Yes, here is the worksheet filled in for a solo designer launching at $3,995 a month, so you can check your own plan line by line. It turns 22 weekly design hours into a ceiling of 5 clients and a revenue check of $19,975 a month before costs. The blank version sits at the bottom of the page for you to copy.
How the sheet works: hours, then clients, then money
You start with the hours you can actually design in a week, not the hours you are at your desk. Divide those by the average size of a request and you get requests per week. At one delivered request per client per week, that is your client ceiling. Multiply the ceiling by your monthly price and you have revenue before costs, which you then set against tools, payment fees and what your own time is worth.
Filled-in example (illustrative): a solo designer launching at $3,995 a month
These figures are an example to check your own plan against, not benchmarks. Marcus does brand and web work in Austin and bills about $7,000 a month in projects today. He wants to switch to a $3,995 monthly subscription with one active request per client. He has no subscription clients yet, so every load figure below comes from the worked example in the capacity and profitability guide.
The effort block is where most solo plans go wrong. Account support, leave and administration need explicit treatment; the same time cannot also be available for client production. Marcus starts at 40 hours, removes the capacity guide's 14 (admin 4, client communication 3, revision buffer 3, averaged leave 4). He takes off 4 more because he is also the salesperson and the bookkeeper. That leaves 22 production hours.
| Line | Typical mix | Heavier mix |
|---|---|---|
| Production hours per week | 22 | 22 |
| Average hours per request | 4 | 6 |
| Requests per week | 5.5 | 3.7 |
| Client ceiling at one delivered request per client per week (rounded down) | 5 | 3 |
| Revenue at $3,995 a month | $19,975 | $11,985 |
| Owner labour benchmark (current project income) | $7,000 | $7,000 |
Here is the whole sheet with his numbers in it. Read it next to the blank version further down.
STUDIOSIFT | PRICING AND CAPACITY WORKSHEET FILLED-IN EXAMPLE: SOLO DESIGNER LAUNCHING AT $3,995 A MONTH CONTROL AND ASSUMPTIONS Worksheet owner / reviewer: Marcus (owner); his accountant reviews the money section Planning period and effort unit: one week for effort, in hours; one month for money Currency and consistent revenue basis: USD; subscription fees billed monthly in advance Evidence period / sources / gaps: request sizes from the capacity guide's families; no subscription history yet, so the 4-hour average is a guess Review date / decision this worksheet supports: launch price and client cap; review after four weeks of logged hours SERVICE OFFER Included work families and complexity boundaries: social set of 5 to 8 posts (2 to 3 h), email header and banner set (2 to 4 h), landing page design (6 to 10 h), sales deck of 15 to 20 slides (8 to 12 h) Excluded work / exception owner: print production, motion, development beyond handoff; Marcus quotes these separately Client scope-policy reference: one-page scope note linked from the welcome email Active-request limit and its rationale: one active request per client, so each client has one card in progress and the queue stays readable Revision boundary / changed-brief rule: revisions stay on the same request; a changed brief becomes a new request at the back of the queue Pause and cancellation assumptions: pause or cancel takes effect at the next billing date Expected request mix and basis: mostly social and email sets, some landing pages; averages about 4 h AVAILABLE EFFORT (repeat per person or constrained capability) Person / capability / review responsibility: Marcus, sole designer and his own reviewer Scheduled availability during planning period: 40 contracted hours a week Leave or unavailable time: minus 4 (about 26 days a year, averaged) Administration and account-support allowance: minus 4 admin, minus 3 client communication, minus 4 sales and invoicing (solo) Internal review allocation: inside the hours above; no second reviewer Existing committed production effort: none on subscription; project work wound down before launch Known revision and restart obligations: none yet Additional revision / uncertainty reserve and rationale: minus 3 for revisions and restarting paused work Remaining assignable effort, checked separately: 40 - 14 - 4 = 22 production hours a week [x] No time counted twice across categories [x] Effort distinguished from elapsed waiting time [x] Skills and reviewers not assumed interchangeable [x] Blocked-work restart obligations remain visible REQUEST LOAD AND BOUNDARIES Expected production effort by work family: typical mix averages 4 h: 22 / 4 = 5.5 requests a week, plan for 5 clients Evidence or estimate basis / uncertainty: starting guess from the capacity guide; correct it after a month of real cards Heavier revision-load scenario: average 6 h: 22 / 6 = 3.7 requests a week, plan for 3 clients Reduced-availability scenario: one sick day (8 h) leaves 14 h: 3.5 requests that week, so two clients wait Bottleneck in each scenario: Marcus's own design hours; nobody else can take a card Commitment that would need to change: turnaround promise per request Trigger for stopping new starts or sales: logged production above 22 h for two weeks running, or any request waiting more than two working days to start FINANCIAL INPUTS (use the same period and currency) Proposed fee / service entitlement: $3,995 a month for one active request Revenue assumption and recognition basis: typical 5 x $3,995 = $19,975; heavier 3 x $3,995 = $11,985; launch cap 4 x $3,995 = $15,980 Refund / credit / nonpayment assumptions: none assumed; one failed payment removes $3,995 that month Delivery labour cost and treatment: no staff or contractors Owner labour valuation basis (even if unpaid): about $7,000 a month, his current project income, the benchmark he is giving up Contractor costs / included commitments: none Payment and other variable delivery costs: Stripe fee as a percentage of revenue; each 1% is about $200 at $19,975; US rate to be read on Stripe's own page before launch Fixed overhead recorded separately: Trello Free $0, Figma Professional full seat $16, Loom Starter $0; total $16 a month Tax and accounting treatment requiring advice: income tax and any sales tax on the subscription; accountant to confirm Separate calculation reference / units checked by: Marcus; hours per week and USD per month checked [x] Contribution estimate not presented as business profit [x] Cash timing not confused with earned revenue [x] Delivery costs and overhead not omitted or double counted DECISION [x] Keep offer [ ] Narrow scope [ ] Change capacity [ ] Reassess pricing Reason and unresolved assumptions: even the heavier case ($11,985) clears the $7,000 benchmark; the 4-hour average is still a guess Next action / owner / review date: keep offer; cap at 4 clients for the first two months; log hours on every Trello card; Marcus reviews with four weeks of real hours Professional review needed before commitment: accountant checks tax treatment before the first invoice
The tool lines are small on purpose. Trello Free is $0 for up to 10 collaborators in a workspace, Loom Starter is $0, and a Figma Professional full seat shows as $16 a month (all). Figma's page defaults to a view that looks like annual billing, so check the monthly figure when you sign up.
Payment fees are the line to handle as a percentage, not a fixed amount. We could not confirm Stripe's US card rate from Stripe's own page. So the example leaves it as a percentage: every 1% costs about $200 a month at $19,975. For comparison, Stripe's UK page lists 1.5% + 20p (about $0.27) for standard UK cards and 3.15% + 20p (about $0.27) for international cards.
Owner labour is the line people skip. Marcus values his time at the $7,000 a month he earns from projects now, because that is what he gives up. Even the heavier case clears it, which is why the decision is to keep the offer. He still caps himself at 4 clients for the first two months. At 4 hours a request that is 16 hours; at 5 hours it is 20. Either way the cap survives the average being wrong by an hour.
The three numbers that move your client ceiling
Change these first. Nothing else on the sheet shifts the answer as much.
- Production hours. At a 4-hour average, every 4 hours you lose to calls or sales is one client fewer. Write down your real week before you trust the ceiling.
- Average request size. Going from 4 to 6 hours takes the same designer from 5 clients to 3. Pull last month's finished cards and sort them into families rather than guessing.
- Requests per client per week. If clients approve fast and send two requests a week, 22 hours at 4 hours each is 2.75 clients, so plan for 2. One active request limits what is in progress, not what arrives.
If your price is the open question, compare it with what design subscriptions charge and tighten the included work using the service design and pricing guide. If you have no idea where your hours go, the time and capacity tools page covers logging options, but a week of rough notes on each Trello card is enough to start.
Using the same sheet to decide on a hire
For a studio thinking about another designer, repeat the effort block for the new person. Without sales duties they start from the capacity guide's 26 production hours, about 6 clients at a 4-hour average. Then set that against their fully loaded cost. The hiring section of the capacity guide works through the break-even client count and the first two slow months.
Copy the blank pricing and capacity worksheet into your own document
The blank worksheet is below as plain text you can download or paste into a doc. Fill in the effort block first, because every money line depends on it, and have an accountant check the money section before you commit to a price or a hire.
Use this template
Download the plain-text version, or select the text below and copy it into your own document. Replace the prompts with your studio’s decisions.
Download .txtSTUDIOSIFT | PRICING AND CAPACITY WORKSHEET This is not a calculator, a financial forecast or a pricing recommendation. Use your own inputs. Record checked calculations separately if needed. CONTROL AND ASSUMPTIONS Worksheet owner / reviewer: ____ Planning period and effort unit: ____ Currency and consistent revenue basis: ____ Evidence period / sources / gaps: ____ Review date / decision this worksheet supports: ____ SERVICE OFFER Included work families and complexity boundaries: ____ Excluded work / exception owner: ____ Client scope-policy reference: ____ Active-request limit and its rationale: ____ Revision boundary / changed-brief rule: ____ Pause and cancellation assumptions: ____ Expected request mix and basis: ____ AVAILABLE EFFORT (repeat per person or constrained capability) Person / capability / review responsibility: ____ Scheduled availability during planning period: ____ Leave or unavailable time: ____ Administration and account-support allowance: ____ Internal review allocation: ____ Existing committed production effort: ____ Known revision and restart obligations: ____ Additional revision / uncertainty reserve and rationale: ____ Remaining assignable effort, checked separately: ____ [ ] No time counted twice across categories [ ] Effort distinguished from elapsed waiting time [ ] Skills and reviewers not assumed interchangeable [ ] Blocked-work restart obligations remain visible REQUEST LOAD AND BOUNDARIES Expected production effort by work family: ____ Evidence or estimate basis / uncertainty: ____ Heavier revision-load scenario: ____ Reduced-availability scenario: ____ Bottleneck in each scenario: ____ Commitment that would need to change: ____ Trigger for stopping new starts or sales: ____ FINANCIAL INPUTS (use the same period and currency) Proposed fee / service entitlement: ____ Revenue assumption and recognition basis: ____ Refund / credit / nonpayment assumptions: ____ Delivery labour cost and treatment: ____ Owner labour valuation basis (even if unpaid): ____ Contractor costs / included commitments: ____ Payment and other variable delivery costs: ____ Fixed overhead recorded separately: ____ Tax and accounting treatment requiring advice: ____ Separate calculation reference / units checked by: ____ [ ] Contribution estimate not presented as business profit [ ] Cash timing not confused with earned revenue [ ] Delivery costs and overhead not omitted or double counted DECISION [ ] Keep offer [ ] Narrow scope [ ] Change capacity [ ] Reassess pricing Reason and unresolved assumptions: ____ Next action / owner / review date: ____ Professional review needed before commitment: ____ Do not infer a universal client limit or financial result from blank inputs.