Looking for a satellite communications business plan? You're in the right place.
A company that resells satellite service has to answer questions a bank or an investor will ask early. How many customers does it need before the monthly bills cover the crews? What happens to profit when customers leave? How much does airtime cost against what it sells for? A generic template gives no sense of what a workable answer looks like.
In this article we'll walk through a complete sample plan for a satellite internet and remote-connectivity reseller in Indianapolis, Indiana, section by section, finishing with the financials. The numbers show where the money goes in a business that sells hardware once and airtime every month.
Here's what you'll take away:
- The executive summary: see how to state the raise, the use of funds and the date profit starts on one page
- The market and alternatives table: learn how to describe the operator, the integrator and the do-it-yourself buyer without quoting prices you cannot source
- The customer segments: understand how farms, construction sites, boats and emergency crews each change the price and the churn
- The line roll-forward: track activations, lost lines and year-end counts, so the revenue forecast has a base you can check
- The marketing budget: see what a new reseller might pay to win its first 380 lines, and which channels carry them
- The support desk and install crews: find out how staffing follows lines in service and where the plan pauses a hire
- The five-year profit, cash flow and balance sheet, with a downside case: have an answer ready for "what if revenue is 20% short?"
If you're planning a reseller or installer, read this before you write your own. The company is fictional, so take what fits your market and change the rest.
In this plan
Want a satellite communications business plan you can edit for your own business? Get the satellite communications business plan template and build it in the Toolkit.
The Plan on One Page
Northfield Ridge, Inc. sells, installs and bills satellite internet and remote-connectivity service from a leased building on Indianapolis's northeast side. It opens on January 1, 2027 and works for customers whose location has no usable wired or cellular broadband: farms and agribusiness sites, construction sites, boats and marinas, and emergency-response and utility crews. Marcus Hale founded the company and runs it.
Opening takes $1,420,000, raised as $250,000 of Marcus's savings, $1,050,000 from two private investors and a $120,000 equipment line for vans, tools and demonstration gear. Vans, tools, the demo lab and the office build-out take $170,000. Legal work, dealer applications and the launch campaign take $50,000. The remaining $1,200,000 is held for terminal stock and for the cash the company burns before the base of monthly accounts pays for the crews and the support desk. The investors' money is conditional on signed terms with at least two satellite operators.
| Year 1 | Year 2 | Year 3 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | $1,305,500 | $2,591,400 | $4,342,700 |
| Net income after start-up costs | ($364,035) | ($328,144) | $77,020 |
| Closing cash | $815,203 | $405,069 | $364,925 |
The company starts with 45 letters of intent from farm-equipment dealers and contractors that become orders once an operator agreement is signed, and reaches 386 lines in service by December 2027. Revenue comes from five sources: monthly airtime resold at a margin over wholesale cost, terminals and accessories, installation, optional care plans, and a small book of managed-network contracts that grows from 5 to 36 by Year 5. The first two years lose money, because a crew, a support technician and a dispatcher are on payroll before the airtime base can carry them. Net income turns positive in Year 3 and reaches $662,888 in Year 5, 8.2% of $8,062,400 in revenue.
Three inputs decide the outcome, and the financial section states each openly. Churn is set at 1.6% of lines a month, about 18% a year. Wholesale airtime costs 75% of the amount billed in Year 1 and 69% by Year 5, as reseller volume tiers improve. From Year 2, one support technician carries 400 to 500 lines.
A second run of the model takes 20% off every revenue line and adds two points of wholesale airtime cost. The second crew, the second support technician, the billing administrator and the network engineer start four months late, later hires start six months late, three hires are never made, Marcus takes a 20% pay cut, marketing falls, the company stays in its first building and distributions stop. Year-end cash stays above zero in all five years. Net income and closing cash are worse than the base case in every year.
Hardware, Airtime and Contracts
Operator terms first
Northfield Ridge does not run a satellite network. It buys service and hardware from satellite operators or their authorized distributors under reseller or dealer agreements, and bills customers itself. The plan carries those terms as figures: a 25% margin over wholesale on airtime in Year 1, improving to 31% by Year 5 as volume tiers are reached, and 16% on terminals. Operators set their own reseller programs, and margins, minimum volumes, hardware pricing and exclusivity differ between operators and change. Marcus confirms the actual terms in writing with at least two operators before the lease is signed, and the plan names none of them as a partner. If an operator moved to direct-only sales, the company would have to rely on the others and on managed contracts.
Counsel confirms three further points: whether the company needs any federal or state registration of its own when it resells service under an operator's authorization; how telecommunications taxes and regulatory fees on resold service are billed and remitted; and what the customer terms must say about service interruptions, data and emergency use. Satellite service is not a substitute for a licensed emergency communications system, and the contracts say so.
Company facts
Legal name: Northfield Ridge, Inc., an Indiana corporation. Owners: Marcus Hale, 45%, which includes sweat equity that vests over four years; two private investors, 55% between them. A shareholders' agreement sets control and exit terms. Premises: a leased 5,000 square foot flex building with an office, an inventory room and three van bays. Start date: January 1, 2027. Stage: pre-launch. Letters of intent cover 45 lines, and the lease and reseller applications are still in draft.
Why it exists
Get dependable internet to places where the wire does not reach, and keep it working after the installers leave.
Targets, 2027 to 2030
- 386 lines in service and 5 managed-network contracts by December 2027.
- 830 lines and 12 contracts by December 2028, with a second install crew on the road from month 13.
- Positive net income in 2029, the third year.
- First owner distributions in 2030, after the equipment line is more than half repaid.
Five lines of revenue
| Line | How it is priced | Year 1 share of revenue |
|---|---|---|
| Airtime resale | Average $172 a line each month, billed by Northfield Ridge | 36% |
| Terminals and equipment | Average $1,100 per activation | 36% |
| Installation and site surveys | Average $960, on 62% of activations | 19% |
| Care plans | $15 a month, taken by 45% of lines | 1% |
| Managed-network contracts | $3,000 a month per contract, airtime and monitoring included | 7% |
Shares are rounded. By Year 5 airtime resale is 61% of revenue and managed-network contracts are 15%. The recurring lines together (airtime, care plans and contracts) rise from 45% of revenue in Year 1 to 79% in Year 5. That shift turns a hardware-and-installation business into one with a base that renews. Managed-network sites are billed under their contracts and are not counted in the lines in service.
Indiana's Rural, Site and Water Markets
Where wired service stops
Indiana has farms, quarries, timber, solar and wind sites, and lake and river marinas outside the reach of cable and fiber. The Federal Communications Commission's National Broadband Map publishes provider-reported availability by address, and Marcus uses it as a screening tool for farm and rural prospects. The map is a lead list, not a forecast, and its provider claims are not verified here. The USDA Census of Agriculture lists Indiana farm operations by county and size, which sets the target list for the account manager.
What the plan counts on
Four segments supply the lines. At the start of Year 1, farms and agribusiness are 55% of lines, construction and utility sites 20%, boats and marinas 12% and emergency-response and public-safety customers 13%. The mix and the prices below are the plan's own figures, not quotes from any operator's price list.
| Segment | Share of lines | Monthly price per line | What the customer buys |
|---|---|---|---|
| Farms and agribusiness | 55% | about $115 | Fixed dish, router, Wi-Fi to the shop and grain bins |
| Construction and utility sites | 20% | about $255 | Mobile or trailer kit, relocation between sites |
| Boats and marinas | 12% | about $235 | Marine-rated terminal, seasonal hold terms |
| Emergency response and public safety | 13% | about $230 | Portable kit, priority plan where the operator offers one |
The blended figure is about $172 a line a month, the number the Year 1 airtime line is built on. It rises about 2% a year to $184 by Year 5 as plans and speeds change; operators set those changes and may not pass them through.
Other ways to get online
| Alternative | What it offers | Why a customer picks it | How Northfield Ridge differs by design |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ordering direct from the operator and self-installing | Hardware and service at the operator's posted terms | No middleman, quick start | Local survey, professional mount, one bill for several sites and operators |
| National VSAT and managed-network integrators | Enterprise service with agreed service levels | Scale, round-the-clock coverage | Smaller contracts, crews within a day's drive of every customer |
| Local fixed-wireless and cellular providers | Cheaper plans where a signal exists | Price | Satellite where those fail, with cellular failover bundled on managed contracts |
| Marine electronics dealers and radio shops | Boat-specific installs | Trusted at the dock | Farm, site and public-safety customers; referral relationships with marine dealers |
| Farm-equipment dealers and ag-technology installers | Trusted by farmers | Existing relationship | Treated as referral partners; they stock no airtime billing or support desk |
Each row describes an offer and where Northfield Ridge sits against it. It is not a ranking. Providers revise plans and prices often, so none are quoted, and each publishes its own.
SWOT
| Strengths | Weaknesses |
|---|---|
| Local crews and a support desk that picks up | Margin depends on operator terms Northfield Ridge does not control |
| One bill across several operators and sites | Installation barely pays for its own crews |
| 45 letters of intent before opening | The first two years lose money |
| Opportunities | Threats |
|---|---|
| Managed contracts for construction firms and utilities | An operator changing its reseller terms, or selling direct only |
| Referral partners in farm equipment and marine retail | Hardware price cuts that shrink equipment margin |
| Weather-driven demand from public-safety agencies | Churn above 1.6% a month if service quality slips |
The Customers Beyond the Wire
Four buyers
A farm operator wants telematics, grain-marketing apps and a reliable connection at the shop. A construction superintendent wants the site trailer online within a week of mobilization. A marina or boat owner wants a terminal that survives weather and winter lay-up. A county emergency manager wants a kit that goes in a truck and works when a storm has taken out the cell tower.
What they do now
Many farms tether a phone or run a slow legacy plan. Construction sites often lean on cellular routers and a stack of data plans. Boat owners may pay by the day in port. Some public-safety agencies keep a satellite phone for backup.
What sets off a purchase
A dead zone on a new building, a project mobilization date, a vessel commissioning, a storm, or a data bill that has grown too large to ignore.
What they ask of the supplier
The link works on the first visit. A person answers when it fails. The bill is one amount each month. A site that moves, or a boat that is hauled out, does not turn into a contract dispute.
Managed networks
A handful of customers need more than a dish: several sites on one network, cellular failover, monitoring and reports. The plan builds five contracts in Year 1 and prices each at $3,000 a month, airtime and monitoring included. Direct cost takes 62% of that fee, a 38% margin, because the contract carries its own wholesale airtime and failover backhaul. The network engineer hired in month 19 covers the technical work, and that salary sits in payroll.
Winning and Keeping Lines
How an order moves
A prospect gets a map check or survey call, then a quote within two working days. The quote shows the terminal, mount, install fee, monthly plan and a minimum term. A signed order triggers stock allocation, a dispatch slot and an activation. Installers photograph every mount, and the support desk checks signal levels after activation. Marcus handles every managed-network quote through Year 1.
Lines in service
| Year 1 | Year 2 | Year 3 | Year 4 | Year 5 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lines at start of year | 0 | 386 | 830 | 1,380 | 1,950 |
| Gross activations | 425 | 561 | 762 | 890 | 999 |
| Lines lost to churn | 39 | 117 | 212 | 320 | 429 |
| Lines at year end | 386 | 830 | 1,380 | 1,950 | 2,520 |
Churn is set at 1.6% of lines a month, which is 17.6% a year compounded and 429 lines lost in Year 5. The plan treats this as a cost: replacing a lost line costs a hardware sale and an install on the new line, the old terminal is recovered where the contract allows it, and each lost line takes monthly margin with it. Boat lines pause in winter under seasonal hold terms rather than cancel, and the plan counts a hold as a line in service. Churn comes mostly from three causes: a farm that sells or a site that closes, a boat sold, and a customer who moves to a cheaper plan from another provider.
What a line is worth
A line billing $178 a month in Year 3 at a 28% margin leaves about $50 a month after wholesale airtime. Support at one technician for each 450 lines costs about $13 a month per line. A line lasts about 62 months at 1.6% monthly churn, so the airtime and support margin over that life is about $2,300, ahead of a $176 margin on the terminal and the install. Acquiring a new line costs $237 in Year 1 (the $60,000 of operating marketing plus $30,000 of launch spend, spread across 380 new lines), then $134 in Year 2 and $115 in Year 3.
Where the first 380 lines come from
Of the 425 activations in Year 1, 45 are the opening orders. The rest come from the sources below.
| Source | Gross new lines | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Referral partners (farm-equipment dealers, co-ops, marinas, marine shops) | 140 | 37% |
| Search and maps listings | 70 | 18% |
| Farm shows and field days | 70 | 18% |
| Contractor and trade groups | 55 | 14% |
| Existing customers' referrals | 30 | 8% |
| Public-safety demonstrations | 15 | 4% |
The referral figure rests on about twelve active partners by December, each sending an average of a dozen lines. The account manager and Marcus close them between them, which is why a second account manager waits for Year 4.
Quote sheet
| Item | Price |
|---|---|
| Terminal, mount and cable (average sale) | $1,100 |
| Professional install (62% of activations take it) | $960 |
| Airtime, blended across segments | $172 a month, rising to $184 |
| Care plan (swap-out and remote support) | $15 a month, rising to $17 |
| Managed-network contract | $3,000 a month, rising to $3,200 |
What Marketing Buys
Spend and expected lines
Year 1 marketing is $90,000: $30,000 of launch costs paid from start-up capital and $60,000 of operating spend. Operating spend is 4.6% of Year 1 revenue and falls to 1.3% in Year 5, because referral partners and customer referrals carry more of the load.
| Channel | Year 1 spend | What it is expected to do |
|---|---|---|
| Website, quote tool and show booths (launch) | $30,000 | A site with a map check and a quote form; a booth for county and regional farm shows |
| Referral partner fees and meetings | $14,000 | A fee on each activation from farm-equipment dealers, co-ops, marinas and marine shops; about 140 lines |
| Search and maps listings | $14,000 | Searches for rural internet, farm internet and jobsite internet; about 70 lines |
| Farm shows and field days | $11,000 | Display space and travel; about 70 lines |
| Contractor and trade groups | $9,000 | Association events and direct outreach to site superintendents; about 55 lines |
| Customer referral credits | $5,000 | A bill credit for a referred line; about 30 lines |
| Public-safety demonstrations | $4,000 | Loaner kits for emergency-management exercises; about 15 lines |
| Content and email | $3,000 | Seasonal guides and service notices that keep accounts informed |
Markers to hit
- January 2027: 45 lines activated, the first two referral partners signed.
- June 2027: 224 lines, 2 managed-network contracts and six referral partners.
- September 2027: 320 lines, with the farm-show season over.
- December 2027: 386 lines, 5 contracts and $124,700 of monthly revenue.
Crews, Vans and the Help Desk
The Indianapolis building
The company leases 5,000 square feet at about $10.40 per square foot a year, which is $52,000 in Year 1, for an office, an inventory room and three van bays. A larger building at $68,000 a year replaces it in Year 4 as stock and crews grow, and a fourth van joins the fleet then. Both figures are planning numbers, and local quotes replace them before signing.
Terminal stock and distributors
The company holds terminals, mounts, cable and routers equal to about 5% of annual sales, and pays distributors and operators about 35 days after delivery. Stock is $65,275 at the end of Year 1 and $403,120 at the end of Year 5. Fast-moving items are kept on hand, and unusual marine and mobile kits are ordered per job. Returns and warranty claims go back to the operator or distributor under their terms, and the care plan funds swap-outs from its 25% direct cost.
How a job runs
Dispatch books a crew of two and a van for each install. The crew carries fall-protection equipment for roof and mast work, surveys the mount and signal path, installs and tests the terminal, and walks the customer through the app. Photographs of the mount go to the customer record. Any install a crew cannot finish in a visit goes back to dispatch with a reason code.
Crews and capacity
One crew handles 264 installs in Year 1, a little over one per working day, with the founder riding along in busy spring weeks. A second crew starts in months 13 and 14, and a third in months 40 and 41. Installs reach 619 in Year 5 across three crews, about 205 each, and the crews also handle service calls, swap-outs under care plans and managed-network site builds, which are not counted as installs. Installation revenue is covered by crew pay with little to spare. In Year 3 installation gross profit is about $408,000 against about $300,000 of crew payroll, and the remainder goes toward fuel, vehicle upkeep and overhead. The plan treats installation as the way to win airtime, not as a profit center.
The help desk
Support is staffed by lines in service. One technician carries the first 386 lines. Two cover 830 lines at the end of Year 2, three cover 1,380 by Year 3 and five cover 2,520 by Year 5, which works out to 415, 460 and 504 lines each. The desk takes calls and chats on weekdays and sends alerts to an on-call phone at night and on weekends for managed-network and public-safety customers. On-call pay is $8,000 in Year 1 and $24,000 in Year 5.
Billing, ticketing and monitoring tools
Subscription billing, a ticketing system, remote monitoring, a customer relationship management system, route planning and an inventory system. Software costs $21,000 in Year 1 and $52,000 in Year 5.
Licenses and safeguards
- Indiana business registration and any local licenses; low-voltage and electrical work rules vary by city and county, and the plan checks each before opening.
- Dealer or reseller agreements with at least two operators, signed before the lease.
- Fall-protection training for every installer, under OSHA's construction standard on fall protection.
- Commercial auto, general liability, errors-and-omissions, cyber and equipment coverage, budgeted at $32,000 in Year 1 and $68,000 in Year 5. Workers' compensation premiums sit inside the 27% payroll load.
- Customer terms that state the service-level limits and the emergency-use limits.
Marcus Hale and the Team He Still Needs
Marcus Hale, founder and general manager
Marcus spent nine years in field communications. He began as an installer for a two-way radio and VSAT dealer in Indianapolis, ran its install and dispatch operation for five years and then became channel manager at a regional integrator. He holds no ownership of those firms. His $250,000 is the savings of those nine years, and his 45% includes sweat equity that vests over four years.
What he has not done yet
Three gaps. Marcus has never negotiated reseller terms alone, has not run a subscription billing system and has not carried a payroll of this size. The plan answers each in order: the retired telecom executive among the investors reviews the operator agreements before signing, the billing administrator starts in month 16 and a payroll provider handles filings from day one.
When Marcus is unavailable
Marcus handles managed-network quotes and operator relationships himself, which is the largest key-person risk. The account manager is trained to quote standard lines, and the network engineer hired in month 19 takes over technical sign-off. The company carries a key-person policy on Marcus, with the investors as beneficiaries of the proceeds.
Outside help
A telecom-experienced attorney reviews the operator agreements and the customer terms. A tax advisor handles telecommunications tax questions. One of the investors owns a farm-equipment dealership and introduces the company to farm customers.
Who owns it and who lends
Marcus holds 45% and the two investors 55%. The equipment line is $120,000, about 81% of the $148,000 of vans, tools and demo gear it finances. It carries an expected personal guarantee from Marcus and a lien on that equipment. The lender receives quarterly accounts.
Money, Margins and Lines in Service
A single five-year model sits behind every table here, with Year 1 shown month by month and later years annually. The inputs that matter most to a reseller come first: how many lines are in service, what each line costs to buy wholesale, how many are lost each month and how many customers one support technician can carry.
Vans, stock and the cash to reach Year 3
| Use of funds | Amount |
|---|---|
| Three service vans, upfitted with racks and ladders | $90,000 |
| Install tools, roof and mast kits, fall-protection gear, signal meters | $26,000 |
| Demo and test lab: terminals, modems, router stack, marine and mobile mounts | $32,000 |
| Office and warehouse build-out, racking, computers | $22,000 |
| Dealer applications, business licenses, contractor and insurance deposits | $6,000 |
| Legal: entity, reseller agreements, customer terms, lease | $14,000 |
| Launch: website, quote tool, farm-show and trade-event presence | $30,000 |
| Opening terminal stock and operating cash reserve | $1,200,000 |
| Total uses | $1,420,000 |
| Source of funds | Amount |
|---|---|
| Marcus Hale's savings | $250,000 |
| Two private investors (a farm-equipment dealer owner and a retired telecom executive) | $1,050,000 |
| Equipment line (vans, tools, demo and test kit) | $120,000 |
| Total sources | $1,420,000 |
Three sources fund the launch. Marcus puts in $250,000, two private investors put in $1,050,000, and a $120,000 equipment line covers the vans, tools and demo lab. The line runs five years at 9.0%, with the first six months interest only, and is secured on the vehicles and kit; the rate is a planning figure, not a quote. A lender would likely ask for Marcus's personal guarantee, and the investors' money is conditional on signed operator terms. The $1,200,000 balance looks heavy beside $170,000 of equipment, but operating cash flow is negative by $423,727 in Year 1, $386,448 in Year 2 and $14,236 in Year 3, a combined $824,411, and stock and receivables grow with every new line. Year-end cash does not fall below $364,925.
Line counts, airtime cost and support ratios
- Lines in service start at 45 on opening day and end each year at 386, 830, 1,380, 1,950 and 2,520. Gross activations are 425, 561, 762, 890 and 999, and the difference is churn: 1.6% of lines a month, or 39, 117, 212, 320 and 429 lines lost. That is about 18% of the base each year. Managed-network sites are billed under their own contracts and are not counted as lines.
- Airtime bills at a blended $172 a line a month in Year 1 and $184 in Year 5, built from four segments: farms near $115, construction and utility sites near $255, boats near $235 and public-safety customers near $230. These are the plan's own prices and not any operator's tariff.
- Wholesale airtime costs 75% of the amount billed in Year 1, then 74%, 72%, 70% and 69% as reseller volume tiers improve. The margin is 25% in Year 1 (about $119,000) and 31% in Year 5 (about $1,530,000). Operator terms differ and change, and no tier here is a quote. Each three points of margin lost on Year 5 airtime removes about $148,000 of pre-tax profit.
- The engine applies the Year 1 blended direct-cost ratio to later years, so a separate line in the profit and loss adds the difference between that ratio and each year's true cost: $43,600 in Year 2, $61,600 in Year 3, $47,800 in Year 4 and $39,300 in Year 5. The gross profit row therefore reads 36.0% in every year; after the adjustment, gross margin is 36.0% in Year 1 and 34.3%, 34.6%, 35.2% and 35.5% in Years 2 to 5.
- Terminals and accessories sell at an average $1,100 per activation and cost 84% of that, a 16% margin or $176. Installation is taken by 62% of activations at an average $960; materials and overflow help cost 10% of the fee. Crew wages sit in payroll, not in direct costs, so the installation line looks richer than it is.
- Care plans are bought by 45% of lines at $15 a month rising to $17, with a 25% direct cost for swapped hardware and remote support time. Managed-network contracts bill $3,000 a month rising to $3,200 and include the site's own airtime, cellular failover and monitoring, at a 62% direct cost. Contracts in service at year end are 5, 12, 20, 28 and 36.
- From Year 2, the support desk adds one technician for roughly every 400 to 500 lines: 386 lines on one technician at the end of Year 1, then 415, 460, 488 and 504 across two, three, four and five. A technician with on-costs costs about $71,100 a year, or about $13 a month for each line at 450 lines per technician.
- Installs are 264, 348, 472, 552 and 619 a year. One crew of two handles 264 in Year 1, and the plan adds crews in months 13 and 14 and months 40 and 41. Crews also do service calls and managed-site builds, which are not counted as installs.
- Every salary carries a 27% load for employer payroll taxes, health coverage, workers' compensation and a retirement match. The wages in the personnel table are launch-year rates. Raises of 3% a year start in Year 2 and are charged on their own line, so they do not appear inside those wages.
- Customers pay in 30 days on average, with subscriptions collected by card or bank debit and equipment invoiced on delivery. Operators and distributors are paid after 35 days. Stock is held at 5% of annual sales. Bad debt allowances rise from $4,000 to $20,000.
- The model taxes the company as a C corporation: 21% federal plus 4.9% Indiana, after losses carry forward. The state rate may change. Federal rules can limit how much of a carried-forward loss offsets a later year's profit, which the model does not apply, so tax in Years 4 and 5 may be understated. Distributions of $60,000 in Year 4 and $90,000 in Year 5 are paid only once the cash balance can bear them.
Where revenue comes from
| Revenue stream | Year 1 | Year 2 | Year 3 | Year 4 | Year 5 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Airtime resale (monthly service) | $476,400 | $1,276,800 | $2,360,300 | $3,616,400 | $4,934,900 |
| Terminals and equipment | $467,500 | $617,100 | $838,200 | $979,000 | $1,098,900 |
| Installation and site surveys | $252,900 | $333,900 | $453,500 | $529,700 | $594,600 |
| Care plans (swap-out and remote support) | $18,700 | $52,500 | $95,500 | $152,800 | $205,200 |
| Managed-network contracts | $90,000 | $311,100 | $595,200 | $907,200 | $1,228,800 |
| Total revenue | $1,305,500 | $2,591,400 | $4,342,700 | $6,185,100 | $8,062,400 |
| Growth on prior year | – | 99% | 68% | 42% | 30% |
Airtime is 36% of Year 1 revenue and 61% of Year 5, while terminals fall from 36% to 14% as the company stops needing to win a new customer base every month. Managed-network contracts rise from 7% to 15%. The three recurring lines (airtime, care plans and contracts) go from 45% of revenue in Year 1 to 79% in Year 5. Revenue roughly doubles in Year 2 because Year 1 starts from 45 lines: December 2027 revenue of $124,700 is a $1.5 million annual rate, and Year 2 needs 444 net new lines to reach $2.6 million.
Month by month in 2027
| Month | Airtime resale (monthly service) | Terminals and equipment | Installation and site surveys | Care plans (swap-out and remote support) | Managed-network contracts | Total revenue | EBITDA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan 2027 | $7,700 | $49,500 | $26,800 | $300 | $0 | $84,300 | ($31,371) |
| Feb 2027 | $13,800 | $39,600 | $21,400 | $500 | $0 | $75,300 | ($34,609) |
| Mar 2027 | $19,800 | $39,600 | $21,400 | $800 | $3,000 | $84,600 | ($31,263) |
| Apr 2027 | $25,800 | $40,700 | $22,000 | $1,000 | $3,000 | $92,500 | ($28,420) |
| May 2027 | $32,300 | $44,000 | $23,800 | $1,300 | $6,000 | $107,400 | ($23,059) |
| Jun 2027 | $38,500 | $42,900 | $23,200 | $1,500 | $6,000 | $112,100 | ($21,368) |
| Jul 2027 | $44,400 | $41,800 | $22,600 | $1,700 | $9,000 | $119,500 | ($18,705) |
| Aug 2027 | $49,900 | $39,600 | $21,400 | $2,000 | $9,000 | $121,900 | ($17,842) |
| Sep 2027 | $55,000 | $38,500 | $20,800 | $2,200 | $12,000 | $128,500 | ($15,467) |
| Oct 2027 | $59,500 | $34,100 | $18,500 | $2,300 | $12,000 | $126,400 | ($16,222) |
| Nov 2027 | $63,300 | $30,800 | $16,700 | $2,500 | $15,000 | $128,300 | ($15,539) |
| Dec 2027 | $66,400 | $26,400 | $14,300 | $2,600 | $15,000 | $124,700 | ($16,834) |
Revenue grows from $84,300 in January to $124,700 in December. February dips because the 45 opening installs land in January and later months add about 36 lines. EBITDA is negative every month, worst in February at about $34,600 and narrowing to about $15,500 in September and $16,800 in December, because the crew, the account manager, one support technician and the dispatcher are all on payroll before the airtime base can cover them. Month-end cash is lowest in Dec, at about $783,000 once the 30-day collection lag is counted.
Crews, support desk and office
| Role | Annual wage | Starts | Year 1 end | Year 2 end | Year 3 end | Year 4 end | Year 5 end |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Founder and general manager | $120,000 | Month 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Account manager (farms, construction, marine) | $78,000 | Month 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Install crew lead 1 | $66,000 | Month 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Installer 1 | $52,000 | Month 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Support technician 1 | $56,000 | Month 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Dispatcher and procurement coordinator | $54,000 | Month 5 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Install crew lead 2 | $66,000 | Month 13 | – | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Installer 2 | $52,000 | Month 14 | – | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Support technician 2 | $56,000 | Month 14 | – | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Billing and accounts administrator | $52,000 | Month 16 | – | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Network engineer (managed contracts) | $92,000 | Month 19 | – | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Support technician 3 | $56,000 | Month 33 | – | – | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Second account manager | $78,000 | Month 40 | – | – | – | 1 | 1 |
| Install crew lead 3 | $66,000 | Month 40 | – | – | – | 1 | 1 |
| Installer 3 | $52,000 | Month 41 | – | – | – | 1 | 1 |
| Support technician 4 | $56,000 | Month 46 | – | – | – | 1 | 1 |
| Support technician 5 | $56,000 | Month 56 | – | – | – | – | 1 |
| Total payroll incl. on-costs | $512,233 | $858,520 | $968,587 | $1,214,967 | $1,365,673 |
Opening day staffs Marcus, an account manager and one install crew of two. A support technician starts in month 2 and the dispatcher in month 5. The second crew arrives in months 13 and 14, a second technician in month 14, the billing administrator in month 16 and the network engineer in month 19, ahead of the managed-contract book. After that the hires follow line counts: a third technician in month 33, a second account manager in month 40, a third crew in months 40 and 41, a fourth technician in month 46 and a fifth in month 56. Headcount is 6 at the end of Year 1, then 11, 12, 16 and 17. Marcus's $120,000 sits inside the costs, so profit in the tables is what remains after he has been paid.
Profit and loss
| Year 1 | Year 2 | Year 3 | Year 4 | Year 5 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | $1,305,500 | $2,591,400 | $4,342,700 | $6,185,100 | $8,062,400 |
| Direct costs (wholesale airtime, terminals, install materials, care-plan swaps, managed-site backhaul) | ($835,765) | ($1,658,982) | ($2,780,143) | ($3,959,625) | ($5,161,449) |
| Gross profit | $469,735 | $932,418 | $1,562,557 | $2,225,475 | $2,900,951 |
| Payroll incl. on-costs | ($512,233) | ($858,520) | ($968,587) | ($1,214,967) | ($1,365,673) |
| Rent | ($52,000) | ($53,500) | ($55,000) | ($68,000) | ($70,000) |
| Utilities | ($7,200) | ($7,600) | ($8,000) | ($9,000) | ($9,500) |
| Marketing | ($60,000) | ($75,000) | ($88,000) | ($96,000) | ($102,000) |
| Insurance | ($32,000) | ($40,000) | ($52,000) | ($60,000) | ($68,000) |
| Professional fees | ($9,000) | ($10,000) | ($11,000) | ($12,000) | ($13,000) |
| Software subscriptions | ($21,000) | ($30,000) | ($38,000) | ($45,000) | ($52,000) |
| Van fuel, maintenance and tires | ($26,000) | ($34,000) | ($46,000) | ($56,000) | ($62,000) |
| Added vans, tool replacement and new-hire kit | $0 | ($8,000) | ($12,000) | ($52,000) | ($30,000) |
| On-call stipends and training | ($8,000) | ($12,000) | ($16,000) | ($20,000) | ($24,000) |
| Phones, shipping and warehouse supplies | ($9,000) | ($13,000) | ($18,000) | ($23,000) | ($27,000) |
| Bad debt allowance | ($4,000) | ($8,000) | ($13,000) | ($17,000) | ($20,000) |
| Direct-cost adjustment for mix and volume tiers (Years 2 to 5) | $0 | ($43,600) | ($61,600) | ($47,800) | ($39,300) |
| Annual pay raises (3% a year) | $0 | ($25,756) | ($58,987) | ($112,660) | ($171,404) |
| EBITDA | ($270,698) | ($286,558) | $116,383 | $392,049 | $847,074 |
| Depreciation | ($32,743) | ($32,743) | ($32,743) | ($32,743) | ($32,743) |
| Interest | ($10,594) | ($8,842) | ($6,621) | ($4,190) | ($1,532) |
| Income tax | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 | ($149,911) |
| Net income before start-up costs | ($314,035) | ($328,144) | $77,020 | $355,116 | $662,888 |
| Start-up costs expensed at opening (legal, dealer applications, launch marketing) | ($50,000) | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 |
| Net income after start-up costs | ($364,035) | ($328,144) | $77,020 | $355,116 | $662,888 |
The gross profit row is a blended 36.0% of revenue; the adjustment line further down corrects it for mix and volume tiers. Year 1 loses $314,035 before start-up costs and $364,035 after them; Year 2 loses $328,144, a deeper loss because the second crew, the billing administrator and the network engineer arrive ahead of the lines that pay for them. Payroll including raises falls from 39% of revenue in Year 1 to 19% in Year 5, and that fall carries most of the improvement in profit. Net income is $77,020 in Year 3, $355,116 in Year 4 after $52,000 for a fourth van and equipment, and $662,888 in Year 5. Income tax first appears in Year 5, at $149,911, because the first two years' losses carry forward. Year 5 net margin is 8.2%.
Cash movements
| Year 1 | Year 2 | Year 3 | Year 4 | Year 5 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cash from operations | ($423,727) | ($386,448) | ($14,236) | $257,409 | $562,710 |
| Vans, tools and demo lab | ($170,000) | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 |
| Funding received | $1,420,000 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 |
| Equipment line principal repaid | ($11,070) | ($23,686) | ($25,908) | ($28,339) | ($30,997) |
| Owner distributions | $0 | $0 | $0 | ($60,000) | ($90,000) |
| Net change in cash | $815,203 | ($410,134) | ($40,144) | $169,071 | $441,713 |
| Closing cash | $815,203 | $405,069 | $364,925 | $533,995 | $975,709 |
Cash ends every year above zero. Operating cash flow stays slightly negative through Year 3 because receivables and stock grow with the lines, and the lowest year-end balance is $364,925 in Year 3. Years 2 to 5 are annual, so a mid-year low is not shown. The owners take nothing out until Year 4.
Balance sheet
| At year end | Year 1 | Year 2 | Year 3 | Year 4 | Year 5 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cash | $815,203 | $405,069 | $364,925 | $533,995 | $975,709 |
| Accounts receivable | $107,301 | $212,992 | $356,934 | $508,364 | $662,663 |
| Terminal and accessory stock | $65,275 | $129,570 | $217,135 | $309,255 | $403,120 |
| Vans, tools and demo lab (net) | $137,257 | $104,514 | $71,771 | $39,029 | $6,286 |
| Total assets | $1,125,036 | $852,145 | $1,010,765 | $1,390,643 | $2,047,778 |
| Accounts payable (operators and distributors) | $80,142 | $159,081 | $266,589 | $379,690 | $494,933 |
| Equipment line | $108,930 | $85,244 | $59,335 | $30,997 | $0 |
| Paid-in capital | $1,300,000 | $1,300,000 | $1,300,000 | $1,300,000 | $1,300,000 |
| Retained earnings | ($364,035) | ($692,179) | ($615,159) | ($320,044) | $252,844 |
| Total liabilities and equity | $1,125,036 | $852,145 | $1,010,765 | $1,390,643 | $2,047,778 |
Margins and break-even
| Measure | Year 1 | Year 2 | Year 3 | Year 4 | Year 5 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| EBITDA margin | -20.7% | -11.1% | 2.7% | 6.3% | 10.5% |
| Net margin (before start-up costs) | -24.1% | -12.7% | 1.8% | 5.7% | 8.2% |
| Payroll incl. pay raises as share of revenue | 39% | 34% | 24% | 21% | 19% |
| Revenue per full-time equivalent at year end | $217,583 | $235,582 | $361,892 | $386,569 | $474,259 |
| Average monthly revenue | $108,792 | $215,950 | $361,892 | $515,425 | $671,867 |
| Monthly revenue needed to cover operating costs | $171,486 | $282,318 | $334,937 | $424,626 | $475,683 |
| Debt service cover (EBITDA / interest + principal) | -12.5x | -8.8x | 3.6x | 12.1x | 26.0x |
Average monthly revenue falls short of what the cost base needs in Years 1 and 2, at $108,792 against $171,486 and $215,950 against $282,318. Year 3 clears it, at $361,892 against $334,937. Debt service cover is negative in the first two years and 3.6x in Year 3.
Revenue 20% short: slower line growth and later crews
| Year 1 | Year 2 | Year 3 | Year 4 | Year 5 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | $1,044,400 | $2,073,120 | $3,474,160 | $4,948,080 | $6,449,920 |
| Net income before start-up costs | ($373,125) | ($341,305) | ($185,860) | $121,007 | $452,782 |
| Net income after start-up costs | ($423,125) | ($341,305) | ($185,860) | $121,007 | $452,782 |
| Closing cash | $775,331 | $370,966 | $93,721 | $115,805 | $465,048 |
Every revenue line comes in 20% below the base case in all five years, and wholesale airtime costs two points more of what is billed. Marcus responds in seven ways: the second crew, the second technician, the billing administrator and the network engineer start four months late, later hires start six months late, the second account manager and the fourth and fifth technicians are never hired, marketing falls 20%, his own pay falls 20%, the company stays in its first building and distributions stop. Net income and closing cash are worse than the base case in every year: a loss of $185,860 in Year 3 against a profit of $77,020, and a profit only from Year 4. Year 5 net margin is 7.0% against 8.2% in the base case. Year-end cash never falls below $93,721, reached at the end of Year 3, and equity at the end of Year 1 is $876,875. Direct costs fall with revenue, but the crews and desk already hired do not, so the shortfall reaches profit quickly. A mid-year low in Year 3 may sit below the year-end figure, and Marcus would arrange a revolving line before relying on this response.
Sources
- Federal Communications Commission, National Broadband Map: provider-reported availability by address, used as a screening tool. Confirm current figures at the source; none are quoted here.
- U.S. Department of Agriculture, Census of Agriculture: farm operations by state and county. Confirm current figures at the source; none are quoted here.
- Occupational Safety and Health Administration, Fall protection in construction, 29 CFR 1926.501: duty to provide fall protection on roofs. Confirm the current requirement and height trigger there.
- Bureau of Labor Statistics, Telecommunications equipment installers and repairers: occupation reference for installer pay. The wages in the plan are its own figures.
- Indiana Department of Revenue, corporate income tax: the 4.9% state rate in the model is a planning figure, and the rate may change.
- Operator reseller terms, spectrum authorizations and telecommunications taxes: no public page is cited. Confirm each in writing with the operator and with counsel before relying on it.
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