How to Write a Business Plan That Will Actually Get You Funding in Ireland

In my years as an accredited advisor with Louth Local Enterprise Office and InterTradeIreland, I have reviewed more business plans than I can count. Some of them were excellent. Many of them were not. And the difference between a plan that secures funding and one that doesn’t is rarely the quality of the underlying business idea — it is the quality of the plan itself.

Funders — whether they are a LEO grant officer, an Enterprise Ireland investment manager, or a bank manager — have specific questions they need answered. A business plan that answers those questions clearly and credibly gets funded. One that doesn’t, regardless of how exciting the opportunity is, typically does not.

This article covers what a fundable Irish business plan contains, how to structure it, and the specific things that experienced reviewers look for — and the things that raise red flags. If you are still at the earliest stages, our complete guide to starting a business in Ireland covers the full process from registration to your first tax return.

What Funders Are Actually Assessing

Before getting into structure, it is worth being clear about what any funder is fundamentally trying to assess:

Is there a real market opportunity? Is this team capable of executing on it? Are the financial projections credible? What is the risk, and is it adequately addressed? How will the funder’s money be used, and what return or outcome does it produce?

Every section of a business plan should, directly or indirectly, answer one of these questions. Sections that do not address any of these questions are filler — and experienced reviewers recognise filler immediately.

The Structure of a Fundable Business Plan

Executive Summary

The executive summary is the most important section of the plan — not because it is read last, but because it is read first and determines whether the reviewer continues. It should be one to two pages and should cover:

The business and what it does, in one clear paragraph. The market opportunity and why now. The ask — how much funding, for what purpose. The financial headline — projected revenue, projected profitability, and timeline to break-even. Why this team is the right team.

Write the executive summary last. It is a distillation of everything in the plan, and you cannot distil something you haven’t yet written.

The Business and Product/Service

A clear description of what the business does, what problem it solves, and how it solves it better than the existing alternatives. Avoid jargon. A funder should be able to understand your business model in plain language after reading this section.

Include a description of your unique selling proposition — what makes your offering different from what is already available. “Better service” and “competitive pricing” are not USPs. They are aspirations. A USP is something specific and demonstrable.

Market Analysis

This is the section where many plans fall down. Founders often present market size figures from industry reports without demonstrating that they have done meaningful primary research. Funders want to see that you understand your specific market — not the global market, but the segment you are actually targeting.

Your market analysis should cover: the size and characteristics of your target customer segment, evidence of demand (customer interviews, pilot sales, letters of intent), an honest assessment of competition, and your realistic addressable market given your current resources.

For a Dundalk or County Louth business, the market analysis should reflect the specific geographic and demographic characteristics of your target market. Citing national statistics for a local service business is not compelling.

The Management Team

Funders back people as much as ideas. The team section should clearly set out who is running the business, what their relevant experience is, and why they are the right people to execute this plan.

Be specific about experience. “Twenty years in the construction industry” is less compelling than “twenty years in commercial construction, including five years as contracts manager on projects exceeding €10 million, with specific expertise in public procurement.”

Identify any gaps in the team and explain how they will be addressed — through hiring, advisory relationships, or support from organisations like LEO or Enterprise Ireland. Acknowledging gaps demonstrates self-awareness; pretending they don’t exist raises questions about judgment.

Operations

How will the business actually work, day to day? For a manufacturing business, this covers production capacity, supply chain, and quality control. For a service business, it covers how services are delivered, staffed, and quality-assured. For a technology business, it covers development and deployment.

This section should give the funder confidence that you have thought through the operational requirements of the business, not just the front-end customer experience.

Financial Projections

The financial section is where many otherwise strong plans lose credibility. The most common failure modes are:

Projections that are not grounded in assumptions. Every line in the financial projections should be traceable to an explicit assumption — a market penetration rate, a conversion rate, an average order value, a cost per unit. If you cannot explain where your Year 2 revenue number comes from in thirty seconds, it is not credible.

Revenue that is linear when it should be lumpy. Most businesses do not grow in a smooth upward line. Revenue typically reflects the timing of sales cycles, seasonality, and the acquisition of specific customers. A projection that shows revenue growing 5% every single month looks modelled, not reasoned.

Margins that are too optimistic. Funders have reviewed hundreds of plans. They know what gross margins look like for businesses in your sector. A gross margin significantly above industry norms needs to be explained and justified, not just assumed.

No sensitivity analysis. What happens to the business if revenue is 20% below plan in year one? Do you have enough cash? Can you survive? A plan that shows this analysis demonstrates that you have genuinely stress-tested the model.

For LEO and Enterprise Ireland applications specifically, the financial projections must include: a Profit and Loss projection (monthly for year 1, quarterly for years 2-3), a Balance Sheet projection, and a Cash Flow projection. The cash flow is the most critical — it shows whether the business will run out of money before it reaches profitability.

Funding Requirement and Use of Funds

Funders want to know exactly how much money you are asking for and exactly how it will be used. A table breaking down the use of funds — equipment €25,000, working capital €15,000, marketing €10,000 — is more credible than a narrative description.

Show that your own money is in the deal. Funders — especially grant agencies — want to see that the founder is also taking financial risk. Match funding requirements (typically 50% own funds to 50% grant) are standard in LEO grants. For a full breakdown of what grant programmes are available locally, see our guide to grants available for new businesses in County Louth.

Risk Analysis

Identify the main risks to the business and explain how you will manage them. Not every risk can be mitigated, and acknowledging risk is not a weakness — pretending it doesn’t exist is. Funders know every business has risks. They want to see that you do too.

What Raises Red Flags

In reviewing business plans, the following consistently reduce confidence:

Revenue projections that show the business capturing an unrealistic share of a large market (“we only need 1% of the market”). Vague or unsubstantiated competitive advantage claims. Financial projections with no clear links to assumptions. A management team with no relevant experience for the specific business. A plan clearly written using generic AI-generated text with no specific knowledge of the Irish market, the local competitive landscape, or the specific funder’s requirements.

That last point is worth dwelling on. Business plans submitted to LEO, EI, and Irish banks are reviewed by people who know the Irish market well. A plan that references US market conditions, uses American terminology, or demonstrates no knowledge of the specific supports, regulations, or competitive dynamics of the Irish market will not be taken seriously.

Your business plan should be specific, honest, Irish-centric, and grounded in evidence. It should answer the funder’s questions before they are asked.

If you need help developing the financial projections or reviewing a draft plan before submission, that is work we do at Malone & Co. You can find more practical guidance across our business startup guides.