The One-Page Startup Business Plan

Long business plans are written to impress. One-page plans are written to be used. Unless a bank is asking, write the short one.

The five boxes

1. Customer: one group, described so specifically you could name five of them.
2. Problem: what it costs them today in time, money, or risk.
3. Offer: what they get, how fast, and what it costs.
4. Money: price, cost to deliver, and how many sales you need to cover your month.
5. Next 90 days: three outcomes, not thirty tasks.

Make the money box real

Write the break-even sentence: "I need X customers at Y per month to cover Z." If that number makes you flinch, the price is too low or the customer is too small.

The 90-day section is the plan

Everything above it is context. Pick three outcomes you can measure — first ten paying customers, one repeatable sales conversation, one channel that works — and cut everything else.

When you need the long version

Bank loans, grants, and some investors need forecasts and appendices. Write the one page first anyway — the long document is just the same five boxes with evidence attached. Check the idea itself first with our validation guide.