Almost every business now runs on software: a card reader, a booking system, accounting software, a website, email. Most business plans either ignore it or list brand names without explaining what any of it costs or why it matters. Neither helps the reader.
A good technology section is short, and it answers four questions: what you will use, what it costs, how you will protect the data it holds, and whether technology is a support to the business or the business itself.
What you will use, and what it does
Describe the systems the business will run on by what they do, not by brand. A reader does not need to know which accounting package you prefer; they need to know you have one, and that the books will be kept properly from day one.
Most small businesses need something for each of these:
- Taking payment — card terminals, online checkout, invoicing
- Keeping the books — accounting software that can file VAT returns under Making Tax Digital
- Managing customers — bookings, orders, enquiries, a customer list
- Being found — a website, a Google Business Profile, listings on the platforms your customers use
- Running the day-to-day — email, file storage, rotas, stock
For each, a sentence on how it helps is enough. “Online booking with deposits reduces no-shows and frees the front desk” says more than a paragraph of features.
What it costs
This is the part most plans leave out, and it matters because software is now a recurring cost, not a one-off purchase. A handful of subscriptions at £20 to £60 a month each quickly becomes a meaningful overhead, and transaction fees on card payments come off every sale.
Put technology into the forecast in two places:
- Start-up costs for hardware: laptops, tablets, card terminals, tills, printers, and any website build.
- Monthly overheads for subscriptions, hosting, domain names and support, plus card fees as a percentage of the sales that go through them.
Allow for replacing hardware every few years, and for the subscriptions growing as you add users.
Protecting the data
If the business holds personal information about customers or staff, which almost every business does, you have obligations under UK data protection law. Many organisations that process personal data also have to pay an annual data protection fee to the Information Commissioner’s Office.
The plan does not need a full policy, but it should show you have thought about it: where customer data is kept, who can access it, how it is backed up, and the basic security measures in place, such as strong passwords, two-factor sign-in and keeping software up to date. The government-backed Cyber Essentials scheme is a useful benchmark, and some public sector and larger commercial customers require it of their suppliers.
When technology is the business
For a software company, an app, or any business whose product is built on technology, this section becomes one of the most important in the plan, and it needs much more than a list of tools.
The reader will want to know:
- what has been built already, and what still needs building
- who is building it, and whether that capability is inside the business or bought in
- what it costs to develop, host and maintain, and how those costs scale with customers
- what protects it from being copied, whether that is intellectual property, data, or simply being further ahead
- the technical risks, and what happens if a key developer or supplier is lost
This is particularly true for Innovator Founder visa applications, where the endorsing body is judging whether the business is genuinely innovative. There is more in Innovator Founder visa requirements.
Plans for the future
Finish with a sentence or two on what changes as the business grows: moving from spreadsheets to a proper system, adding e-commerce, automating something currently done by hand. Tie each change to a point in the forecast where the business can afford it.
Summary
Keep the technology section short unless technology is your product. Say what you will use and why, put the costs in the forecast as start-up spend and monthly overheads, and show you have thought about data protection and security. If technology is the product, treat it as a core section and explain what has been built, what it costs and what protects it.
SquarePlan’s software builds your start-up costs and monthly overheads into the cash flow and profit and loss as you go, so subscription and hardware costs are in the forecast rather than forgotten.