One page business plan template that still says something
Seven boxes, about 400 words, and a sentence budget for each one so you know what has to go. Good for deciding and for aligning people. Not for a loan application.
- Seven boxes, with a sentence budget for each
- A finished one-pager you can copy the shape of
- Three worked cuts for shrinking a plan you already wrote
Word
Google DocsTwo pages: the seven boxes on one sheet, and nothing else. It prints on a single page, which is the whole point of it.
What actually fits, with the room each part gets
A single sheet holds about 400 words once you leave white space around them. Here is where those words go. The sentence counts are the useful part: running out of room is what forces the plan to get specific.
One page business plan example, filled in
A made-up tutoring round, using the seven boxes above. It runs to about 330 words. Read the numbers box and the next-steps box closely: those two are what separate a plan from a description.
What we do
One-to-one maths tutoring for ages 11 to 16, in the family's home, across the north side of the city. Sixty dollars an hour, booked in blocks of six.
The problem
Parents find out their child is behind in October and the good tutors are already full until January.
Who it is for
Parents of children in the two school years before public exams, who currently use the one agency in the area or ask in a class group chat and hope.
Why us
Eleven years teaching the exam board those schools actually use, so I know the paper rather than the subject in general. I also keep two evening slots free each week specifically for the October rush, which is when the agency says no.
How we reach them
The three school parent associations, one term at a time. And a standing referral offer: a free session for any parent whose recommendation books a block.
The numbers
Twelve hours a week at sixty dollars is 720 a week, roughly 2,900 a month across term time. Costs are travel, insurance and materials at about 260 a month. That leaves 2,640 before tax in term time, and three months a year with close to nothing, which is the number to plan around.
What happens next
By 15 September: offer to all three parent associations. By 1 October: six blocks booked. By 30 November: decide whether to add Saturday mornings or hold at twelve hours.
Nothing here is impressive and that is the point. Every box contains something checkable, and the three months of near-zero income are stated rather than hidden, which is the test a reader applies.
Already have a long plan? Three cuts that do most of the work
Condensing is not summarising. It is replacing the sentences that sound like a business plan with the ones that contain a fact.
Cut 1
Our target market consists of health-conscious millennials aged 25 to 40 residing in urban metropolitan areas who prioritise convenience and quality in their purchasing decisions.
Office workers near the station who currently buy lunch at the supermarket.
Twenty-six words to twelve, and the second one tells you where to put the sign.
Cut 2
We will leverage a multi-channel marketing strategy encompassing social media engagement, influencer partnerships, local print advertising, email campaigns and community event sponsorship.
Instagram, and a standing offer to the two gyms on the same street.
Five channels nobody has time for, replaced by two that will actually happen.
Cut 3
The company anticipates achieving profitability within a reasonable timeframe subject to market conditions and operational efficiencies being realised.
Profitable from month five at 40 covers a day.
The first version says nothing and a reader knows it. The second can be argued with, which is what makes it useful.
If the long version is what you actually need, the full eleven-section template is here, and the simple version sits between the two at six to ten pages.
Outgrown one page? Upmetrics expands it into the full plan.
Where one page is the right document
A one-pager is a thinking and alignment tool. It is very good at that and it is not an application document, which is worth knowing before you send one to a bank.
One page is right for
Testing an idea before committing money to it
Getting a co-founder or partner onto the same page in one sitting
A pitch event or accelerator application that caps the length
Briefing a supplier, a first hire or a freelancer on what the business is
A quarterly reset you will actually re-read, unlike the forty page version
Thinking through a new product line inside a business that already runs
It will be turned down for
A bank or SBA loan application
Lenders want the full eleven chapters and three years of figures
Investor due diligence, past the first meeting
A visa or immigration case
These have evidence requirements a single sheet cannot carry
A grant with a prescribed form
Want the longer read on the format itself? Our guide to the one page business plan covers the thinking behind it.
Not quite the right one?
Same template underneath. What changes is the guidance around it, and which sections do the work.
- Startup business plan templatePre-revenue, forecasting from assumptions with no trading history behind you.
- Small business plan templateAlready trading, writing from your own accounts rather than guesses.
- Simple business plan templateSix chapters instead of eleven, and which four you can safely cut.
- 5 year business plan templateYear one monthly, years two to five annual, for a longer horizon.
- Nonprofit business plan templatePrograms, funding mix, governance and the impact section funders score.
Or go back to the full business plan template.
One page to decide. The full plan when someone asks for it.
Start with the short version and let the projections, cash flow and balance sheet build underneath as the business gets real.
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