This template applies the four-block method — THE THINGS, THE LINKS, THE STATES, THE NUMBERS — to event catering. It's filled in for a caterer doing weddings and corporate seminars: the example shows how to describe the full thread of a deal, from enquiry to final payment, without ever describing a screen.
The trade's specificity fits in one sentence: the event date doesn't move. The STATES block therefore follows the commercial thread (enquiry → quote → confirmed → delivered → settled), and the NUMBERS block always looks ahead: what's coming, what's missing, what's not yet collected.
Filled with your vocabulary, this text briefs a developer — or is submitted as-is to Blueprint Maker, which turns it into an application plan you validate, then a generated application: database, screens, dashboard and demo data.
The template to copy
My business: event caterer, weddings and corporate seminars, one production kitchen, a fixed team of three plus freelance staff. THINGS tracked: - Clients (name, phone, e-mail, type private or company) - Events (event date, venue, type — cocktail, seated dinner, buffet —, number of guests, chosen menu, amount, deposit requested) - Quotes (send date, amount, status, follow-up date) - Menus (name, description, price per guest, season) - Staff (name, role — kitchen, service, logistics —, fixed or freelance) - Assignments (event, person, hours) LINKS: - An event belongs to a client. - A quote attaches to an event. - An event has one chosen menu. - An assignment links a person to an event. STATES of an event: enquiry received, quote sent, confirmed (deposit received), in preparation, delivered, settled, cancelled. NUMBERS to see every Monday: - Events in the next 30 days - Quotes with no answer for 10 days - Expected deposits not received - Staff assigned / missing on upcoming events
Adapting this template to your business
- Your service types: cocktail, seated dinner, buffet, trays — keep your real categories, they carry different quantity and staffing logics.
- Confirmation by deposit: the "confirmed" state triggers on deposit received, not on verbal agreement — the rule that avoids producing for an event that cancels.
- Quantities per guest: if your technical sheets give per-person weights, note the rule in the menu — fine-grained calculation can then be added on the exported code.
- Freelance staff: non-fixed staff confirm late. The "staff missing on upcoming events" number is the alert that avoids an uncovered Saturday.
- Equipment and rentals: if you rent linen or tableware, add an "Equipment" entity linked to the event — with a returned / to collect state after the event.