What sections does a business plan need?

A standard plan includes an executive summary, company description, market analysis, organisation and team, products or services, marketing and sales strategy, operations, and financial projections. A lean plan condenses these into problem, solution, market, model, and key metrics. This tool can generate either.

What is the difference between a lean and a full business plan?

A lean plan is a one-to-two page summary focused on problem, solution, target market, business model, and traction — ideal for early validation. A full plan is a detailed document with deep market analysis and multi-year financials, used for bank loans and formal investor processes.

Does this tool write the plan for me?

It generates a tailored outline with the right sections and guiding prompts for your industry and stage, plus a starter executive summary built from your inputs. You then expand each section with your specifics — the outline ensures you don't miss anything investors expect.

What should go in the executive summary?

The executive summary is a one-paragraph snapshot: what the business does, the problem it solves, the target customer, the business model, and what makes it different. Write it last, after the rest of the plan, but place it first in the document.

Is anything I enter sent to a server?

No. The outline is generated entirely in your browser from your inputs. Nothing is uploaded or stored remotely.

Business Plan Outline Builder

Email me this result

Get this tool's output sent to your inbox, plus one useful tool a week. No spam, unsubscribe any time.

A complete business-plan outline, tailored to you

A blank page is the hardest part of writing a business plan. This builder turns a few facts about your business — its name, industry, stage, target customer, and the problem you solve — into a full, ordered outline with the right sections and a guiding prompt under each one. Choose a standard, lean, or investor format and it adjusts the structure accordingly, then drafts a starter executive summary from your inputs.

How it works

The tool keeps a section template for each plan format:

Lean — Problem, Solution, Target market, Business model, Competition, Key metrics, Ask. Best for early validation and one-pagers.
Standard — Executive summary, Company description, Market analysis, Products/services, Marketing & sales, Operations, Team, Financial plan. The conventional small-business and bank-loan structure.
Investor — adds Traction, Go-to-market, Unit economics, Funding ask & use of funds, and Exit/return to the standard set.

For each section it inserts a prompt tailored using your industry and stage so you know exactly what to write. It also stitches your name, problem, customer, and model into a first-draft executive summary you can refine.

Tips and notes

Write the executive summary last, even though it appears first — it should distil the finished plan.
Match the format to your goal: lean for testing an idea, standard for a bank, investor for raising capital.
Quantify wherever you can — market size, growth rate, unit margins — investors trust specifics over adjectives.
Keep the outline as a checklist; a section left empty is usually the one a reader will ask about.