A useful business plan tells the reader what you know, what you are assuming and what must still be tested. This template gives each claim an evidence field so a polished draft cannot hide a weak premise.

Prepare the source before you fill it

Suppose a two-person bookkeeping firm is considering a four-week onboarding service for five existing clients. It has two customer requests, a draft checklist and no measured delivery-time baseline.

How to use this template

  1. Name the reader and decision

    Write whether this plan supports an internal pilot, a partner discussion or a funding request. The audience changes the evidence and level of detail you need.

  2. Fill facts before prose

    Add source links, dates and owners to the evidence register. Leave an item open when you have no support instead of asking AI to fill it.

  3. Label every projection

    Record the formula, starting value, period and assumption behind a projection. A number without that trail is not ready for a decision.

  4. Run an owner review

    Ask the finance, operations and legal owners to check the sections they control. Record unresolved questions in the plan rather than deleting them.

Copy the template

Download .md
# Business plan

## 1. Decision and reader
- Decision this plan supports:
- Primary reader:
- Decision owner:
- Decision date:

## 2. Business summary
- Customer problem:
- Product or service:
- Current stage:
- Evidence already available:
- Open assumptions:

## 3. Customer and market evidence
| Claim | Evidence source and date | What it supports | Limitation | Owner |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
|  |  |  |  |  |

## 4. Offer and delivery
- Included outcome:
- Exclusions:
- Delivery steps and owners:
- Capacity limit:
- Required approvals or licenses:

## 5. Go-to-market test
- First audience:
- Channel and permission basis:
- Test offer:
- Primary measure:
- Guardrail:
- Stop or revise rule:

## 6. Operating plan
| Activity | Owner | Required input | Cost basis | Evidence of completion |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
|  |  |  |  |  |

## 7. Financial assumptions
| Projection | Formula | Starting values | Assumption | Evidence gap |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Revenue | customers × price × period |  |  |  |
| Direct cost | units × cost per unit |  |  |  |
| Capacity | available hours ÷ hours per unit |  |  |  |

## 8. Risks and controls
| Risk | Trigger | Preventive control | Response owner |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
|  |  |  |  |

## 9. Next 30 days
- Evidence to collect:
- Smallest test:
- Review date:
- Continue, revise or stop criteria:

Filled example

Decision: test a four-week onboarding service with existing clients.
Evidence: two dated support emails ask for setup help.
Assumption: five clients will join the pilot. No demand test supports this yet.
Offer: a kickoff call, document checklist and two review checkpoints; tax advice is excluded.
Measure: completed onboarding packs accepted without missing fields.
Guardrail: no client credentials enter an unapproved AI tool.
Projection: 5 clients × $300 pilot price = $1,500 gross revenue. Both client count and price remain assumptions.
Next action: invite five eligible clients and record acceptance, decline reason and delivery time.

The example treats the five-client target and expected hours as assumptions. It does not present them as demand or savings, and it makes baseline timing the next research step.

Review before you share it

  • Every market claim links to a dated source or carries an assumption label.
  • Revenue and cost projections expose formulas and starting values.
  • The plan names who can approve customer promises, spending and regulated work.
  • The test has a stop or revise rule, not only a launch date.
What the template cannot establish
  • This template does not replace legal, accounting, tax or lending advice.
  • A filled plan does not prove market demand or qualify a business for funding.
  • AI-generated wording still needs fact, policy and owner review.