Introduction:
Most small businesses never use their business plan after the first investor meeting. That’s not because plans are useless — it’s because they’re static. A living business plan is short, measurable, and updated regularly. It’s the tool that keeps strategy aligned with daily decisions.
The one-page living business plan (template)
Use this as a working document. Print it, pin it, update it quarterly.
- Vision (1 sentence) — Where will the business be in 3 years?
- Core offering(s) — 1–2 lines describing the product/service and the main value delivered.
- Target customers — Who exactly buys? (industry, revenue bracket, decision-maker title)
- Key metrics (3) — e.g., MRR (monthly recurring revenue), Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC), Gross Margin.
- Competitive edge — 1 line: why customers choose you over alternatives.
- Top 3 priorities (this quarter) — concrete initiatives with owners.
- Risks & contingency — top 2 things that could derail you and mitigation steps.
- Next check-in — date and owner for the quarterly review.
Example (short)
- Vision: Be the trusted fractional CFO for 50 tech scale-ups in Northern Europe by 2028.
- Core offering: Monthly finance + KPI dashboard + quarterly forecasting.
- Target customers: SaaS startups, €1–5M ARR, Head of Finance / CEO decides.
- Key metrics: MRR, churn %, CAC payback (months).
- Competitive edge: Fast integrations with customers’ tools + 48-hour reporting turnaround.
- Top 3 priorities (Q1): 1) Launch subscription plan; 2) Build onboarding template; 3) Run 10 demos.
- Risks: Slow sales cycle → run webinars; low retention → introduce quarterly value reviews.
- Next check-in: 1 April — Head of Sales
How to run a quarterly review that actually changes behaviour
- Prepare: pull the three key metrics and two customer stories (good + bad).
- Ask three questions: what surprised us? what did we learn? what do we change?
- Convert every answer into a single task with an owner and deadline.
- Publish the updated one-page plan to the team and link it to project management.
Why this works (not theoretical)
- Short plans are used. The act of updating forces learning. Teams prefer 3 clear KPIs over 30 fuzzy goals. When you make the plan visible you also make follow-through easier.
Quick tools & habits
- Use a single Google Sheet or Notion page for the metrics.
- Calendar-rule: 2 hours blocked each quarter for the review.
- Keep a running “lessons learned” doc — 1 paragraph per week.
CTA
Want RM Advisory to build your first living plan and run the first two quarterly reviews with you? We do that — practical templates + workshop.
