Blueprint Business Advisors

10/20/2026

A conversation getting a lot of attention among founders lately: is the 10-year plan dead? Tools and markets are moving so fast that many leaders now work in 90-day cycles.

My view: hold your values for a decade, and hold your plans with an open hand.

Proverbs 16:9 (KJV): "A man's heart deviseth his way: but the LORD directeth his steps." Planning is wise. Holding the plan with humility is wiser.

What that looks like in a business:
• 10 years: who you serve, how you treat people, what you will and won't do. These shouldn't change with the news cycle.
• 1 year: a short list of outcomes, such as profit, cash reserve, key hires and owner time.
• 90 days: three priorities, one owner for each, reviewed every week.
• 13 weeks of cash: a rolling cash-flow forecast, updated weekly, so surprises show up early instead of at payroll.

Fast markets reward short cycles. Lasting companies are built on the things that don't move.

We always put your best interests first. If you'd like help building a 90-day plan and a 13-week cash forecast around your long-term goals, send us a message.



https://medium.com//seasonal-cash-flow-the-13-week-forecast-every-houston-service-business-needs-e2667a36c09c

10/20/2026

Doctors, dentists and vets: thinking about bringing an associate in as a partner? 🤝

Before anyone talks price, it pays to know what the associate is buying, how the practice gets valued, and why the structure you pick can change the tax bill for both of you. I wrote it all out in plain English, with a few lessons from my conversation with Ray Larson and Marco Brito, partners for 16+ years.

Read it here: https://medium.com//practice-buy-ins-how-doctors-dentists-and-vets-should-value-and-structure-a-new-partner-ac500301e6f8

Have you been on either side of a buy-in? What surprised you most?

Bringing an associate into ownership is one of the largest capital decisions a practice will make. Here is how to price it, structure it…

10/20/2026

A healthy total margin can hide a service line that quietly loses money.

Split revenue by service line. Subtract only the costs that move with that work: direct labor, materials, subcontractors. What remains is each line's contribution margin.

Then ask the question that matters: which lines fund the overhead, and which ones does the overhead fund?

You may keep every line. Just know which is which before you set 2027 prices.

https://medium.com//your-break-even-point-the-overhead-number-that-buys-houston-business-owners-their-freedom-9780470801c1

10/20/2026

What are you really building? Your legacy, your purpose.
Let’s create your unique blueprint together!



DM us "BLUEPRINT"

https://www.youtube.com/

10/20/2026

You can disagree with someone and still shake their hand when it's over.

That's not weakness. That's maturity.

DM us "BLUEPRINT"



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=araZCauS04g

10/20/2026

Doctors' pay is getting picked apart online again. The replies from physicians keep pointing to the half of the story people skip: the paycheck starts late.

The numbers behind that, from the AAMC (latest published figures):
• Median education debt for medical graduates who borrowed, Class of 2025: $215,000 (AAMC debt fact card, Oct. 2025).
• Average first-year resident stipend: $68,166 (AAMC 2025 stipend survey, data as of July 1, 2025).

So the useful question for a physician, dentist or veterinarian isn't "why so much?" It's "how do I build decades of savings in fewer earning years?"

Where we start with doctors:
1. Price the debt. Rate, term, and whether a forgiveness or repayment program actually fits your career path.
2. Treat the 401(k) as the floor. The 2026 employee deferral limit is $24,500 (IRS IR-2025-111).
3. If you own the practice, look at a cash balance plan. Defined benefit plans are limited by the annual benefit (up to $290,000 for 2026 under IRC §415(b), IRS Notice 2025-67), not the deferral cap, so contributions for some owners can be much larger. Age, payroll and plan design decide what fits.

High pay. Late start. The plan has to make up the difference.

General information, not individual tax or investment advice.



https://medium.com//cash-balance-plans-for-houston-physicians-and-dentists-when-maxing-the-401-k-isnt-enough-4b7d3c792521

10/20/2026

$2,500 per invoice or per item. That is the de minimis safe harbor for a business without an applicable (typically audited) financial statement: elect it, and qualifying purchases at or under that amount are expensed instead of capitalized (26 CFR §1.263(a)-1(f)(1)(ii); raised from $500 by IRS Notice 2015-82).

The catch: the expensing policy has to be in place at the beginning of the tax year, and the election goes on each year's timely filed return (§1.263(a)-1(f)(5)).

For 2027, write the policy before January 1.

https://medium.com//capex-timing-for-houston-business-owners-bonus-depreciation-section-179-and-why-a-write-off-64916a534df4

10/20/2026

Picture a manager who has known for months that a key employee is struggling. Deadlines slip, others quietly pick up the slack, and everyone can see it. The manager keeps waiting for the right moment.

The delay feels kind. It usually is not. The employee never gets a fair chance to fix it, the team learns that standards are negotiable, and the eventual conversation is harder for everyone.

Three things that help:
• Be specific: name the behavior and its effect, not the person's character.
• Be clear about what good looks like, and by when.
• Offer real help, and follow up on the date you set.

Candor without care is harsh. Care without candor is avoidance. Leaders need both.

"But speaking the truth in love, may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ." (Ephesians 4:15, KJV)

Is there a conversation you have been putting off?

https://medium.com//the-business-someone-else-would-want-to-buy-104c3eb8a6a4

10/20/2026

Some referrals change your business. One changed Derrick Dyslin's whole life.

On the Entrepreneurial Blueprint Podcast he shares how a good friend sent over a new client, and a week later they went on their first date. Now they're married. His takeaway: the people you work with matter.

Who sent you your best client?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nE6jg5pElIk

10/19/2026

There is never a perfect week to raise prices, hire the person you need, or start the project you keep postponing. The economy is uncertain, rates might move, a competitor might too.

Plan carefully. Then plant anyway.

"He that observeth the wind shall not sow; and he that regardeth the clouds shall not reap." (Ecclesiastes 11:4, KJV)

To the owners building in Houston and The Woodlands this week: what are you planting?

https://medium.com//build-it-to-sell-even-if-you-never-do-the-entity-decision-worth-millions-f5bd03bd7c07