Business plan guides
A business plan for a cafe is judged on different numbers than one for a care agency, and a plan written for a bank reads differently from one written for the Home Office. These guides cover what actually matters in each case, written by a chartered accountant with thirty years across UK sectors.
Business plans by industry
What a lender, landlord or franchisor expects to see in your sector, the costs that belong in the plan, and the numbers that decide whether it stacks up.
- Cafe Business Plan What goes into a UK cafe or coffee shop business plan — fit-out costs, gross margin on coffee and food, rent-to-turnover, and what a lender checks. Read the guide →
- Restaurant Business Plan How to write a UK restaurant business plan — fit-out costs, food and wet margins, covers and table turns, licensing, and what a bank checks. Read the guide →
- Consultancy Business Plan How to write a consultancy business plan — a day rate that works, honest utilisation forecasts, IR35 and insurance, and what a lender or client checks. Read the guide →
- Bakery Business Plan What goes into a UK bakery business plan — equipment costs, gross margin, wastage, the VAT rules on bread and confectionery, and what lenders check. Read the guide →
- Gym and Fitness Business Plan What a gym or fitness studio business plan must show — fit-out and equipment costs, members needed to break even, churn, and what lenders test. Read the guide →
- Cleaning Company Business Plan How to write a UK cleaning business plan — margin per cleaning hour, charge rate versus pay rate, DBS and insurance, and winning commercial contracts. Read the guide →
- Domiciliary Care Business Plan What a home care agency business plan must show — CQC registration, a registered manager, cost per delivered hour, travel time and staff turnover. Read the guide →
- Nursery and Childcare Business Plan How to write a UK day nursery business plan — occupancy, staff-to-child ratios, funded hours, Ofsted registration and what lenders check. Read the guide →
- Property Development Business Plan How to write a UK property development business plan — GDV, build costs, profit on cost, development finance and the appraisal a lender tests. Read the guide →
- Franchise Business Plan How to write a UK franchise business plan — the initial fee, management service fees, the lender's view of a franchise, and testing the franchisor's figures. Read the guide →
- Hair Salon Business Plan How to write a UK hair or beauty salon business plan — fit-out costs, chair utilisation, employed stylists versus chair rental, VAT and what lenders check. Read the guide →
- Buy-to-Let Business Plan How to write a UK buy-to-let business plan — rental yield, the lender's interest cover test, tax in your own name or a company, and the rules. Read the guide →
Business plans by purpose
Who is going to read the plan changes what has to be in it. These guides cover what each audience is checking for.
- Business Plan for a Bank Loan What a UK bank or Start Up Loan assessor reads in a business plan — affordability, security, the cash flow forecast and the sensitivity test. Read the guide →
- Business Plan for a UK Visa Application What an endorsing body or the Home Office looks for in a visa business plan — innovation, viability, scalability, and financials that hold up. Read the guide →
- Charity and CIC Business Plan What a charity or CIC business plan has to show — public benefit, a funding mix that is not one grant, reserves, and the figures trustees answer for. Read the guide →
- Business Plan for Investors What an investor reads differently from a lender — the size of the outcome, the runway, what the money buys, and where SEIS and EIS advance assurance fits. Read the guide →
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