Sample Seminar Business Plan | Free Example With Financials

Looking for a seminar business plan? You're in the right place.

A seminar company has to answer questions a venue, a bank or an investor will put to it. How many seats must sell before an event pays for its room and its promotion? How much of the year comes from corporate clients rather than public tickets? What happens in the months when nobody books a room? A blank template will not show you what a believable answer looks like.

In this article we'll walk through a complete sample plan for a professional-training seminar company in Atlanta, Georgia, section by section. We'll cover the executive summary, the competitor table and SWOT, the events calendar and, most of all, the full set of financials.

Here's what you'll take away:

The executive summary: see how to put an events business on one page, so a reader knows the ask and the payoff within a minute
The cost of one seminar: work out the break-even attendance for a single event, so you know how many seats must sell before you book the room
The events calendar: plan around the months when buyers disappear, and see how many events a small team can deliver
The two buyers: learn how a public ticket and a corporate day rate differ, and how to balance the two lines
The first year, month by month: spot the months that lose money before they arrive, and size your cash reserve to match
The five-year profit, cash flow and balance sheet: see how each hire, price rise and sponsor package shows up in the numbers
The downside case: have an answer ready for "what if bookings run 20% short?", along with the steps the owner takes

If you're setting up a training or events business, read this before you write your own. The company is fictional, so take what fits yours and change the rest.

In this plan

The Plan on One Page
The Company and Its Programmes
The Atlanta Training Market
Who Books a Seat and Who Books a Room
Filling Seats and Winning Rooms
Where the Promotion Money Goes
How a Seminar Day Gets Delivered
Doug and the Team
The Numbers Behind the Seminars
Sources

If you need a seminar business plan template for your own plan, start it in the Toolkit.

5-Year Financial Highlights

Year 1 revenue$306k

Year 5 revenue$1.51M

Year 5 net income$142k

Year 5 closing cash$192k

The Plan on One Page

Pontificators is an Atlanta company that sells professional-skills training in two ways: one-day public seminars that individuals and company teams buy seats for, and in-house programmes delivered at a client's own site. It opens on 1 January 2027 with three programmes: advanced reading, stress management and time management. Founder Doug Matisim is the majority owner with 56% of the shares, and three angel investors who put in $45,000 each hold the rest.

The company needs $430,000. Doug puts in $170,000, the angel investors add $135,000 and a bank term loan supplies $125,000. Of the total, $378,500 is kept as a cash reserve, $22,000 buys audio-visual kit and office fit-out, $6,000 pays venue deposits for the first events before opening, and $23,500 pays for legal work, licences and the launch campaign.

	Year 1	Year 2	Year 3
Revenue	$306,250	$590,040	$1,020,080
Net income after start-up costs	($166,739)	($73,077)	$14,589
Closing cash	$221,529	$121,927	$100,333

Year 1 runs 10 public seminars and 26 in-house sessions for about 12 client companies. The first two years lose money because rooms, speakers and promotion are paid for before tickets fill, audiences are small while the name is new, and the senior trainer joins in Year 2 ahead of the revenue the role brings. Year 3 is the first profitable year, with 23 public events at a 70% fill rate and 88 in-house sessions. The margin is thin at 2.8% before interest, depreciation and tax.

The plan includes a downside case. With seats and bookings 20% short but the same number of events, later hires, a smaller promotion budget, a founder pay cut and no distributions leave the company with cash in the bank at the end of every year.

One public seminar covers its room, speaker, lunch and workbook costs at 13 paid attendees, and covers its promotion as well at 30 in Year 1, against a room of 60. Year 1 averages 33.

The Company and Its Programmes

Legal name: Pontificators, Inc., a Georgia corporation. Owners: Doug Matisim (56%) and three angel investors (44% between them). Premises: about 900 square feet of leased office in Midtown Atlanta; seminars are held in rented hotel and conference-centre rooms. Start date: 1 January 2027, with the first public seminar in February.

The three programmes

Programme	What a participant leaves with	Led by	Public format	In-house format
Advanced reading	A reading method for reports, contracts and email, with comprehension and recall exercises	Doug and the senior trainer	One day, 60 seats	Full day, up to 28 participants
Stress management	Workload and deadline techniques practised in the room; skills training, not therapy	A trainer with a licensed counsellor co-presenting	One day, 60 seats	Full day, up to 28 participants
Time management	A weekly planning method and rules for meetings and inbox time	Doug and the senior trainer	One day, 60 seats	Full day, up to 28 participants

Public days are presentations with exercises. In-house days are smaller, hands-on and shaped around the client's own examples. The co-presenter on stress-management days and a guest practitioner on some other days are a budgeted cost of $1,200 per public event.

What the company is for

Give Atlanta professionals and the teams that employ them a practical day of training on how they read, plan and cope with pressure, led by the author of the reading method and by a small team trained on the same workbook.

Aims for the first two years

10 public seminars and 26 in-house sessions in 2027.
A 63% fill rate on public events and 46 in-house sessions in 2028.
A first profitable year in 2029.
Repay the bank loan on schedule from mid-2027 and begin owner distributions in 2030.

Revenue lines

Line	How it is priced	Year 1 share of revenue
Public seminar tickets	$475 average net ticket	51%
Corporate in-house programmes	$5,500 a day	47%
Event sponsors and exhibitors	$650 per event on average	2%

Attendance records, not credits

Pontificators issues certificates of attendance and does not offer credit-bearing courses or professional continuing-education credit during this plan. Counsel confirms before opening whether this keeps the company outside any state rules on postsecondary instruction.

The Atlanta Training Market

What the labour data says

The Bureau of Labor Statistics put the median pay of training and development specialists at $69,280 in May 2025 and projects employment growth of 11% from 2025 to 2035. For meeting, convention and event planners the median is $61,160 and the projection is 6% over the same decade. The two occupations bracket this company's work: buying training is a recognised function of HR departments, and running a room well is a profession of its own.

Pricing in context

The ticket and day rate are the company's own: $475 net per seat and $5,500 per in-house day, which works out to $196 a head for 28 participants. Published fees vary widely by provider and topic, so none is quoted here.

Who a buyer could hire instead

Alternative	What it offers	Why a buyer picks it	How Pontificators differs by design
National training brands and franchises	Broad catalogues, trained facilitators in many cities	Familiar name, easy procurement	Three programmes only, with the author leading two of them
Independent Atlanta trainers and consultants	Custom workshops	Price and local relationships	A scheduled public calendar and a standard workbook
University and college continuing-education programmes	Evening and short courses	Institutional credentials	One-day format with no semester commitment
Online course libraries	Self-paced video lessons	Lowest cost per learner	Live practice with a trainer in the room
Conference and association events	Many speakers in one event	Networking and credits	A single skill taught in depth

The table compares what each category offers and where this company positions itself. It is not a ranking, and fee levels inside each category are too varied to quote.

SWOT

Strengths	Weaknesses
Founder wrote the book behind the reading programme	No public audience in January 2027
Three focused programmes with one workbook	Year 1 depends on one trainer who also sells
Two corporate clients ready to book in February and March	No Atlanta brand yet: promotion costs about $176 per paying attendee in Year 1

Opportunities	Threats
Teams buying seats after one person attends	Online courses taking price-sensitive buyers
Sponsors wanting a room of HR and operations managers	Training budgets are cut first in a downturn
Repeat bookings from clients who start with one session	Venue costs rising faster than ticket prices

Who Books a Seat and Who Books a Room

Two buyers

The public seat is bought by an individual professional, often an office manager, analyst or team lead, who pays $475 on a company card or personally. The in-house day is bought by an HR or learning manager at a company with 100 to 2,000 employees who holds a training budget and wants the day delivered on site.

What each of them is trying to solve

The individual wants a skill they can use on Monday. The HR manager wants a vendor who turns up, runs to time and produces feedback forms that justify the spend. Both read an unfamiliar training brand as a risk until a colleague has attended.

How the two meet

About one corporate client in six in Year 1 is expected to come from a public seminar, when a delegate returns to work and asks for the programme for their team. Public events therefore serve as sales calls as well as revenue lines.

What buyers ask of the company

A clear agenda and learning outcomes. A trainer who has written about the subject. A fixed price. Feedback scores shared after the day.

Filling Seats and Winning Rooms

From enquiry to booking

For a public seat, a visitor reaches the ticket page from an email, a partner listing or search, and pays online. For an in-house day, an HR manager makes an enquiry, Doug holds a 30-minute scoping call, a fixed-fee proposal goes out within two working days, and the booking is confirmed with a 25% deposit.

Year 1 pipeline

About 12 client companies buy the 26 in-house sessions: 2 signed before opening, 3 from Doug's own network, 3 from referrals, 2 from outbound LinkedIn and association outreach, and 2 when a delegate at a public seminar asks for the programme in-house.

Pricing

The list price of a public seat is $525. The average net ticket is $475 once early-bird rates and a 10% discount for teams of three or more are taken off. In-house days are $5,500 for up to 28 participants. Tickets rise $15 a year and in-house days $150 a year from Year 2.

Events per quarter

Quarter	Year 1 public events	Year 1 in-house sessions	Year 1 revenue
Q1	2	3	$37,400
Q2	3	8	$89,250
Q3	1	6	$51,100
Q4	4	9	$128,500
Year	10	26	$306,250

The first quarter is the weakest for revenue, and the third has the fewest public events. Later years run 17, 23, 27 and 30 public events, and 46, 88, 112 and 126 in-house sessions. The calendar keeps a similar shape, but the model spreads Years 2 to 5 evenly across the months.

Repeat business

Corporate clients that book once are expected to book again: the plan expects roughly half of in-house sessions after Year 1 to come from existing clients. Doug holds a review call after each session and offers a second programme.

Where the Promotion Money Goes

Year 1 budget

Launch spend is $16,000, paid from start-up funds: $7,000 for the website and ticketing pages, $4,000 for brand and video, and $5,000 for first-season advertising. Running promotion is $74,000, or 24% of Year 1 revenue; with launch spend included the first year spends $90,000, or 29%. An unknown open-enrolment brand has to buy most of its first audiences, so the share falls to 11% by Year 3 and 8% by Year 5 as repeat delegates and corporate teams take over.

Channel	Year 1 spend	What it is expected to do
Event promotion (10 events at $5,800)	$58,000	Paid social, partner list mailings and email campaigns to fill each room
Corporate outreach	$9,000	LinkedIn outreach, HR association events and a short sales deck
Content and email list	$4,000	A monthly article and a registration-page newsletter
Sponsor prospectus and print	$3,000	A printed brochure and sales calls to likely sponsors

What a seat costs to win

Promotion per event is $5,800 in Year 1, or about $176 for each of the 330 paid attendees, which is 37% of the $475 net ticket. The figure falls to $4,400 per event in Year 2 and $3,500 in Year 3, about $83 per attendee, as the repeat and team share of each room grows.

Milestones

February 2027: first public seminar, with 20 attendees.
June 2027: five public events run and 11 in-house sessions delivered.
October 2027: two public events in the month, starting a fourth quarter with $128,500 of revenue.
December 2027: 26 in-house sessions delivered in the year.

How a Seminar Day Gets Delivered

The office and the rooms

Doug leases about 900 square feet in Midtown Atlanta for $30,000 in Year 1, enough for six desks and a storage room for banners, workbooks and AV cases. Public seminars use hotel and conference-centre rooms booked three to six months ahead, so $6,000 of venue deposits for the first-quarter events is paid before opening. Each event is priced around a 60-seat room with a lunch.

The economics of one public seminar

	Year 1	Year 2	Year 3	Year 4	Year 5
Net ticket price	$475	$490	$505	$520	$535
Room, audio-visual and co-presenter per event	$4,600	$4,740	$4,880	$5,030	$5,180
Lunch, workbook, ticketing fee and incidentals per attendee	$118	$121	$125	$129	$133
Promotion per event	$5,800	$4,400	$3,500	$3,100	$3,000
Break-even attendees, event costs only	13	13	13	13	13
Break-even attendees, with promotion	30	25	23	21	21
Break-even attendees, with promotion and average sponsor income	28	23	20	19	18
Average paid attendees per event	33	38	42	43	44
Fill rate of a 60-seat room	55%	63%	70%	72%	73%
Direct cost per attendee	$257	$246	$241	$246	$251
Direct cost plus promotion per attendee	$433	$362	$325	$318	$319
Profit per event before overhead and sponsors	$1,381	$4,882	$7,580	$8,683	$9,508

Break-even attendees are the event costs divided by the contribution each ticket leaves after its own costs. In Year 1 the 30-attendee figure is half of a 60-seat room and the average event clears it by only three seats, which is why Year 1 events earn little. By Year 3 the break-even is 38% of the room against an average fill of 70%.

Go or no-go on an event

Doug confirms an event only when paid registrations reach the break-even figure for the year, 30 in Year 1 and 25 in Year 2, 21 days before the date. Below that, the date moves and registrants choose a transfer or a refund. Venue contracts are negotiated to allow cancellation without penalty up to that point. Where a hotel will not agree, the larger deposit is treated as an extra event cost and the event is run.

Venue contracts and ticket terms

Venue contracts carry a food-and-beverage minimum and an attrition clause that sets how far the catering count may fall below the booked number before charges apply. The company guarantees its catering count 72 hours before the event, and sets minimums below the break-even headcount, since lunch costs about $62 a head. Tickets are refundable in full until 14 days before the event. They can be transferred to a colleague or another date at any time, and after the 14-day point a refund becomes a credit. The 25% deposits taken on in-house bookings and tickets paid weeks ahead are not counted in the cash forecast, so the forecast is cautious on that point.

Delivery days

	Year 1	Year 2	Year 3	Year 4	Year 5
Public events	10	17	23	27	30
In-house sessions	26	46	88	112	126
Delivery days	36	63	111	139	156
Delivered by associates (about one in seven in-house days)	4	7	13	17	19
Delivered by staff	32	56	98	122	137

Doug delivers about 35 days a year after selling and management time, and each senior trainer about 85. Year 1 puts 32 days on Doug, close to his limit. The first senior trainer starts in month 17 and the second in month 43, ahead of the point where staff days pass the roughly 120 that Doug and one trainer can carry.

Software and data

A ticketing platform, a registration and feedback system, a customer database and a video-meeting tool cost $14,000 in Year 1 and $24,000 by Year 5. Attendee data is held under a written privacy notice and a short retention rule.

Who does the work

Doug alone at the start, then an events coordinator from month 3, a senior trainer from month 17, a corporate accounts manager from month 25, a part-time registrations assistant from month 30 and a second senior trainer from month 43. Associate facilitators, paid by the day, cover the peaks.

Insurance and contracts

General and event liability, professional liability and cyber cover cost $8,000 in Year 1. Workers' compensation sits inside the payroll on-cost. Each event carries a written speaker agreement, and counsel reviews every venue contract for cancellation terms.

Doug and the Team

Doug Matisim, founder and lead trainer

Doug spent twelve years in corporate learning and development at two Atlanta employers and published a book on reading and retention with a small press. He holds a graduate degree in education. His $170,000 investment is his personal savings. He leaves salaried work to teach full time and build a company around three programmes.

Where the team is thin

Doug has no formal credential in stress management, which is why a licensed counsellor co-presents those days. He has not run a company, built a sponsor programme or hired a sales person. The plan covers that with a part-time adviser who ran a Georgia events business, a standard sponsor prospectus, and a hiring plan that waits until the revenue is there.

If Doug is unavailable

For the first year, Doug is the only senior trainer, so the company limits its bookings to what he and the associates can deliver. Associates trained on the workbook can deliver in-house days while Doug is away, and the senior trainer hired in month 17 can lead any programme.

Outside help

An accountant reviews the numbers each quarter, and an employment lawyer is on call for hires and associate agreements.

Ownership and the bank

Doug holds 56% of the shares, and the three angel investors hold 44% on common terms. The bank loan carries Doug's personal guarantee, a lien on the company's equipment and a covenant to deliver quarterly accounts.

The Numbers Behind the Seminars

One five-year model produces every table here. Year 1 is monthly because ticket sales and corporate bookings bunch into a few months; later years are annual totals. The operating figures come first, so each line in the tables can be traced to a price, a room size or a headcount.

Funding the first two seasons

Use of funds	Amount
Portable AV kit, wireless microphones, projector, banners, laptops	$14,000
Office furniture and fit-out	$8,000
Business licences and registrations	$1,500
Legal: entity set-up, corporate contract terms, speaker and venue agreements	$6,000
Launch: website, ticketing pages, brand, first-season campaign	$16,000
Venue deposits for the first-quarter events, paid before opening	$6,000
Cash reserve for the first two years of events	$378,500
Total uses	$430,000

Source of funds	Amount
Doug Matisim's savings	$170,000
Three angel investors ($45,000 each)	$135,000
Bank term loan	$125,000
Total sources	$430,000

Funding is $430,000. Doug Matisim puts in $170,000 of savings, three angel investors add $45,000 each, and a bank lends $125,000 over seven years at 10.5%, interest-only for the first six months. Equity is 71% of the total and Doug holds 56% of the shares. The loan rate is a planning figure; a lender will quote its own. Debt service cover is below 1.0x in Years 1 and 2, so the loan is repaid from the reserve until the company earns enough, and the only security beyond Doug's personal guarantee is a lien on $22,000 of equipment. A lender could ask for more security or offer less than $125,000. The reserve is $378,500, with a further $6,000 paid in venue deposits before opening. A seminar company pays for rooms and promotion months before tickets settle, and the model shows losses in both of the first two years, totalling about $240,000 after start-up costs.

Operating figures the model uses

Public seminars are one-day programmes in a 60-seat hotel meeting room. The list price is $525 and the average net ticket is $475 in Year 1 after early-bird and team discounts, rising $15 a year. Year 1 holds 10 events and 330 paid attendees, an average of 33 per event, a fill rate of 55%. Events rise to 17, 23, 27 and 30 over the next four years, and the fill rate climbs to 63%, 70%, 72% and 73%.
A typical event costs $4,600 in Year 1 before any ticket is sold: $3,400 for the room and audio-visual support and $1,200 for a licensed counsellor or guest practitioner who co-presents. Each attendee adds $118: lunch and breaks $62, a workbook $22, the ticketing and payment fee $24 and parking and incidentals $10. Both figures rise about 3% a year. Together they are 54% of ticket revenue in Year 1 and 47% in Year 5. The model charges 50% as direct cost and shows the extra cost of the early, emptier rooms in Years 1 and 2 as a separate operating line.
Paid promotion for a public event is $5,800 in Year 1, about $176 for each paying attendee while the name is unknown, then $4,400, $3,500, $3,100 and $3,000 as repeat delegates and corporate teams fill more of each room.
Corporate in-house programmes are full-day sessions for up to 28 participants at the client's site, at $5,500 in Year 1 and $150 more each year, which is $196 a head in Year 1. Year 1 holds 26 sessions for about 12 client companies, then 46, 88, 112 and 126. Direct costs of 26% cover workbooks at about $38 a head, travel, and associate facilitators, who deliver about one session in seven.
Sponsors and exhibitors buy packages of $750 to $1,500 that include a table, a logo in the workbook and a short talk. Eight of the ten events in Year 1 carry one, which averages $650 per event across all events. The average per event rises to $800, $950, $1,050 and $1,100. Sponsors are about 2% of revenue in every year and carry no direct cost.
Delivery days are public events plus in-house sessions: 36 in Year 1, then 63, 111, 139 and 156. A trainer delivers about 85 days a year after preparation, selling and travel, and the founder about 35. Staff deliver 32, 56, 98, 122 and 137 of those days; associates deliver the rest.
The Year 1 calendar has no public events in January, July, August or December, because buyers' budgets and attention are lowest then. Corporate bookings follow the same pattern with a thinner dip. Seasonality is shown month by month in Year 1 only; the model spreads later years evenly.
Receivables average 20 days. Corporate invoices are due in 30 days, and public tickets are paid online before the event. The model credits nothing for tickets paid ahead of an event or for the 25% deposits taken on in-house bookings, so cash is slightly tighter here than the company expects in practice.
Payroll adds 27% to wages for payroll taxes, health cover, workers' compensation and a retirement match (15% for the part-time assistant). Wages are launch rates and a 3% annual rise is charged as its own line from Year 2. The accounts manager earns 5% of in-house revenue on top of a $58,000 salary, charged as an operating line from month 25.
Rent is $30,000 a year for about 900 square feet of office space in Midtown Atlanta, rising to $34,000. Storage for banners, workbooks and AV cases is budgeted at $4,800 a year alongside phones and supplies. General and event liability, professional liability and cyber cover cost $8,000 in Year 1. Professional fees are $9,000 in Year 1 for the accountant, the lawyer on call and contract reviews.
Tax is charged at the federal corporate rate of 21% and a Georgia rate of 5.19%, with the Year 1 and Year 2 losses carried forward. Both rates may change, and the Tax Foundation lists the Georgia rate as scheduled to fall by 2028. Holding it at 5.19% keeps the later-year tax figure on the high side. An S corporation election would move the tax to the owners' personal returns.
Owner distributions of $30,000 in Year 4 and $60,000 in Year 5 are paid only after the model shows cash above $125,000 once they are out. The loan runs to its scheduled end and is not repaid early.

Revenue by line

Revenue stream	Year 1	Year 2	Year 3	Year 4	Year 5
Public seminar tickets	$156,750	$316,540	$487,830	$603,720	$706,200
Corporate in-house programmes	$143,000	$259,900	$510,400	$666,400	$768,600
Event sponsors and exhibitors	$6,500	$13,600	$21,850	$28,350	$33,000
Total revenue	$306,250	$590,040	$1,020,080	$1,298,470	$1,507,800
Growth on prior year	–	93%	73%	27%	16%

The two main lines are close to equal in Year 1, at 51% from public tickets and 47% from in-house programmes. In-house work reaches 50% of revenue in Year 3 and about 51% after that, because a corporate booking can be won in weeks while a public audience takes months to build and each corporate day earns more per delivery day. Sponsors stay at about 2%. Growth falls from 93% in Year 2 to 16% in Year 5 as the calendar fills.

Month by month in Year 1

Month	Public seminar tickets	Corporate in-house programmes	Event sponsors and exhibitors	Total revenue	EBITDA
Jan 2027	$0	$0	$0	$0	($26,418)
Feb 2027	$9,500	$5,500	$0	$15,000	($17,078)
Mar 2027	$11,400	$11,000	$0	$22,400	($12,470)
Apr 2027	$13,300	$11,000	$750	$25,050	($10,820)
May 2027	$14,250	$16,500	$750	$31,500	($6,804)
Jun 2027	$15,200	$16,500	$1,000	$32,700	($6,056)
Jul 2027	$0	$5,500	$0	$5,500	($22,993)
Aug 2027	$0	$5,500	$0	$5,500	($22,993)
Sep 2027	$17,100	$22,000	$1,000	$40,100	($1,449)
Oct 2027	$37,050	$22,000	$1,500	$60,550	$11,285
Nov 2027	$38,950	$22,000	$1,500	$62,450	$12,468
Dec 2027	$0	$5,500	$0	$5,500	($22,993)

Revenue is zero in January and builds through spring. July, August and December carry only in-house work, which is why EBITDA, profit before interest, depreciation and tax, is a loss of about $23,000 in each of those months. Only October and November are positive, and the fourth quarter brings in 42% of Year 1 revenue. The lowest month-end cash balance of Year 1 is $213,000 in Oct, after counting the 20 days corporate clients take to pay. The model has no monthly view after Year 1. In Year 1 the autumn gain and the December loss roughly cancel, so Year 2's lowest balance is expected near its year-end figure of $121,927; if September to December added $50,000, the August low would be about $72,000.

Headcount and payroll

Role	Annual wage	Starts	Year 1 end	Year 2 end	Year 3 end	Year 4 end	Year 5 end
Founder and lead trainer	$85,000	Month 1	1	1	1	1	1
Events coordinator	$48,000	Month 3	1	1	1	1	1
Senior trainer	$72,000	Month 17	–	1	1	1	1
Corporate accounts manager	$58,000	Month 25	–	–	1	1	1
Registrations assistant (part time, 20 hours a week)	$21,000	Month 30	–	–	0.5	0.5	0.5
Second senior trainer	$72,000	Month 43	–	–	–	1	1
Total payroll incl. on-costs			$158,750	$229,870	$348,098	$403,880	$449,600

Doug works alone in January and the events coordinator joins in month 3, once the February event has shown how much logistics a seminar carries. The senior trainer starts in month 17, when Year 2 delivery days outgrow what Doug can carry, and the accounts manager in month 25. A part-time registrations assistant joins in month 30 as paid registrations approach 1,000 a year. The second senior trainer starts in month 43, before Year 4 staff delivery days reach the roughly 120 that two trainers can carry. Doug's $85,000 salary is already in payroll, so the profit lines show what remains after he is paid. Year 1 puts about 32 delivery days on Doug alongside selling, which is close to his limit, and associates cover any overflow.

Profit and loss

	Year 1	Year 2	Year 3	Year 4	Year 5
Revenue	$306,250	$590,040	$1,020,080	$1,298,470	$1,507,800
Direct costs (venues, catering, speakers, workbooks, travel)	($115,555)	($222,635)	($384,899)	($489,942)	($568,927)
Gross profit	$190,695	$367,405	$635,181	$808,528	$938,873
Payroll incl. on-costs	($158,750)	($229,870)	($348,097)	($403,880)	($449,600)
Rent	($30,000)	($31,000)	($32,000)	($33,000)	($34,000)
Utilities	($3,000)	($3,100)	($3,200)	($3,300)	($3,400)
Marketing	($74,000)	($93,000)	($109,000)	($111,000)	($115,000)
Insurance	($8,000)	($9,500)	($11,000)	($12,000)	($12,500)
Professional fees	($9,000)	($9,500)	($10,000)	($10,500)	($11,000)
Software subscriptions	($14,000)	($18,000)	($21,000)	($23,000)	($24,000)
Seminar costs above the 50% direct-cost rate (smaller audiences early on)	($6,565)	($476)	$0	$0	$0
Account manager commission (5% of in-house revenue from month 25)	$0	$0	($25,500)	($33,300)	($38,400)
Travel, conferences and workshop materials development	($8,000)	($10,500)	($12,500)	($13,500)	($14,000)
Storage, phones, supplies and postage	($4,800)	($5,400)	($6,000)	($6,400)	($6,800)
Equipment replacement	$0	($6,000)	($4,000)	($8,000)	($4,000)
Bad debt allowance	($900)	($1,600)	($3,100)	($4,000)	($4,600)
Annual pay raises (3% a year)	$0	($6,896)	($21,199)	($37,451)	($56,429)
EBITDA	($126,320)	($57,437)	$28,584	$109,197	$165,144
Depreciation	($3,943)	($3,943)	($3,943)	($3,943)	($3,943)
Interest	($12,976)	($11,697)	($10,053)	($8,227)	($6,201)
Income tax	$0	$0	$0	$0	($12,625)
Net income before start-up costs	($143,239)	($73,077)	$14,589	$97,027	$142,375
Start-up costs expensed at opening (legal, licences, launch campaign)	($23,500)	$0	$0	$0	$0
Net income after start-up costs	($166,739)	($73,077)	$14,589	$97,027	$142,375

Year 1 loses $143,239 before start-up costs and $166,739 after them. Marketing is 24% of Year 1 revenue and falls to 8% by Year 5. Year 2 loses $73,077 because the senior trainer arrives ahead of the in-house revenue that pays for the role. Year 3 earns $14,589 on a 2.8% EBITDA margin, Year 4 reaches 8.4% and Year 5 10.9%. Income tax is zero until Year 5 because earlier losses are carried forward. Gross margin is 62% in every year because the model holds the direct-cost rates flat.

Cash movements

	Year 1	Year 2	Year 3	Year 4	Year 5
Cash from operations	($179,577)	($84,684)	($5,032)	$85,715	$134,848
AV kit and fit-out	($22,000)	$0	$0	$0	$0
Funding received	$430,000	$0	$0	$0	$0
Loan principal repaid	($6,894)	($14,918)	($16,562)	($18,387)	($20,414)
Owner distributions	$0	$0	$0	($30,000)	($60,000)
Net change in cash	$221,529	($99,602)	($21,594)	$37,328	$54,434
Closing cash	$221,529	$121,927	$100,333	$137,661	$192,094

The lowest year-end balance is $100,333 at the end of Year 3. Cash then rises, and the owners take distributions in Years 4 and 5 while cash stays above $137,000.

Balance sheet

At year end	Year 1	Year 2	Year 3	Year 4	Year 5
Cash	$221,529	$121,927	$100,333	$137,661	$192,094
Accounts receivable	$16,781	$32,331	$55,895	$71,149	$82,619
AV kit and fit-out (net)	$18,057	$14,114	$10,171	$6,229	$2,286
Total assets	$256,367	$168,372	$166,399	$215,038	$276,999
Bank term loan	$118,106	$103,188	$86,625	$68,238	$47,824
Paid-in capital	$305,000	$305,000	$305,000	$305,000	$305,000
Retained earnings	($166,739)	($239,815)	($225,227)	($158,200)	($75,825)
Total liabilities and equity	$256,367	$168,372	$166,399	$215,038	$276,999

Margins and break-even

Measure	Year 1	Year 2	Year 3	Year 4	Year 5
EBITDA margin	-41.3%	-9.7%	2.8%	8.4%	10.9%
Net margin (before start-up costs)	-46.8%	-12.4%	1.4%	7.5%	9.4%
Payroll incl. pay raises as share of revenue	52%	40%	36%	34%	34%
Revenue per full-time equivalent at year end	$153,125	$196,680	$226,684	$236,085	$274,145
Average monthly revenue	$25,521	$49,170	$85,007	$108,206	$125,650
Monthly revenue needed to cover operating costs	$42,426	$56,857	$81,181	$93,592	$103,549
Debt service cover (EBITDA / interest + principal)	-6.4x	-2.2x	1.1x	4.1x	6.2x

The last two rows of the ratios table compare average monthly revenue with the monthly revenue needed to cover operating costs. Year 1 averages $25,521 against $42,426 needed, and Year 2 averages $49,170 against $56,857. Year 3 clears the line at $85,007 against $81,181, a margin of about $3,800 a month. Debt service cover is negative in Years 1 and 2, 1.1x in Year 3 and 4.1x in Year 4, so the lender is relying on the reserve and the guarantee for the first three years.

When bookings run 20% short

	Year 1	Year 2	Year 3	Year 4	Year 5
Revenue	$245,000	$472,032	$816,064	$1,038,776	$1,206,240
Net income before start-up costs	($152,875)	($74,650)	($29,567)	$16,936	$104,074
Net income after start-up costs	($176,375)	($74,650)	($29,567)	$16,936	$104,074
Closing cash	$215,249	$117,184	$56,146	$46,435	$124,861

This case cuts every revenue line by 20% in every year. Events still run at the base-case count, so room and speaker costs do not shrink with the seats; the early-audience cost line is recalculated to reflect that. The response: every hire from month 13 starts six months later, the second senior trainer is dropped, marketing is cut by 20%, Doug takes a 20% pay cut and no distributions are paid. On those terms the company ends every year with at least $46,435 in cash, loses money through Year 3 and is profitable in Years 4 and 5. Equity ends Year 1 at $128,625. The account manager commission and bad debt lines stay at their base-case dollars, which is a little cautious.

Sources

Bureau of Labor Statistics, Training and development specialists, Occupational Outlook Handbook, May 2025 wage data and 2025 to 2035 projection.
Bureau of Labor Statistics, Meeting, convention and event planners, Occupational Outlook Handbook, May 2025 wage data and 2025 to 2035 projection.
Georgia corporate income tax rate of 5.19%, with a scheduled reduction: Tax Foundation, Georgia, 2026 State Tax Competitiveness Index. State and federal rates change; confirm current rates before relying on them.

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