You have a business idea but every time you try to write a plan, you get stuck at the financial projections and give up. Here's how to go from idea to a structured business plan with real numbers — in an afternoon, not a month.
| Tool | What It Does | Cost | Link |
|---|---|---|---|
| Claude or ChatGPT | Generates business plan sections from your description | Free | Sign up → |
| Google Sheets | Financial projections and budget modeling | Free | Sign up → |
What to do: Open Claude and describe your business idea in plain language. Include: what you’ll sell, who your customer is, how you’ll make money, what makes you different, and roughly how much you think it’ll cost to start.
Why you’re doing it: AI needs context to build a useful plan. A detailed description produces a detailed plan. Don’t worry about structure — just explain it like you’re telling a friend.
What to expect: Spend 10–15 minutes writing a thorough description. The more detail you include, the better the output.
What to do: Prompt: “Based on my business description, write a professional executive summary for a business plan. Keep it under 300 words. Include the problem we solve, our solution, target market, revenue model, and competitive advantage.”
Why you’re doing it: The executive summary is what investors and lenders read first. It’s the most important page of your plan.
What to expect: A clean, professional summary in about 30 seconds. Edit it to add specific numbers and details.
What to do: Prompt: “Write a market analysis section for my business plan. Include target market size, customer demographics, market trends, and competitive landscape. Use my business description as context.”
Why you’re doing it: This shows that you understand your market and that there’s real demand for what you’re selling.
What to expect: A structured market analysis. You’ll need to verify the numbers AI provides — ask it for sources or do quick Google searches to confirm market size data.
What to do: Prompt: “Create a simple 12-month financial projection for my business. Include estimated monthly revenue, costs, and profit. Format as a table. Use realistic assumptions and list those assumptions.” Then paste the numbers into Google Sheets.
Why you’re doing it: Financial projections are where most people quit. AI generates a starting framework you can adjust with real numbers.
What to expect: A basic P&L projection. It won’t be perfect — adjust the numbers based on your actual costs, pricing research, and local market rates.
Common mistakes: Treating AI projections as gospel. These are estimates. Research real costs (rent, materials, labor) and plug in actual numbers.
What to do: Use AI to generate: Operations Plan, Marketing Strategy, Management Team, and Funding Requirements. Use a separate prompt for each section, always referencing your original business description.
Why you’re doing it: A complete business plan has 7–8 sections. AI handles the structure and boilerplate; you add the specifics.
What to do: Combine all sections into one document (Google Docs works great). Read through the entire plan end-to-end. Fix inconsistencies, add real numbers where AI used placeholders, and make sure the voice is consistent throughout.
Why you’re doing it: The individual sections need to tell a cohesive story. This final review catches contradictions and gaps.
What to expect: 30–45 minutes of editing and polishing. The result is a professional business plan you can use for funding applications, partnership discussions, or just your own strategic clarity.
This workflow is Beta — Based on Best Available Knowledge. AI-generated business plans are a strong starting framework but they are NOT a substitute for actual market research and real financial data. Use this as a structure that you fill with verified numbers.