You have an idea and a blank document
Templates ask for forty headings before you know the basics.
Courses
Start with three things you can do today
How to write a business plan that is actually useful
Write a plan that tests whether the business works, not just how it sounds.
A course on business planning for a small venture. It covers choosing a one-page or full format for your purpose, describing the customer and problem plainly, estimating costs and a break-even point, naming the riskiest assumptions, and turning the plan into first steps.
Type this when Cadence asks what you want to learn
I want to write a business plan for a small business I am thinking of starting. I do not want a long document nobody reads; I want a plan that helps me decide whether the idea works and what to do first.
Change any word so it fits your situation. The course is built from what you type and a few setup questions.
Start today
Four things you can do before the course exists.
Useful on their own. The course is for when you want the whole skill, not just the first move.
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Choose the format by its reader
The US Small Business Administration describes two common types: a traditional plan, detailed and commonly requested by lenders and investors, and a lean startup plan, often a single page. If the plan is only for you, start with one page and expand when someone needs more detail.
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Write the customer and problem in two sentences
Original example: 'Office workers near the station want a good breakfast they can carry to their desk before 8:30. Today they buy a pastry at a chain café or skip breakfast.' If you cannot fill both sentences, that is the first thing to find out.
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Work out a rough break-even
Invented figures: fixed costs of $3,000 a month. Each breakfast sells for $6 and costs $2.50 in ingredients and packaging, leaving $3.50. Break-even is $3,000 divided by $3.50, about 858 breakfasts a month, or roughly 39 a day over 22 trading days, before your own pay and tax. Ask whether that is plausible.
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Put a cheap check next to each assumption
Original example: 'People will pay $6' (ask 20 commuters what they pay now), 'We can serve 40 an hour' (time a trial run), 'The lease allows food preparation' (read the lease). A plan gets stronger once its riskiest guesses each have a test.
Sources: U.S. SBA: traditional and lean business plans, and break-even. Practical examples are starting points, not promised results.
- Best for
- Business
- Prerequisites
- None. Bring the situation you have.
- Course length
- 7 to 30 lessons, sized to your goal
- Lesson pace
- About 10 minutes a day
- Format
- Read it, or play the audio
- Access
- Available on the App Store, with early features and Android testing access
Before the course is built
Setup asks about your situation first.
Lesson 1 opens on the moment you describe, and the examples use your role. For this request, expect questions like these.
- What is the business, and is it an idea, just starting, or already running?
- Who is the plan for: you, a partner, a bank or lender, or investors?
- What do you feel least sure about: customers, costs, pricing, or competition?
Right for now
If any of this sounds familiar, start here.
A lender has asked for a plan
You need something credible and you have never written one.
Your last plan sat in a drawer
It took weeks and changed nothing about what you did.
Course arc
Where the course goes, in order.
Cadence writes the lessons for you, so the exact path follows your answers. This is the ground a course built from this sentence covers.
01 / 06What a plan is for
Thinking, persuading a lender or aligning partners, and how each changes it.
Customer and problem
Who buys, why, and what they do today instead.
The offer and the competition
What you sell, how it differs, and honest comparisons.
Costs and break-even
Startup costs, monthly costs and how many sales cover them.
Risky assumptions
Listing what must be true and how to check it cheaply.
From plan to action
First steps, milestones and when to revisit the plan.
What changes
What you will be able to do, and what you will stop believing.
You will be able to
Pick the right format
Match a one-page or detailed plan to who will read it and why.
Get the numbers roughly right
Estimate startup costs, monthly costs and a break-even point.
Know what to test first
List the assumptions the plan depends on and how to check each one.
Ideas this course corrects
A longer plan is a better plan
Length shows effort, not quality. A short plan with honest numbers and clear assumptions is often more useful.
Once written, the plan is finished
A plan is a set of informed guesses. Revisit it as real sales and costs replace the estimates.
Course questions
What to know before you start.
How to write a business plan that is actually useful: what can I do today?
Choose the format by its reader. The US Small Business Administration describes two common types: a traditional plan, detailed and commonly requested by lenders and investors, and a lean startup plan, often a single page. If the plan is only for you, start with one page and expand when someone needs more detail. Write the customer and problem in two sentences. Original example: 'Office workers near the station want a good breakfast they can carry to their desk before 8:30. Today they buy a pastry at a chain café or skip breakfast.' If you cannot fill both sentences, that is the first thing to find out. Work out a rough break-even. Invented figures: fixed costs of $3,000 a month. Each breakfast sells for $6 and costs $2.50 in ingredients and packaging, leaving $3.50. Break-even is $3,000 divided by $3.50, about 858 breakfasts a month, or roughly 39 a day over 22 trading days, before your own pay and tax. Ask whether that is plausible. Put a cheap check next to each assumption. Original example: 'People will pay $6' (ask 20 commuters what they pay now), 'We can serve 40 an hour' (time a trial run), 'The lease allows food preparation' (read the lease). A plan gets stronger once its riskiest guesses each have a test.
Is this a fixed course?
No. Cadence builds the course when you type the sentence and answer a few setup questions, so the lessons follow your situation. This page describes what a course built from this request covers. You see the whole path before Lesson 1.
Who is this course for?
A course on business planning for a small venture. It covers choosing a one-page or full format for your purpose, describing the customer and problem plainly, estimating costs and a break-even point, naming the riskiest assumptions, and turning the plan into first steps. It sits under Business in the Work & ambitions part of the library.
Do I need any prior experience?
No. Setup asks what you already know and where you want to use it, and the course starts from there. Bring a real situation if you have one; the examples are built around it.
How long does it take?
Courses run 7 to 30 lessons of about 10 minutes, sized to what you asked for. One lesson a day is the intended pace, and you can go faster. Lessons can be read or played as audio.
Does this course award a certificate or degree?
No. Cadence is for practical self-learning and does not award accredited degrees or professional certification.
Start today
Type it, answer a few questions, open Lesson 1.
The sentence to type
I want to write a business plan for a small business I am thinking of starting. I do not want a long document nobody reads; I want a plan that helps me decide whether the idea works and what to do first.