How to write a simple business plan (2026 guide)

For you and your team

One-page planyour map, checked every month

For a funder

Their criteriaa plan tailored to each funder

The numbers

Monthly cash flowfor at least the first 12 months

A business plan is your idea on paper: who you sell to, how you'll make money and what you need to get there. It helps you decide whether to go ahead, keeps you organised, and is what funders and banks ask for first.

In short: it's fine, and normal, to have two plans. Your working plan is a one-page map for you and your team. Your funding plan is written for one funder at a time, to meet its criteria. Both need honest numbers.

Test first. A plan built on real sales is much stronger than one built on guesses. If you haven't sold anything yet, start with testing your idea.

1. Two plans, two jobs

A plan helps you decide whether the idea can make a profit before you spend money, and turns ideas into steps, costs and targets. But a plan for yourself and a plan for a funder do different jobs, so most businesses end up with two.

You'll need the funding plan sooner or later: NEF won't assess an application that doesn't include a comprehensive business plan and financial projections, the IDC asks for "a detailed business plan", and DSBD programmes ask for a business plan too.

2. Plan one: your working plan

This is your map, for you and your team. Answer these questions on one page, in Canva, Google Docs or on paper. If you can answer them clearly, you understand your business.

Simple best practice for your working plan

• Keep it to one page, so you actually use it.
• Share it with your team, so everyone works towards the same goals.
• Set a few targets you can count, such as customers, sales and cash in the bank, and check them every month.
• Build it on real sales and customer feedback, not guesses.
• Update it every few months. It's a map, not a contract. Change the route when you learn something new.

3. Plan two: your funding plan

This plan has one job: to get funding from a specific funder. Start from your working plan, then build it out to meet that funder's criteria.

Simple best practice for your funding plan

• Read the funder's criteria first: who they fund, how much, what for, and the documents they want. If you don't qualify, don't apply. It wastes months.
• Use their template or outline if they have one, and follow their headings.
• Answer every criterion with proof: sales records, letters of intent, contracts, quotes and CVs.
• Be clear about the money: how much you need, what it's for, and how you'll repay it, or for a grant, what it will achieve.
• Make the numbers match across the plan, the cash flow and the application form.
• Tailor it for each funder. Funders quickly spot a plan that was written for someone else.
• Ask someone to check it before you submit, such as a mentor or an accountant.

What a funding plan usually covers

Funders' outlines differ, and NEF says its outline is a guideline rather than a fixed format, but most cover these sections:

1. Executive summary

   A short overview: what the business does, why you need funding, who the owners are and the benefits it brings. Write it last, once everything else is done.

2. The business and its owners

   Your legal form, the owners and their experience, and how long you've been trading.

3. Products and services

   What you sell, how it's made or delivered, and your prices.

4. Market and customers

   Your industry, your target customers and how many there are. List existing and potential customers, and attach proof: NEF asks for letters of intent, contracts and orders on hand.

5. Competitors

   Who else sells to your customers, and why customers will choose you.

6. Marketing and sales

   How you'll reach customers and turn them into sales: your channels, your message and your budget.

7. Operations and suppliers

   Your premises, equipment, suppliers and the steps to deliver to customers.

8. Management and people

   Who runs what, the staff you need and what they'll cost.

9. Risks

   What could go wrong, inside and outside the business, and how you'll handle it.

10. Impact

    Jobs created and benefits to your community. Development funders such as NEF ask for this.

11. Financials and funding request

    Your start-up costs, sales forecast, cash flow and break-even point, plus how much funding you need, what it's for and how you'll repay it.

4. The numbers: keep them honest

Funders read the numbers first. Keep them realistic and explain where each one comes from.

• Start-up costs: add up everything you need before you open. Use the free start-up costs calculator.
• Sales forecast: be conservative and grow sales slowly. The IDC says forecasts should be based on "secured contracts, letters of intent and/or verifiable market research", and that forecasts based purely on verbal agreements are discounted.
• Costs: include every cost. The IDC lists costs business owners often forget, such as depreciation, security, insurance, bank charges, legal and IT costs, interest and commissions.
• Cash flow: show the money coming in and going out each month, so you can see you won't run out of cash.
• Break-even: how many sales you need to cover your costs. Use the free break-even calculator.

A simple cash flow forecast

Example only, with made-up numbers for a small business's first three months:

Cash at the end of one month is cash at the start of the next. If any month ends below zero, you need to plan for it before it happens.

How many years of numbers?

It depends on the funder, so check what yours asks for:

• Your working plan: a 12-month cash flow, month by month.
• NEF: five-year projections, with the first year month by month, and a break-even analysis.
• IDC: five-year forecasts with the first 12 months monthly. Its checklist asks for three to five years in Excel.
• DSBD's co-operative support programme: three-year cash flow projections.

5. Free templates and guides

• The NYDA hosts a free Start Your Business manual with a business plan template (PDF, 2.7 MB). It's the International Labour Organization's 2015 manual, so its examples use dollars rather than rand, but the plan sections and cash flow forms work anywhere.
• The IDC's business plan guidelines (PDF) show what a big funder expects. They suit larger projects more than micro businesses.
• NEF's application form includes a business plan checklist. Apply through the NEF application portal.
• The one-page working plan above is free to copy.

6. Common mistakes to avoid

• No proof that customers will buy
• Sales forecasts that jump too high, too fast
• Missing costs, such as insurance, bank charges and your own salary
• No monthly cash flow, so you can't see when money runs short
• A copied template that hasn't been made your own
• Sending the same plan to every funder, without checking their criteria
• Numbers you can't explain when a funder asks
• A plan that's written once and never updated

Your business plan checklist

• Test your idea and record your first sales
• Write your one-page working plan and share it with your team
• Work out your start-up costs and break-even point
• Build a 12-month cash flow, month by month
• Before you apply, read the funder's criteria and use its template
• Check how many years of projections your funder wants
• Write the funding plan, with proof of customers and numbers that match
• Write the executive summary last
• Check your working plan every month, and update it every few months

Frequently asked questions

This guide is general information. Funder requirements were checked against NEF, IDC, NYDA, SEDFA and DSBD sources on 15 October 2026. Each funder sets its own requirements, so check theirs before you apply. For help with your plan, ask J29 or speak to an accountant or business adviser.

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