Can you condense your entire business idea into a single page? With a one-page business plan, this is possible!
A one-page business plan is a short and crisp document that outlines the main idea behind a business venture. It’s a useful tool for entrepreneurs and business owners to communicate their vision, goals, future plans and financial assets to potential investors and other stakeholders.
In this article, I’ll walk you through the key elements of a one-page business plan, its benefits and how to create an impactful one-page plan. Whether you’re raising funding for a new business or expanding on an existing idea, this streamlined approach will allow you to persuasively communicate your business ideas to the relevant audience.
Click to jump ahead:
- What is a one-page business plan?
- Benefits of a one-page business plan
- Essential components of a one-page business plan
- Step-by-step guide to creating a one-page business plan
- When to use a one-page business plan
- One-page business plan template
- Frequently Asked Questions
What is a one-page business plan?
Your core business advantage and strategy in its leanest form is equivalent to your one-page business plan.
A one-page business plan is like a written elevator pitch for your business. This lean document cuts through the clutter to present your business’s core offering in a clear, concise form. A strong one-page business plan is essential to capture investor interest and increase your chances of further discussions with them.
This plan serves another vital purpose. For business owners, it’s a strategic planning tool so you stay focused on your key objectives and strategies. It’s a framework that guides you in decision-making as you navigate your entrepreneurial journey.
A full-length business plan is a lot more elaborate. It includes various aspects of your business including: The business opportunity, goals and objectives, target market, revenue forecast, projected profit, and sources of finance. Naturally, such a detailed plan would span several pages and require a significant amount of time and effort to comprehend.
Compared to traditional business plans or executive summaries, the one-page plan comes through for its directness and impact. While a traditional plan delves in-depth into every aspect of a business and an executive summary offers a compact version of that comprehensive plan, the one-page plan takes precision to the next level. It compels you to succinctly outline your business model, target market, financial projections and competitive advantage in a few statements.
Benefits of a one-page business plan
One-page business plans are utilized for the clarity, efficiency and focus they offer to business owners and stakeholders. They help concentrate a business concept into an easily understandable format, making it a strong communication tool between business owners and investors. Let us explore some of the benefits of a one-page business plan.
Time efficiency:
You can avoid getting bogged down by lengthy documents if you decide to create a one-page plan. Describe your strategy clearly and quickly to investors with this plan. Make sure to outline your path to scaling your business in this actionable document.
Improved investor engagement:
Busy stakeholders and investors are known to prefer one-page plans over full-length business plans. The more concise your plan, the more likely you are to get their attention and interest in your business idea.
Ease of sharing and updating:
A good idea is only as good as its ability to be shared. The format of a one-page plan makes it ideal for sharing across various platforms and networks. It’s also much easier to adapt and update to ensure your plan is relevant, as and when you get feedback.
Foundation for a comprehensive plan:
A one-page business plan is like a starting point that determines how effective your full-fledged business plan will be. It gives you a solid foundation to build on for your comprehensive business plan.
Essential components of a one-page business plan
A one-page business plan should cover the following sections:
Executive summary:
Share a couple of sentences about what your business does and why it exists, essentially defining your mission and vision statements.
For instance, the following template shows an executive summary for a business called Velxus and contains important sections including: The business problem, proposed solution, business opportunity and value.
Venngage offers a vast library of such executive summary templates that you can use to edit for your own venture.
Business opportunity:
Describe the market gap or opportunity you have identified in this section. You can elaborate how your business aims to fulfill this gap in a way existing solutions are not able to. It’s useful to discuss how your product/service will leverage the market gap to generate profits while offering value to customers. Add industry data and market research references to strengthen your claims.
Value proposition:
In this section you will mention what makes your business unique in your industry. For example, technology giant Apple’s value proposition focuses on creating innovative products for a seamless user experience.
Target market:
Here you mention your ideal customer segment, with details including their location, interests, income levels, age, gender and other defining aspects. Using a customer persona template makes defining your target audience easier. It gives your potential stakeholders a clear image of the kind of individual your business is aiming to attract.
The user persona allows potential investors to think deeply about your target audience. It helps answer questions like ‘What are the pain points for this person,’ ‘How does your product/service make their life easier’?
Competitive advantage:
This is your chance to highlight the aspects of your business that give you an edge over other market players. A globally loved brand; Starbucks is known for being flexible and adapting to changing customer preferences, at a rate that leaves its competitors behind. It’s this competitive edge that makes them a leader in the coffee industry worldwide.
Revenue model:
Explain how your business will generate income. To make this comprehensive without overwhelming investors, include an overview of your pricing strategy and your predicted revenue streams.
Management team:
A business can’t run without a strong team. Include information of the key members of your team and their expertise in this section. You have better chances to boost investor confidence with a diverse team with various skill sets.
Financial summary:
The level of detail in this section directly impacts your chances of securing funding for your venture. Break down this summary into categories like projected income, expenses and profit. A quick graph or chart helps showcase this visually, so people can understand at a glance. Don’t forget to use market data to back your claims.
Funding requirement:
Be clear about the amount of funding you require for your business and how you plan to use these funds towards the success of your business. To build trust and credibility with stakeholders, outline the areas for fund allocation such as: manufacturing, operations, research and hiring. Finally, explain how each area will contribute to achieving your overall business objectives and driving growth.
For example, the following template details the funding request for a proposal for a sustainable community garden. It highlights the categories and estimated costs for each of them. Then we see a brief summary of sources of funding they request and finally an implementation summary that shares how the funds will be utilised.
A good funding request gives you the chance to build trust and credibility with potential stakeholders.
Step-by-step guide to creating a one-page business plan
Now I will take you through the process of creating a one-page business plan. Follow along these steps in a new window if you like.
Step 1: Conduct market and industry research:
To ensure your one-page plan is relevant and informed on the current industry practices:
- Research industry trends, competitor strategies, and the behaviour of your target audience. A popular and reliable framework to do so is a SWOT analysis. It highlights the areas of Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats for your business.
- Analyze market data to identify unmet needs or potential gaps you can target.
- Leverage data analytics intelligence from online tools to make a comprehensive report.
You can also choose a PESTLE (Political, Economic, Social, Technological, Legal, Environmental) model for your analysis, to give you a broader overview of the external and internal factors that impact your business.
Step 2: Create an outline and select essential components:
By now you should have a wealth of information to choose from, to include in your one-page plan.
- Choose core sections from your research including business opportunity, target audience and financial summary.
- Add details for each component from your industry research findings
- Arrange all sections in a logical order for a clear understanding.
Step 3: Write concisely and use bullet points:
You are condensing a lot of information into one succinct document. For better comprehension:
- Use bullet points and short impactful sentences.
For example, if your project’s objective is “To undertake the development and design of one million square feet to serve as premium retail environments catering to diverse consumer needs,” you can shorten this to ‘’To create 1 million sq ft of prime retail space.’’ - Avoid using jargon to enhance understanding. For instance, if this is your market strategy “Utilize multi-channel touchpoints to enhance customer acquisition,” you could simplify it to ‘’Promote the business using several methods to reach and attract new customers.”
- Divide each section neatly so that each aspect of your plan is read clearly.
Step 4: Add visuals for key data points:
Data visualization has a clear impact on business decision making. It leads to better and more informed decision making, leading to better business outcomes.
- Add charts and graphs to present market data in a simpler form.
- Utilize infographics for financial information to help stakeholders grasp information quickly.
- Align designs with your overall one-page plan.
In this sales projection template from Venngage, numbers are plotted on a graph to show the contrast between historic and projected sales volumes from 2016-2028.
Step 5: Revise as a living document:
Your plan may need updating with changing market conditions or feedback you gather from stakeholders.
- Create your plan in an easy to modify format.
- Ensure it reflects the latest market trends and other developments.
When to use a one-page business plan
One-page plans are useful tools in various scenarios, aside from pitching for fundraising.
Pitching to investors and stakeholders:
A one-page business plan is the perfect tool for pitching to investors and stakeholders because it allows you to share quick, impactful presentations. By distilling your business goals, market opportunities and overarching strategy into an easily digestible format, you can capture the attention of investors and stakeholders who prioritize clarity and brevity.
This approach invites further engagement from them and an opportunity for you to give them intricate details about your business venture and vision.
Early-stage planning and idea validation:
The plan is also effective in early-stage planning and idea validation. It compels you to think about your business concept in purely the essential elements. This makes it easy to identify potential flaws or opportunities for improvement.
For example, a one-page plan for a new health and nutrition app might highlight the problem (lack of personalized diet plans), the solution (an AI-powered app), the target market (busy professionals between the age 25-50), the revenue model (freemium) and the key metrics for success (user retention and app downloads). When you put your idea down on a single page, you get a better understanding of its viability and areas where further improvement is required.
Freelance and small business use:
Freelancers and small business owners often need a simple organized approach to planning their offering and revenue model. Since they don’t operate at the same scale as large businesses, they may not have the use of a traditional full-length business plan. For example, a freelance graphic designer will create a plan that outlines their area of expertise (branding for startups), key services (logo design and visual identity), target audience (tech entrepreneurs), revenue model (retainer fee).. Small businesses can also benefit from this plan to clarify goals, define customer segments and ultimately practice agility in decision-making.
One-page business plan template
If you’re not sure of how to create a one-page business plan, you’re not alone. Many business owners may not have the time or inclination to design and format a plan from scratch.
Venngage offers a vast library of business plan templates you can pick from to suit your unique needs and style.
The easy-to-use, intuitive editor on Venngage makes it quick and simple to customize, edit and download these one-page plans no matter what level of design experience you have.
Easily organize your thoughts, add and edit content with the professional one-page business plan templates from Venngage. You are sure to make an impression and get a second meeting with potential investors and stakeholders.To get started, create a free account with Venngage, and start designing!
FAQs:
What’s the difference between a one-page plan and a traditional plan?
A one-page plan focuses only on the main elements of your business venture.It is also less time-intensive in creating and sharing. A traditional plan covers all aspects such as detailed financial projections, market analysis and operational plans. It requires a larger investment of time and interest for comprehension.
One-page plans can be used for pitching, aligning internal strategy or early-stage planning. Full-length plans are useful for long-term planning or and securing large investments for business expansion.
Is a one-page business plan enough for securing funding?
Yes it can help secure funding for small amounts or early-stage investments with a clear explanation of your business’s financial summary and funding requirement. For larger requests, a traditional plan is more appropriate.
How often should I update my one-page business plan?
Regularly update your plan with business and industry developments so it reflects the current state of your business vis-à-vis market conditions. You can do this quarterly or bi-annually.
