How to Design a Cover Page for Your Business Plan

No one has the energy to design a cover page after spending hours perfecting their business plan.

I know, I didn’t. I was simply tempted to slap on a company logo, scribble “Business Plan,” and call it a day.

But think about it—would you be happy with the first impression that my business plan cover would’ve created?

No, right? A dull or careless cover page can turn readers off before they even get to the good stuff.

Why risk that when creating a business plan cover page is easy? So much, so that it might take no more than 10 minutes to create one.

Let’s see how with this blog post.

Essential elements of a business plan cover page

So what exactly should your cover page contain when you present your business plan to the potential investors?

Well, here’s a checklist of important aspects that will help you convey your brand’s personality through a cover page:

1. Document title

The cover page of your document should clearly describe what it is. You can keep the title as simple as “business plan” or something more specific like,

• Growth business plan
• Expansion business plan
• 5 years business plan
• Financial plan
• Marketing plan

This title is generally placed in the center below your business name. However, many templates place document titles toward the top left corner of your cover page.

Either way, make sure that the title is clear, concise, and readable. Sorry but, fancy fonts that would want the readers to rub their eyeballs are a big no.

Our pick:  Times New Roman, Garamond, Arial, or Montserrat.

2. Company logo

A picture is worth a thousand words, and this holds true even for professional documents like business plans.

On the top of your cover page goes a high-resolution company logo. This logo will apparently be the first thing to capture your readers’ attention. So make sure, you create a logo design that’s worth remembering.

Here’s how:

• The company logo should be 300 DPI (dots per inch) or higher in resolution.
• You want the logo to be prominent but not overwhelming. Aim for a balanced size—neither too large nor too small.
• Ensure that the logo has the same color scheme as seen across your marketing material
• Leave enough white space around the logo to avoid clutter.

3. Business name

Just below your logo goes your business name. However, leave some lines in between to ensure both of these elements (the logo and company name) get to make an individual impression.

Since the business or company name is the most important element of your cover page, it has to be bold and larger than other elements. Although, don’t choose a ridiculously large font. Somewhere between 36-50 pts is a sweet spot.

Here’s a quick checklist before we move to the next element:

• Choose a bold font for your business name
• Choose a simple font and use it consistently for other elements
• Keep it black or complement it with your brand’s color scheme
• Don’t make a spelling error writing your own company’s name (obvious but still a rooky mistake)

4. Business tagline

Do you have a stellar tagline like that of Nike’s—just do it, or KFC’s—its finger lickin good?

These iconic taglines managed to stay with the crowd and that’s the power of having a memorable tagline.

If you have a short, catchy marketing slogan that summarizes the company’s purpose or mission, place it below the company’s name or the logo on your cover page.

This will add more context to your business plan’s cover page and make it memorable.

5. Address and contact information

Now add a couple of personal and contact information so that the interested parties can get in touch with you after reading the plan.

This key information goes towards the bottom of your page. Preferably on the left.

Here, you include the,

• Name and credentials of business owners/ collaborators
• Phone number
• Email
• Address (if your business has a physical address)
• Website

Now remember to keep the fonts small and simple but don’t compromise on readability. Also, use the same font size for all this personal information.

6. Plan completion date

Your readers aren’t expecting to read the plan prepared years ago. They want assurance that the plan, especially financial projections, has been updated quite recently.

Mention your business plan completion date just below the document title. Format it in a way that’s preferable to your readers.

For instance,

• 12th November, 2024
• 11/12/2024

7. Confidentiality statement

Business plans contain confidential information about intellectual properties, operations, finances, and marketing strategies. So, if you want to retain the integrity of your document, simply add a confidential statement on your cover page.

This will ensure that the readers don’t share your business details with someone else.

Besides, this is an effective way to protect your business plan legally, if things were to go averse.

Here’s a sample confidentiality statement you can add:

As for the position, place the confidentiality statement at the bottom of your cover page in a slightly smaller font. There’s no need to overemphasize this information.

And, that’s pretty much all the key information your business plan cover page should include. You may eliminate certain information such as confidentiality statements, taglines, and personal information depending on what fits your needs the best and expresses the right emotions.

Best practices for creating a business plan cover page

Your business plan’s cover page is the first contact between your brand and the reader, giving them an immediate sense of who you are and what you represent. It has a strong visual identity that will leave a lasting impression on your readers.

But how?

Well, here’s a checklist you can use before sending your business plan to potential investors:

• Format it clean: Maintain consistent formatting throughout the cover page in terms of font, colors, alignment, and spacing
• Simple cover page design: Focus on minimalist clean design and don’t overdo colors and layout
• Convey brand value with non-visual elements: Incorporate your brand colors subtly in fonts, borders, and layout to bring alignment with the logo
• Readability for the win: Focus on clean and readable fonts and adjust the sizing according to importance
• Proofread thoroughly: Double-check for spelling and grammatical errors by running it through a grammar checker
• Review on different screens: Make sure that the cover page looks the same across all screens and prints

Now that you know of tips, tricks, and basics—let’s check a few practical examples.

Business plan cover page examples

Now, you can hone your artistic skills and design a cover page from scratch. However, if you’re artistically challenged like me, you can refer to these pre-designed templates to get inspired to design your own.

These templates would give you a professional-looking document while saving you a ton of time.

Conclusion

By now, you have a fair understanding of how your business plan’s cover page should be. So get the resources and put together a professional cover page that reflects your brand identity.

However, don’t spend longer than necessary perfecting this cover page. The contents of your business plan still hold greater importance and that’s something where your readers will spend most of their time.

Don’t worry, if you don’t have the first draft of your business plan ready yet. Bizplanr AI can help. Simply answer the basic business questions about product, market, and operations and this tool will develop a contextually rich plan for you in about 10 minutes.

Besides, it creates the cover page for you without requiring a single design input from you.

So why wait? Get started and create a fully detailed plan along with the cover letter, right away.