Start with a product and its constraints
Identify a product your business can make, then inspect ingredients and available workers. Follow any intermediate dependency. Check where materials will arrive and where output will wait. This sequence makes a stalled business easier to diagnose than adding workers immediately.
Separate profit from cash
A profitable batch on paper can still leave too little money for the next purchase. Input spending may happen before sale revenue. Keep a cash ledger for wages, repairs and planned improvements, and use your own observed amounts.
Treat the city as a changing context
The July economy diary explains the intended roles of events, workforce and neighbourhood demand, while warning that some systems are future work. The Backstabby Update specifically expands city needs. This site labels those concepts as a roadmap rather than assigning them current modifiers.