Founders & Small BusinessFree tool
Business Plan Writer From Your Notes
A complete business plan for a bank, investors or yourself, with projections, break-even and a downside case built from your own numbers.
Free to start · Opens in your River workspace, ready to edit and share
How to write a business plan
A business plan is a written case for a business: what it sells, who buys it, how it will make money and what it needs to get there. A good one is written for one reader, usually a lender or an investor. It covers the company, market, competition, team, marketing, funding request and financial projections, and every number traces to an assumption that reader can check.
That last part matters most. Each claim should rest on something a reader could verify: a quote, a lease, last year's sales, a public figure with its source. A reader who finds one number they can't trace starts doubting the rest.
Decide who will read it
Settle who has to say yes before you write. A lender asks one question: can the business repay the loan from its cash flow? In the US, the SBA's rules for the loans it guarantees say cash flow is the primary source of repayment, not collateral1. A loan the cash flow can't support must be declined, whatever you pledge.
Investors read for something else. The venture firm Sequoia Capital says it wasn't the Airbnb founders' slides it liked but "the clarity of their thinking, and the scope of their ambition."2 Its business plan outline lists financials ninth of its 10 headings, noting "If you have any, please include." If you're raising money, you'll likely need a pitch deck built from the same facts.
The work pays off for you, too. Two entrepreneurship professors, Francis Greene of the University of Edinburgh and Christian Hopp, analyzed a US study that tracked more than 1,000 would-be founders from 2005 to 2011. Those who wrote a formal plan were 16% more likely to reach positive cash flow3 than otherwise identical founders who didn't.
What goes in a business plan
The SBA describes two formats. A traditional plan, which lenders and investors commonly request4, can run to dozens of pages. A lean plan is typically one page, though some lenders and investors may ask for more. If you're borrowing, write the traditional one.
The parts of a traditional plan, with an illustrative coffee shop
| Section | What it holds | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Executive summary | What the business is, what you need and why it will work, in a page or less | "We need $140,000 to open a second shop three miles from our first." |
| Company description | What you sell, where, to whom, and your legal structure | An LLC selling coffee and pastries to commuters |
| Market and competition | Who buys, how many there are, and who else serves them | Two chains within half a mile, neither open before 7 a.m. |
| Management and operations | Who runs what, and the experience behind them | The owner has run the first shop for six years |
| Products and pricing | What you sell, what you charge and what each sale costs you | An $8.50 average ticket, with food and drink at 28% of sales |
| Marketing and sales | How you'll win customers and keep them | A loyalty card that works at both shops |
| Funding request | How much, debt or equity, the terms, and what it pays for | A $140,000 loan over 10 years, plus $40,000 of the owner's own |
| Financial projections | Income, cash flow and balance sheet, by month for year one | Break-even at 128 customers a day |
Merge or drop any heading that doesn't fit your business.
Collect your facts first
Start with what you can document: quotes for build-out and equipment, the lease, wages, your prices, and your sales history if you have one. Each becomes an assumption in your financials.
Then check the market against public data. The US Census Bureau's Census Business Builder5 maps demographic and economic data for the location and type of business you choose. Visit your rivals at their busiest hours, note what they charge and read their reviews. A competitor analysis for small businesses sorts their customers' complaints for you.
For investors, size the market two ways, top down and bottom up, so they can follow the logic. A TAM SAM SOM calculator builds both, with each figure sourced.
Build the numbers from the ground up
Work from units you can explain, never from a growth rate. Revenue that doubles every year with nothing behind it tells a reader you haven't done the math. For standard SBA 7(a) loans, those over $350,000, lenders must record the justification for any revenue growth or cost cut1 you project. They must also compare your numbers with industry trends.
List what you need
Every startup cost or use of funds, each from a quote. For an SBA 7(a) loan, a business open a year or less must put in at least 10% of the project cost1 itself.
Build revenue from units
Customers a day times average ticket times days open, or clients times monthly fee. Tie each unit to evidence.
Add the costs, month by month
Each sale's cost as a share of sales, then rent, wages, insurance and loan payments. The SBA suggests five years of projections4, quarterly or even monthly for the first year.
Find break-even
Use the SBA's formula: fixed costs ÷ (price − variable costs)4. With monthly fixed costs, it gives the number of sales you need each month.
Test a bad year
Rerun everything with sales 20% lower. Say what you would cut, and whether the loan still gets paid.
A lender then checks debt service coverage: the cash the business earns before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization, divided by its yearly loan payments. A ratio of 1.15 means $1.15 of cash for every $1 of loan payments.
SBA rules set the minimum at 1.10 for 7(a) Small loans1 of up to $350,000 and 1.15 for standard 7(a) loans above that. Buying an existing business usually takes 1.25. The business loan application template works the ratio out line by line.
Sales: 150 customers a day at an $8.50 average ticket, 360 days a year, or $459,000 in year one.
Why 150: our first shop averages 215 a day. This street has less foot traffic, so we assume 30% fewer.
Break-even: $23,500 in monthly fixed costs, including a $1,850 loan payment, divided by the $6.12 each sale keeps after food and drink. That is 3,840 sales a month, or 128 a day.
If sales run 20% low, at 120 a day, we fall about $1,470 a month short. Cutting one barista's weekday afternoon shifts saves about $2,000 a month and lifts the new shop's debt service coverage to 1.29, above the 1.10 minimum.
- Built from units. Anyone can redo the math: customers times ticket times days.
- Anchored in evidence. The 150 comes from the first shop's real counts, discounted for a quieter street.
- Ready for a miss. It names the break-even point and the response if sales fall short.
Write the summary last, then check it
Write the executive summary once the numbers are done, so it can quote them. Then test it: a reader who stops after one page should know what you need, what it pays for and why it will work.
Before it goes out, hand the plan to someone outside the business and ask them to find the weakest number. In the US, the SBA offers free business counseling4 through its partner network.
When to bring in an accountant
Before you apply for a loan, ask an accountant to review your projected statements, especially taxes, depreciation and interest. Lenders recalculate your coverage and ratios, and errors show.
Before you send your business plan
- Written for one reader, with their question answered on page one
- The funding request says how much, for what, and how much is yours
- Revenue built from units anyone can recompute
- Year one shown month by month, with a break-even point
- A downside case, and what you would do about it
- Every outside figure has a source and a date
- The summary's numbers match the tables
Prefer to start from your notes? Paste them into the tool at the top of this page. It drafts each section from your numbers and marks every gap for you to fill.
How it works
Start with what you already have: a few lines about the business and the money you need, rough notes, an old plan or a pitch deck. River writes the full plan in your workspace, builds the projections from your own figures with every assumption listed, and cites any market figure it looks up.
Anything essential that's missing is marked for you to confirm, never guessed. Say who will read the plan (a bank, investors, a landlord or just you) and it leads with what that reader needs.
Share what you have
Describe the business and the money you need, or paste notes, an old plan or a deck.
River writes the plan
It builds each section from your facts, cites any market figures and lists every assumption.
Get the full plan
Every section from summary to risks, with monthly projections for year one, break-even and a downside case.
Confirm and refine
Fill in anything marked to confirm, then ask for a lender version, a one-page summary or new numbers.
What you get
- Every section a lender or investor expects, from the executive summary to the funding request and risks
- A three-year income statement and cash flow, month by month for the first year, from your figures
- Revenue built from units you can explain, such as customers a day times average ticket times days open
- A break-even point and a downside case with sales 20% lower, with the arithmetic shown
- Market and competitor figures with their sources, or clearly labeled estimates with the method behind them
- An editable plan in your River workspace, with each missing fact marked for you to confirm
Common questions
What should a business plan include?
A business plan should include an executive summary, a company description, the market and competition, the team, products and pricing, marketing, a funding request and financial projections. Lenders look hardest at the funding request and the projections. Investors care more about the problem, the market and the team than about early financials.
How long should a business plan be?
Long enough to answer your reader's questions, and no longer. The SBA says traditional plans can run to dozens of pages, while lean plans are typically one page. A plan for a bank loan needs the detail behind its costs and repayment, but a plan for your own use can be short. Generic industry filler only hides the numbers that matter.
Do I need a business plan for an SBA loan?
Usually, yes, especially for a new business. The SBA advises having a business plan, an expense sheet and five years of financial projections to improve your chances. Its rules also require lenders to judge a startup on projections and the assumptions behind them1, which is what a good plan lays out.
How do I write a business plan with River?
Type a few lines about the business and the money you need in the box at the top of this page, or paste your notes or an old plan. Choose who will read it. River writes the full plan into your free River workspace, with projections built from your figures and every gap marked for you to confirm.
Will River make up numbers for my plan?
No. It uses the prices, costs, volumes and amounts you give it, and marks anything essential that's missing for you to fill in. When the market section needs an outside figure, River looks for a public source and cites it. If it can't find a reliable one, it writes a labeled estimate and shows the method behind it.
Can it write a plan for a business that hasn't opened yet?
Yes. For a new business, the plan rests on your startup costs, your prices and the sales volume you expect, and it says which figures are estimates. Back the sales figure with something real, such as a similar shop's traffic, preorders or a signed customer, because a lender will ask where it came from.
Is the business plan writer free?
Yes, it is free to start. Your business plan opens in a River workspace, where you can edit it, share it with a lender or partner, or ask River to change it. Paid plans add more AI use and access to the most advanced models.
Sources
U.S. Small Business Administration. “SOP 50 10: Lender and Development Company Loan Programs.” sba.gov (opens in a new tab)
Sequoia Capital. “Writing a Business Plan.” sequoiacap.com (opens in a new tab)
University of Edinburgh Business School. “Does it pay to plan?” business-school.ed.ac.uk (opens in a new tab)
U.S. Small Business Administration. “Plan your business.” sba.gov (opens in a new tab)
U.S. Census Bureau. “Census Business Builder (CBB).” census.gov (opens in a new tab)
Built by
Chandler Supple
Co-founder & CEO, River
Chandler has spent the last six years working in AI, building tools for millions of users and Fortune 100 companies. In 2025, he co-founded River to build a new kind of operating system for AI agents.