The map

Your business world

Every lesson is a place in town. The ring road is the ideas every business shares, the neighborhoods are industries, and the landmarks on the edge are famous companies. Places light up as you explore them.

8 lessons to try · 0 of 15 big ideas met

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Industries · Restaurant

Restaurant Row

How a restaurant really runs: thin margins, Friday rushes, suppliers and permits.

Lessons here

Foundations ideas you'll meet here · tap one to see it around town

Start “You sell a $15 burger. How much do you keep?”

Every place in town, as a list

The center of town

An empty lot in the middle of town. Turn what you learned into a plan for your own business: budget, break-even, first hires, permits.
- Is this business right for me? (coming soon)
- Your startup budget (coming soon)
- Your break-even point (coming soon)
- Your first hires (coming soon)
- Your permit checklist (coming soon)

The Foundations Loop

Selling meals, memberships, subscriptions or fees: the ways money comes in.
- How does a business make money? (open)
What's left of each sale after paying for everything.
- Margins: where each dollar goes (open)
Costs that stay put, costs that grow with each sale, and the break-even point.
- How many guests just to stay even? (open)
How businesses decide what to charge.
Coming soon
Why profitable businesses still run out of money: the timing of money.
Coming soon
Hiring, wages and scheduling.
Coming soon
Ads, regulars and word of mouth.
Coming soon
What makes a business hard to copy.
Coming soon
Suppliers, spoilage, inventory and shipping.
Coming soon
Profit report, balance sheet and cash flow statement.
Coming soon
Savings, loans and investors.
Coming soon
Legal structure, permits and taxes.
Coming soon
What can go wrong, and who gets paid to carry the risk.
Coming soon
From one location to many.
Coming soon
How each kind of business usually fails, compared side by side.
Coming soon

Industry neighborhoods

How a restaurant really runs: thin margins, Friday rushes, suppliers and permits.
- You sell a $15 burger. How much do you keep? (open)
- Hiring your first crew (open)
- Permits before you open (open)
- Reading your monthly numbers (open)
Why a cup costs what it does, and why rent and slow afternoons matter so much.
- How a coffee shop makes money (coming soon)
- The slow-afternoon problem (coming soon)
Also covered in:
- Margins: where each dollar goes (open)
- How many guests just to stay even? (open)
Retail and online stores: inventory, shipping, and paying for ads to find customers.
- What a sale really costs online (coming soon)
- Inventory: cash sitting on shelves (coming soon)
Regulars, booking every chair, and renting a chair vs. owning the shop.
- Rent a chair or own the shop? (coming soon)
Memberships: getting paid before you deliver, and keeping members from quitting.
- The membership model (coming soon)
Also covered in:
- How does a business make money? (open)
Software: big costs up front, then each new customer costs little.
- How a software company makes money (coming soon)
Construction and trades: bids, materials, and waiting to get paid.
- Winning a bid without losing money (coming soon)
Making things: machines, materials, and why making more can make each one cheaper.
- What it costs to make one more (coming soon)
Consulting and agencies: when people's time is the product.
- Selling hours (coming soon)

Big-company landmarks

How lending other people's money turns into a business.
- How banks make money (coming soon)
Burgers, yes. But most of its restaurants are run by franchise owners, who pay it rent and fees.
- How McDonald's makes money (coming soon)
Also covered in:
- How does a business make money? (open)
Coffee on a lot of corners, and customers who put money on the app before they buy.
- How Starbucks makes money (coming soon)
Huge fixed costs and prices that change by the day. Why every empty seat hurts.
- How airlines make money (coming soon)
Also covered in:
- How many guests just to stay even? (open)
An online store, a delivery network and a cloud computing business under one roof.
- How Amazon makes money (coming soon)
A marketplace: it doesn't own the cars. It connects riders and drivers and takes a fee.
- How Uber makes money (coming soon)
A warehouse store with low prices and thin markups. So where does the profit come from?
- How Costco makes money (open)
Search is free to use. So who pays? Advertisers.
- How Google makes money (coming soon)
A business where risk is the product.
- How insurance works (coming soon)
Subscriptions, and paying for shows long before anyone watches them.
- How Netflix makes money (coming soon)

Company names are lesson topics, not partnerships.