Business plan for a grant – what should it contain? A complete guide for applicants

A business plan for a grant should above all contain: a description of the applicant and their experience, a detailed description of the planned undertaking, a market and competitor analysis, a marketing plan, a physical and financial schedule, financial forecasts for a period of at least two years and a justification of the eligibility of costs. The specific scope and level of detail depend on the grant programme, the institution providing support and the type of investment.

In practice, a well-prepared business plan is not a template document, but a coherent argument, which demonstrates the economic rationality of the project, its impact on the applicant's development and its consistency with the programme objectives.

In this article, we present the complete business plan structure most often required by intermediate bodies in Poland, discuss the most common mistakes and identify the elements that genuinely affect the assessment of a project.

Why the business plan is a key document in selected grant applications

The business plan is a substantive annex that has the greatest influence on the assessment of the application. Assessment panels, relying on the formal and substantive criteria approved by the managing authority, examine three fundamental areas in it:

• consistency of the project with the objectives of the programme and the specific call,
• feasibility – technical, organisational and financial – of the undertaking,
• durability of results, i.e. the ability to maintain the effects of the investment for the required period after its completion.

In most calls organised by the Polish Agency for Enterprise Development (PARP), Bank Gospodarstwa Krajowego (BGK), the National Centre for Research and Development (NCBR), the Agency for Restructuring and Modernisation of Agriculture (ARiMR) and regional institutions managing European Funds (FE) programmes, it is precisely the substantive assessment based on the business plan that determines the project's place on the ranking list.

Structure of a business plan for a grant – which sections are required

Although business plan forms differ between programmes, it is possible to identify a universal structure that serves as a reference point for most national and regional calls.

1. Information about the applicant

This section should present the basic identification data of the entity (company name, NIP, REGON, KRS or CEIDG, legal form, SME status), the ownership structure and a brief history of the business. In the case of natural persons planning to start a business (e.g. under the “Pierwszy biznes – Wsparcie w starcie” programme or with grants from district labour offices), their education, professional experience and competences relevant to the planned undertaking are described.

The assessment of this part involves verifying whether the applicant has the resources (staff, organisational, premises) to implement the project effectively.

2. Description of the undertaking and its objectives

This is the section in which you must precisely define:

• the subject of the investment (purchase of fixed assets, intangible assets, advisory services, R&D work, training activities, etc.),
• the project objectives expressed in a measurable way (e.g. an increase in revenue by a specified percentage, the introduction of a new product, a reduction in operating costs),
• the link between the project objectives and the objectives of the given operational programme or measure.

The objectives should be formulated in accordance with the SMART principle. A lack of measurable objectives is one of the most common reasons for a lower score.

3. Description of the product or service

Each product or service should be described separately, indicating:

• functionality and application,
• distinguishing features compared with the competition's offer,
• competitive advantages (price, technology, quality),
• regulatory requirements (certificates, licences, permits, CE marking, industry standards).

In the case of innovative projects, it is additionally necessary to demonstrate the level of innovation (process, product, organisational) together with a justification based on innovation opinions or market research.

4. Analysis of the market and the competitive environment

This is one of the most frequently underestimated sections. Assessment panels expect specific data rather than declarations:

• the size of the target market (TAM, SAM, SOM),
• a description of the target group (segmentation, customer profile, estimated number of potential customers together with the estimation methodology),
• an analysis of market trends (data from Statistics Poland (GUS), industry reports, studies by research centres),
• identification of the main competitors (number, location, scale of operations, pricing policy),
• barriers to entry, seasonality, risks and ways of minimising them.

In practice, a well-developed market analysis requires reference to at least three independent data sources.

5. Marketing plan

The marketing section should include a coherent strategy across four dimensions (product, price, distribution, promotion). You should describe:

• the pricing policy and its link to costs and competitors' prices,
• distribution channels (in-store sales, e-commerce, B2B, B2C, export),
• planned promotional activities together with their budget (online campaigns, content marketing, participation in trade fairs, PR activities),
• performance measures (KPIs) for assessing the implementation of the strategy.

6. Operational and organisational plan

This part describes:

• the location of the business and its technical facilities,
• operational processes (production, service delivery, logistics),
• the organisational structure and human resources (including planned employment, if it is a project indicator),
• the project implementation schedule broken down into tasks and milestones.

7. Physical and financial schedule

This is a key table that organises all the eligible expenditure of the project. It should contain:

• the name of the task and its description,
• the planned implementation date,
• the cost category in line with the catalogue of eligible costs in the given programme,
• the net, VAT and gross amounts and the amount of funding.

The schedule must be consistent with the description of the undertaking, the financial forecasts and the attached quotations or cost estimates.

8. Financial forecasts

The standard scope of financial forecasts covers at least two years from the end of project implementation, although some programmes (e.g. FENG, the credit instruments of BGK) require projections for five years. Programme details can be checked on the portal funduszeeuropejskie.gov.pl.

Required elements:

• profit and loss account,
• balance sheet (for commercial companies),
• cash flow statement,
• break-even analysis,
• financial ratios (liquidity, profitability, debt).

Each revenue and cost item should have a methodological justification based on an analysis of market prices, sales volume and the structure of fixed and variable costs.

9. Risk analysis

Assessment panels expect the identification of at least several categories of risk (market, financial, operational, technological, regulatory), an estimate of the probability of their occurrence and an indication of specific mitigating measures. General statements such as “the risk will be minimised” do not meet the assessment requirements.

10. Output and result indicators

The indicators must be consistent with the list approved for the given call. Their target values, measurement method, deadline for achievement and sources of verification (financial documents, personnel records, sales reports) must be specified precisely.

Eligible costs – how to describe them correctly in the business plan

The eligibility of costs is governed by:

• the Guidelines on the eligibility of expenditure for 2021-2027 issued by the Ministry of Development Funds and Regional Policy,
• the rules of the specific call,
• the detailed description of priorities (SZOP) of the given programme.

The business plan must demonstrate that each planned expenditure item is:

• necessary to implement the project,
• economically reasonable (confirmed by quotations or a market analysis),
• incurred within the eligibility period,
• properly documented.

Detailed catalogues of eligible expenditure for individual programmes are available in the call documentation published by PARP and other intermediate bodies. Current calls can be checked in our grant search engine.

The most common mistakes in business plans for grants

Our advisory practice shows that the most frequently recurring mistakes are:

• project objectives that do not match the programme objectives,
• no methodology for financial forecasts (revenue “plucked out of thin air”),
• omitting the competitor analysis or making it superficial,
• inconsistency between the description of the undertaking, the schedule and the budget,
• incorrectly classified costs (e.g. treating ineligible costs as eligible),
• no justification of the reasonableness of expenditure,
• inappropriate output and result indicators,
• omitting the risk analysis or making it formulaic,
• arithmetical errors in the financial forecasts,
• non-compliance with State aid or de minimis aid requirements.

Each of these mistakes may result in a lower score, rejection of the application or – in extreme cases – an obligation to repay the funding after the agreement has been signed.

Differences between business plans in individual grant programmes

The scope of the business plan varies depending on the source of financing:

• Grants from district labour offices (up to 6 times the average salary) require a simplified business plan covering a description of the business, an investment plan and financial forecasts.
• Regional European Funds programmes 2021-2027 (including European Funds for Mazovia, European Funds for Małopolska and European Funds for Silesia) require an extensive business plan with a market analysis and forecasts for at least two years.
• National programmes such as European Funds for a Modern Economy (FENG), managed by PARP and NCBR, require an advanced analysis of innovation and commercialisation.
• BGK credit instruments for technological innovation require an investment business plan together with an opinion on the innovativeness of the technology being implemented.
• Support for agriculture provided through ARiMR requires a simplified farm development plan or a business plan in line with the agency's template.
• The “Pierwszy biznes – Wsparcie w starcie” (First Business – Support at the Start) programme operated by BGK and financing partners requires a business plan containing a detailed description of the undertaking and forecasts of revenue and costs.

Each programme has its own business plan form template published in the call documentation. Attempting to make the document universal leads to formal errors.

How to prepare a business plan that will pass the substantive assessment

Experience in preparing grant applications points to several principles that increase the chance of obtaining a high substantive score:

• Start with a detailed analysis of the call rules, the project selection criteria and the business plan template published by the institution organising the call.
• Support every statement with figures and a source (industry report, Statistics Poland (GUS) data, market quotations).
• Maintain consistency between all sections – the description of the undertaking, the schedule, the budget and the forecasts must corroborate one another.
• Do not copy passages from online guides or other business plans – assessment panels recognise template wording.
• Before submitting the application, check the financial calculations for arithmetical errors and consistency with the descriptive assumptions.

Consult the project with an experienced adviser to avoid formal and substantive errors in the business plan.Contact an expert

For the full scope of support, see grant advisory services.