Business plan
Date: 21/01/2025
[Use the italicised guidance throughout this template for help completing your business plan.
You may wish to remove this text before you finalise your plan.]
Key details
Registration details
[Find out about business registrations and choosing a business structure.]
Business name
Registered or proposed
name.
Date registered Select date
State registered in
Business structure
Australian business number
(ABN)
Australian company
number (ACN)
If a company.
Licences and permits [Examples: disposal of waste, safe food preparation]
Australian, state and local.
Contact details
Name
Phone
Mobile
Email
Address
Online and social media details
Address/details
Website
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Contents
Key details.............................................................................................................................................2
Registration details............................................................................................................................2
Contact details...................................................................................................................................2
Online and social media details.........................................................................................................2
The business..........................................................................................................................................4
Plan summary....................................................................................................................................4
Our why.............................................................................................................................................5
Our vision..........................................................................................................................................5
Our mission........................................................................................................................................5
Operations.........................................................................................................................................5
Key people.........................................................................................................................................8
The market............................................................................................................................................9
The problem......................................................................................................................................9
Our solution.......................................................................................................................................9
Our target market..............................................................................................................................9
Advertising and promotion..............................................................................................................10
The competition..............................................................................................................................10
Pricing strategy................................................................................................................................11
SWOT analysis.................................................................................................................................11
Risk management................................................................................................................................13
Risk assessment...............................................................................................................................13
Insurance.........................................................................................................................................13
Succession plan................................................................................................................................13
Laws we’ll need to comply with.......................................................................................................14
Goals and actions................................................................................................................................14
Goals for next year..........................................................................................................................14
Goals for the next 3 years................................................................................................................14
The finances........................................................................................................................................16
Finance needed...............................................................................................................................16
Sources of funding...........................................................................................................................16
Current finances..............................................................................................................................16
Balance forecast..............................................................................................................................16
Profit and loss forecast....................................................................................................................17
Cash flow forecast...........................................................................................................................18
Supporting document checklist...........................................................................................................19
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The business
Plan summary
[Complete this section last so you can summarise information from the rest of your plan.]
What our business does
The products or
services we sell.
Our target market
Our unique selling
point
Our business goals
Our history
Industry experience,
major achievements.
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Our why
[Consider why you started this business. Why are you personally invested in this business idea?]
The inspiration behind the business.
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[Example: To be the go-to supplier of high quality, sustainable coffee in Australia.]
Our vision
[Consider what you want your business to accomplish in the long term. What are your ultimate
goals? Be passionate, powerful and inspiring.]
Our hopes, dreams and where we aim to go.
[Example: To be the go-to supplier of high quality, sustainable coffee in Australia and reduce
environmental impacts through promoting sustainable shopping practices.]
Our mission
[Consider the purpose of your business and define what it does for your customers. What do you do,
how do you do it and why do you do it?]
Who we are and why we exist.
[Example: We supply high quality, sustainably produced coffee for all coffee lovers to enjoy while
minimising their environmental impact.]
Operations
Products and services
What we’re selling.
Product/service Description Unit price (incl. GST)
Production
How we produce our products or services and where we get our main supplies from.
[Example: Intrinsic Coffee sources premium beans from Bean There Growers. Our packaging is
printed by an external provider. We process and package beans on site with strict quality controls
in place.]
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Sales and distribution channels
The channels we’ll use to distribute our product or service to customers.
Channel Used for Details
Select a channel [Example: Selling our [Example: Beans Online account for 20% of
coffee beans sales.]
internationally online.]
Select a channel
Select a channel
Select a channel
Digital technology
[Learn about selling online and digital options to improve your business efficiency and profitability.]
Technology we plan to use for our business.
[Examples: online sales, accounting software, customer database]
Information management
[How do you collect, store and use customer and stock information? Do you back up this
information? How do you do this and how often? Make sure you comply with industry standards and
legislation.]
How we collect, store and use customer and stock information.
[Examples: online sales, accounting software, customer database]
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Assets
Premises
[Describe your business premises, the location, facilities and whether you own or lease them.
Visit our Business premises page for more information.]
[Example: We own a café shopfront in the Sydney CBD. The location has significant foot traffic and
visibility.]
Stock and inventory
[What stock do you have? Describe how you store and manage stock. See our managing inventory
page for more information.]
[Example: We have 300 kg of coffee beans. We store stock onsite and it is replaced every 2
months.]
Equipment
Equipment Date bought or leased Cost ($)
[Examples: computers, Select date
machinery, vehicles]
Select date
Select date
Select date
Intellectual property
[List any intellectual property that you have registered or need to protect. For more information,
check our intellectual property guide.]
[Example: Intrinsic Coffee logo is registered as a trade mark.]
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Key people
Our staff
[List your existing staff and any staff required for your business. Include yourself and list any major
achievements and relevant business experience.]
Role Name Skills and experience
If role is filled.
[Examples: owner,
manager, casual
employee]
Sources of advice and support
[Sources of advice and support for your business could include a business mentor, your accountant, a
valued supplier or even an industry association.
External people or organisations that provide support to our business.
Support type Name Skills and experience
[Example:
Accountant.]
Skill and staff retention strategies
[Read about developing and maintaining staff skills.]
How we keep our staff working for us and maintain their skills.
[Example: The manager regularly checks in with staff, all staff attend monthly team meetings, we
offer free courses to maintain staff skills and involve staff in our professional development planning
process.]
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The market
The problem
[What issues do your potential customers face in the market? Is there a lack of your service type in a
particular suburb? Is the product supplied by other businesses expensive?]
The market problem/s that we aim to solve for customers.
[Example: There’s an overwhelming choice of coffee blends in the market. It’s hard for customers
to know what they’re buying.]
Our solution
How our business solves the problem – our unique selling point. This is how we’ll succeed in the
market.
[Example: Intrinsic Coffee sells a small range of high-quality coffee. We don’t use fancy names for
our blends, so people know what they’re buying.]
Our target market
[Not everyone will want your product or service, so make sure you research the market and have a
clear picture of who you’re targeting. This helps focus your marketing efforts and improve your
chances of success. Describe your targeted customers for example by gender, age, income, location
or education.]
The group of customers that we aim to sell our products or services to.
[Example: Our products are targeted at adults over 30 with a medium to high disposable income.]
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Advertising and promotion
[Choose channels that suit your target market. For example, social media use varies across different
age groups. Learn about choosing the best channels to communicate with your customers.]
The channels we’ll use to communicate with our target customers.
Channel Used for Details
Select a channel [Example: Promotion [Example: We’ll use regular Facebook posts
prior to launch.] to promote the product and offer discounts
to our first 20 customers.]
Select a channel
Select a channel
Select a channel
The competition
The top 3 businesses we’re competing against, what they do well and not so well. What we’ll do
differently to succeed in the market.
Competitor name [Example: Sludge
International Coffee.]
Strengths [Example: Low product
prices.]
Weaknesses [Example: Low quality
product, unsustainable
production.]
What we’ll do [Example: We only sell
differently high quality,
sustainably produced
beans.]
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Pricing strategy
[Explain your pricing strategy and why you chose it.]
How we set prices for our products/services.
[Example: Our coffee beans are sold at cost of production and distribution plus a mark-up of 50%.
This ensures we remain competitive and make a profit.]
SWOT analysis
[Learn how to complete a SWOT analysis for your business.]
Our business strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats.
Strengths [Example: Premises are in a high traffic area with good visibility.]
What’s good
about our
business.
Weaknesses [Example: The business has no business website and there are high rental
What’s not so costs.]
good about our
business.
Opportunities [Example: The market is growing rapidly.]
External factors
we could take
advantage of.
Threats [Example: A new competitor could target the same market.]
External factors
that could cause
problems for us.
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How we’ll address each weakness and threat
[Example: We’ll investigate alternative lower cost premises with good visibility.]
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Risk management
Risk assessment
[Learn about types of risk that could affect your business and how to assess and manage risks to your
business.]
Risks that could impact our business and what we’ll do to protect it.
Risk/impact description Likelihood What we’ll do to reduce this risk
[Example: Pandemic causes Select level [Example: Strengthen online sales/e-
closure of our retail outlet.] commerce.]
[Example: Computer theft Select level [Example: Use cloud storage for business
results in loss of financial records.]
records.]
Select level
Select level
Select level
Insurance
[If you’re not sure what you need, visit our Business insurance page for more information.]
The insurance we have or need.
Insurance type Details
Select type
Select type
Select type
Select type
Select type
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Succession plan
[What will you do if you decide to step down from your business? Do you have a plan in place in case
something happens to you? Who would you want to take over your business? Consider formally
documenting a succession plan for your business.]
[Example: If the current owner decides to step down, the position will be offered to other business
partners. The current owner will be paid out for their share and step down to an advisory role.]
Laws we’ll need to comply with
[List the laws that impact on your business including laws specific to your industry.]
[Examples: fair trading/consumer laws, employment laws, state licences]
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Goals and actions
[Learn how to set goals that will help your business grow.]
Goals for next year
[Enter a goal] [Enter a goal] [Enter a goal]
Actions to achieve [Action] [Action] [Action]
goal
[Action] [Action] [Action]
[Action] [Action] [Action]
Due date Select date Select date Select date
Who’s responsible
Goals for the next 3 years
[Enter a goal] [Enter a goal] [Enter a goal]
Actions to achieve [Action] [Action] [Action]
goal
[Action] [Action] [Action]
[Action] [Action] [Action]
Due date Select date Select date Select date
Who’s responsible
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The finances
[You may find the Australian Taxation Office’s small business benchmarks useful to compare your
performance when completing this section.]
Finance needed
[Delete this section if you aren’t seeking finance.]
How much money we need and what it’s for.
[Example: We are seeking a loan of $30,000 to purchase and install an automated coffee
packaging machine.]
Sources of funding
[Describe sources and amounts of funding that your business has received. Include your own
investment in your business.]
[Example: We have received a $X loan from Business Bank. There is also $X of self-investment.]
Current finances
[Summarise your business performance over the last financial year in terms of cash flow, profit/loss
and balance.]
How our business performed financially over the last financial year.
[Example: Over the last financial year we have had a positive cash flow of $X, out net profit was $X
and our assets are worth $X.]
Balance forecast
[You can use our balance sheet template, your own accounting tools or ask your accountant for help]
A summary of our forecast balance for the next 3 years.
[Year 1] [Year 2] [Year 3]
Total assets $ $ $
Total liabilities $ $ $
Net assets $ $ $
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Profit and loss forecast
[You can use our profit and loss template, your own accounting tools or ask your accountant for
help.]
Our forecast profit/loss for the next 3 years.
[Year 1] [Year 2] [Year 3]
Gross profit/net sales $ $ $
Total expenses $ $ $
Net profit/loss $ $ $
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Cash flow forecast
[You can use our cash flow statement template, your own accounting tools or ask your accountant for help.]
Our forecast cash flow for the next year.
Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec
Monthly $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $
cash
balance
Closing $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $
balance
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Supporting document checklist
Attached documents (where relevant):
Balance sheet forecast (including assumptions)
Balance sheet for last financial year
Cash flow statement forecast (including any assumptions)
Cash flow statement for last financial year
Market research
Profit and loss forecast sheets (including any assumptions)
Profit and loss for last financial year
Staff resume/s
Download the latest version of this template from www.business.gov.au/businessplan
