Masa Madre Business Plan

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The Lived Business Plan

Masa Madre, as it's actually being built

Most business plans are written to raise money, so they show only conclusions. This one shows what's actually been proven and what hasn't — each section built from a decision you can go back and read.

1 · The thesis — why Masa Madre, why now, why these founders

Captures: what the bakery is, the product it is built around, and who is building it.

Note: Begun, not yet evidenced. Not counted in the progress bar.

Masa Madre is a bakery in Utrecht built on one family of enriched dough.

Reached through Case 1, The Rent Runs Anyway — all free to read.

2 · Who it's for

Captures: who the bakery reaches, who it loses, and whether they come back.

Between May of year 2 and the spring of year 3, the first shop's customers separated into three groups that responded differently to the same Volta.

Reached through Case 2, One Day a Week, and Case 3, Two Doors — all free to read.

3 · Value proposition

Captures: what the customer gets, at what price, and what makes it worth that price.

The price holds only if the Volta is noticeably better.

Reached through Case 1, The Rent Runs Anyway — all free to read.

4 · How it reaches them

Captures: how customers find the bakery, what that costs, and what it brings in.

Note: Begun, not yet evidenced. Not counted in the progress bar.

Customers find the shop by walking past it, living near it, or travelling to it.

Reached through Case 2, One Day a Week, and Case 3, Two Doors — all free to read.

5 · Operations

Captures: how a day's product is made, who makes it, what it depends on, and how much can be made.

The schedule is worked backwards from the shelf: product must be ready when the doors open.

Reached through Case 1, The Rent Runs Anyway; Case 2, One Day a Week; Case 3, Two Doors — all free to read.

6 · The economic engine

Captures: what the bakery charges, what it costs to run, the volume at which it covers its costs, and how long its cash lasts.

Both founders draw less each month than the counter staff they employ, who are on €2,500 gross full-time.

Reached through Case 1, The Rent Runs Anyway, and Case 3, Two Doors — all free to read.

7 · What's proven so far

Captures: what the venture has actually done, in order, and what did not work.

The opening month lost money where the plan showed a profit.

Reached through Case 1, The Rent Runs Anyway; Case 2, One Day a Week; Case 3, Two Doors — all free to read.

8 · The team

Captures: who does what now and next, what each person has shown, and how decisions are made.

Both shops' bread will come from one room and one baker.

Reached through Case 1, The Rent Runs Anyway; Case 2, One Day a Week; Case 3, Two Doors — all free to read.

9 · The ask, ownership and return logic

Captures: where the money came from, what is owed, who owns and controls what, and what the forecast shows.

At the bank's 75%, the second shop loses money in its first year and the first shop carries it.

Reached through Case 1, The Rent Runs Anyway, and Case 3, Two Doors — all free to read.

10 · What could break it

Captures: the few risks that could end the business, each with its early signal and its cost.

Empty because naming a risk is not the same as measuring one. Several are named across this plan; none yet has a near miss or a measured cost behind it.

What we would do differently

Most plans end with what the founders would do differently. This one won't. The Masa Madre story ends before anyone has the distance to write it, and a retrospective written at the moment of a loan decision would be confidence, not hindsight. Most ventures never write that section. Saying so is more accurate than filling it.

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