[Feature] How to Write an Embodied-Robot Business Plan — Key Points, Intel Checklist, Fill-in Framework

Context: Your company (a Japanese IT firm — software-first, with AI and hardware units) teams up with a partner-company manager who knows hardware factories well, aiming at software×hardware embodied robots. The manager runs execution; the chairman/CEO participate as investors. Nothing is decided yet — it's just starting to take shape.

🌐 First, fix what this plan actually is

At your stage (undecided, ramping up slowly, chairman/CEO as investors, the partner manager as operator), this plan is not an "execution plan" — it's a "go/no-go + investment-decision document." It must convince the chairman and CEO that this is worth funding, how much to fund, who will run it, and what the worst case looks like.

Flashy tech is not the point. Whether the business logic closes the loop is. Write the whole thing from an investor's point of view.

In one line: Leadership cares about ROI and risk, not technical specs.

🧠 Core points: the 7 questions any review will press on

A plan that passes is, in essence, one that answers these 7 questions cleanly:

1. Why now? Market timing — what stage is embodied robotics at, and why not 3 years ago or 3 years from now.
2. Why us? Your software + AI capability × the partner's hardware-factory resources = a combination others can't replicate.
3. What exactly are we building? Don't stop at "build a robot." Land on a concrete entry point: which robot, for whom, solving which specific pain.
4. How do we make money? Business model — sell hardware? Software subscription? Systems integration? Or give factories a "software brain"?
5. Who does it, and what is each party's role? The crux of this case: chairman/CEO fund it, the partner manager operates it, your company supplies software/AI — ownership split, decision rights, profit sharing, and whether to form a joint venture (JV).
6. How much to invest, and when is payback? A funding plan + a simple P&L projection, even rough.
7. What's the worst case, and how do we hedge? Risks and countermeasures, and an exit mechanism.

🧭 Intel to gather (with a request for your colleague)

Split the intel into 5 categories. The colleague already collecting "embodied-robot news and intel" under the boss's instruction can sort it along this structure — far more useful than a pile of scattered news.

A. Market / trend (the colleague likely has this — ask them to categorize)

• Market size and growth forecast for embodied robotics (global + Japan domestic, separately).
• Industry stage: still demo/PoC, or are there mass-production / deployed cases?
• Key players: Figure, Tesla Optimus, Unitree, Boston Dynamics, and Japanese players (Kawasaki, Yaskawa, SoftBank, etc.) — where each stands.
• Policy / subsidies: Japanese government subsidies and tax breaks for robotics/AI — especially persuasive to the chairman.

B. Technology / supply chain (ask the partner manager)

• What the hardware factory can build — precision, capacity, cost structure.
• Build the whole machine in-house, or use an off-the-shelf body (e.g. Unitree) + your own "software brain"? The cost differs enormously between the two paths.
• Sourcing and bottleneck risk for key parts (motors, reducers, sensors, batteries).

C. Competitor / benchmark

• Pick 2–3 companies closest to your intended direction; break down their product, pricing, customers, and business model.

D. Customer / demand (most overlooked, most valuable)

• Sell to whom? Factory automation / logistics warehousing / retail & food service / elderly care (a pressing need given Japan's aging population)?
• What do those customers use today, what's their pain, and how much would they pay?
• Ideally interview 1–2 prospective customers — even just "would you buy this if it existed?"

E. Internal capability audit

• Your AI and software units' actual capabilities today (vision, control, large models, simulation?).
• How many people you can commit, and what talent you're missing.

You can simply tell the colleague: "That embodied-robot intel the boss had you collect — could you organize it into market size / key players / deployed cases / Japanese policy subsidies / competitor pricing? I want to use it to build the plan's framework."

🦾 Overall framework: the persuasion logic chain

The whole plan is one persuasion chain — don't scramble the order. The first half answers "should we do it"; the second half answers "how, and what do you need to decide":

Background·Purpose → Market opportunity → Entry point(what to build) → Why us(strengths)
        → Business model(how to earn) → Execution structure(who runs it·ownership) → Roadmap·Milestones
        → P&L·Investment plan → Risks & countermeasures → Conclusion(decisions requested)

🏭 A fill-in framework (11 sections)

Below: Japanese section names (the formal form your boss sees) + plain guidance (what to put in). You don't need to fill every section at this stage. ⭐ marks the sections most critical to this case.

⚠️ Two key reminders + a starting suggestion

Two things that matter most for this case:

1. Section 7 (ownership/role structure) and Section 9 (staged investment) are the soul of this plan. Since it's fundamentally an "invest + appoint an operator" arrangement, what the chairman cares about most is: "I put up the money, someone else runs it — how is the structure set up, and how much loss can I afford?" Spell out "fund a small amount to validate stage 1 first, then scale up," and your odds of approval rise a lot.
2. Don't chase completeness now. Start with a "go/no-go discussion version" — write sections 0, 1, 2, 4, 5, 7, 11 solidly and leave 6/8/9/10 as rough frames; flesh them out after you talk to the manager and the intel is in. This gets something in front of the boss fast without getting stuck on "can't write it, missing info."

Suggested next steps: ① have the colleague organize intel into the 5 categories above; ② draft a "questions for the partner manager" list (category B + the Section 7 ownership structure); ③ draft sections 0, 4, 5, 7 first and schedule one alignment meeting with the chairman/CEO.