Master prompt
Business plan + scalability narrative — UK Innovator Founder
Draft an endorsing-body-grade business plan: market analysis, customer targets, financials, hiring plan, scalability against the 7 ILR criteria.
UKInvestor visaInnovator FounderBusiness planScalabilityEndorsementIF 18 criteria
You are drafting an endorsing-body-grade business plan for [CLIENT_NAME]'s Innovator Founder application via [ENDORSING_BODY]. The plan must map cleanly against Appendix Innovator Founder's three pillars (innovative, viable, scalable) AND signpost the path to meeting at least TWO of the seven IF 18 ILR-progress criteria by Year 3.
CLIENT SNAPSHOT
- Founder: [CLIENT_NAME]
- Company: [COMPANY_NAME]
- Sector: [SECTOR]
- Product: [PRODUCT_DESCRIPTION]
- Target customers: [TARGET_CUSTOMERS]
- Innovation angle: [UNIQUE_DIFFERENTIATION]
- Investment + use: [INVESTMENT_AND_USE]
- Year-3 ambition: [YEAR_3_AMBITION]
- Endorsing body: [ENDORSING_BODY]
§1 — STRUCTURE OF THE PLAN (30-45 PAGES)
Drafting target: 30-45 pages, single-spaced, 11pt sans-serif. Endorsing-body assessors read fast — clarity wins over length. Sections:
1. Executive summary (1 page)
2. Founder profile + team (2-3 pages)
3. Problem + opportunity (3-4 pages)
4. Product / service + technology (4-6 pages)
5. Market analysis (UK TAM / SAM / SOM + competitive landscape) (4-5 pages)
6. Go-to-market + customer acquisition (3-4 pages)
7. Business model + pricing + unit economics (2-3 pages)
8. Financial projections — 3 years (3-4 pages)
9. Use of investment funds (1-2 pages)
10. Hiring plan + scalability (2-3 pages)
11. Risk register + mitigations (2 pages)
12. Mapping to IF 18 ILR criteria (2 pages)
13. Founder commitment + UK ties (1 page)
14. Appendices — LOIs, pilot data, founder CV, references, financial-model assumptions
§2 — EXECUTIVE SUMMARY (1 PAGE)
Must answer in 5 paragraphs:
(a) What problem does [COMPANY_NAME] solve, for whom, in the UK
(b) How (use [PRODUCT_DESCRIPTION] + [UNIQUE_DIFFERENTIATION])
(c) Why now in the UK market
(d) Who is building it ([CLIENT_NAME] qualifications)
(e) Where it goes ([YEAR_3_AMBITION] + capital ask GBP [INVESTMENT_AND_USE])
Open with one paragraph the assessor could read aloud at a panel and feel they understood the case. No jargon-loaded openers.
§3 — FOUNDER + TEAM (2-3 PAGES)
For [CLIENT_NAME]:
- Educational background — UK-style achievements
- Career trajectory + 3-5 quantified accomplishments
- Domain expertise specific to [SECTOR]
- Reason for choosing UK over other markets (regulatory clarity, market depth, talent pool, language)
Co-founders / advisors (if any):
- Names, credentials, equity / advisory split, complementarity
Skills matrix:
- Technology, product, sales, operations, compliance — which is in-house, which is contractor, which is to-hire
If solo founder — address the "single point of failure" concern: how the first hires plug the gaps; advisors / mentors lined up.
§4 — PROBLEM + OPPORTUNITY (3-4 PAGES)
Establish the UK-specific problem:
- Quantify the pain (number of SMEs, GBP losses, processing-time waste, default rates — whichever is salient)
- Cite UK-specific data: FCA reports, Bank of England SME finance data, BVCA, ONS
- Show this is NOT a "build the Indian version in UK" — show the UK angle is genuine
Frame [PRODUCT_DESCRIPTION] as the obvious answer.
§5 — PRODUCT + TECHNOLOGY (4-6 PAGES)
(a) What it does — non-technical first, then technical
(b) How it does it — architecture diagram (text-described if no diagram tool)
(c) Key technical IP — algorithms, models, data pipelines, integrations
(d) Patents / patent applications / trademarks (status + jurisdiction)
(e) Current build state — MVP / live product / specific features shipped
(f) Roadmap — next 12 months, 12-24 months, 24-36 months
(g) Data + compliance — GDPR, ICO, FCA registration (if regulated), other UK regulatory touch-points
§6 — MARKET ANALYSIS (4-5 PAGES)
TAM (Total Addressable Market): UK + initial international expansion
SAM (Serviceable Addressable): segment [COMPANY_NAME] can realistically target with current product
SOM (Serviceable Obtainable): 3-year capture goal
For [TARGET_CUSTOMERS] — sizing logic + 5-10 specific named target accounts.
Competitive landscape:
- 5-8 named UK competitors with feature / pricing / positioning comparison
- [UNIQUE_DIFFERENTIATION] vs each
- Switching costs / barriers to entry
§7 — GO-TO-MARKET (3-4 PAGES)
- Customer acquisition channels: outbound, inbound, partnerships, events
- Sales cycle length expectations
- Pipeline build plan (Q1 / Q2 / Q3 / Q4 in Year 1)
- Customer success / retention model
If [TARGET_CUSTOMERS] indicates B2B with named first-wave — list 5-10 specific UK companies + outreach plan.
§8 — BUSINESS MODEL (2-3 PAGES)
- Revenue model: SaaS / per-transaction / hybrid / license
- Pricing tiers
- Unit economics: CAC, payback period, LTV/CAC, gross margin
- Pricing benchmarks vs UK competitors
§9 — FINANCIAL PROJECTIONS (3-4 PAGES)
- 3-year P&L
- Cash flow forecast (quarterly Year 1, half-yearly Years 2-3)
- Headcount projection
- Sensitivity analysis: what if customer acquisition is 50% of plan; what if churn is 2x plan
- Funding runway with [INVESTMENT_AND_USE] capital + planned Series A timing
Show the working transparently. Endorsing-body assessors read sceptically — better an honest 30% downside scenario than an aspirational base case that smells optimistic.
§10 — USE OF INVESTMENT (1-2 PAGES)
Map [INVESTMENT_AND_USE] to specific spend categories:
- Salaries (role-by-role, with start months)
- Cloud / infrastructure (vendor + monthly cost)
- Marketing / sales tools
- Legal + compliance
- Office / contractors
- Contingency reserve
§11 — HIRING PLAN + SCALABILITY (2-3 PAGES)
Year-by-year UK hiring:
- Year 1: Engineering 2; sales 1; ops 1 (total UK hires: 4)
- Year 2: Engineering 3; sales 2; success 1; finance 1
- Year 3: Engineering 3; sales 3; success 2; ops 2
For each role:
- Salary band
- UK location (preferred)
- Settled-worker recruitment (vs sponsored hires — if budget for Skilled Worker sponsorship, flag)
This section also shows the path to IF 18 criterion 7 (5 jobs at GBP 25k+ mean) or criterion 6 (10 full-time jobs).
§12 — MAPPING TO IF 18 ILR CRITERIA (2 PAGES — LOAD-BEARING)
Per IF 18.1, endorsing body re-confirms at ILR that the business has achieved AT LEAST TWO of the seven criteria:
(1) GBP 50k+ invested + spent on the business plan
(2) Business customers at least doubled within most recent 3y AND higher than mean of comparable UK businesses
(3) Significant R&D activity + UK IP protection applied for
(4) Annual gross revenue GBP 1m+
(5) Annual gross revenue GBP 500k+ AND at least GBP 100k from exporting overseas
(6) 10+ FT jobs for UK settled workers
(7) 5+ FT jobs for UK settled workers at mean GBP 25k+ annual salary
Pick the TWO most realistic for [COMPANY_NAME] given [SECTOR], [YEAR_3_AMBITION], and [INVESTMENT_AND_USE]. For each chosen criterion:
- Year-by-year target leading to Year 3 satisfaction
- Evidence the assessor will see: bank statements, customer contracts, payslips + RTI submissions, IP filings
- Risks + mitigation
This section is the load-bearing argument for why ILR will be granted — assessor will read it carefully.
§13 — RISK REGISTER (2 PAGES)
Top 5-7 risks with mitigation:
- Market risk
- Technical / build risk
- Regulatory risk (FCA / ICO / sector-specific)
- Founder / single-point-of-failure risk
- Funding gap risk (if Series A doesn't materialise)
- Currency / cost-base risk (INR-GBP swings if any costs in India)
- Competitive risk (well-funded entrant)
§14 — FOUNDER UK COMMITMENT (1 PAGE)
- Why UK specifically
- Personal commitment — relocation timeline, family relocation, UK base city
- Long-term plans (5+ years)
- Community / ecosystem engagement plans (founder networks, sector associations, mentoring)
§15 — APPENDICES
- Founder CV (2-3 pages)
- LOIs / signed pilot agreements from [TARGET_CUSTOMERS]
- Customer reference contacts
- Financial model assumptions sheet
- Patent / trademark documents
- Bank statement (redacted) showing GBP [INVESTMENT_AND_USE] mobilisable
- Indian-side compliance summary (FEMA / LRS path — reference uk-investor-source-of-funds-fema-lrs)
§16 — DRAFTING PRINCIPLES
- First person where appropriate ("I founded ...") but third-person for business sections ("[COMPANY_NAME] addresses ...").
- Specific over abstract — every claim quantified or sourced.
- UK spelling and references throughout (Companies House, HMRC, FCA, ICO).
- No jargon stacks; assessor reads 100+ plans per cycle.
- Each chapter ends with a 2-3-line "Why this matters for the endorsement decision" mini-summary.
§17 — REVIEW + ITERATION
- Draft v1 → internal review by founder
- v2 → review by 2 external founders / VC / lawyer
- v3 → submit to [ENDORSING_BODY]
- If pre-screen available (some bodies offer free / paid feedback before formal application), use it.
End with: "DRAFT business plan outline — for OISC-regulated adviser, [ENDORSING_BODY] pre-screen if available, and ideally a founder / VC unrelated reviewer. The plan is the LOAD-BEARING document for endorsement. Assessors read for clarity, specificity, and credibility — invest the time. Verify any UK-regulatory claims (FCA, ICO, sector regulators) with UK counsel before submission."Unlock the vault to see the full prompt