# [Firm name] business plan

*Prop firm business plan template, version 12 October 2026, from PipValley (https://pipvalley.com/start-a-prop-firm/business-plan). Free to use, edit and share inside your team.*

> **How to use this template.** Replace every `[bracketed prompt]` and every `____` blank. Delete the guidance lines in *italics* when you are done. Pair it with the financial model (`prop-firm-financial-model.csv`, same page): the numbers in section 13 should come from that file.
>
> **Important.** This template is not legal, tax or financial advice, and it is not an income forecast. Evaluation ("challenge") accounts are simulated. Every number you write should be either a published figure with its source and date, a written vendor quote, or a clearly labelled assumption. Have a qualified lawyer and accountant in your jurisdiction review the finished plan before you raise money or launch.

| Field | Entry |
|---|---|
| Firm name | ____ |
| Legal entity and registration number | ____ |
| Jurisdiction | ____ |
| Prepared by | ____ |
| Date | ____ |
| Version | ____ |
| Planned launch date | ____ |
| Funding sought (if any) | ____ |

---

## 1. Executive summary

*Write this last. One page. A reader should understand the business, the risk and the ask without reading further.*

- **What we sell:** [simulated evaluations for which market: forex/CFD, futures, crypto, stocks/options]
- **Who buys:** [trader profile, experience level, regions served]
- **Why us:** [the one or two reasons a trader picks us over established firms]
- **How we launch:** [capital-backed white label / licensed turnkey / own stack / partner], with [vendor names]
- **Who pays traders who pass:** [us, from a reserve / the provider, under its contract / a partner firm]
- **Three numbers:**
  - Average price paid per challenge: $____ (after discounts)
  - Expected payout ratio (payouts ÷ fee revenue): ____% (stress case: ____%)
  - Payout reserve held before the first payout cycle: $____
- **Launch budget:** $____ ; **monthly fixed costs:** $____ ; **break-even:** ____ challenges a month
- **The ask:** [amount, from whom, on what terms, and what it pays for]

---

## 2. Founders and team

| Role | Name | Relevant experience | Time commitment | Gaps to fill |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| CEO / founder | ____ | ____ | ____ | ____ |
| Risk and payouts | ____ | ____ | ____ | ____ |
| Payments operations | ____ | ____ | ____ | ____ |
| Support lead | ____ | ____ | ____ | ____ |
| Marketing / community | ____ | ____ | ____ | ____ |
| Developer / integrations | ____ | ____ | ____ | ____ |

**Advisers**
- Lawyer (jurisdiction ____): ____
- Accountant / tax adviser: ____
- Other: ____

*Prompt: who approves a payout? Who can change a rule? Name the person, not the department.*

---

## 3. Market and positioning

**3.1 Market choice.** We will offer [market] because [reason]. We will not offer [markets] at launch because [reason].

**3.2 Target trader.** [Experience, capital, platforms they already use, where they spend time online, what they complain about at other firms.]

**3.3 Countries served and restricted.**
- Served: ____
- Restricted (sanctions, regulator statements, processor rules, our own risk view): ____
- Who decided, and on what advice: ____

**3.4 Competitors.** List 5–10 firms your traders compare you with.

| Competitor | Price for the account size we will sell most | Key rules | Payout terms | Platform | What they do better | What we will do better |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ____ | ____ | ____ | ____ | ____ | ____ | ____ |

**3.5 Positioning statement.** For [trader] who [need], [firm name] is the [category] that [difference], unlike [alternative].

*Avoid income claims. "Fast payouts" or "generous splits" must match your written terms exactly.*

---

## 4. Business model

**4.1 How revenue is earned.**
- Evaluation fees: [one-step / two-step / instant / monthly subscription]
- Resets and retries: [yes/no, price]
- Add-ons: [higher split, faster payouts, removed time limits, other]
- Activation or monthly fees: [yes/no]
- Other: [education, broker referral, competitions]

**4.2 How trading is run.** [Fully simulated evaluation and funded stages / simulated evaluation then live funded accounts for some traders / other.] Platform environment: ____.

**4.3 Who pays traders.**
- [ ] We pay from our own reserve (licensed or own stack).
- [ ] A capital-backed provider pays under its contract; our share is ____ of [gross / net], with these fees: ____ and these holdbacks: ____.
- [ ] A partner firm pays; we earn [commission / revenue share] of ____.

**4.4 The payout ratio.** We define it as total payouts ÷ total fee revenue in the same period. Target range: ____% to ____%. We will review it [weekly], by account size.

---

## 5. Products, pricing and rules

**5.1 Product table.**

| Account size | List price | Steps | Profit target(s) | Daily loss limit | Max loss / drawdown type | Min trading days | Profit split | First payout timing | Payout cap |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ____ | $____ | ____ | ____ | ____ | ____ | ____ | ____% | ____ | $____ |
| ____ | $____ | ____ | ____ | ____ | ____ | ____ | ____% | ____ | $____ |
| ____ | $____ | ____ | ____ | ____ | ____ | ____ | ____% | ____ | $____ |

**5.2 Other rules.** News trading: ____. Weekend holding: ____. Expert advisers / bots: ____. Copy trading: ____. Consistency rule: ____. Multiple accounts: ____. Scaling plan: ____.

**5.3 Payout policy.** Schedule: ____. Methods: ____. KYC required at: ____. Review steps before approval: ____. Grounds for denial (as written in the terms): ____.

**5.4 Discounts and affiliates.** Typical code: ____%. Affiliate commission: ____% of price paid. Who approves affiliate content: ____.

*Prompt: publish these rules before purchase, identically on the pricing table, rules page and FAQ. Never change them retroactively.*

---

## 6. Technology route

**6.1 Route chosen:** [capital-backed white label / licensed white label or turnkey / own stack / partner]. Why: ____.

**6.2 Components.**

| Component | Vendor | Published price or written quote | Date checked | Contract term | Exit / data export terms |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Trading platform | ____ | ____ | ____ | ____ | ____ |
| CRM and challenge engine | ____ | ____ | ____ | ____ | ____ |
| Risk engine | ____ | ____ | ____ | ____ | ____ |
| Checkout / payments | ____ | ____ | ____ | ____ | ____ |
| KYC | ____ | ____ | ____ | ____ | ____ |
| Payout rail | ____ | ____ | ____ | ____ | ____ |
| Affiliate tracking | ____ | ____ | ____ | ____ | ____ |
| Support / help centre | ____ | ____ | ____ | ____ | ____ |
| Website | ____ | ____ | ____ | ____ | ____ |

**6.3 Platform risk.** If our main platform or provider withdrew service, we would: ____. Time to switch: ____. Cost to switch: ____.

---

## 7. Entity, jurisdiction and licensing

- Company form and place: ____ ; formation cost: ____ ; annual costs: ____
- Registered agent / office: ____
- Bank: ____ ; status of account opening: ____
- Lawyer's view of what our activity requires in this jurisdiction (summarise and attach the advice): ____
- Activities we will NOT do without further advice (e.g. holding client money, brokering live trades, marketing to residents of ____): ____
- Data protection law that applies and how we comply: ____
- Consumer law points (refunds, cooling-off, unfair terms): ____
- Trademark: ____

---

## 8. Payments, KYC and payouts

| Item | Provider | Fees | Reserve or holdback | Settlement time | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Card processing | ____ | ____ | ____ | ____ | ____ |
| Crypto payments | ____ | ____ | ____ | ____ | ____ |
| Other methods | ____ | ____ | ____ | ____ | ____ |
| KYC | ____ | per check ____ ; minimum ____ | n/a | n/a | Checks run at: ____ |
| Payouts to traders | ____ | ____ | n/a | ____ | ____ |

*Prompt: check every processor's prohibited-business list before you apply. Plan a second processor before you need it.*

---

## 9. Customer acquisition

**9.1 Where the first 100 buyers come from.**

| Source | Expected buyers in first 90 days | Cost per buyer | Evidence (audience size, past results) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Our own audience / community | ____ | $____ | ____ |
| Affiliates and creators | ____ | $____ | ____ |
| Search and content | ____ | $____ | ____ |
| Partnerships | ____ | $____ | ____ |
| Competitions / giveaways | ____ | $____ | ____ |

**9.2 Channel rules.** Ad platform restrictions we have checked: ____. Endorsement and disclosure rules for affiliates in our markets: ____. Who reviews marketing claims: ____.

**9.3 Retention.** Resets, second purchases, community, education: ____.

---

## 10. Website and trust

- Pages at launch: home, challenges and pricing, rules, payouts, FAQ, about / company details, legal (terms, privacy, cookies, risk disclosure, refund, AML), contact, affiliate.
- Simulated-trading notice and risk disclosure placement: ____
- Restricted-countries display: ____
- Payout proof and how it is labelled (as our terms define it): ____
- Reviews policy (no gating, no incentives that break platform rules): ____
- Builder and budget: ____ ; who updates rules on the site the same day they change: ____

---

## 11. Operations and support

- Support channels and hours: ____ ; target first reply time: ____
- Payout review process (steps, who approves, time limit): ____
- Fraud and abuse checks (copy trading, hedging across accounts, multi-accounting, VPN/IP): ____
- Incident plan for platform outages: ____
- Staffing plan at 100 / 500 / 2,000 challenges a month: ____

---

## 12. Risk and the payout reserve

**12.1 Stress scenario** (from the financial model, stress multiplier ____):

| Input | Expected month | Stress month |
|---|---|---|
| Challenges sold | ____ | ____ |
| Pass rate | ____% | ____% |
| Share of passers paid in the cycle | ____% | ____% |
| Average payout (by size, under our caps) | $____ | $____ |
| Payouts owed in the cycle | $____ | $____ |

**12.2 Reserve.** We will hold $____ in cash before the first payout cycle, kept in ____, reviewed ____. Processor reserves we cannot access: $____.

**12.3 What we do in a bad month.** [Pause new sales of the largest accounts / tighten rules for new purchases only, with notice / draw on reserve / owner funding of $____.] We will never change rules retroactively for traders who already bought.

**12.4 Key risks.**

| Risk | Likelihood | Impact | Mitigation | Owner |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Platform or provider withdraws service | ____ | ____ | ____ | ____ |
| Payment processor closes our account | ____ | ____ | ____ | ____ |
| Payout spike above the stress case | ____ | ____ | ____ | ____ |
| Regulatory change or enforcement in a market we serve | ____ | ____ | ____ | ____ |
| Demand below plan | ____ | ____ | ____ | ____ |
| Reputation event (reviews, social media) | ____ | ____ | ____ | ____ |

---

## 13. Financial plan

*Copy the key rows from `prop-firm-financial-model.csv` after replacing every input with your own figures.*

**13.1 Key assumptions** (each with its source: published figure + date, written quote, or labelled assumption)

| Assumption | Value | Source / basis |
|---|---|---|
| Month-1 challenges sold | ____ | ____ |
| Monthly growth | ____% | ____ |
| Average price paid | $____ | ____ |
| Pass rate | ____% | ____ |
| Share of passers paid | ____% | ____ |
| Average payout by size | $____ / $____ / $____ | ____ |
| Processing and chargebacks | ____% | ____ |
| Affiliate commission | ____% on ____% of sales | ____ |
| Technology fixed / per challenge | $____ / $____ | ____ |
| Revenue share to provider | ____% | ____ |
| Fixed costs per month | $____ | ____ |

**13.2 Summary (12 months)**

| Line | Month 1 | Month 3 | Month 6 | Month 12 | 12-month total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Challenges sold | ____ | ____ | ____ | ____ | ____ |
| Revenue | ____ | ____ | ____ | ____ | ____ |
| Payouts | ____ | ____ | ____ | ____ | ____ |
| Net after revenue share | ____ | ____ | ____ | ____ | ____ |
| Cumulative cash | ____ | ____ | ____ | ____ | n/a |
| Stress-case net | ____ | ____ | ____ | ____ | ____ |

**13.3 Break-even:** ____ challenges a month (stress case: ____).

**13.4 Reference figures we cite** (keep the source and date; never present them as our forecast). Examples of sourced figures, checked 12 Oct 2026:
- Topstep says that from January to December 2025, 16.8% of its Trading Combines were completed and 33.3% of Funded Level participants received a payout (as stated by the firm).
- Finance Magnates reported on 6 January 2026 that Prop Firm Match tracked $324,963,316 of payouts in 2025, covering only firms with payout tracking in place.
- Finance Magnates Intelligence reported $115.1 million of tracked crypto payouts across ten large firms in Q1 2026, with an average payout of $1,865 (on-chain data).
- TradeInformer reported on 8 September 2026 that FTMO's 2025 revenue was about $422.9 million and net profit about $37.5 million, down 59%.

---

## 14. Funding and use of funds

| Use | Amount | When | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Company, legal and licensing advice | $____ | ____ | ____ |
| Technology setup | $____ | ____ | ____ |
| Website and brand | $____ | ____ | ____ |
| Launch marketing | $____ | ____ | ____ |
| Payout reserve | $____ | ____ | ____ |
| Working capital (months of fixed costs: ____) | $____ | ____ | ____ |
| Contingency (10–15%) | $____ | ____ | ____ |
| **Total** | **$____** | | |

Sources of funds: founders $____ ; investors $____ (terms: ____) ; other $____.

---

## 15. Milestones

| Milestone | Target date | Owner | Done |
|---|---|---|---|
| Company formed and bank account open | ____ | ____ | [ ] |
| Legal advice on the model received | ____ | ____ | [ ] |
| Technology contract signed | ____ | ____ | [ ] |
| Payment processor and KYC live | ____ | ____ | [ ] |
| Terms, policies and rules final | ____ | ____ | [ ] |
| Website live | ____ | ____ | [ ] |
| Soft launch to own audience | ____ | ____ | [ ] |
| First payout cycle completed | ____ | ____ | [ ] |
| Post-launch review (pass rate, payout ratio, reserve) | ____ | ____ | [ ] |

---

## 16. Exit and wind-down plan

- If we stop selling, existing traders are treated as follows: ____
- Funds ring-fenced for approved payouts during a wind-down: $____
- Data retention and deletion: ____
- Who communicates with traders, and how: ____

---

## Appendix A: assumptions register

| # | Assumption | Value | Basis (published source + date / quote / labelled assumption) | Last reviewed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | ____ | ____ | ____ | ____ |
| 2 | ____ | ____ | ____ | ____ |

## Appendix B: sources

List every published figure you used with its title, URL and the date you checked it.

1. ____
2. ____

---

*Template by PipValley, a web design studio for prop trading firms. We are not lawyers, accountants or financial advisers. Nothing in this template promises revenue, pass rates, payouts or profit.*