Home / The Course
— THE OPERATING SYSTEM · LIVE & ONLINE
The book shows you it's possible.This class shows you how.
An 8-week, online course that walks you — step by step — through choosing, funding, stabilizing, and building your first microbusiness. Small cohorts, real accountability, and the exact system from the book, taught live from anywhere in the country.
Format · Online, live
Length · 8 weeks
When · Saturdays, 9:00 AM EST
Seats · 5 per cohort
Tuition · $399
Taught by a former CDFI loan officer & director — the person who used to approve these loans.
One repeatable system. Four phases at a time.
— WHAT YOU’LL BUILD
PHASE 01 — CHOOSE
Pick a business that already works
Screen real, stable, profitable businesses under $350K — and prove the numbers before you ever commit.
✓ The Microbusiness Scorecard
✓ The napkin test (owner-replacement cash flow)
✓ Four paths in: acquire, build, franchise, side-hustle
✓ Reading real seller numbers
Most people never start because the path looks like a cliff. The Operating System turns it into stairs — a clear next action at every step.
PHASE 02 — FUND
Get the money most people never find
Use the community lenders built to say yes to first-time owners — and know which lenders fund deals this size.
✓ The Lender Matching Guide
✓ CDFIs, SBA microloans & Community Advantage
✓ Building a fundable capital stack
✓ The Funding Blueprint, explained
PHASE 03 — STABILIZE
Make it run without you
Turn a business you bought into an asset you own — one that keeps paying whether or not you show up.
✓ The first-90-days playbook
✓ Systems, roles & the Disappearance Test
✓ Handling common issues
✓ Protecting cash flow
PHASE 04 — BUILD
Turn one business into a portfolio
Add the next business, share what you've already built, and grow toward $1M+ in enterprise value.
✓ The Readiness to Replicate Scorecard
✓ The Business Expansion Map
✓ Portfolio synergy & shared assets
✓ Planning your exit & valuation
Eight live Saturdays — plus the tools to keep going.
— WHAT YOU GET
Your course materials arrive by email the moment you enroll, so you can start before day one.
8 live sessions
Every Saturday for eight weeks, live online — taught, not just watched.
Lender Matching Guide
Find the right community lender for your path — and speak their language.
Materials by email
Delivered in one email right after you enroll — worksheets, templates, and guides.
Scorecards & checklists
The Microbusiness Scorecard and Readiness to Replicate Scorecard, step by step.
AI co-pilot prompts
Copy-paste prompts for every key step, so you're never staring at a blank page.
A small cohort
Just five seats — real accountability and answers to your actual situation.
Built for careful people — not gamblers.
— IS THIS YOU
It's not for you if…
— You're looking for passive income with zero work.
— You want a get-rich-quick scheme or a trading system
— You won't do the reading or the reps.
— You expect a guarantee instead of a method.
This is for you if…
✓ You have a W-2 and want to own something real.
✓ You'd rather buy proven cash flow than chase a big idea.
✓ You want a credible plan, not hype or hustle-culture.
✓ You're willing to borrow wisely to build an asset.
Seats are limited to five. Be first in line.
— JOIN THE WAITLIST
The first online cohort is forming now. Join the waitlist and you'll be first to hear when dates open — then you can reserve your seat.
THE OPERATING SYSTEM · 8-WEEK ONLINE COURSE
$399 tuition
Saturdays · 9:00 AM EST · Online
✓ 8 live Saturday sessions, online
✓ All four phases — Choose. Fund. Stabilize. Build.
✓ Course materials emailed the moment you enroll
✓ AI co-pilot prompts, Lender Matching Guide & scorecards
✓ A five-person cohort — real accountability
Next cohort: dates to be announced. Waitlist members hear first — and reserve seats before anyone else.
Built on real lending experience
This isn't theory. The lending years taught Chris what to look for, and years of research against those criteria produced the fifty. It's the path Chris watched work from inside the lending office — distilled into a system ordinary people can follow.
— QUESTIONS
Good things to ask first.
-
Live online, on Saturdays at 9:00 AM EST, for eight weeks. The joining link is sent to registered students ahead of the first session.
-
Dates for the first online cohort are being finalized. Join the waitlist and you'll be the first to hear when they open — seats are limited to five, so waitlist members get first choice.
-
They're emailed to you in one message right after you enroll, so you can begin before the first Saturday.
-
Because materials are delivered immediately upon payment, all sales are final and tuition is non-refundable. Please enroll only when you're confident you can attend.
-
It helps, but it's not required. The book makes the path believable through four true-to-life stories; the course makes it doable — live, with the tools and steps. Many people read alongside it.
-
No. The $1M refers to portfolio enterprise value — what a portfolio of businesses can be worth when sold — and it's an illustration of the method, not a guarantee. Results depend on you, your market, and your decisions.
Your first business is closer than you think.
Get the system that turns a W-2 and a little courage into a portfolio you own.

