If you're looking to save money while creating a business plan, there are several cost-effective options. You can hire a professional to handle the entire plan or work on parts of it yourself to lower expenses. Seeking business plan advice can provide valuable guidance and feedback. Some companies also offer business plan coaching, providing personalized support to help you develop your plan. No matter which option you choose, it's important to understand the different cost factors and take advantage of available subsidies or funding programs to help lower your expenses. By combining these strategies, you can create a comprehensive business plan without overspending.
Creating a Business Plan – Costs and Key Factors
As in many other areas, there is no clear answer to inquiries about traditional business plan costs without additional information about possible factors. You will also hear the well-known phrase "It depends" when it comes to business planning - this can create an unhappy and unpredictable situation, especially in the planning phase of your necessary investments. To give you a little more certainty and security, we will first look at possible cost factors.
Depending on the current situation and complexity
The cost area of your business plan will change depending on the current phase of your business. Before and during the start-up process, you can expect figures of up to €4,000, whereas established companies can reach the five-figure range as they become more complex. Even if these areas sound like a large expense at first glance, this expense is legitimized depending on the objective of the business plan.
Depending on the goal of the business plan
Depending on the purpose you are pursuing with the creation of the business plan, the potential effort required for this will also change. The three most common objectives are
- Convince investors
- Acquiring funding programs
- Create an overview and roadmap for yourself, business partners and stakeholders
If you receive funding of up to €5 million for an investment of €20,000 in a holistic business plan service, the initial investment of €20,000 seems half a gift in comparison.
If you now also combine the investment with possible funding programs, for which we will of course support and advise you effectively, your expenditure will be even lower and your ROI even more lucrative.
Dependent on Subsidy Programs
You can even reduce your planned investment in a start-up or business plan consultation through various financing and funding options.
Depending on point A - the current situation and complexity of your company - as well as the registered legal location of your company, you have a wide range of options to choose from.
Our favorites and most successfully used funding programs include the Germany-wide BAFA funding, the AVGS vouchers for start-up coaching, as well as various regional funding programs - more on our favorites in point 3.
Depending on Market
Complexity Market analysis is a central component of a convincing business model plan. This is often neglected in self-prepared business plans, which is why the expertise of a business consultant is essential.
This expertise enables the consultant to take a much more rational view of the current market and the resulting figures and conclusions from the outside.
Depending on the niche, positioning, market, strategy and current company situation, the market research can become much more complex.
More complexity means more expertise and more effort required, which means a greater investment for you.
Depending on the consulting effort
All the factors mentioned so far have a direct influence on the consulting costs.
Our goal as business consultants is to help you move from your current situation to your desired situation in the best possible way. Your current situation and your desired situation are therefore the main deciding factors for the consulting effort.
Based on this, we can then define a concrete roadmap with specific steps and services to get you to your business goal. A startup founder with a start-up of 4 people and seed capital of €5,000 in the first two years must be viewed differently to an established company with €20,000 in capital and a team of 100 people.
Both of these examples have completely different consulting requirements, different financial projections and funding options, and require different expertise and possibly other professional partners from our network in order to implement specific services simply and effectively.
Depending on expertise and network
The previous cost factors basically related to your situation and your company. However, every service is not just about the service or the product, but also about the company, the brand and the team that realizes the service. You probably know the saying: "Buy cheap, buy twice" - based on the often not entirely satisfactory results of cheap services.
If you try to cut costs when creating a new business plan and create unsatisfactory results, you will probably lose the opportunity to obtain the funding you are aiming for - and you will also have incurred unnecessary expenses with no ROI.
To avoid this, and to focus on quality and success right from the start, we recommend that you work with a business consultancy with expertise, a proven track record and good networking opportunities.
At nxt milestone, we attach great importance to being a trustworthy, holistic partner for your business ideas and matters. Therefore, we can not only demonstrate successes such as award-winning business plans and successful financing, but also stand with our name as Proven Expert, with a 5-star rating, as well as an official consulting partner of the German BAFA (Federal Office of Economics and Export Control).
Expertise has its price, and in return you get better business plans adapted to the dependent points, higher financing and thus a better ROI.
Common Distinctions Between Business Plan Services
Furthermore, a distinction is often made between the possible scope of business plan services. These range from "I already have a business plan and just want to show it to an expert and get feedback" to "I have absolutely no business plan and no financial plan, and also need further advice and support".
In concrete terms, possible cost differences can be categorized into the following 5 areas. In all these areas, it should be noted that the figures are highly generalized and there can always be special cases and exceptions. The following price ranges are costs from the middle price segment, which can give you a good indication of a good price-performance level from a reputable provider.
1. Business plan check
The business plan check is often the most cost-effective option at first glance. Your existing business plan is checked for coherence and optimization potential. Depending on the agreement, either only the listing of improvements or their implementation is included.
This means that the cost factor can generally be between €200 and €1,500. Some providers also offer a free preliminary check.
2. Have a partial business plan created
In the case of business plan sub-area services, 60-80% of your business plan should already be completed, so that missing sub-areas can be supplemented accordingly. In our experience, there is particularly high demand in the areas of market analysis, financial plan and financial calculation.
Existing realizations can have an influence on the cost factor if they are designed appropriately. It may also be necessary to completely revise the business plan in order to create a professionally convincing coherence between the new and existing key elements.
On average, the business plan creation service ranges from €600 to €2,200.
3. Coaching to enable you to create your own
Somewhat less common, but not inconceivable, is coaching to enable you to create your own business plan. Depending on previous experience and the number of participants, this service can take anything from a few hours to 2-3 day workshops. The business plan coaching costs can therefore vary greatly.
Coaching sessions are usually charged at hourly rates of between €100 and €150.
4. Complete business plan incl. financial plan
The complete business plan development is the most frequently booked service by our clients. Here we take on the complete development and coherent design of your business plan, financial planning and modelling and prepare our clients in the best possible way for discussions with investors / banks.
A clear advantage of the complete realization is the professionalism. Financiers such as banks, state institutions or investors pay attention to important core features of a business and financial plan, which are often not presented in sufficient detail if they are not prepared professionally.
A complete business plan costs between €2,800 and €8,000.
Extras: Pitch deck and preparation for pitching
Depending on the goal you are pursuing with your business plan, you can also benefit from additional elements - such as pitch decks and 1-2 compact coaching sessions for convincing pitches with your newly received documents.
These are not usually booked individually, but are defined as additional services in the complete business plan. For a good pitch deck and such pitch coaching, you can expect an additional investment of €2,000 to €4,000.
Next, let's take a look at a very important factor that can greatly reduce the cost of creating a business plan.
Funding Opportunities
Most people are only familiar with funding programs in relation to start-ups and their direct costs, as is the case with the well-known Gründungsbonus Berlin funding program, for example. However, not only start-ups are entitled to funding, and this funding does not necessarily have to relate to direct expenditure, but can also relate to consultancy services. Finally, we will show you our 3 most frequently and successfully used favorites.
The BAFA subsidy
The BAFA subsidy is a consultancy subsidy for all start-ups and existing companies throughout Germany. Consultancy agreements with a total value proposition of up to €4,000 are subsidized, with a location-dependent contribution of €800 to €2,000.
This means you save at least 50% of the consultancy fees.
AVGS - Vouchers for Start Up Coaching
The AVGS vouchers for start up coaching are placement vouchers from the Federal Employment Agency for people in permanent employment and, depending on the situation, people receiving unemployment benefits. The voucher covers all start up consultancy costs up to €6,200 - with the aim of drawing up a business plan and clarifying all aspects of the start-up, including financing and subsidies.
You have no deductible and after the founder coaching you have a solid foundation for your business success, a business plan, and you may even receive an additional start up grant - also a subsidy from the employment agency.
Regional support
The list of possible regional subsidies is almost endless. That's why we show you our favorites.
RKW Promotion Hessen
The RKW Hessen promotes qualified advice for start ups and small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). It has a wide variety of specific funding programs - depending on the applicant and the type of consultancy needed - and is subsidized with up to €6,000 depending on the specific consultancy service.
RKW’s own contribution amounts to 50% for most consultancy grants.
How Can a Business Plan Help Secure Funding or Investment for a Business?
A business plan helps secure funding by demonstrating a clear roadmap for business growth, outlining financial goals and projections, target market analysis, and risk management strategies. Potential investors are more likely to invest in a well-thought-out plan that shows potential for profitability and sustainability.
Save Costs with our Help
You now know the approximate price range of your investment in creating a business plan. In addition, I hope you have also realized the lucrative benefits of support programs for consultancy services - these are definitely something you should take advantage of.
We are happy to help you find the best support for your current situation and support you with the same business plan expertise that our clients use to succeed. For that, we would like to meet with you over a short phone call.
Are you ready?
Do you like what you are reading? Book a free introductory call with us.
