Business Plan Template – Free in Word & Excel
A business plan template is a structured model outline with all chapters and guiding questions that you only need to fill in. Our free template is available as Word (text part) and Excel (financial plan), built to be bankable and fundable.
What Is Included in the Business Plan Template?
You receive two coordinated files: the text part and the numbers part of your business plan:
1. Business plan template (Word)
- 9 chapters with a definitional introduction and guiding questions to fill in
- Summary, founder profile, business idea, market & competition, marketing, organization, opportunities & risks, financial plan, appendix
- Notes on what the bank and the Employment Agency (Agentur für Arbeit) pay attention to
2. Financial plan template (Excel)
- Plan for capital requirements and financing with an automatic funding gap check
- Revenue planning and a 3-year profitability forecast
- 12-month liquidity plan, all totals calculated by formula
How to Fill Out the Template
- Work through the chapters in order and answer the guiding questions in your own words.
- Enter your figures in the light blue fields of the Excel template; totals and key figures are calculated automatically.
- Write the summary last and support your statements with figures rather than assertions.
Fill In the Template Yourself or Have It Created?
The template is ideal for getting started on your own. If the plan has to be bankable or you need an expert opinion (fachkundige Stellungnahme) for the start-up grant (Gründungszuschuss), you can have a business plan created: 100% funded through AVGS coaching after written approval, or with BAFA funding as a 50% to 80% grant depending on where your company is based.
Official Sources, Information Sheets & Flyers
The authoritative primary sources to read up on: information sheets and program pages of the responsible funding bodies, as well as the relevant legal texts.
External links to official bodies, checked on June 19, 2026. Content and terms may change; the source itself is always authoritative.
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About the author
Pavel Deuble
Start-up consultant & BAFA-registered business consultant · Owner of Unternehmenswerk
Pavel Deuble is the owner of unternehmenswerk and managing director of UW Unternehmensweg GmbH. He is listed in the BAFA register of consultants (consultant ID 191790); the AVGS programs run through the AZAV-certified UW Unternehmensweg GmbH (provider approval Z-000392-2). Since 2018 more than 750 business plans, 4.88 out of 5 on ProvenExpert from 92 reviews.