The 12-month plan
Do this, then this, then that. Each step has an owner (you), a lead time and a way to know it is done. Lead times are for UK construction, catering and facilities buyers; they are long, and most of the waiting is procurement, not persuasion. They are estimatesS16 until your first three deals replace them.
- Months 1–2: company ready to be onboarded as a supplier; Fernham and Menu Partners live; Barratt pilot in procurement.
- Months 3–6: Barratt pilot live; outbound to Tier 1; four to six paying customers; first reference quotes.
- Months 7–12: Tier 2 outbound with references; Barratt division deal; 10–15 customers; decide whether to hire.
Revenue scenarios
Cash. Year one needs £49k–£64k (≈ £13k–£19k of costs plus your living costs). Base-case revenue covers about £34k of it. Plan for £50k–£65k of runwayS25. The business is not capital-intensive; the cash is your time and the length of UK procurement.
Sales cycles by buyer type
Reasoned estimatesS16; no published UK benchmark exists for this vertical and deal size. Use them for planning and replace them with your own after ten deals.
| Buyer | Discovery → signed pilot | Pilot → annual contract | First touch → revenue | Stakeholders |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Small private housebuilder (50–300 staff) — Fernham | 3–6 weeks | 4–8 weeks | 3–5 months | 1–3 |
| Regional division of a housebuilder plc — Barratt London | 6–12 weeks | 8–16 weeks | 5–9 months | 4–7 |
| Group level, after a division succeeds — Barratt Redrow | 3–6 months | 3–6 months | 9–18 months | 8–12 |
| Contract caterer, single client contract — Menu Partners | 4–10 weeks | 6–12 weeks | 4–7 months | 3–6 |
| Contract caterer, head-office estate deal | 3–6 months | 3–6 months | 9–15 months | 8–15 |
| FM contractor, mid-market | 6–12 weeks | 8–16 weeks | 5–9 months | 4–8 |
Consequences: a deal started in September that is not a small private builder will not pay this financial year. Front-load the pipeline with small, fast buyers; they pay for the certificates and produce the case studies that make the slow buyers possible. Add a full quarter to every plc estimate for InfoSec and legal queues.
The selling calendar (verified dates)
| Period | What is happening | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| 18 Dec 2026 – 4 Jan 2027 | Verified construction winter shutdown (CIJC Working Rule Agreement)S26. Nothing is decided. | Do not forecast a December close. Case studies, reporting, January follow-ups queued. |
| January | Budget-year re-engagement; annual H&S plans written | The best outreach week of the year is the first full week of January. |
| February – April | Sites fully manned | Push pilots to signature. |
| May – July | Long days, full sites, highest headcount | Run pilots here; activation numbers are at their best. |
| August | Employer-designated close-downs vary (the industry-wide summer shutdown no longer exists: ask each account) | Prospect, don't close. |
| September – November | Next-year budget planning | The "put us in next year's budget" conversation. |
Contract catering is growing (9.3% a year) while private housing output is forecast down 10%S27. Caterers run on client-contract cycles, not calendar years: ask when the next mobilisation is. Weight your outbound roughly 40% construction, 40% catering and hospitality, 20% logistics and FM, not housebuilder-first.
Month by month
Month 1 · Get sellable
Company hygiene (week 1)
Companies House, bank, ICO fee, PL/PI insurance, accountant.
Start Cyber Essentials (week 1)
Self-assessment through an IASME certification body. Fix what it flags (MFA everywhere, patching, no shared admin accounts).
The pack (week 2)
One-pager, security summary, DPA, terms, order form, pilot wording (Chapters 8, 9, 11).
Demo tenant (week 2)
A branded tenant with Polish, Romanian and English workers, a scheduled must-read, a hazard report with a photo, a 2-minute video with captions. Rehearse the 30-minute demo five times. Record a 90-second version.
Three warm asks (week 2–3)
Send the intro requests in Chapter 6. Book Fernham and Menu Partners meetings in week 3–4.
Price list published (week 3)
Pricing page live on team-comms.com with the three tiers. Published pricing shortens every conversation.
Month 2 · First customers
Fernham: sign the Company plan at £550 a month (week 5–7)
Demo to the construction director; order form on the call; on site with join cards within a week.
Menu Partners: £2,500 60-day pilot (week 5–8)
Recall-notice story; up to three kitchens on; day-30 and day-60 reviews booked at signing; the £950 Company band printed on the pilot paper.
Barratt London: the £2,500 pilot on a purchase order (week 5–8)
HSEQ or divisional H&S director meeting; a £2,500 pilot sits under the divisional PO threshold, which is the point: it avoids group procurement, which handles ~95% of Barratt Redrow's buyingS28. Start the DPA anyway.
Weekly review starts (every Friday from now)
Chapter 10. Non-negotiable.
Month 3 · Evidence
Reference quotes from Fernham and Menu Partners
Ask on the day-30 call, with the number they saw (confirmed reach %).
Outbound to Tier 1 begins
Five accounts a week, warm path first, the three-touch sequence. Track replies.
Menu Partners converts to annual
Day-60 review with the reach numbers; Company plan order form.
Months 4–6 · The pilot that matters
Barratt London pilot live (month 4)
Up to three sites, 60 days, the four success criteria agreed in writing. You on site for the first two join sessions. Cyber Essentials Plus started if they asked.
One new logo a month from outbound (months 5–6)
Discovery → demo → proposal → pilot, using the reference quotes. Expect 15–20 touched accounts per booked demo early on.
Product: fix what customers hit (one day a week)
Keep a list; ship the top item monthly. Do not build SSO or integrations until an Enterprise deal depends on it.
Months 7–9 · Expand
Barratt: from pilot to division, then group (month 7–12+)
Day-60 review → the division at the 1,001–2,000 band (£2,600/month) with the pilot credited, signed by the division. Then the group agreement, which is a second sale with 8–12 stakeholders and 9–18 months; start it the day the division signs.
Tier 2 outbound with references
Ten accounts a week. Use the Barratt story only once it is public; ask permission in writing.
Renewal machine
Renewal notices at day 300 (Chapter 11). Track churn. Every lost customer gets a 15-minute call to learn why.
Months 10–12 · Decide
The hiring decision
If base case or better (≈ £43k ARR, 4+ tenants, pilot-to-paid above 60%): hire a part-time onboarding/CS person so you keep selling. If below conservative: the problem is the pitch or the ICP, not headcount; go back to discovery notes.
Price rise
Raise published prices 5–8% for new customers; existing customers at renewal with 60 days' notice.
Year-2 plan
Either: the same motion in one more sector (logistics or care, whichever produced replies), or: deepen construction with the supply chain (subcontractors of your customers are warm leads with zero acquisition cost).
What to do this week
- Read Chapters 1 and 6.
- Send the three intro requests, word for word.
- Start Cyber Essentials and the insurance quote.
- Build the demo tenant and rehearse.
- Put the Friday hour in the diary for the next 52 weeks.