Except, it doesn’t have to be. With a One-Page Plan that is. Learn why creating one can be as less anxiety-inducing as writing the full blown business plan through this article that discusses what its edge is and what to keep in mind when writing one to stay within the limited space. We have also gathered 11 One-Page Business Plan templates so you can start drafting one and quickly move on to the pitching of your business and hopefully, officially mounting it to realization.

11+ Sample One Page Business Plan

What is a One Page Business Plan?

A One-Page Business Plan is really just as it sounds. It’s not exactly far different from the traditional business plan in fact, a simplified definition of it is that it’s a simplified version of the standard business plan template. This means that it still should follow the basic structure and components of what comprises a standard business plan only condensed and kept succinct to the best of your ability focusing more on its core aspects.

A single-page business plan is most times utilized by those with small businesses or who want to attract investors and partners since it’s the easiest plan to draft in the earliest stage of your business. You can then expound on it later having gone through interested partners and brainstorm about it more with the people you’re doing the business with. Because you want to keep your business’ information in a single page, it is crucial that you provide only the most important aspects of your venture with at most 2 sentences if possible.

What is a Business Plan?

Since a one-page business plan is a business plan, we think it would be best to define and give you a quick review on what a business plan is.

In essence, a business plan is what guides you in your pursuit to starting and growing your business or a company. You can liken it to a road map that you will keep referencing back to make sure that you are still on the right path. It is a fundamental document that defines in detail your business’ objectives in accordance with the business’ vision and how it should perform in a way that it will achieve its established goals.

With that being said, a business plan is reviewed on a regular basis and updated when necessary. However, while some things can change in your plan along the way, your business’ vision, should at least remain the same so the changes that are to be made should still take into consideration how it will impact and as much as possible, benefit achieving your business’ objectives that it ultimately aligns with your business’ vision.

Elements of a Business Plan

This section will describe 8 essential elements of a business plan for you to get a glimpse of which elements you should focus more for your One-Page Business Plan.

1. Executive Summary

In a standard business plan, the executive summary should not exceed 2 pages even if it should discuss your business’ overview and you would probably want more pages to cover it. However, because it is mainly what prospects would read, in fact in some cases, it is the only thing they would read to get to know your business, it’s of incredible importance that you nail the essence of your business and as much as possible communicate it shortly as it should follow that the rest of your business plan would be given the same attention if the executive summary is enough to pique their interest. Depending on the kind of business you are planning to build, the executive summary should include important details relevant to it that should be as enticing as you would want it to be written, as if you were pitching the business plan to yourself. Only sell your business’ worthy selling points with sufficient facts and statistics to support it. The ideal Executive Summary should include:

2. Business/Company Description

The Business/Company Description comes right after the Executive Summary. This section simply defines what your business’ hopes to achieve and what it does to achieve them that is original and hopefully is unlike its competitors. This section should have to include:

3. Products and Services

This section basically defines what your business will specifically offer, whether its a product or a kind of service and then expound on it more. Take note that there is no reason to be technical about your product and service descriptions so lay off the jargons and do your best to communicate with those that could be unfamiliar with what you are trying to offer and besides, you are here to sell your business to your potential investors and partners and regardless if they may be familiar with the terms, your business plan ought not to function to teach them new vocabulary. However, you would need to be critical as you should be able to describe how your product or service is unique or at least what about it is better than most products similar to it and are already available in the market and most importantly why the market needs it if there exists products similar to it. How would customers benefit from it? How would you price your products/service? Will you be manufacturing your products? How will your services be delivered and your products be distributed? Make sure to provide answers to the mentioned questions and just include everything about your products and services that investors and partners should be interested to know.

4. Market Analysis

The Market Analysis section of your business plan allows you to demonstrate your expertise and how well you know the market you are planning to venture in. It requires you to provide supporting details and statistics of the market that you intend to deliver your service and sell your products. You should be able to convince your investors that you know the market enough to know that your product/service could thrive in it regardless of the potential roadblocks your business could encounter while in competition with the rest. In summary, you ought to define in this section the economic environment of the market your business will be surrounded by. Accion Opportunity Fund lists down what should go into the market analysis of your business plan and they are as follows:

5. Marketing Strategy

Having a marketing strategy in your business plan is essential because it outlines how your products and services will be promoted in the market and how you can effectively garner profit from it. That being said, your marketing strategy should place a lot of emphasis on how your products or service will meet customer needs which is why its also important to properly build up on your market analysis as a clear analysis of your target market will pave the way for a cohesive marketing strategy.

6. Competitive Analysis

This section of your business plan that is also known as competitive intelligence is where you probably should spend a lot of your time doing your research on. A competitive analysis is adamant that you identify your competitors and further investigate, assess, and analyze them because every business always has one. In identifying your competitors, you must also be able to define the customers they are appealing to and through what kind of products and services the customers’ needs are met as well as how they market it to them. Having an intensively written profile about your competitors can allow you to study your business better and position it to rise above your competitors or build it in a way that can work in circles around them but ultimately overcoming the competitors if they do pose as a threat to your business. The competitive analysis should also reveal the gap in the market that your business can offer the solution to with either your products or your services.

7. Operations Plan

The Operations Plan in your business plan outlines the steps your business must take to achieve its mission and in order to sustain the business. It generally includes the physical resources of your business such as personnel, suppliers, equipment and technology, materials, assets, and inventory but also outlines how your business will operate on a daily basis as well as how long the business will operate. An operational objective will be deemed effective if you are able to define your objectives the same way. One way of creating effective objectives is by following the S.M.A.R.T Objectives Checklist which was previously mentioned in another separate article for an Activity Proposal. Objectives are SMART if they are: 

Specific: Your objectives have to be clear and specific but most importantly, your employees and your entire team should have a clear understanding of them.Measurable: An objective has to be measurable wherein you can assess and monitor its progress. It responds to the following questions such as: How will the objectives be measured? What are the indications that the objectives are achieved?Achievable/Attainable/Agreed: While you can make objectives that are challenging, they still have to be realistic in a way that you can achieve it especially for business that have a lot at stake. Create goals that you know your team is capable of achieving with the availability of your business’ resources.Relevant/Realistic:This is in connection to the previous item. Having relevant and realistic objectives mean that it has to be grounded on what your business is capable of and in response to the market your business is positioned in.Time-bound/Timely: Your objectives should have a target date and achieving it should be limited to a deadline. Setting a deadline inculcates a sense of urgency among the team therefore creating a positive pressure to focus on achieving it. Having a deadline will also compel everyone to focus more on working towards meeting the deadline.

8. Financial Plan

This section of your business plan is of special importance especially if you intend to attract investors. It is divided into four sub-sections namely: Income Statement, Cash Flow Projection, Balance Sheet, and the Statement of Shareholders’ Equity. Your financial plan has to be through in the details it wants to relay. This section will prove your business’ profitability and its overall financial health which will signal investors if it’s worth investing their money in.

To create a dynamic and concisely written one-page business plan, you can keep in mind shedding more light into only a few sections. While your business plan does have to conform to the structure of a standard business plan, it still has to be trimmed down and should only have to explain the previously mentioned sections in at most 2 sentences per section. However, the aspect of your business that plays as your strength can be further discussed in-detail.

Advantages of a One-Page Business Plan

Regardless if a one-page plan functions the same way as a traditional business plan, there are still certain advantages that make it a viable option to create rather than the standard plan. In a nutshell, it allows you to stick to the core message of your business and discuss more about what your business’ competitive advantage is. Some of its advantages include:

Easy to Digest: Prospective partners and investors are able to quickly understand your business idea as it’s not only easy to read and less time-consuming since it is designed to have that effect, but assuming that you are straight to the point and concise in your business plan, it’s also less overwhelming that potential partners and investors are engaged to read they allot time to further take interest in it. It also gives the impression that you are sure of what you’re doing as trimming down your business into one page is not as easy as it seems. It requires someone to have a clear insight of their business’ vision and goals so that they can articulate it concisely all the while still being able to clearly and sufficiently explain what the business is and how it will work and if you ask us, we think that’s a plus and a business should be in the works.Less Time-Consuming: On your end, a one-page business plan is also less time-consuming to write. The planning to write and drafting it in a way that it fits a single page is usually what consumes the time of the process as is the case when it comes to planning it in general but at least once you have everything figured out, it should be a breeze to write everything down.Straightforward: As what has been repeatedly mentioned, a one-page business plan only requires the most interesting things about your business idea that is guaranteed to entice whoever you want to do business with and this is because your business plan in this specific format is as straightforward as it can get. This way, it helps you maintains your focus on what exactly is the purpose of your idea, what you want to accomplish with it to be followed by the necessary steps to ensure that things get done.Strategic: A single-page business plan should pinpoint only the highlights of your business’ idea. In doing so, you have to be more strategic in your explanation and that in turn, entails a more strategic perspective towards your business. This way, you can extract a realistic financial projection and a thorough understanding of your target market and strategies that your business can best employ given your competition in the marketplace which you would also have to have thoroughly analyzed on.

FAQs

How Can a Business Plan be One-Page?

A One-Page Business plan is only a shorter kind of business plan that condenses the standard structure of a business plan into a single page. It is oftentimes used by those that are in the earliest stages of developing their business or by those who are recruiting investors and attracting partners who do not necessarily have to read an extensive business plan when a single page should have to do.

What are the 4 Types of Business Plans?

Entrepreneur names four distinct types of business plans namely:

1. Miniplan

A miniplan is really just a ‘very short plan’ that is the most accessible type of business plan and is usually used by small-business ventures.

2. Presentation Plan/Decks

This is mostly presented through a PowerPoint Presentation that should have to cover the highlights of your business in slides totaling to 20 minutes at best. It incorporates the use of graphics which helps in the visual storytelling of your business plan and entices the audiences to keep their attention on your presentation.

3. Working Plan 

This a type of business plan that focuses more on clearly articulating the steps your business has to take for it to operate.

4. What-If Plan

This type of business plan could likewise functions as your contingency plan. The threats you fear, obstacles you are likely to overcome, unforeseen events and changes are to be anticipated and detailed in this document. This could also help you identify which of your weaknesses need immediate addressing so as not to create a bigger problem that your business might have a harder time to recuperate from.

What is a Business Plan format?

A business plan follows a standard format that generally are the following:

  • Executive Summary
  • Business/Company Description
  • Products and Services
  • Market Analysis
  • Marketing Strategy
  • Competitive Analysis
  • Operations Plan
  • Financial Plan

In essence, a one-page business plan is a lesser hassle to go about presenting your business idea. Start creating one now with our One-Page Business Plan templates!