Writing a business plan means explaining how your business will find customers, deliver its services and fund its operations. The document should connect what you want to sell, the resources needed to deliver it and the money that will actually come in and go out.
You do not need to begin with a long presentation. Start with the questions that could make the project fail: is there demand, does the price cover the work, and how long can you operate before receiving the first payments? A business plan puts these questions in an order that supports decisions and helps you present the project to a partner or bank.
At a glance
- Connect customers, operations and numbers: every assumption should be explainable.
- Separate profitability, cash flow and funding to identify the actual requirement.
- Test a cautious scenario and use the plan to monitor your launch.
What is a business plan for?
A business plan describes the project and the conditions needed to make it happen. It first serves the entrepreneur: putting assumptions in writing exposes contradictions before substantial spending.
It also serves other readers. A business partner wants to understand their contribution and shared objectives. A bank examines the use of funds and repayment capacity. An investor considers the project’s potential, team, risks and expected returns. You can present the same underlying file differently for each audience.
Business plan and business model: what is the difference?
The business model explains the economic logic: who pays, for what value, using which resources and costs. The business plan shows how you will implement it through milestones, figures and funding.
A polished document cannot resolve an unclear business model. A well-understood project does not need dozens of pages of generalities. Match the length to the activity’s complexity and the recipient’s information needs.
Prepare the project before filling in a template
A template provides structure, rather than answers. First collect information that reduces uncertainty: potential-customer interviews, competing offers, supplier quotes, lease terms and requirements specific to your trade.
Turn an idea into a concrete proposal
Describe a specific customer, difficulty and solution. “Start a service business” gives little to discuss. “Offer small property management companies in Lausanne rapid website maintenance” already identifies a target, scope, price question and operating model.
Then look for evidence of demand. Have people already paid to solve the problem? How do they manage it now? Who decides to buy? When will they need to change solutions? Compliments are encouraging, but a sales meeting, paid trial or order provides stronger evidence.
Separate facts from assumptions
Assign a status to each piece of information. A received quote is a documented basis, subject to validity and scope. A target of ten new customers each month remains an assumption until your sales activity supports it.
For important assumptions, note the source, date, uncertainty and test method. You can then explain the figures and update the plan without starting again.
What should a business plan contain?
Adapt the structure below. Sections should support one another: forecast sales must be consistent with sales activity and delivery capacity.
| Section | Question to answer | Concrete material to provide |
|---|---|---|
| Executive summary | What are you creating and what do you need? | Offer, target customers, team and funding sought |
| Customers and market | Why will anyone buy? | Interviews, usage, competition and initial contacts |
| Offer and pricing | What exactly are you selling? | Services, limits, prices and payment terms |
| Sales and marketing | How will you generate sales? | Channels, actions, owners and frequency |
| Operations | How will you deliver the promise? | Skills, tools, suppliers and capacity |
| Team and structure | Who is behind the project? | Roles, experience and proposed legal structure |
| Financial forecasts | Can the project work financially? | Profit, cash flow, funding and forecast balance sheet |
| Risks and milestones | What if assumptions do not materialise? | Scenarios, responses, decisions and deadlines |
Write the summary last
The summary appears first but is easier to write once the rest is coherent. In one or two pages, depending on the project, describe the activity, customers, available evidence, people involved, objectives and funding requirement.
Avoid unsupported descriptions such as “innovative”, “essential” or “huge potential”. Explain what you have observed. Readers should understand the proposal without knowing your industry or searching an appendix for the amount requested.
Explain the market and sales without inflating forecasts
A national industry-size figure does not show how many customers you can reach. A local business needs to examine its catchment area, competitors and sales capacity. An online business must explain how it will attract relevant visitors and convert them into orders.
Present customers’ alternatives, including buying nothing. If your service replaces work done internally, established habits compete with you alongside other companies.
Build revenue from the bottom up
Use understandable units: jobs multiplied by average price, subscriptions multiplied by monthly revenue, or customer visits multiplied by average spend. Include startup delays, cancellations, seasonality and capacity limits.
For a consultancy, billing 160 hours every month is a substantial assumption. Time is also needed for prospecting, preparation, administration and holidays. Forecast sales should reflect this reality.
A simple sales plan can specify the priority customer group, two prospecting channels, the volume of activity and how opportunities will be tracked. Build these assumptions around the actual process of winning and retaining customers.
Build the financial forecasts
The income statement, cash flow and funding plan answer different questions. Reconcile them while keeping their roles clear. Start with monthly cash flow for the first twelve months and a longer-term view suited to the project. Three financial years is a common working horizon, but the recipient’s needs and business cycles take precedence.
Income statement: does the activity earn a profit?
Compare income with period expenses: consumed purchases, salaries, social security contributions, rent, insurance, software, depreciation and interest as applicable. Budget realistic remuneration for the work performed. If profitability depends on the founder working unpaid, show that clearly.
Cash flow: can you pay on time?
The cash flow budget follows receipt and payment dates. An issued invoice is not yet money in the bank. A customer paying after 60 days may require the business to finance two months of work before receiving payment.
Include investment, loan repayments and, where applicable, VAT and taxes. Repaying loan principal reduces cash without being an income-statement expense; interest is an expense. Equipment paid for immediately may be depreciated over several financial years.
Funding plan: where do the resources come from?
List initial needs and the resources covering them: capital contributions, loans and other confirmed funding. Avoid counting the same money twice. In a Swiss LLC, paid-in capital belongs to the company. Once the release formalities are completed, it can fund operations; it is not an additional reserve to add a second time to available funds.
Our worked financial forecast explains how these statements fit together.
Worked example: a service business plan
Take a fictional, simplified example excluding VAT. A small business sells jobs for CHF 1,000, each generating CHF 200 in variable costs. Monthly fixed costs, including budgeted remuneration and social security contributions, total CHF 8,000.
Each job contributes CHF 800 towards fixed costs. The simplified break-even point is therefore 10 jobs a month: 8,000 ÷ 800. This assumes stable prices, variable costs and fixed costs within the activity range considered.
| Monthly assumption | 8 jobs | 12 jobs |
|---|---|---|
| Revenue | CHF 8,000 | CHF 12,000 |
| Variable costs | CHF 1,600 | CHF 2,400 |
| Contribution | CHF 6,400 | CHF 9,600 |
| Fixed costs | CHF 8,000 | CHF 8,000 |
| Simplified result before tax | −CHF 1,600 | +CHF 1,600 |
The twelve-job scenario appears profitable, but two questions remain. Can the team deliver twelve jobs at the promised quality? When will customers pay? If all invoices are collected the following month, the business must fund the first month’s payments in advance.
Add equipment costs and a startup period with four jobs, then eight. The funding requirement exceeds the equipment purchases alone. Making this visible is an essential purpose of the plan.
Analyse risks and prepare a cautious scenario
A useful risk analysis identifies what might happen, its effect on the business and the planned response. Assess likelihood and impact without assigning mathematical precision to things you cannot measure.
| Risk | Possible consequence | Prevention or response | Signal to monitor |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sales start slowly | Insufficient cash | Limit fixed expenses and test the offer early | Meetings and signed orders |
| One customer accounts for a large share of revenue | Commercial dependence | Develop other accounts | Largest customer’s revenue share |
| Customers pay late | Cash flow delays | Appropriate deposits, prompt invoicing and reminders | Overdue receivables |
| Main supplier becomes unavailable | Delivery delays | Qualify an alternative | Lead times and incidents |
| A key person is absent | Slower production | Document operations and arrange cover | Tasks with no replacement |
Prepare a central and a cautious scenario. For example, test sales 25% below plan, a two-month delay in starting or longer customer payment terms. These are stress tests, not official forecasts.
Identify the lowest cash balance in each scenario. Decide what to do before reaching it: postpone a purchase, adjust the offer, increase prospecting or seek funding. “We will see when it happens” is not a management response. Regularly tracking customer payments helps detect pressure early.
A focused SWOT analysis can organise the main internal weaknesses and external threats before you decide which assumptions need a cautious scenario.
Use a template and prepare supporting documents
You can start with templates from the SECO SME portal (French). Keep useful sections and adapt the wording to your activity. A restaurant, trade business and software company have different investment needs and sales cycles.
Keep supporting material: major quotes, team CVs, sales assumptions, available contracts, supplier terms and financial information. Distinguish signed contracts from letters of intent and informal discussions.
If seeking a Swiss business loan, check the bank’s document requirements before finalising the file. The plan is central, but information on capital contributions, security and repayment is still needed.
Conclusion: use the business plan to make decisions
Your plan is ready to use when it clearly answers four questions: who buys, how you deliver, when money arrives and what you will do if the launch is slower than expected.
Test the main assumptions in the market before committing to spending that is difficult to reverse. After launch, compare actual sales, margins, receipts and cash with budget each month. A difference is information for action.
When preparing to start a business in Switzerland, align the project, legal structure and financial resources. Formalities should follow a project you understand and have costed.
Frequently asked questions
Is a business plan compulsory when starting a business in Switzerland?
It is not universally required for every formation. It may be requested for particular procedures or by a funding provider. Even without an external request, it helps assess viability and funding.
How many pages should it contain?
There is no ideal length for every project. Aim for a readable file with a clear summary and supporting appendices. A simple small business needs less detail than an industrial project or fundraising proposal.
Can you write your own business plan?
Yes, and you should understand its assumptions in any case. External help can be useful for forecasts, consistency checks or a financing application. It does not replace your knowledge of customers and the trade.
What is the best business plan template?
Choose one you can adapt to your activity and explain. SECO templates provide a starting point. Above all, use a format connecting the commercial project, operations and financial forecasts.
Why can a profitable business run short of cash?
Profit and cash follow different timing. Unpaid invoices, stock, investment and loan repayments can tie up cash despite a positive result.
Sources and references
- SECO SME portal: business plan advice (French)
- SECO SME portal: templates and examples (French)
- BCV: from an idea to a plan (French)
The French article’s editorial and source review was completed on 21 September 2026. Figures are fictional examples, not forecasts of results.
Romain Prieur is a Swiss certified public accountant and the founder of Entreprendre.ch. With more than ten years of experience in auditing and supporting businesses in Switzerland, he advises entrepreneurs on company formation, accounting and taxation.
