Capstone: your one page agency plan
How do I write a simple business plan for a small web design agency?
Pull everything from this track into one page: who you serve, how you find them, what you sell, how you deliver and maintain it, your numbers, and your next ninety days.
What you will be able to do
Write a one page plan for your agency: who you serve, how you find them, what you sell, how you deliver, host and maintain, the numbers you watch, and the next ninety days.
Before you start
- Have your role sheet, pricing sheet, care scope, hosting comparison sheet and metrics sheet from this track open.
- If you have not chosen a niche yet, do Choose a niche and an offer first.
Why this matters
Agencies without a plan take whatever comes in, price each job differently, and wonder in year two why they are busy and broke. One page forces choices, and when a request arrives you check the page and know whether it fits.
The tips in this Academy come from a web design agency we know that runs with a team and brings in about $200k a month. What carries over is the simplicity: a clear sales sequence (reach out, get a reply, make a free draft, show it live on a video call, close) and a clear offer.
Step by step
Tick each step as you do it. Your ticks are saved in this browser.
Write who you serve
The business type, market and problem you solve. "Independent veterinary clinics in the Portland area whose websites do not let pet owners book or find hours on a phone." Specific beats broad.
Write how you find them
Your channels (see Outreach channels compared), your sales sequence, and your weekly Find time. Add a line that outreach follows local rules such as CAN SPAM in the US, CASL in Canada, and GDPR and PECR style rules in the UK and EU. This is not legal advice, so check the rules where you and your prospects are.
Write what you sell
One standard package: setup fee, care plan, care fee, and the "not included" line. Variations can come later.
Write how you deliver
The stages from your SOPs, the number of included revision rounds and your typical timeline. Point to the SOPs by name.
Write how you host and maintain
Default hosting per site type from the hosting comparison sheet, your client isolation rule, where credentials live, your backup and restore test schedule, and two lines summarizing your care scope. The client owns their domain.
Write who does what
Find, Win, Build, Care, Run: owner and backup for each, plus one cross training goal for the quarter.
Write your numbers
Funnel rates, average project margin, care retention, care capacity, monthly profit after costs. Starting out? Write targets and label them as targets, not facts.
Write the risks and the plan for each
Three to five risks that would hurt most (one partner unavailable, a host changing terms, a quiet sales month, a big client leaving) and what you will do.
Write the next ninety days
Three to five actions with dates and owners. Not "grow", but "send 40 outreach messages a week". Pick the actions that fix your weakest number.
Review it with someone and set the next review date
Read it out loud to your partner or a peer, cut anything vague, and book the next quarterly review.
Example
Two partners starting a studio for home service businesses in Columbus, Ohio. All prices and numbers are illustrative, not recommendations or results.
ONE PAGE AGENCY PLAN (illustrative example)
WHO WE SERVE
Home service businesses (plumbers, electricians, HVAC) in the Columbus
area whose sites are slow on phones and hide the phone number.
HOW WE FIND THEM
Personalized email outreach plus local referrals. Sequence: reach out,
reply, free draft, live video call, close. Find time: 6 hours a week,
Tue and Thu mornings. Outreach follows CAN SPAM; not legal advice.
WHAT WE SELL
Standard site: setup $2,400 (illustrative). Yearly care $1,200
(illustrative): hosting, updates, backups, monitoring, up to 12 small
edits, reply within 1 business day. Not included: new pages, features,
redesigns, copywriting beyond small edits. Quoted first.
HOW WE DELIVER
Intake > free draft > call > proposal within 24 hours > build >
2 included revision rounds > written approval > launch QA > handoff.
Typical timeline: 3 to 4 weeks (illustrative).
HOW WE HOST AND MAINTAIN
Static host for brochure sites, managed plan for CMS sites. One project
per client. Client owns domain, we have delegated access. Credentials in
password manager vaults per client. Weekly backups, one restore test a
month. Terms of every host rechecked each quarter.
WHO DOES WHAT
Find, Win, Run: Ben (backup Ana). Build, Care: Ana (backup Ben).
This quarter: Ben builds one free draft solo; Ana runs one sales call.
NUMBERS (targets, not facts)
Reply rate 8%, close rate on calls 35%, project margin 30%,
care retention 75%, care capacity 15 clients, track profit monthly.
RISKS
* Ana unavailable: Ben can do care tasks from runbook; builds pause.
* Host changes free tier terms: exit plan per site, move within a week.
* Quiet month: Find time never drops below 6 hours.
NEXT 90 DAYS
* Send 40 outreach emails a week (Ben, starting Monday)
* Write revisions, launch and cancellation SOPs (Ana, by week 3)
* Restore one client backup a month (Ana, monthly)
* First metrics review (both, end of month 1)
NEXT REVIEW: (date)
Bad version: "Build great websites for small businesses, grow to six figures, provide excellent service." Nothing in it helps you decide anything tomorrow.
Common mistakes
- More than one page. If it does not fit, you have not decided yet. Cut.
- Goals instead of actions. "Get more clients" is a wish. Write actions with owners and dates.
- Targets written as facts. Label them, and replace them with real numbers as you collect them.
- Never reviewing it. Set the quarterly review date before you finish.
Try it yourself
Write your own one page plan using the nine sections and the example. Use real figures where you have them and labelled targets where you do not. Read it out loud, cut every vague line, and book the next review.
Deliverable: a one page agency plan with a dated ninety day action list and a scheduled review.
Time: about 90 minutes.
Resources
- Agency SOP starter the procedures your plan points to
- Maintenance scope template the care scope you summarize
- Hosting comparison sheet your default hosting choices
- Website proposal template your standard offer in writing
- Numbers worth watching the metrics section in detail
Finished this lesson?
Mark it complete to track your progress through the course.
You finished Run & Grow Your Agency
Swokei turns website flaws into personalized outreach emails for web designers.
It finds businesses, analyzes their websites when you run it, and drafts an email from the real issues it found. It does not book meetings or close deals: you answer the replies and do the work. There is a free plan.
Last reviewed October 18, 2026. Prices, laws and tool terms change, so check current terms before you rely on any figure.