Will a lender approve my plan?

We can't promise that, and no consultant honestly can. Each lender applies its own criteria, including your credit, security and history. What we control is whether the plan is clear, consistent and supported by evidence.

How long is the finished plan?

Usually 15 to 25 pages plus the financial model as an appendix. A plan that runs to 60 pages is rarely read in full, and the reader's questions get buried.

Can I use a free template instead?

Yes, and for some owners that's enough. BDC, for instance, publishes a free business plan template. Where we add value is in testing the assumptions behind the template's blanks, not in the formatting.

Do you write plans for immigration or visa applications?

No. We don't give immigration advice, and plans for those programs have requirements set by the government and should be prepared with a licensed immigration consultant or lawyer.

You do. You receive the document and the editable model, and you can share or change them as you like.

Business Plan Writing for Canadian Small Businesses

A business plan is a tool for getting someone else to understand and trust your idea. It works when a reader can find the answer to their question in a minute and check the number behind it in another. We write short, sourced plans for Canadian small businesses, built on assumptions that have been tested where possible and flagged where they haven't.

What a business plan is for

Different readers want different things from the same document, and a good plan serves all of them without padding.

A partner or investor wants to know how big this can get and what could go wrong.
A landlord wants to know whether you'll still be paying rent in year three.
A lender wants to know how the debt gets repaid and what happens if sales come in slow.
Your own team wants to know what they're aiming at this quarter.

The plan that tries to impress everyone usually informs no one. Ours open with a one-page summary and keep the detail in sections a reader can jump to.

Who it's for

Owners who have decided to proceed and now need others to follow. Typically:

A founder who has finished a feasibility study or validation test and needs the result in a form others can use.
An established business seeking a partner, a larger premises or a line of credit for expansion.
A business owner whose existing plan is out of date, or was written to a template and never tested.

If you haven't yet tested demand, we'll usually recommend market validation first, because a plan that rests on an untested demand figure is the first thing a careful reader will question.

What's included

The sections

One-page summary. The idea, the customer, the money needed, and when it pays back.
The customer and the evidence. Who buys, why, and what proof you have, with sources.
Competition and position. Who you're up against and why a buyer would switch.
Operations. Location, staffing, suppliers, and the registrations or licences to confirm with the relevant authority.
Marketing and sales. How the first 100 customers will find you, and what each costs to win.
Financial summary. Drawn from the projections model, with the break-even point and a downside case.
Risks and responses. The three things most likely to go wrong and what you'd do.

What we don't include

We don't prepare financial statements, tax advice or legal structuring. Those belong with your CPA and lawyer, and the plan notes where their input is needed. For general federal guidance on registration and permits, the Government of Canada's starting a business page is a useful map.

Timeline

When the evidence and model already exist, a plan typically takes three to four weeks: a week to agree the outline and readers, two weeks to draft, and a week for your review and our revision. Starting from scratch takes longer, because the model has to come first. Your proposal confirms the schedule.

How we judge a finished plan

We test every plan against four questions before it leaves us.

Does every number in the text match the model?
Is every important assumption either sourced or labelled as an assumption?
Could a stranger state the business in two sentences after reading page one?
Does the downside case still show how the business survives, or honestly say it doesn't?

Mistakes to avoid

Hockey-stick revenue with flat costs. If sales triple, staff and marketing usually rise too.
One scenario only. Readers trust a plan more when it shows what happens if sales come in 30% below target.
Vague marketing. "Social media and word of mouth" is not a plan. Name the channel, the budget and the expected cost per customer.
No sources. A market figure without a source invites the reader to discount everything else.
Writing for approval, not for running the business. The plan should still be useful to you six months after it's read.

See pricing for how plans are scoped. Call, text or email with a line about who the plan is for and when you need it.

Business plans written to be read, checked and used