How does a business plan turn a tested business model into a clear, evidence-based document?
Construct a business plan that communicates the opportunity, model, market, financials and implementation for a venture.
How a business plan differs from a business model and how to structure the opportunity, value proposition, model, market, financials, implementation and risks into a clear, evidence-based external assessment document.
Reviewed by: AI editorial process; not yet individually human-reviewed
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What this dot point is asking
You need to show you can assemble your work into a coherent, persuasive, evidence-based plan that justifies why the venture is viable.
Business model versus business plan
These are related but different, and confusing them is a common error.
- A business model (the Business Model Canvas) is a one-page snapshot of how the venture creates, delivers and captures value. It is fast to sketch and easy to change.
- A business plan is a fuller document that explains, justifies and evidences that model, adding the market analysis, detailed financials, an implementation timeline and a risk assessment.
What goes in the plan
A strong plan typically covers:
- Executive summary - the opportunity and offer in brief, written last.
- The opportunity and value proposition - the problem, the customer segment and why your offer fits.
- The business model - the Business Model Canvas explained, especially how revenue covers cost.
- Market and customers - research evidence on market size, trends and competitors.
- Financials - start-up costs, break-even, cash flow forecast and funding.
- Implementation - the timeline, key activities, resources and milestones to launch.
- Risks and mitigation - what could go wrong and how you would respond.
Evidence and iteration
Because Business Innovation is assumption-based and iterative, the plan should show how testing changed your thinking. Including the story of what you assumed, what you tested, what you learned and how you refined the venture demonstrates genuine innovation and is exactly what markers reward.
Communicating clearly
The plan must be readable by someone new to the idea. Use clear structure, plain language, and visuals (the canvas, charts, a timeline) where they aid understanding. Define key terms, and make the financials easy to follow.
Linking forward
The business plan is the external assessment and the capstone of the course: it draws on every module, idea generation, the model, financials and testing, and the prototype and pitch. Building it as you go, by capturing evidence at each stage, makes the final plan far stronger than writing it from scratch at the end.