01
For yourself
Bring your decisions together, expose assumptions and create a clearer route from startup to first customers and beyond.
Polar Business Plan Builder
How to write a business plan without starting with a terrifying blank page.
Build a clear UK business plan covering your idea, target customers, market research, competitors, sales and marketing strategy, operations, business objectives and financial forecasts — using the work you’ve already done rather than starting again.
What is a business plan?
A business plan is more useful when it helps you think — not just impress a bank.
A business plan is a written explanation of your business, its objectives, strategy, customers, market, sales and marketing approach, operations and financial forecasts.
It can help you clarify the idea, identify problems before they become expensive, set goals and measure progress.
A business plan can also become important when applying for funding, approaching a bank or investor, or explaining the business to other people whose support you need.
A good business plan shouldn’t make a weak idea look impressive. It should help you discover where the idea still needs work.
Write it to understand the business first. The polished document comes afterwards.
Why write a business plan?
Three different people may need your plan — including you.
02
For funding
Banks, lenders and investors may use the plan to understand the opportunity, risks, finances and people behind the business.
03
For other people
Partners, suppliers and potential team members may understand the direction of the business more clearly when it is written down.
Business plan template
What should a business plan include?
There is no single compulsory format for every business, but most useful startup business plans cover the same core areas.
01
Executive summary
A concise overview of the business, customer, opportunity, objectives and important financial or funding information.
02
Business description
Explain what the business does, what it sells, its structure and the problem or opportunity it is addressing.
03
Products or services
Describe the offer, customer benefits, pricing direction and what makes the proposition worthwhile.
04
Target customers
Define the people or organisations most likely to need, value and buy what the business offers.
05
Market analysis
Show what you know about demand, market conditions, trends and the opportunity available to the business.
06
Competitor analysis
Identify relevant competitors, their strengths and weaknesses and why customers may choose your business instead.
07
Sales and marketing strategy
Explain how customers will discover the business, how you will generate enquiries and how those enquiries become sales.
08
Operations
Describe the people, premises, systems, suppliers, equipment and processes needed to run the business.
09
Business objectives
Set out the important goals and milestones you expect the business to achieve.
10
Financial forecasts
Show expected sales, costs, cash flow and whether the business has a realistic path to becoming financially sustainable.
Executive summary
Write this part last — even though everybody reads it first.
Your executive summary should give somebody a useful understanding of the business without forcing them to read the entire plan first.
It becomes much easier to write once the rest of the plan is complete, because you are summarising decisions rather than trying to invent them.
What does the business do?
Explain the business simply and clearly.
Who does it serve?
Identify the most important target customer.
What problem does it solve?
Explain why customers have a reason to buy.
What is the market opportunity?
Summarise the evidence that there is room for the business.
What are the important numbers?
Include the main financial or funding information where relevant.
Business plan market analysis
Show evidence that somebody actually wants what you’re planning to sell.
Your market section should connect the research you have already completed with the commercial case for the business.
Customers
Who are your ideal customers, what do they need and what influences their decision to buy?
Demand
What evidence suggests enough suitable customers want or need this product or service?
Competition
What alternatives already exist and how will your business earn a place alongside or ahead of them?
Sales & marketing strategy
A business plan needs to explain how customers will actually arrive.
“We’ll use social media” is not much of a customer-acquisition strategy.
Explain where the target customer looks for solutions, how your business will become visible there, what will persuade people to enquire and how your sales process turns interest into revenue.
Operations plan
Explain what needs to happen after somebody says yes.
Your plan should show that the business can actually deliver the promise being made to customers.
1
People
Who will run and deliver the business?
2
Premises
Where will the business operate and what property does it need?
3
Equipment & systems
What tools, technology and equipment are essential?
4
Suppliers
Which external businesses or partners are important to delivery?
5
Legal & practical requirements
Consider licences, permissions, insurance and other obligations relevant to the business.
Business plan financial forecasts
The numbers should tell the same story as the rest of the plan.
Financial projections should be based on assumptions you can explain, not on choosing a revenue number that happens to look encouraging.
Sales forecast
Estimate how many customers you expect, what they will buy and how much revenue those sales could create.
Costs & cash flow
Estimate startup and ongoing costs and whether enough cash will be available when bills need to be paid.
Profitability
Show how revenue and costs could develop and when the business may become financially sustainable.
Business plan for funding
If you’re asking somebody for money, explain exactly what the money will do.
A lender or investor needs more than enthusiasm.
Your plan should clearly explain how much funding you need, where it will be spent and how the business expects to generate enough money to support its obligations.
Business plan mistakes
Six ways to make a business plan much less useful.
A polished document cannot compensate for assumptions about customers and demand.
Numbers become useful when the assumptions behind them are realistic and explainable.
Saying “we have no competition” usually means the market has not been researched properly.
Plain English is more convincing than paragraphs that sound as though they came from a board meeting.
Include enough evidence and detail to be useful, but do not measure quality by page count.
Your plan should change as customers, finances and the market give you better information.
Polar Business Plan Builder
This is why Polar shouldn’t make you start your business plan from a blank page.
By the time you reach Business Plan Builder, Polar already knows a great deal about the business you’re creating.
Your idea, customer, market research, competitors, location, offer and business model can all provide useful context for the plan. Polar can guide you through what is already known and concentrate your effort on the areas that still need decisions.
Business plan FAQs
Writing a UK business plan: common questions.
How do I write a business plan?
Start by explaining the business, product or service and target customer. Add your market and competitor research, sales and marketing strategy, operations, business objectives and financial forecasts. Write the executive summary once the rest of the plan is complete.
What should a business plan include?
Most business plans include an executive summary, business description, products or services, target customers, market analysis, competitor analysis, sales and marketing strategy, operations, objectives and financial forecasts.
What is a business plan template?
A business plan template provides a structured set of sections and prompts that help you organise the information needed for your plan. The template should guide your thinking rather than encourage you to fill pages with generic text.
Do I need a business plan to start a business?
There is no general requirement for every UK business to have a formal business plan simply to start trading. However, planning can help clarify your strategy and finances, and lenders or investors may require a business plan when you seek funding.
How long should a business plan be?
There is no ideal length that suits every business. A simple startup may need a relatively concise plan, while a more complex business or funding application may require greater detail. Include enough information to explain and support the business clearly.
What is an executive summary in a business plan?
The executive summary is a concise overview of the whole business plan. It normally explains what the business does, its customers, opportunity, objectives and the most important financial or funding information.
How do I write a business plan for funding?
In addition to clearly explaining the business and market, specify how much funding is required, exactly how it will be used, the assumptions behind your forecasts and how the business expects to generate enough cash to support its obligations.
What financial information goes in a business plan?
Depending on the business and purpose of the plan, useful financial information can include startup costs, sales forecasts, ongoing costs, cash-flow forecasts, pricing assumptions and projected profitability.
Should I include competitors in my business plan?
Yes. Competitor analysis helps demonstrate that you understand existing alternatives and can explain how your business intends to compete and why customers may choose it.
Should I update my business plan?
Yes. The plan should evolve as real sales, customer feedback, costs and market conditions provide better evidence than the assumptions you made before launch.
Turn your research into a plan
You’ve already done a lot of the thinking. Your business plan should bring it together.
Polar Business Plan Builder uses the business work you’ve already completed to help you create a clearer, connected plan — without pretending every new section begins with a blank page.