A planning template for women founders that tracks route, cash, evidence and fallbacks

Complete this template with the co-founders, finance owner and relevant advisers. Keep source links and dated records beside each answer. Blank fields mean unresolved evidence, not permission to insert an optimistic assumption.

What to take away

1. Funding decision

Explain why outside funding is needed and what happens without it. Separate a growth opportunity from a shortfall caused by weak underlying economics.

Indicative ranges: Start Up Loans £500 to £25,000 per founder; Innovate UK Smart Grants total project costs £100,000 to £2 million; early equity £150,000 to £1 million. Typical timelines: loans 4 to 8 weeks, grants 8 to 16 weeks, equity 3 to 9 months.

A minimum cash floor of three to six months of fixed costs plus payroll is common. Worked example row (illustrative): milestone, paid pilot with 10 customers. Minimum amount, £25,000; target amount, £40,000; latest useful receipt date, 12 weeks; minimum cash floor, £15,000; decision owner, founder and finance adviser; board approval, 15 June 2026.

2. Founder and company position

Record actual constraints without turning them into assumptions about women generally. Obtain legal or tax advice for ownership and personal exposure.

3. Route screen

For customer funding, grant, loan and equity, enter:

If several routes pass the screen, rank them by net cash after fees, then by time to receipt, then by personal exposure and obligations. Choose the route that closes the cash gap with the fewest restrictions and the shortest delay.

If a grant and a loan both pass, take the grant first when the timeline fits; otherwise take the loan and refinance later.

The government finance support finder can begin discovery. Open the individual scheme or provider record before entering it as available.

Currently open or recurring England and UK routes include Start Up Loans (official page startuploans.co.uk), Innovate UK Smart Grants (official page gov.uk/apply-for-innovative-uk-smart-grants), and British Business Bank Regional Investment Funds (official page british-business-bank.co.uk). Check each official page for current eligibility, amount and closing date.

Worked route screen example (illustrative):

4. Targeted support check

Do not copy an historic cohort into this section. Innovate UK's 2025 to 2026 Women in Innovation opportunity is marked closed and is useful only as a model unless a new competition opens. To check for a successor, search the UKRI funding finder for "Women in Innovation", set a saved alert, and check the Innovate UK competition page monthly.

5. Evidence pack

Name a person responsible for each item. Reconcile the amount, dates and headcount across every document.

6. Application pipeline

For each target, log discovery source, fit check, contact, stage, evidence gap, next decision, due date and forecast receipt. Do not treat an introductory call or verbal interest as committed money.

7. Offer comparison

Record amount, deductions, net proceeds, receipt conditions, interest and fees, security, guarantees, shares, investor rights, grant conditions, adviser payments and post-funding work. Attach the complete terms.

Worked offer comparison example (illustrative):

8. Downside and fallback

Review weekly while a deadline is active and monthly otherwise. Archive each approved version.

9. Decision record

Attach signed or board-approved terms and preserve the version considered. A meeting note that says "best option" is insufficient; state how net cash, timing, downside and founder boundaries were weighed.

Record any dissent and the evidence needed to revisit it. A later reviewer should be able to reconstruct the choice without relying on memory or a founder's inbox. Note which assumptions came from the provider and which were produced internally.

10. Post-funding handover

Schedule a 30-day review after receipt. Remove access no longer needed, confirm deductions match the agreement and investigate any variance before treating the funding as fully operational.

Close the application pipeline entries that did not proceed and retain their rejection or withdrawal reasons for the next strategy review.

The template remains an editorial draft and is not a substitute for professional advice.

Template field list to copy

Funding decision
- Business milestone:
- Minimum amount:
- Target amount:
- Latest useful receipt date:
- Minimum cash floor:
- Decision owner:
- Board approval date:

Route screen
- Allowed use:
- Amount range:
- Eligibility:
- Likely timeline:
- Gross and net cash:
- Repayment, dilution or delivery obligation:
- Evidence needed:
- Named owner:
- Proceed, resolve or reject decision:

Offer comparison
- Amount:
- Deductions:
- Net proceeds:
- Receipt conditions:
- Interest and fees:
- Security, guarantees, shares or grant conditions:
- Adviser payments:
- Post-funding work:

Decision record
- Option selected and approval date:
- Alternatives rejected:
- Evidence that determined the choice:
- Professional reviews completed:
- Material uncertainty accepted:
- Earliest reconsideration trigger:
- Communication owner:

Common questions

What should I do if a field in the template is blank?

Complete the field with verified evidence and a dated source. Work with co-founders, finance owner and relevant advisers, and keep source links beside each answer to fill gaps.

How should I treat verbal interest from an investor or funder?

Log the contact, stage, evidence gap, next decision and due date. Count funds as committed only when there is documented evidence such as a signed term sheet or grant offer letter.

What is required in the decision record to justify the chosen option?

Record the option selected, alternatives rejected, evidence that determined the choice, professional reviews, material uncertainty accepted, and the earliest reconsideration trigger. Add any dissent and the evidence needed to revisit it.