01
Mobile services
A detailing business that comes to the customer →
Think through equipment, travel time, and the work behind each appointment.
Read the guide →The cover story
A business of your own. Where should you begin?
A useful idea starts with more than a trend. Consider your skills, your neighborhood, and the kind of working life you want.
Read the guide →The question
Start from home, or serve your neighborhood?
Two paths to working for yourself—and the practical differences between them.
FOUNDLIVO
The neighborhood economy · Editorial illustration
Local enterprise / The field guide
The next opportunity might be right on your street.
Cleaning, detailing, maintenance: a closer look at practical services built around everyday needs.
Find your next business →Find your next business
02
Home services
Build a cleaning service one client at a time →
A focused offer, clear scope, and a realistic plan for recurring work.
Read the guide →03
Independent work
Put your organizing skills to work from home →
Define a focused remote service and deliver it with clear boundaries.
Read the guide →04
Outdoor services
Lay the groundwork for a lawn-care business →
Plan around equipment, routes, property conditions, and seasonal work.
Read the guide →The starting-out desk
Good questions. Practical answers.
Work through the decisions that come before opening day.
Latest stories
Browse the journal →Ask for Customer Reviews Without Distorting the Feedback
A useful review request gives customers room to describe their real experience. It should not pressure them into praise or make support conditional on changing feedback. A small...
Read the guide →Buy or Rent Equipment? A Small Service Business Test
Equipment decisions should follow a tested service, a safe operating method and a realistic usage estimate. A purchase can reduce rental fees while creating storage, maintenance and downtime...
Read the guide →Build a Service Quote That Accounts for the Whole Job
A service quote can look attractive while leaving no room for travel, setup or customer administration. Before choosing a price, describe the complete job and estimate the resources...
Read the guide →How to Run Customer Interviews Before Launching a Local Service
Customer interviews are useful when they reveal how people already solve a problem. A friendly reaction to an idea is weaker evidence than a recent purchase, an inconvenient...
Read the guide →How to Build a Quality Checklist for a Small Service Business
Turn “do a good job” into observable checks, with a worked handover example, exception rules and a simple method for learning from rework.
Read the guide →How to Plan Weekly Capacity for a One-Person Service Business
Calculate how much work your week can actually hold, then use a worked schedule to manage travel, administration, uncertainty and new bookings.
Read the guide →The practical toolkit
Your monthly break-even point
Illustrative inputs, not income projections. Add owner pay to fixed costs if you want to cover it. Tax and financing effects are not modeled.