What Is a One-Page Business Plan?
A one-page business plan is a concise version of a comprehensive business plan. It captures the essential elements of a business idea or proposal on a single page. Instead of a lengthy document, it provides a high-level overview of a business’s vision, objectives, strategies, and key action points.
A one-page business plan allows you to condense information and present it in a clear, easy-to-read format. This makes it ideal for showing to investors or other stakeholders. You may also use it to generate interest in your ideas, plan for a business with a simple purpose, or brainstorm for your future company.
Pros of a One-Page Business Plan
Explore some of the advantages of a one-page business plan:
- It won’t overwhelm the reader. Whether it’s meant for a potential partner or investor, a one-page business plan is more digestible for the reader. A succinct document can make it much easier to pitch your business ideas and goals.
- It can be used by various business types. The use of a one-page business plan isn’t just limited to businesses in the ideation phase. Startups, established companies, and everything in between can use a one-page plan to document their objectives.
- It’s quick to create. Instead of spending weeks creating your business plan, a one-page template lets you record your plan within a day.
- It’s easy to update. The brevity of this plan makes it easy to update numbers and goals as your business grows.
- It keeps priorities clear. A one-page business plan helps you focus on your business’s priorities without going into too much detail, improving team alignment.
Cons of a One-Page Business Plan
Despite the pros of a one-page business plan, it’s important to be aware of the potential drawbacks:
- It may oversimplify complex business topics. A business with multiple revenue streams or significant startup costs may struggle to adequately summarize its goals on one page.
- It may not address risks. You may not have sufficient space to address challenges and how you’ll handle them.
- It may be too vague for long-term planning. You may need to go into more detail to create a long-term plan.
You can balance these risks by starting with a one-page business plan and then creating a more detailed plan once you have recorded your basic ideas.
How to Write a One-Page Business Plan
The one-page business plan format is relatively simple to follow. Here are some key steps to take when writing your concise business plan:
Step 1 – Prepare Before Drafting
Before you start drafting your one-page business plan, brainstorm some key points. For example, you’ll want to consider your target audience. If you want to eventually pitch your plan to investors, focus on financial projections and statistics. If you want to keep the document internal, center on strategy.
You should also plan to keep your goals and objectives realistic. Consider the resources available to you and what’s normal for similar businesses in your industry.
Step 2 – Introduce Your One-Page Business Plan
Once you finish the brainstorming process, you can begin writing your simple business plan. Provide the following details to identify your business and clarify what entity the plan will apply to:
- Business name
- Entity type
- Business website
- Business address, phone number, and email
- Mission statement
- Statement of the business’s history and growth
Step 3 – Record Your Details
Describe the following aspects of your business:
- Products and services (and their pricing structure)
- Competitors and what differentiates you from them
- Market share (or potential market share)
- Target customers
- Marketing strategy
- Funding needed
- Current average monthly revenue and expenses
- Projected average monthly revenue and expenses
- Management team
Use short sentences to describe each point, limiting each topic to one or two sentences. This way, you can limit your business plan to one page in length.
Step 4 – Review Your Plan
Review your plan to ensure it’s easy to read and understand. It should be comprehensible to someone without prior knowledge of your business.
Once you’re confident in your plan, you can save it for your records or download and print copies to distribute to investors and other interested parties. Be sure to revise your plan as your business grows.
Use Legal Templates’s business continuity plan to organize a way to keep your business operational during interruptions.
One-Page Business Plan Sample
View an example of a one-page business plan to get an idea of how you can summarize your business’s goals and objectives. Then, create your own concise document using Legal Templates’s guided questionnaire. Once you’re done, your concise business plan will be ready to download as a PDF or Word file.
