От этого плана мало толку.

In this sentence, от means something like from in the sense of coming from or resulting from.

So От этого плана мало толку literally feels like:

From this plan, there is little benefit/use.

This is a very common Russian way to say that something is not very useful, not effective, or doesn’t produce good results.

Because от requires the genitive.

• этот план = this plan (nominative)
• от этого плана = from this plan (genitive)

So:

• этот → этого
• план → плана

That case change is purely grammatical here: it happens because of the preposition от.

Мало толку is a very common expression meaning:

• there is little use in it
• it’s not very helpful
• it won’t do much good
• there’s little benefit from it

The noun толк means sense, use, benefit, or practical value, depending on context.

So мало толку is not just word-for-word vocabulary; it works like a set phrase.

Because after words like мало, Russian often uses the genitive.

Here:

• dictionary form: толк
• genitive singular: толку

So:

• мало толку = little benefit / not much use

This is similar to other patterns like:

• мало времени = little time
• мало денег = little money
• мало смысла = little sense

So мало regularly causes this kind of form.

Yes, in a way.

Russian often leaves out есть in the present tense. So instead of saying something like There is little benefit from this plan, Russian simply says:

От этого плана мало толку.

There is no overt verb, but the sentence is completely normal and complete in Russian.

You can think of it as:

[There is] little benefit from this plan.

Yes. A very common alternative is:

Мало толку от этого плана.

Both versions are correct. The difference is mostly emphasis:

• От этого плана мало толку — starts with from this plan, so it puts the plan first.
• Мало толку от этого плана — starts with little benefit, so it emphasizes the poor result more strongly.

Russian word order is flexible, and this kind of change often affects focus rather than basic meaning.

No. Толк is a flexible word. Depending on context, it can mean:

• sense
• use
• benefit
• point
• practical value

For example:

• В этом нет толку. = There’s no point/use in this.
• Какой от него толк? = What good is he? / What use is he?
• Я не вижу в этом толка. = I don’t see any sense/use in this.

In your sentence, benefit/use is the most natural interpretation.

Yes. Russian has several similar ways to express the same idea, with slightly different tone:

• От этого плана мало толку. = There’s little use in this plan.
• Этот план бесполезен. = This plan is useless.
• В этом плане нет смысла. = There’s no point in this plan.
• Этот план не поможет. = This plan won’t help.

Your original sentence sounds natural and idiomatic, especially when talking about effectiveness in a practical sense.

No. План can mean:

• a plan
• a scheme
• a proposal
• a course of action

So the sentence could be about anything from a business strategy to a personal idea.

The structure От X мало толку is widely usable with many nouns, not just план.

For example:

• От него мало толку. = He’s not much help.
• От этих мер мало толку. = These measures are of little use.
• От споров мало толку. = Arguments don’t help much.

The stress is:

От э́того пла́на ма́ло то́лку.

A few useful pronunciation notes:

• э́того has stress on the first syllable.
• In этого, the -го is pronounced like -во in standard Russian pronunciation: roughly э́тава.
• пла́на has stress on пла́-.
• ма́ло has stress on the first syllable.
• то́лку has stress on the first syllable.

So a rough pronunciation guide would be:

ot É-ta-va PLA-na MA-la TOL-ku

That is only approximate, but it can help at first.