Service · Business plans and projections
Business plans for Portugal: for a grant, a bank or an investor
Many Portuguese funding programmes require a business plan, and no bank or investor moves without one. We build the plan with you: the story of the business, the investment, and financial projections for three to five years with assumptions that survive scrutiny.
The plan is written for its reader. A managing authority scores it against published criteria and expects its own tables, in Portuguese. A bank wants to see that the cash flow repays the debt. An investor wants the return. The numbers are the same, and the document is not.
Last reviewed on 19 September 2026. We never promise approvals.
Three uses, three versions
| Version | For whom | What it contains |
|---|---|---|
| Essential | You, deciding whether the investment pays for itself and when | The plan, base projections for three years and a viability analysis |
| For an application | A managing authority, in a call that requires a plan, such as productive investment or the young farmer measures | The plan and five year projections, aligned with the scoring criteria and with the tables the programme requires |
| For financing | A bank or an investor | The plan built around debt capacity, cash flow and return |
The fee depends on the version, on the complexity of the business and on the detail of the projections. You receive it in a written proposal before any work starts.
What is in the document
- Executive summary. The project and the opportunity, written for the person who decides in the first few minutes.
- The business. Activity, value proposition, target market, competition and positioning.
- Strategy and investment plan. The growth plan, the phases of the investment and where the money goes.
- Financial projections for three to five years. Forecast income statement, cash flow plan and financing needs.
- Viability and break-even. Profitability indicators, the break-even point and a sensitivity analysis on the assumptions that matter most.
- The narrative. The thread that ties strategy to numbers, in line with where the plan is going.
You receive a complete document, in PDF, ready to present, in English, in Portuguese or in both. A plan that goes into a Portuguese application has to be in Portuguese. A plan for your board or your bank at home can be in English.
Why the plan decides more than people expect
In a competitive call, the evaluators do not score how much you need the money. They score whether the project is sound: whether the market exists, whether the numbers hold together, whether the company can finance its own share. Weak or incoherent figures cost points, and points decide who is funded when the budget runs out.
A foreign investor has a particular problem here. The assumptions that look obvious at home, such as salaries, social charges, prices, seasonality and payment terms, are different in Portugal, and an evaluator or a bank officer spots imported numbers at once. Part of our work is replacing them with local ones.
How it works
- Guided collection. We take you through the information we need about the business and the investment, step by step and without jargon.
- Assumptions. We set the revenue, cost and investment assumptions with you, and we challenge the optimistic ones.
- Model and document. We build the projections and write the plan.
- Review. You read it, we adjust it, and you receive the final version.
What we need from you is the essentials: what you sell and at what prices, the main costs, the investment you plan and its timing, and the financial history if there is one.
What this service is not
- It is not the application. A plan for a call is one part of the file. The application itself follows our usual process.
- It is not legal, tax or accounting advice. We model the taxes and charges a business like yours pays in Portugal. For a ruling on your own case you need a certified accountant or a lawyer.
- It is not a guarantee. A good plan raises the odds of an approval or a loan. It does not decide them.
Frequently asked questions
Do I need a business plan to apply for a grant in Portugal?
For most investment grants, yes, in one form or another: the application asks for the project, the market, the investment and financial projections, and scores them. Some measures, such as the young farmer setting-up premium, are built around a business plan.
Can the plan be in English?
Yes, for your own use, for a foreign bank or for investors. A plan that goes into a Portuguese application, or to a Portuguese bank, has to be in Portuguese. We can deliver both from the same model.
I already have a plan from home. Can you adapt it?
Usually, and it saves time. We keep the business logic and rebuild the assumptions that change in Portugal: labour costs, social charges, taxes, prices, seasonality and the timing of grant refunds.
How long does it take?
It depends mostly on how fast the information arrives. Tell us the deadline you are working to, such as the closing date of a call, and we tell you whether it is realistic before you commit.
What does it cost?
It depends on the version and on the complexity of the business. We do not publish amounts on these pages: you receive the fee in a written proposal, before any work starts, and you are free to say no.
Need a plan that a Portuguese evaluator will believe?
Tell us about the business, the investment and who the plan is for. We reply within one working day.
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