Business plan for companies

What is a business plan?

A business plan describes your business idea in words and numbers: what you sell, to whom, at what price and how the money will add up. For a small business, two to four pages are often enough. The length is not what matters, but that you have thought through the answers before you start.

Why do you need one?

• Your own clarity. When you write down the idea you notice right away what is unclear. It is cheaper to discover that now than after six months.
• Talking about the idea. A customer, a supplier or a bank will sooner or later ask what you are doing. With the plan in your head, you have the answer in a minute.
• Bank and loans. If you apply for a loan or credit, the bank, or Almi, wants to see the plan and budget and that you have thought through the risks.
• Tell a fantasy apart from a plan. "We sell sustainable jewelry" is a sentence. "We sell sustainable jewelry to young people in our municipality for 150 SEK each, we buy material for 40 and expect to sell 60 in the first quarter" is a plan.

For UF companies

The jury at the regional final judges your company based on how well you can talk about it, and the business plan is the foundation. If you are going to borrow money for the start, from the school or a sponsor, they want to see the same thing as a bank: that you have thought through the risks.

What should it contain?

• Product or service. Describe exactly what you sell and what makes it worth money.
• Customer. Who pays? Private individuals or companies, where they are and what they already buy today. The difference is explained in B2B or B2C.
• Market. How many potential customers are there, and who already sells something similar?
• Pricing. What does it cost to make, what do you charge and what is left per unit sold? If the company is VAT-registered, one fifth of a consumer price with 25 percent VAT goes to the Swedish Tax Agency (Skatteverket), not to you.
• Budget and liquidity. Start-up costs, fixed costs every month, any salary to yourselves and when the money actually comes in. See our page about budget.
• Risks. What can go wrong, and what do you do then? An honest risk list is worth more than one where everything is perfect.

Also write which company form you have or will have, and what it means: who is responsible for the debts, whether you will have F-tax and whether the company will be VAT registered. Legal checklist goes through the differences. This is our reading of the rules, not legal advice, so check with the Swedish Tax Agency (Skatteverket) and the Swedish Companies Registration Office (Bolagsverket).

Mini template you can fill in

Copy this into a document and write a short answer on each line. First the numbers:

1. We sell: (product or service, one sentence)
2. What it costs us to make: (SEK each)
3. We charge: (SEK each, and whether VAT is included)
4. So we earn: (SEK per unit sold, excluding VAT)
5. Our fixed costs: (SEK per month)
6. In one year we will have sold: (number) and earned: (SEK)

The customer and the road to them:

7. Our customer is: (who and where)
8. The customer buys because: (the problem you solve)
9. We sell through: (market, web, direct contact)
10. This is what can go wrong: (and a plan B for each point)

Do you need a larger template?

The mini template goes a long way. If the plan is going to a bank or an investor, there are more detailed templates at Nyföretagarcentrum and Almi, which verksamt.se refers to, and at most banks. Start with the mini template anyway; you can then move your answers over.

For UF companies

Junior Achievement Sweden has its own business plan template that most regions use for assessment, and you can find it via ungforetagsamhet.se. Use their template if the region asks for it, and the mini template above to get started. Both are based on the same questions.