Sources and licences

Block 1: Resources and unit economics

This block uses no outside materials: it is written from general knowledge of the subject.

Block 2: Price, demand and margin

• Consulted: The author's own studies of economics (demand and supply, price sensitivity, the theory of the firm). From the author's own studies, nothing copied. General ideas the author learned in their own studies: the law of demand, a demand table from buyers' highest prices, price sensitivity and what makes it high, hidden costs of the owner's time, choosing a price by profit rather than by revenue. Nothing is copied: the lessons, the glossary, the examples and the numbers of this block are new.
• Consulted: A study guide on management accounting (topic 4: short-term decisions and pricing). Read for ideas only. A published commercial textbook. Only consulted for the idea of a short-term lowest price (variable costs) and a long-term one (full costs); nothing is adapted or quoted.

Block 3: Cash flow: profit is not cash

• Adapted from Money Smart for Small Business, Module 10: Managing Cash Flow (participant guide, 2025), FDIC and U.S. Small Business Administration. Public domain. A free training module of U.S. federal agencies, not protected by copyright. Adapted: a cash forecast as starting cash + money in - money out, money that comes in, is stored and goes out, days to get paid and to pay, a cash reserve. No logos are used, and the agencies do not endorse this course. Open the source: Money Smart for Small Business, Module 10: Managing Cash Flow (participant guide, 2025)
• Consulted: The author's own studies of accounting and management decisions. From the author's own studies, nothing copied. General ideas the author learned in their own studies: income and costs belong to the period when they happen, not when money moves; the business's money is separate from the owner's; money owed to and by the business; checking each option against the worst case. Nothing is copied: the lessons, the examples and the numbers of this block are new.
• Consulted: A study guide on management accounting (topic 6: budgets, the cash budget). Read for ideas only. A published commercial textbook. Only consulted for the rule that a cash budget must stay above zero in every period; nothing is adapted or quoted.

Block 4: Customers

• Consulted: The author's own studies of management, economics and sociology (customers, marketing, survey methods). From the author's own studies, nothing copied. General ideas the author learned in their own studies: describing a target customer by their need, value as benefits against everything the customer gives up, the cost of getting a customer against what the customer brings, neutral survey questions and who answers a survey. Nothing is copied: the lessons, the glossary, the examples and the numbers of this block are new.
• Consulted: U.S. Small Business Administration, Manage your business: Marketing and sales, U.S. Small Business Administration. Public domain. A work of the U.S. federal government. Consulted for the idea of describing your customers in detail and comparing what marketing costs with what it brings. Nothing is quoted; no logo is used and no endorsement is implied. Open the source: U.S. Small Business Administration, Manage your business: Marketing and sales
• Consulted: Introduction to Business (1st edition), chapter 11: the marketing concept and customer value, Lawrence J. Gitman, Carl McDaniel, Amit Shah and others, OpenStax. Read for ideas only. Text under CC BY 4.0, but the site also lists CC BY-NC-SA for parts of the book, so it is treated as reference only. Read for the order of topics (customer value, keeping customers costs less than finding new ones); nothing is adapted or quoted. Open the source: Introduction to Business (1st edition), chapter 11: the marketing concept and customer value

Block 5: People and time

• Consulted: The author's own studies of management and economics (opportunity cost, comparative advantage, managing people). From the author's own studies, nothing copied. General ideas the author learned in their own studies: the opportunity cost of the owner's time, comparative advantage, the full cost of an employee, fixed against variable costs of help, delegation and what motivates people at work. Nothing is copied: the lessons, the glossary, the examples and the numbers of this block are new.
• Consulted: U.S. Small Business Administration, Manage your business: Hire and manage employees, U.S. Small Business Administration. Public domain. A work of the U.S. federal government. Consulted for the costs of an employee beyond the wage (employer taxes, insurance, leave) and the difference between an employee and an independent contractor. U.S. rules are not taught; nothing is quoted; no logo is used and no endorsement is implied. Open the source: U.S. Small Business Administration, Manage your business: Hire and manage employees
• Consulted: Introduction to Business (1st edition), chapter 9: motivating employees (Herzberg's motivator-hygiene theory), Lawrence J. Gitman, Carl McDaniel, Amit Shah and others, OpenStax. Read for ideas only. Text under CC BY 4.0, but the site also lists CC BY-NC-SA for parts of the book, so it is treated as reference only. Read to check the split between basic conditions and motivators; the lesson explains it in new words with new examples; nothing is adapted or quoted. Open the source: Introduction to Business (1st edition), chapter 9: motivating employees (Herzberg's motivator-hygiene theory)

Block 6: Decisions under uncertainty

• Consulted: The author's own studies of management and economics (decision methods, expected value, risk, sunk costs, thinking traps). From the author's own studies, nothing copied. General ideas the author learned in their own studies: comparing options against criteria and limits, the expected result over scenarios, looking at the worst case, ignoring sunk costs, common thinking traps and testing small before a big decision. Nothing is copied: the lessons, the glossary, the examples and the numbers of this block are new.

Block 7: The economy around your business

• Consulted: The author's own studies of economics (inflation and price indices, nominal and real values, interest rates, exchange rates, economic history). From the author's own studies, nothing copied. General ideas the author learned in their own studies: how inflation is measured, nominal against real values, the price of borrowing, why central banks raise rates, and how exchange rates change costs and income. Nothing is copied: the lessons, the glossary, the examples and the numbers of the cases are new.
• Consulted: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Historical Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U), U.S. city average, all items (table of December 2023), U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Public domain. Data of the U.S. federal government, read on 2026-10-17. Used for three figures in the lesson on inflation: yearly average rises of 13.5% in 1980 and 8.0% in 2022, and the index averages of 1970 (38.8) and 2020 (258.811), about 6.7 times. Nothing is quoted; no logo is used and no endorsement is implied. Open the source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Historical Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U), U.S. city average, all items (table of December 2023)
• Consulted: Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, statements of the Federal Open Market Committee of 16 March 2022 and 26 July 2023, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System. Public domain. Press releases of a U.S. federal agency, read on 2026-10-17. Used for one figure in the lesson on interest rates: the target range of the federal funds rate, 0.25-0.5% from 16 March 2022 and 5.25-5.5% from 26 July 2023. No logo is used and no endorsement is implied. Open the source: Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, statements of the Federal Open Market Committee of 16 March 2022 and 26 July 2023
• Consulted: Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, Foreign Exchange Rates (H.10), historical rates for the euro, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System. Public domain. Data of a U.S. federal agency, read on 2026-10-17. Used for one figure in the lesson on exchange rates: $1.2254 per euro on 4 January 2021 and $0.9616 on 27 September 2022, about 22% fewer dollars per euro. No logo is used and no endorsement is implied. Open the source: Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, Foreign Exchange Rates (H.10), historical rates for the euro