One-Page Business Plan Templates with a Quick How-To Guide
By Joe Weller | April 6, 2020
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In this article, we’ve gathered a variety of free, one-page business plan templates for you to download in Excel, Word, and PDF formats.
Included on this page, you’ll find a one-page business plan template for a service business , business plan template for a product business , business plan for a real estate agent , a Lean business plan template , and more. To help get you started, we’ve also included an example of a one-page business plan , and a quick guide on how to create your one-page business plan .
One-Page Business Plan Template
Download One-Page Business Plan Template
Excel | Word | PDF | Smartsheet
Use this one-page business plan template — designed to be simple, organized, and easy to use — to immediately get started on your plan. Write down your thoughts and key ideas as you decide if your business concept is viable, and adjust it as circumstances change. You can also use this template as a basis to build a more detailed and elaborate plan.
One-Page Business Plan for a Service Business Template
Download One-Page Business Plan for a Service Business Template
Excel | Word | PDF
This business plan template is designed specifically for businesses that provide a service. The one-page plan provides space to list the essential information about your strategy, including the service you offer, the problem you are solving for customers, your mission and vision statements, target audience, staffing requirements, key objectives, and much more. This template also includes a timeline at the bottom for you to add key milestones.
One-Page Business Plan for a Product Business Template
Download One-Page Business Plan for a Product Business Template
Use this one-page template to develop a strategic roadmap for your organization’s product offerings. This template provides space for you to include a business overview, a description of your target market, your competitive advantage, a list of marketing channels and materials you plan to utilize, as well as your pricing strategy, distribution channels, and success metrics. You can also use the visual timeline of milestones at the bottom to enter key dates and events.
One-Page Business Plan for Real Estate Agents Template
Download One-Page Business Plan for Real Estate Agents Template
This one-page business plan template is created for real estate agents to set objectives and put together an action plan. Enter your overarching goal at the top of the template, and establish three high-level activities you need to complete to achieve the goal. The template also includes a strategic action plan that breaks down each high-level activity into tasks and deadlines, with an accompanying visual timeline to ensure you stay on track.
One-Page Business Plan for Nonprofit Organization Template
Download One-Page Business Plan for Nonprofit Organization Template
This one-page business plan is designed for a nonprofit organization, with space to detail your mission, vision, and purpose statements, as well as who you serve, the problem(s) you solve, and programs and resources you offer. Additionally, the template includes space to detail your financial plan, marketing activities, costs, and more.
One-Page Business Plan for Startup Template
Download One-Page Business Plan for Startup Template
This one-page business plan template is intended for an entrepreneur or a small startup business to document a plan as they determine if an idea is feasible. This template provides space to describe the problem and solution, the product or service, the target customer, existing alternatives, the unique value proposition, a marketing and sales plan, success metrics, and other information. You’ll also find room to detail sources of funding and how the funds will be used.
One-Page Business Plan for Small Business Template
Download One-Page Business Plan for Small Business
Use this one-page small business plan template to outline the essential aspects of your business strategy. Provide details on your organization’s vision, mission, product or service offering, and management team. Then identify the target audience, market size, competitor offerings, and your competitive advantage. This plan also includes room to detail your marketing and sales strategy, key objectives, and financial plan.
One-Page Lean Business Plan Template
Download One-Page Lean Business Plan Template
This one-page template uses a Lean approach to develop your business plan. Use this customizable template to detail the crucial elements of your strategy, including a brief business and industry overview, your product or service offering, options from your competitors, and your competitive advantage. Plus, this template includes room to detail your marketing plan, success metrics, financial plan, and a visual timeline of milestones.
One-Page Business Planning Template with Timeline
Download One-Page Business Planning Template with Timeline
Excel | Smartsheet
Use this business planning template to organize and schedule key activities for your business. Fill in the cells according to the due dates, and color-code the cells by phase, owner, or category to provide a visual timeline of progress.
One-Page Business Plan Example
This one-page business plan covers all the essential elements and offers a visually appealing presentation. Information for each aspect of the plan is concise, with details about the business mission, management team, product offerings, key marketing activities, competitors, and financial projections. This plan also provides links to additional resources so that stakeholders can easily find information to support the specifics of the plan.
How to Write a One-Page Business Plan (with Sample Outline)
A one-page business plan takes a standard business plan and extracts the fundamental aspects, then condenses the essential information down to one page. To determine the key elements to emphasize in your one-page plan, consider the type of business you operate, as well as the financial (and other resources) needs of your business.
To streamline your business plan into a one-page document, follow the steps below.
- Create a simple outline for your plan using bullet points. Below, you’ll find an example of an outline for a one-page business plan. You can add or remove sections according to the needs of your business.
- Business mission
- Problem you are solving
- Funds needed (if applicable)
- Product or service positioning statement
- Unique value proposition
- Target customers
- Market size
- SWOT analysis
- Direct competitors
- Existing alternatives
- Competitive advantage
- Key marketing strategy (e.g., channel or method that will yield the best results)
- Key sales strategy
- Specialized equipment or facilities
- Staffing requirements (e.g., key personnel, skills, and training needs)
- Distribution method
- Sales projection
- Profit and loss projection
- Gather all your findings on your business and industry.
Compile all the current information you have gleaned from market research, interviews, surveys, and various teams in your business (e.g., the marketing and finance teams). Comb through each document and extract the information that is fundamental to your business’s operation and relevant to the bullet points on your outline.
- Write two to three brief sentences for each main bullet point.
Once you create your outline and gather information, write two to three sentences for each main bullet point that expands on and summarizes the sub-bullet points for that section. For example, the plan summary section could say the following:
Donny’s Food Truck will offer a variety of fresh food at an affordable price in a convenient location. Increased traffic in the Hungry Town area, combined with severely limited dining options, provides an opportunity to offer customers a quick, nutritious meal at a competitive price. A food truck with the necessary equipment has already been acquired, so we are seeking $200,000 to cover wages, emergency repairs, and licenses needed to fund our first year of operations.
- Ensure you are able to support all the information provided in your plan.
Since a one-page plan omits many of the details provided in a traditional business plan, be sure you have market research and other supporting documentation on hand to show stakeholders in case they have questions as they review your plan. In addition, make sure you thoroughly understand the supporting information and know how to restate it in your own words before you disburse the plan.
- Ensure your plan answers all the vital questions .
At a minimum, an effective one-page business plan should answer the following questions:
- What product or service do we offer?
- Who will use the product or service?
- What problem does our offering solve?
- How will the product or service get to our customers?
- What alternatives do our customers use, and why are we superior?
- What is our unique value proposition?
- What strengths and opportunities can we use to our advantage?
- What resources do we need to get up and running?
- What will our sales look like for the first few years?
- When do we expect to be profitable?
In addition to the steps provided above, you can save time and get started on your plan by downloading one of the templates provided on this page. You can also check out “ Free Executive Summary Templates ,” which can serve the same purpose as a one-page business plan.
Benefits of a One-Page Business Plan
Organizations and stakeholders can unite behind a strategic direction when they have a business plan in place. Developing a traditional business plan can be a daunting task, so many entrepreneurs, small startups, graphic designers, freelancers, and consultants find a one-page business plan a less intimidating place to start.
Creating a one-page business plan benefits your organization in the following ways:
- Push you to prioritize and focus on key ideas.
- Enable your audience to quickly scan and grasp the core concepts of your plan.
- Allow you to easily share and pitch your business idea to prospective investors and stakeholders (e.g., email attachment, single piece of paper).
- Accelerate business setup, especially businesses that don’t need a loan or investment to get going.
- Provide a solid starting point to expand upon at a later time.
- Enable you to document your thoughts and ideas to see if you have a feasible plan.
Tips for Creating a One-Page Business Plan
Now that you know how to create a one-page plan and the benefits in doing so, here are some tips to get you started:
- Set a time limit (up to one hour) to focus and work on your plan.
- Use a one-page business plan template (you can choose from the options above), or refer to the sample outline provided on this page.
- Ensure your plan details only the core aspects that are fundamental to running and operating your business.
- Remember that this is a living document — continue to revisit and adjust it as strategies and objectives change.
- Expand on your plan as your business size and needs grow.
When the time comes that you need more space to lay out your goals and strategies, choose from our variety of free simple business plan templates . You can learn how to write a successful simple business plan here .
Visit this free non-profit business plan template roundup or download a fill-in-the-blank business plan template to make things easy. If you are looking for a business plan template by file type, visit our pages dedicated specifically to Microsoft Excel , Microsoft Word , and Adobe PDF business plan templates. Read our articles offering startup business plan templates or free 30-60-90-day business plan templates to find more tailored options.
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