How to Write a Business Plan Using AI: A Guide for Australians

A business plan is one of those documents that sounds straightforward until you sit down to write it. What goes in the financial projections section? How do you describe your market without it sounding vague? What do banks actually want to see?

AI tools have made this significantly less painful. You can use ChatGPT, Claude, or a dedicated business planning tool to draft most sections of a plan in a fraction of the time it used to take. The key is knowing what to give the AI and how to use its output effectively.

When You Might Need a Business Plan in Australia

The most common reasons Australian business owners need a formal plan are applying for a business loan from a major bank like CommBank, Westpac, ANZ, or NAB, applying for a government grant through programs like the Business Growth Fund or Export Market Development Grants, pitching to investors, or bringing on a business partner. You might also want one simply to get clear on your direction before committing time and money to a new venture.

Different audiences need different things. A bank wants to see financial projections and evidence that you can repay the debt. A grant application wants to see community or economic benefit. An investor wants to see the market opportunity and your unfair advantage. Keep your specific audience in mind when you are working with AI on the document.

How to Use AI for a Business Plan

The most effective approach is to treat AI as a first draft engine, not a finished product generator. Start by giving the AI a thorough brief about your business. Include what you do, who your customers are, how you make money, what the competitive landscape looks like, and what you need the plan for. The more context you provide, the more relevant the output will be.

From there, ask the AI to draft each section individually rather than asking for the whole plan at once. Executive summary, company description, market analysis, products and services, marketing and sales strategy, and financial projections each benefit from focused attention. You review and edit each section before moving to the next.

The Sections AI Does Well

AI tools are particularly good at writing the company description, products and services section, and marketing strategy. These sections are largely about describing what your business does and how it reaches customers, and AI can produce a solid first draft that you refine with your specific knowledge.

The market analysis section is useful with AI if you give it specific data. Ask it to help you structure the analysis and write it up based on market research you provide. AI tools are not great at producing accurate statistics about the Australian market from their own knowledge, but they are excellent at helping you present statistics you have gathered from sources like the ABS or IBIS World reports.

The Sections That Need Human Input

Financial projections are where AI assistance is most limited. You need to build your own revenue forecasts, cost projections, and cash flow statements based on your actual knowledge of the business. AI can help you structure and format these, and can check that your logic is consistent, but the underlying numbers must come from you.

The same applies to anything involving your specific competitive advantage, your actual experience and credentials, and your personal financial situation if the bank is assessing your capacity to repay a loan.

Dedicated Business Plan Tools

Beyond general AI assistants, there are dedicated business planning tools with AI features built in. LivePlan is one of the most established, with guided prompts and financial modelling templates. Bizplan is another option with a visual interface. These tools are particularly useful if you want pre-built financial projection templates that link your assumptions to your outputs automatically.

For simple plans, a general AI assistant plus a word processor is usually enough. For complex plans with multiple revenue streams, scenario modelling, or investor-grade financial projections, a dedicated tool is worth the monthly cost.

Australian-Specific Considerations

If you are writing a plan for an Australian audience, make sure to include your ABN, business structure (sole trader, company, partnership, or trust), and GST registration status in the company overview section. Financial projections should be in AUD and should account for GST where relevant. If you are applying for a government grant, check the specific program requirements because many have mandatory sections and word limits that override general business plan conventions.