EU Funding

The digital chapter of a business plan: sizing the software budget properly

The digital chapter of a business plan is usually written last and in a hurry — and it becomes the first place where an evaluator finds figures with no backing in the market.

Northdan Soft is a software supplier, not a funding consultancy, and is not affiliated with any managing authority or development agency. Programme information is indicative — always check the conditions in the programme's official applicant guide.

In many business plans submitted to programmes such as Start-Up Nation — whose second session has been announced, with financing of up to RON 250,000 — the software part looks identical every time: website and app, RON 15,000, a figure chosen to close the budget rather than to reflect any real quote. The problems then arrive in a chain. At evaluation, the amount cannot be judged because nobody knows what it buys. At implementation, real quotes come in higher than the approved line and the company covers the difference out of its own pocket. At reimbursement, what was delivered does not resemble the description in the plan and modification notices are required. Correct sizing runs the other way round: first you define what the software has to do for the business model described in the plan — sell online, book customers, manage stock — then a real supplier puts a price on each function, and only then does the figure enter the budget, with the technical description aligned word for word. Northdan gives entrepreneurs exactly that piece: an itemised technical offer, issued before submission, which the business plan can quote without promising anything that cannot be delivered.

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How we help

Figures from a real quote, not round estimates

The software budget of the plan rests on an itemised offer issued before submission — at implementation no gap appears that the company has to cover itself.

A technical description aligned with the plan

The wording of the functionality in the business plan and in our offer coincide, so that at reimbursement the delivery matches exactly what was approved.

Software tied to the plan's indicators

We show in black and white how the system supports the figures you commit to — orders processed, customers served — the argument that gives the digital chapter weight at scoring.

The sizing mistakes that get paid for later

Undersizing is the classic one: the software line is squeezed so the equipment fits, and at implementation the company discovers that the approved amount covers half the system it needs. The difference is no longer financed — it is paid out of profit that does not exist yet.

Oversizing is equally risky: a budget inflated relative to the functionality described attracts clarification requests at evaluation and cuts at contracting. And a mismatch — a plan promising an artificial-intelligence platform against the budget of a simple website — signals to the evaluator that the author never spoke to a supplier.

The healthy rule: every leu in the digital chapter must have a described function behind it and a price confirmed by someone who can actually deliver.

How the digital chapter is prepared before submission

We start from the business model in the plan: what the company sells, to whom, through which channel. From there we derive the list of functionality that is strictly necessary in the first year — no gadgets that inflate the budget — and issue the itemised offer by component, with individual prices and realistic delivery terms.

The entrepreneur and their consultant thus receive a technical text ready to integrate into the plan and a budget that will survive contact with reality. After a win, the same offer becomes the basis of the supply contract, and delivery follows exactly the approved structure — the condition for a reimbursement without arguments.

Frequently asked questions

How much of a business plan budget should go to software?

There is no correct percentage — there is the functionality the business model genuinely needs in its first year, priced by a supplier. A business selling exclusively online justifies a large digital share; a manufacturing workshop, a smaller one.

Can I ask for a software quote before I submit the business plan?

Not only can you — it is the only way to put defensible figures in the budget. A quote issued before submission does not commit you to buy; the selection of the supplier follows the procedure applicable to the call anyway, after the financing contract is signed.

What happens if the software budget in the approved plan turns out to be too small?

The difference between the approved amount and the real cost normally stays with the company, and budget changes require notifications or addenda under the programme's rules. That is precisely why sizing against a real quote before submission matters so much.

How does the software component help the score of a business plan?

The scoring grids of many programmes reward digitalization of the business, and a chapter with concrete functionality tied to the committed indicators is more credible than generic statements. The exact score depends on each session's grid, published in the guide.