The business idea is in place, and sooner or later someone says: «You need a business plan for that.» It may be the bank, a funding body or the start-up service. Before the writing starts, two questions are worth a look: what is a business plan actually for, and who wants to see it?
The sources are the start-up pages of the Austrian Economic Chamber (WKO), the business service portal USP, the public employment service AMS, Austria Wirtschaftsservice (aws) and the business plan initiative i2b. Templates and the chapter-by-chapter structure are covered in our separate article on the WKO business plan template.
Key points at a glance:
- A business plan is a written business concept that tests an idea for feasibility, profitability and customer benefit. First and foremost it is a planning tool for you.
- The official start-up pages name no legal duty: it is not part of registering a trade. Banks, funding bodies and investors do, however, ask for one as a rule.
- For the aws Preseed and Seedfinancing programmes in the Innovative Solutions line, a business plan and a pitch deck are mandatory documents; according to the aws, the current funding period is scheduled to end on 31 December 2026.
- In the AMS start-up programme, a business concept and a financial plan are drawn up with a business consultancy whose costs the AMS covers.
- The main part stays within 20 to 30 pages, with supporting documents in the annexes. When the underlying assumptions shift, the plan gets a new version.
What is a business plan and what is it for?
According to the WKO, the business plan, also called a Geschäftsplan, is a written business concept. It contains the steps for putting a business idea into practice and tests it for feasibility, profitability and customer benefit. Visions, assumptions, market assessments and forecasts are set out in it from a business point of view. The first business plans were written in the USA as a means of raising capital from banks, private individuals and venture capital firms.
In the everyday reality of a start-up, the plan is above all a test. Writing it down shows whether the idea is really mature, what information is still missing and what the business could look like in practice. That is why it pays to write it not only for the bank, a funding body or a competition, but for yourself.
A planning and control tool
For the founder, the business plan is first a planning tool that can greatly reduce business risk. It does not have to set out every step in detail but serves as a guide: the key conditions are thought through and open questions are listed. In existing businesses, a business plan sets the course and becomes a steering tool. Later it serves as a control tool, because it allows a close check of which steps were actually carried out. In the end, though, the market decides what an idea is worth.
What goes into it: a short overview
The outline is largely standard: executive summary, product or service, company and management, sector, market and competition, marketing and sales, profit and financial planning, plus milestones and an annex. The executive summary comes first but is written last. Financial planning is central and also covers the cost of living as the owner’s salary. Our article on the WKO business plan template shows what the chapters look like in detail.
Is a business plan mandatory?
The official start-up pages name no general legal duty. Anyone who wants to run a trade in Austria needs a trade licence and registers the trade with the trade authority. The USP start-up roadmap does not list a business plan for this, and many founders still start without a business concept.
Things change once outside money is involved. For banks, private investors and venture capital firms, the business plan is now a prerequisite, according to the USP, and for funding it is essential. The same goes for taking over an existing business, where the capital requirement also has to be worked out precisely. Who wants to see the plan and when:
| Who | Occasion | What matters |
|---|---|---|
| Bank | Loan | complete documents, truthful figures, collateral |
| Funding body | Funding application | apply before the project starts; funding covers only part |
| aws Preseed and Seedfinancing (Innovative Solutions) | Grant for innovative, impact-oriented start-ups | business plan of 25 pages, with no more than 5 pages either way, plus a pitch deck |
| AMS | Start-up programme | business concept and financial plan with a consultancy |
| Investors | Equity capital | customer benefit, growth prospects and management |
| Trade authority | Trade registration | not named in the USP start-up roadmap |
Seven questions before writing
The USP lists seven «questions for the business plan» worth settling before the first chapter:
A business plan for the bank
For the bank, the business plan is the written basis of the loan meeting. When applying for debt capital, the WKO advises relying on full written documents. They keep the presentation on track and make the concept come across as well thought through. Banks and funding bodies also look at personal qualifications and knowledge of the market and competition. These points help for the first meeting:
One thing the plan does not replace: collateral. According to the WKO, anyone who wants a loan has to offer the bank collateral. If there is not enough, public guarantors such as the aws or the regional credit guarantee companies are an option.
Business plans and funding
In Austria, funding is granted by the federal government, the federal states, the municipalities, the EU and the economic chambers; EU funding is also usually channelled through Austrian funding bodies. Funding comes, for example, as grants for investments, low-interest loans, liability and guarantee cover, equity, reductions in levies and fees, or consultancy grants.
For the business plan, timing matters, because funding can usually only be granted before a project starts. According to the WKO, the application has to be made in time, that is, before the first legally binding order of equipment or machinery, before delivery, before construction starts or before any other commitment that makes the investment irreversible; the earliest of these dates counts. Ideally the plan is ready before the first contracts are signed. Funding then covers only part of the capital requirement, and the financial plan sets out other sources for the rest.
aws Preseed and Seedfinancing
The aws Preseed and Seedfinancing programmes set clear requirements in their Innovative Solutions line; Deep Tech has a separate line. Preseed funds a first «proof of concept» in the pre-start-up and early start-up phase. Among the mandatory documents are a business plan of 25 pages with no more than 5 pages either way, a structured pitch deck following the template, integrated planning of work packages and costs, and the CVs of the project team; the same list applies to Seedfinancing. According to the aws, the current funding period is scheduled to end on 31 December 2026. Anyone applying later checks the requirements of the period then in force.
The AMS start-up programme
Anyone who is unemployed and wants to become self-employed can take part in the AMS start-up programme (Unternehmensgründungsprogramm). The requirements are being unemployed at the start of the preparation phase, a specific business idea and the professional qualification for the start-up. The AMS covers the costs of a business consultancy and necessary training and secures a living for the duration of the programme, provided all requirements are met. It normally lasts six months, and the requirements and amount of funding are not the same in every region. The programme runs in four phases:
The AMS checks whether the business idea is promising and whether the personal requirements are met.
The business idea is worked out with a business consultancy. Where necessary, the AMS also funds training.
The business is founded.
A business consultancy supports the business, reviews it and makes suggestions for improvement.
The AMS federal guideline does not use the word business plan. In the preparation phase, the consultancy helps produce a business concept and a financial plan that are meant to be ready for implementation and viable. The consultancy covers market, competitor and location analysis as well as the legal and organisational form, among other things, and consultancies are to work with potential financiers such as banks, the aws, the federal states and municipalities. The WKO describes a business plan as a written business concept, so the terms are close, but the guideline does not treat them as the same.
In short: The official start-up pages name no general legal duty to have a business plan. According to the WKO and the USP, anyone who wants a loan, funding or equity capital does, however, need one as a rule, and the aws programmes and the AMS have their own requirements.
A business plan for investors and the pitch deck
The business plan is the decisive tool investors use to assess a venture. Investment firms usually focus on a narrow circle of young companies with innovative ideas, above-average growth and earnings prospects and a correspondingly large financing volume. Private venture capital is therefore mainly an option for ventures with high growth potential. At the first check, the business plan is presented and examined, and according to a 2024 WKO figure about 20% of applications pass this stage. A clearly tangible customer benefit and the management are decisive.
The business plan initiative i2b leaves it to founders whether to write the plan as a text document or as presentation slides, that is, as a pitch deck. For Preseed and Seedfinancing (Innovative Solutions), by contrast, the aws asks for both separately: a business plan and a structured pitch deck following its template. i2b offers an aws pitch deck template and an idea canvas as downloads for this.
How detailed and how up to date?
How detailed a business plan needs to be depends on the reader: a bank looks at it differently from a funding body or an investor, and that sets the focus. As a guide, the plan itself runs to no more than 20 to 30 A4 pages; tables, CVs, technical descriptions and contracts go into a separate annex. For aws Preseed and Seedfinancing (Innovative Solutions) it is 25 pages with no more than 5 pages either way. According to the WKO, the plan should also be understandable for readers without a technical background.
A business plan is rarely finished. «A business plan is alive», the WKO says: new core assumptions or changed parameters are the cue for a new version, and there is no fixed rhythm. Revising is easier with chapters numbered throughout and cross-references noted while writing. A financial planning tool such as Plan4You runs scenarios for changed conditions.
Typical mistakes
WKO and i2b experts keep coming across the same points in business plans:
A plan that addresses risks openly is more credible. At the draft stage, critical feedback from people you trust is worth asking for.
Writing the business plan yourself or getting help?
The WKO recommends writing the business plan yourself where possible. Business consultants can bring it into a form that suits the market and guide the process. In the financing meeting, though, the bank or investor puts the questions to the founder, not to the consultant. Business plan advice therefore does not replace understanding the figures yourself.
Free support is available in several places. The i2b business plan initiative of the Economic Chamber, Erste Bank and the savings banks offers templates and tools, and its experts assess the finished plan free of charge. Before starting a business, a meeting with the WKO start-up service is advisable, and in the start-up programme the AMS bears the cost of the business consultancy.
And artificial intelligence? In its guide to AI for starting a business, the WKO notes that such tools provide general information but no individual assessment of a personal situation. Questions about legal form, taxes, funding or social security should go to experts. AI can help with a first draft; someone who knows the venture still has to check the figures, assumptions and sources.
After the business plan: the Vivid business account
Once the plan is in place and it is time to put it into practice, business payments ideally run through a separate account. In Austria, sole traders (Einzelunternehmer), new self-employed persons (Neue Selbständige) and any GmbH, AG or cooperative listed in the commercial register can open a Vivid business account. For everyday business after the start, that means:
Even on plans without a monthly base fee, individual services can incur fees. These include additional cards, cash withdrawals above certain allowances or premium features from higher plans.
Vivid in brief: Vivid’s online business account is made for the stage after the business plan, for sole traders and GmbHs in Austria alike. Invoices are created right in the account on every plan.
Ready for the first payments
With the Vivid business account, your business has its own account from the first order. You open it online.
Frequently asked questions
Is a business plan mandatory?
The official start-up pages name no legal duty, and it is not part of registering a trade. Banks, funding bodies and investors do, however, ask for one as a rule.
Who asks for a business plan?
Above all, banks for a loan, funding bodies for a funding application, and investors. For the aws Preseed and Seedfinancing programmes (Innovative Solutions line) it is a mandatory document, together with a pitch deck.
Does the AMS require a business plan?
In its start-up programme, the AMS speaks of a business concept and a financial plan. Both are drawn up in the preparation phase with a business consultancy whose costs the AMS covers.
What is the difference between a business plan and a pitch deck?
A pitch deck is a presentation in slides. In principle, the business plan can be written as text or as slides. For Preseed and Seedfinancing (Innovative Solutions), the aws asks for both as separate documents.
How often should a business plan be revised?
Whenever key assumptions or parameters change. There is no fixed rhythm, because the business plan is a living document.
Can AI write a business plan?
AI provides general information but no individual assessment of a specific situation. Questions about legal form, taxes and funding belong with experts, and someone who knows the venture has to check the figures.
This article is for general information and does not replace business, tax or financing advice. The information is based on the pages of the Austrian Economic Chamber, the business service portal, the AMS, Austria Wirtschaftsservice and the business plan initiative i2b; funding programmes and their conditions change. Payment services are provided by Vivid Money S.A., 21 rue Glesener, Luxembourg, L-1631, Luxembourg, an Electronic Money Institution authorized and regulated by the Commission de Surveillance du Secteur Financier, Luxembourg, under the register number W00000015.
