1.
FREE BUSINESS
PLAN TEMPLATE
Dunwiley – Growth and Strategy Advisors
http://www.dunwiley.co.uk

2.
Context
• Last year, over 608,000 start-up businesses launched in Britain. What
an amazing figure, and a great endorsement of our entrepreneurial
spirit as a nation.
• That being said, it was still being reported by Forbes in 2015 that 90%
of start-ups fail.That’s a lot of failing.
• We think that better planning and preparation before launching a
start-up will provide vast improvements in this ratio.
• We have put together a quick, free business plan template for
prospective start-ups and new businesses to use when prior to launch
or funding application.

3.
The Idea Pt. 1
• Your Idea
• State, in one sentence, what your product or service is.
• The Problem
• Describe the current pain of the customer—what problem are you
solving for them, and how big an issue is it?
• How does the customer solve their problem today?
• Why should they switch to you?

4.
The Idea Pt. 2
• Your Solution
• Explain how you can solve the problem and make the customer’s life
better. Will they want or need this service?
• Create a sue case or a scenario—give a typical example of somebody
who would use your product or service in real life.
• How will you validate your idea?
• Validation is so important!! How will you know that people will pay
for this?
• What target customers have you talked to?What feedback have you
obtained?

5.
Customers and Market
• Do you know who your target customers are?What do you know
about them? Age? Preferences?What is important to them? What is
their communication style? Where are they to be found?
• How many of them are there, and how many will you attract as
customers?
• Have you spoken to prospective customers about your idea? How
many?
• How will you reach them?What is your plan for customer acquisition,
content or inbound marketing?
• How will you create ‘raving fans’, rather than ‘only just satisfied’
clients?

6.
The Competition
• Who else currently provides a similar product or service?
• Who else could easily move into this space?
• Who else has been successful in this industry? Do you know how and
why they have become successful?
• List where you see your advantages and disadvantages compared to
the competition.

7.
Business Model and Roadmap
• How do you see your product or offering growing, changing or adapting
over time?
• How will your business generate revenue?
• How much will it cost to a) set this business up, b) maintain it and c) grow it?
• How much will you sell your product or service for? How will you find out if
this price is acceptable to your market?
• Will you target follow-on purchases from existing clients? Will you offer
upgrades or levels of membership or subscription?
• Can you project what your income will look like month-by-month, and out
over a course of 1–2 years?What is are your financial targets?We appreciate
that this is largely conjecture at this point, but you need to think about it.

8.
Risks
• Can you identify any areas of uncertainty that may create problems in
either launch or operation? How will you mitigate these before they
arise?
• What will be the really difficult part of this business? Not the time-
consuming part necessarily, but the hardest obstacles to overcome?
Good luck!! Reach out to us at www.dunwiley.co.uk for more info or to
chat!