Free mobile app financial growth plan template

In my career I often had to create financial growth plans for the businesses I worked for and advised. I used this experience to create a simplified financial plan template for subscription-based mobile apps that has been published by Reforge Artifact  and is free to download 🎉

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Reforge artifacts has a number of amazing product, growth, and marketing artifacts that can help you accomplish your tasks faster and at higher quality. I am happy that my financial plan template is available among so many other great artifacts. When you take a look at my artifact, make sure to browse the others as well!

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Overview of the template

What is my artifact about in detail? It allows you to model your future business and understand the impact of your main growth parameters, specifically for subscription-based mobile apps. In order to accomplish this, you will need to enter for example your conversion and retention rates. While the template may look intimidating at first glance, it is already simplified in several ways (e.g. does not break traffic and cost into detailed acquisition channels). I suggest not overthinking every aspect of the model in your first iteration, but rather trust your gut feeling (experience from previous businesses) and get some guidance from the benchmark data in the spreadsheet. 

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Here's the overall structure of this spreadsheet, by tab:

1. Financial Plan: provides an overview over all results and contains all underlying calculations apart from more cohorted retention models and corresponding renewal calculations
2. Cohorted 1mo Retention: contains the cohorted retention model and corresponding renewal revenue calculations for a 1mo subscription plan
3. Cohorted 1yr Retention: contains the cohorted retention model and corresponding renewal revenue calculations for a 1yr subscription plan
4. Total cohorts: contains an overview about the retention and renewal revenue calculations for the 1mo and 1yr subscription plan
5. Benchmarks: contains an overview about benchmarks for various metrics that can be helpful when coming up with parameters for your own business

It's easy to get started using this document by adding in your unique data. The template itself also includes further detailed use instructions.

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Benchmarks

🎯 Did I say benchmarks? Yes, the model also provides an overview of the most important benchmarks of subscription-based apps. Should you use this without thinking? No. The benchmarks tab is here to make life easier when you are starting from scratch. Many people, myself included, look for benchmarks when building financial models or having to estimate or forecast certain parameters such as conversion rates from install-to-paid subscription. Benchmarks essentially provide a shortcut. A shortcut that will not always be correct, but it unblocks you and allows you to move forward for the time being.

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Download free template

You can download the free template here.

Final note: Your financial model will never be right throughout your first years of business because you are going through so many changes and do not fully understand the business environment you are operating in yet, so do not be afraid of making some shortcuts particularly in the beginning. If you need any support working on the model, feel free to reach out.