Fag-packet workings

I found out today that not everyone knows what Fag-packet workings are. Whilst I wonder what the modern equivalent is called, I do hope there is one, as I believe it’s a critical part of business planning.

Fag-packet workings are just a magic way of checking some basic numebrs out before you commit any emotional investment or personality to an idea. It’s a way of sanilty checking the ‘eureka’ moment of, “we’ll make a shedload of cash, it can’t fail”. You just quickly think through and write down in simple numbers* ) key steps:

1. what would it cost?

2. what would we hope to sell it for?

3. how much do we want to make for the effort we feel it’s going to take

4. how many/much would we need to sell

5. does it still sound like a good idea? If YES – now go properly number-crunch, research the market, identify suppliers etc. If no – grab another beer, laugh at yourself, and move on**

*in the olden days, when you could smoke in your local, you’d probably rip the glossy bit off your cigarettes and use that, the alcohol prompting creativity

** this will/should probably happen at least 80% of the time (see pareto)