every fee is for counseling time, itemized in the engagement letter, with no charge to "apply" for any scholarship.
- Unused sessions are refunded in proportion to the time not delivered. No refund depends on an award or an admission.
- Advertising and the website make no claim about admission rates or award totals.
- The federal aid form is free to complete, and families complete it themselves. The practice checks a finished form and explains it. It does not file or submit one.
- Essays belong to the student. Counselors comment and question and do not write.
- Card details go only to the payment processor.
- A family that disputes a fee writes to Dana within 30 days. She replies in writing within five working days, and any refund due under the policy is paid within ten.
- Virginia's consumer-protection statutes may apply alongside the FTC's guidance. The plan does not cite them, and counsel confirms which apply before launch and reviews the engagement letter and fee schedule at each yearly renewal.
Richmond Families and the Alternatives
Where families look first
A family's free starting points are the high school's counseling office and the financial aid offices of the colleges it applies to. The FTC's consumer guidance names both. The Bureau of Labor Statistics reports a median of $64,330 for school and career counselors and advisors in May 2025, and projects 3% employment growth for the occupation from 2025 to 2035. School counselors are ScholarshipAssist's main referral partners and its closest comparison, since a family usually arrives after talking to one.
The Virginia Department of Education publishes graduate counts by school division, and those counts would show how many Richmond-area families approach college each year. The plan did not retrieve them and does not quote them. No source this plan could check gives the number of local families who buy private college counseling, so the plan states no market size. The model works from bottom-up counts instead: 70 new families in Year 1 and about 110 in Year 2, set against the hours counselors can deliver.
Who a family could use instead
| Alternative | What it offers | Why a family picks it | How ScholarshipAssist differs by design |
|---|---|---|---|
| School counseling office | Free guidance within the school | Cost, and the counselor knows the student | Time set aside for one family, with essay feedback on drafts |
| College financial aid offices and free search sites | Free information on each college's aid and open awards | No fee | Help comparing aid offers across several colleges |
| Test-preparation and tutoring companies | Admissions advice alongside courses | One provider for several needs | A counseling-only practice with no courses to sell |
| Independent educational consultants | Full-service admissions advice | Long records and national reach | Fixed packages and a fee schedule published before the first call |
| Freelance essay editors | Edits on a draft | Low price | A college list and a scholarship calendar around the essay |
| Online platforms | Self-serve tools and automated matching | Price and convenience | A named local counselor |
The table describes categories and how the practice positions itself, not a ranking. Prices change and are not quoted. Providers publish their own.
SWOT
| Strengths | Weaknesses |
|---|---|
| Eight years inside a university financial aid office | One senior person: Dana's own hours cap delivery until March 2028 |
| Fee schedule and refund terms published up front | No local brand, so every family starts from zero |
| Hours-based pricing that makes no claim about results | Half the year earns little, and Year 1 loses money |
| Opportunities | Threats |
|---|---|
| Referrals from school counselors, libraries and parent groups | Free tools and school offices that satisfy some families |
| Aid-offer reviews as a second sale to existing clients | Rules on scholarship services that tighten or change |
| Parent workshops as a low-cost first meeting | A bad review from a family that expected a guaranteed result |
Who Buys Admissions Help
Four kinds of buyer sign up, and the calendar sorts them.
The junior-spring family is the one the practice wants most. The student is halfway through 11th grade, a parent wants a plan before summer, and the family buys Full Cycle or starts with a Roadmap. The senior-fall family arrives later: the student starts 12th grade with no college list, or a list and no calendar, and buys Application Season, mostly between June and September. In spring, offers arrive and the numbers do not line up, which brings the third buyer, the award-letter family, to an aid-offer review. The fourth is an organization such as a parent association, library or employer that pays $900 for a 90-minute workshop. The families who attend pay nothing at the door, and some book a Roadmap afterward.
Aid reviews split by season. Of the 22 in Year 1, 12 are spring offer comparisons: 8 from families with no other package and 4 from existing Roadmap clients, since a January start leaves few clients to sell to before spring. The other 10 are fall form checks, all from families already signed for Application Season or Full Cycle. Together that is 14 existing clients out of 22, or about two-thirds.
Calls usually come after a deadline turns out to be closer than expected, an older sibling's experience, a cost estimate that frightens a parent, or a student with solid grades and no clear first choice. Families ask for a college list that fits the student and the budget, a calendar of dates, essays that still sound like the student, and a fee stated in advance.
The practice does not apply on behalf of a student, write an essay, complete the federal aid form or promise a result. A family that wants any of those is referred elsewhere at the discovery call.
From Discovery Call to Signed Package
The path to a signed engagement
A free 30-minute discovery call, a written proposal the next working day listing hours, fee and refund terms, an engagement letter, and an onboarding session in the first week. Dana takes every discovery call in Year 1.
Year 1 pipeline
About 127 discovery calls at a 55% close rate produce 70 new families.
| Where the family came from | New families | Share |
|---|---|---|
| School counselors and community referrals | 20 | 29% |
| Search and the website | 19 | 27% |
| Parent workshops | 15 | 21% |
| Social media and parent-group advertising | 10 | 14% |
| Dana's personal network | 6 | 9% |
Referrals from school counselors and Dana's network supply 26 of the 70, a referral share of 37%. The plan expects that share to approach half by Year 3 as past clients refer others. The practice pays no one for an introduction, in line with its own rule on fees and incentives.
The package ladder
The Roadmap is the entry point, and its fee is not credited against a later package. In Year 1, 6 of the 38 Roadmap clients go on to Application Season, which counts once among the 70 families. Eight families come only for an aid review.
Full Cycle families pay half at signing and half six months on. That smooths revenue but leaves the second half exposed to the refund policy, and the hours run into the following year after the fee has been billed.
Families signed each year
| Packages sold | Year 1 | Year 2 | Year 3 | Year 4 | Year 5 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Roadmap sessions | 38 | 56 | 80 | 90 | 98 |
| Application Season | 20 | 33 | 46 | 54 | 60 |
| Full Cycle | 10 | 20 | 30 | 36 | 42 |
| Aid-offer reviews and form checks | 22 | 46 | 74 | 90 | 104 |
| Parent workshops | 9 | 12 | 18 | 22 | 24 |
Growth after Year 3 slows because counselor hours set the limit. When the next four months of booked work would take the team past 90% of its available hours, new Application Season clients join a waiting list, and the revenue forecast stays below what demand alone would allow.
Reaching Families Before the Fall
Spend and what it buys
Year 1 marketing is $39,000: $11,000 of launch costs paid from start-up capital and $28,000 of running spend. That is 20% of revenue, and it falls to 8% in Year 3 and 6% in Year 5 as referrals build. Spread over 70 new families, the cost is about $557 per family. In Year 2 the plan puts $34,000 behind about 110 new families (56 Roadmap clients, 25 Application Season clients who did not start with a Roadmap, 20 Full Cycle clients and 9 aid-review-only families), or about $309 each.
| Channel | Year 1 spend | What it is expected to do |
|---|---|---|
| Website, brand and photography (launch) | $8,000 | Fee schedule and refund terms on the site, with a booking link |
| Printed guides and school and library outreach (launch) | $3,000 | Introductions to counseling offices and librarians |
| Search advertising | $7,500 | Searches for local college counseling; about 11 families |
| Content and email | $4,500 | A monthly guide timed to each deadline; about 8 further families from organic search |
| Workshop promotion | $3,000 | Flyers and posts through parent groups; 15 families after workshops |
| School counselor outreach program | $5,000 | A short guide for school counselors, shared where district policy allows; no payment per introduction |
| Community events and college-fair tables | $4,000 | Face-to-face introductions in the spring |
| Social and parent-group advertising | $4,000 | Reminders aimed at parents of juniors; about 10 families |
Marketing calendar
- January 2027: website live and the first Roadmap clients booked.
- March 2027: first parent workshop and the first aid-offer reviews.
- June 2027: first Application Season clients.
- September and October 2027: the busiest months, at 123 hours of client work each.
- December 2027: 70 families signed in the year.
- March 2028: the admissions counselor starts.
Running the Practice Around the Calendar
The office
800 square feet at $27 a square foot a year ($21,600 in Year 1), on a five-year lease with a personal guarantee. Two meeting rooms handle in-person sessions, and most sessions run by video. The practice moves to about 1,200 square feet in Year 4.
Counselor hours by month
Work follows application deadlines. Dana delivers about 75 hours a month. The first contract essay coach adds about 90 hours a month from July to December, and the first full-time counselor adds about 79 hours a month from March 2028. Application Season hours spread over the four months after signing, and Full Cycle hours over eight. Hours that fall after December carry into the next year.
| Month | 2027 hours needed | 2027 hours available | 2027 share used | 2028 hours needed | 2028 hours available | 2028 share used |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 8 | 75 | 11% | 34 | 75 | 45% |
| February | 16 | 75 | 21% | 34 | 75 | 45% |
| March | 37 | 75 | 49% | 73 | 154 | 47% |
| April | 51 | 75 | 68% | 97 | 154 | 63% |
| May | 58 | 75 | 77% | 100 | 154 | 65% |
| June | 65 | 75 | 87% | 111 | 154 | 72% |
| July | 79 | 165 | 48% | 141 | 244 | 58% |
| August | 101 | 165 | 61% | 173 | 244 | 71% |
| September | 123 | 165 | 75% | 210 | 244 | 86% |
| October | 123 | 165 | 75% | 213 | 244 | 87% |
| November | 95 | 165 | 58% | 165 | 244 | 68% |
| December | 60 | 165 | 36% | 107 | 244 | 44% |
June 2027 is the tightest month of the first year, with Dana working alone at 87% of her hours. The 2028 figures scale the 2027 shape to 2028's signing volumes and include hours carried over from late 2027. The admissions counselor starts in March 2028, because without her Dana's own hours would be exceeded from April.
| Year 1 | Year 2 | Year 3 | Year 4 | Year 5 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hours delivered in the year | 815 | 1,457 | 2,148 | 2,544 | 2,902 |
| Hours for families signed in the year | 843 | 1,482 | 2,167 | 2,563 | 2,908 |
| Hours available | 1,440 | 2,232 | 3,542 | 4,175 | 4,650 |
| Average share used | 57% | 65% | 61% | 61% | 62% |
| Busiest month, share used | 87% | 87% | 81% | 83% | 90% |
| Revenue per hour for families signed | $230 | $236 | $244 | $251 | $258 |
Average use stays near 60% because the work peaks from June to October while salaries run all year. That gap is why margins hold near 10% in the middle years. Year 5 is the first year the busiest month reaches 90%, and a further counselor would be the next hire if volumes keep growing. The revenue per hour for each year divides that year's revenue by the hours for the families signed in it. The weighted average at launch prices is about $234 an hour. No published rate for independent counselors in Richmond was found to compare it against.
How a family's work moves
The client portal holds the college list, a deadline calendar, essay drafts and the fee schedule. Each family has one named counselor. Dana reads a sample of every counselor's session notes each month. Scholarship searches use public sources and each college's own aid pages. The practice maintains no list of scholarships that it sells.
Billing and refunds
Roadmap sessions, aid reviews and workshops are billed at booking. Application Season is billed in full at signing. Full Cycle is billed half at signing and half six months later. A fee billed at signing is booked as revenue that month in the model, even though the hours and any refund for unused time run into the following year. The refunds line in the profit and loss covers that exposure.
Software, records and minors' data
A client portal with e-signature, scheduling and video calls, an essay-tracking tool and a database of public award listings. Software costs $9,000 in Year 1 and $17,500 by Year 5. Most clients are under 18, so the engagement letter names a parent or guardian as the contracting party and records their consent to the practice holding the student's transcripts, test scores and family finances. Files sit behind individual logins, only the assigned counselor and Dana can open them, and a written retention schedule sets when they are deleted. Counsel confirms which privacy rules apply to a practice holding records of minors before launch.
Insurance and licenses
- Entity registration and a Richmond business license.
- Professional liability, cyber and general liability cover, budgeted at $5,200 in Year 1.
- A written fee schedule, refund policy and engagement letter for every client.
- A yearly legal review of advertising and contract wording.
Suppliers and advisers on call
A payment processor, software vendors, a lawyer who reviews contracts, and an outside accountant for tax. None is hard to replace.
Dana Whitfield and the Counselor Bench
Dana Whitfield, founder and lead counselor
Dana worked for eight years in a university financial aid office in the Richmond area, the last three as an assistant director, and then for two years as a college counselor at an independent high school. She holds a master's degree in higher education. Her $75,000 investment is savings built over ten years of work. She is leaving institutional work to run a smaller practice where she works with families directly.
Her $85,000 salary is above the $63,000 to $68,000 paid to the staff counselors. She carries the sales, reads a sample of every counselor's notes, and gives the bank a personal guarantee, and she has the longest experience in the firm.
Where the team is thin
Dana has not run a sales pipeline from nothing, has not employed counselors, and has never carried the commercial risk of a practice. The plan covers these with a weekly outreach schedule, a lawyer on call for contracts and employment, and a retained accountant.
If Dana is out
Dana is the only senior counselor until March 2028. Until then a peer counselor from another Virginia practice is on call to cover two weeks of sessions, under a written arrangement. From March 2028 the admissions counselor can take any Application Season client without a handover.
Hiring path
The first contract coach starts in July 2027 and the admissions counselor in March 2028. The part-time client coordinator follows in January 2029 and the aid and scholarship counselor in March 2029. A second coach joins in July 2029 and a second senior counselor in July 2030. Counselor salaries sit close to the BLS median for school and career counselors.
Outside help
An independent counselor who runs a practice in another Virginia city reviews the first-year numbers every quarter. Dana uses the Virginia Small Business Development Center network for pricing and tax questions.
Ownership and the bank
Dana owns 100% of ScholarshipAssist, LLC and gives the bank a personal guarantee. The loan carries a covenant to deliver quarterly accounts.
Fees, Funding and Five-Year Figures
One model sits behind every table in this section: twelve months of detail for 2027, then one column per year to 2031. Funding and the operating figures come first, followed by revenue, staffing and the three statements.
Funding the first season
| Use of funds | Amount |
|---|---|
| Laptops, second screens, video-call kit, printer | $6,500 |
| Office furniture and meeting-room fit-out | $5,500 |
| Entity registration and city business license | $1,200 |
| Legal: engagement letter, fee and refund policy, advertising review | $5,000 |
| Launch: website, brand, school and library outreach | $11,000 |
| Cash reserve for the slow first half of the year | $70,800 |
| Total uses | $100,000 |
| Source of funds | Amount |
|---|---|
| Dana Whitfield's savings | $75,000 |
| Bank term loan | $25,000 |
| Total sources | $100,000 |
Dana Whitfield puts in $75,000 of savings, 75% of the $100,000 raised. A bank term loan covers the other $25,000 over five years at 10.5%, with interest only for the first six months and a personal guarantee. The rate is a figure chosen for this example, not a quoted lending rate. $70,800 of the total sits as a cash reserve. Cash is lowest in May 2027 at about $27,000, roughly a month and a half of costs, and the first full-time counselor starts ten months later. A smaller loan would leave less cushion for that hire, and the practice bills little between January and May while paying rent and its founder from the first month.
Operating figures behind the model
- Four packages and a workshop line carry the fees. Roadmap sessions cost $1,050 for about 4 hours. Application Season costs $3,600 for about 15 hours, with most families signing between June and September ahead of the fall deadlines. Full Cycle costs $6,600 for about 30 hours from the junior spring to the senior fall, billed half at signing and half six months later. An aid-offer review or form check costs $500 for about 2.5 hours. A parent workshop brings $900 for about 4 hours including preparation. Every fee buys hours of counseling. None depends on an admission or an award.
- Year 1 holds 38 Roadmap clients, 20 Application Season clients, 10 Full Cycle clients, 22 aid reviews and 9 workshops. Of the 38 Roadmap clients, 6 go on to buy Application Season, which leaves about 70 new families in the year. Of the 22 aid reviews, 12 are spring offer comparisons (8 for families with no other package, 4 for existing clients) and 10 are fall form checks for families already signed. Fees rise 3% a year from Year 2.
- Capacity is counted by month. Dana delivers about 75 hours a month because she also sells and runs the practice. A full-time counselor delivers about 79 hours a month, or 950 a year, since discovery calls, notes and training take the rest of the week. The first seasonal coach adds about 90 hours a month from July to December, and the second adds 60 from July 2029. Application Season hours spread over the four months after signing and Full Cycle hours over eight.
- Hours delivered in the calendar year are 815, 1,457, 2,148, 2,544 and 2,902 across Years 1 to 5, against 1,440, 2,232, 3,542, 4,175 and 4,650 available. The busiest month in each year uses 87%, 87%, 81%, 83% and 90% of the hours available. The first two counselors start in March, ahead of the spring ramp, the third in July, ahead of the fall, and each coach starts in July. New Application Season clients join a waiting list when the next four months of booked work would take the team past 90% of available hours.
- Revenue per hour of counseling for the families signed in a year is about $230 in Year 1 and rises with the 3% fee increases to about $258 in Year 5. At launch prices, the five offerings average about $234 an hour. No outside benchmark for independent counselor rates was found, so the figure is the plan's own.
- Payment fees and chargebacks cost 2.5% of package fees. Families pay by card or bank transfer at signing and at the second installment, so receivables average 5 days. A separate line holds refunds under the written policy and bad debt, at 1.3% of revenue in Year 1 and 1.3% to 1.5% after that.
- Payroll adds 27% to wages for payroll taxes, health cover, paid leave and workers' compensation (15% for the part-time coordinator). Counselor salaries of $63,000, $65,000 and $68,000 sit close to the $64,330 median the Bureau of Labor Statistics reports for school and career counselors (May 2025), a related occupation and not the same job. Dana's $85,000 is higher because she carries the sales, the supervision and the bank guarantee, and has the longest experience. The seasonal coaches are contractors paid about $44 an hour with no on-costs, and appear at annual-equivalent rates. Annual pay raises of 3% are charged as a separate line from Year 2.
- Rent is 800 square feet in a west Richmond office building at $27 a square foot a year, then 1,200 square feet at about $28.75 from Year 4. Insurance covers professional liability, cyber and general liability. Software covers the client portal, e-signature, scheduling, video calls and essay-tracking tools.
- Marketing is $28,000 of running spend in Year 1, on top of $11,000 of launch costs. School counselors and other referral sources are not paid per introduction. Marketing falls from 20% of revenue in Year 1 to 8% in Year 3 and 6% in Year 5 as referrals build.
- Revenue is booked when it is billed. The engine has no deferred-revenue line, so a Full Cycle fee billed at signing is counted in full that month even though the hours, and any refund owed for unused time, run into the following year. Revenue therefore leads the work, and the refunds line stands in for the liability.
- Tax is charged at the federal corporate rate of 21% and Virginia's 6% corporate rate, about 25.7% combined once the state tax is deducted federally. The Year 1 operating loss is carried forward, but the $17,200 of start-up costs is not, so tax in Years 2 and 3 is slightly overstated. Many owner-run practices would elect pass-through treatment, which would change the tax line. Corporate rates are the cautious choice for this example.
- Dana takes owner distributions of $15,000 in Year 4 and $30,000 in Year 5, only once cash and retained earnings can cover them. The bank loan runs to term rather than being repaid early.
Revenue by package
| Revenue stream | Year 1 | Year 2 | Year 3 | Year 4 | Year 5 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Roadmap sessions (entry package) | $39,900 | $60,600 | $89,100 | $103,300 | $115,800 |
| Application Season (senior-year package) | $72,000 | $122,400 | $175,700 | $212,400 | $243,100 |
| Full Cycle (junior spring to senior fall) | $62,700 | $132,600 | $206,600 | $257,500 | $309,800 |
| Aid-offer reviews and form checks | $11,000 | $23,700 | $39,300 | $49,200 | $58,500 |
| Parent workshops and school partnerships | $8,100 | $11,100 | $17,200 | $21,600 | $24,300 |
| Total revenue | $193,700 | $350,400 | $527,900 | $644,000 | $751,500 |
| Growth on prior year | – | 81% | 51% | 22% | 17% |
Full Cycle and Application Season carry the practice, bringing 70% of Year 1 revenue and 72% of Year 3 revenue. Roadmap sessions earn the most per hour, about $263, but they do not scale. Full Cycle earns the least of the three main packages, about $220, and holds a family for about a year, so its share of revenue rises from 32% in Year 1 to 39% in Year 3 and 41% in Year 5.
Month by month in Year 1
| Month | Roadmap sessions (entry package) | Application Season (senior-year package) | Full Cycle (junior spring to senior fall) | Aid-offer reviews and form checks | Parent workshops and school partnerships | Total revenue | EBITDA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan 2027 | $2,100 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $2,100 | ($15,684) |
| Feb 2027 | $3,150 | $0 | $3,300 | $0 | $0 | $6,450 | ($11,438) |
| Mar 2027 | $3,150 | $0 | $6,600 | $2,000 | $900 | $12,650 | ($5,386) |
| Apr 2027 | $4,200 | $0 | $6,600 | $2,500 | $900 | $14,200 | ($3,873) |
| May 2027 | $5,250 | $0 | $6,600 | $1,500 | $900 | $14,250 | ($3,825) |
| Jun 2027 | $5,250 | $7,200 | $6,600 | $0 | $900 | $19,950 | $1,739 |
| Jul 2027 | $4,200 | $14,400 | $3,300 | $0 | $0 | $21,900 | $3,642 |
| Aug 2027 | $3,150 | $18,000 | $3,300 | $0 | $900 | $25,350 | $7,009 |
| Sep 2027 | $3,150 | $18,000 | $6,600 | $1,000 | $900 | $29,650 | $11,206 |
| Oct 2027 | $2,100 | $10,800 | $6,600 | $1,500 | $1,800 | $22,800 | $4,521 |
| Nov 2027 | $2,100 | $3,600 | $6,600 | $1,500 | $900 | $14,700 | ($3,385) |
| Dec 2027 | $2,100 | $0 | $6,600 | $1,000 | $0 | $9,700 | ($8,266) |
January brings $2,100 and the practice loses money in each month through May, because families sign for the fall well ahead of the deadlines. EBITDA, which is profit before interest, depreciation and tax, turns positive in June and stays positive through October, as Application Season fees and the second Full Cycle installments land together. November and December fall back once signings stop, while the coach is still on the payroll. The lowest month-end cash balance is May, at about $27,000 after allowing for the 5 days families take to pay.
Counselor bench and hiring dates
| Role | Annual wage | Starts | Year 1 end | Year 2 end | Year 3 end | Year 4 end | Year 5 end |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Founder and lead counselor | $85,000 | Month 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Seasonal essay coach (contract, July to December) | $47,500 | Month 7 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Admissions counselor | $63,000 | Month 15 | – | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Client coordinator (part time, 20 hours a week) | $27,000 | Month 25 | – | – | 0.5 | 0.5 | 0.5 |
| Aid and scholarship counselor | $65,000 | Month 27 | – | – | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Second seasonal essay coach (contract, July to December) | $32,000 | Month 31 | – | – | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Second senior counselor | $68,000 | Month 43 | – | – | – | 1 | 1 |
| Total payroll incl. on-costs | $131,700 | $198,375 | $327,552 | $384,490 | $427,670 |
Dana works alone until July 2027, when a contract essay coach joins for the fall rush and leaves in December. The coach returns every July. The admissions counselor starts in month 15 (March 2028), a part-time client coordinator in month 25 and an aid and scholarship counselor in month 27 (March 2029). A second seasonal coach joins in July 2029 and a second senior counselor in July 2030. The first two counselors start in March, so each has weeks of onboarding before the summer rush. The coaches are listed at annual-equivalent rates and paid for six months a year, and the coordinator's $27,000 is a part-time salary. Dana's $85,000 starts in month one, which makes every profit line here a figure after she has been paid.
Profit and loss
| Year 1 | Year 2 | Year 3 | Year 4 | Year 5 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | $193,700 | $350,400 | $527,900 | $644,000 | $751,500 |
| Card and bank fees | ($4,640) | ($8,394) | ($12,646) | ($15,427) | ($18,002) |
| Gross profit | $189,060 | $342,006 | $515,254 | $628,573 | $733,498 |
| Payroll incl. on-costs | ($131,700) | ($198,375) | ($327,552) | ($384,490) | ($427,670) |
| Rent | ($21,600) | ($22,300) | ($23,000) | ($34,500) | ($35,500) |
| Utilities | ($2,400) | ($2,500) | ($2,600) | ($3,500) | ($3,600) |
| Marketing | ($28,000) | ($34,000) | ($40,000) | ($44,000) | ($47,000) |
| Insurance | ($5,200) | ($6,200) | ($7,500) | ($8,800) | ($9,600) |
| Professional fees | ($4,200) | ($4,500) | ($5,000) | ($5,300) | ($5,600) |
| Software subscriptions | ($9,000) | ($11,000) | ($14,000) | ($16,000) | ($17,500) |
| Training, memberships and campus visits | ($3,000) | ($3,500) | ($4,500) | ($5,500) | ($6,000) |
| Workshop costs (room hire, printing, travel) | ($2,400) | ($3,400) | ($4,300) | ($5,000) | ($5,400) |
| Phones, supplies and postage | ($2,800) | ($3,300) | ($3,900) | ($4,400) | ($4,700) |
| Equipment replacement and new-hire kit | $0 | ($3,500) | ($3,000) | ($6,500) | ($3,000) |
| Refunds under the written policy and bad debt | ($2,500) | ($4,800) | ($7,000) | ($9,500) | ($11,500) |
| Annual pay raises (3% a year) | $0 | ($5,951) | ($19,948) | ($35,653) | ($53,676) |
| EBITDA | ($23,740) | $38,680 | $52,955 | $65,430 | $102,752 |
| Depreciation | ($2,086) | ($2,086) | ($2,086) | ($2,086) | ($2,086) |
| Interest | ($2,577) | ($2,162) | ($1,630) | ($1,039) | ($382) |
| Income tax | $0 | ($1,552) | ($12,674) | ($16,038) | ($25,813) |
| Net income before start-up costs | ($28,402) | $32,880 | $36,565 | $46,268 | $74,471 |
| Start-up costs expensed at opening (legal, licensing, launch marketing) | ($17,200) | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 |
| Net income after start-up costs | ($45,602) | $32,880 | $36,565 | $46,268 | $74,471 |
Year 1 loses $28,402 before start-up costs and $45,602 after them. Year 2 is the first profitable year, with an EBITDA margin of 11.0%. The margin holds near 10% in Years 3 and 4 as the coordinator, the aid counselor, the second coach and the second senior counselor start, and reaches 13.7% in Year 5, when no one is hired. Income tax is $1,552 in Year 2 because the Year 1 loss absorbs most of that year's profit.
Cash movements
| Year 1 | Year 2 | Year 3 | Year 4 | Year 5 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cash from operations | ($46,170) | $32,819 | $36,219 | $46,764 | $75,084 |
| Equipment and fit-out | ($12,000) | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 |
| Funding received | $100,000 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 |
| Loan principal repaid | ($2,233) | ($4,833) | ($5,365) | ($5,956) | ($6,613) |
| Owner distributions | $0 | $0 | $0 | ($15,000) | ($30,000) |
| Net change in cash | $39,597 | $27,987 | $30,854 | $25,807 | $38,472 |
| Closing cash | $39,597 | $67,583 | $98,438 | $124,245 | $162,717 |
Cash rises at every year end, from $39,597 in Year 1 to $162,717 in Year 5. The loan is repaid in full by the end of Year 5, and distributions start in Year 4.
Balance sheet
| At year end | Year 1 | Year 2 | Year 3 | Year 4 | Year 5 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cash | $39,597 | $67,583 | $98,438 | $124,245 | $162,717 |
| Accounts receivable | $2,653 | $4,800 | $7,232 | $8,822 | $10,295 |
| Equipment and fit-out (net) | $9,914 | $7,829 | $5,743 | $3,657 | $1,571 |
| Total assets | $52,164 | $80,212 | $111,412 | $136,724 | $174,582 |
| Bank loan | $22,767 | $17,934 | $12,569 | $6,613 | $0 |
| Paid-in capital | $75,000 | $75,000 | $75,000 | $75,000 | $75,000 |
| Retained earnings | ($45,602) | ($12,722) | $23,843 | $55,111 | $99,582 |
| Total liabilities and equity | $52,164 | $80,212 | $111,412 | $136,724 | $174,582 |
Margins and the monthly revenue line
| Measure | Year 1 | Year 2 | Year 3 | Year 4 | Year 5 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| EBITDA margin | -12.3% | 11.0% | 10.0% | 10.2% | 13.7% |
| Net margin (before start-up costs) | -14.7% | 9.4% | 6.9% | 7.2% | 9.9% |
| Payroll incl. pay raises as share of revenue | 68% | 58% | 66% | 65% | 64% |
| Revenue per full-time equivalent at year end | $193,700 | $175,200 | $150,829 | $143,111 | $167,000 |
| Average monthly revenue | $16,142 | $29,200 | $43,992 | $53,667 | $62,625 |
| Monthly revenue needed to cover operating costs | $18,169 | $25,898 | $39,470 | $48,080 | $53,852 |
| Debt service cover (EBITDA / interest + principal) | -4.9x | 5.5x | 7.6x | 9.4x | 14.7x |
The last two rows of the ratios table put the monthly revenue line next to what the cost base requires. Year 1 averages $16,142 a month against $18,169 required, so it loses money. Year 2 averages $29,200 against $25,898, and Year 3 $43,992 against $39,470. Debt service cover is negative in Year 1 because EBITDA is negative while interest is paid, then holds above 5x. Revenue per full-time equivalent leaves out the seasonal coaches, who supply about 540 hours a year from Year 1, so that row reads lower than the true figure per head.
A 20% shortfall in signed families
| Year 1 | Year 2 | Year 3 | Year 4 | Year 5 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | $154,960 | $280,320 | $422,320 | $515,200 | $601,200 |
| Net income before start-up costs | ($39,024) | $15,672 | $46,354 | $20,033 | $70,979 |
| Net income after start-up costs | ($56,224) | $15,672 | $46,354 | $20,033 | $70,979 |
| Closing cash | $29,505 | $40,713 | $81,842 | $96,732 | $162,006 |
This case cuts every revenue line by 20% in every year. The response: the admissions counselor starts three months later, in June 2028, and the coordinator, the aid counselor and the second coach each start six months later. The second senior counselor is dropped, marketing is cut by 20%, Dana takes a 20% pay cut, the practice stays in its first office and no distributions are paid. The first seasonal coach still starts in July 2027. On those terms the practice ends every year with cash in the bank, at no less than $29,505, and is profitable from Year 2. Profit in Years 2 and 3 is higher than in the base case because the later hires, the lower marketing and Dana's pay cut save more than the lost margin. The figures show the response working and not a forecast. Equity ends Year 1 at $18,776, so thin that the practice would raise it with the bank before any covenant date. Capacity is tightest before the admissions counselor arrives: at 80% of planned demand, April and May 2028 run at 103% and 106% of Dana's own hours, which she covers with extra evenings or by waiting-listing a few new clients. From June 2028 monthly use stays under 90%.
Sources
- Federal Trade Commission, How to avoid scholarship and financial aid scams: no guaranteed awards, no upfront fees to win an award, fee and refund terms in writing, free federal aid form.
- Bureau of Labor Statistics, School and career counselors and advisors, Occupational Outlook Handbook: median pay of $64,330 (May 2025) and 3% projected growth, 2025 to 2035.
- Virginia Department of Taxation, Corporation income tax: 6% of Virginia taxable income.
- Not sourced: Richmond-area graduate counts (the Virginia Department of Education publishes them by division), market size, local counseling fees, competitor prices and the Virginia statutes on scholarship services. The plan states none of these.
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