The Three Numbers I Run Over 40 Businesses On

With James Sinclair

By the end, you know last month's profit by the 10th, your labour against your sector's band, and what every customer is worth to you.

A 27-page workbook, six video lessons that help you put it to work, and two tools. The three numbers I check in every business, the monthly pack my finance director produces, and the daily sheet that feeds it.

£49Pay once, keep it

Buy now, £49

Included: 2 online tools, worth £14

The Monday Sheet~~On its own £7~~
What It Really Makes~~On its own £7~~

You're buying the 27-page workbook. The 6 video lessons and 2 online tools come free with it.

Secure card checkout. Your login follows by email. 14 days to change your mind.

Included in this course

Two tools, sold on their own for £14

A workbook is homework. So the pages you'll use most are also tools: open one on your phone, answer the questions, and it does the marking, the totals and the comparison for you. Each one is on sale in the shop by itself. Buy this course and you get both.

£7 Included

The Monday Sheet

One line a day: takings, customers, staff hours and labour. The week and the month against the labour band for your sector.

£7 Included

What It Really Makes

Put your P&L next to the real ones I've opened on camera. My three numbers, worked out for you.

Everyone tells you to know your numbers

Then you look at how the big corporates do it: 58 KPIs, and nobody can remember what they are, so nothing ever gets done.

I run over 40 businesses on three: a monthly profit and loss, labour to turnover, and average customer value. I can say all three without a note in front of me.

The hard part is the habit. Most owners find out what they made when the accountant tells them, or they go by the bank. I know businesses losing money with half a million pounds in the bank, because they're taking deposits for work they haven't done yet. Eventually it catches up with them.

This course is how my group keeps the three in front of me: the pack my finance director produces, the daily sheet built from the one my venue managers fill in, the twice-yearly invoice tender and a board meeting off the numbers. With the templates pulled out, so you can work out last month's three numbers tonight.

It's a folly, really, to manage your business by what cash you've got in the bank.

From lesson 3: the tree and its fruits, worked on the flipchart

What's in the workbook

Twenty-seven pages. The templates come first, so you can use them before you've watched a thing.

Your three numbers in ten minutes: last month's profit, labour % and average customer value, from figures you already have.Page 2
The three numbers sheet: one line a month, kept where you'll see it.Page 4
The monthly management pack: this month, last month, year to date and budget. Hand it to your bookkeeper as the layout.Pages 5 and 6
The daily and weekly income sheet: built from the layout of a real income sheet from one of my venues, with the month dashboard.Pages 7 and 8
What a customer is worth: the lifetime value sum, with Marsh Farm filled in, and your tree and its fruits.Page 9
The twice-yearly invoice tender: every invoice, ten questions, and what 5% and 10% off your costs is worth.Pages 10 and 11
Supplier and credit rules: who can spend the money, who gets paid weekly, and which credit accounts close.Page 12
The monthly board meeting: a six-point agenda off the pack, however small the business.Page 13
The bookkeeper brief: what a good one covers, and when to hire a finance director.Page 14
Your first 30 days: four weeks of short jobs, ending with your first board meeting.Page 27

Plus the six sections that follow the lessons: the three numbers, management accounts, labour to turnover with my sector bands, average customer value, frugal on costs and growing the profit.

Workbook page: The three numbers sheet — The three numbers sheet

Workbook page: The monthly management pack — The monthly management pack

Workbook page: The daily and weekly income sheet — The daily and weekly income sheet

Workbook page: What is a customer worth? — What is a customer worth?

Workbook page: The twice-yearly invoice tender — The twice-yearly invoice tender

Workbook page: The monthly board meeting — The monthly board meeting

Six of the 27 pages, as they print.

The six lessons

Watch a lesson, then do that section of the workbook.

01
Run Any Business on Three Numbers
The three I check in every business, and what one more pound a head is worth.
02
Know Your Profit by the 10th of Every Month
My own monthly pack, column by column, and why the bank balance lies to you.
03
Work Out What Every Customer Is Worth to You
The Marsh Farm sum, what you can spend to win a customer, and the tree and its fruits.
04
Spend Less So You Can Invest More
Creepage, the cost that walks on two legs, and closing the credit accounts nobody needs.
05
Cut 5 to 10% Off What You Spend
Think big, act small: every invoice out to tender, twice a year.
06
Keep Your Profit Growing as You Grow
Over trading, self-serve, an outside opinion and a monthly board meeting.

Use these on Monday, before you've watched a video

Most of the value in here needs no homework. These come out of the workbook as stand-alone templates and sheets.

Last month's three numbers

Your till figures, your payroll and a count of customers. Profit, labour % and average customer value in ten minutes.

Do it tonight

The one-pound sum

Customers a year, times £1. That's the extra turnover from one more pound a head, without finding a single new customer.

Work it out this week

The daily income sheet

One line at the end of every day: takings, customers, staff hours and labour %. Hand it to whoever closes up.

Start it on Monday

The pack layout

This month, last month, year to date and budget. Give it to your bookkeeper and agree the date it lands.

Send it this week

The supplier and credit rules

Who signs off a new supplier, who's paid weekly, and which credit accounts get closed.

Close one account this week

The board meeting agenda

Six points off the pack, whatever the size of the business. The numbers, the fat, and what you tell the team.

Put the first one in the diary

By the end, you'll be able to say

Tick each one off as it comes true.

I know last month's profit by the 10th, from my own pack.
I tell my accountant how profitable we are.
I know my labour % and where it sits in my sector's band.
I know what a customer is worth, and what I can spend to win one.
Every invoice goes out to tender twice a year.
I hold a board meeting off the numbers every month.

What happened when they put it to work

From reviews of my books and podcast, and from owners who've worked with me. This course is new, so none of these are reviews of it yet.

...it's only when I discovered James Sinclair it dawned on me how little actual business experience most of them have. ... James teaches business and marketing from the position of someone who runs multiple real life, bricks & mortar businesses

Andrew J. GardnerReviewing the Business Broadcast podcast

It has really opened our eyes to what we weren't doing. I am absolutely loving it. You can really see the difference now between me and my manager, as I have stepped away from the day to day operations.

Paul KingPaul J King Funeral Directors. Business Accelerator member

Great book that really puts the growth journey into perspective for your team. It made me realise a lot, and I'm already putting it into action in my business and seeing results. Definitely one for entrepreneurs with bigger teams.

Christopher GeorgeReviewing The Dream Team

A great read for any business owner, I have taken a lot of great ideas from this book. I have used the rules of your business on page 43 within my company already and it has made a big difference.

Darren TaylorReviewing The Millionaire Clown

James showed me what was possible - we were around £400,000 per annum and he just made me push to the next level and we're now turning over £1,000,000!

Carmel JaneOwner, Carmel Jane Photography

In the process of growing my start up I think about what James would say. Sales before operations, E+M=S, you want a business with margin, a business with scale, high barrier to entry, the 4 company philosophy, invest 50% of profits into slow pounds etc etc.

Josh WoodeReviewing the Business Broadcast podcast

I was on the podcast a few years ago, when I was only making £20k per year. I went away and implemented some of the knowledge James shared. Since then, I've done £100k, £80k and £100k. Thank you.

David GottThe Lovely Car Company. Podcast guest

At first I wondered what I could glean from a clown about business, but it turns out rather a lot! A lot of thoughts, beliefs and ideas swirling in my head have been articulated well by James and it's great to hear how they work in his businesses, I'm certainly enjoying applying them to mine.

Scott JonesReviewing The Experience Business

James speaks from a place of passion and experience. He's built a fast-growth, profitable bricks-and-mortar business and a dynamic team culture. His talks are fast paced, funny, irreverent and packed with value.

Daniel PriestleyEntrepreneur and best-selling author

What you get

The 27-page workbook: the three numbers sheet, the monthly management pack, the daily and weekly income sheet, the customer worth sum, the invoice tender, supplier and credit rules, the board meeting agenda and the bookkeeper brief
Six video lessons that help you put the workbook to work
Two online tools: the Monday Sheet and What It Really Makes
Watch on any device, print the workbook

14 days to change your mind

If it isn't for you, reply to your receipt email within 14 days of buying and you get the full price back. Your access switches off when the refund goes through.

James Sinclair teaching a room of business owners

Who's teaching this

You're getting me

I run over 40 businesses: a £55m group of companies, over 3,000 staff and one million customers a year.

Every lesson is me, on camera. I'm teaching what I actually do in my own businesses, with the real numbers and the real mistakes.

The frameworks are mine. The three numbers, the monthly pack, the daily income sheet and the twice-yearly invoice tender. They're how I keep track of every business in the group.

I started with a clown suit and a party business. Everything in here is what I learned getting from there to a group I don't have to manage.

Who it's for

You find out what you made when your accountant tells you, months after the year's gone.
You go by what's in the bank, and you know you shouldn't.
The wage bill feels too high, or service is slipping, and you can't tell which.
Turnover's growing and the profit isn't keeping up.

Questions

Is this a book or a course?

Both. You get a 27-page workbook, with six video lessons that walk you through it. The workbook is the thing you print and write in. The videos are me explaining the three numbers and how my group runs on them.

How do I watch it?

On any device, as soon as your login arrives by email. The workbook is a PDF you print. The two tools open on your phone, save as you go and need no login.

How long do I have?

Pay once, keep it. The workbook, the lessons and the two tools stay yours for good.

Do I need a bookkeeper or an accountant already?

No. Page 2 works out last month's three numbers from what you've already got: your till figures, your payroll and a count of customers. When you're ready to hire a bookkeeper, page 14 is the brief.

Is this accounting or tax advice?

This is how I read my own numbers and run the group on them. The tax stays with your accountant: you tell them how profitable you are, and they tell you how to make it tax efficient.

Is this the Business Masterclass?

No. This is six lessons you watch at home. The Masterclass is two days in the room at Ashridge House, 19 and 20 January 2027. Every course points there in the end.

What if it's not for me?

You have 14 days. If it isn't for you, reply to your receipt email within 14 days of buying and you get the full price back. Your access switches off when the refund goes through.

The Three Numbers I Run Over 40 Businesses On