When I started my first t-shirt business, I was sure the numbers were going to be easy. I figured every wholesale customer would order at least 40 shirts, and that at least 1 out of every 5 sales calls would turn into a paying customer.
Boy, was I wrong. It turned out more like 1 in 20 calls actually closed, and most customers only ordered the minimum—24 shirts. My projections were way off, and it nearly sank me before I even got going.
That’s when I learned the hard truth: most of us overestimate sales in the beginning.
Financial projections are one of the biggest traps for new business owners. Some people get lost in endless details, building 30-tab spreadsheets before they’ve made a single sale. Others create pie-in-the-sky numbers that will never happen.
Neither approach helps. What you really need is a simple, realistic way to see if your idea makes sense.
Start with this thought experiment:
👉 Now cut that number in half. That’s closer to reality.
Example: