Sole proprietorships tend to be closely held companies whose success and longevity depends on an owner-operator with sufficient skills and resources to keep the business going. A business plan for a sole proprietorship must proactively address the challenge of demonstrating that the owner is financially responsible, as well as sufficiently skilled, to ensure that the company will meet its goals. The process of creating an honest and realistic business plan that highlights your involvement in the company will demonstrate to investors that you are worthy of their money. It will also help you to lay out a useful map to follow as your company grows.

Write a company description that highlights your experience and skills. Provide information that will convince potential investors that you are the ideal person to be owning and operating this particular business. For example, if you are writing a business plan for a new restaurant and you have held chef positions at prestigious restaurants, include this information in your company description. Also provide information about qualities that make you qualified to own and operate a business, such as strong management, marketing or interpersonal skills. If you have built a reputation as an expert in your field, mention this, as well.

Provide detailed information about your personal finances in the financial section of your business plans. Use bank statements, as well as your personal bookkeeping records, to create a balance sheet listing all of the money and tangible assets you own and the money that you owe. Create a cash flow projection for your first three years in business. Incorporate all of the capital that you envision bringing to the business through personal equity, personal loans or outside investment opportunities. Include your personal living expenses in the expenditure section of the chart in order to show that you are thinking about how you will support yourself while your company is getting off the ground.

Create a marketing plan detailing how you will use your personal reputation and connections to promote your business. If possible, develop a strategy to establish yourself as an expert in your field. Sole proprietors are particularly likely to act as the faces of their companies, and your business plan is the ideal place to think through the opportunities and challenges that you will encounter in representing your business and building a name for yourself that will encourage potential customers to support your business. Include strategies, such as writing articles, maintaining a blog, or teaching classes in a relevant field.