Business plan template
One-Page Business Plan Template
Updated · Team Fonda
Short answer
A one-page business plan fits the whole business on a single sheet: one or two sentences for each of ten parts, from the summary and the problem to the financial plan and the main risks, plus about five numbers. It is the right format for testing an idea, aligning with a co-founder or opening a first conversation. Lenders and investors usually ask for a full plan later.
Key takeaways
- Ten boxes, one or two sentences each, about five numbers in total.
- Every sentence should be a claim someone could check, such as a customer, a price or a count.
- Mark each line as proven or assumed. The assumptions are your to-do list.
- Use it to decide whether the idea deserves a full plan, not as a replacement for one when money is on the line.
When a one-page business plan is enough, and who reads it
A one-page plan is a thinking tool. You can draft one in about an hour, so you can write one for each idea you are considering and compare them side by side.
| Reader | What they look for on one page |
|---|---|
| You | Whether the idea holds together: a real customer, a price and a path to break-even. |
| A co-founder or partner | That you both mean the same business. Disagreements show up fast when each line is one sentence. |
| A mentor or advisor | The weakest assumption, so they know where to push. |
| A bank, investor or grant body | A reason to keep talking. Most will then ask for a full plan with financial statements. |
| A first employee or contractor | What the business does and what matters this year. |
It is not enough when someone is about to lend or invest money, sign a lease with you, or when the plan needs evidence such as market data and a monthly cash forecast. A single page has no room for proof.
A one-page plan is close to a lean canvas, which also puts a business on one sheet. The canvas is arranged as a grid around the problem and the customer. The one-page plan below follows the chapter order of a full plan, so it expands directly into one.
The one-page business plan outline: ten boxes
These are the ten chapters of a full business plan, each cut down to one box. Fonda's business plan uses this same 10-chapter structure at full length, with sources, so your page can serve as the brief for it.
| Box | What to write | Prompt |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Executive Summary | One sentence: what you sell, to whom, and why they buy. | Could a stranger repeat it after hearing it once? |
| 2. Problem & Opportunity | The problem, who has it and how often. One sentence on why now. | What do people do about it today, and what does that cost them? |
| 3. Solution & Product | What the customer gets and the first version you will sell. | What is the smallest thing you can sell this quarter? |
| 4. Market Analysis | Who the first customers are and roughly how many exist within reach. | Can you name ten of them? How did you count the rest? |
| 5. Competition & Differentiation | The two or three alternatives, including doing nothing, and your one difference. | Why would someone switch to you? |
| 6. Business Model | Price, what one sale costs you to deliver, and how you reach customers. | What is left from one sale? How does a customer find you? |
| 7. Operations & Technology | The few things that must work every day: suppliers, tools, location, permits. | What has to be in place before the first sale? |
| 8. Team & Organization | Who does what, and the one skill you are missing. | Why are you the right person? Who fills the gap? |
| 9. Financial Plan | Startup cost, monthly fixed costs, break-even point and the money you need. | How many sales a month cover your costs? How many months of cash do you have? |
| 10. Risks & Mitigation | The top two or three risks and what you will do about each. | Which assumption, if wrong, ends the business? How will you test it first? |
The one-page rule
If a box needs more than two sentences, you have not decided yet. Write the two options down, pick one, and move the rest to a notes page.
The five numbers a one-page plan needs
A page of words without numbers is a description, not a plan. Include these five. Each can be an estimate at this stage, as long as you say so.
| Number | How to calculate it |
|---|---|
| Price per sale | What one customer pays for one purchase, or per month for a subscription. |
| Contribution per sale | Price per sale - the costs that occur only because of that sale (materials, delivery, payment fees, hourly labor). |
| Monthly fixed costs | Everything you pay whether or not you sell: rent, software, insurance, salaries, your own base pay. |
| Break-even sales per month | Monthly fixed costs / contribution per sale. |
| Cash needed and months it lasts | Startup costs + (monthly cash shortfall x months until break-even). Months of cash = cash available / monthly shortfall. |
The break-even calculator and the startup cost calculator will do the arithmetic. If you add a market number in box 4, count it from the bottom up: customers you can reach, multiplied by what each would spend. Avoid quoting a large industry figure and claiming a small percentage of it.
A filled-in one-page business plan for an imaginary business
This is an example
Spoke & Go is an imaginary mobile bike repair service. Every figure is invented to show how much fits in each box.
| Box | Spoke & Go (example) |
|---|---|
| 1. Executive Summary | We repair bikes at the customer's home or office, booked online, for commuters who cannot spare a day without their bike. |
| 2. Problem & Opportunity | Local shops ask commuters to drop a bike off and wait several days. Say 12 of the 15 commuters we interviewed had delayed a repair for that reason. |
| 3. Solution & Product | A van-based mechanic comes to you in a booked one-hour slot. First offer: a standard service and a brake-and-gear tune-up. |
| 4. Market Analysis | First customers are bike commuters at four office parks on the east side. Say bike-rack counts on three weekdays show about 600 regular riders. (Assumed: one in five books a service each year.) |
| 5. Competition & Differentiation | Two bike shops, a retail chain's workshop and home repair with online videos. Our difference is that the bike never leaves the customer. |
| 6. Business Model | Say an average job is $85 with $20 of parts, leaving $65. Customers come through office notice boards, employer wellness programs and repeat reminders. |
| 7. Operations & Technology | One fitted van, an online booking tool, a parts supplier account. Check: vehicle insurance for business use and any local trading permit. |
| 8. Team & Organization | Founder is a trained mechanic with five years in a shop. Missing: marketing, covered by a part-time freelancer. |
| 9. Financial Plan | Say startup cost is $9,000 (used van fit-out, tools, stock) and fixed costs are $2,600 a month including the van. Break-even is $2,600 / $65 = 40 jobs a month, or two a working day. |
| 10. Risks & Mitigation | Winter drop in riding: sell prepaid spring service vouchers. Too few bookings per office park: run a paid trial day at each before buying the van. |
Notice that two boxes carry the label "assumed" or "check". Those are the items to test first, and the trial day in box 10 does it before the largest expense.
Mistakes that make a one-page plan useless
- Shrinking the font. If it only fits at a size nobody can read, it is a long plan in disguise. Cut content.
- Slogans instead of facts. "We make fitness easy" tells a reader nothing. "30-minute strength classes for office workers at lunch, $15 a class" does.
- No numbers. Without a price and a break-even point, nobody can tell whether the business works, including you.
- A giant market figure. An industry worth billions says nothing about your first hundred customers. Use the TAM SAM SOM calculator if you want a market size that starts from your own reach.
- Treating guesses as facts. Mark assumptions clearly, then test the riskiest with real customers. How to validate a startup idea explains how.
- Stopping at one page when money is involved. When a lender or investor asks for more, expand each box into a chapter. The guide on how to write a business plan for a startup walks through the full version.
Frequently asked questions
What should a one-page business plan include?
A one-line summary, the problem, your solution, the first customers, the competition, how you make money, key operations, the team, the main financial figures and the top risks. Add about five numbers: price, contribution per sale, fixed costs, break-even and cash needed.
Will a bank accept a one-page business plan?
It depends on the lender and the loan, so ask what they require. Many want a fuller plan with financial forecasts for anything beyond a very small loan. A one-page plan is still useful as the summary that opens the conversation.
What is the difference between a one-page business plan and a lean canvas?
Both fit on one sheet. A lean canvas is a fixed grid of nine blocks built around the problem, customer segments and an unfair advantage. A one-page plan follows the order of a traditional plan, which makes it easier to expand into a full document later.
How long does it take to write one?
A first draft takes about an hour if you know your idea. Filling the gaps it reveals takes longer, because that means talking to customers and checking costs. That work is the point of the exercise.
Can I use a one-page plan for an existing business?
Yes. It works well as a yearly plan: what you sell, to whom, the targets for the year and the main risks. Keep it somewhere you will see it and review it every quarter.