Top 7 free project plan templates for small businesses

Few business projects can succeed without a solid and well-communicated strategic plan, backed by clearly assigned objectives and effective project management.

Our experts recommend using a project plan template as a smart solution that can (almost) guarantee a good outcome. Some also come with built-in AI tools that can help to automate decisions and processes which will save you time and money when it comes to enacting your plan.

There’s no one-size-fits-all when planning a project. The right template will differ depending on your business ambitions, so it’s a good idea to shop around before you make your choice.

Luckily, the Startups team has done the groundwork for you. We’ve picked out seven user-friendly templates that will bring practical and profit-driven benefits to small business users. All of them are also free, so you won’t be risking capital in the current economic difficulties.

Below, we’ll go through their unique advantages and expert elements to explain which one is best suited to your organisational or campaign targets. We’ll also explain how to approach the planning stage, and what to include in every project plan template.

Want to know more about our recommended PM providers? Read our guide to the top small business project management systems. 

What is a project plan template?

Many SMEs rely on spreadsheets for project planning. There are even some decent templates for this available on Google Sheets – but they can also lack a lot of crucial functions and collaboration features.

Project management software provides the most effective templates for a variety of different working styles. Every plan comes pre-built, ensuring users avoid wasting time on fiddly admin and can get on with the job at hand; delivering the project.

Client-based small businesses will benefit most from a template. Each plan can be shared directly with stakeholders to show that you are working on-time and to budget – all of which will be displayed via a clear, aesthetically-pleasing pipeline.

That said, with a record number of sole proprietors found to be exclusively working from home, project plan templates are not just for big, game changing ideas. Even self-employed workers can use a project template to structure their day-to-day activities when not working a 9-5.

Best project plan templates to use

Below, we’ve gathered top project plan templates for SMEs from brands including ClickUp, monday.com, and Wrike.

All are either available as part of a free plan or a free trial. And all are designed to eradicate the common project issues that small businesses encounter including poor communication and time mismanagement.

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How to write a successful project plan (with examples)

Project plans are essential for keeping your work organised, on-time, and under-budget. Laying out all the necessary pieces in one place saves your team effort (and more than a few headaches) by creating a work plan that every stakeholder has their eyes on and feels accountable to.

Below, we’ll take you through the project plan process in five steps. To make things easier, we’ll use a hypothetical business example so you can not only see the theory, but the practice, behind building a killer project plan.

Step 1. Establish the project goal/s

The first step to building a project plan is to establish your desired outcome. That way, whatever hurdles and curveballs are thrown your way throughout the project, every team member will stay focused and motivated on the result they want to achieve. Make sure that all project goals are SMART:

• Specific: define success (instead of ‘increase sales’, state a % increase to aim for)
• Measurable: outline how you will measure success (ie. monthly or weekly reports)
• Achievable: make sure the goal is attainable, not overly-ambitious
• Realistic: make sure the goal is relevant to your objectives, industry, and skillset
• Time-bound: set a specific deadline for reaching the goal

SMART targets provide a useful guideline to lay out your goals in a clear and attainable format. It’s easy to get carried away when setting targets, but you want to make sure you are not setting yourself a goal that has 0% chance of every being reached.

Example: The Startups Inn wants to grow its market share. It sets the following SMART goal: “Within the next 5 months, The Startups Inn aims to increase its market share by 15% in the rural Essex area by acquiring a minimum of 150 new customers through targeted online and offline marketing campaigns.”

Step 2. Clarify resources

Once you have your SMART goals determined, it’s time to define who your collaborators are and what they will be responsible for throughout the project. This will let stakeholders know how you expect them to be involved, and will help you to work out other important calculations like timeline and budget (we’ll get to these later).

There are some systems you can use to help make this part of the planning process easier. Many businesses choose to download a free RACI chart. The RACI format categorises project members by their relationship to a task (whether they are Responsible, Accountable, Consulted, or Informed).

Example: The Startups Inn creates the below RACI list, outlining how its four team members and their roles will play into the overall objective of growing its customer base. Here’s a breakdown of what Joe’s role might look like:

• Joe Smith (Owner) is both Responsible and Accountable for the overall success of the project. He should be Consulted for strategic decisions and kept Informed about project and sales progress.

Step 3. Set your budget

Now that you know your business goal, and who your team will be, you can work out one of the most important factors in a project plan: budget.

It’s important to establishing your project budget during the early planning phases (and before the spending begins) so you don’t let your wallet run away from you. Knowing staffing costs and goals will let you know what resources you have available, ensuring that you stay within the initial financial scope of the project.

Example: The Startups Inn needs to set a budget for how it might achieve its business goal. It should consider:

• Online advertising
• Offline marketing
• Event costs
• Sales materials
• Staffing costs

Step 4. Set your project timeline

Break your project goal into smaller tasks and subtasks. Assign it a start date and end date based on when you want the goal to be achieved, and how long it will take each team member to enact each step.

Depending on the project, some teams will find this easier than others. Large-scale plans with a few unknown factors might be better built using the ClickUp Project Roadmap, instead of a full-blown project timeline. That way, you can clarify the order of operations of various tasks without having to stick to a strict deadline.

Example: The Startups Inn has set a timeframe of five months to achieve its goal of growing its market offering. Owner, Joe Smith might start by breaking this down into month-long periods:

• Month 1: Planning and strategy development
• Month 2: Marketing campaign execution
• Month 3: Event running
• Month 4: Scaling
• Month 5: Evaluation; the team assess the results of the campaigns and events, comparing against the initial target of 15% market share increase and 150 new customers

Step 5. Share the plan

Regardless of rank or level of involvement, it is essential that every project team member understands what’s happening, how the project is progressing, and what they need to do next.

Download any of the templates above and populate your plan with the above components (budget, goals, timeline, etc.). Then, send the finished work map to every colleague so they can flag any issues or concerns.

Design a communication plan

Poor communication is the best friend of a bad project manager. This is also a good time to establish how your team will stay in contact once the plan gets underway. Consider:

• How many project meetings will you have?
• How regularly will you meet?
• Who will take and share notes?
• What is the best tool to use to communicate with project team members?

This is where project management software comes most in handy. Choosing a tool that has a built-in team messaging tool, like ClickUp, will keep all communication in one place and dramatically reduce the risk of a misunderstanding throwing the entire plan off course.

How do I use a project plan template?

1. Download the template from the options above that best suits yours or your team’s working styles.
2. Populate the template with the key milestones you need to hit to deliver the project.
3. Plot these tasks alongside due dates to create an overall project timeline. Group the tasks into ‘phases’ if the project will longer than two weeks.
4. Share the template with relevant team members so they know what they are responsible for working on.

How we test project management software for small businesses

We tested 14 project management software to evaluate them in terms of functionality, usability, customer support, features, and more so we can make the most useful recommendations to small UK-based businesses.

Our rigorous testing process means these products have been scored and rated in five main categories of investigation and nine subcategories – in fact, we covered 51 areas of investigation in total. We then gave each category score a ‘relevance weighting' to ensure the product's final score perfectly reflects the needs of our Startups.co.uk readers.

Our main testing categories for project management software are:

Customer Score: external customer opinion; the feedback and ratings given by customers who have used a particular project management provider. Also, the market position and reputation a project management tool holds.

Features: the functionalities and capabilities offered by the project management solution, such as task management and team collaboration.

Customer Support: the assistance and resources provided by the project management solution provider to users, such as phone support and email or chat support.

Usability Testing: we get people just like you to test out the products to focus on evaluating the ease of use and user experience of the project management solution.

Cost Factors: the financial considerations associated with using a project management solution, including licensing fees, subscription plans, and storage and user limit.

The Startups product testing process