the ultimate business plan guide

How to Write a Business Plan: Step-by-Step Guide + Examples

Noah Parsons

24 min. read

Updated July 29, 2024

Writing a business plan doesn’t have to be complicated. 

In this step-by-step guide, you’ll learn how to write a business plan that’s detailed enough to impress bankers and potential investors, while giving you the tools to start, run, and grow a successful business.

• The basics of business planning

If you’re reading this guide, then you already know why you need a business plan . 

You understand that planning helps you: 

• Raise money
• Grow strategically
• Keep your business on the right track 

As you start to write your plan, it’s useful to zoom out and remember what a business plan is .

At its core, a business plan is an overview of the products and services you sell, and the customers that you sell to. It explains your business strategy: how you’re going to build and grow your business, what your marketing strategy is, and who your competitors are.

Most business plans also include financial forecasts for the future. These set sales goals, budget for expenses, and predict profits and cash flow. 

A good business plan is much more than just a document that you write once and forget about. It’s also a guide that helps you outline and achieve your goals. 

After completing your plan, you can use it as a management tool to track your progress toward your goals. Updating and adjusting your forecasts and budgets as you go is one of the most important steps you can take to run a healthier, smarter business. 

We’ll dive into how to use your plan later in this article.

There are many different types of plans , but we’ll go over the most common type here, which includes everything you need for an investor-ready plan. However, if you’re just starting out and are looking for something simpler—I recommend starting with a one-page business plan . It’s faster and easier to create. 

It’s also the perfect place to start if you’re just figuring out your idea, or need a simple strategic plan to use inside your business.

Dig deeper : How to write a one-page business plan

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• What to include in your business plan

Executive summary

The executive summary is an overview of your business and your plans. It comes first in your plan and is ideally just one to two pages. Most people write it last because it’s a summary of the complete business plan.

Ideally, the executive summary can act as a stand-alone document that covers the highlights of your detailed plan. 

In fact, it’s common for investors to ask only for the executive summary when evaluating your business. If they like what they see in the executive summary, they’ll often follow up with a request for a complete plan, a pitch presentation , or more in-depth financial forecasts .

Your executive summary should include:

• A summary of the problem you are solving
• A description of your product or service
• An overview of your target market
• A brief description of your team
• A summary of your financials
• Your funding requirements (if you are raising money)

Dig Deeper: How to write an effective executive summary

Products and services description

This is where you describe exactly what you’re selling, and how it solves a problem for your target market. The best way to organize this part of your plan is to start by describing the problem that exists for your customers. After that, you can describe how you plan to solve that problem with your product or service. 

This is usually called a problem and solution statement .

To truly showcase the value of your products and services, you need to craft a compelling narrative around your offerings. How will your product or service transform your customers’ lives or jobs? A strong narrative will draw in your readers.

This is also the part of the business plan to discuss any competitive advantages you may have, like specific intellectual property or patents that protect your product. If you have any initial sales, contracts, or other evidence that your product or service is likely to sell, include that information as well. It will show that your idea has traction , which can help convince readers that your plan has a high chance of success.

Market analysis

Your target market is a description of the type of people that you plan to sell to. You might even have multiple target markets, depending on your business. 

A market analysis is the part of your plan where you bring together all of the information you know about your target market. Basically, it’s a thorough description of who your customers are and why they need what you’re selling. You’ll also include information about the growth of your market and your industry .

Try to be as specific as possible when you describe your market. 

Include information such as age, income level, and location—these are what’s called “demographics.” If you can, also describe your market’s interests and habits as they relate to your business—these are “psychographics.” 

Related: Target market examples

Essentially, you want to include any knowledge you have about your customers that is relevant to how your product or service is right for them. With a solid target market, it will be easier to create a sales and marketing plan that will reach your customers. That’s because you know who they are, what they like to do, and the best ways to reach them.

Next, provide any additional information you have about your market. 

What is the size of your market ? Is the market growing or shrinking? Ideally, you’ll want to demonstrate that your market is growing over time, and also explain how your business is positioned to take advantage of any expected changes in your industry.

Dig Deeper: Learn how to write a market analysis

Competitive analysis

Part of defining your business opportunity is determining what your competitive advantage is. To do this effectively, you need to know as much about your competitors as your target customers. 

Every business has some form of competition. If you don’t think you have competitors, then explore what alternatives there are in the market for your product or service. 

For example: In the early years of cars, their main competition was horses. For social media, the early competition was reading books, watching TV, and talking on the phone.

A good competitive analysis fully lays out the competitive landscape and then explains how your business is different. Maybe your products are better made, or cheaper, or your customer service is superior. Maybe your competitive advantage is your location – a wide variety of factors can ultimately give you an advantage.

Dig Deeper: How to write a competitive analysis for your business plan

Marketing and sales plan

The marketing and sales plan covers how you will position your product or service in the market, the marketing channels and messaging you will use, and your sales tactics. 

The best place to start with a marketing plan is with a positioning statement . 

This explains how your business fits into the overall market, and how you will explain the advantages of your product or service to customers. You’ll use the information from your competitive analysis to help you with your positioning. 

For example: You might position your company as the premium, most expensive but the highest quality option in the market. Or your positioning might focus on being locally owned and that shoppers support the local economy by buying your products.

Once you understand your positioning, you’ll bring this together with the information about your target market to create your marketing strategy . 

This is how you plan to communicate your message to potential customers. Depending on who your customers are and how they purchase products like yours, you might use many different strategies, from social media advertising to creating a podcast. Your marketing plan is all about how your customers discover who you are and why they should consider your products and services. 

While your marketing plan is about reaching your customers—your sales plan will describe the actual sales process once a customer has decided that they’re interested in what you have to offer. 

If your business requires salespeople and a long sales process, describe that in this section. If your customers can “self-serve” and just make purchases quickly on your website, describe that process. 

A good sales plan picks up where your marketing plan leaves off. The marketing plan brings customers in the door and the sales plan is how you close the deal.

Together, these specific plans paint a picture of how you will connect with your target audience, and how you will turn them into paying customers.

Dig deeper: What to include in your sales and marketing plan

Business operations

The operations section describes the necessary requirements for your business to run smoothly. It’s where you talk about how your business works and what day-to-day operations look like. 

Depending on how your business is structured, your operations plan may include elements of the business like:

• Supply chain management
• Manufacturing processes
• Equipment and technology
• Distribution

Some businesses distribute their products and reach their customers through large retailers like Amazon.com, Walmart, Target, and grocery store chains. 

These businesses should review how this part of their business works. The plan should discuss the logistics and costs of getting products onto store shelves and any potential hurdles the business may have to overcome.

If your business is much simpler than this, that’s OK. This section of your business plan can be either extremely short or more detailed, depending on the type of business you are building.

For businesses selling services, such as physical therapy or online software, you can use this section to describe the technology you’ll leverage, what goes into your service, and who you will partner with to deliver your services.

Dig Deeper: Learn how to write the operations chapter of your plan

Key milestones and metrics

Although it’s not required to complete your business plan, mapping out key business milestones and the metrics can be incredibly useful for measuring your success.

Good milestones clearly lay out the parameters of the task and set expectations for their execution. You’ll want to include:

• A description of each task
• The proposed due date
• Who is responsible for each task

If you have a budget, you can include projected costs to hit each milestone. You don’t need extensive project planning in this section—just list key milestones you want to hit and when you plan to hit them. This is your overall business roadmap. 

Possible milestones might be:

• Website launch date
• Store or office opening date
• First significant sales
• Break even date
• Business licenses and approvals

You should also discuss the key numbers you will track to determine your success. Some common metrics worth tracking include:

• Conversion rates
• Customer acquisition costs
• Profit per customer
• Repeat purchases

It’s perfectly fine to start with just a few metrics and grow the number you are tracking over time. You also may find that some metrics simply aren’t relevant to your business and can narrow down what you’re tracking.

Dig Deeper: How to use milestones in your business plan

Organization and management team

Investors don’t just look for great ideas—they want to find great teams. Use this chapter to describe your current team and who you need to hire . You should also provide a quick overview of your location and history if you’re already up and running.

Briefly highlight the relevant experiences of each key team member in the company. It’s important to make the case for why yours is the right team to turn an idea into a reality. 

Do they have the right industry experience and background? Have members of the team had entrepreneurial successes before? 

If you still need to hire key team members, that’s OK. Just note those gaps in this section.

Your company overview should also include a summary of your company’s current business structure . The most common business structures include:

• Sole proprietor
• Partnership

Be sure to provide an overview of how the business is owned as well. Does each business partner own an equal portion of the business? How is ownership divided? 

Potential lenders and investors will want to know the structure of the business before they will consider a loan or investment.

Dig Deeper: How to write about your company structure and team

Financial plan

Last, but certainly not least, is your financial plan chapter. 

Entrepreneurs often find this section the most daunting. But, business financials for most startups are less complicated than you think, and a business degree is certainly not required to build a solid financial forecast. 

A typical financial forecast in a business plan includes the following:

• Sales forecast : An estimate of the sales expected over a given period. You’ll break down your forecast into the key revenue streams that you expect to have.
• Expense budget : Your planned spending such as personnel costs , marketing expenses, and taxes.
• Profit & Loss : Brings together your sales and expenses and helps you calculate planned profits.
• Cash Flow : Shows how cash moves into and out of your business. It can predict how much cash you’ll have on hand at any given point in the future.
• Balance Sheet : A list of the assets, liabilities, and equity in your company. In short, it provides an overview of the financial health of your business. 

A strong business plan will include a description of assumptions about the future, and potential risks that could impact the financial plan. Including those will be especially important if you’re writing a business plan to pursue a loan or other investment.

Dig Deeper: How to create financial forecasts and budgets

This is the place for additional data, charts, or other information that supports your plan.

Including an appendix can significantly enhance the credibility of your plan by showing readers that you’ve thoroughly considered the details of your business idea, and are backing your ideas up with solid data.

Just remember that the information in the appendix is meant to be supplementary. Your business plan should stand on its own, even if the reader skips this section.

Dig Deeper : What to include in your business plan appendix

Optional: Business plan cover page

Adding a business plan cover page can make your plan, and by extension your business, seem more professional in the eyes of potential investors, lenders, and partners. It serves as the introduction to your document and provides necessary contact information for stakeholders to reference.

Your cover page should be simple and include:

• Company logo
• Business name
• Value proposition (optional)
• Business plan title
• Completion and/or update date
• Address and contact information
• Confidentiality statement

Just remember, the cover page is optional. If you decide to include it, keep it very simple and only spend a short amount of time putting it together.

Dig Deeper: How to create a business plan cover page

How to use AI to help write your business plan

Generative AI tools such as ChatGPT can speed up the business plan writing process and help you think through concepts like market segmentation and competition. These tools are especially useful for taking ideas that you provide and converting them into polished text for your business plan.

The best way to use AI for your business plan is to leverage it as a collaborator , not a replacement for human creative thinking and ingenuity. 

AI can come up with lots of ideas and act as a brainstorming partner. It’s up to you to filter through those ideas and figure out which ones are realistic enough to resonate with your customers. 

There are pros and cons of using AI to help with your business plan . So, spend some time understanding how it can be most helpful before just outsourcing the job to AI.

Learn more: 10 AI prompts you need to write a business plan

• Writing tips and strategies

To help streamline the business plan writing process, here are a few tips and key questions to answer to make sure you get the most out of your plan and avoid common mistakes .  

Determine why you are writing a business plan

Knowing why you are writing a business plan will determine your approach to your planning project. 

For example: If you are writing a business plan for yourself, or just to use inside your own business , you can probably skip the section about your team and organizational structure. 

If you’re raising money, you’ll want to spend more time explaining why you’re looking to raise the funds and exactly how you will use them.

Regardless of how you intend to use your business plan , think about why you are writing and what you’re trying to get out of the process before you begin.

Keep things concise

Probably the most important tip is to keep your business plan short and simple. There are no prizes for long business plans . The longer your plan is, the less likely people are to read it. 

So focus on trimming things down to the essentials your readers need to know. Skip the extended, wordy descriptions and instead focus on creating a plan that is easy to read —using bullets and short sentences whenever possible.

Have someone review your business plan

Writing a business plan in a vacuum is never a good idea. Sometimes it’s helpful to zoom out and check if your plan makes sense to someone else. You also want to make sure that it’s easy to read and understand.

Don’t wait until your plan is “done” to get a second look. Start sharing your plan early, and find out from readers what questions your plan leaves unanswered. This early review cycle will help you spot shortcomings in your plan and address them quickly, rather than finding out about them right before you present your plan to a lender or investor.

If you need a more detailed review, you may want to explore hiring a professional plan writer to thoroughly examine it.

Use a free business plan template and business plan examples to get started

Knowing what information to include in a business plan is sometimes not quite enough. If you’re struggling to get started or need additional guidance, it may be worth using a business plan template. 

There are plenty of great options available (we’ve rounded up our 8 favorites to streamline your search).

But, if you’re looking for a free downloadable business plan template , you can get one right now; download the template used by more than 1 million businesses. 

Or, if you just want to see what a completed business plan looks like, check out our library of over 550 free business plan examples . 

We even have a growing list of industry business planning guides with tips for what to focus on depending on your business type.

Common pitfalls and how to avoid them

It’s easy to make mistakes when you’re writing your business plan. Some entrepreneurs get sucked into the writing and research process, and don’t focus enough on actually getting their business started. 

Here are a few common mistakes and how to avoid them:

Not talking to your customers : This is one of the most common mistakes. It’s easy to assume that your product or service is something that people want. Before you invest too much in your business and too much in the planning process, make sure you talk to your prospective customers and have a good understanding of their needs.

• Overly optimistic sales and profit forecasts: By nature, entrepreneurs are optimistic about the future. But it’s good to temper that optimism a little when you’re planning, and make sure your forecasts are grounded in reality. 
• Spending too much time planning: Yes, planning is crucial. But you also need to get out and talk to customers, build prototypes of your product and figure out if there’s a market for your idea. Make sure to balance planning with building.
• Not revising the plan: Planning is useful, but nothing ever goes exactly as planned. As you learn more about what’s working and what’s not—revise your plan, your budgets, and your revenue forecast. Doing so will provide a more realistic picture of where your business is going, and what your financial needs will be moving forward.
• Not using the plan to manage your business: A good business plan is a management tool. Don’t just write it and put it on the shelf to collect dust – use it to track your progress and help you reach your goals.
• Presenting your business plan

The planning process forces you to think through every aspect of your business and answer questions that you may not have thought of. That’s the real benefit of writing a business plan – the knowledge you gain about your business that you may not have been able to discover otherwise.

With all of this knowledge, you’re well prepared to convert your business plan into a pitch presentation to present your ideas. 

A pitch presentation is a summary of your plan, just hitting the highlights and key points. It’s the best way to present your business plan to investors and team members.

Dig Deeper: Learn what key slides should be included in your pitch deck

Use your business plan to manage your business

One of the biggest benefits of planning is that it gives you a tool to manage your business better. With a revenue forecast, expense budget, and projected cash flow, you know your targets and where you are headed.

And yet, nothing ever goes exactly as planned – it’s the nature of business.

That’s where using your plan as a management tool comes in. The key to leveraging it for your business is to review it periodically and compare your forecasts and projections to your actual results.

Start by setting up a regular time to review the plan – a monthly review is a good starting point. During this review, answer questions like:

• Did you meet your sales goals?
• Is spending following your budget?
• Has anything gone differently than what you expected?

Now that you see whether you’re meeting your goals or are off track, you can make adjustments and set new targets. 

Maybe you’re exceeding your sales goals and should set new, more aggressive goals. In that case, maybe you should also explore more spending or hiring more employees. 

Or maybe expenses are rising faster than you projected. If that’s the case, you would need to look at where you can cut costs.

A plan, and a method for comparing your plan to your actual results , is the tool you need to steer your business toward success.

Learn More: How to run a regular plan review

How to write a business plan FAQ

What is a business plan?

A document that describes your business , the products and services you sell, and the customers that you sell to. It explains your business strategy, how you’re going to build and grow your business, what your marketing strategy is, and who your competitors are.

What are the benefits of a business plan?

A business plan helps you understand where you want to go with your business and what it will take to get there. It reduces your overall risk, helps you uncover your business’s potential, attracts investors, and identifies areas for growth.

Having a business plan ultimately makes you more confident as a business owner and more likely to succeed for a longer period of time.

What are the 7 steps of a business plan?

The seven steps to writing a business plan include:

• Write a brief executive summary
• Describe your products and services.
• Conduct market research and compile data into a cohesive market analysis.
• Describe your marketing and sales strategy.
• Outline your organizational structure and management team.
• Develop financial projections for sales, revenue, and cash flow.
• Add any additional documents to your appendix.

What are the 5 most common business plan mistakes?

There are plenty of mistakes that can be made when writing a business plan. However, these are the 5 most common that you should do your best to avoid:

• 1. Not taking the planning process seriously.
• Having unrealistic financial projections or incomplete financial information.
• Inconsistent information or simple mistakes.
• Failing to establish a sound business model.
• Not having a defined purpose for your business plan.

What questions should be answered in a business plan?

Writing a business plan is all about asking yourself questions about your business and being able to answer them through the planning process. You’ll likely be asking dozens and dozens of questions for each section of your plan.

However, these are the key questions you should ask and answer with your business plan:

• How will your business make money?
• Is there a need for your product or service?
• Who are your customers?
• How are you different from the competition?
• How will you reach your customers?
• How will you measure success?

How long should a business plan be?

The length of your business plan fully depends on what you intend to do with it. From the SBA and traditional lender point of view, a business plan needs to be whatever length necessary to fully explain your business. This means that you prove the viability of your business, show that you understand the market, and have a detailed strategy in place.

If you intend to use your business plan for internal management purposes, you don’t necessarily need a full 25-50 page business plan. Instead, you can start with a one-page plan to get all of the necessary information in place.

What are the different types of business plans?

While all business plans cover similar categories, the style and function fully depend on how you intend to use your plan. Here are a few common business plan types worth considering.

Traditional business plan: The tried-and-true traditional business plan is a formal document meant to be used when applying for funding or pitching to investors. This type of business plan follows the outline above and can be anywhere from 10-50 pages depending on the amount of detail included, the complexity of your business, and what you include in your appendix.

Business model canvas: The business model canvas is a one-page template designed to demystify the business planning process. It removes the need for a traditional, copy-heavy business plan, in favor of a single-page outline that can help you and outside parties better explore your business idea.

One-page business plan: This format is a simplified version of the traditional plan that focuses on the core aspects of your business. You’ll typically stick with bullet points and single sentences. It’s most useful for those exploring ideas, needing to validate their business model, or who need an internal plan to help them run and manage their business.

Lean Plan: The Lean Plan is less of a specific document type and more of a methodology. It takes the simplicity and styling of the one-page business plan and turns it into a process for you to continuously plan, test, review, refine, and take action based on performance. It’s faster, keeps your plan concise, and ensures that your plan is always up-to-date.

What’s the difference between a business plan and a strategic plan?

A business plan covers the “who” and “what” of your business. It explains what your business is doing right now and how it functions. The strategic plan explores long-term goals and explains “how” the business will get there. It encourages you to look more intently toward the future and how you will achieve your vision.

However, when approached correctly, your business plan can actually function as a strategic plan as well. If kept lean, you can define your business, outline strategic steps, and track ongoing operations all with a single plan.

Noah is the COO at Palo Alto Software, makers of the online business plan app LivePlan. He started his career at Yahoo! and then helped start the user review site Epinions.com. From there he started a software distribution business in the UK before coming to Palo Alto Software to run the marketing and product teams.

Table of Contents

• Use AI to help write your plan
• Common planning mistakes
• Manage with your business plan

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Business Plans: The Ultimate Guide To Building A Good Plan

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When starting a business, a business plan is essential. Whether you are launching an online store or opening a brick-and-mortar shop, having a well-written business plan is crucial to your success.

A business plan is essentially a roadmap that outlines your goals, strategies, and potential hurdles. It not only helps you stay organized but also provides a clear vision of your business to potential investors and stakeholders.

Think of the business plan as a blueprint that guides you towards building a profitable and sustainable business. If you're serious about starting a business, take the time to create a well-crafted business plan.

How a business plan benefits you

A business plan is not just a document for investors or loan officers - a business plan can be an invaluable tool for yourself as well. By taking the time to write out your idea and flesh out the details, you gain a deeper understanding of your business and what it takes to make it a reality.

Plus, having a plan in place helps you stay focused and motivated when the going gets tough, and can save you time and money in the long run.

Don't underestimate the power of a solid business plan. Not only does it benefit your bottom line, but it can also be a source of inspiration and guidance as you navigate the exciting world of entrepreneurship.

Best High-Yield Savings Accounts Of 2024

Best 5% interest savings accounts of 2024, how a business plan benefits the lender.

It's no secret that starting a business requires ample financing. But if you're an entrepreneur, how do you convince lenders to invest in your vision?

The answer is simple: a well-crafted business plan.

Not only does a business plan outline your company's goals and strategies, but it also shows lenders that you've done your homework and have a clear understanding of your market and competitors. By presenting a comprehensive plan, you give lenders the confidence to trust that their investment will yield a return.

A business plan benefits not only the entrepreneur but also the lender, providing a roadmap to success and building a foundation of trust and accountability.

A strong business plan is a key factor that lenders consider when deciding whether to loan you money. It shows them that you have a solid plan in place for repaying the loan and growing your business.

By putting in the effort to create a comprehensive business plan, you’ll be setting your company up for success while also gaining the confidence of potential lenders.

Let’s explore the essential elements of a business plan that should be included:

1. executive summary.

When it comes to crafting a business plan, the executive summary is a critical segment. This section sets the stage for the rest of your plan, acting as a teaser for what’s to come.

The executive summary provides a clear and concise snapshot of your business, highlighting why it’s a worthwhile investment opportunity. If you’re seeking funding from potential investors, this section is your golden ticket, as it is their first impression of your business and your chance to captivate their attention from the onset.

It’s essential to craft an executive summary that’s not only informative but also compelling. Think of it as the ultimate elevator pitch - if you can’t sell your business in a few short paragraphs, investors won’t be sold on your vision.

2. Company description

The company description section of your business plan serves as the foundation for everything that follows. In this section, you'll provide a detailed account of your business's history, including how it came to be and what milestones it has achieved thus far.

You'll also shine a light on your company's unique qualities and competitive advantages, setting the tone for the rest of your plan. Beyond that, you'll outline the legal ins and outs of your company to help investors understand the ownership and management structure.

This section serves as your chance to make a memorable first impression and lay the groundwork for a successful venture.

3. Market analysis

The marketing section of a business plan is a crucial component that serves as a guide to identifying the industry, competition, and target market. This section needs to be thorough and well-researched, taking into consideration factors such as the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats that the business may face.

By taking the time to analyze these factors, businesses are better equipped to develop sound marketing strategies that not only address potential risks, but also capitalize on opportunities for growth.

It’s important to remember that the marketing section of the business plan should be engaging and professional, conveying the business’s goals and objectives in a way that resonates with potential investors and customers alike.

4. Products and services

At the heart of any successful business lies a solid understanding of its products and services. In your business plan, this knowledge is communicated through the products and services section where you can showcase what sets your offerings apart from the competition.

This is where you delve into the specifics of how your products and services meet the needs of your target market and the ways in which you provide value to your customers.

You'll also want to highlight your pricing strategy and any intellectual property rights that add unique value to your business. By bringing these essential components of your business to life, you'll ensure that your business plan demonstrates a clear understanding of what your company is all about.

5. Competitive analysis

As an entrepreneur, it's important to recognize that no matter what product or service you're offering, there will always be competition out there. That's why your business plan should highlight what sets you apart from your competitors in the competitive analysis section .

Take some time to reflect on your unique selling proposition. Maybe you provide a more personalized experience for your customers, or maybe you use higher quality materials in your products. Whatever it may be, make sure to convey it in a clear and concise manner.

By doing so, you'll demonstrate to investors and potential customers alike that you have a clear understanding of what sets your business apart from the pack.

6. Strategy and implementation plans

When it comes to starting a business, having a solid plan of attack is essential. That's why the strategy and implementation plan section of your business plan is so important. This is where you get to showcase your vision for success and demonstrate just how you plan to achieve it.

Whether it's outlining your marketing strategies, detailing your management structure, or simply laying out your timeline for growth, this section offers you the opportunity to put your best foot forward and show investors, partners, and potential clients that you mean business.

Don't hold back. Be bold, be thorough, and above all, be confident in your plan.

If your strategy is solid and your implementation is top-notch, the opportunities are endless.

7. Financial projections

Don’t underestimate the importance of the financial projection section. In this section of your business plan, you will dive into the details of your financial projections, including your revenue, expenses, and cash flow.

But this section isn't just about crunching numbers . It's about showing potential investors that your business is not only financially viable but has the potential to succeed. And with a break-even analysis and a profit and loss statement, you'll give those investors a comprehensive look at what your business can achieve.

8. Closing statement

The closing statement is your final chance to convey the enthusiasm and passion you have for your vision while demonstrating your business acumen. A successful closing statement should be concise, professional, and leave the reader feeling excited and eager to learn more about your business.

Whether you want to leave the reader with a call to action, highlight your competitive advantages, or simply express your gratitude for their time and consideration, your closing statement is an integral part of the business plan.

As you craft your final words, remember that they can make all the difference and leave a lasting impression on potential partners, investors, and other stakeholders.

The bottom line is that building a business plan takes time and effort, but it’s well worth it. A well-crafted plan can help you secure funding, set goals, and measure progress. Remember to tailor your plan to your specific needs and be realistic in your projections. With a strong business plan in place, you’ll be better equipped to make informed decisions and achieve success in your endeavors.

Melissa Houston, CPA is the author of Cash Confident: An Entrepreneur’s Guide to Creating a Profitable Business . She is the founder of She Means Profit, which is a podcast and blog . As a Finance Strategist for small business owners, Melissa helps successful business owners increase their profit margins so that they keep more money in their pocket and increase their net worth.

The opinions expressed in this article are not intended to replace any professional or expert accounting and/or tax advice whatsoever.

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Business Plan: What It Is and How to Write One in 9 Steps

Business plans aren’t just for entrepreneurs who need to secure funding—they can help you plan and evaluate new ideas or growth plans, too. Find out how to write a business plan and get the most out of the process in this comprehensive guide.

A great business plan can help you clarify your strategy, identify potential roadblocks, determine necessary resources, and evaluate the viability of your idea and growth plan before you start a business .

Not every successful business launches with a formal business plan, but many founders find value in the process. When you make a business plan, you get to take time to step back, research your idea and the market you’re looking to enter, and understand the scope and the strategy behind your tactics.

Learn how to write a business plan with this step-by-step guide, including tips for getting the most of your plan and real business plan examples to inspire you.

What is a business plan?

A business plan is a strategic document that outlines a company’s goals, strategies for achieving them, and the time frame for their achievement. It covers aspects like market analysis , financial projections, and organizational structure. Ultimately, a business plan serves as a roadmap for business growth and a tool to secure funding.

Often, financial institutions and investors need to see a business plan before funding any project. Even if you don’t plan to seek outside funding, a well-crafted plan becomes the guidance for your business as it scales.

The key components of a business plan

Putting together a business plan will highlight the parts of your company’s strategy and goals. It involves several key business plan components that work together to show the roadmap to your success.

Your business plan’s key components should include: 

• Executive summary: A brief overview of your entire plan.
• Company description: An explanation of what your business does and why it’s unique. 
• Market analysis: Research on your industry, target market, and competitors.
• Organization and management: Details about your business structure and the people running it.
• Products or services: A description of what you’re selling and how it benefits customers. 
• Customer segmentation: A breakdown of your target market into different groups.
• Marketing and sales plan: The strategy for promoting and selling your products and services.
• Logistics and operations: An overview of how your business will run its daily activities and manage resources.
• Financials: A complete look at projected income, expenses, and funding needs. 

How to write a business plan in 9 steps

• Draft an executive summary
• Write a company description
• Perform a market analysis
• Outline the management and organization
• List your products and services
• Perform customer segmentation
• Define a marketing plan
• Provide a logistics and operations plan
• Make a financial plan

Few things are more intimidating than a blank page. Starting your business plan with a structured outline and key elements for what you’ll include in each section is the best first step you can take.

Since an outline is such an important step in the process of writing a business plan, we’ve put together a high-level overview to get you started (and help you avoid the terror of facing a blank page).

Once you have your business plan template in place, it’s time to fill it in. We’ve broken it down by section to help you build your plan step by step.

1. Draft an executive summary

A good executive summary is one of the most crucial sections of your business plan—it’s also the last section you should write.

The executive summary distills everything that follows and gives time-crunched reviewers (e.g., potential investors and lenders) a high-level overview of your business that persuades them to read further.

Again, it’s a summary, so highlight the key points you’ve uncovered while writing your plan. If you’re writing for your own planning purposes, you can skip the summary altogether—although you might want to give it a try anyway, just for practice.

An executive summary shouldn’t exceed one page. Admittedly, that space constraint can make squeezing in all of the salient information a bit stressful—but it’s not impossible. 

Your business plan’s executive summary should include:

• Business concept. What does your business do?
• Business goals and vision. What does your business want to accomplish?
• Product description and differentiation. What do you sell, and why is it different?
• Target market. Who do you sell to?
• Marketing strategy. How do you plan on reaching your customers?
• Current financial state. What do you currently earn in revenue?
• Projected financial state. What do you foresee earning in revenue?
• The ask. How much money are you asking for?
• The team. Who’s involved in the business?

2. Write a company description

This section of your business plan should answer two fundamental questions: 

• Who are you?
• What do you plan to do? 

Answering these questions with a company description provides an introduction to why you’re in business, why you’re different, what you have going for you, and why you’re a good investment. 

For example, clean makeup brand Saie shares a letter from its founder on the company’s mission and why it exists.

Clarifying these details is still a useful exercise, even if you’re the only person who’s going to see them. It’s an opportunity to put to paper some of the more intangible facets of your business, like your principles, ideals, and cultural philosophies.

Here are some of the components you should include in your company description:

• Your business structure (Are you a sole proprietorship, general partnership, limited partnership, or incorporated company?)
• Your business model
• Your industry
• Your business’s vision, mission, and value proposition
• Background information on your business or its history
• Business objectives, both short and long term
• Your team, including key personnel and their salaries

Brand values and goals

To define your brand values , think about all the people your company is accountable to, including owners, employees, suppliers, customers, and investors. Now consider how you’d like to conduct business with each of them. As you make a list, your core values should start to emerge.

Your company description should also include both short- and long-term goals. Short-term goals, generally, should be achievable within the next year, while one to five years is a good window for long-term goals. Make sure your goal setting includes SMART goals : specific, measurable, attainable, realistic, and time-bound.

Vision and mission statements

Once you know your values, you can write a mission statement . Your statement should explain, in a convincing manner, why your business exists, and should be no longer than a single sentence.

Next, craft your vision statement : What impact do you envision your business having on the world once you’ve achieved your vision? Phrase this impact as an assertion—begin the statement with “We will” and you’ll be off to a great start. Your vision statement, unlike your mission statement, can be longer than a single sentence, but try to keep it to three at most. The best vision statements are concise.

3. Perform a market analysis

Market analysis is a key section of your business plan, whether or not you ever intend for anyone else to read it.

No matter what type of business you start, whether a home-based business or service-based, it’s no exaggeration to say your market can make or break it. Choose the right market for your products—one with plenty of customers who understand and need your product—and you’ll have a head start on success. 

If you choose the wrong market, or the right market at the wrong time, you may find yourself struggling for each sale. Your market analysis should include an overview of how big you estimate the market is for your products, an analysis of your business’s position in the market, and an overview of the competitive landscape. Thorough research supporting your conclusions is important both to persuade investors and to validate your own assumptions as you work through your plan.

How big is your potential market?

The potential market is an estimate of how many people need your product. While it’s exciting to imagine sky-high sales figures, you’ll want to use as much relevant independent data as possible to validate your estimated potential market.

Since this can be a daunting process, here are some general tips to help you begin your research:

• Understand your ideal customer profile. Look for government data about the size of your target market , learn where they live, what social channels they use, and their shopping habits.
• Research relevant industry trends and trajectory. Explore consumer trends and product trends in your industry by looking at Google Trends, trade publications, and influencers in the space.
• Make informed guesses. You’ll never have perfect, complete information about your total addressable market. Your goal is to base your estimates on as many verifiable data points as necessary.

Some sources to consult for market data include government statistics offices, industry associations, academic research, and respected news outlets covering your industry.

Read more: What is a Marketing Analysis? 3 Steps Every Business Should Follow

SWOT analysis

A SWOT analysis looks at your strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. 

That involves asking questions like: 

• What are the best things about your company? 
• What are you not so good at? 
• What market or industry shifts can you take advantage of and turn into opportunities? 
• Are there external factors threatening your ability to succeed?

SWOT is often depicted in a grid or otherwise visual way. With this visual presentation, your reader can quickly see the factors that may impact your business and determine your competitive advantage in the market.

Competitive analysis

There are three overarching factors you can use to differentiate your business in the face of competition:

• Cost leadership. You have the capacity to maximize profits by offering lower prices than the majority of your competitors. Examples include companies like Mejuri and Endy .
• Differentiation. Your product or service offers something distinct from the current cost leaders in your industry and banks on standing out based on your uniqueness. Think of companies like Knix and QALO .
• Segmentation. You focus on a very specific, or niche, target market, and aim to build traction with a smaller audience before moving on to a broader market. Companies like TomboyX and Heyday Footwear are great examples of this strategy.

To understand which is the best fit, you’ll need to understand your business as well as the competitive landscape.

You’ll always have competition in the market, even with an innovative product, so it’s important to include a competitive overview in your business plan. If you’re entering an established market, include a list of a few companies you consider direct competitors and explain how you plan to differentiate your products and business from theirs.

For example, if you’re selling jewelry , your competitive differentiation could be that, unlike many high-end competitors, you donate a percentage of your profits to a notable charity or pass savings on to your customers.

If you’re entering a market where you can’t easily identify direct competitors, consider your indirect competitors—companies offering products that are substitutes for yours. For example, if you’re selling an innovative new piece of kitchen equipment, it’s too easy to say that because your product is new, you have no competition. Consider what your potential customers are doing to solve the same problems.

4. Outline the management and organization

The management and organization section of your business plan should tell readers about who’s running your company. Detail the legal structure of your business. Communicate whether you’ll incorporate your business as an S corporation or create a limited partnership or sole proprietorship.

If you have a management team, use an organizational chart to show your company’s internal structure, including the roles, responsibilities, and relationships between people in your chart. Communicate how each person will contribute to the success of your startup.

5. List your products and services

Your products or services will feature prominently in most areas of your business plan, but it’s important to provide a section that outlines key details about them for interested readers.

If you sell many items, you can include more general information on each of your product lines. If you only sell a few, provide additional information on each. 

For example, bag shop BAGGU sells a large selection of different types of bags, in addition to home goods and other accessories. Its business plan would list out those categories and key details about the products within each category.

Describe new products you’ll launch in the near future and any intellectual property you own. Express how they’ll improve profitability. It’s also important to note where products are coming from—handmade crafts are sourced differently than trending products for a dropshipping business, for instance.

6. Perform customer segmentation

Your ideal customer, also known as your target market, is the foundation of your marketing plan , if not your business plan as a whole. 

You’ll want to keep this buyer persona in mind as you make strategic decisions, which is why an overview of who they are is important to understand and include in your business plan.

To give a holistic overview of your ideal customer, describe a number of general and specific demographic characteristics. Customer segmentation often includes:

• Where they live
• Their age range
• Their level of education
• Some common behavior patterns
• How they spend their free time
• Where they work
• What technology they use
• How much they earn
• Where they’re commonly employed
• Their values, beliefs, or opinions

This information will vary based on what you’re selling, but you should be specific enough that it’s unquestionably clear who you’re trying to reach—and more importantly, why you’ve made the choices you have based on who your customers are and what they value.

For example, a college student has different interests, shopping habits, and pricing sensitivity than a 50-year-old executive at a Fortune 500 company. Your business plan and decisions would look very different based on which one was your ideal customer.

Put your customer data to work with Shopify’s customer segmentation

Shopify’s built-in segmentation tools help you discover insights about your customers, build segments as targeted as your marketing plans with filters based on your customers’ demographic and behavioral data, and drive sales with timely and personalized emails.

7. Define a marketing plan

Your marketing efforts are directly informed by your ideal customer. That’s why, as you outline your current decisions and future strategy, your marketing plan should keep a sharp focus on how your business idea is a fit for that ideal customer.

If you’re planning to invest heavily in Instagram marketing or TikTok ads , for example, it makes sense to include whether Instagram and TikTok are leading platforms for your audience. If the answer is no, that might be a sign to rethink your marketing plan.

Market your business with Shopify’s customer marketing tools

Shopify has everything you need to capture more leads, send email campaigns, automate key marketing moments, segment your customers, and analyze your results. Plus, it’s all free for your first 10,000 emails sent per month.

Most marketing plans include information on four key subjects. How much detail you present on each will depend on both your business and your plan’s audience.

• Price: How much do your products cost, and why have you made that decision?
• Product: What are you selling and how do you differentiate it in the market?
• Promotion: How will you get your products in front of your ideal customer?
• Place: Where will you sell your products? On what channels and in which markets?

Promotion may be the bulk of your plan, since you can more readily dive into tactical details, but the other three areas should be covered at least briefly—each is an important strategic lever in your marketing mix.

8. Provide a logistics and operations plan

Logistics and operations are the workflows you’ll implement to make your business idea a reality. If you’re writing a business plan for your own planning purposes, this is still an important section to consider, even though you might not need to include the same level of detail as if you were seeking investment.

Cover all parts of your planned operations, including:

• Suppliers. Where do you get the raw materials you need for production, or where are your products produced?
• Production. Will you make, manufacture, wholesale , or dropship your products? How long does it take to produce your products and get them shipped to you? How will you handle a busy season or an unexpected spike in demand?
• Facilities. Where will you and any team members work? Do you plan to have a physical retail space? If yes, where?
• Equipment. What tools and technology do you require to be up and running? This includes everything from software to lightbulbs and everything in between.
• Shipping and fulfillment. Will you be handling all the fulfillment tasks in-house, or will you use a third-party fulfillment partner?
• Inventory. How much will you keep on hand, and where will it be stored? How will you ship it to partners if required, and how will you approach inventory management ?

This section should signal to your reader that you’ve got a solid understanding of your supply chain, with strong contingency plans in place to cover potential uncertainty. If your reader is you, it should give you a basis to make other important decisions, like how to price your products to cover your estimated costs, and at what point you anticipate breaking even on your initial spending.

9. Make a financial plan

No matter how great your idea is—and regardless of the effort, time, and money you invest—a business lives or dies based on its financial health. At the end of the day, people want to work with a business they expect to be viable for the foreseeable future.

The level of detail required in your financial plan will depend on your audience and goals, but typically you’ll want to include three major views of your financials: an income statement, a balance sheet, and a cash-flow statement. It also may be appropriate to include financial data and projections.

Here’s a spreadsheet template that includes everything you’ll need to create an income statement, balance sheet, and cash-flow statement, including some sample numbers. You can edit it to reflect projections if needed.

Let’s review the types of financial statements you’ll need.

Income statements

Your income statement is designed to give readers a look at your revenue sources and expenses over a given time period. With those two pieces of information, they can see the all-important bottom line or the profit or loss your business experienced during that time. If you haven’t launched your business yet, you can project future milestones of the same information.

Balance sheets

Your balance sheet offers a look at how much equity you have in your business. On one side, you list all your business assets (what you own), and on the other side, all your liabilities (what you owe). 

This provides a snapshot of your business’s shareholder equity, which is calculated as:

Assets - Liabilities = Equity

Cash flow statements

Your cash flow statement is similar to your income statement, with one important difference: it takes into account when revenues are collected and when expenses are paid.

When the cash you have coming in is greater than the cash you have going out, your cash flow is positive. When the opposite scenario is true, your cash flow is negative. Ideally, your cash flow statement will help you see when cash is low, when you might have a surplus, and where you might need to have a contingency plan to access funding to keep your business solvent .

It can be especially helpful to forecast your cash-flow statement to identify gaps or negative cash flow and adjust operations as required.

📚 Read more: Cash Flow Management: What It Is & How To Do It (+ Examples)

Why write a business plan?

Investors rely on business plans to evaluate the feasibility of a business before funding it, which is why business plans are commonly associated with getting a business loan. 

Business plans also help owners identify areas of weakness before launching, potentially avoiding costly mistakes down the road. “Laying out a business plan helped us identify the ’unknowns’ and made it easier to spot the gaps where we’d need help or, at the very least, to skill up ourselves,” says Jordan Barnett, owner of Kapow Meggings .

There are several other compelling reasons to consider writing a business plan, including:

• Strategic planning. Writing out your plan is an invaluable exercise for clarifying your ideas and can help you understand the scope of your business, as well as the amount of time, money, and resources you’ll need to get started.
• Evaluating ideas. If you’ve got multiple ideas in mind, a rough business plan for each can help you focus your time and energy on the ones with the highest chance of success.
• Research. To write a business plan, you’ll need to research your ideal customer and your competitors—information that will help you make more strategic decisions.
• Recruiting. Your business plan is one of the easiest ways to communicate your vision to potential new hires and can help build their confidence in the venture, especially if you’re in the early stages of growth.
• Partnerships. If you plan to collaborate with other brands , having a clear overview of your vision, your audience, and your business strategy will make it much easier for them to identify if your business is a good fit for theirs.
• Competitions. There are many business plan competitions offering prizes such as mentorships, grants, or investment capital. 

If you’re looking for a structured way to lay out your thoughts and ideas, and to share those ideas with people who can have a big impact on your success, making a business plan is an excellent starting point.

Business plan types

Business plan types can span from one page to multiple pages, with detailed graphs and reports. There’s no one right way to create a business plan. The goal is to convey the most important information about your company for readers.

Common business plans we see include, but are not limited to, the following types:

Traditional business plans

These are the most common business plans. Traditional business plans take longer to write and can be dozens of pages long. Venture capitalist firms and lenders ask for this plan. Traditional business plans may not be necessary if you don’t plan to seek outside funding. That’s where a lean business plan comes in.

Lean business plans

A lean business plan is a shorter version of a traditional business plan. It follows the same format, but only includes the most important information. Businesses use lean business plans to onboard new hires or modify existing plans for a specific target market. If you want to write a business plan purely for your own planning purposes when starting a new small business, a lean business plan is typically the way to go. 

Nonprofit business plans

A nonprofit business plan is for any entity that operates for public or social benefit. It covers everything you’ll find in a traditional business plan, plus a section describing the impact the company plans to make. For example, a speaker and headphone brand would communicate that they aim to help people with hearing disabilities. Donors often request this type of business plan.

📚 Read more: 7 Business Plan Examples to Inspire Your Own (2024)

7 tips for creating a small business plan

There are a few best practices when it comes to writing a business plan. While your plan will be unique to your business and goals, keep these tips in mind as you write.

1. Know your audience

When you know who will be reading your plan—even if you’re just writing it for yourself to clarify your ideas—you can tailor the language and level of detail to them. This can also help you make sure you’re including the most relevant information and figure out when to omit sections that aren’t as impactful.

2. Have a clear goal

When creating a business plan, you’ll need to put in more work and deliver a more thorough plan if your goal is to secure funding for your business, versus working through a plan for yourself or your team.

3. Invest time in research

Sections of your business plan will primarily be informed by your ideas and vision, but some of the most crucial information you’ll need requires research from independent sources. This is where you can invest time in understanding who you’re selling to, whether there’s demand for your products, and who else is selling similar products or services.

4. Keep it short and to the point

No matter who you’re writing for, your business plan should be short and readable—generally no longer than 15 to 20 pages. If you do have additional documents you think may be valuable to your audience and your goals, consider adding them as appendices.

5. Keep the tone, style, and voice consistent

This is best managed by having a single person write the plan or by allowing time for the plan to be properly edited before distributing it.

6. Use a business plan template

You can also use a free business plan template to provide a skeleton for writing a plan. These templates often guide you through each section—from financial projects to market research to mission statement—ensuring you don’t miss a step.

7. Try business plan software

Writing a business plan isn’t the easiest task for business owners. But it’s important for anyone starting or expanding a business. 

Fortunately, there are tools to help with everything from planning, drafting, creating graphics, syncing financial data, and more. Business plan software also has business plan templates and tutorials to help you finish a comprehensive plan in hours, rather than days.

A few curated picks include:

• LivePlan : the most affordable option with samples and templates
• Bizplan : tailored for startups seeking investment
• Go Small Biz : budget-friendly option with industry-specific templates

📚 Read more:  6 Best Business Plan Software Platforms (2024)

Common mistakes when writing a business plan

Other articles on business plans would never tell you what we’re about to tell you: Your business plan can fail. 

The last thing you want is for time and effort to go down the drain, so avoid these common mistakes:

• Bad business idea. Sometimes your idea may be too risky for potential investors or too expensive to run, or there’s no market. Aim for small business ideas that require low startup costs.
• No exit strategy. If you don’t show an exit strategy, or a plan for investors to leave the business with maximum profits, you’ll have little luck securing capital.
• Unbalanced teams. A great product is the cost of entry to starting a business. But an incredible team will take it to the top. Unfortunately, many business owners overlook a balanced team. They focus on potential profits, without worrying about how it will be done operationally. 
• Missing financial projections. Don’t forget your balance sheet, cash flow statements, P&L statements, and income statements. Include your break-even analysis and return-on-investment calculations in your financial projections to create a successful business plan.
• Spelling and grammar errors. All the best organizations have an editor review their documents. If someone spots typos while reading your business plan, sloppy errors like those can evoke a larger sense of distrust in your capabilities to run a successful company. It may seem minor, but legibility and error-free writing helps make a good impression on your business plan’s audience. 

Updating and revising a business plan

Business plans aren’t static documents. The business world moves fast and your plan will need to keep up. You don’t want it to get stale. 

Here’s a good rule of thumb for business plan revisions:

• Monthly: Update KPIs like sales, website traffic, and customer acquisition costs. Review your cash flow. Is your money situation as expected? Make the necessary changes.
• Quarterly : Are you hitting your targets? Be sure to update your financial performance, successful marketing campaigns, and any other recent milestones achieved.
• Yearly : Think of this as a big overhaul. Compare projections to actuals and update your forecasts. 

When updating your plan, don’t just go with your gut. Use data like surveys and website analytics to inform each update. Using outdated information will only lead to confusion and missed opportunities.

Remember not to just update one part of your plan—it’s all connected. Fortunately, with business plan software you can easily give your plan attention and help your business thrive. 

How to present a business plan

Here are some tips for presenting your business plan to stakeholders.

Understand your audience

Start by doing homework on who you’ll be presenting to. Are they investors, potential partners, or a bank? Each group will have different interests and expectations. 

Consider the following about your presentation audience:

• Background: What’s their professional experience?
• Knowledge level: How familiar are they with your industry?
• Interests: What aspects of your plan will excite them most?
• Concerns: What might make them hesitant about your idea?

Depending on who you’re presenting to, you can tweak your presentation accordingly. For example, if you’re presenting to a group of investors, you’d probably want to highlight financial projections and market analysis. 

Structure your presentation

Once you know your audience, you can organize your presentation. Think of this as the story you’ll tell listeners. A well-structured presentation helps listeners follow along and remember key points. 

Your opening should grab attention and give a snapshot of what’s to come. It’s kind of like an elevator pitch that gives an overview of your business idea. 

From there, break your presentation into clear sections:

• Problem: What issue are you solving?
• Solution: How does your business address this problem?
• Market: Who are your potential customers?
• Competition: Who else is in this space, and how are you different?
• Business model: How will you make money?
• Financial projections: What are your expected costs and revenues?
• Team: Who’s involved, and what makes them qualified?

Use visual aids to support your points. Graphs, charts, and even simple illustrations can make your information more digestible. Remember to practice your timing, too. A good presentation flows smoothly, giving each section the right amount of attention for its intended audience. 

Handle objections and questions

Facing objections or questions can be nerve-wracking, but it’s actually a great opportunity. It shows your listeners are engaged and thinking critically about your idea. The key is to be prepared and stay calm. 

Try to anticipate potential questions. Put yourself in the listener’s shoes: What would you want to know if you were them? Come up with clear answers to these questions ahead of time.

When handling questions:

• Listen carefully: Make sure you fully understand the question before answering.
• Stay positive: Even if the question seems critical, respond with enthusiasm.
• Be honest: If you don’t know something, it’s OK. Offer to find out and follow up. 

Use questions as a way to highlight the strengths of your business plan. If a question needs more thought or refresh, it’s perfectly fine to say, “That’s a great question. I’d love to look further into it and get back to you with a detailed answer.”

Handling questions well shows that you’re knowledgeable, thoughtful, and open to feedback—all things that will impress listeners and make them feel confident in your business plan. 

Prepare your business plan today

A business plan can help you identify clear, deliberate next steps for your business, even if you never plan to pitch investors—and it can help you see gaps in your plan before they become issues. 

Whether you’re working on starting a new online business idea , building a retail storefront, growing your established business, or purchasing an existing business , you now understand how to write a business plan that suits your business’s goals and needs.

Feature illustration by Rachel Tunstall

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Business plan FAQ

How do i write a business plan.

Learning how to write a business plan is simple if you use a business plan template or business plan software. Typically, a traditional business plan for every new business should have the following components:

• Executive summary
• Company description, including value proposition
• Market analysis and competitive analysis
• Management and organization
• Products and services
• Customer segmentation
• Marketing plan
• Logistics and operations
• Financial plan and financial projections

What is a good business plan?

A good business plan clearly communicates your company’s purpose, goals, and growth strategies. It starts with a strong executive summary, then adequately outlines idea feasibility, target market insights, and the competitive landscape. 

A business plan template can help businesses be sure to follow the typical format of traditional business plans, which also include financial projections, details about the management team, and other key elements that venture capital firms and potential investors want to see.

What are the 3 main purposes of a business plan?

The three main purposes of a business plan are: 

• To clarify your plans for growth
• To understand your financial needs
• To attract funding from investors or secure a business loan

What are the different types of business plans?

The types of business plans include startup, refocusing, internal, annual, strategic, feasibility, operations, growth, and scenario-based. Each type of business plan has a different purpose. Business plan formats include traditional, lean, and nonprofit. Find a business plan template for the type of plan you want to write.

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Small Business Trends

How to create a business plan: examples & free template.

Whether you’re a seasoned entrepreneur or launching your very first startup, the guide will give you the insights, tools, and confidence you need to create a solid foundation for your business.

Table of Contents

How to Write a Business Plan

Executive summary.

It’s crucial to include a clear mission statement, a brief description of your primary products or services, an overview of your target market, and key financial projections or achievements.

Our target market includes environmentally conscious consumers and businesses seeking to reduce their carbon footprint. We project a 200% increase in revenue within the first three years of operation.

Overview and Business Objectives

Example: EcoTech’s primary objective is to become a market leader in sustainable technology products within the next five years. Our key objectives include:

Company Description

Example: EcoTech is committed to developing cutting-edge sustainable technology products that benefit both the environment and our customers. Our unique combination of innovative solutions and eco-friendly design sets us apart from the competition. We envision a future where technology and sustainability go hand in hand, leading to a greener planet.

Define Your Target Market

Market analysis.

The Market Analysis section requires thorough research and a keen understanding of the industry. It involves examining the current trends within your industry, understanding the needs and preferences of your customers, and analyzing the strengths and weaknesses of your competitors.

Our research indicates a gap in the market for high-quality, innovative eco-friendly technology products that cater to both individual and business clients.

SWOT Analysis

Including a SWOT analysis demonstrates to stakeholders that you have a balanced and realistic understanding of your business in its operational context.

Competitive Analysis

Organization and management team.

Provide an overview of your company’s organizational structure, including key roles and responsibilities. Introduce your management team, highlighting their expertise and experience to demonstrate that your team is capable of executing the business plan successfully.

Products and Services Offered

This section should emphasize the value you provide to customers, demonstrating that your business has a deep understanding of customer needs and is well-positioned to deliver innovative solutions that address those needs and set your company apart from competitors.

Marketing and Sales Strategy

Discuss how these marketing and sales efforts will work together to attract and retain customers, generate leads, and ultimately contribute to achieving your business’s revenue goals.

Logistics and Operations Plan

Inventory control is another crucial aspect, where you explain strategies for inventory management to ensure efficiency and reduce wastage. The section should also describe your production processes, emphasizing scalability and adaptability to meet changing market demands.

We also prioritize efficient distribution through various channels, including online platforms and retail partners, to deliver products to our customers in a timely manner.

Financial Projections Plan

This forward-looking financial plan is crucial for demonstrating that you have a firm grasp of the financial nuances of your business and are prepared to manage its financial health effectively.

Income Statement

Cash flow statement.

A cash flow statement is a crucial part of a financial business plan that shows the inflows and outflows of cash within your business. It helps you monitor your company’s liquidity, ensuring you have enough cash on hand to cover operating expenses, pay debts, and invest in growth opportunities.

Tips on Writing a Business Plan

4. Focus on your unique selling proposition (USP): Clearly articulate what sets your business apart from the competition. Emphasize your USP throughout your business plan to showcase your company’s value and potential for success.

FREE Business Plan Template

To help you get started on your business plan, we have created a template that includes all the essential components discussed in the “How to Write a Business Plan” section. This easy-to-use template will guide you through each step of the process, ensuring you don’t miss any critical details.

What is a Business Plan?

Why you should write a business plan.

Understanding the importance of a business plan in today’s competitive environment is crucial for entrepreneurs and business owners. Here are five compelling reasons to write a business plan:

What are the Different Types of Business Plans?

Using Business Plan Software

Upmetrics provides a simple and intuitive platform for creating a well-structured business plan. It features customizable templates, financial forecasting tools, and collaboration capabilities, allowing you to work with team members and advisors. Upmetrics also offers a library of resources to guide you through the business planning process.

Business Plan FAQs

What is a good business plan.

A good business plan is a well-researched, clear, and concise document that outlines a company’s goals, strategies, target market, competitive advantages, and financial projections. It should be adaptable to change and provide a roadmap for achieving success.

What are the 3 main purposes of a business plan?

Can i write a business plan by myself, is it possible to create a one-page business plan.

Yes, a one-page business plan is a condensed version that highlights the most essential elements, including the company’s mission, target market, unique selling proposition, and financial goals.

How long should a business plan be?

What is a business plan outline, what are the 5 most common business plan mistakes, what questions should be asked in a business plan.

A business plan should address questions such as: What problem does the business solve? Who is the specific target market ? What is the unique selling proposition? What are the company’s objectives? How will it achieve those objectives?

What’s the difference between a business plan and a strategic plan?

How is business planning for a nonprofit different.

• Foundations

The Definitive Guide to Writing a Business Plan

| Written by

This free step-by-step guide to writing a business plan was built just for you, if you aren’t really sure what planning a business is all about. To save time, stress and energy we’ll walk you through everything you need to know without fluff or heavy brain work.

Instead, we’re focusing on the basics. If you’re looking to create a super-dense collegiate 40-page plan, then you should probably take a business planning course at the nearest college.

This guide just covers what your average startup needs to dramatically increase chances of follow-through and success. Enjoy!

Note: Business planning software  can help you write a professional business plan that will lead you to success.

Step 1) Create A Business Plan Shortcut

For the sake of argument, let’s say you’re the most gifted cat burglar on earth– a real savvy savant of the steal. Put yourself in the mindset where strategy and planning are time-erasing pleasures, delicious treats that reward you with immense prosperity– not complex tasks that can be skipped or shelved.

Too many entrepreneurs perceive putting a business plan together as some kind of chore. It’s not. When the product or service is something you believe in, it’s as awesome as it is for those cat burglars in the movies, except you’re plotting honest work.

Fact : It’s possible to create your initial business plan in less than an hour!

Let’s build a “lean plan” that’s simple to create and helps you identify core assets. You start with a pitch, a single page overview which can become your executive summary later on. It’s your business strategy all on one page that’s easy to update as you evolve.

You may be thinking,

“ Wait a minute. If I’m not raising money from investors, why do I need a pitch? ”

Well, after years working with entrepreneurs we’ve found a pitch is really the ideal format to document your business idea , share it with others, and quickly adjust as you learn more about/analyze how you’re going to build your brand.

Furthermore, once you have your pitch done you can easily convert it into a presentation-ready business plan with massive clarity. To begin, follow the simple outline below or allow tools like LivePlan (what we used for Startup Savant) to walk you through the entire process with examples and video tutorials.

What To Include in Your Pitch

As you tackle your one-pager, mentally channel Twitter and try to keep each section as short/concise as possible– the size of a solid tweet.

• Mini-Pitch : Typically a refined sentence summarizing your USP (unique selling proposition).
• Market Need : The problem your business solves for your customers.
• Your Solution : How you’re solving the problem through your products and services.
• Primary Competition : The products and services your customers choose today instead of yours.
• Target Market : This is where you detail your ideal client and niche.
• Sales & Marketing : How you plan on marketing.
• Budget & Sales Goals : How much do you project/calculate you’ll sell and how much is it going to cost to make your product or deliver your service? Also, show other key expenses when your business is up and running.
• Milestones : What you’ve achieved so far and your major goals for the next few months and years.
• Team : Why you and your team are the right people to make your company successful.
• Partners & Resources : List primary companies/organizations needed to go the distance.
• Funding Needs : If you need to raise money, how much and where will this capital be going (channels)?

That might seem like a fair amount of work if you’ve never put together a real pitch before, but remember, that’s just one page of content. Another way to look at it is a one page resume for your business.

A Couple Writing Tips

First, you start with the putty. Don’t try to self-edit or curate, just barf everything out on paper as it flows from your brilliant mind. Format each section out and just let it go. That’s putting the basic shape together.

Now you need to let it dry, so walk away for a day (week) or two. After that, begin chipping away and condensing. Cut the fat and keep tightening the ideas until you’re down to one page. Be brutal! Stick to the facts. Numbers are easier, but when you’re tackling words remember the average person these days has a shorter attention span (if not compelled by your ideas) than a goldfish.

Taking Action on This Step

Create a pitch outline from the points mentioned above and refine down to one or two sentences. If you need help, check out LivePlan. It’s a solid tool that walks you through the entire process. Plus, they offer a 50% Discount .

Step 2) What To Include in Your Plan

Now that you have a running outline, it’s time to go deeper into the framework of your platform.

Perhaps you’re thinking the one-page pitch is all you’ll need? That would be like going on a road trip in unfamiliar territory with a map that only shows destinations– no routes, no roads, no other icons whatsoever. Even if you never plan on showing this to anyone, the process of creating a solid plan optimizes everything about you and your business! Here’s a quick overview of what you need to include in your business plan:

• Cover Page/Pitch
• Executive Summary
• Products & Services
• Target Market
• Marketing & Sales Plan
• Milestones & Metrics
• Company & Management Team
• Financial Plan

If you need extra space for product images, detailed financial forecasts, or general additional info, use the appendix. There are three layers of complexity here. First, your pitch with a very brief summary. Then, your Executive Summary that adds details and context. Then into the finer points of the overall business plan.

Not too shabby, right?

Taking Action on The Step

Please revisit your pitch and find a good way to optimize it just a smidgen. The better your pitch, the better the overall plan.

As you fill in the structure, first focus on providing “mental barf” data you can go through and optimize later. Remember, if you need help, LivePlan will walk you through the entire process with video tutorials and examples.

Step 3) Create a Unique Selling Proposition

When copywriters are given a business idea to optimize, they often begin by defining the USP (unique selling proposition) and mini-pitch. A USP can be just a couple words or an incomplete sentence, while the mini-pitch is usually one or two concise sentences.

Just in case you’re fuzzy on the whole copywriter thing, these folks are paid big bucks to write sales and marketing copy which often includes core slogans.

As an example, here’s what the USP and Pitch for Startup Savant sound like:

USP : “ Entrepreneurship Simplified “

Pitch : “ Startup Savant is a free website that shows you how to start a business and own your future .” Now let’s get past the “How to Write Your USP 101” stuff and dive straight into three core truths.

USPs & Pitches Evolve

The first thing a copywriter will tell you if you’re struggling with this is to relax. They know sales and branding copy optimizes (matures) over time, especially in the first 2-5 years in business.

If possible, avoid thinking your USP is set in stone, never to be altered. It’s more like a sculpture that the market chips away at. Your pitch evolves as you and your platform do. What matters is whether your USP & Pitch are as refined as they can be based on where you are now.

• USPs can be creative & full of personality, but they also need to make sense.
• Is your pitch wordy and confusing? Hazy or unclear?
• Sometimes you have the right words, they just need to be in an optimized order.

Always be ready to “kill your darlings” as copywriters would say. Meaning, get rid of any and all words,

“ That aren’t necessary for the idea or concept you’re conveying to make perfect sense within the context it’s delivered, and to whom it’s being written to. ”

You can begin with half a page, but systematically chisel down to a core concept like, Entrepreneurship Simplified.

Your Ideal Customers Will Do It For You

Copywriters care what you have to say as a business owner or marketing manager, but they know you’re not the ultimate authority in terms of advertising copy.

They’re writing for buyers. In any and all ways your business can optimize over the years, your customers, clients and users should steer the course as much as possible. Be on the lookout for their valuable signals and indications!

Hop at 20 Questions

Copywriters ask TONS of questions. They’re a bit like copy-detectives in how they search high and low for very precise data from their clients. Never fear giving your users, clients or customers a megaphone with which to bark their concerns.

We all love sharing our opinions, right? Yes we do. Let us. Prompt us. Ask us. Bribe us with incentives and discounts… then listen… carefully. Easily 9 out of 10 entrepreneurs are given the ultimate USPs on silver platters by their customers but fail to recognize when they see, read, or hear them.

• If you’ve been stressing on your USP, relax. If it doesn’t feel perfect right now, or 100% distilled, let it happen naturally.
• Your audience can and will steer the course if you choose to notice their cues. Ask three people you haven’t spoken to before how they feel about your product or service.
• Are there any indications out there waiting to be plucked? Blog or social media comments and reviews are primary starting points. It only takes one solid indicator for the magic “pivots” to cause your business or brand to see huge boosts.

Step 4) Crafting the Executive Summary

In brief, what exactly is an executive summary? An executive summary (ES) is an overview of your business and your vision. It comes first in formal/informal business plans and is ideally 1-2 pages.

The ES introduces your business to your reader. If you don’t nail it, no one’s going to read any further. And if an ES sucks, despite it being professionally crafted, then the business model itself needs work or isn’t worth your time. Every ES should include a brief overview of the following:

• The problem your business addresses.
• Your solution.
• Your target market.
• Why the timing’s right for your brand.
• Financial forecast highlights, along with initial/current customer acquisition costs (CAC) and lifetime customer value (LCV).

If you’re raising money or presenting to investors, you’ll also want to cover:

• Your existing team and partners.
• How much money you’re looking to raise and the type of exit strategies in place.

Ideally your ES should fit on one or two pages and be able to stand alone, apart from your business plan. A common strategy is to send your ES out to investors/family/friends and then the complete plan if more detail is requested.

Remember to try and position your writing for people who don’t know anything about your business before they start reading. Explain things simply so that anyone can understand your opportunity, whether they be an in-tune player, an 8th grader, or a grandma.

• Over the next couple weeks, refresh your ES!
• Who is the first person you’re going to send your ES to that has no real previous knowledge of what your business is? It helps having someone in mind when writing.
• Find one amazing ES to read over and see what you can learn from it. Here and here are two great examples.

Well done, in the next step we’ll help you explain your product or service and how it makes an impact on customers.

Step 5) Understanding Customers

Once upon a time there was this lovely, vibrant and ambitious entrepreneur who decided to sell organic breast enlargement cream. It sold well for a while, but then her numbers plateaued, and eventually began to decline.

She knew her business needed a makeover after years in the trenches. So, she created an automated incentive program, a 25% discount coupon code offer sent with every order in exchange for an anonymous review with a photograph. Just a simple before/after image showing the front of their body from neckline to belly button (to confirm usage).

They started rolling in and here are the gems she unearthed :

• A small portion of her customers were husbands buying a discreet gift for their wives/girlfriends, but most (85%) were transgender folks in transition.
• For the vast majority of her cis-female customers, larger breasts had more to do with enhancing self-esteem/identity and filling out clothes than attracting mates.
• Almost 100% really hammered down on the fact her cream was all-natural, organic and didn’t cause irritation or allergic reactions.

She went back and dusted off her original copy she put together years before.

From: “ A certified organic breast enlargement cream. ”

To something more along the lines of: “ Increase confidence and femininity through an organic non-allergenic breast enlargement cream. ”

When stuck in a rut, and we all get there as entrepreneurs, the quickest and most effective way out is to look at your predicament from different perspectives.

Begin with the fundamental question, “What problem does my product/service solve for customers?” then look deeper and from unique angles. Who are your buyers? They have the answer. And remember, actions speak louder than words.

Oftentimes we rationalize buying things for one reason, but in reality have a more potent ulterior motive. Sure, her customers want larger breasts, that’s what prompt initial sales. But the needs her product solves in their day-to-day lives are more interesting. It actually made her customers feel more confident, happy, and healthy.

Find one deeper way your product or service materializes in everyday life for your customers. Pay close attention to the simple verbiage you and others use to describe it, e.g. “Your earphones really get rid of all the noise on the bus.”

If possible, get hold of one fresh buyer perspective. Who and where are they? That woman in our example had spent years excluding nearly half her customer base in her advertorial copy. Do you use your own product or service? If so, find a way to record yourself explaining it in the most natural language possible. Use a smartphone or leave yourself a voicemail. Then, just listen.

But wait, what if you’re just starting out and don’t have much to draw on in terms of direct customer or user feedback? Glad you asked! In the next section we’re going to talk about competition, which is another valuable source of indicators.

Step 6) Leveraging Competition

What products and/or services are people choosing instead of yours?

Whether you’re new to the market or not, these so-called “competitors” are really the ideal source of optimization for your brand. And it’s not about being better per se. All things equal, it’s more about uniqueness.

Would you rather be a prettier, more flashy brand trying desperately to stand out, or develop intense brand-character that the right people notice? Once you’ve narrowed down your competitors, look at them from new angles to discover what makes you distinctive.

• Can they help you better define your target market/sub-markets?
• How effective are their social media marketing methods and website copy?
• What do you know about their buyers’ needs?
• What do they make “stand out” when shoulder to shoulder with your brand?

A common practice entrepreneurs use in pitch presentations to venture capitalists or investors is the Comparison Matrix.

You’ve seen these a zillion times. In short, list your competitors across the top of the page and your features and benefits along the side, then check the boxes for which company offers each. Don’t forget you can be creative here. You may even already use one of these on your website, or within some other marketing media.

• Could these features and benefits be communicated in different, more compelling ways?
• What real need-based copy is being left out?
• How can you simplify it? An easy way is to reduce the number of competitors, so shoot for less players with more interesting copy.

Got time to put something simple together? In reality what we’re looking for are the things about your competitors that help you stand out.

• Think about your biggest competitor: what do they make obvious about your brand?
• What are you doing with more personality from the perspective of ideal clients or customers?
• Could you take your primary competitor’s copy and make it clearer, or more optimized?

All in all, understanding your competition is an important part of the planning process. This is where you find your true competitive advantage.

For a more in-depth look at how you stand up to the competition, check out LivePlan’s Benchmark feature. You can see at-a-glance how you compare to companies just like yours. Tell LivePlan your industry and location, and it shows if/how you’re doing better or worse than your competition.

Now let’s talk about your unique marketing approach. This will help you stand out and connect with your customers on multiple levels.

Step 7) Create a Marketing Plan

Fred is a brand spanking new entrepreneur with a neat new fitness product he believes is going to make a big splash.

He knows exactly who his ideal customers are and his niche is carved out like a Renaissance marble sculpture. Fred’s also managed to get his hands on $100k in debt-free funding (don’t ask us how, this is hypothetical)…

• His product costs exactly $32 to source, make and package.
• To be competitive, and account for shipping/processing, he’s going live at $55.
• Initial margin is about $13 per sale.

Admittedly, that would be pretty amazing, but that’s because we’re coming from a standpoint of experience. Fred’s just showing up to the 21st-Century party. He’s never built, owned, or managed a business before, let alone an ecommerce platform.

He’s never outsourced a graphic artist or content writer before; never had to choose which analytic dashboard to use; never designed a conversion model or tangled with paid advertising platforms. Let’s say Fred called and begged us to lunch. We accepted. And so there we are, the three amigos with Fred sitting on a huge meal ticket drooling for answers.

“ How Do I Market My Product? ”

Once the table conch gets passed to us, we’re going to hit him hard with massive bombshells:

• Tight responsive funnels can be constructed in a couple months with the right designer, or design agency (website, landing pages, ecommerce setup, branding packages, etc.).
• Initial market testing and adjustment can be bootstrapped.
• There are a variety of intuitive and relatively simple software tools, apps, plugins, add-ons, and cloud-based solutions that range from free to expensive.
• It takes a savvy mix of highly-focused content, social exposure and paid advertising.
• It takes a team.

Question is, what advice would you give Fred? That’s what we’d like you to consider. And it needs to be marketing-based. The money’s there, the production system’s in place, it’s just a matter of reaching his fitness-based audience and selling.

Let’s imagine Fred’s offered you a lifetime, no questions asked, 5% share of his company from now till doomsday. All you have to do is provide valuable direction in these three areas:

• Content : What kind of content should he invest in? Blogs, video, infographics, imagery, etc.
• Social : How to handle social media if he a) doesn’t have the time, b) has no clue what works?
• Paid Advertising : AdWords? Facebook? TV? Magazine ads? How does he get to buyers?

Just let your mind wander, and don’t worry, in the next section we’ll talk about setting milestones for your business.

Step 8) Set Milestones

If there’s one specific part of the entrepreneurial journey that we get really nerdy about, it’s the way people verbally describe their trials and successes. We’re listening intently for clues as to how they set milestones and metrics and then track them.

Let’s spend some time pondering the way(s) you’re measuring your journey and how you approach KPIs (key performance indicators) in relation to both your marketing and your competition. Or, if you’re trying to figure out how viable a product idea is, how you’re calculating acceptable setbacks and struggle.

What have you achieved so far and what are your major goals for the next few months or years?

Sure, it’s cliché to talk about tracking milestones in an era of big data, but truth be told too many aspiring entrepreneurs either skip this part until much further down the road when it can’t be ignored anymore, or they only take it seriously in the beginning then fail to stick to the plan.

Avoid Drowning Out Customer Journey!

Of course there are folks who obsess on this part and try to manage a small army of analytic dashboards and amazing software solutions like FreshBooks or Xero.

Once it becomes too much they end up transforming their perspective of the customer journey from something organic into a mesh of math and graphs. Most of their day is spent pouring over dense numbers or marketing data and trying to figure out how to alter this metric or that.

• How many of your milestones are focused entirely on your customers instead of you and your business?
• Instead of views, likes, and shares, what about the amount of service calls you’re getting? How many people are actually reaching out with questions and concerns?
• How well do your metrics allow you to understand each part of their trek from initially discovering your business to making a purchase?

Find ways to do more with less data. It’s always within reach these days, especially when you’re tuned in to your customers!

• Find one way to streamline how you’re dealing with milestones/metrics, or how you intend to.
• Also, look for one single way to be more holistic in your approach to setting goals.
• Find a part of your customer journey/behavior and decide if current metrics help or hinder it.

Need help in this area? LivePlan has a really impressive dashboard  to help you set goals and stay accountable over the lifetime of your business. This dramatically increases your chances of success.

Step 9) Refine Aquisition Costs

Without question, failure to clearly know the cost of acquiring customers is a mighty new business demolisher. It’s crushed more entrepreneurial dreams than every economic collapse combined since the creation of fiat currency. To come to grips, or optimize your Customer Acquisition Costs (CAC), begin by figuring out exactly how you’re reaching customers.

Or, if you’re building an initial business plan, how much will it cost to reach buyers on the platforms where they spend their time? Your financials should easily allow you to calculate CAC.

Now, in the simplest terms here’s how:

• Take (estimate) the entire cost of sales and marketing over whatever period of time you’re dealing with, for example when forecasting sales and financials. Make sure to include salaries and any other headcount-related costs.
• Divide that number by the amount of buying customers/clients/users that were acquired within this time.

If you happen to run a purely web-based business, headcount likely doesn’t need to grow as you scale customer acquisition, but it’s a useful metric to include nonetheless.

The second part of this is your Lifetime Customer Value, or LCV, because in most cases 80% of your revenue will come from 20% of overall customers and happen AFTER the initial sale. Never shortchange the follow-through!

If your CAC is too high, it must be able to come down through optimization. If LCV is horrid, then in the long run it’s an unsustainable business model. Or in other words, once CAC exceeds LCV, something needs to change or you’ll have to close shop.

• Begin looking at one stream of cost per lead. So for example, maybe a Google AdWords or Facebook advertising campaign.
• What’s one single way you could get more in touch with a hot-spot within your customers’ buyer experience?
• Let your mind stew a little on the level of ‘touch’ required to increase LCV. How can you up-sell or generate more revenue from each customer long term?

After you make these calculations three or four times, it starts becoming second nature. LivePlan’s forecasting  handles this pretty well. It walks you through creating expenses that are a certain percentage of sales.

Step 10) Forecast Sales

Smart entrepreneurs start forecasting sales early on.

And while ‘the numbers’ part of business planning can be intimidating, this exercise is definitely a small mountain worth karate chopping down.

Keep in mind that if you get stuck at any point, LivePlan’s Forecasting and Budgeting  feature is extremely helpful. Whether you’re starting a bakery, a subscription software business, or a manufacturing company, LivePlan walks you through the entire forecasting process within a few clicks.

How Detailed Does it Need to Be?

Don’t be too generic and just forecast sales for your entire business. But on the other hand, don’t go nuts and create a forecast for everything you sell if you’ve got a large assortment.

For example, if you’re starting a restaurant you don’t want to create forecasts for each item on the menu.

Instead, focus on broader categories like lunch, dinner, and drinks. Or if you’re starting a clothing brand, forecast key categories like outerwear, casual wear, and so on.

Top-Down or Bottom-up?

In our humble opinion, forecasting “from the top down” can be costly. What that means is figuring out the total size of the market you’re in and trying to capture a small percentage.

For example, in 2015, more than $1.4 billion smartphones were sold worldwide. It’s pretty tempting for a startup to say they’re going to get 1% of that total market. After all, 1% is such a tiny little sliver it’s got to be believable, right?

The problem is this kind of guessing isn’t based on reality. Sure, it looks like it might be credible on the surface, but you have to dig deeper.

• What’s driving those sales?
• How are people finding your new smartphone company?
• Of the people that find out, how many will buy?

Instead of “from the top down,” do a “bottom-up” forecast. Just like the name suggests, bottom-up starts at the bottom and works its way up to a forecast. Start by thinking about how many potential customers you might be able to make contact with.

This could be through advertising, sales calls, or other marketing methods. Of the people you can reach, how many do you think you’ll be able to bring in the door or get onto your website?

And finally, of the people that come in the door, get on the phone, or visit your site, how many will buy?

Here’s an example:

• 10,000 people see my company’s ad online,
• 1,000 people click from the ad to my website,
• 100 people end up making a purchase.

Obviously, these are all nice round numbers, but it should give you an idea of how bottom-up forecasting works. The last step of the bottom-up forecasting method is to think about the average amount that each of those 100 people in our example ends up spending (remember LCV).

On average, do they spend $20? $100? It’s fine to guess here, and the best way to refine your guess is to go out and talk to potential customers. You’ll be surprised how accurate a number you can get with a few simple interviews.

How Far to Forecast

Try forecasting monthly for a year into the future and then just annually for another three to five years.

The further your forecast into the future, the less you’re going to know and the less benefit it’s going to have for your company. After all, the world’s going to change, your business is going to change, and you’ll be updating your forecast to reflect them.

And don’t forget, all forecasts are wrong—that’s fine. Your forecast is just your best guess at what’s going to happen. As you learn more about your business and your customers, you’ll adjust. It’s not set in stone.

• First, remind yourself that ALL forecasts are wrong. Forecasting is more about learning and evolving.
• Without adding too much to your plate, take a look at your monthly sales chart and see what kinds of optimizations forecasting might bring to light. If you aren’t already charting sales, start today or begin planning how.
• Try two easy bottom-up projections with nice round numbers to get the feel for it.

Just remember that sales forecasting doesn’t have to be hard. Anyone can do it and you, as an entrepreneur, are the most qualified to do it for your business. You know your customers and you know your market, so you can forecast your sales.

But if you decide you’d appreciate help, we highly recommend forecasting your sales with LivePlan. LivePlan  automatically generates all the charts and graphs you need and automatically includes them in your plan.

Wrapping Up: Formatting Your Plan

The format of your business plan is critical. It goes a long way toward refining and achieving your goals: raising money, setting the strategy for your team and growing your platform. That being the case, let’s breeze through seven tips that can help you create, refine, and optimize your brilliant business plan.

1. Always Start with Your Executive Summary

An ES should be written for ideal readers, customers, potential investors or team members, or even just to help you ‘goal-map’ your way to where you need to be. Regardless, nailing the Executive Summary is critical in terms of understanding the potential behind your business idea.

2. End with Supporting Documents

The appendix is composed of key numbers and other details that support your plan. At a minimum, your appendix should include financial forecasts and budgets. Typically, it’s wise to include a Profit & Loss statement, Cash Flow forecast, and a Balance Sheet. With practice and a smidgen of savvy software like LivePlan these pages can take a couple hours or so.

You might also use your appendix to include product diagrams or detailed research findings, depending on your business, your industry, and how deep your business plan needs to go given the reader/purpose.

Quick Recap of the Lineup Pitch Executive Summary Products & Services Target Market Marketing & Sales Plan Milestones & Metrics Company & Management Team Financial Plan & Appendix

3. Keep it Short

Let’s face it: no one has time to read a 40-page business plan. If you’ve nailed your ES, you’ll want to follow up with 8 to 12 additional pages at most in support. Instead of trying to cram everything in using small fonts and tiny margins, focus on trimming down your writing (‘kill your darlings’). Use direct, simple language that gets to the point.

4. Get Visual

As the old adage goes, “ A picture is worth a thousand words. ” This is especially true when you’re formatting a business plan. Use charts and graphs to explain forecasts. Add pictures of your product(s). Again, there are plenty of software solutions that make it easy to do more showing and less telling. That said…

5. Don’t Obsess on Looks

It’s your ideas that matter. A beautiful plan that talks about an ill-conceived business with incomplete financial forecasts is never going to beat a plan that’s formatted poorly but discusses a great, clearly explained vision. Spending days making a beautiful plan isn’t going to make your business ideas better. Instead, focus on polishing the words. Trim extra content you don’t need, and make sure ideas are well-presented.

6. Keep Formatting Simple

• For general formatting use single spacing with an extra space between paragraphs.
• If you’re printing your plan, use a nice serif font like Garamond or Baskerville.
• If your plan will mostly be read on a computer screen, go with a sans serif font like Verdana or Arial.

Why choose different fonts for on-screen versus off-screen? Well, research shows readers have higher comprehension when they read a document with a serif font on paper, and higher comprehension reading with a sans serif font on a screen.

Don’t stress too much about this, though. Choose any one of the four fonts mentioned above and move forward.

• For font size, 10 to 12 point is usually ideal and readable for most people. If you need to reduce the font size to make your plan shorter, then you should be cutting content, not adjusting the font size.
• The same rule goes for margins: use typical one-inch margins to make the plan readable.

Cover pages are always a good idea, too. Use the cover page to show off your logo, tagline, and pitch.

Finally, make sure your plan document flows well and doesn’t have any “widows” or “orphans” when it prints out. A “widow” is when the last line of a paragraph appears alone at the top of a page, and an “orphan” is a single word that gets left behind at the bottom of a paragraph.

7. Get a Second Pair of Eyes

The last piece of advice is to get a second pair of eyes. When you’re the only one working on your plan, you can become blind to common errors. Recruit a friend or family member, or even hire a copy-editing professional to give it that last bit of polish. There’s nothing worse than a plan with grammatical or spelling errors. A second pair of eyes will go a long way toward catching the majority of those potential problems or holes.

• Who’s your second, third, and possibly fourth pair of eyes going to be?
• What’s one part of your business plan you could optimize today?
• What’s one piece of visual content you could add to your appendix?

Exclusive Bonus

If you’d like to try LivePlan yourself, here’s an exclusive 50% off LivePlan promo code  offered to our readers. You’ll have 60 days of risk free planning with their 100% money back guarantee. Enjoy!

Further Reading

• The 8 Best LLC Services of 2024 August 22, 2024
• How to Start an LLC in 7 Easy Steps (2024) July 24, 2024
• What Is an LLC? August 2, 2024

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How to Write a Business Plan, Step by Step

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What is a business plan?

1. write an executive summary, 2. describe your company, 3. state your business goals, 4. describe your products and services, 5. do your market research, 6. outline your marketing and sales plan, 7. perform a business financial analysis, 8. make financial projections, 9. summarize how your company operates, 10. add any additional information to an appendix, business plan tips and resources.

A business plan outlines your business’s financial goals and explains how you’ll achieve them over the next three to five years. Here’s a step-by-step guide to writing a business plan that will offer a strong, detailed road map for your business.

LLC Formation

A business plan is a document that explains what your business does, how it makes money and who its customers are. Internally, writing a business plan should help you clarify your vision and organize your operations. Externally, you can share it with potential lenders and investors to show them you’re on the right track.

Business plans are living documents; it’s OK for them to change over time. Startups may update their business plans often as they figure out who their customers are and what products and services fit them best. Mature companies might only revisit their business plan every few years. Regardless of your business’s age, brush up this document before you apply for a business loan .

» Need help writing? Learn about the best business plan software .

This is your elevator pitch. It should include a mission statement, a brief description of the products or services your business offers and a broad summary of your financial growth plans.

Though the executive summary is the first thing your investors will read, it can be easier to write it last. That way, you can highlight information you’ve identified while writing other sections that go into more detail.

» MORE: How to write an executive summary in 6 steps

Next up is your company description. This should contain basic information like:

Your business’s registered name.

Address of your business location .

Names of key people in the business. Make sure to highlight unique skills or technical expertise among members of your team.

Your company description should also define your business structure — such as a sole proprietorship, partnership or corporation — and include the percent ownership that each owner has and the extent of each owner’s involvement in the company.

Lastly, write a little about the history of your company and the nature of your business now. This prepares the reader to learn about your goals in the next section.

» MORE: How to write a company overview for a business plan

The third part of a business plan is an objective statement. This section spells out what you’d like to accomplish, both in the near term and over the coming years.

If you’re looking for a business loan or outside investment, you can use this section to explain how the financing will help your business grow and how you plan to achieve those growth targets. The key is to provide a clear explanation of the opportunity your business presents to the lender.

For example, if your business is launching a second product line, you might explain how the loan will help your company launch that new product and how much you think sales will increase over the next three years as a result.

» MORE: How to write a successful business plan for a loan

In this section, go into detail about the products or services you offer or plan to offer.

You should include the following:

An explanation of how your product or service works.

The pricing model for your product or service.

The typical customers you serve.

Your supply chain and order fulfillment strategy.

You can also discuss current or pending trademarks and patents associated with your product or service.

Lenders and investors will want to know what sets your product apart from your competition. In your market analysis section , explain who your competitors are. Discuss what they do well, and point out what you can do better. If you’re serving a different or underserved market, explain that.

Here, you can address how you plan to persuade customers to buy your products or services, or how you will develop customer loyalty that will lead to repeat business.

Include details about your sales and distribution strategies, including the costs involved in selling each product .

» MORE: R e a d our complete guide to small business marketing

If you’re a startup, you may not have much information on your business financials yet. However, if you’re an existing business, you’ll want to include income or profit-and-loss statements, a balance sheet that lists your assets and debts, and a cash flow statement that shows how cash comes into and goes out of the company.

Accounting software may be able to generate these reports for you. It may also help you calculate metrics such as:

Net profit margin: the percentage of revenue you keep as net income.

Current ratio: the measurement of your liquidity and ability to repay debts.

Accounts receivable turnover ratio: a measurement of how frequently you collect on receivables per year.

This is a great place to include charts and graphs that make it easy for those reading your plan to understand the financial health of your business.

This is a critical part of your business plan if you’re seeking financing or investors. It outlines how your business will generate enough profit to repay the loan or how you will earn a decent return for investors.

Here, you’ll provide your business’s monthly or quarterly sales, expenses and profit estimates over at least a three-year period — with the future numbers assuming you’ve obtained a new loan.

Accuracy is key, so carefully analyze your past financial statements before giving projections. Your goals may be aggressive, but they should also be realistic.

NerdWallet’s picks for setting up your business finances:

The best business checking accounts .

The best business credit cards .

The best accounting software .

Before the end of your business plan, summarize how your business is structured and outline each team’s responsibilities. This will help your readers understand who performs each of the functions you’ve described above — making and selling your products or services — and how much each of those functions cost.

If any of your employees have exceptional skills, you may want to include their resumes to help explain the competitive advantage they give you.

Finally, attach any supporting information or additional materials that you couldn’t fit in elsewhere. That might include:

Licenses and permits.

Equipment leases.

Bank statements.

Details of your personal and business credit history, if you’re seeking financing.

If the appendix is long, you may want to consider adding a table of contents at the beginning of this section.

How much do you need?

with Fundera by NerdWallet

We’ll start with a brief questionnaire to better understand the unique needs of your business.

Once we uncover your personalized matches, our team will consult you on the process moving forward.

Here are some tips to write a detailed, convincing business plan:

Avoid over-optimism: If you’re applying for a business bank loan or professional investment, someone will be reading your business plan closely. Providing unreasonable sales estimates can hurt your chances of approval.

Proofread: Spelling, punctuation and grammatical errors can jump off the page and turn off lenders and prospective investors. If writing and editing aren't your strong suit, you may want to hire a professional business plan writer, copy editor or proofreader.

Use free resources: SCORE is a nonprofit association that offers a large network of volunteer business mentors and experts who can help you write or edit your business plan. The U.S. Small Business Administration’s Small Business Development Centers , which provide free business consulting and help with business plan development, can also be a resource.

On a similar note...

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How To Write A Business Plan: A Comprehensive Guide

The Startups Team

How To Write A Business Plan: A Comprehensive Guide

A comprehensive, step-by-step guide - complete with real examples - on writing business plans with just the right amount of panache to catch an investor's attention and serve as a guiding star for your business.

Introduction to Business Plans

So you've got a killer startup idea. Now you need to write a business plan that is equally killer.

You fire up your computer, open a Google doc, and stare at the blank page for several minutes before it suddenly dawns on you that,  Hm…maybe I have no idea how to write a business plan from scratch after all.

Don't let it get you down. After all, why would you know anything about business planning? For that very reason we have  4 amazing business plan samples  to share with you as inspiration.

For most founders,  writing a business plan  feels like the startup equivalent of homework. It's the thing you know you have to do, but nobody actually wants to do.

Here's the good news: writing a business plan doesn't have to be this daunting, cumbersome chore.

Once you understand the fundamental questions that your business plan should answer for your readers and how to position everything in a way that compels your them to take action, writing a business plan becomes way more approachable.

Before you set fingers to the keyboard to turn your business idea into written documentation of your organizational structure and business goals, we're going to walk you through the most important things to keep in mind (like company description, financials, and market analysis, etc.) and to help you tackle the writing process confidently — with plenty of real life business plan examples along the way to get you writing a business plan to be proud of!

Keep It Short and Simple.

There's this old-school idea that business plans need to be ultra-dense, complex documents the size of a doorstop because that's how you convey how serious you are about your company.

Not so much.

Complexity and length for complexity and length's sake is almost never a good idea, especially when it comes to writing a business plan. There are a couple of reasons for this.

1. Investors Are Short On Time

If your chief goal is using your business plan to secure funding, then it means you intend on getting it in front of an investor. And if there's one thing investors are, it's busy. So keep this in mind throughout writing a business plan.

Investors wade through hundreds of business plans a year. There's no version of you presenting an 80-page business plan to an investor and they enthusiastically dive in and take hours out of their day to pour over the thing front to back.

Instead, they're looking for you to get your point across as quickly and clearly as possible so they can skim your business plan and get to the most salient parts to determine whether or not they think your opportunity is worth pursuing (or at the very least initiating further discussions).

You should be able to refine all of the key value points that investors look for to 15-20 pages (not including appendices where you will detail your financials). If you find yourself writing beyond that, then it's probably a case of either over explaining, repeating information, or including irrelevant details in your business plan (you don't need to devote 10 pages to how you're going to set up your website, for example).

Bottom line: always be on the lookout for opportunities to “trim the fat" while writing a business plan (and pay special attention to the executive summary section below), and you'll be more likely to secure funding.

2. Know Your Audience

If you fill your business plan with buzzwords, industry-specific jargon or acronyms, and long complicated sentences, it might make sense to a handful of people familiar with your niche and those with superhuman attention spans (not many), but it alienates the vast majority of readers who aren't experts in your particular industry. And if no one can understand so much as your company overview, they won't make it through the rest of your business plan.

Your best bet here is to use simple, straightforward language that's easily understood by anyone — from the most savvy of investor to your Great Aunt Bertha who still uses a landline.

How To Format Your Business Plan

You might be a prodigy in quantum mechanics, but if you show up to your interview rocking cargo shorts and lime green Crocs, you can probably guess what the hiring manager is going to notice first.

In the same way,  how  you present your business plan to your readers equally as important as what you present to them. So don't go over the top with an extensive executive summary, or get lazy with endless bullet points on your marketing strategy.

If your business plan is laden with inconsistent margins, multiple font types and sizes, missing headings and page numbers, and lacks a table of contents, it's going to create a far less digestible reading experience (and totally take away from your amazing idea and hours of work writing a business plan!)

While there's no one  right  way to format your business plan, the idea here is to ensure that it presents professionally. Here's some easy formatting tips to help you do just that.

If your margins are too narrow, it makes the page look super cluttered and more difficult to read.

A good rule of thumb is sticking to standard one-inch margins all around.

Your business plan is made up of several key sections, like chapters in a book.

Whenever you begin a section (“Traction” for example) you'll want to signify it using a header so that your reader immediately knows what to expect from the content that follows.

This also helps break up your content and keep everything nice and organized in your business plan.

Subheadings

Subheadings are mini versions of headings meant to break up content within each individual section and capture the attention of your readers to keep them moving down the page.

In fact, we're using sub-headers right now in this section for that very purpose!

Limit your business plan to two typefaces (one for headings and one for body copy and subheadings, for example) that you can find in a standard text editor like Microsoft Word or Google Docs.

Only pick fonts that are easy to read and contain both capital and lowercase letters.

Avoid script-style or jarring fonts that distract from the actual content. Modern, sans-serif fonts like Helvetica, Arial, and Proxima Nova are a good way to go.

Keep your body copy between 11 and 12-point font size to ensure readability (some fonts are more squint-inducing than others).

You can offset your headings from your body copy by simply upping the font size and by bolding your subheadings.

Sometimes it's better to show instead of just tell.

Assume that your readers are going to skim your plan rather than read it word-for-word and treat it as an opportunity to grab their attention with color graphics, tables, and charts (especially with financial forecasts), as well as product images, if applicable.

This will also help your reader better visualize what your business model is all about.

Need some help with this?

Our  business planning wizard  comes pre-loaded with a modular business plan template that you can complete in any order and makes it ridiculously easy to generate everything you need from your value proposition, mission statement, financial projections, competitive advantage, sales strategy, market research, target market, financial statements, marketing strategy, in a way that clearly communicates your business idea.

Refine Your Business Plans. Then Refine Them Some More.

Your business isn't static, so why should your business plan be?

Your business strategy is always evolving, and so are good business plans. This means that the early versions of your business plans probably won't (and shouldn't be) your last. The details of even even the best business plans are only as good as their last update.

As your business progresses and your ideas about it shift, it's important revisit your business plan from time to time to make sure it reflects those changes, keeping everything as accurate and up-to-date as possible. What good is market analysis if the market has shifted and you have an entirely different set of potential customers? And what good would the business model be if you've recently pivoted? A revised business plan is a solid business plan. It doesn't ensure business success, but it certainly helps to support it.

This rule especially holds true when you go about your market research and learn something that goes against your initial assumptions, impacting everything from your sales strategy to your financial projections.

At the same time, before you begin shopping your business plan around to potential investors or bankers, it's imperative to get a second pair of eyes on it after you've put the final period on your first draft.

After you run your spell check, have someone with strong “English teacher skills” run a fine-tooth comb over your plan for any spelling, punctuation, and grammatical errors you may have glossed over. An updated, detailed business plan (without errors!) should be constantly in your business goals.

More than that, your trusty business plan critic can also give you valuable feedback on how it reads from a stylistic perspective. While different investors prefer different styles, the key here is to remain consistent with your audience and business.

Writing Your Business Plan: A Section-By-Section Breakdown

We devoted an entire article carefully breaking down the  key components of a business plan  which takes a comprehensive look of what each section entails and why.

If you haven't already, you should check that out, as it will act as the perfect companion piece to what we're about to dive into in a moment.

For our purposes here, we're going to look at a few real world business plan examples (as well as one of our own self-penned “dummy” plans) to give you an inside look at how to position key information on a section-by-section basis.

1. Executive Summary

Quick overview.

After your Title Page — which includes your company name, slogan (if applicable), and contact information — and your Table of Contents, the Executive Summary will be the first section of actual content about your business.

The primary goal of your Executive Summary is to provide your readers with a high level overview of your business plan as a whole by summarizing the most important aspects in a few short sentences. Think of your Executive Summary as a kind of “teaser” for your business concept and the information to follow — information which you will explain in greater detail throughout your plan. This isn't the place for your a deep dive on your competitive advantages, or cash flow statement. It is an appropriate place to share your mission statement and value proposition.

Executive Summary Example

Here's an example of an Executive Summary taken from a sample business plan written by the Startups.com team for a fictional company called Culina. Here, we'll see how the Executive Summary offers brief overviews of the  Product ,  Market Opportunity ,  Traction , and  Next Steps .

Culina Tech specializes in home automation and IoT technology products designed to create the ultimate smart kitchen for modern homeowners.

Our flagship product, the Culina Smart Plug, enables users to make any kitchen appliance or cooking device intelligent. Compatible with all existing brands that plug into standard two or three-prong wall outlets, Culina creates an entire network of Wi-Fi-connected kitchen devices that can be controlled and monitored remotely right from your smartphone.

The majority of US households now spend roughly 35% of their energy consumption on appliances, electronics, and lighting.  With the ability to set energy usage caps on a daily, weekly or monthly basis, Culina helps homeowners stay within their monthly utility budget through more efficient use of the dishwasher, refrigerator, freezer, stove, and other common kitchen appliances.

Additionally, 50.8% of house fires are caused in the kitchen — more than any other room in the home — translating to over $5 billion in property damage costs per year.  Culina provides the preventative intelligence necessary to dramatically reduce kitchen-related disasters and their associated costs and risk of personal harm.

Our team has already completed the product development and design phase, and we are now ready to begin mass manufacturing. We've also gained a major foothold among consumers and investors alike, with 10,000 pre-ordered units sold and $5 million in investment capital secured to date.

We're currently seeking a $15M Series B capital investment that will give us the financial flexibility to ramp up hardware manufacturing, improve software UX and UI, expand our sales and marketing efforts, and fulfill pre-orders in time for the 2018 holiday season.

2. Company Synopsis

Your Company Synopsis section answers two critically important questions for your readers: What painful  PROBLEM  are you solving for your customers? And what is your elegant  SOLUTION  to that problem? The combination of these two components form your value proposition.

Company Synopsis Example

Let's look at a real-life company description example from  HolliBlu * — a mobile app that connects healthcare facilities with local skilled nurses — to see how they successfully address both of these key aspects.  *Note: Full disclosure; Our team worked directly with this company on their business plan via Fundable.

Notice how we get a crystal clear understanding of why the company exists to begin with when they set up the  problem  — that traditional nurse recruitment methods are costly, inconvenient, and time-consuming, creating significant barriers to providing quality nursing to patients in need.

Once we understand the painful problem that HolliBlu's customers face, we're then directly told how their  solution  links back directly to that problem — by creating an entire community of qualified nurses and directly connecting them with local employers more cost-effectively and more efficiently than traditional methods.

3. Market Overview

Your Market Overview provides color around the industry that you will be competing in as it relates to your product/service.

This will include statistics about industry size, [growth](https://www.startups.com/library/expert-advice/the-case-for-growing-slowly) rate, trends, and overall outlook. If this part of your business plan can be summed up in one word, it's  research .

The idea is to gather as much raw data as you can to make the case for your readers that:

This is a market big enough to get excited about.

You can capture a big enough share of this market to get excited about.

Target Market Overview Example

Here's an example from HolliBlu's business plan:

HolliBlu's Market Overview hits all of the marks — clearly laying out the industry size ($74.8 billion), the Total Addressable Market or TAM (3 million registered nurses), industry growth rate (581,500 new RN jobs through 2018; $355 billion by 2020), and industry trends (movement toward federally-mandated compliance with nurse/patient ratios, companies offering sign-on bonuses to secure qualified nurses, increasing popularity of home-based healthcare).

4. Product (How it Works)

Where your Company Synopsis is meant to shed light on why the company exists by demonstrating the problem you're setting out to solve and then bolstering that with an impactful solution, your Product or How it Works section allows you to get into the nitty gritty of how it actually delivers that value, and any competitive advantage it provides you.

Product (How it Works) Example

In the below example from our team's Culina sample plan, we've divided the section up using subheadings to call attention to product's  key features  and how it actually works from a user perspective.

This approach is particularly effective if your product or service has several unique features that you want to highlight.

5. Revenue Model

Quite simply, your Revenue Model gives your readers a framework for how you plan on making money. It identifies which revenue channels you're leveraging, how you're pricing your product or service, and why.

Revenue Model Example

Let's take a look at another real world business plan example with brewpub startup  Magic Waters Brewpub .*

It can be easy to get hung up on the financial aspect here, especially if you haven't fully developed your product yet. And that's okay. *Note: Full disclosure; Our team worked directly with this company on their business plan via Fundable.

The thing to remember is that investors will want to see that you've at least made some basic assumptions about your monetization strategy.

6. Operating Model

Your Operating Model quite simply refers to how your company actually runs itself. It's the detailed breakdown of the processes, technologies, and physical requirements (assets) that allow you to deliver the value to your customers that your product or service promises.

Operating Model Example

Let's say you were opening up a local coffee shop, for example. Your Operating Model might detail the following:

Information about your facility (location, indoor and outdoor space features, lease amount, utility costs, etc.)

The equipment you need to purchase (coffee and espresso machines, appliances, shelving and storage, etc.) and their respective costs.

The inventory you plan to order regularly (product, supplies, etc.), how you plan to order it (an online supplier) and how often it gets delivered (Mon-Fri).

Your staffing requirements (including how many part or full time employees you'll need, at what wages, their job descriptions, etc.)

In addition, you can also use your Operating Model to lay out the ways you intend to manage the costs and efficiencies associated with your business, including:

The  Critical Costs  that make or break your business. In the case of our coffee shop example, you might say something like,

“We're estimating the marketing cost to acquire a customer is going to be $25.  Our average sale is $45.  So long as we can keep our customer acquisition costs below $25 we will have enough margin to grow with.”

Cost Maturation & Milestones  that show how your Critical Costs might fluctuate over time.

“If we sell 50 coffees a day, our average unit cost will be $8 on a sale of $10.  At that point we're barely breaking even. However as we scale up to 200 coffees a day, our unit costs drop significantly to $4, creating a 100% increase in net income.”

Investment Costs  that highlight strategic uses of capital that will have a big Return on Investment (ROI) later.

“We're investing $100,000 into a revolutionary new coffee brewing system that will allow us to brew twice the amount our current output with the same amount of space and staff.”

Operating Efficiencies  explaining your capability of delivering your product or service in the most cost effective manner possible while maintaining the highest standards of quality.

“By using energy efficient Ecoboilers, we're able to keep our water hot while minimizing the amount of energy required. Our machines also feature an energy saving mode. Both of these allow us to dramatically cut energy costs.”

7. Competitive Analysis

Like the Market Overview section, you want to show your readers that you've done your homework and have a crazy high level of awareness about your current competitors or any potential competitors that may crop up down the line for your given business model.

When writing your Competitive Analysis, your overview should cover  who  your closest competitors are, the chief  strengths  they bring to the table, and their biggest  weaknesses .

You'll want to identify at least 3 competitors — either direct, indirect, or a combination of the two. It's an extremely important aspect of the business planning process.

Competition Analysis Example

Here's an example of how HolliBlu lays out their Competitive Analysis section for just one of their competitors, implementing each of the criteria noted above:

8. Customer Definition

Your Customer Definition section allows you to note which customer segment(s) you're going after, what characteristics and habits each customer segment embodies, how each segment uniquely benefits from your product or service, and how all of this ties together to create the ideal portrait of an actual paying customer, and how you'll cultivate and manage customer relationships.

Customer Definition Example

HolliBlu's Customer Definition section is effective for several reasons. Let's deconstruct their first target market segment, hospitals.

What's particularly successful here is that we are explained why hospitals are optimal buyers.

They accomplish this by harkening back to the central problem at the core of the opportunity (when hospitals can't supply enough staff to meet patient demands, they have to resort on costly staffing agencies).

On top of that, we are also told how  big  of an opportunity going after this customer segment represents (5,534 hospitals in the US).

This template is followed for each of the company's 3 core customer segments. This provides consistency, but more than that, it emphasizes how diligent research reinforces their assumptions about who their customers are and why they'd open their wallets. Keep all of this in mind when you are write your own business plan.

9. Customer Acquisition

Now that you've defined who your customers are for your readers, your Customer Acquisition section will tell them what marketing and sales strategy and tactics you plan to leverage to actually reach the target market (or target markets) and ultimately convert them into paying customers.

marketing Strategy Example

Similar to the exercise you will go through with your Revenue Model, in addition to identifying  which  channels you're pursuing, you'll also want to detail all of relevant costs associated with your customer acquisition channels.

Let's say you spent $100 on your marketing plan to acquire 100 customers during 2018. To get your CAC, you simply divide the number of customers acquired by your spend, giving you a $1.00 CAC.

10. Traction

This one's huge. Traction tells investors one important thing: that you're business has momentum. It's evidence that you're making forward progress and hitting milestones. That things are happening. It's one of the most critical components of a successful business plan.

Why is this so important? Financial projections are great and all, but if you can prove to investors that your company's got legs before they've even put a dime into it, then it will get them thinking about all the great things you'll be able to accomplish when they do bankroll you.

Traction Example

In our Culina Traction section, we've called attention to several forms of traction, touching on some of the biggest ones that you'll want to consider when writing your own plan.

Have I built or launched my product or service yet?

Have I reached any customers yet?

Have I generated any revenue yet?

Have I forged any strategic industry relationships that will be instrumental in driving growth?

The key takeaway here: the more traction you can show, the more credibility you build with investors. After all, you can't leave it all on market analysis alone.

11. Management Team

Here's what your Management Team section isn't: it's not an exhaustive rundown of each and every position your team members have held over the course of their lives.

Instead, you should tell investors which aspects of your team's experience and expertise directly translates to the success of  this  company and  this  industry.

In other words, what applicable, relevant background do they bring to the table?

Management Team Example

Let's be real. The vast majority of startup teams probably aren't stacked with Harvard and Stanford grads. But the thing to home in on is how the prior experience listed speaks directly to how it qualifies that team member's current position.

The word of the day here is relevancy. If it's not relevant, you probably don't need to include it in your typical business plan.

12. Funding

Funding overview.

The ask! This is where you come out and, you guessed it,  ask  your investors point blank how much money you need to move your business forward, what specific milestones their investment will allow you to reach, how you'll allocate the capital you secure, and what the investor will get in exchange for their investment.

You can also include information about your  exit strategy  (IPO, acquisition, merger?).

Funding Example

While we've preached against redundancy in your business plan, an exception to the rule is using the Funding section to offer up a very brief recap that essentially says, “here are the biggest reasons you should invest in my company and why it will ultimately benefit you.”

13. Financials

Spreadsheets and numbers and charts, oh my! Yes, it's everybody's “favorite” business plan section: Financials.

Your Financials section will come last and contain all of the forecasted numbers that say to investors that this is a sound investment. This will include things like your sales forecast, expense budget, and break-even analysis. A lot of this will be assumptions, or estimates.

The key here is keeping those estimates as realistic as humanly possible by breaking your figures into components and looking at each one individually.

Financials Example

The balance sheet above illustrates the business' estimated net worth over a three-year period by summarizing its assets (tangible objects owned by the company), liabilities (debt owed to a creditor of the company), and shareholders' equity (source of financing used to fund the assets).

In plain words, the balance sheet is basically a snapshot of your business' financial status by laying out what you own and owe, helping investors determine the level of risk involved and giving them a good understanding of the financial health of the business.

If you're looking to up your game from those outdated Excel-style spreadsheets,  our business planning software  will help you create clean, sleek, modern financial reports the modern way. Plus, it's as easy to use as it is attractive to look at. You might even find yourself enjoying financial projections, building a cash flow statement, and business planning overall.

You've Got This!

You've committed to writing your business plan and now you've got some tricks of the trade to help you out along the way. Whether you're applying for a business loan or seeking investors, your well-crafted business plan will act as your Holy Grail in helping take your business goals to the next plateau.

This is a ton of work. It's not a few hours and a free business plan template. It's not just a business plan software. We've been there before. Writing your [business plan](https://www.startups.com/library/expert-advice/top-4-business-plan-examples) is just one small step in startup journey. There's a whole long road ahead of you filled with a marketing plan, investor outreach, chasing venture capitalists, actually getting funded, and growing your business into a successful company.

And guess what? We've got helpful information on all of it — and all at your disposal! We hope this guides you confidently on how to write a business plan worth bragging about.

Ronald Calderon

Great info for feedback my current business plan!

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How to Write a Business Plan in 2023: The Ultimate Guide for Every Entrepreneur

Are you starting a new business or trying to get a loan for your existing venture? If so, you’re going to need to know how to write a business plan. Business plans give entrepreneurs the opportunity to formally analyze and define every aspect of their business idea .

In this post, you’ll learn how to put together a business plan and find the best resources to help you along the way.

What is a Business Plan? 

A business plan is a formal document that outlines your business’s goals and how you will achieve those goals. Entrepreneurs who start out with business plans are 16 percent more likely to build successful companies , according to the Harvard Business Review.  Developing a business plan ensures sustainable success, guiding you as you grow your business, legitimizing your venture, and helping you secure funding (among countless other benefits). 

What Are the Main Purposes of a Business Plan?

Most financial institutions and service providers require you to submit a detailed business plan to obtain funding for your business. Online businesses will likely have a low overhead to start, so they may not need funding and therefore may not feel the need to write a business plan. That said, writing a business plan is still a good idea as it can help you secure a drastic increase limit on your credit card as your business grows or open a business account. This varies per bank.

If you’re growing your business, use it to help you raise expansion capital, create a growth strategy, find opportunities, and mitigate risks.Palo Alto software found that companies who make business plans are twice as likely to secure funding . .

If you’re just starting your business, making a business plan can help you  identify your strengths and weaknesses, communicate your vision to others, and develop accurate forecasts.

How to Make a Business Plan: The Prerequisites 

Here are the prerequisites to creating a solid business plan:

• Establish goals
• Understand your audience
• Determine your business plan format
• Get to writing! 

Establish Goals

There are two key questions to ask here: 

• What are you hoping to accomplish with your business?
• What are you hoping to accomplish with your business plan?

Approaching your business plan through that lens will help you focus on the end goal throughout the writing process. These also provide metrics to measure success against. 

Before writing your business plan, gather the content and data needed to inform what goes in it. This includes researching your market and industry – spanning everything from customer research to legalities you’ll need to consider. It’s a lot easier to start with the information already in front of you instead of researching each section individually as you go. 

Turn to guides, samples, and small business plan templates to help. Many countries have an official administration or service dedicated to providing information, resources, and tools to help entrepreneurs and store owners plan, launch, manage, and grow their businesses. 

The following will take you to online business plan guides and templates for specific countries.

• United States Small Business Administration (SBA) – The “write your business plan page” includes traditional and lean startup business plan formats, three downloadable sample business plans, a template, and a step-by-step build a business plan tool.
• Australian Government – The “business plan template” page includes a downloadable template, guide, and business plan creation app.
• UK Government Business and Self-Employed – The “write a business plan” page includes links to a downloadable business plan template and resources from trusted UK businesses. .
• Canada Business Network – The “writing your business plan” page includes a detailed guide to writing your business plan and links to business plan templates from Canadian business development organizations and banks.

These business resource sites also offer a wealth of valuable information for entrepreneurs including local and regional regulations, structuring, tax obligations, funding programs, market research data, and much more. Visit the sites above or do the following Google searches to find official local business resources in your area:

• your country government business services
• your state/province government business services
• your city government business services

Some Chamber of Commerce websites offer resources for business owners, including business plan guides and templates. Check your local chapter to see if they have any.

Banks that offer business funding also often have a resource section for entrepreneurs. Do a Google search to find banks that offer business funding as well as business plan advice to see the business plans that get funding. If your bank doesn’t offer any advice, search for the largest banks in your area:

• business plan guide bank name
• business plan samples bank name
• business plan template bank name

If you’re looking for more sample business plans, Bplans has over 500 free business plan samples organized by business type as well as a business plan template. Their collection includes 116 business plans for retail and online stores. Shopify also offers business plan templates intended to help small business owners and aspiring entrepreneurs identify functional areas of a business they may not have considered.

Understand Your Audience

Because business plans serve different purposes, you’re not always presenting it to the same audience. It’s important to understand who’s going to be reading your business plan, what you’re trying to convince them to do, and what hesitations they might have. 

That way, you can adapt your business plan accordingly. As such, your audience also determines which type of business plan format you use. Which brings us to our next point…

Which Business Plan Format Should You Use? 

The United States Small Business Administration (SBA) presents two business plan formats: 

• The traditional business plan format is for entrepreneurs who want to create a detailed plan for themselves or for business funding. 
• The lean startup business plan format, on the other hand, is for business owners that want to create a condensed, single-page business plan.

If the business plan is just for you and internal folks, draft a lean startup business plan or a customized version of the traditional business plan with only the sections you need. If you need it for business funding or other official purposes, choose the formal business plan and thoroughly complete the required sections while paying extra attention to financial projections.

If your business operates outside the U.S., clarify the preferred format with your bank.

How to Create a Business Plan: Questions to Ask Yourself

As you write a business plan, take time to not only analyze your business idea, but yourself as well. Ask the following questions to help you analyze your business idea along the way:

• Why do I want to start or expand my business?
• Do my goals (personal and professional) and values align with my business idea?
• What income do I need to generate for myself?
• What education, experience, and skills do I bring to my business?

How to Write a Business Plan Step by Step

According to the business plan template created by SCORE, Deluxe, and the SBA , a traditional business plan encompasses the following sections. 

• Executive summary
• Company description
• Products & services
• Market analysis
• Marketing & sales
• Management & organization
• Funding request
• Financial projections
• SWOT analysis

Since not everyone is aware of the key details to include in each section, we’ve listed information you can copy to fill in your business plan outline. Here’s how to build a business plan step by step.  

Executive Summary

The Executive Summary is the first part of your business plan, so this is where you need to hook readers in. Every business plan starts this way — even a simple business plan template should kick off with the Executive Summary. Summarize your entire business plan in a single page, highlighting details about your business that will excite potential investors and lenders. 

Explain what your business has to offer, your target market , what separates you from the competition, a little bit about yourself and the core people behind your business, and realistic projections about your business’ success.

While this is the first section of your business plan, write it after you’ve completed the rest of your business plan. It’s a lot easier because you can pull from the sections you’ve already written, and it’s easier to identify the best parts of your business plan to include on the first page.

Company Description

In the Company Description, share 411 about your business. Include basic details like: 

• Legal structure (sole proprietor, partnership, corporation, etc.)
• Business and tax ID numbers
• When the business started
• Ownership information
• Number of employees

Your mission statement , philosophy and values, vision, short- and long-term goals, and milestones along with a brief overview of your industry, market, outlook, and competitors should also be in the Company Description.

Pro tip: These are the details you’ll use each time you create a business profile, whether that's on social media, business directories, or other networks. Keep your information consistent to reduce confusion and instill more confidence in potential customers. 

Products & Services

The Products & Services section details what you plan to sell to customers. For a dropshipping business , this section should explain which trending products you’re going to sell, the pain points your products solve for customers, how you’ll price your products compared to your competitors, expected profit margin, and production and delivery details.

Remember to include any unique selling points for specific products or product groupings, such as low overhead, exclusive agreements with vendors, the ability to obtain products that are in short supply / high demand based on your connections, personalized customer service, or other advantages.

For dropshipping businesses selling hundreds or even thousands of products, detail the main categories of products and the number of products you plan to offer within each category. By doing this, it’s easier to visualize your business offerings as a whole to determine if you need more products in one category to fully flesh out your online store.

Market Analysis

The Market Analysis section of your business plan allows you to share the research you have done to learn about your target audience — the potential buyers of your products. People requesting a business plan will want to know that you have a solid understanding of your industry, the competitive landscape, who’s most likely to become your customers. It’s important to demonstrate that  there’s a large enough market for your product to make it profitable and/or to make a strong return on investment .

To complete the Market Analysis component of your business plan, check out the following resources for industry, market, and local economic research:

• U.S. Embassy websites in most countries have a business section with information for people who want to sell abroad. Business sections include a basic “getting started” guide, links to economic and data reports, trade events, and additional useful business links for a particular region.
• IBISWorld is a provider of free and paid industry research and procurement research reports for the United States , United Kingdom , Australia , and New Zealand .  
• Statista offers free and paid statistics and studies from over 18,000 sources including industry reports, country reports, market studies, outlook reports, and consumer market reports.   

Use these websites and others to learn about the projected growth of your industry and your potential profitability. You can also use social media tools like Facebook Audience Insights to estimate the size of your target market on the largest social network

Another way to research your market and products is through Google Trends . This free tool will allow you to see how often people search for the products your business offers over time. Be sure to explain how your business plans to capitalize on increasing and decreasing search trends accordingly.

Marketing & Sales

Knowing your target market is half the battle. In the Marketing & Sales section, share how you plan to reach and sell products to your target market. Outline the marketing and advertising strategies you intend to use to market your product to potential customers – search marketing , social media marketing , email marketing , and influencer marketing methods .

If you’re unsure how to market your business’ products, analyze your competitors for some inspiration. Discovering your competition’s marketing tactics will help you customize your own strategy for building a customer base and ultimately taking your business to the next level. 

Do a Google search for your competitor’s business name to find the websites, social accounts, and content they’ve created to market their products. Look at the ways your competitor uses each online entity to drive new customers to their website and product pages.

Then come up with a plan to convert a similar audience with your marketing and advertising messages. For dropshipping businesses, conversions will typically take place on your website as people purchase your products and/or by phone if you take orders over the phone. 

Management & Organization

In the Management & Organization piece of your business plan, describe the structure of your business. In terms of legal structure and incorporation, most businesses are classified as sole proprietorships (one owner), partnerships (two or more owners), corporations, or S corporations.

Draft a condensed resume for each of the key members of your business. If you’re a solopreneur , include how your past education and work experience will help you run each aspect of your business. If you have one or more partner(s) and employee(s), include their relevant education and experience as well.

Think of this as a great way to evaluate the strengths of each individual running your business. When self-evaluating, you’ll be able to identify the aspects of your business that’ll be easier to manage and which ones to delegate to freelancers, contractors, employees, and third-party services. This also makes it easier to find the best way to utilize their strengths for business growth.

Funding Request

Chances are, you don’t have a funding request for a startup dropshipping business since the appeal to dropshipping is the low upfront investment . If you’re looking for a loan, however, this would be the section where you outline the dollar amount you need, what you plan to invest in, and how you see the return on your investment.

Another way to use this section is to analyze the investment you have or plan to make when starting or growing your business. This should include everything from the computer you use to run your website to the monthly fee for business services.

Financial Projections

In Financial Projections, share your projected revenue and expenses for the first or next five years of your business. The idea here is to demonstrate that the revenue you’re anticipating will easily lead to a return on any investment, whether from your personal finances or a capital lending service.

If you’re looking for funding, you’ll need to go into detail with projected income statements, balance sheets, cash flow statements, and capital expenditure budgets. If you aren’t looking for funding, it won’t hurt to create these types of financial projections so you can realistically plan for the future of your business.

The Appendix of your business plan includes any supplemental documents needed throughout the sections of your business plan. These may include, but are not limited to: 

• Credit histories
• Product brochures
• Legal forms
• Supplier contracts

If you’re submitting your business plan for funding, contact the lender to see what documentation they want included with your funding request.

SWOT Analysis

In addition to the above sections, some business plans also include a SWOT Analysis. This is a one-page summary of your business’s strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. The strengths and weaknesses you include will be internal, whereas opportunities and threats you include will be external. 

Depending on the revelations of this section, you may or may not want to make a SWOT analysis when submitting your business plan formally unless it is requested.

Summary: How to Create a Business Plan

As you can see, creating a business plan for your dropshipping business is a great way to validate your business idea , discover your business’s strengths and weaknesses, and make a blueprint for your business's future.

In summary, here are the sections you will need to write for your business plan, step by step:

• SWOT analysis (Optional)

If you haven’t already, take the time to create a business plan to launch or grow your business in 2023!

Want to Learn More?

• How to Start a Dropshipping Business
• How to Register a Business in the USA
• How to Launch Your Ecommerce Store in Less Than 30 Minutes Flat
• 30+ Amazing Startup Business Ideas That’ll Make You Money

The Ultimate Guide to Writing a Business Plan [With Full Example]

I. Introduction

A business plan is the foundation of any successful firm; it is a strategic blueprint that lays out a comprehensive road map for what you aim to achieve and how you intend to do it. It is an essential tool for defining objectives, acquiring capital, and guiding the growth of your organization. This guide intends to be a comprehensive resource for developing a creative business plan that will push your entrepreneurial enterprise to success. In order to enhance your comprehension and facilitate the practical application of this guide, we will supply a comprehensive strategy for a hypothetical coffee shop business, HQ Coffee Shop.

II. Understanding the Purpose of Your Business Plan

Before delving into the components of a business plan, it’s critical to understand why you need one in the first place. A business plan is a strategic tool, not merely a paper. It aids in the establishment of goals and objectives for your company, acts as the foundation for your financial strategy, and serves as an operational guide as your company expands.

III. Essential Elements of a Business Plan

Making a thorough business strategy entails dividing the process down into manageable stages.

A. Executive Summary

The executive summary serves as a vital introduction to your business plan, similar to an elevator pitch in which the core of your company is distilled in a brief yet effective story. It is intended to provide a succinct and thorough explanation of your company’s concept, strategy, goals, and general mission. This isn’t simply a dry recitation of information; it’s your opportunity to excite, pique curiosity, and set your company apart from the competitors.

The executive summary should begin by explaining your business goal briefly, providing a clear picture of the ambitions and aspirations your organization is striving towards. This might be anything from entering a new market category to launching a novel product or service. Your purpose has to be compelling and lucid, for it is the compass that will guide potential investors in understanding your business’s direction.

The following section of the executive overview includes a detailed description of what your company serves. This is where you dig into the nitty gritty of your business, offering a high-level overview of your products or services. It is critical to deliver this information in a clear and concise manner, without overloading the reader with needless jargon or complexity, and provide a clear image of how your company functions and the distinct value proposition it offers.

Another essential aspect that your executive summary must explain clearly is why your firm will be successful. It is also helpful to discuss your methods for overcoming any obstacles or hurdles that your company may face, as this will demonstrate your readiness and resilience.

The most important thing to remember is that your executive summary must be captivating. It’s the hook that will entice potential investors to learn more. It should make them sit up and take attention, as well as pique their interest enough to want to learn more. Because the executive summary is usually the first section of a business plan that potential investors see, it sets the tone for everything that follows. The right executive summary may make or break your ability to persuade investors that your company is worth their time and money. You should put in significant work to create an executive summary that properly conveys the core of your company, its potential, and its future destiny.

Business Name “HQ Coffee Shop”

Vision Statement: “HQ Coffee Shop aspires to become a beloved hub in our local community, providing more than just a cup of coffee, but rather an experience steeped in warmth, comfort, and connection.” Our long-term goal is to expand across the city and eventually nationwide, always maintaining customer happiness and the sense of community at the forefront of our growth.

“The Business: HQ Coffee Shop is a unique coffee shop located in the middle of Denver. Our primary products will include a selection of high-quality, sustainably produced coffee blends as well as a curated selection of local pastries and snacks. But we’re more than just a coffee shop. We want HQ Coffee Shop to be a place that enables interactions and creates a feeling of community. With a design that encourages both collaborative meetings and quiet introspection, we cater to a wide range of customer needs, from students and remote workers looking for a change of scenery to local artists and creatives looking for inspiration, to friends and neighbors looking for a warm, friendly environment in which to connect.

Why We Will Succeed:

There are three major reasons why HQ Coffee Shop will succeed:

1. Location: Our business is centrally placed in Denver, assuring strong foot traffic and exposure. Its closeness to residential areas, business centers, and universities also puts us in a good position to become a popular destination for a wide range of clients.

2. Product Excellence: We are dedicated to offering high-quality, sustainably sourced coffee as well as a choice of delectable local pastries. We guarantee that our guests experience only the freshest cuisine while also supporting our local economy by forming connections with local farmers and bakeries.

3. Community-Centric Approach: HQ Coffee Shop strives to be more than just a coffee shop in a world where people are increasingly seeking connection. We’re building a location that draws people together and fosters a sense of belonging and community. We will create a devoted client base that values not just our items, but also the unique experience we provide by sponsoring local events, supporting local artists, and offering an engaging and inspirational environment.

HQ Coffee Shop is destined to become a beloved staple in the local landscape thanks to our strategic spot, dedication to quality and sustainability, and community-focused mission. We are eager to begin this adventure as we look forward to the many stories we will tell over a delicious cup of coffee.

B. Company Description

This part of your business plan provides an overview of your company. It is intended to give readers, especially potential investors, a thorough grasp of your company’s structure, purpose, and main selling features. The content presented therein should not only capture the core of your firm but should also go into key specifics, providing a vivid and enticing image of your organization. Begin by developing your mission statement .

This isn’t just a few paragraphs describing your company’s goals; it’s the guiding light that identifies your company’s essential mission and values. It is a statement of your company’s raison d’être that embodies your company’s ethos, philosophy, and goals in a clear, compelling, and motivating manner. Your mission statement should succinctly articulate not just what your company aims to achieve, but also the underlying principles and values that will guide its path.

Following the mission statement, add information about your company’s daily activities and functions. Explain what your organization performs in simple and straightforward terms. Be transparent about the nature of your operations, whether it’s the manufacture of a product, the provision of a service, or the development of a platform. Dive into the processes, techniques, and technology involved to learn how your company provides value to its customers.

It is also critical to highlight the unique challenges that your company is created to tackle. Potential investors must comprehend the issues or demands that your company seeks to address, as well as how your products or services meet those requirements. Be explicit about the solutions you offer, and where possible, illustrate how your offerings translate into real-world benefits for your customers.

Then, identify your target audience . Describe the clients who require your product or service in detail. This includes demographics, psychographics, and any other information that might assist define who your average consumer is. Understanding your target market is critical for prospective investors since it reveals the size and feasibility of your company’s opportunity.

Finally, be sure to highlight the distinctive characteristics of your company that set it apart from the competition. This might range from exclusive technology to unique business processes and a skilled management team, as well as strong strategic connections. Highlight specific traits that provide your organization a market advantage. This distinction is critical in attracting the attention of potential investors and demonstrating why your company is a good investment.

When describing your company, keep in mind to build an engaging story that conveys the core of your company. This high-level perspective should not only enlighten but also inspire, generating a tale that demonstrates your company’s potential, enthusiasm, and preparedness to make a substantial influence in its relevant industry.

Company Description

Mission Statement: “At HQ Coffee Shop, our mission is to cultivate a community around the love for coffee. We aim to offer a warm, inviting, and inspiring space for people to connect, work, and relax while enjoying high-quality, sustainably-sourced coffee and locally-produced fare.”

This section offers an overview of your business. It should contain your goal statement, information about what you do, particular pain points you tackle, and your target audience. Make a point of emphasizing the distinctive characteristics of your company that set it apart.

Purpose Statement: “At HQ Coffee Shop, our mission is to cultivate a community centered on the love of coffee.” We hope to provide a welcoming, engaging, and inspirational environment for individuals to interact, work, and rest while enjoying high-quality, sustainably sourced coffee and locally made cuisine.”

What we do: HQ Coffee Shop is not your typical coffee establishment. We provide expertly brewed, ethically sourced coffee, as well as a carefully chosen range of locally sourced pastries.

At the same time, we offer a warm and adaptable setting, with private spaces for calm reflection and huge communal tables for lively talks and gatherings. Furthermore, through presenting local events such as live music evenings, art exhibitions, and coffee tastings, we actively contribute to and connect with our local community.

The Problems We Solve

1. A Desire for Connection: In this day and age, face-to-face social contacts are sometimes disregarded. HQ Coffee Shop serves as a meeting place for people of the community to interact and engage with one another.

2. Workstation Woes: For independent contractors, students, and remote workers who don’t have an inspirational workstation at home, HQ Coffee Shop provides a change of scenery and a productive setting with basic conveniences like free Wi-Fi and enough power outlets.

3. Sustainable Choices: We serve consumers who are mindful of their purchasing habits and want to support businesses that are devoted to sustainability and local economies.

Demographics and Psychographics: Our major target demographic consists of young professionals, students, and local residents aged 18–45. This encompasses both local residents looking for a spot to relax and connect with their community, and employees working in offices nearby who want a quick coffee break or an alternative space to have meetings.

As for psychographics, we target individuals who appreciate quality and sustainability, prefer locally-produced items, and are conscious on a social level. They value art and culture, are open to meeting new people, and are likely to take part in community events.

Unique Selling Point (USP):

Our USP lies in the symbiosis of our entitlement to quality, connection, and community. While we ensure high-quality, sustainably-sourced coffee and local desserts, what truly sets HQ Coffee Shop apart is our commitment to creating a sense of community. Our coffee shop is designed to be a leading hub of connection, creativity, and collaboration, catering not only to those seeking a fantastic cup of coffee but also those who value a welcoming, inspiring space to work, socialize, and connect. Our community events and support for local artists and producers further emphasize our role as a catalyst for local connections and partnerships.

C. Market Analysis

A market analysis is a complete examination of the commercial landscape in which your company works, giving critical confirmation that your product or service has a viable and healthy market. A market analysis’s primary goal is to shed light on the market’s dynamics, providing insights into its size, growth potential, trends, and competitive landscape. Businesses may empower themselves with critical data that can influence strategic decision-making and limit risk by undertaking a thorough market study.

Starting with a market analysis requires a detailed grasp of your sector. This includes not just an appreciation for the here and now, but also an in-depth examination of its historical evolution and a forecast of where it’s going. This entails researching the current trends that are shaping your sector. Is there any technological progress or movement in customer behavior that is substantially changing the industry landscape? It’s critical to recognize these patterns, understand their ramifications, and assess how they could affect your company’s future.

Understanding your top competitors is an important component of market analysis. An in-depth competition study may provide you with a deeper understanding of your competitors and their strategy. What are the strengths and shortcomings of your competitors? What are their market shares, business methods, and unique selling points? How do their products or services stack up against yours? Knowing your competition through and thoroughly may assist you not only build out a distinct niche for your organization but also enable you to anticipate potential competitive threats.

Another important aspect of market research is defining and comprehending the qualities of your target group. This process includes investigating your target consumers’ demographics, psychographics, purchasing behaviors, preferences, wants, and issues. What are their ages, economic levels, lifestyles, and geographical locations? What factors influence their purchasing decisions? What issues do they have that your product or service can help them with? A thorough understanding of your target audience enables you to adjust your product, marketing, and sales methods to their wants and preferences, increasing your chances of market success.

Finally, market analysis should take into account any external elements that may have an influence on your firm, such as economic conditions, the regulatory environment, and social or cultural considerations. Even though these elements might not be within your control, understanding them helps you adapt your tactics and remain resilient to change.

Market Analysis

Industry Overview and Trends:

The coffee shop industry has seen consistent growth over the years, with a marked shift towards specialty coffee and sustainable practices. As of 2023, consumers are increasingly valuing not just the quality and taste of their coffee, but also the source of their beans and the environmental footprint of their purchases. Additionally, there’s a growing trend of consumers using coffee shops as “third spaces” — places outside of home and work where they can relax, work, or socialize. The trend towards remote work and flexible working arrangements has also boosted this phenomenon.

Competitive Analysis:

HQ Coffee Shop operates in a competitive market with key players including major chains like Starbucks and Costa Coffee, as well as local independent coffee shops.

1. Starbucks has a massive footprint and offers a broad range of beverages. However, its size can be a disadvantage as it often lacks the personal touch and community focus that smaller shops like HQ Coffee Shop can provide.

2. Costa Coffee is known for its warm and comfortable interiors. While they offer good quality coffee, their community engagement and sustainability practices are areas we can outperform.

3. Local independent coffee shops often have a unique appeal and can foster a strong local following. They can differ widely in terms of their offering and focus, but our unique blend of quality, community involvement, and sustainable practices sets us apart.

Target Market Characteristics:

Our primary target audience is young professionals, students, and local residents aged between 18–45. They are typically well-educated, socially conscious, and tech-savvy.

1. Young Professionals — They value a space where they can escape the office for a while, have informal meetings, or work remotely in a more relaxed environment.

2. Students — They are looking for a place to study, meet with classmates, or relax between classes. They value affordability, free Wi-Fi, and a comfortable ambiance.

3. Local Residents — They value a community hub where they can meet with friends, participate in local events, or simply enjoy a good cup of coffee. They appreciate locally sourced products and businesses that give back to the community.

While price sensitivity varies across our target market, quality, convenience, and a sense of community are common values. Moreover, our target audience tends to be more environmentally conscious, appreciating businesses that incorporate sustainability into their operations.

D. Organization and Management Structure

In this part, you’ll dig into the complexities of your company’s organizational structure and the team that propels it ahead. The idea is to provide potential investors and other interested parties with a comprehensive knowledge of the people behind your company and how they work together. It’s also a chance to highlight the combined ability, talents, and expertise of your team.

Begin by providing an outline of your company’s organizational structure. This is the hierarchical structure that defines your organization’s lines of power, tasks, and communication. Outline how your company is structured and why this structure is appropriate for your business model and goals, whether it is a flat structure that promotes autonomy and quick decisions, a matrix structure that emphasizes flexibility and collaboration, or a more traditional hierarchical structure that promotes clear roles and responsibilities.

Following the broad structural overview, focus on the individual team members who comprise the backbone of your organization. Outline each important team member’s unique duties and responsibilities inside the firm. Are they in charge of making strategic decisions, supervising everyday operations, driving product development, or directing marketing efforts? You may help potential investors understand who is responsible for what in your business by clearly describing each team member’s function.

However, simply stating duties is insufficient; you must also showcase the expertise and qualities that these people bring to their positions. Include their educational background, employment experience, particular accomplishments, and any industry accolades they may have obtained. Perhaps they have previously managed successful initiatives, have a track record of income production, or have specialized expertise that offers your company a competitive advantage. Highlighting these components is critical since it demonstrates your team’s capacity to carry out your business strategy successfully.

Don’t forget to highlight how each team member’s knowledge and experience will help your company’s overall success. How will their abilities complement one another and contribute to the company’s overall goals? Demonstrating this can reassure potential investors that your team has the requisite knowledge, drive, and experience to steer the business toward success.

Organization and Management Structure

HQ Coffee Shop follows a flat organizational structure that encourages open communication, collaboration, and equal contribution from all members of our team. We believe this structure not only facilitates effective decision-making and problem-solving but also fosters a sense of ownership and accountability among our staff.

1. Founder & CEO, [Your Name]: With over 10 years of experience in the hospitality industry and a passion for both coffee and community-building, [Your Name] founded HQ Coffee Shop to bring these interests together. [Your Name]’s deep understanding of the market, combined with strong leadership and business acumen, will guide the company’s strategic direction and oversee all aspects of its operations.

2. Operations Manager, [Operations Manager’s Name]: The operations of HQ Coffee Shop will be overseen by [Operations Manager’s Name], who brings over 5 years of experience in coffee shop and restaurant management. [He/She/They] will be responsible for day-to-day operations, including staffing, inventory management, supplier relationships, and ensuring a smooth service flow.

3. Head Barista, [Head Barista’s Name]: [Head Barista’s Name], with [his/her/their] extensive experience and deep knowledge of coffee, will ensure that the quality of our coffee remains top-notch. Apart from training our barista team, [Head Barista’s Name] will also play a crucial role in coffee selection and menu development.

4. Community Manager, [Community Manager’s Name]: Understanding the integral role community plays in our business, [Community Manager’s Name] will be in charge of organizing local events, liaising with local artists, and maintaining strong relationships with our customers and the wider community. With a background in public relations and event management, [Community Manager’s Name] is adept at fostering strong connections and promoting a positive brand image.

5. Baristas and Support Staff: Our team of skilled baristas and support staff will be the frontline of HQ Coffee Shop, interacting directly with our customers, serving high-quality coffee, and maintaining a welcoming environment. They will be trained not just in coffee preparation, but also in customer service, to ensure every customer feels valued and welcomed.

Our team is our greatest asset, and each member plays a vital role in bringing the HQ Coffee Shop experience to life. With a shared passion for coffee and community, our collective experience and commitment to our mission position us well for success.

E. Description of Services or Products

In this section of your business plan, you will delve into the complexities of your product or service, offering a thorough evaluation of what your company delivers and how it meets the wants or wishes of your clients. This part allows you to showcase the uniqueness and benefits of your product or service, showing why your company is a vital player in the market.

First, describe what you sell in depth. Paint a clear and exact image of your offering, whether it’s a concrete product or an intangible service. Extend beyond simple product or service descriptions. Discuss the features, functionality, design, and quality of your product or service, as well as how these pieces work together to suit the demands of your clients.

Second, explain how your product or service will benefit your consumers. This is the point at which you shift from what your product is to what it does for the consumer. What issues does it address? What benefit does it provide? Does it make life easier, more efficient, give entertainment, or fulfill a certain need or desire? By outlining these advantages, you enable potential investors and other stakeholders to understand how your product or service fits into and enhances your consumers’ lives.

Provide an overview of your product’s lifespan in addition to the characteristics and advantages. This includes discussing the numerous steps your product goes through, from its initial concept and design through its development and testing, launch, and post-launch upgrades. Understanding the product lifetime may provide potential investors with insights regarding your product’s lifespan and flexibility, as well as your capacity to manage its evolution successfully.

Furthermore, any future product or development plans must be outlined. What direction do you anticipate your product or service taking in the coming years? Are there any planned enhancements, extensions, or new products? Having a clear future roadmap shows that your company is forward-thinking and agile, ready to grab new opportunities and overcome problems as they occur.

Descriptions of Services and Products

At HQ Coffee Shop, we offer a wide range of products and services designed to meet our customers’ varying needs and preferences.

Coffee: We provide an array of high-quality, ethically-sourced coffees, offering everything from traditional espressos and lattes to pour-over coffees and cold brews. Our selection caters to both traditional coffee lovers and those seeking to try new, unique flavors. Each cup serves not only as a delightful beverage but also as a testament to our commitment to quality and sustainability.

Local Pastries and Snacks: Alongside our coffee offerings, we serve a variety of pastries and snacks sourced from local bakeries. This not only ensures the freshness and quality of our food but also supports other local businesses and reduces our environmental footprint.

Workspace Facilities: For students, freelancers, and professionals, HQ Coffee Shop provides a comfortable workspace with free Wi-Fi and plenty of power outlets. This allows our customers to use our space as a productive, inspiring ‘third place’ to work and study.

Community Events: We regularly host local events such as live music nights, art exhibitions, and coffee tastings. These events offer our customers unique experiences and opportunities to engage with the community, creating more reasons for them to visit beyond just our products.

Product Lifecycle: Coffee and local pastries, our core offerings, are perennial favorites with a life cycle that extends throughout the year. Variations may occur based on seasonality, like offering special holiday-themed beverages or introducing seasonal local produce into our food menu.

Future Product and Service Development Plans: As we continue to grow and evolve, we plan to expand our product and service offerings in response to customer feedback and market trends. Potential plans include:

1. Loyalty Program: To reward our regular customers, we plan to introduce a loyalty program that offers discounts and special privileges.

2. Private Event Hosting: We will explore offering our space for private events such as workshops, meetings, and small parties during off-peak hours.

3. Expansion of Food Menu: Depending on customer demand, we might broaden our food offerings to include more substantial meal options like sandwiches and salads.

4. Merchandising: As our brand grows, we may consider selling branded merchandise such as reusable coffee mugs, t-shirts, and coffee beans for home brewing.

At HQ Coffee Shop, we believe that our services and products contribute not only to individual customer satisfaction but also to building a stronger community. We aim to continually innovate and improve, ensuring that we remain a beloved hub in our community for years to come.

F. Marketing and Sales Strategy

This part will go through your marketing and sales strategy, which will serve as your game plan for reaching out to potential consumers, converting them into real purchases, and cultivating long-term loyalty . This strategy goes beyond just listing your intentions; it articulates how your company expects to communicate its value proposition to the market and drive and sustain demand for its services.

Begin by developing a marketing strategy . This is a detailed strategy outlining how you intend to advertise your product or service to potential clients. Which channels will you employ? What is your unique selling offer, and how will you categorize your market? Discuss your approach to marketing’s seven Ps : product, pricing, place, people, packaging, process, and promotion. Will you market your product as a premium offering, or will you compete on price? What distribution channels will you employ, and how will you explain the benefits of your product to your target audience? These factors will help potential investors understand how you intend to raise awareness and develop demand for your product or service.

Next, consider your sales plan . Your sales strategy is the structure that directs the actions of your sales force, from prospecting new leads to completing deals. How will you find and contact potential customers? What is the structure of your sales process, and what tools and strategies will your sales team employ to complete deals? Discuss your techniques for developing client connections, dealing with objections, and eventually convincing prospects that your product or service is the greatest fit for their requirements.

Outlining the particular strategies you want to use is an important aspect of any marketing and sales strategy. In this section, you should explain how you intend to employ tactics such as Search Engine Optimization (SEO) to boost your online exposure and drive more organic visitors to your website. Discuss how you plan to use social media channels to raise brand recognition, engage customers, and market your products. If you want to employ traditional advertising channels such as print, television, or radio commercials, explain how they will help you reach your target demographic. Consider also mentioning any content marketing, email marketing, or event marketing strategies you plan to implement.

Marketing and Sales Strategy

To position HQ Coffee Shop as the go-to community coffee hub, we will leverage a multifaceted marketing and sales strategy that effectively targets our demographic and builds a loyal customer base.

Marketing Plan:

1. SEO & Website: Our website will be optimized for search engines to ensure high visibility for people searching for coffee shops in our area. It will provide information about our offerings, events, and community initiatives, and will also feature a blog sharing coffee-related tips, news, and stories about our local partners.

2. Social Media: We’ll maintain active profiles on platforms such as Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter. These will be used to engage with our audience, share news and updates, showcase our products, and promote events. Instagram, with its visual appeal, will be particularly useful for showcasing our inviting atmosphere, delicious products, and vibrant community events.

3. Email Marketing: We will develop an email newsletter to keep our customers informed about upcoming events, new menu items, and special promotions. This will serve as a direct line of communication to our most engaged customers.

4. Local Collaborations and Events: Partnering with local businesses and artists for events and promotions is a key part of our marketing strategy, serving to both attract customers and strengthen our community ties.

5. Traditional Advertising: Although our focus will be primarily on digital marketing, we’ll also utilize traditional methods such as local newspaper ads, flyers, and community bulletin boards, especially when promoting events.

Sales Strategy:

1. Outstanding Customer Service: Our team will be trained to provide exceptional service, ensuring that every customer feels welcomed and valued. This emphasis on customer experience aims to encourage repeat visits and word-of-mouth referrals.

2. Loyalty Program: To encourage repeat business, we plan to implement a loyalty program offering perks such as discounts, free items after a certain number of purchases, and early access to special events.

3. Product Variety: By offering a diverse range of high-quality beverages and snacks, we aim to cater to a broad range of tastes and dietary needs, thus attracting a wider customer base.

4. Community Engagement: Regular hosting of events and workshops will keep customers engaged and give them reasons to visit beyond our core product offerings.

5. Seasonal Promotions: To boost sales during typically slower periods, we’ll introduce seasonal promotions and limited-time offerings.

By implementing these marketing and sales strategies, we aim to build strong brand awareness, attract and retain a loyal customer base, and position HQ Coffee Shop as a beloved community hub. Our approach will be flexible and dynamic, allowing us to respond and adapt to feedback and changes in the market.

G. Funding Request

This part is critical if your company is looking for financial investment. Here, you must clearly and simply define your fundraising requirements, providing potential investors with a comprehensive grasp of your company’s financial demands. This is more than just mentioning a number; it is about defining your financing requirements in a way that indicates careful preparation, prudent financial management, and a clear vision of how the investment can accelerate your company’s growth.

To begin, you should indicate the precise amount of funds you require. Be specific, as this provides potential investors with a clear picture of the size of investment necessary. Your stated amount should be based on a comprehensive examination of your business strategy and estimates, and it should appropriately reflect your company’s capital requirements for a given time period.

Following that, go through the funds in depth. Divide your budget into particular areas, such as research and development, inventory, equipment, marketing, recruiting, or operations. Will the funds be utilized to create new products or services, enter new markets, or even boost manufacturing capacity? By explaining the intended use of funds, you convince potential investors that their money will be utilized intelligently and strategically to promote development and improve the profitability of the organization.

Describe the sort of money you’re searching for after giving the amount and purpose of the funding. Are you looking for equity financing , in which investors offer funds in return for a stake in your company? Or are you looking for debt financing , in which funds are offered in the form of a loan that must be returned with interest? Perhaps you’re open to a hybrid of the two. This is critical information for potential investors since it specifies the nature of their investment and the expected return.

Finally, if applicable, detail past investment rounds, including how much funds were obtained and how it was used. This not only provides additional context about your company’s financial history but also demonstrates your business’s ability to effectively utilize investments.

Funding Request

To establish HQ Coffee Shop as a welcoming, high-quality community coffee shop, we are seeking an initial investment of $250,000. This capital will be used to cover the costs of start-up, and initial operating expenses, and allow us to navigate the early stages of the business before reaching a sustainable level of cash flow. We are open to discussions regarding the type of funding, whether it be a traditional business loan, venture capital, or a private investment, with terms that are mutually beneficial.

Here is a breakdown of how the funding will be allocated:

1. Lease and Renovations ($70,000): These funds will be used to secure a prime location for our coffee shop and to renovate the space to align with our brand’s aesthetic and functional needs.

2. Equipment ($50,000): A significant portion will be invested in high-quality coffee machines, grinders, kitchen appliances, and other necessary equipment.

3. Inventory ($20,000): This will cover the initial cost of inventory, including coffee beans, milk, pastries, and other consumables.

4. Marketing and Advertising ($20,000): To effectively reach and attract our target market, a robust marketing and advertising plan will be crucial. This budget will allow us to engage in both online and offline advertising strategies, including the development and maintenance of a website, social media campaigns, and local advertising.

5. Operating Expenses ($60,000): This amount will cover initial operating expenses, such as utilities, staff salaries, insurance, and permit fees, allowing us to operate comfortably during the initial phase of the business when revenues might be lower.

6. Contingency Fund ($30,000): A portion of the funding will be reserved as a contingency fund to cover unexpected costs and provide financial stability during the first few months of operations.

Investment in HQ Coffee Shop is an investment in not just a coffee shop, but also a community-centered business with a strong focus on quality, sustainability, and local engagement. We firmly believe that with your investment, we can bring this vision to life and create a thriving business that is a beloved part of our local community.

H. Financial Projections

Financial forecasts are critical components of every business strategy, acting as a road map that describes your company’s financial future. They are especially important when seeking funding since they give potential investors and lenders a measurable gauge of your company’s profitability and financial health. These predictions, which often contain income statements, balance sheets, and cash flow statements, provide an overview of your company’s present financial situation as well as an estimate of its future performance.

To begin, incorporate income statements into your financial plans. An income statement, often known as a profit and loss statement, shows how much profit your company produces after deducting all expenditures from revenues. It presents a detailed picture of your company’s profitability over a specific time period, generally a fiscal year. All-important revenue streams and expense categories, including cost of goods sold, operating expenses, taxes, and net profit, should be included in this statement. Projecting income statements for the next five years will provide potential investors with a long-term picture of your company’s profitability and assist them in determining the possible return on investment.

After that, include balance sheets in your financial predictions. A balance sheet is a snapshot of your company’s financial situation at a given point in time. It provides information about your company’s net worth by listing its assets, liabilities, and shareholders’ equity. Future balance sheets should demonstrate how these components are likely to evolve over the following five years. A rising net worth might suggest a thriving business, which can be enticing. Include cash flow statements in your predictions as well. These statements demonstrate the impact of changes in the balance sheet and income statement on cash and cash equivalents. They indicate how your firm earns and spends money in its operations, investments, and financing. You may illustrate to investors how you intend to manage cash resources and satisfy continuing financial commitments by displaying future cash flow statements.

It is critical to be both reasonable and transparent while creating these forecasts. Overly optimistic projections may be perceived as unrealistic or even naïve. Financial predictions should be based on sound assumptions and facts, indicating a deep grasp of your market, company strategy, and financial dynamics. Clearly explain the rationale behind your projections, making it easier for potential investors to follow your thinking and assess the credibility of your figures.

Financial Projections

For the purpose of the business plan, detailed financial projections such as income statements, balance sheets, and cash flow statements cannot be provided in this text-based format. However, I can provide a broad outline of the elements that should be covered in these financial documents.

1. Income Statements: These should outline your projected revenues, costs of goods sold (COGS), operating expenses, taxes, and net income. Be sure to clearly differentiate between one-time start-up costs and ongoing operational costs. Take into consideration both your best-case and worst-case scenarios.

2. Balance Sheets: These should list your projected assets (both current and noncurrent), liabilities (current and noncurrent), and equity. The balance sheet provides a snapshot of what your business owns and owes at a specific point in time.

3. Cash Flow Statements: These should detail where you expect to generate cash from (operating activities, investments, and financing) and where this cash will be spent. Remember to include all projected income and expenses, and be aware of the difference between cash flows (actual cash in hand) and net income (which can include credit transactions).

These financial projections should be based on reasonable assumptions about the growth of your business. A bottom-up approach, starting with estimates of how many customers you might be able to attract and how much they will spend, can be particularly useful.

If you are presenting this business plan to potential investors or lenders, you may also want to include a break-even analysis, which shows when your business will be able to cover all its expenses and start making a profit, as well as key ratios such as gross margin and net profit margin.

Lastly, remember that financial projections are just that — projections. They should be used as a guide and a planning tool, but keep in mind that actual results will likely vary. Be prepared to adjust your business plan and budget as necessary based on your actual financial performance.

(Note: If you need assistance developing these financial documents, you may wish to work with a business advisor or accountant. They can help ensure that your financial projections are realistic and based on sound assumptions.)

IV. Making Your Business Plan Stand Out

Tailor your business plan to your audience, underline your unique selling proposition, write a cohesive and engaging story, and present it properly to make it genuinely captivating.

Creating a standout business strategy is critical for various reasons:

1. Attracting Investors: Potential investors might be drawn in by a distinctive and attractive company concept. A distinct business plan may make your company more recognizable and enticing amid a sea of investment prospects, enhancing your chances of receiving finance.

2. Competitive Advantage: Your strategy may establish a significant competitive advantage by emphasizing the distinctive elements of your firm. This might be a distinct business plan, an innovative product or service, a specific niche, or any other element that distinguishes your company from the competition.

3. Strategic Focus: A strong business strategy may also assist your firm keep its strategic focus. It may serve as a road map, reminding you of your unique value offer and directing decision-making to keep you on track with your objectives and vision.

4. Marketing and Branding: An eye-catching company plan may also help you shape your marketing and branding approach. It aids in the identification of distinct selling features and core values that will resonate with your target audience and make your company recognizable to them.

5. Stakeholder Engagement: Even if a company isn’t looking for investors, a creative business strategy may help it engage other stakeholders. Potential partners, workers, and even consumers who are interested in your company’s objective and approach may fall into this category.

In short, while all business plans have a practical purpose, developing one that stands out helps your company to create a good first impression, establish its unique value, and successfully steer its route toward accomplishing its objectives.

V. Common Mistakes to Avoid When Creating a Business Plan

Avoid typical errors such as making exaggerated financial estimates, ignoring the competition, conducting insufficient market research, losing focus, and failing to update your company plan on a regular basis.

Developing a business plan is an important element of starting a new firm, but there are numerous typical mistakes that entrepreneurs make in the process. Here are a few examples:

1. Unrealistic Financial Projections: Making overly optimistic revenue projections will harm your reputation. Investors understand that startups are risky, and they value realistic estimates that are supported by strong assumptions and market research.

2. Inadequate Market Research: A lack of awareness of the market, competition, and client demands can result in poor company strategy. Comprehensive market research is essential for establishing that your product or service is in demand.

3. Ignoring the competitors: Failure to recognize and assess your competitors might indicate a lack of understanding of your market. Every company has rivals, and knowing their strengths and flaws may help you differentiate your own product.

4. Ignoring Marketing and Sales Strategies: Some company strategies are overly concerned with the product and fail to consider how it will be sold. It is critical to have a clear plan for reaching out to your customers, as well as sales and customer retention techniques.

5. Inadequate Goals and Milestones: A business strategy should include clear, measurable, attainable, relevant, and time-bound (SMART) goals. These serve as a road map for your company and a tool to track its success.

6. Lack of a Clear Value Proposition: If it is unclear what distinguishes your product or service and why customers should select it over alternatives, your business plan may fail to persuade investors or stakeholders.

7. Excessive Jargon: While it is crucial to demonstrate your understanding, a strategy that is overly replete with industry-specific jargon might be off-putting. It’s critical that anybody who reads your strategy, regardless of their background, understands it.

8. Failure to Customize Your Plan for Multiple Audiences: If you’re utilizing your business plan to attract multiple sorts of stakeholders (e.g., investors, partners, workers), it might be useful to tailor it to their unique interests and concerns.

9. Inadequate Financial Information: Investors and lenders will expect detailed financial information. Income statements, balance sheets, cash flow statements, and financial predictions should all be included in your strategy.

10. Write the Plan and Then Forget About It: A company plan should be a living document. It should grow alongside your company and be updated to reflect new insights, problems, and opportunities. Revisiting and modifying your strategy on a regular basis might help keep your business on track.

By being aware of and avoiding these typical blunders, you can develop a business plan that is not only attractive and persuasive but also an effective instrument for steering your company to success.

VI. The Role of a Business Plan in the Growth Phase

Your company strategy isn’t a one-time event. It will assist you in navigating changes, and keeping your staff focused on your business goals, and may be a valuable asset in attracting new investors or partners.

While a business plan is frequently linked with the beginning stage, its value does not lessen as the company expands. A business plan’s involvement during the expansion phase might be multifaceted:

1. Directing Expansion: New prospects for expansion are likely to develop as your company grows. These might involve expanding into new markets, releasing new products or services, or even purchasing from other companies. Your company plan may be used to describe and assess these possibilities, ensuring they are consistent with your long-term vision and goals.

2. Attracting Additional Investment: If you’re looking for additional capital to help your organization develop, an updated business plan is essential. This strategy should reflect your company’s current situation as well as future goals, indicating to investors that you’ve achieved early success and are ready to go on.

3. Aligning the Team: Changes such as new personnel, departments, or changes in corporate structure are common in times of growth. An updated business plan may ensure that everyone knows the company’s direction, their position within it, and how their work contributes to the bigger goals.

4. Risk Management: With growth comes new dangers. A business strategy might assist you in anticipating and mitigating these issues. This might include changes in the market, increasing competition, or potential supply chain disruptions.

5. Financial Management: Your company strategy should include up-to-date financial estimates that account for your development. This is critical for efficient cash flow management, budgeting, and profit analysis.

6. Establishing standards: A business plan may assist you in establishing new success standards, monitoring your progress toward these goals, and making any modifications. This is critical for sustaining momentum and guaranteeing long-term growth.

In brief, a business plan serves as a blueprint that leads strategic decision-making, coordinates team activities, controls risks, and assures financial health during the growth period. It should be updated on a regular basis, just like any other roadmap, to reflect the changing terrain and new destinations ahead.

VII. Conclusion

As mentioned earlier, your business plan is your company’s blueprint, defining your company’s future trajectory and how you intend to get there. Creating a business plan may appear to be a difficult task, but with careful preparation and attention to detail, you can produce a compelling strategy that positions your company for success.

VIII. Additional Resources

There are many resources available to help you in your business planning journey. Books like “ The Art of the Start ” by Guy Kawasaki and online tools such as LivePlan can provide further guidance. You might also consider enrolling in business planning workshops or courses to further enhance your understanding.

Written by Joey Badr

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How to Write a Business Plan: The Ultimate Guide in 2024

• By Luisa Zhou
• Building a Business
• Updated: April 14, 2024

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In this ultimate guide, you learn how to write a business plan you’ll actually use. 

You’ll learn:

• A simple process to create a stand-out business plan.
• The most important elements of a business plan.
• How to research your business plan. 
• How to write your business plan.
• Templates, examples, and much more. 

If you want to make sure that you write a great business plan, this guide will give you a lot of value. Read on!

Chapter 1: Business plan fundamentals

Let’s start by establishing what a business plan is. 

In this chapter, you get a business plan outline. 

You also learn how to write a great business plan, and much more. 

Let’s dive in.

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Business plan outline

Introduction.

• Executive Summary
• Company Description
• Product/Service Description 

Value Proposition

• Market Analysis 

Business Model 

• Sales Strategy 
• Growth Plan
• Management & Staffing
• Financial Summary 

What is a business plan? 

A business plan is a written document that outlines your business goals. It explains your business and how you’re going to reach those goals. 

You might need a business plan for obtaining a loan, receiving funding, or applying for a grant. 

But other than that, a business plan is mainly something you create as a roadmap for yourself. It gives you clarity, but no one else will probably see or use it. 

The thing is: 

You can use your business plan to crystallize your thinking and confirm your idea. Basically, to get started in the best way possible. 

That’s why I recommend that you keep it short. It is important to plan for your business. But it’s much more important to get out there and start building your business. 

This guide helps to make writing a business plan a simple process.

Steps to writing a good business plan

A great business plan consists of a few things:

• The language is clear and concise. If you’re writing your business plan for yourself, a few pages (2-5) is more than enough. If you’re writing it for a more official purpose, 15-20 pages will usually do. 
• Your audience’s needs and wants . Your business is built to address your customers’ problems, so your business plan should be written from your audience’s perspective. 
• Research. Your business plan should build on research and not your own assumptions. 

Chapter 2: How to do market research for your business

In this chapter, we’ll look at the research you need for your business plan.

You see, you need to understand your market to write a great business plan.

And for this, you need to do market research. 

Let’s find out how you do it. 

Why do you need market research? 

A lot of failed businesses have one thing in common.

They didn’t research their market. 

Market research essentially means that you research your audience of potential buyers. You get to understand why they want your product or service. 

Plus, if you’re just starting your business, market research can quickly help you get your first clients. That’s because during your research, people might get interested in working with you.

Most importantly: It helps make your business plan incredibly valuable, so that you’re one step closer to a successful business.

How to do market research

There are a few ways to do market research.

The first one is online research.

Look for information on your service or product and audience. 

First, look for information on pricing and positioning.

What are similar products or services priced at? Who is their target audience? How do they speak about their product?

And look at what potential audiences are saying about those products and services. 

For example, Amazon is a great resource because there are so many books and products with reviews by people who might be in your target audience.

Another site with plenty of reviews is the software review site Capterra . 

Also social media groups like Reddit and Facebook groups include a lot of information on what products and services people want to pay for. 

For example, I started my first online business, an advertising consulting business because I noticed that business owners were talking about this need in Facebook groups.

The next step is to interview people.

For example, you can ask people in social media groups to jump on a quick call with you. In exchange, you offer a free consulting call or similar. 

But what should you ask your interview subjects? 

Check out this video where I talk through what you should be looking for:

Other than that, the questions you need to ask are:

• “What is your biggest challenge related to ___?” 
• “What is your goal for ___?”
• “Would you be willing to pay for ___? How much would you be willing to pay to make this problem go away?”

When you’ve talked to 3-5 people, you’re ready to start writing your business plan.

Chapter 3: How to write a business plan

In this chapter, we’ll look at how to write a business plan.

Again, your business plan shouldn’t be too complicated. (That’s unless you need it for a specific reason, like getting funding. In that case, your business plan should follow the funding source’s requirements.)

Here’s how to write a simple business plan.

Executive summary

An executive summary is a summary of the rest of your plan. That’s why you can leave writing it to the end. Your executive summary should be one page, at most. It includes a high-level overview of:

• Your business concept. What does your business do?
• Product or service. What do you sell? 
• Business goals. What are your long-term goals? 
• Market. What does your market look like? Your competitors? 
• Customers. Who do you sell to? 
• Value proposition. How is your business different from what already exists?
• Scope of business. How big can your business get? 
• Business model. What does your marketing look like? Your revenue model? 

Company description

This section is all about understanding what your business is.

These elements should be included in your company description: 

• Your business structure (Sole proprietorship, limited partnership, incorporates company, or general partnership) 
• Your industry 
• What you’re selling
• Your long-term plan (Do you plan to keep your business or sell it?)
• Your vision, mission, and values (Why does your business operate?) 
• Short-term goals (the next year) and long-term goals (the next 1-5 years) 

Product or service description

Is your product or service ready for the market now? For example, if you sell products in an online store, you first need to develop your product and build an inventory. 

But if your business is service-based, your service is ready now. This includes coaching and consulting businesses. 

Also, explain your pricing strategy. How much will your products or services cost? What pricing model do you use (monthly billing, per-product price, or something else)? 

In this video, I give my best pricing recommendations:

And finally, does your product or service come with any intellectual property considerations? Is there a risk that you might be infringing on someone’s IP rights?

A physical product might come with these types of considerations. 

On the other hand, a service-based business doesn’t come with many potential IP rights violations because you’re selling a more generic service. 

(That’s not to say coaching program names and similar can’t be protected, even if the service, like health coaching, can’t. Note that I’m not a lawyer and these tips aren’t meant as legal advice.)

Market Analysis

Your market is crucial for your business success. By choosing a market with plenty of customers who need your product or service, you’re setting yourself up for success.

Remember how we talked about research in the last chapter? 

This is where you’ll use that research to understand why you customers want to buy from you.

Target market

Your customers are at the core of your business. 

Most customer persona guides tell you to list your customers’ demographics:

• Where they live
• Income 
• Interests 

But by now, you know that customer research is so much more than that. Use your customer research (which we looked at in Chapter 3) to dive deeper and understand the psychographics of your target audience. 

What language do they use to describe their needs and goals? For example, a 60-year old executive will talk very differently about her health goals compared to a 25-year old. 

Ask yourself (and answer these questions with your market research):

• What is the problem my customer wants to solve? 
• Why can’t my customer solve this today? 
• What’s the measurable outcome my customer wants to achieve? 

Industry 

How big is your potential market? Check for trends and trajectories in your industry. 

For example, as the boomer generation continues to retire, industries for retirees will continue to grow. If you serve that market, you should mention this in your business plan so you can take that into account when thinking about your business’s long-term goals.

You can get this information from:

• News outlets.
• Governmental statistics offices.
• Academic research.

SWOT analysis

With a SWOT analysis, you analyze your strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. 

Most importantly, remember that you never have perfect information. You will need to operate with some assumptions. So ask yourself what assumptions you have that, if proven wrong, would cause this business to fail.

Take these into consideration in your SWOT analysis.

Competition

The next step is to look more closely at your competition.

Research your competition with Harvard professor Michael Porter’s Five Forces Framework in mind. This model builds on five forces to determine the competitive intensity and the attractiveness of an industry in terms of profitability. 

An industry with intense competition won’t have incredibly profitable businesses. But industries with mild competition (most coaching and consulting industries) have room for high returns. 

The five forces are:

• Threat of new entry. How likely is it that new businesses will enter your market? For example, airlines don’t see a huge number of competitors because airlines need money and infrastructure to get started. But people will start online businesses (physical products, coaching, or consulting) much more easily. 
• Buyer power. What buying power do your customers have? If you sell coaching to executives, you will likely have customers with better buying power than if you sell coaching to unemployed people.
• Supplier power. How many suppliers are there on the market? If there aren’t that many, you might face high prices, which eat up your profitability. 
• Threat of substitution. How likely is it that your product or service will get substituted by a low-cost, better alternative? Generic products will easily get substituted, but businesses that build a strong brand won’t. For example, think Apple iPhones. 
• Competitive rivalry. How can you distinguish yourself from your competition, so that you don’t have to directly compete with anyone? You can do this by serving a specific group of customers, distinguishing yourself from the competition with marketing, or establishing technological leadership.

Value proposition

One of the main reasons 20% of small businesses fail within their first year is because they don’t understand their value proposition. Make sure you get this right in your business plan. 

The thing is:

Your value proposition helps you understand how you’re going to stand out. 

You can build your value proposition on Michael Porter’s Generic Competitive Strategies .

These include three different factors:

• Cost Leadership. You become the low-cost business in your industry. This usually requires scale, proprietary technology, access to raw material, or something else. For example, think about how Amazon uses technology, infrastructure, and scale to drive down prices. 
• Differentiation. Your business stands out by being unique. You position yourself to meet customers’ needs. This means that you can ask for a premium price for your services. For example, my client David is a health coach who helps people lose weight with the help of herbs, a very unique way to position a health coaching business.
• Cost Focus or Differentiation Focus. Your business focuses on a specific niche and differentiates itself either by serving a specific target market need or a target market cost behavior. 

For example, I started my current business when I realized that there wasn’t a great product for employees who wanted to quit their jobs and become entrepreneurs. I used differentiation focus to target a specific segment within a competitive market (business coaching). 

This chart should help you answer two questions: 

• Who is your target customer? 
• How are you different from the competition? 

Business Model

Your operations plan outlines the workflows you’ll need to implement to make your business work. In terms of a physical product, this includes suppliers, logistics, inventory, and more. You’ll also need a contingency plan in case anything goes wrong.

In terms of a service-based business, you don’t need to put too much energy on your operations because all you need is yourself and your laptop. 

Your marketing plan shows how you’re going to spread the word about your business now and in the future. Focus on where your clients are hanging out, whether that’s on Instagram, Facebook, or somewhere else. 

Your marketing strategy should answer these questions:

• What is the pricing of your product or service? Why did you choose this price?
• How do you promote your business?
• What are you selling and how is that different from other existing products and services?
• Where will you sell your products and services?

Sales strategy

Next, share your sales strategy. This is the process you undergo when you sell to your customers.

It covers all activities that lead up to a sale. Your sales cycle could look something like this:

Facebook ad → Lead subscribes to your email list → Lead reads your emails → Lead buys from you

Growth plan

What will your business growth look like? How will you make it happen? Your growth plan should be specific and realistic. Define the exact steps you’ll take to grow your business.

Management & staffing

What does the management of your business look like? If you’re starting a business on your own, you’re the CEO and you don’t need to include anyone else here.

Will your business employ a team? Or at what point will you start hiring people, if at all? 

If you’re unsure, I share advice on hiring in this video: 

Financial summary

Your financial plan builds on your income statement, balance sheet, and cash-flow statement. 

Income statement: Where do you get your revenue and what are your expenses? With this information, you can make a profit-and-loss calculation. 

If you haven’t made any sales yet, you can work with estimates. Remember that people are less likely to buy in the beginning when you don’t have testimonials and you’re new to sales. That’s why I recommend estimating that one out of every ten sales calls will convert. 

Cash-flow statement: Your cash-flow statement is just like your income statement, but it also takes into account when revenues are collected and expenses paid. If you get more money in than is going out, you have a positive cash-flow statement. 

Balance sheet: List your business assets or what you own (if you have any) and what you owe. By deducting liabilities from assets you get your business’s shareholder equity. 

Also ask yourself: What’s the biggest risk to your financial viability? 

For example, let’s say you’re a health coach who teams up with a local gym to provide their members with health coaching. Your biggest financial risk (assuming this was your only client acquisition strategy) would be that the gym went bankrupt. 

Knowing your risks upfront means that you can prepare for them. And by including these in your business plan, you are clear on your risks and your planning for those risks. 

Need a way to set up your financial plan for your business plan? Copy this simple financial tracker that I created for you and calculate your own business income.

Chapter 4: Business plan template

This chapter is all about using what you’ve learned so far. 

First, you get a fillable business plan template.

And second, we’ll look at a business plan example.

Let’s dive right in.

Business plan template 

The simplest business plan format? A Business Model Canvas.

The Business Model Canvas was first developed by Alexander Osterwalder in 2005. This is a visual chart of your business plan that includes nine ‘building blocks’. You can either use it as your business plan or use it to structure a longer business plan. Either way, use what you’ve learned so far in this guide to fill in the sheet. 

Start by filling in this PDF to answer all the business plan elements we’ve looked at so far. 

Then, use your answers to fill in your own Business Model Canvas. 

Here is a fillable PDF Business Model Canvas you can use, including instructions on how to use it. 

Business plan example

Not sure exactly what your Business Model Canvas should look like?

Here’s a simple business plan example to help you get started. 

Chapter 5: Helpful resources

Starting a business is so much more than creating a business plan.

A business plan will help you put your idea on paper.

But that’s when the real work kicks in.

These resources will help you write your business plan and start your business. 

Let’s take a look.

Start a business resources 

“ How to Start an Online Business ” 

“ Start Your Own Business ” – USAGov

Shopify’s Business Name Generator 

“ Talking to Humans: Success Starts With Understanding Your Customers ” – Giff Constable

“ Your Strategy Should Be a Hypothesis You Constantly Adjust ” – Harvard Business Review

“ The E-Myth Revisited: Why Most Small Businesses Don’t Work and What to Do About It ”, Michael E. Gerber

Legal resources to start a business 

“ Register Your Business ” – US Small Business Administration

“ Starting a Business: License and Permit Checklist ” – LegalZoom

“ Business Structures ” – IRS

Funding resources  

“ Fund Your Business ” – US Small Business Administration 

“ Government Small Business Loans ” – SBA.com 

Financial resources

“ Profit First: Transform Your Business from a Cash-Eating Monster to a Money-Making Machine ”, Mike Michalowicz

“ Business Planning & Financial Statements Template Gallery ” – SCORE

Marketing and sales resources

“ Business Marketing Strategies ”

“ 5 Tips to Using Social Media for Your Business Without Being Salesy ”

“ How I Learned to Sell (Strategies for Business) ” (YouTube)

What’s next?

There you have it. Now you know how to write a business plan. 

However, there are far more things that go into building a successful online business.

And not just any business, but a business that lets you quit your day job, earn a great income, and build a flexible life.

I teach the exact steps you need to take to build such a business in this PDF on starting a six-figure online business.

Get it here:

About Luisa Zhou

Luisa Zhou has helped thousands of students build and scale their own profitable online Freedom Business. Fun Fact: She used to work as an engineer for the Space Station and holds a B.S.E. from Princeton. Click here to learn more about Luisa.

Hope you enjoy this blog post.

Want to know how to build a profitable, meaningful business to replace your 9-5?

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You don’t have to write an entire plan if you don’t plan to present it to a board of trustees. You can always start with a business model canvas.

Thank you, thank you so much. So simple and easy to understand and work with. I appreciate you so much. Thank you!

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The ultimate guide to business planning (with template)

November 19, 2020 by MindManager Blog

By: Jill Huettich

If you could do something to double the success of your business, would you do it? Of course you would! Happily, that’s not pie-in-the-sky kind of talk either. There is something you can do to increase your likelihood of business success by a whopping 200%. That something is business planning. Time and time again, business planning has been shown to have a huge impact on business growth.

Take, for instance, the results of a survey completed by 2,877 business owners. After analyzing respondents’ answers, the Oregon Department of Economics concluded that business planning correlates with success in multiple areas, including: obtaining a loan, getting investment capital, making a major purchase, recruiting a new team member, thinking more strategically, and growing a company.

Mind you, those results were “regardless of the type of company, the growth stage of the company, and the intent of the business plan.” Clearly, business planning works!

In this guide to business planning, we’ll cover everything you need to know about business plans, their benefits and importance, what does into one, and will provide a template for you to get started. Jump ahead using the links below.

What is business planning?

The importance of business planning, how to write a business plan, sample business plan template.

• Downloadable MindManager template

[Free eBook] How Visualization Builds Better Strategic Plans

Business planning refers to the process of determining a company’s objectives, strategies, and projected actions to reach certain goals within a specific time fame. Typically, business planning focuses on two key areas: making profits and mitigating risks.

When companies engage in business planning, it’s with the objective of creating a business plan.  A business plan is a written document that contains: the company’s vision, a description of the company, information about its products and services, marketing research, sales strategies, financial projections, competitor analysis, and financial records.

The purpose of a business plan is to act as a road map of sorts, providing a company with the direction, focus, and clarity it needs to achieve its goals.

Business planning vs. strategic planning

Now that you know what business planning is, you may be wondering if it’s any different from strategic planning, and if so, how? That’s what we’ll go over in this section.

As we mentioned before, business planning provides a detailed overview of a company. Usually, this is undertaken with the goal of building revenue and support for a startup. In other words, a business plan tests the proposition that a “particular undertaking—program, partnership, new venture, growth strategy, or entity as a whole—is economically or operationally viable.”

By contrast, a strategic plan is a high-level document that creates a vision for an established company. From that vision, broadly defined objectives are outlined.

Because strategic plans define companies’ most important objectives, they’re used to align department goals, build consensus among stakeholders, and prioritize company spending.

Another difference between these two types of plans is the length of time they cover. A strategic plan typically looks at a period of 3-5 years, whereas a business plan usually just looks at a year.

Additionally, business plans are primarily written to raise money, so their audience is external. Strategic plans are internal documents, created for people within the company.

The importance of business planning cannot be overstated. In particular, businesses do it for the following reasons :

1. To obtain loans or investments

It would be virtually impossible for a startup to secure capital without a business plan—they’re considered that essential.

That’s because business plans establish the viability of a business, which is something any bank or venture capitalist needs to be convinced of before funding a venture.

2. To prevent mistakes

Unfortunately, most startups don’t even last 5 years. There are a number of different reasons for this, but some of the main ones include: tough competition, low demand for what they’re selling, a poor pricing model, an inadequate team, and an inability to secure that all-important funding we just mentioned.

A good business plan helps companies anticipate these types of problems, so they can prevent them.

3. To examine viability

The idea for a startup is often met with a lot of enthusiasm. That vending machine featuring high-end desserts and pastries? Brilliant!

However, sometimes that enthusiasm needs to be tempered by reality. A business plan offers a great opportunity to do that, because it gets entrepreneurs to think through the answers to questions they may never have even considered, like “Is there a demand in this neighborhood for desserts?” and “How many businesses are already selling desserts in this location?

4. To reduce risk

Flying by the seat of your pants in the business world is not the best idea. A business plan clearly lays out a company’s objectives, as well as the landscape of the market.

As a result, business leaders know which challenges to expect. With that knowledge in hand, they can take proactive steps to mitigate their risks.

5. To accelerate growth

Quite simply, business planning works. In fact, according to one study, companies that plan grow 30% faster than those who don’t. And, interestingly enough, another study found that 71% of fast-growing companies (those defined as having 92% growth in sales from one year to the next) have business plans.

6. To identify problems with cash flow

Business plans contain 3 financial statements: a balance sheet, an income statement, and a cash flow statement. For startups, these numbers are projected.

When entrepreneurs have these numbers to refer to, they can more easily monitor cash flow, comparing reality to their projections. This gives them the opportunity to quickly deal with cash flow challenges, should any arise.

7. To make decisions

When faced with tough business decisions, it can be difficult to know which path to choose. However, with a business plan in hand, entrepreneurs can make well-thought-out decisions based on the analysis they’ve already performed.

As you can see, there are tons of great reasons to create a business plan, particularly for start-ups and other new businesses. However, even well-established businesses can benefit from a business plan.

Not only does a business plan provide a valuable overview of an entire company, but it’s also an excellent tool for pinpointing potential challenges, so they can be proactively addressed and resolved.

There may be nothing more critical to your company’s success than a business plan. That’s why it’s so important to understand how to write a business plan, and to devote time and effort to creating a solid, well-researched one.

The elements of a business plan are fairly straightforward. While no two business plans are identical, most of them rely on the following structure:

1. Executive summary

Business plans typically run dozens of pages long. While, ideally, you’d like to think that people will read your entire plan, there’s no guarantee of that—which is why the executive summary is the most important part of your business plan.

In the summary, you’ll want to provide readers with a quick synapsis that explains what your company is and why it’ll be successful.

This summary should include your company’s mission statement and a description of the product or service you provide. You’ll also want to briefly touch on the company’s founders, employees, location, and financial growth.

Aim to make your executive summary about 4 pages max , and don’t write it until you’ve completed the rest of your business plan. That’ll make it easier to summarize all the information your plan contains.

2. Company description

This detailed overview of your company includes such things as the problems your business solves, as well as the customers it serves. You should view this section as your opportunity to shine by also explaining your business’ competitive advantages.

3. Market analysis

What’s the outlook of the industry you’re in? Who’s your target market and how do you plan to reach the people in it? These are the types of questions you’ll answer in this section of your business plan.

Additionally, you’ll want to use the Market Analysis section to perform a competitor analysis, identifying who the major players are in your industry, as well as their strengths and weaknesses.

By understanding what’s working well for your competitors—and what isn’t—you’ll be better able to determine how you can grab some of their market share.

4. Organization & management

How will your business be structured—as a sole proprietorship, corporation, partnership, or LLC? Include that information in this section, as well as an organization chart showing who’s heading up your company. You may also want to include resumes or CVs for key team members here too.

5. Service or product line

This section should explain what you sell, how it helps customers, and what the product lifecycle looks like. This is where you’ll also want to mention any patents or copyrights.

6. Marketing & sales

How do you intend to attract customers? What marketing channels will you use? What’s your strategy for growth? Think carefully about your answers to these questions, because later, you’ll use this information to make your financial projections.

7. Funding request

If one of the objectives of your business plan is to obtain funding, this section should be included in your plan. When you write your funding request, you’ll want to explain what your funding requirements are over the next 5 years and how those funds will be used.

Additionally, this section should specify , “whether you want debt or equity, the terms you’d like applied, and the length of time your request will cover.”

8. Financial projections

Financial projections are a key part of your plan, particularly if you’re seeking funding. In this section, you’ll want to include financial projections for the next five years, as well as explain how you came up with those figures.

Your projections should include cash flow statements, balance sheets, income statements, and capital expenditure budgets. If your business is operational already, you’ll also want to include the past 3-5 years of those same documents.

9. Appendix

Think of this section as your final opportunity to convince readers of your business’ success. So, this is where you can include supporting documentation, like product pictures, reference letters, permits, patents, legal documents, contracts, credit histories, etc.

And there you have it! Once you’ve finished the analysis required for each of these elements—and typed your findings into a well-formatted document–your business plan will be complete.

Understanding the business planning cycle

After you’ve completed the business planning process, your work—while not over—gets easier. Your job now is to review the business plan periodically to see how well your company is achieving its objectives.

Did you meet your financial projections? In what areas is your company doing well? How is it falling short? Are there any new opportunities for your organization?

During this period of analysis, you’ll ideally want to set 1-year and 3-year goals , as well as key performance indicators (KPIs). These will help you track on a quarterly, or even monthly, basis how well your company’s meeting its objectives.

Most businesses engage in business planning on an annual or quarterly basis. Truly, it depends on how much time your organization has to devote to the task, as well as the industry you’re in.

For smaller businesses, a good aim is to perform the business planning process once a year. For larger companies—or ones where the market changes frequently—you may want to “plan to plan” every quarter.

Generally speaking, most business plan templates will include the following key elements and information. We’ve provided a downloadable MindManager template below that you can use to create your own business plan.

Section 1: Executive summary

The executive summary is the most important part of your business plan, so you’ll really want to put time and effort into getting it just right.

Make sure to include the following elements :

• Explain the mission of your company – what is the reason for your company?
• Describe your product or service – what types of products and services will you offer customers?
• Introduce the company founders – who are your company’s founders, and what roles will they play within your organization?
• Briefly provide information about your customer base – which customers will your business target, and how will your company serve them?
• Provide an overview of your competitors – explain why your business will succeed by identifying your competitive advantage and describing how you’ll get market share.
• Summarize your financial projections – what financial growth do you expect your company to achieve over the next few years?
• Mention financing requirements – if your business is a start-up seeking financing, briefly mention those financial requirements here.

If you want a good idea of what your completed executive summary should look like, you can check out an example of one here.

Section 2: Company overview

In this section, you’ll want to go into greater detail than you did in the executive summary, explaining which problems your business solves, who its customers are, and what competitive advantages your company has.

Here are the important elements you’ll want to include :

• Provide an overview of your company – what’s its mission, vision, and purpose?
• Give background about the formation of your company – when did your company form?
• Explain who your company’s founders are – what backgrounds do they have that make them uniquely qualified to run your business successfully?
• Provide geographic information – where is your business located and in which markets do you have a presence?
• Describe your company’s competitive advantages – while this was briefly touched upon in the executive summary, you’ll want to provide more information here about why your company will be successful.

Section 3: Market analysis

In this section, you want to prove the viability of your business by providing solid market research about your industry.

To achieve this goal, you’ll want to include the following in this section:

• Identify your target market – who are you trying to sell your products and services to?
• Describe the need for your products or services – why do you anticipate demand for your company’s offerings?
• Give information about the overall market size – how big is the market? How much do you expect your company to sell? Are there any demographic or geographic factors that might impact your sales projections?
• Identify the competition – who are your company’s main competitors? What advantages and disadvantages do they have? What’s their percentage of market share? How much do they sell annually?
• Perform a SWOT analysis – identify your company’s strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and strengths.

For help writing this section, you may find it useful to look at this marketing analysis example .

For the competitor and SWOT analyses, we recommend an information visualization software, like MindManager. View the SWOT analysis template at the end of this article.

Section 4: Organization & management

In this section, you want to give readers a solid overview of how your company will be structured. To do that, you’ll want to answer the following questions :

• Describe the legal structure of your business – is it a sole proprietorship, corporation, partnership, or LLC?
• Identify your management team – name the key roles within your organization, identify who will fulfill them, and explain how those individuals will be compensated. You may want to include an organization chart here too, as well as brief resumes or CVs for key team members.

Section 5: Service or product line

In this portion of the business plan, you’ll want to provide more information about the product or service you provide. So, make sure to include these elements here :

• Describe the product or service you sell – what are you offering and how does it help customers?
• Explain the product lifecycle – how long does it take to bring new products/services to market?
• Provide pricing information – how will you price your products or services? What will your operating costs be?
• Describe how you’ll acquire products – are you the manufacturer? If not, who is? Are you working directly with a manufacturer or are you going through a wholesaler? If product demand suddenly increases, what’s the likelihood you’ll experience supply problems?

Section 6: Sales and marketing strategy

Your customer acquisition strategy is especially important to potential investors, so you’ll definitely want to be thorough here. Plus, later you’ll be using this information to make financial projections, so take your time when writing this part of your plan.

• Describe the customer acquisition process – how will you find and attract customers? For instance, will you use salespeople, call centers, social media ads, etc.?
• Explain any promotional methods you plan on using – will you offer free samples or perform product demonstrations?
• Provide information about the marketing materials you intend to use – like brochures, flyers, trade show booths, etc.
• Estimate your advertising budget – how much will you have to spend to achieve your marketing objectives?

Section 7 – Funding request

This section is only necessary if you’re seeking business funding. If you are, you’ll want to include the following information in your business plan:

• Identify your funding requirements – how much money are you requesting and how will those funds be used?
• Describe the terms you’re seeking – do you want debt or equity? Which terms do you want applied? What length of time does your request cover?

Section 8 – Financial projections

As you might imagine, financial projections are a key part of your plan, especially if you’re seeking funding. So, in this section, you’ll want to make sure you include :

• 5 years of projected cash flow statements, balance sheets, income statements, and capital expenditure budgets – these documents should also explain how you came up with the figures you’re using.
• If your business is already up and running, you’ll also want to include the past 3-5 years of those same documents.

Of course to create these financial projections, you’ll need to have the right software. Two good ones to check out are ProjectionHub and PlanGuru .

These forecasting software packages make it easy to create the kinds of financial statements you’ll want to include in your business plan.

Section 9 – Appendix

This is your last chance to convince readers your business will be a success. So, if you have additional information to give your business plan more weight, you’ll want to incorporate it here. Consider including the following in this section:

• Product pictures
• Reference letters
• Legal documents
• Credit histories

And that’s it! After you’ve completed these sections, just assemble them into a single document, format everything neatly, add a table of contents, and your business plan will be complete.

Afterwards, you can use it to obtain loans, determine viability, reduce risk, assess cash flow problems, make decisions, and accelerate business growth—making it well-worth the time and effort it takes to write your plan.

How Visualization Leads to Better Strategic Plans

Download this free eBook to learn: how visualization builds a better plan, 5 proven visualization methods, and a deep dive into the business benefits of visualization.

Write your business plans in MindManager

Download the business planning and SWOT analysis templates below by clicking Menu > Download. You can then open the templates in MindManager.

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How to create an effective business plan in 2023.

Professional Bio Templates & Examples

The mere thought of putting a business plan together can send even the most enthusiastic entrepreneur into a tailspin, but writing one can help you work out whether you actually have a viable business idea on your hands.

First and foremost, the person who must be convinced by your business plan is you. After all, if you’re not persuaded by it, why should anyone else be?

Once you’re sold on the basics, you can use your business plan to convince potential sources of finance, investors, partners, and employees that you’re the real deal.

This jargon-free article will give you a better idea of how to get the ball rolling.

Executive summary

The executive summary highlights and emphasises the main points of your business. No more than a page in length, the executive summary needs to be succinct, compelling, and engaging - you want the reader / potential investor to be interested enough to read on and, even better, buy into your business.

This section should help the reader understand the purpose and passion behind your business. You’ll need to include brief outlines of:

• Your business name and location
• A short, simple summary of your business concept
• When were you founded?
• A description of your business’ competitive advantages
• Proof that there’s a market for your product or service
• A summary of the management team you’ve assembled
• A brief description of at what stage of development your business is in
• What is your background and experience, if any?
• What was your decision making process?
• When did the initial idea occur?
• Where will the business operate?
• How long is the lease, if you have one?
• Why - the mission statement of your business

You’ll be elaborating on most of these themes throughout the document, so keep it fairly succinct. Revisit the content once you’ve finished the rest of the business plan - you might find better ways to express your ideas.

Products and services

This is your opportunity to really wax lyrical about the core aspect of your business: what you’re going to be selling. You want complete belief from the reader that your product is the best out there, and for them to see why they should invest.

Here’s what you need to include:

• What is your product or service?
• Why should customers purchase from you?
• How do you aim to sell your product or service?
• How are your products manufactured?
• Do you have any exclusive deals or partnerships?
• What is your pricing strategy?
• What problems, if any, do you see with your product or service? What are the benefits to the customer?
• How will the product be sold - online or retail?
• What makes your product or service stand out?

Management team

Your business plan needs to detail specifically who is involved in your business.

You want this particular section of your business plan to highlight that you have a more-than-capable team running your business, a team that will use their expertises to make the business work and profit.

Make a list or tree diagram of people's responsibilities, and attach CVs as appendices if you feel this supports your choices.

You’ll need to include:

• Who owns the business?
• Who are the directors and shareholders?
• Who will be involved in the day-to-day running of the business?
• What experience do these people have and how will this benefit the business?
• Who is your management team?
• What experience do they have?
• Who has direct reports?
• Do you have any vacancies yet to be filled?
• What is your recruitment process?

The marketing section is key in showing a potential investor that you know how you will bring in custom. It needs to show you’ve thought about how to get people interested in your business, and what makes it different from competitors in your market or area.

How you promote your business will differ depending on how you’ll make sales. If you’re opening a shop you’ll need to employ some local marketing techniques (think print adverts, flyers, broadcast media etc.) but if you’ll be selling online you should consider search marketing and social media promotion.

What to include can be broken down into four sections - the four P’s:

Who are you aiming your product at? Who is your target market? For example, “22-34, London based, interested in photography and male”.

What is the price of your product/service? How did you arrive at this price point?

How does this compare with other products in your market? What budget have you set aside for marketing?

How and where are you going to distribute your product/service? Retail, wholesale or online? For e-commerce, you’ll need to show you can drive traffic to your website, and with retail you’ll need to show you understand the importance of putting your product in the right shop/area.

‍ Promotion

How are you going to promote your business? How and where will you advertise?

Think about the methods mentioned in the opening paragraph - will any of these help get your business noticed?

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The operations section of your business plan deep-dives into the logistical side of your idea. It highlights that you have thought concisely about the day-to-day running of your business. It needs to highlight and set clear expectations of exactly how your business will operate.

Make sure to include details of the following:

Now is the time to be more specific about where you are based. Are there any works that need carrying out? Is there adequate parking? What licence do you need (if any)? Is there scope for you to develop a hybrid working space - could this suit your goals and how would it function?

Facilities and utilities

Does your location have internet access? Who will supply your water, gas and electricity?

How will you store and track your assets, stock, equipment?

What are your hours of trading? Are these flexible?

What payment systems will you have in place? Do you accept AmEx or contactless?

Do you need to invoice clients?

How many members of staff will you need? What will their duties be?

What is the customer journey? What is your refund policy? How will customer complaints be handled?

Financial Plan

A financial plan helps a potential investor think about whether they are likely to get a healthy return on investment (ROI). For this reason, it’s likely to be the most scrutinised section of your business plan.

If your business is brand new, think about how you’ll show predicted earnings - or you might want to outline any plans to scale up, including any intentions you have to access help in the form of an unsecured loan to grow your business . You could even look at a company similar to yours and what their earnings have been to compare.

You’ll also need to include details of the following:

Profit and loss.

Also known as an income statement, the profit and loss statement measures just that: the profit and loss of your business over a specific period. This takes information from the following equation:

Revenue - Cost of goods - Expenses = Net

Cashflow shows how much money is going in and out of your business. Think of cashflow as money management. Much like your personal finances, you need money coming in before you can take money out. If you spend money you don’t have coming in, this will amount to debt - this isn’t something an investor will look favourably upon.

Balance sheets

Compiled on an annual basis, the balance sheet gives a picture of the financial state of your business. Include assets, liabilities, and equity (see glossary on next page).

Sales forecast

Forecasting shows the depth of knowledge of your business. Break this section down into manageable parts, showing estimated sales by month over 12 months, then each year over five years. As with profit and loss, it’s important to be realistic, otherwise you will lose credibility.

Glossary of terms

Unsure of the difference between cash-flow and capital? While we do our best to avoid jargon, it’s important to understand the terminology when starting a business. To help you write your business plan, we’ve compiled a glossary of the most-used business terms and have provided easy-to-understand definitions.

An item owned by a business that has monetary value, for example, property, cash in the bank or inventory.

Lists the assets, liabilities, and equity of a business in order to calculate net worth.

An organisation that trades in goods or services.

Wealth owned by a person or business that is available for reinvestment in the company.

The amount of money being transferred in and out of a business.

A person who runs a limited company, often owning shares in the company.

A person who works for wages or salary in a business.

A person who employs people and pays them a wage or salary.

The value of the shares issued by a company.

Financial forecasts

A calculated estimation of future financial outcomes for a business.

A business licence granted by a company that enables a party (franchise) to market its products or services. For example, Ben and Jerry’s is the company, and the parlours where you buy the ice-cream are a franchise.

The items or stock owned by a business.

A person who invests money or capital into a business with an expectation of future financial return.

A company’s legal debts, for example, loans, mortgages or accounts payable.

Limited company

An organisation set up to run a business, which is responsible for everything it does. Finances are separate from personal finances, and Directors are responsible for decisions which affect the company.

Total assets of a business minus total liabilities. Determines the value of a company, for example, a business has £50,000 in cash, £200,000 of inventory and £20,000 in savings = £270,000 in assets. The business also has a £100,000 mortgage and £10,000 credit card debt (liabilities). Therefore the total net worth is £160,000.

An account showing a businesses net profit and loss over a given time frame.

Prediction of future sales.

Shareholder

A person who owns shares in a company or business, whose rights are often governed by a Shareholders’ Agreement.

A portion of the company’s ownership divided amongst shareholders, giving the owner a proportion of the company.

Sole trader

A person who is exclusively the owner of a business and solely responsible for all profits and losses of that business.

A new business.

Target market

A group of consumers at which a product is aimed. For example, sweets are often aimed at a target market of small children.

Umbrella company

A company that acts as an employer to agency contractors and processes their payments.

Keeping track of your accounting & finances

Ensuring you have a great accounting and financial plan is essential. Using a simple to navigate accounting system can be a perfect option. Why not consider using Crunch’s software ? Not only is it easy to use, but it also comes with support from our experts who can guide you through your accounting tasks and tracking your finances. We also have a ton of Crunch integrations , providing our clients with even more tools to run their businesses efficiently. For example, our integration with financial forecasting software Brixx allows you to project your business's financial future so you can test scenarios and be prepared for any eventuality. This is also a great tool to have when preparing your business plan.

We're comitted to helping new businesses thrive, and to encourage this we've shared lots of free resources - from in-depth business guides to blank invoice templates , we're here to help you succeed. To find more ways that Crunch can help make running your business effortless, join us online for 14 days completely free, or get in touch with our friendly advisors at a time that suits you. Alternatively, read our complete free guide to writing a business plan for lots of in-depth, interesting insights and considerations.

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How to Write the Perfect Business Plan: 10 Essential Steps

Whether you’re starting a new small business or are already years into operating one, a business plan is one of the best ways to clarify your long-term vision. Follow our step-by-step guide to writing a highly effective business plan.

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hether you’re starting a new small business or are already years into operating one, a business plan is one of the best ways to clarify your long-term vision. While every business plan is different, there are several key elements to consider that will benefit you in the long run. 

Follow our step-by-step guide to writing a highly effective business plan. 

What is a business plan?

A business plan is a document that outlines your business goals and how you plan to achieve them. Ideally, this will become your roadmap for marketing, sales, finance, and growth. 

In other words, a business plan is...

• An explanation of your overall vision.
• A valuable tool to plan and track your business fundamentals.
• An overview of your path to profitability, which can help get funding for your company.

Do You Need A Business Plan?

While it’s not a requirement, having a business plan is strongly recommended. In a recent QuickBooks survey , nearly 70% of current business owners recommended writing a business plan.

Creating a business plan is especially useful in the following scenarios:

• Applying for business loans
• Seeking additional rounds of funding or investors 
• Growing your employee headcount  
• Attracting top-level management candidates 
• Looking for opportunities to scale your business

10 Steps To Creating A Comprehensive Business Plan

While not every business plan is the same, there are a few key steps you should take to create an effective and comprehensive document:

1. Create an executive summary

Think of an executive summary as your company's elevator pitch in written form. It should be 1 to 2 pages in length and summarize important information about your company and goals. If you are pitching your business plan to get funding, you should ensure your executive summary appeals to investors.

What should you include in an executive summary?

• An overview of your business
• Your company mission statement
• A concise description of products or services offered
• A description of your target market and customer demographics
• A brief analysis of your competition
• Financial projections and funding requirements
• Information about your management team
• Future plans and growth opportunities
• An overall summary of your business plan

2. Write your company description

Your company description is a more detailed and comprehensive explanation of your business. It should provide a thorough overview of your company, including your company history, your mission, your objectives, and your vision. A company description should help the reader understand the context and background of the business, as well as the key factors that contribute to its success.

What should you include in your company description?

• Official company name 
• Type of business structure
• Physical address(es)
• Company history and background information
• Mission statement and core values
• Management team members and their qualifications
• Products and services offered
• Target market and customer segmentation
• Marketing and sales strategy
• Goals (both short- and long-term)
• Vision statement

Novo Note : The company description is your chance to expound on the pain points your company solves. It should also give a reader an accurate impression of who you are. 

3. Conduct and outline market analysis

This is one of the most important steps in building a business plan. Here, you will assess the size and dynamics of the market your business operates in.

How to conduct a market analysis

Market analyses include both quantitative and qualitative data. You may want to conduct surveys or lean on existing industry research to gather this information. You’ll want to answer:

• What is the size of the market?
• How much revenue does your industry generate?
• What trends are impacting this industry?
• Where are opportunities for innovation?
• What are the most well-known companies in the industry? What tactics do they use to sell to customers? How do they price their offering?
• Where are there gaps in the market? 
• What are your customer demographics? What problems do they have that need solving? What are their values, desires, and purchasing habits?
• What barriers to entry, if any, exist? These could include startup costs, legal requirements, environmental conditions that impact consumer behavior, and market saturation.

What is your target market?

In this section, you will specify the customer segment(s) you’re targeting . You can divide customers into small segments organized by age, location, income, and lifestyle. The goal is to describe what type of consumer will be most interested in your offering.

Novo Note : Regardless of your company’s size, understanding the trends and opportunities within your target market enables you to build a more effective marketing plan to distinguish yourself from the marketplace and grow your business. This analysis might also help you find potential customers or new products you could offer. 

4. Analyze your competitors

After conducting a market analysis, you need to do a deep dive into your competitors. Look at how the competition is succeeding or failing and how each competitor has positioned itself. For example, you might want to evaluate your competitors’ brand, pricing, and distribution strategies. 

How to conduct a competitive analysis

You’ll want to research your competitors and ask the following questions:

• What are their strengths?
• What are their weaknesses?
• What are their customer reviews like?
• How do they price their offering(s)?
• What are their value propositions?
• What marketing and sales channels do they leverage?
• How are they growing and evolving?

Novo Note : After you develop a strong understanding of the competitive landscape, consider how your business is unique. Solidifying your competitive advantage can help you appeal to your target audience.  

5. Describe your products or services

This is your chance to go into more detail about the products and services you offer! Use this opportunity to note where your offering or service differs from others in the industry. Highlight the standout features of your product, your company’s unique ability to solve customer problems, and your product roadmap.

What to include:

• Your product catalog
• Key differentiating features
• Information about the production process
• The resources required for production
• Plans for future product releases

6. Define your marketing and sales strategy

Your marketing plan describes your strategy for connecting with your target market and generating leads. It doesn't need to be full-fledged at this point, but it should answer who you're trying to sell to and how you plan to target them. Investors also want to know how you plan on selling your brand and breaking into the market, so make sure to consider their perspective as you develop your marketing strategy.

• Your sales and marketing budget
• Your key sales and marketing objectives
• Details about your sales process and sales goals
• Platforms or strategies you’ll employ to reach your target audience
• PR initiatives, content ideas, and social media strategies

7. Gather your business financials and outline financial projections

Your financials section lays out your company's past and current performance. You can also include a roadmap that dives into financial projections for your business. Aim to include projections for the next five years at a minimum.

• Income statements
• Cash flow statements
• Balance sheets
• Explanation of any significant changes

Novo Note : Novo offers integrations with accounting software like Quickbooks and Xero , allowing you to seamlessly access all your financial information within your business checking account .

8. Describe your organization

Your business plan should also include an organizational chart that maps your company’s structure. 

What to include :

• Company’s management structure
• Other key personnel, along with their roles and responsibilities
• Expertise of your team (feature any specialists or experts)

Novo Note : This is also a good place to explain the legal structure of your company — for example, if you are an LLC , a corporation, or a sole proprietorship . 

9. Outline your funding requests

If you’re looking for business funding, include an outline of any funding requests and requirements.

• Why you are requesting funding
• What the funding will be used for specifically
• Desired terms and conditions of funding
• The length of time over which the funding will be used
• Type of funding required (for example, debt or equity)

Novo Note : Propose a five-year funding plan, and aim to be as detailed as possible about how you will utilize the funds to grow your business. 

10. Create an appendix

The last section, the appendix, includes supporting documents and additional information not listed elsewhere in your business plan. Not all of these items are necessary to include, so you’ll need to evaluate which are most relevant to your business. You might also want to include a table of contents to help keep the appendix organized.

Items to consider including:

• Bank statements
• Business credit history
• Legal documents
• Letters of reference

Sample Business Plans

Need an example to help you through the process? Check out the Small Business Administration’s downloadable examples or this even more in-depth one from Harvard Business School.

Tips For Creating A Great Business Plan

Here are some of our favorite tips for creating the most effective and efficient business plan:

• Keep it short and sweet : You want to be sure people will actually read your business plan, so stay on topic and to the point.
• Make it digestible : No need to use the fanciest terminology or draft up the most complex graphs. Keep wording and ideas simple and straightforward — it’s the most impactful way to get your information across.
• Triple-check your work : There’s nothing worse than noticing a grammar, spelling, or mathematical error when you’re presenting your vision. So proofread… and then proofread again!
• Start early : It’s never too late to write a business plan, but the earlier you do it, the stronger your strategy for growth and expansion will be from the start.
• Reference credible sources : If you are going to reference third-party research in your business plan, lean on sources that are widely recognized as authorities. Try tapping into trade associations and government resources, like U.S. Census data or data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
• Set yourself apart : Wherever you can, explain why your product or service stands out and how it can solve a problem.
• Be objective : Avoid the instinct to only showcase the good. Stakeholders and investors want to know that you are realistic and have a contingency plan if you hit a bump in the road.

Updating Your Business Plan

As with most situations in business (and life), things change! So don’t think that your business plan has to be set in stone after you create it. Instead, you should plan to return to it once a year and make updates.

Be sure to do the following when you review and update your business plan:

• Analyze your progress: Review your original business plan and compare it to your actual financial data. Are you moving in the right direction, or do you need to reevaluate your strategy?
• Consider whether your product offerings need to be adjusted: For example, decide if you want to diversify your product offerings or scale back and focus on a singular product. 
• Reassess your overall goals: Perhaps your sales goals have changed with your new marketing strategy. Or maybe your customer’s needs have changed. In any case, be flexible where needed. 

We know there’s a lot that goes into creating a business plan, but it’s worth it. There’s no one-size-fits-all formula for developing a business plan, but our steps outlined above will put you on the right track for developing a comprehensive, investor-friendly document.

Take time to review your business plan annually and make changes as your needs and goals change.

Novo Platform Inc. strives to provide accurate information but cannot guarantee that this content is correct, complete, or up-to-date. This page is for informational purposes only and is not financial or legal advice nor an endorsement of any third-party products or services. All products and services are presented without warranty. Novo Platform Inc. does not provide any financial or legal advice, and you should consult your own financial, legal, or tax advisors.

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How to Write the Perfect Business Plan: A Comprehensive Guide

Thinking of starting a business here's the best step-by-step template for writing the perfect business plan when creating your startup..

Maybe you think you don't need a step-by-step guide to writing a great business plan . Maybe you think you don't need a template for writing a business plan. After all, some entrepreneurs succeed without writing a business plan. With great timing, solid business skills, entrepreneurial drive, and a little luck , some founders build thriving businesses without creating even an  informal business plan . 

But the odds are greater that those entrepreneurs will fail.

Does a business plan make startup success inevitable? Absolutely not. But great planning often means the difference between success and failure. Where your entrepreneurial dreams are concerned, you should do everything possible to set the stage for success.

And that's why a great business plan is one that helps you  succeed .

The following is a comprehensive guide to creating a great business plan. We'll start with an overview of key concepts. Then we'll look at each section of a typical business plan:

Executive Summary

Overview and objectives, products and services, market opportunities, sales and marketing.

• Competitive Analysis

Management Team

Financial analysis.

So first let's gain a little perspective on why you need a business plan.

Key Concepts

Many business plans are fantasies. That's because many aspiring entrepreneurs see a business plan as simply a tool--filled with strategies and projections and hyperbole--that will convince lenders or investors the business makes sense.

That's a huge mistake.

First and foremost, your business plan should convince  you  that your idea makes sense--because your time, your money, and your effort are on the line.

So a solid business plan should be a blueprint for a successful business . It should flesh out strategic plans, develop marketing and sales plans, create the foundation for smooth operations, and maybe--just maybe--persuade a lender or investor to jump on board.

For many entrepreneurs, developing a business plan is the first step in the process of deciding whether to actually start a business. Determining if an idea fails on paper can help a prospective founder avoid wasting time and money on a business with no realistic hope of success.

So, at a minimum, your plan should:

• Be as objective and logical as possible. What may have seemed like a good idea for a business can, after some thought and analysis, prove not viable because of heavy competition, insufficient funding, or a nonexistent market. (Sometimes even the best ideas are simply ahead of their time.)
• Serve as a guide to the business's operations for the first months and sometimes years, creating a blueprint for company leaders to follow.
• Communicate the company's purpose and vision, describe management responsibilities, detail personnel requirements, provide an overview of marketing plans, and evaluate current and future competition in the marketplace.
• Create the foundation of a financing proposal for investors and lenders to use to evaluate the company.

A good business plan delves into each of the above categories, but it should also accomplish other objectives. Most of all, a good business plan is  convincing . It proves a case. It provides concrete, factual evidence showing your idea for a business is in fact sound and reasonable and has every chance of success.

Who  must  your business plan convince?

First and foremost, your business plan should convince  you  that your idea for a business is not just a dream but can be a viable reality. Entrepreneurs are by nature confident, positive, can-do people. After you objectively evaluate your capital needs, products or services, competition, marketing plans, and potential to make a profit, you'll have a much better grasp on your chances for success.

And if you're not convinced, fine: Take a step back and refine your ideas and your plans.

Who  can  your business plan convince?

1. Potential sources of financing.   If you need seed money from a bank or friends and relatives, your business plan can help you make a great case. Financial statements can show where you have been. Financial projections describe where you plan to go.

Your business plan shows how you will get there. Lending naturally involves risk, and a great business plan can help lenders understand and quantity that risk, increasing your chances for approval.

2. Potential partners and investors. Where friends and family are concerned, sharing your business plan may not be necessary (although it certainly could help).

Other investors--including angel investors or venture capitalists--generally require a business plan in order to evaluate your business.

3. Skilled employees . When you need to attract talent, you need  something  to show prospective employees since you're still in the startup phase. Early on, your business is more of an idea than a reality, so your business plan can help prospective employees understand your goals--and, more important, their place in helping you achieve those goals.

4. Potential joint ventures. Joint ventures are like partnerships between two companies. A joint venture is a formal agreement to share the work--and share the revenue and profit. As a new company, you will likely be an unknown quantity in your market. Setting up a joint venture with an established partner could make all the difference in getting your business off the ground.

But above all, your business plan should convince  you  that it makes sense to move forward.

As you map out your plan, you may discover issues or challenges you had not anticipated.

Maybe the market isn't as large as you thought. Maybe, after evaluating the competition, you realize your plan to be the low-cost provider isn't feasible since the profit margins will be too low to cover your costs.

Or you might realize the fundamental idea for your business is sound, but how you implement that idea should change. Maybe establishing a storefront for your operation isn't as cost-effective as taking your products directly to customers--not only will your operating costs be lower, but you can charge a premium since you provide additional customer convenience.

Think of it this way. Successful businesses do not remain static. They learn from mistakes, and adapt and react to changes: changes in the economy, the marketplace, their customers, their products and services, etc. Successful businesses identify opportunities and challenges and react accordingly.

Creating a business plan lets you spot opportunities and challenges without risk. Use your plan to dip your toe in the business water. It's the perfect way to review and revise your ideas and concepts before you ever spend a penny.

Many people see writing a business plan as a "necessary evil" required to attract financing or investors. Instead, see your plan as a no-cost way to explore the viability of your potential business and avoid costly mistakes.

Now let's look at the first section of your business plan: The Executive Summary.

The Executive Summary is a brief outline of the company's purpose and goals. While it can be tough to fit on one or two pages, a good Summary includes:

• A brief description of products and services
• A summary of objectives
• A solid description of the market
• A high-level justification for viability (including a quick look at your competition and your competitive advantage)
• A snapshot of growth potential
• An overview of funding requirements

I know that seems like a lot, and that's why it's so important you get it right. The Executive Summary is often the make-or-break section of your business plan.

A great business solves customer problems. If your Summary cannot clearly describe, in one or two pages, how your business will solve a particular problem and make a profit, then it's very possible the opportunity does not exist--or your plan to take advantage of a genuine opportunity is not well developed.

So think of it as a snapshot of your business plan. Don't try to "hype" your business--focus on helping a busy reader get a great feel for what you plan to do, how you plan to do it, and how you will succeed.

Since a business plan should above all help you start and grow your business, your Executive Summary should first and foremost help you do the following.

1. Refine and tighten your concept.

Think of it as a written elevator pitch  (with more detail, of course). Your Summary describes the highlights of your plan, includes only the most critical points, and leaves out less important issues and factors.

As you develop your Summary, you will naturally focus on the issues that contribute most to potential success. If your concept is too fuzzy, too broad, or too complicated, go back and start again. Most great businesses can be described in several sentences, not several pages.

2. Determine your priorities.

Your business plan walks the reader through your plan. What ranks high in terms of importance? Product development? Research? Acquiring the right location? Creating strategic partnerships?

Your Summary can serve as a guide to writing the rest of your plan.

3. Make the rest of the process easy.

Once your Summary is complete, you can use it as an outline for the rest of your plan. Simply flesh out the highlights with more detail.

Then work to accomplish your secondary objective by focusing on your readers. Even though you may be creating a business plan solely for your own purposes, at some point you may decide to seek financing or to bring on other investors, so make sure your Summary meets their needs as well. Work hard to set the stage for the rest of the plan. Let your excitement for your idea and your business shine through.

In short, make readers want to turn the page and keep reading. Just make sure your sizzle meets your steak by providing clear, factual descriptions.

How? The following is how an Executive Summary for a bicycle rental store might read.

Introduction

Blue Mountain Cycle Rentals will offer road and mountain bike rentals in a strategic location directly adjacent to an entrance to the George Washington National Forest. Our primary strategy is to develop Blue Mountain Cycle Rentals as the most convenient and cost-effective rental alternative for the thousands of visitors who flock to the area each year.

Once underway, we will expand our scope and take advantage of high-margin new equipment sales and leverage our existing labor force to sell and service those products. Within three years we intend to create the area's premier destination for cycling enthusiasts.

Company and Management

Blue Mountain Cycle Rentals will be located at 321 Mountain Drive, a location providing extremely high visibility as well as direct entry and exit from a primary national park access road. The owner of the company, Marty Cycle, has over 20 years experience in the bicycle business, having served as a product manager for Acme Cycles as well as the general manager of Epic Cycling.

Because of his extensive industry contacts, initial equipment inventory will be purchased at significant discounts from OEM suppliers as well by sourcing excess inventory from shops around the country.

Because of the somewhat seasonal nature of the business, part-time employees will be hired to handle spikes in demand. Those employees will be attracted through competitive wages as well as discounts products and services.

460,000 people visited the George Washington National Forest during the last 12 months. While the outdoor tourism industry as a whole is flat, the park expects its number of visitors to grow over the next few years.

• The economic outlook indicates fewer VA, WV, NC, and MD cycling enthusiasts will travel outside the region
• The park has added a camping and lodging facilities that should attract an increased number of visitors
• The park has opened up additional areas for trail exploration and construction, ensuring a greater number of single-track options and therefore a greater number of visitors

The market potential inherent in those visitors is substantial. According to third-party research data, approximately 30 percent of all cyclists would rather rent than transport their own bicycles, especially those who are visiting the area for reasons other than cycling.

Competitive Advantages

The cycling shops located in Harrisonburg, VA, are direct and established competitors. Our two primary competitive advantages will be location and lower costs.

Our location is also a key disadvantage where non-park rentals are concerned. We will overcome that issue by establishing a satellite location in Harrisonburg for enthusiasts who wish to rent bicycles to use in town or on other local trails.

We will also use online tools to better engage customers, allowing them to reserve and pay online as well as create individual profiles regarding sizes, preferences, and special needs.

Financial Projections

Blue Mountain Cycle Rentals expects to earn a modest profit by year two based on projected sales. Our projections are based on the following key assumptions:

• Initial growth will be moderate as we establish awareness in the market
• Initial equipment purchases will stay in service for an average of three to four years; after two years we will begin investing in "new" equipment to replace damaged or obsolete equipment
• Marketing costs will not exceed 14 percent of sales
• Residual profits will be reinvested in expanding the product and service line

We project first-year revenue of $720,000 and a 10 percent growth rate for the next two years. Direct cost of sales is projected to average 60 percent of gross sales, including 50 percent for the purchase of equipment and 10 percent for the purchase of ancillary items. Net income is projected to reach $105,000 in year three as sales increase and operations become more efficient.

And so on ...

Keep in mind this is just a made-up example of how your Summary might read. Also keep in mind this example focused on the rental business, so a description of products was not included. (They'll show up later.) If your business will manufacture or sell products, or provide a variety of services, then be sure to include a Products and Services section in your Summary. (In this case the products and services are obvious, so including a specific section would be redundant.)

Bottom line:  Provide some sizzle in your Executive Summary, but make sure you show a reasonable look at the steak, too.

Providing an overview of your business can be tricky, especially when you're still in the planning stages. If you already own an existing business, summarizing your current operation should be relatively easy; it can be a lot harder to explain what you plan to  become .

So start by taking a step back.

Think about what products and services you will provide, how you will provide those items, what you need to have in order to provide those items, exactly who will provide those items, and most important, whom you will provide those items to.

Consider our bicycle rental business example. It's serves retail customers. It has an online component, but the core of the business is based on face-to-face transactions for bike rentals and support.

So you'll need a physical location, bikes, racks and tools and supporting equipment, and other brick-and-mortar related items. You'll need employees  with a very particular set of skills  to serve those customers, and you'll need an operating plan to guide your everyday activities.

Sound like a lot? It boils down to:

• What you will provide
• What you need to run your business
• Who will service your customers, and
• Who your customers are.

In our example, defining the above is fairly simple. You know what you will provide to meet your customer's needs. You will of course need a certain quantity of bikes to service demand, but you will not need a number of different types of bikes. You need a retail location, furnished to meet the demands of your business. You need semi-skilled employees capable of sizing, customizing, and repairing bikes.

And you know your customers: cycling enthusiasts.

In other businesses and industries, answering the above questions can be more difficult. If you open a restaurant, what you plan to serve will in some ways determine your labor needs, the location you choose, the equipment you need to purchase. And, most important, it will help define your customer. Changing any one element may change other elements; if you cannot afford to purchase expensive kitchen equipment, you may need to adapt your menu accordingly. If you hope to attract an upscale clientele, you may need to invest more in purchasing a prime location and creating an appealing ambience.

So where do you start? Focus on the basics first:

• Identify your industry. Retail, wholesale, service, manufacturing, etc. Clearly define your type of business.
• Identify your customer. You cannot market and sell to customers until you know who they are.
• Explain the problem you solve. Successful businesses create customer value by solving problems. In our rental example, one problem is cycling enthusiasts who don't--or can't--travel with bikes. Another problem is casual cyclists who can't--or choose not to--spend significant sums on their own bikes. The rental shop will solve that problem by offering a lower-cost and convenient alternative.
• Show how you will solve that problem. Our rental shop will offer better prices and enhanced services like remote deliveries, off-hours equipment returns, and online reservations.

If you are still stuck, try answering these questions. Some may pertain to you; others may not.

• Who is my average customer? Who am I targeting? (Unless you plan to open a grocery store, you should be unlikely to answer, "Everyone!")
• What pain point do I solve for my customers?
• How will I overcome that paint point?
• Where will I fail to solve a customer problem, and what can I do to overcome that issue? (In our rental example, one problem is a potential lack of convenience; we will overcome that issue by offering online reservations, on-resort deliveries, and drive-up equipment returns.)
• Where will I locate my business?
• What products, services, and equipment do I need to run my business?
• What skills do my employees need, and how many do I need?
• How will I beat my competition?
• How can I differentiate myself from my competition in the eyes of my customers? (You can have a great plan to beat your competition, but you also must win the perception battle among your customers. If customers don't feel you are different, then you aren't truly different. Perception is critical.)

Once you work through this list you will probably end up with a lot more detail than is necessary for your business plan. That is not a problem: Start summarizing the main points. For example, your Business Overview and Objectives section could start something like this:

History and Vision

Blue Mountain Cycle Rentals is a new retail venture that will be located at 321 Mountain Drive, directly adjacent to an extremely popular cycling destination. Our initial goal is to become the premier provider for bicycle rentals. We will then leverage our customer base and position in the market to offer new equipment sales as well as comprehensive maintenance and service, custom equipment fittings, and expert trail advice.

• Achieve the largest market share bicycle rentals in the area
• Generate a net income of $235,000 at the end of the second year of operation
• Minimize rental inventory replacement costs by maintaining a 7 percent attrition rate on existing equipment (industry average is 12 percent)

Keys to Success

• Provide high-quality equipment, sourcing that equipment as inexpensively as possible through existing relationships with equipment manufacturers and other cycling shops
• Use signage to attract visitors traveling to the national forest, highlighting our cost and service advantage
• Create additional customer convenience factors to overcome a perceived lack of convenience for customers planning to ride roads and trails some distance away from our shop
• Develop customer incentive and loyalty programs to leverage customer relationships and create positive word of mouth

You could certainly include more detail in each section; this is simply a quick guide. And if you plan to develop a product or service, you should thoroughly describe the development process as well as the end result.

The key is to describe what you will do for your customers--if you can't, you won't  have  any customers.

In the Products and Services section of your business plan, you will clearly describe--yep--the products and services your business will provide.

Keep in mind that highly detailed or technical descriptions are not necessary and definitely not recommended. Use simple terms and avoid industry buzzwords.

On the other hand, describing how the company's products and services will differ from the competition is critical. So is describing why your products and services are needed if no market currently exists. (For example, before there was Federal Express, overnight delivery was a niche business served by small companies. FedEx had to define the opportunity for a new, large-scale service and justify why customers needed--and would actually  use --that service.)

Patents, copyrights, and trademarks you own or have applied for should also be listed in this section.

Depending on the nature of your business, your Products and Services section could be very long or relatively short. If your business is product-focused, you will want to spend more time describing those products.

If you plan to sell a commodity item and the key to your success lies in, say, competitive pricing, you probably don't need to provide significant product detail. Or if you plan to sell a commodity readily available in a variety of outlets, the key to your business may not be the commodity itself but your ability to market in a more cost-effective way than your competition.

But if you're creating a new product (or service), make sure you thoroughly explain the nature of the product, its uses, and its value, etc.--otherwise your readers will not have enough information to evaluate your business.

Key questions to answer:

• Are products or services in development or existing (and on the market)?
• What is the timeline for bringing new products and services to market?
• What makes your products or services different? Are there competitive advantages compared with offerings from other competitors? Are there competitive disadvantages you will need to overcome? (And if so, how?)
• Is price an issue? Will your operating costs be low enough to allow a reasonable profit margin?
• How will you acquire your products? Are you the manufacturer? Do you assemble products using components provided by others? Do you purchase products from suppliers or wholesalers? If your business takes off, is a steady supply of products available?

In the cycling rental business example we've been using, products and services could be a relatively simple section to complete or it could be fairly involved. It depends on the nature of the products the company plans to rent to customers.

If Blue Mountain Cycling Rentals plans to market itself as a provider of high-end bikes, describing those bikes--and the sources for those bikes--is important, since "high-end cycling rentals" is intended to be a market differentiation. If the company plans to be the low-cost provider, then describing specific brands of equipment is probably not necessary.

Also, keep in mind that if a supplier runs out of capacity--or goes out of business altogether--you may not have a sufficient supply to meet your demand. Plan to set up multiple vendor or supplier relationships, and describe those relationships fully. 

Remember, the primary goal of your business plan is to convince  you  that the business is viable--and to create a road map for you to follow.

The Products and Services section for our cycling rental business could start something like this:

Product Description

Blue Mountain Cycle Rentals will provide a comprehensive line of bicycles and cycling equipment for all ages and levels of ability. Since the typical customer seeks medium-quality equipment and excellent services at competitive prices, we will focus on providing brands like Trek bikes, Shimano footwear, and Giro helmets. These manufacturers have a widespread reputation as mid- to high-level quality, unlike equipment typically found in the rental market.

The following is a breakdown of anticipated rental price points, per day and per week:

• Bicycle $30/$120
• Helmet $6/$30
• Customers can extend the rental term online without visiting the store.
• A grace period of two hours will be applied to all rentals; customers who return equipment within that two-hour period will not be charged an additional fee.

Competition

Blue Mountain Cycle Rentals will have clear advantages over its primary competitors, the bike shops located in Harrisonburg, VA:

• Newer equipment inventory with higher perceived quality
• Price points 15 percent below the competition
• Online renewals offering greater convenience
• A liberal return grace period that will reinforce our reputation as a customer-friendly rental experience

Future Products

Expansion will allow us to move product offerings into new equipment sales. We will also explore maintenance and fitting services, leveraging our existing maintenance staff to provide value-added services at a premium price.

When you draft your Products and Services section, think of your reader as a person who knows little to nothing about your business. Be clear and to the point.

Think of it this way: The Products and Services section answers the "what" question for your business. Make sure you fully understand the "what" factor; you may run the business, but your products and services are its lifeblood.

Market research is critical to business success. A good business plan analyzes and evaluates customer demographics, purchasing habits, buying cycles, and willingness to adopt new products and services.

The process starts with understanding your market and the opportunities inherent in that market. And that means you'll need to do a little research. Before you start a business you must be sure there is a viable market for what you plan to offer.

That process requires asking, and more importantly answering, a number of questions. The more thoroughly you answer the following questions, the better you will understand your market.

Start by evaluating the market at a relatively high level, answering some high-level questions about your market and your industry:

• What is the size of the market? Is it growing, stable, or in decline?
• Is the overall industry growing, stable, or in decline?
• What segment of the market do I plan to target? What demographics and behaviors make up the market I plan to target?
• Is demand for my specific products and services rising or falling?
• Can I differentiate myself from the competition in a way customers will find meaningful? If so, can I differentiate myself in a cost-effective manner?
• What do customers expect to pay for my products and services? Are they considered to be a commodity or to be custom and individualized?

Fortunately, you've already done some of the legwork. You've already defined and mapped out your products and services. The Market Opportunities section provides a sense-check of that analysis, which is particularly important since choosing the right products and services is such a critical factor in business success.

But your analysis should go further: Great products are great, but there still must be a market for those products. (Ferraris are awesome, but you're unlikely to sell many where I live.)

So let's dig deeper and quantify your market. Your goal is to thoroughly understand the characteristics and purchasing ability of potential customers in your market. A little Googling can yield a tremendous amount of data.

For the market you hope to serve, determine:

• Your potential customers. In general terms, potential customers are the people in the market segment you plan to target. Say you sell jet skis; anyone under the age of 16 and over the age of 60 or so is unlikely to be a customer. Plus, again in general terms, women make up a relatively small percentage of jet ski purchasers. Determining the total population for the market is not particularly helpful if your product or service does not serve a need for the entire population. Most products and services do not.
• Total households. In some cases determining the number of total households is important depending on your business. For example, if you sell heating and air conditioning systems, knowing the number of households is more important than simply knowing the total population in your area. While people purchase HVAC systems, "households" consume those systems.
• Median income. Spending ability is important. Does your market area have sufficient spending power to purchase enough of your products and services to enable you to make a profit? Some areas are more affluent than others. Don't assume every city or locality is the same in terms of spending power. A service that is viable in New York City may not be viable in your town.
• Income by demographics. You can also determine income levels by age group, by ethnic group, and by gender. (Again, potential spending power is an important number to quantify.) Senior citizens could very well have a lower income level than males or females age 45 to 55 in the prime of their careers. Or say you plan to sell services to local businesses; in that case, try to determine the amount they currently spend on similar services.

The key is to understand the market in general terms and then to dig deeper to understand whether there are specific segments within that market--the segments you plan to target--that can become customers and support the growth of your business.

Also keep in mind that if you plan to sell products online the global marketplace is incredibly crowded and competitive. Any business can sell a product online and ship that product around the world. Don't simply assume that just because "the bicycle industry is a $62 billion business" (a number I just made up) that you can capture a meaningful percentage of that market.

On the other hand, if you live in an area with 50,000 people and there's only one bicycle shop, you may be able to enter that market and attract a major portion of bicycle customers in your area.

Always remember it's much easier to serve a market you can define and quantify.

After you complete your research you may feel a little overwhelmed. While data is good, and more data is great, sifting through and making sense of too much data can be daunting.

For the purposes of your business plan, narrow your focus and focus on answering these main questions:

• What is your market? Include geographic descriptions, target demographics, and company profiles (if you're B2B). In short: Who are your customers?
• What segment of your market will you focus on? What niche will you attempt to carve out? What percentage of that market do you hope to penetrate and acquire?
• What is the size of your intended market? What is the population and spending habits and levels?
• Why do customers need and why will they be willing to purchase your products and services?
• How will you price your products and services? Will you be the low cost provider or provide value-added services at higher prices?
• Is your market likely to grow? How much? Why?
• How can you increase your market share over time?

The Market Opportunities section for our cycling rental business could start something like this:

Market Summary

Consumer spending on cycling equipment reached $9,250,000 in the states of VA, WV, MD, and NC last year. While we expect sales to rise, for the purposes of performing a conservative analysis we have projected a zero growth rate for the next three years.

In those states 2,500,000 people visited a national forest last year. Our target market includes customers visiting the Shenandoah National Forest; last year 120,000 people visited the area during spring, summer, and fall months.

Over time, however, we do expect equipment rentals and sales to increase as the popularity of cycling continues to rise. In particular we forecast a spike in demand in 2015 since the national road racing championships will be held in Richmond, VA.

Market Trends

Participation and population trends favor our venture:

• Recreational sports in general and both family-oriented and "extreme" sports continue to gain in exposure and popularity.
• Western VA and eastern WV have experienced population growth rates nearly double that of the country as a whole.
• Industry trends show cycling has risen at a more rapid rate than most other recreational activities.

Market Growth

According to the latest studies, recreation spending in our target market has grown by 14 percent per year for the past three years.

In addition, we anticipate greater than industry-norm growth rates for cycling in the area due to the increase in popularity of cycling events like the Alpine Loop Gran Fondo.

Market Needs

Out target market has one basic need: The availability to source bicycle rentals at a competitive price. Our only other competition are the bike shops in Harrisonburg, VA, and our location will give us a competitive advantage over those and other companies who try to serve our market.

You may want to add other categories to this section based on your particular industry.

For example, you might decide to provide information about Market Segments. In our case, the cycling rental business does not require much segmentation. Rentals are typically not broken down into segments like "inexpensive," "midrange," and "high-end." For the most part rental bikes are more of a commodity. (Although you'll notice in our Products and Services section, we decided to provide "high-end" rentals.)

But say you decide to open a clothing store. You could focus on high fashion, or children's clothes, or outdoor wear, or casual--you could segment the market in a number of ways. If that's the case, provide detail on segmentation that supports your plan.

The key is to define your market--and then show how you will serve your market.

Providing great products and services is wonderful, but customers must actually know those products and services exist. That's why marketing plans and strategies are critical to business success. (Duh, right?)

But keep in mind marketing is not just advertising. Marketing--whether advertising, public relations, promotional literature, etc.--is an investment in the growth of your business.

Like any other investment you would make, money spent on marketing must generate a return. (Otherwise why make the investment?) While that return could simply be greater cash flow, good marketing plans result in higher sales and profits.

So don't simply plan to spend money on a variety of advertising efforts. Do your homework and create a smart marketing program .

Here are some of the basic steps involved in creating your marketing plan:

• Focus on your target market. Who are your customers? Who will you target? Who makes the decisions? Determine how you can best reach potential customers.
• Evaluate your competition. Your marketing plan must set you apart from your competition, and you can't stand out unless you  know  your competition. (It's hard to stand out from a crowd if you don't know where the crowd stands.) Know your competitors by gathering information about their products, service, quality, pricing, and advertising campaigns. In marketing terms, what does your competition do that works well? What are their weaknesses? How can you create a marketing plan that highlights the advantages you offer to customers?
• Consider your brand. How customers perceive your business makes a dramatic impact on sales. Your marketing program should consistently reinforce and extend your brand. Before you start to market your business, think about how you want your marketing to reflect on your business and your products and services. Marketing is the face of your to potential customers--make sure you put your best face forward.
• Focus on benefits. What problems do you solve? What benefits do you deliver? Customers don't think in terms of products--they think in terms of benefits and solutions. Your marketing plan should clearly identify benefits customers will receive. Focus on what customers  get  instead of on what you provide. (Take Dominos; theoretically they're in the pizza business, but really they're a delivery business.)
• Focus on differentiation. Your products and services have to stand out from the competition in some way. How will you compete in terms of price, product, or service?

Then focus on providing detail and backup for your marketing plan.

• What is your budget for sales and marketing efforts? 
• How will you determine if your initial marketing efforts are successful? In what ways will you adapt if your initial efforts do not succeed?
• Will you need sales representatives (inside or external) to promote your products?
• Can you set up public relations activities to help market your business?

The Sales and Marketing section for our cycling rental business could start something like this:

Target Market

The target market for Blue Mountain Cycling Rentals is western VA, eastern WV, southwestern MD, and northern NC. While customers in the counties surrounding the George Washington National Forest make up 35 percent of our potential customer base, much of our market travels from outside that geographic area.

Marketing Strategy

Our marketing strategy will focus on three basic initiatives:

• Road signage. Access to the forest is restricted to a few primary entrances, and visitors reach those entrances after traveling on one of several main roadways. Since customers currently rent bicycles in the local town of Harrisonburg, road signage will communicate our value proposition to all potential customers.
• Web initiatives. Our website will attract potential visitors to the resort. We will partner with local businesses that serve our target market to provide discounts and incentives.
• Promotional events. We will hold regular events with professional cyclists, like demonstrations and autograph signings, to bring more customers to the store as well as to extend the athletes' "brand" to our brand.

Pricing Strategy

We will not be the low-cost provider for our target market. Our goal is to provide mid- to high-end equipment. However, we will create web-based loyalty programs to incent customers to set up online profiles and reserve and renew equipment rentals online, and provide discounts for those who do. Over time we will be able to market specifically to those customers.

Just as in the Market Opportunity section, you may want to include a few more categories. For example, if your business involves a commission-compensated sales force, describe your Sales Programs and incentives. If you distribute products to other companies or suppliers and those distribution efforts will impact your overall marketing plans, lay out your Distribution Strategy.

The key is to show you understand your market and you understand how you will reach your market. Marketing and promotions must result in customers--your goal is to thoroughly describe how you will acquire and keep your customers.

Also keep in mind you may want to include examples of marketing materials you have already prepared, like website descriptions, print ads, web-based advertising programs, etc. While you don't need to include samples, taking the time to create actual marketing materials might help you better understand and communicate your marketing plans and objectives.

Make sure your Sales and Marketing section answers the "How will I reach my customers?" question.

Competitive Advantage

The Competitive Analysis section of your business plan is devoted to analyzing your competition--both your current competition and potential competitors who might enter your market.

Every business has competition. Understanding the strengths and weaknesses of your competition--or potential competition--is critical to making sure your business survives and grows. While you don't need to hire a private detective, you do need to thoroughly assess your competition on a regular basis even if you plan to run only a small business.

In fact, small businesses can be especially vulnerable to competition, especially when new companies enter a marketplace.

Competitive analysis can be incredibly complicated and time-consuming, but it doesn't have to be. Here is a simple process you can follow to identify, analyze, and determine the strengths and weaknesses of your competition.

Profile  Current  Competitors

First, develop a basic profile of each of your current competition. For example, if you plan to open an office supply store, you may have three competing stores in your market.

Online retailers will also provide competition, but thoroughly analyzing those companies will be less valuable unless you also decide you want to sell office supplies online. (Although it's also possible that they--or, say, Amazon--are your  real  competition. Only you can determine that.)

To make the process easier, stick to analyzing companies you will directly compete with. If you plan to set up an accounting firm, you will compete with other accounting firms in your area. If you plan to open a clothing store, you will compete with other clothing retailers in your area.

Again, if you run a clothing store, you also compete with online retailers, but there is relatively little you can do about that type of competition other than to work hard to distinguish yourself in other ways: great service, friendly salespeople, convenient hours, truly understanding your customers, etc.

Once you identify your main competitors, answer these questions about each one. And be objective. It's easy to identify weaknesses in your competition, but less easy (and a lot less fun) to recognize how they may be able to outperform you:

• What are their strengths? Price, service, convenience, and extensive inventory are all areas where you may be vulnerable.
• What are their weaknesses? Weaknesses are opportunities you should plan to take advantage of.
• What are their basic objectives? Do they seek to gain market share? Do they attempt to capture premium clients? See your industry through their eyes. What are they trying to achieve?
• What marketing strategies do they use? Look at their advertising, public relations, etc.
• How can you take market share away from their business?
• How will they respond when you enter the market?

While these questions may seem like a lot of work to answer, in reality the process should be fairly easy. You should already have a feel for the competition's strengths and weaknesses--if you know your market and your industry.

To gather information, you can also:

• Check out their websites and marketing materials. Most of the information you need about products, services, prices, and company objectives should be readily available. If that information is not available, you may have identified a weakness.
• Visit their locations. Take a look around. Check out sales materials and promotional literature. Have friends stop in or call to ask for information.
• Evaluate their marketing and advertising campaigns. How a company advertises creates a great opportunity to uncover the objectives and strategies of that business. Advertising should help you quickly determine how a company positions itself, who it markets to, and what strategies it employs to reach potential customers.
• Browse. Search the Internet for news, public relations, and other mentions of your competition. Search blogs and Twitter feeds as well as review and recommendation sites. While most of the information you find will be anecdotal and based on the opinion of just a few people, you may at least get a sense of how some consumers perceive your competition. Plus you may also get advance warning about expansion plans, new markets they intend to enter, or changes in management.

Keep in mind competitive analysis does more than help you understand your competition. Competitive analysis can also help you identify changes you should make to  your  business strategies. Learn from competitor strengths, take advantage of competitor's weaknesses, and apply the same analysis to your own business plan.

You might be surprised by what you can learn about your business by evaluating other businesses.

Identify  Potential  Competitors

It can be tough to predict when and where new competitors may pop up. For starters, regularly search for news on your industry, your products, your services, and your target market.

But there are other ways to predict when competition may follow you into a market. Other people may see the same opportunity you see. Think about your business and your industry, and if the following conditions exist, you may face competition does the road:

• The industry enjoys relatively high profit margins
• Entering the market is relatively easy and inexpensive
• The market is growing--the more rapidly it is growing the greater the risk of competition
• Supply and demand is off--supply is low and demand is high
• Very little competition exists, so there is plenty of "room" for others to enter the market

In general terms, if serving your market seems easy you can safely assume competitors will enter your market. A good business plan anticipates and accounts for new competitors.

Now distill what you've learned by answering these questions in your business plan:

• Who are my current competitors? What is their market share? How successful are they?
• What market do current competitors target? Do they focus on a specific customer type, on serving the mass market, or on a particular niche?
• Are competing businesses growing or scaling back their operations? Why? What does that mean for your business?
• How will your company be different from the competition? What competitor weaknesses can you exploit? What competitor strengths will you need to overcome to be successful?
• What will you do if competitors drop out of the marketplace? What will you do to take advantage of the opportunity?
• What will you do if new competitors enter the marketplace? How will you react to and overcome new challenges?

The Competitive Analysis section for our cycling rental business could start something like this:

Primary Competitors

Our nearest and only competition is the bike shops in Harrisonburg, VA. Our next closest competitor is located over 100 miles away.

The in-town bike shops will be strong competitors. They are established businesses with excellent reputations. On the other hand, they offer inferior-quality equipment and their location is significantly less convenient.

Secondary Competitors

We do not plan to sell bicycles for at least the first two years of operation. However, sellers of new equipment do indirectly compete with our business since a customer who buys equipment no longer needs to rent equipment.

Later, when we add new equipment sales to our operation, we will face competition from online retailers. We will compete with new equipment retailers through personalized service and targeted marketing to our existing customer base, especially through online initiatives.

Opportunities

• By offering mid- to high-end quality equipment, we provide customers the opportunity to "try out" bikes they may wish to purchase at a later date, providing additional incentive (besides cost savings) to use our service.
• Offering drive-up, express rental return services will be seen as a much more attractive option compared with the hassle of renting bikes in Harrisonburg and transporting them to intended take-off points for rides.
• Online initiatives like online renewals and online reservations enhances customer convenience and positions us as a cutting-edge supplier in a market largely populated, especially in the cycling segment, by customers who tend to be early technology adapters.
• Renting bikes and cycling equipment may be perceived by some of our target market as a commodity transaction. If we do not differentiate ourselves in terms of quality, convenience, and service, we could face additional competition from other entrants to the market.
• One of the bike shops in Harrisonburg is a subsidiary of a larger corporation with significant financial assets. If we, as hoped, carve out a significant market share, the corporation may use those assets to increase service, improve equipment quality, or cut prices.

While your business plan is primarily intended to convince  you  that your business makes sense, keep in mind most investors look closely at your competitive analysis. A common mistake made by entrepreneurs is assuming they will simply "do it better" than any competition.

Experienced businesspeople know you will face stiff competition: showing you understand your competition, understand your strengths and weaknesses relative to that competition, and that you understand you will have to adapt and change based on that competition is critical.

And, even if you do not ever plan to seek financing or bring in investors, you absolutely must know your competition.

The Competitive Analysis section helps you answer the "Against whom?" question.

The next step in creating your business plan is to develop an Operations Plan that will serve your customers, keep your operating costs in line, and ensure profitability . Your ops plan should detail strategies for managing, staffing, manufacturing, fulfillment, inventory--all the stuff involved in operating your business on a day-to-day basis.

Fortunately, most entrepreneurs have a better handle on their operations plan than on any other aspect of their business. After all, while it may not seem natural to analyze your market or your competition, most budding entrepreneurs tend to spend a lot of time thinking about how they will  run  their businesses.

Your goal is to answer the following key questions:

• What facilities, equipment, and supplies do you need?
• What is your organizational structure? Who is responsible for which aspects of the business?
• Is research and development required, either during start up or as an ongoing operation? If so, how will you accomplish this task?
• What are your initial staffing needs? When and how will you add staff?
• How will you establish business relationships with vendors and suppliers? How will those relationships impact your day-to-day operations?
• How will your operations change as the company grows? What steps will you take to cut costs if the company initially does not perform up to expectations?

Operations plans should be highly specific to your industry, your market sector, and your customers. Instead of providing an example like I've done with other sections, use the following to determine the key areas your plan should address:

Location and Facility Management

In terms of location, describe:

• Zoning requirements
• The type of building you need
• The space you need
• Power and utility requirements
• Access: Customers, suppliers, shipping, etc.
• Specialized construction or renovations
• Interior and exterior remodeling and preparation

Daily Operations

• Production methods
• Service methods
• Inventory control
• Sales and customer service
• Receiving and Delivery
• Maintenance, cleaning, and re-stocking
• Licenses and permits
• Environmental or health regulations
• Patents, trademarks, and copyrights

Personnel Requirements

• Typical staffing
• Breakdown of skills required
• Recruiting and retention
• Policies and procedures
• Pay structures
• Anticipated inventory levels
• Turnover rate
• Seasonal fluctuations in demand
• Major suppliers
• Back-up suppliers and contingency plans
• Credit and payment policies

Sound like a lot? It can be, but not all of the above needs to be in your business plan.

You should think through and create a detailed plan for each category, but you won't need to share the results with the people who read your business plan

Working through each issue and developing concrete operations plans helps you in two major ways:

• If you don't plan to seek financing or outside capital, you can still take advantage of creating a comprehensive plan that addresses all of your operational needs.
• If you do seek financing or outside capital, you may not include all the detail in your business plan--but you will have answers to any operations questions at your fingertips.

Think of Operations as the "implementation" section of your business plan. What do you need to do? How will you get it done? Then create an overview of that plan to make sure your milestones and timeline make sense.

That way the operations section answers the "How?" question.

Many investors and lenders feel the quality and experience of the management team is one of the most important factors used to evaluate the potential of a new business.

But putting work into the Management Team section will not only benefit people who may read your plan. It will also help  you  evaluate the skills, experiences, and resources your management team will need . Addressing your company's needs during implementation will make a major impact on your chances for success.

• Who are the key leaders? (If actual people have not been identified, describe the type of people needed.) What are their experiences, educational backgrounds, and skills?
• Do your key leaders have industry experience? If not, what experience do they bring to the business that is applicable?
• What duties will each position perform? (Creating an organization chart might be helpful.) What authority is granted to and what responsibilities are expected in each position?
• What salary levels will be required to attract qualified candidates for each position? What is the salary structure for the company, by position?

The Management Team section for our cycling rental business could start something like this:

Jim Rouleur, Owner and Manager

Joe has over 20 years experience in the cycling business. He served for 10 years as a product manager for Acme Bikes. After that he was the operations manager of Single Track Cycles, a full-service bike shop located in Bend, Oregon. He has an undergraduate degree in marketing from Duke University and an MBA from Virginia Commonwealth University. (A complete resume for Mr. Rouleur can be found in the Appendix.)

Mary Gearset, Assistant Manager

Mary was the 2009 U.S. Mountain Biking National Champion. She worked in product development for High Tec frames, creating custom frames and frame modifications for professional cyclists. She also has extensive customer service and sales experience, having worked for four years as the online manager of Pro Parts Unlimited, an online retailer of high-end cycling equipment and accessories.

In some instances you may also wish to describe your staffing plans.

For example, if you manufacture a product or provide a service and will hire a key skilled employee, describe that employee's credentials. Otherwise, include staffing plans in the Operations section.

One key note: Don't be tempted to add a "name" to your management team in hopes of attracting investors. Celebrity management team members may attract the attention of your readers, but experienced lenders and investors will immediately ask what role that person will actually play in the running of the business--and in most cases those individuals won't play any meaningful role.

If you don't have a lot of experience--but are willing to work hard to overcome that lack of experience--don't be tempted to include people in your plan who will not actually work in the business.

If you can't survive without help, that's okay. In fact, that's expected; no one does anything worthwhile on their own. Just make plans to get help from the  right  people.

Finally, when you create your Management section, focus on credentials but pay extra attention to what each person actually will  do . Experience and reputation are great, but action is everything.

That way your Management section will answer the "Who is in charge?" question.

Numbers tell the story. Bottom line results indicate the success or failure of any business.

Financial projections and estimates help entrepreneurs, lenders, and investors or lenders objectively evaluate a company's potential for success. If a business seeks outside funding, providing comprehensive financial reports and analysis is critical.

But most important, financial projections tell you whether your business has a chance of being viable--and if not let you know you have more work to do.

Most business plans include at least five basic reports or projections:

• Balance Sheet: Describes the company cash position including assets, liabilities, shareholders, and earnings retained to fund future operations or to serve as funding for expansion and growth. It indicates the financial health of a business.
• Income Statement: Also called a Profit and Loss statement, this report lists projected revenue and expenses. It shows whether a company will be profitable during a given time period.
• Cash Flow Statement: A projection of cash receipts and expense payments. It shows how and when cash will flow through the business; without cash, payments (including salaries) cannot be made.
• Operating Budget: A detailed breakdown of income and expenses; provides a guide for how the company will operate from a "dollars" point of view.
• Break-Even Analysis: A projection of the revenue required to cover all fixed and variable expenses. Shows when, under specific conditions, a business can expect to become profitable.

It's easy to find examples of all of the above. Even the most basic accounting software packages include templates and samples. You can also find templates in Excel and Google Docs. (A quick search like "google docs profit and loss statement" yields plenty of examples.)

Or you can work with an accountant to create the necessary financial projections and documents. Certainly feel free to do so, but first play around with the reports yourself. While you don't need to be an accountant to run a business, you do need to understand your numbers, and the best way to understand your numbers is usually to actually work with your numbers.

But ultimately the tools you use to develop your numbers are not as important as whether those numbers are as accurate as possible--and whether those numbers help you decide whether to take the next step and put your business plan into action.

Then Financial Analysis can help you answer the most important business question: "Can we make a profit?"

Some business plans include less essential but potentially important information in an Appendix section. You may decide to include, as backup or additional information:

• Resumes of key leaders
• Additional descriptions of products and services
• Legal agreements
• Organizational charts
• Examples of marketing and advertising collateral
• Photographs of potential facilities, products, etc.
• Backup for market research or competitive analysis
• Additional financial documents or projections

Keep in mind creating an Appendix is usually only necessary if you're seeking financing or hoping to bring in partners or investors. Initially the people reading your business plan don't wish to plow through reams and reams of charts, numbers, and backup information. If one does want to dig deeper, fine--he or she can check out the documents in the Appendix.

That way your business plan can share your story clearly and concisely.

Otherwise, since you created your business plan, you should already have the backup.

Tying It All Together

While you may use your business plan to attract investors, partners, suppliers, etc., never forget that the goal of your business plan is to convince  you  that your idea makes sense. 

Because ultimately it's your time, your money, and your effort on the line.

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The Essential Guide to Writing a Business Plan Here's the no-nonsense guide on how to write a business plan that will help you map success for your startup.

By Carolyn Sun

Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

President Dwight D. Eisenhower once said, "In preparing for battle I have always found that plans are useless, but planning is indispensable." If you're starting a business, you should have a business plan regardless of whether you're bootstrapping it or looking for outside funding.

The best sorts of business plans tell a clear story of what the company plans to do and how it will do it. Given the high failure rate of startups in their first year, a business plan is also an ideal opportunity to safely test out the feasibility of a business and spot flaws, set aside unrealistic projections and identify and analyze the competition.

A business plan doesn't need to be complicated, but for it to serve its purpose and set you up for success, it must be clear to whomever is reading your plan that you have a realistic handle on the why and how your business will be a success.

To get you moving in the right direction, here's a guide on how to write a business plan.

Overall tips

There's a lot of advice in the infosphere about how to write a business plan, but there's no single correct way. Your approach depends on your industry, who is reading your plan and what the plan is intended for. Are you trying to get funding? Sara Sutton Fell, founder of FlexJobs , a job site for flexible telecommuting jobs, says her business plan was an initiator for more in-depth conversation with potential investors. "A plan does help to see if investors and entrepreneurs are on the same page with general expectations for the business," she says.

A business plan serves many purposes, but there is universal consensus on the following when it comes to your business plan:

Have several versions tailored for specific audiences: "One of the mistakes that inexperienced business owners make is not understanding who they're writing the plan for," says David Ciccarelli, a small business owner who got consultation from his local Small Business Association (SBA) when he was starting his company Voices.com , which connects employers with voiceover talent.

Your plan is a living document: Tim Berry, the founder of a business planning software company Palo Alto Software , took his company from zero to $5 million in sales in its first three years. To do so requires frequent review and close tracking, says Berry, who met with his management team every month to review the plan versus what actually happened -- and then to revise. "There is no virtue to sticking to a plan if it's not useful and responsive to what actually happens," he cautions.

Be realistic about financial estimates and projections: "When you present a plan to bankers and financiers, or even to your employees, people will get way more excited about what's real rather than some huge thing that's never going to happen," says Ciccarelli. So present an achievable sales forecasts based on bottom-upwards information (i.e. how many units per month get sold in how many stores) and stop over projecting profits.

Writing your business plan is about the process and having a blueprint: Your business plan "reflects your ideas, intuitions, instincts and insights about your business and its future," according to Write Your Business Plan (Entrepreneur, 2015). The plan serves as a safe way to test these out before you commit to a course of action. And once you get your business going, the plan also serves as a reference point. "I still print the document," says Ciccarelli. "You're capturing it in time. If you're changing it all the time, you kind of don't remember where you were last year."

Back up any claims: Follow up your projections and assertions with statistics, facts or quotes from a knowledgeable source to lend your plan credibility.

Presentation counts: Reading any long, text-heavy document is hard on the eyes, so format with this in mind. Consider formatting your text pages into two-columns and break up long passages with charts or graphs. Arial, Verdana or Times New Roman are standard industry fonts.

Writing your business plan isn't busy work or a luxury; it's a vital part of the process of starting a business and arms you with information you need to know. So, let's get into what information goes into your business plan.

Related: Bu siness Plans: A Step-by-Step Guide

What goes into a business plan?

A typical business plan is 15 to 25 pages. Its length depends on a variety of factors, such as whether your business is introducing a new product or belongs to a new industry (which requires explanation to the reader), or if you're pitching to bankers, who generally expect to see a traditional written business plan and financials.

"Most equity investors prefer either an executive summary or pitch deck for first contact, but will often request a more detailed plan later in the due diligence process. Potential customers don't need all the details of your internal operation. Your management team needs access to everything," says Akira Hirai, managing director of business plan consulting service Cayenne Consulting .

Most business plans include these seven sections:

1. Executive summary : The executive summary follows the title page and explains the fundamentals of your business. It should provide a short and clear synopsis of your business plan that describes your business concept, financial features and requirements (i.e. cash flow and sales projections plus capital needed), your company's current business position (i.e. its legal form of operation, when the company was formed, principals and key personnel) and any major achievements in the company that are relevant to its success, including patents, prototypes or results from test marketing.

2. Business description : This section typically begins with a brief description of your industry and its outlook. Get into the various markets within the industry, including any new products that will benefit or hurt your business. For those seeking funding, reinforce your data with reliable sources and footnote when possible. Also provide a description of your business operation's structure (i.e. wholesale, retail or service-oriented), who you will sell to, how you will distribute your products/services, the products/services itself (what gives you the competitive edge), your business's legal structure, your principals and what they bring to the organization.

Here are some worksheets from Write Your Business Plan that will help determine your unique selling proposition and analyze your industry.

Click to Enlarge+

3. Market strategies: Here is where you define your target market and how you plan to reach them. Market analysis requires research and familiarity with the market so that the target market can be defined and the company can be positioned (i.e. are you a premium product or a price-competitive product?) in order to garner its market share. Analyze your market in terms of size, structure, growth prospects, trends and sales/growth potential. This section also talks about distribution plans and promotion strategy and tactics that will allow you to fulfill your plans.

Here is a worksheet from Write Your Business Plan that will guide you toward identifying your target market.

4. Competitive analysis: The purpose of the competitive analysis is to determine the strengths and weaknesses of the competitors within your market, strategies that will provide you with a distinct advantage, the barriers that can be developed in order to prevent competition from entering your market, and any weaknesses that can be exploited within the product development cycle. Show why your business will be a success over others.

5. Design and development plan: You will only need this section if you have a product in development, such as an app. The purpose of this section is to provide investors with a description of the product's design, chart its development within the context of production and marketing and show a development budget that will enable the company to reach its goals.

6. Operations and management plan: This section describes how the business functions on a daily basis, its location, equipment, people, processes and surrounding environment. If you have a product that needs to be manufactured, explain the how and where; also, describe your work facility, the personnel, the legal environment (such as licensing, permits, special regulations, etc.), key suppliers and inventory. This section will also highlight the logistics of the organization such as the various responsibilities of the management team and the tasks assigned to each division within the company.

7. Financial factors: Financial data is always at the back of a business plan -- yet it's extremely important. The financial data can include your personal financial statement, startup expenses and capital, your projected cash flow statement and 12-month profit-and-loss statement. PaloAlto's Berry stresses that if you're going after investors, you'll need to show a cash flow statement and a break-even analysis -- or the breakdown to see where your business breaks even.

The best way to prepare for running a business is to have all the components of the plan ready. So if you are are showing a prospective lender your business plan on 10 PowerPoint slides and get asked about something that isn't in the presentation, you can speak knowledgeably and follow up with a more fleshed out plan -- and quickly.

Some business owners hire business plan writing services. Cayenne Consulting's Hirai says that his clients generally fall into one of two categories: those intimidated by the process and those who could write the plan themselves but would prefer to spend their time on other priorities.

If you find yourself intimidated or stuck, you can always write the parts of plan yourself that you understand and hire a consultant or researcher to help with parts that you find confusing.

Or if you're a startup watching every dollar, then tap the free services of the federal Small Business Association (SBA). Every state has a district office . Through the SBA, you can get business plan assistance through its various resource partners, which includes Women's Business Centers , Small Business Development Centers and Service Corps of Retired Executives .

Allow this business plan template for Business Plan for a Startup Business to guide you:

Different types of business plans

Generally, business plans can be divided into four categories :

Working plan: This plan is what you will use to operate your business and is not meant to be admired. This version of your plan is an internal document and will be long on detail, short on presentation. Here, you can omit descriptions that you need not explain to yourself or your team.

Mini plan: The reader may request a mini plan, or a condensed version of your business plan (1-10 pages), which includes most of the same components as in a longer traditional plan -- minus the details and explanation. This includes the business concept, financing needs, marketing plan, financial statements (especially cash flow), income project and balance sheet. This shorter plan is not meant to be a substitute for a full-length plan, but serves as an option to present to potential partners or investors.

Presentation plan: Whether you're using a pitch deck or a written business plan, the information in your presentation plan will be, more or less, the same as in your working plan but worded differently and styled for the eyes of an outsider. The reader of your presentation plan will be someone who is unfamiliar with your business, such as investor or venture capitalist, so lose any jargon or shorthand from your working plan, which only makes sense to you. Also, keep in mind that investors will want to see due diligence on your competition threats and risks as well as financial projections. In addition, looks count, so use the color printer, a nice cover and bindings and the fancy paper stock. Or else, if you're presenting your business plan as a PowerPoint presentation, you can use this business plan presentation template .

What-if plan: This is a contingency plan -- in case your worst case scenario happens, such as market share loss, heavy price competition or defection of a key member of your team. You want to think about what to do in the face of an of these, and if you're trying to get outside funds, having a contingency plan shows that you've considered what to do if things don't go according to plan. You don't necessarily need this, but if you are getting outside funding, then it can strengthen your credibility showing that you have thought about these what-if possibilities. Even if you're not going to get outside funding, shouldn't you be thinking of the what ifs?

If four plans seem like a mountain of work, don't panic. Select two to start off -- a working plan and a mini plan, which will be an abbreviated version of your working plan.

Take several months to write your business plan. Consider it a journey, not a sprint.

Related: The Ultimate Guide to Writing a Business Plan

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How to start a business

Business plans for beginners: a step-by-step guide

Have you ever put together a business plan before? It’s no joke. There are a lot of factors to consider as you start to build one, and there’s often a nagging feeling at the back of your mind: is my idea good enough? Will anybody be as excited about this business as I am? 

Don’t worry; we’re here to help.

If you’re ready to start a small business, a business plan is the way to take your idea and put it into action. As you’ll see, it’s not just for the investors or the bank’s benefit. When it’s done well, a business plan can serve as your very own road map to a successful, sustainable new business. 

The good news is, there’s no one right way to write a business plan, but there are some tips and tricks that can ensure you include all the important information any lender or investor will want to see before they go into business with you. 

Today, we’ll share: 

4 guiding principles for a successful business plan

• 8 common mistakes in writing a business plan
• Choose your own adventure: which business plan is right for you?  

Build your own traditional business plan in 8 steps

• Build your own lean business plan (sample plan included!)

BONUS: Add depth to any business plan with these sections

• 7 tips for a killer business plan pitch deck
• Tools to help you build your business plan
• More resources: helpful books for starting a small business  

We have lots of in-depth advice ahead on how to craft a business plan that’s specific to your small business idea. But first, here are some broader guidelines that should help you get in the right headspace:

1. Be objective

We know this idea is your baby, your pride and joy. It’s hard to stand back and evaluate it without the rose-colored glasses. But the better you are at seeing your idea’s strengths and weaknesses, the better you’ll be able to improve and see issues coming before they snowball into problems, both before you launch and as a business owner. 

2. Be realistic

Some new small business owners think they need to pad the numbers and set lofty expectations for the first few years of a business. But when you overpromise, you’re bound to underdeliver, and that impresses nobody. You also should avoid sandbagging, or underpromising on purpose just to look extra successful. Be honest as you build your plan. Investors and lenders understand the first five years of a small business can be tough with limited to modest profits. 

3. Be specific

You might be a big-idea person who doesn’t love the details, but this is the time to take a deep breath and dive into the details. The more details you understand about your business, the better you can respond to the questions and concerns of lenders and investors.

4. Ask for help

While most of the pieces of your plan might come from your own heart, soul, and brain, there are sure to be sections that aren’t as easy to rattle off. A business plan takes a lot of different skills, and it’s uncommon that anyone is good at all of them: market analysis, financial projections, strategic thinking, supply chain… the list goes on. 

Don’t hesitate to reach out to your community and find some experts to help make your plan sing. This could mean engaging a market research analyst or an accountant to help with financial projections, or even a fellow small business owner who’s been through the new-business wringer before and can help you navigate the red tape and share what investors appreciate most in a plan. 

If you don’t know anyone who can help you yet, we’ve got you covered. The Small Business Administration offers free, local counseling for entrepreneurs that can point you in the right direction. 

Pro-tip: A business plan isn’t just for your investors or loan officers. It’s a guide for you and a great way to attract top talent to your business. A well-written and researched plan helps you best understand your own idea and its viability so you can sell that idea to all important stakeholders. Put in the time to make this document a reliable resource; we promise you won’t regret it.

8 common mistakes in writing a business plan 

Before we dive into the different ways to build a business plan, let’s start with some of the common traps that new business plans fall into: 

1. Financial projections that don’t add up

Loan officers and most investors know money and the realities of new-business revenue and spending, and they can smell fishy numbers from a mile away. Your financials are not a place to fudge it. Make sure you get some expert advice and assistance to ensure your projects are as airtight as can be.

2. Unfounded claims 

Three words to live by when building a business plan: do your research. The research you do into the markets, potential audience, and competitors will inform your projections and instill confidence in the assumptions you make. This is another area where it might help to have a professional assist you, if you’re new to the entrepreneurial game.

3. Unclear goals 

Don’t leave your investors guessing about your key milestones and objectives. Use your research and financials to create realistic, specific goals. These will be especially important to investors, who are looking to make a return on their investment and want a trustworthy timeline on when that could happen. 

4. Ignoring the competition 

Unless you’ve invented something the world has never seen before, your business idea will have competitors. And even if your idea is completely novel, chances are you’re looking to better fill a need that other businesses or industries are currently serving. What we mean to say is: you’ve got competition, no matter your business idea. Investors know this, and they want to know that you can clearly see who your competitors are and how you’ll set yourself apart. 

5. A blind spot for your business’s weaknesses and risks

You might think that you should avoid talking about the risks to your idea when you’re building your business plan. And while you don’t need to harp on them, you should fully understand what your weaknesses are and acknowledge them somewhere in the plan, along with potential solutions to compensate for them. If you don’t show your awareness of risks and weaknesses in the plan, investors might think you’re hiding something. 

The better you know your own weaknesses, the better you can address lender and investor concerns about them.

6. Overhyped impact

Your little bookstore doesn’t have to change the world. We know you’re excited about your business idea, and you should be; that passion will take you far. But a common pitfall of new entrepreneurs is to overstate how their idea will impact the market or the community. Remember, you’ll have to live up to what you put down in your plan, so be sure you can make good on the statements therein.

7. Not enough outside insight

If you’re the only person looking at your business plan, you might be heading for a “no” from lenders or investors. It’s critical that you get other people’s eyes on your plan before you present or submit it.

Even if the people in your life have no experience in business, your plan should be easy enough for them to read, understand, and critique. And if you want expert feedback, there are several free resources available to hopeful small business owners, including the Small Business Administration’s network of counselors .

8. Poor readability

Spelling and grammar matter. If your investors and lenders can’t get through your plan because of easy-to-fix mistakes, they might question your attention to detail. If grammar isn’t your thing, have a friend proofread your plan before you share. It can also help to read your plan aloud to catch these kinds of errors. 

Choose your own adventure: Which business plan is right for you? 

Business plans aren’t one-size-fits-all. There are lots of ways to create the right plan for you, depending on what your financial backers and other stakeholders need to see in order to have confidence in your idea. But overall, most plans fall into one of two models: 

Impress with a traditional business plan

A traditional business plan is the more in-depth of the two, full of fleshed-out financials, market analyses, risk assessment, and other nitty-gritty factors. This is the model to use if you’re looking for a small business loan from a bank and some investor situations. 

The pros: This comprehensive plan is extremely detailed and, if done properly, is sure to make your investors feel safe putting their funding into your new venture.

The cons: These plans take a longer time to pull together, which could slow down your timeline. Plus, the traditional model is more granular and tends to leave out more high-level, strategic ideation that some investors might find important. 

To follow the traditional business plan model, click here . 

Inspire with a lean business plan, or business model canvas

If a traditional business plan is the trees, a lean plan is the forest. The one-page approach, also known as a business model canvas, is more about the concepts and big picture of your future business and is focused on relationships, key activities, and your overall value proposition. This type of plan is popular for startups or super-simple and small business ventures looking for independent investors. 

The pros: This version might get you out the door first, since it usually involves less upfront analysis. It can also be the more inspiring and visionary of the two models, since it focuses on the big ideas and broader impact than the nuts and bolts. 

The cons: Investors kind of love the nuts and bolts, most of the time. After you’ve sold them with your high-level concept, chances are you’ll have to dig in on the details, which might feel like you’ve doubled your work. 

To follow the lean business plan model, click here . 

Start your remote-ready business in 10 steps

It’s time to get those facts and figures together and floor your potential investors! 

Here are the main sections of a traditional business plan that you should include:

1. Executive summary

Whether it’s a bank loan officer or an investor reading your business plan, chances are they’re short on time and need the fast facts up front. The executive summary opens your plan, and it’s where you share your overall mission statement, along with important market analyses and financial projections.

A top-notch executive summary will give readers the most important details in the first few pages of your plan so they feel confident in your idea and interested in reading on.  

Pro-tip: Write your executive summary last. You’ll be able to see the full picture of your plan more clearly, and that means you can sum it up more effectively.

2. Company description

In this section, give all the specifics about your business, and don’t be afraid to brag. The more tangible and sure-footed you can make the company feel, the more confident your investors will be in the concept. 

Here are some of the questions your company description should answer: 

• Who are you? What’s your business’s name?
• What are you selling?
• Where and how do you plan to sell it? 
• How does your business solve problems for customers? 
• Who do you plan to serve? Individual customers, other businesses, or both? 
• How is your business unique from its competitors? 
• What makes this business a successful idea… or, why should someone give you money to pursue it? 

3. Market research and competitive analysis

Here’s where the nitty-gritty details come into play. It’s time to do some research on your future market and analyze that data to make decisions on how to structure your business, and what you can reasonably charge for goods and services. 

Not a huge fan of data? Don’t sweat it. You can hire market research analysts who will do the heavy lifting for you. We highly recommend finding a professional to help with the research if it’s not in your wheelhouse, since it’s really important to get the numbers right.  

Here are some areas of analysis you’ll need to include in your business plan: 

• Where does your business fit in the world? 
• How large is the current market? 
• How is the market currently structured? 
• What does year-over-year growth look like in this market? 
• Is the market trending in a positive direction? If not, how will a business like yours pick up the slack and reinvigorate the market?
• What are consumers clamoring for in this market today?
• How have businesses adjusted to customer demand? Where have they fallen short?
• Are businesses themselves setting trends that have taken off? What are they and how will your business respond? 
• How does your business answer the call for these trends and themes? 
• How does your business anticipate trends on the horizon? 
• Who’s currently doing what your business plans to do? 
• What are these other companies’ strengths and weaknesses? 
• How will your business outdo competitor strengths and pick up the slack on their weaknesses? 

Pro-tip : Be sure to include ways your business idea disrupts the status quo of the market you’re targeting, if it plans to do so. Disruption is the name of the game today, and investors who are looking for the Next Big Thing might be excited and impressed by this potential. 

4. Company structure and operations

This section is where you detail the people and processes that will keep your business profitable. 

In the company operations section, it’s a good idea to include: 

• Your proposed business’s legal structure: LLC, nonprofit, sole proprietorship, etc.
• An organizational chart for easy reading and understanding 
• A detailed breakdown of who is responsible for which aspects of the business
• Bios of your team members: showcase the expertise and experience your team has, especially in this market, since that can instill confidence in your idea
• Projected staffing needs and onboarding process, as well as the cost to compensate these team members 
• Your approach to building relationships in the community and market to promote business growth 
• Plans for growth: how will you scale up efficiently while offering the same level of service to your customers? What might need to be outsourced to third-party partners as you grow?
• Zoning permits, licensing, rent (if applicable): nail down the brass tacks of what it costs to keep your doors open in this section, so your investor knows you’ve thought of everything.

5. Your service and product line

You’ve mentioned what you plan to sell in your executive summary. Now it’s time to, you guessed it, dig into the details. 

In your service and product line section, be sure to include:

• A list of the initial products and/or services you plan to sell 
• The initial pricing for each of these items
• The product life cycle (if applicable): how are your products made, how long does it take, and what does it cost?
• Third-party services (if applicable): do you engage outside help for the development of your products? For example, if you sell perfumes, do you fill vials yourself or do you work with a bottling company? 
• Intellectual property plans (if applicable): where are you in the patent process? 
• Research and development details (if applicable): What is the R&D process for new products, who is involved, and what does it cost?

6. Sales and marketing plan

The data is all well and good, but how will you take action on it and move your products and services? Having even a tentative sales and marketing plan in place that discusses how you’ll position yourself in the market and attract customers can go a long way to proving you have a game plan beyond getting the doors open.

Here are some key elements to include in your sales and marketing plan: 

• Sample messaging : How do you plan to talk about your company in the market to attract customers? What solution are you selling, and how will you convey that? 
• Sample design work : How will you grab the market’s attention? Decide on the “look and feel” of your business: the website, packaging, and advertisements.
• Promotion strategy : How much do you plan to set aside for advertising and other promotions? Where will you advertise, and how will you measure success? 
• Sales process : How will your team nurture a new lead until they become a customer? How will they upsell/cross sell to them? Where will they look for new leads and relationships? 
• Customer service and retention : Marketing doesn’t stop when a customer buys from you for the first time. Keeping customers happy is a huge piece of growing a small business. Be sure to outline your plan for proactive, delightful customer experiences.

7. Your ask

Even if you have to close your eyes while you do it, you’re going to have to write down the exact amount of money you’re asking for from investors or the bank. If you’ve done the rest of this business plan with great attention to detail and objectivity, the number should be pretty clear and based on your projected overhead. 

The Small Business Administration recommends asking for the amount you’ll need to keep the doors open for the first five years, so be sure to think ahead when calculating that number. And whether you’re working with a bank or an investor, clearly outline the terms you seek for repayment. 

Be specific in this section about how you will spend this particular funding. If you’ve already nailed down a loan for business supplies, for example, be upfront with your investors about needing their support to compensate your team and keep the lights on. People are likely to feel more comfortable investing if they know exactly how their money will be used. 

Pro-tip: Don’t sell yourself short. When looking for investors, ask for what you need, not what you think someone will give. You never know what someone is willing to invest until you ask, so give them the opportunity to pleasantly surprise you!  

8. Financial projections

You might see some investors skip right to this section of your proposal, after seeing the highlights in your executive summary. While everything else in your business plan is important, you can’t blame them for wanting to know how financially sound your idea is… and how much money they might stand to make as a result. 

This piece is also crucial to you as the potential business owner. Numbers don’t lie, so make sure you listen; if the projections aren’t positive, you might need to rethink your plan. 

Here’s what your financial projection section might include, depending on your position as you launch a new business: 

• Projections for the first five years: Provide detailed, quarterly financial outlooks for the first year or two, and annual projections after that. Total operating expenses: Be explicit about what exactly it will cost to run your business for the next five years. This includes everything from office space to supplies to salaries. And be sure to account for inflation and business growth! 
• Break-even analysis: The amount of revenue you’ll need to cover costs and, well, break even. This should be pretty accurate for the first year, given your projected operating expenses, and should be adjusted for increased expenses in the next four years, depending on your projected growth. 
• Forecasted income and expenses: What can you reasonably expect to bring in over the next five years? What ongoing expenses can you plan for or predict?
• Projected balance sheets: Balance sheets tell investors what financial resources you’ll have on hand after your expenses to re-invest into growing the business: basically, how healthy do you expect your business to be in five years’ time? 
• Projected cash flow statements : This tells your investors how much cash will be coming into your business from sales and how that cash is being spent in a given year. 
• Potential collateral: If you’re looking to get a bank loan, be sure to include any additional collateral that you can put up against the loan. 

Pro-tip: Don’t skimp on the expert input. Find a great accountant you trust to help you develop the financial projections for the first five years of your business, so you know they’re sound enough to share with your investors or bank.  If you want help calculating costs, try the Small Business Administration’s startup calculator here .

Build your own lean business plan 

It’s time to polish up your vision and inspire those potential backers to believe in your idea with a high-level, conceptual plan. Some startups are able to accomplish their lean plan in one page, but feel free to add the amount of detail that makes you (and your investors) most comfortable. 

Here are the usual sections of a lean business plan that you might want to include or adjust as you see fit. We’ll lay it out in the traditional lean plan format, based on the Small Business Administration’s suggestions, to show you just how high-level it can be. But remember: a lean plan can be whatever you need it to be, so don’t be shy about adjusting the structure and content to suit your investors’ needs. 

Here’s an idea of what you can include in your one-sheet lean business plan, using an online flower delivery service as an example: 

Pro-tip: An appendix can really come in handy if you’re doing a lean business plan. Attach some more concrete financial projections and any other background research you’ve done to bolster this more conceptual, strategic plan model.

Here are a few extra sections you can sprinkle in to either plan format to give your investors even more peace of mind: 

Your story. Paint a complete picture of your business’s journey up to this moment. Tell the story of how your idea was born, why it’s important to you and the world, and what your vision is for the future.

Product development and distribution plan. If you’re selling products, this is a great piece to add within your product line section. A distribution plan shows exactly how your products go from concept to customer. Seeing that flow chart clearly is helpful for both you and your investors. 

Risk assessment and mitigation. Are you looking to break into a high-risk industry like construction, cannabis, or even owning your own restaurant? Chances are your investors want to see that you are aware of the risks and have plans in place to manage them. 

Early wins. Do you already have proof that your business is in demand? Maybe you’ve been selling your products informally to family and friends to gauge interest, or other investors have already ponied up because they love your idea. It’s a good idea to include these wins in your business plan. Seeing that others already believe in you will make it easier for new investors to make that leap of faith, so include these facts and figures to invigorate confidence. 

7 tips for a killer business plan pitch deck 

As you do research for writing your business plan, you’ll probably hear about a pitch deck. This is a slide-show version of your plan that might come in handy. You’re likely to need a pitch deck if you’re looking for investors. Most banks’ small business loan officers just want the facts on paper and don’t expect to see a pitch deck. 

Here are some pointers to help you create a dynamic, easy-to-follow pitch deck:

1. Include overview and conclusion slides 

This is a classic teacher technique: tell the audience what you’re going to show them, show them what you promised, and recap what you’ve shown . This gives your listeners an experience that has a beginning, middle, and end… and you’ll see in #2 that this might be more important than you thought. 

Take a moment at the top of your presentation to tell your investors exactly what you’ll cover in your allotted time, so they know what’s coming. Then include a wrap-up slide at the end, with a few of the key points from the presentation, to tie it all together. 

2. Tell a story

Since the beginning of humankind we’ve loved and gravitated toward storytelling, from cave paintings to binge-watching the latest season of our favorite show. And it’s not just for entertainment purposes; a classic Stanford study once showed that people retain information when delivered in the form of a story six to seven times better than they do when the same information is given as dry lists or statistics. 

This doesn’t mean you need to open your presentation with “Once upon a time.” Just focus on the story of you and what brought you to this big idea: what roadblocks were you running into when you saw the solution? What product did you need that didn’t exist? Share the cold, hard financial facts, of course, but don’t leave out the you of this journey. Use storytelling to build trust in your vision and inspire passion in this new business venture. 

3. Hit the high-level points of your business plan

A pitch deck should stick to the most important pieces of information that investors need, in order to hold their attention from beginning to end. 

Here’s where you should spend your time in a pitch deck: 

• Who you are and why you’re the one to run this business
• What problem the business solves
• How you’ll spend the investment money 
• When investors will see an ROI, or return on investment

4. Make your data more digestible

In both your business plan and your pitch deck, make sure your market research and financial projections are easy to read and understand. Use the tools at your disposal to make the numbers sing: charts, graphs, statistics spelled out big and bold. 

5. Keep it simple

The more uniform and clean your pitch deck is, the easier it will be to read and retain. Stick to one font, one color scheme, throughout the deck. Make sure the graphics you decide to use—images, charts, graphs, other designed pieces—are high quality and sprinkled in. Do your best not to clutter slides with multiple graphics, as this can make your presentation harder to follow. 

6. Brevity is your friend

Speaking of holding your audience’s attention: pare down the text on your slides to the most essential points. A good pitch deck is usually 10 to 15 slides, with around a minute spent on each slide. Be sure you’re only tackling one topic per slide to keep things focused.

Your pitch deck is for the investors’ engagement, so if you need more detailed reminders about what to cover, create separate notes for yourself instead of crowding the slides with text. If you need to provide your audience with more context, you can always add an Appendix at the end of the deck, which investors can review on their own time. (And don’t forget your business plan! It should answer most of the more detailed questions your investors have.) 

7. EXTRA: Present your deck

The way you present your pitch deck is as important as its contents. Here are some

• Be clear on your time frame, and stick to it. If someone has money to invest in your business, odds are good that they’re a busy person. Show that you respect their schedule by ensuring your pitch fits into the timeframe they’ve carved out for you. 
• Practice, practice, practice. The smoother your presentation can go, the better. Give your potential investors added confidence by knowing your facts, figures, and slides backward and forward. Set a timer while you practice, so you know if you need to pick up the pace or speak more slowly.
• Make eye contact. Have you ever sat through a presentation where someone stood at the screen, reading off their slides without any acknowledgement of the audience? It’s not exactly the most dynamic approach to a pitch. It’s okay to glance at your notes when needed, but make sure you also engage with your listeners. When you look at your audience, you can see questions bubbling up on their faces. Stopping to ask for understanding before a question is even asked might encourage more people to speak up and interact with you, which builds trust.  Practicing your material ahead of time goes a long way toward this important step.
• Stop for questions. It can be hard to remember to ask for listener input while giving a presentation, especially if you’re nervous. Work this important piece into your practice, so it becomes part of the presentation itself. Also: even if you stop for questions, you might get interrupted with them at other points. Let it happen, and answer their question fully. Finding out where people are either confused or looking for more detail will also help you tweak your pitch deck if you plan on presenting to multiple audiences.
• Stay on your toes. No matter how well you prepare, live presentations can always surprise you. As you prepare and practice, remember to expect the unexpected and not get tunnel vision on your pitch. Handle whatever is within your control with grace and a sense of humor.
• Watch the clock. Pace yourself, and make sure to stop at your given time. Depending on the number of questions you’ve taken during the pitch, you might be behind when time’s up. It’s better to stop and ask if the investors have time for your final slides than to potentially make them late for their next appointment.
• Wrap up with earnest thanks. Don’t forget to say thank you! Your conclusion is also a good time to remind your investors why you’re the one who should run this new business. Leave them with the memory of your passion for the venture.
• Save sharing your presentation until the end. Whether it’s via email or hard copies, you’ll retain people’s focus better if they don’t have something to flip through while you’re talking. Pass around or send out your presentation once you’ve concluded, so folks can peruse on their own time. 

Tools to help you build a business plan 

If you need some help organizing your ideas and building your first business plan, here are some tools that can assist: 

• The Small Business Administration’s startup calculator. Not sure what to project as your initial costs? Download this editable worksheet , plug in your categories and numbers, and you’ll get a better idea of what funding you need to ask for.
• LivePlan. This online business-planning tool helps you write your plan (either in-depth or lean) and comes with industry benchmark data that can help with your market research. You can also track your funding progress right in the app. Multiple review sites have named LivePlan the best software for help writing a business plan.
• RocketLawyer. Get legal assistance on your documents without having an attorney on retainer. RocketLawyer has an entire section of their website dedicated to helping folks launch businesses, and you can breathe easy knowing the legal side will be handled. 
• SCORE free business resources. SCORE is a resource partner of the Small Business Administration and offers free business counseling to entrepreneurs. Visit SCORE to find a mentor, download business plan templates, and explore their library of resources.

More resources: helpful books for starting a small business

Starting a business is a big undertaking. If you want to do some more research before you start making your plan, here are some helpful reads: 

• Mind Your Business: A Workbook to Grow Your Creative Passion Into a Full-time Gig (Ilana Griffo, 2019). In addition to covering all the basics of starting a business, including the legal and tax hurdles, this workbook-style guide has checklists and other writing activities to help you put the theory of starting a business into practice.
• Starting a Business QuickStart Guide: The Simplified Beginner’s Guide to Launching a Successful Small Business, Turning Your Vision into Reality, and Achieving Your Entrepreneurial Dream (Ken Colwell, 2019). This book comes backed with the author’s 20 years of experience working with entrepreneurs and will help you sort out how viable your business idea is and how to get it off the ground.
• Side Hustle: From Idea to Income in 27 Days (Chris Guillebeau, 2017). This book takes a more entertaining, conversational approach to launching a new business, and it’s backed up by hundreds of case studies and written by a New York Times bestselling author in the entrepreneurial world. 
• Legal Guide for Starting & Running a Small Business (Fred S. Steingold, 2017). This book is in its fifteenth edition, and we can see why. It breaks down the legal intricacies of starting a business that most new entrepreneurs aren’t familiar with: taxes for small businesses, structuring partnership agreements, creating an LLC, and more. 
• Small Business For Dummies (Schell & Tyson, 2018). From the classic how-to series comes the fifth edition of their popular book on starting a small business. You’ll get all the basics you need in the no-nonsense approach the Dummies series always provides, from authors with decades of experience in launching businesses. And if you’re specifically looking to start an online business, try Starting an Online Business for Dummies . 

Your business plan: the hard work will pay off

Creating a business plan can feel overwhelming at first if you’ve never made one before. And we won’t lie; it does take a little bit of elbow grease to put one together. 

But a business plan done well, be it traditional or lean, will either reinforce how great your idea is or help you find ways to make it even better. Take the time to do it well, and you’ll have a much easier time securing funding for your new small business venture. 

Got your plan in hand? Read on to learn about key business fundamentals for success.

Starting a new business? Be remote-ready from Day One with this free checklist.

The ultimate business plan template

Start your retail business off on the right foot

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A well-written business plan is the key to making your business ownership dreams into a reality. However, it’s not always easy to write your own—which is why we’re here to help.

Our business plan template outlines everything you need to write out the future roadmap of your your company, as well as a rock-solid pitch for banks, investors and potential business partners.

Included in this template:

• An executive summary structure you can follow
• The kinds of market research you’ll need
• Breakdowns of what costs you’ll have to account for
• Templates for competitor analysis
• And everything else you need to write a business plan that impresses

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The Ultimate Succession Planning Guide for 2024

by Emre Ok August 26, 2024, 8:00 am updated August 27, 2024, 6:46 pm 136 Views

Succession planning is a process integral to every organization’s long-term success. That being said, we are aware of the fact that there are many different ways of practicing succession planning.

That is why we decided to put together this comprehensive succession planning guide, where we would not only answer some of the most heavily searched questions about succession planning such as:

• How to create a succession planning framework?
• What is the role of employee development in succession planning?
• How to pick succession candidates?

We will not only be providing you with the necessary definitions, core concepts, benefits, and best practices for creating succession plans but also give you give you a step-by-step guide.

This guide for creating succession framework will explain each and every step you need to go through in order to identify, develop, retain, and when the time comes, promote top talent but also show you which digital tools you can use in the process.

Table of Contents

What is Succession Planning?

Definition of succession planning and purpose.

Succession planning is a common strategic initiative that organizations implement to identify and develop future leaders from within their ranks.

It involves pinpointing key positions in the company that are critical for operational success and grooming potential successors who can step into these roles seamlessly when the time comes.

Succession planning as a process is designed to ensure that leadership transitions occur smoothly, minimizing any disruptions to how things work in your organization.

The purpose of succession planning extends beyond filling vacancies.

It also focuses on preparing employees to advance in their careers, aligning individual growth with the organization’s long-term objectives.

By developing talent internally, companies can foster loyalty, reduce hiring costs, and create a leadership pipeline that strengthens the organization from within.

Why Succession Planning Matters in Today’s Business Environment

The modern workplace is always rife with rapid changes, forcing organizations to adapt on the spot. Dealing with these changes is especially hard when they can potentially result in you losing a valuable employee.

Succession planning has become a crucial tool for companies looking to stay resilient and agile in the face of these uncertainties.

A well-executed succession plan allows businesses to:

• Maintain continuity during leadership changes
• Reduce dependency on external hires
• Minimize downtime when key roles are vacated
• Boost employee engagement by showing that the organization invests in the growth and development of its people

The ever-increasing demand for skilled leaders makes it more important than ever for companies to cultivate internal talent.

As opposed to being reactive to these changes, proactively preparing for future vacancies, organizations ensure they are not caught off guard by sudden departures or retirements, safeguarding their long-term stability.

What are the benefits of succession planning?

Effective succession planning has far-reaching impacts on employee retention , leadership continuity, and overall business resilience.

When employees see that the organization is committed to promoting from within, and that there are career paths available to them, they are less likely to look for opportunities elsewhere.

Ensuring that employees know there is room for internal mobility in your organization r educes turnover rates , ensuring that valuable talent stays within the company.

Leadership continuity is another key outcome when it comes to succession planning strategies.

With a solid succession plan in place, leadership transitions happen smoothly, avoiding gaps that could hinder decision-making or delay projects.

Organizations that prioritize succession planning can maintain their competitive edge, even in times of uncertainty.

Businesses that invest in succession planning are better equipped to weather unexpected challenges.

Whether it’s an economic downturn or a sudden leadership change, having a ready pool of skilled leaders allows the company to adapt quickly and emerge stronger.

That is why succession planning is not just about leadership! It’s about ensuring the organization’s resilience and long-term success.

The Succession Planning Process Explained Step-by-Step

Now that we’ve covered the meaning of succession planning as well as all the benefits and importance of succession planning, we can move on to how to practice succession planning.

In the following section we will be going over each step in the succession planning process, giving you a step-by-step succession planning guide that you can follow with ease!

Succession Planning Step 1: Identifying Key Roles Within Your Organization

When we are discussing the succession planning process, the first step has to be to identify which roles within your organization are critical for long-term success.

While key positions in organizations are often leadership roles, they can also include positions that require niche and specialized skills, as well as roles that require a lot of prior experience with the company

While determining key roles, it is highly recommended to look beyond job titles and focus on how each role significantly impacts your organization’s day-to-day operations and organizational strategy .

Key Leadership and Critical Roles to Focus On

When you are identifying positions that are integral to your organizational success, it is key to identify all current and future leadership positions. These leadership positions can include roles such as:

• C-suite executives
• Department heads

Roles that require deep organizational knowledge shouldn’t be disregarded here!

Losing employees in these roles can create gaps that disrupt workflows and affect overall business continuity. Ensuring you have successors ready for these positions minimizes these risks.

The question is: How will you identify these potential successors?

Succession Plan Step 2: Evaluating and Identifying Internal Talent

This is where we move on to the second step of creating a succession plan. This is where leaders need to conduct a thorough assessment of their internal talent pool.

These assessments can come in plenty of different shapes and forms. If you have a competency framework already built for each department, you can easily start conducting competency assessments within your team to see which employee’s strengths match the requirements of the role.

When evaluating potential successors, you need to consider a wide array of factors. Employee performance and potential are after all quite nuanced areas. In order to get a holistic perspective into your potential successors, a great tool you can employ is 360-degree feedback!

Using 360-Degree Feedback to Identify Top Talent for Succession Planning

360-degree feedback is a feedback process that includes input from all the parties interacting with an employee on a regular basis in order to get the complete picture.

This can include:

• Direct Reports
• Peer Feedback .
• Manager Feedback
• External Feedback

While conducting internal candidate interviews can be revealing to a certain extent, the best way to get the full picture of an employee’s performance is through 360-degree feedback.

360 feedback also helps leaders ensure a process free from performance review biases !

The 9-Box Talent Grid for Succession Planning

Another incredibly effective tool in identifying key talent is the 9-box talent grid ! It is one of the most widely used succession planning tools in the world and for a very good reason.

The 9-box grid helps leaders visualize two of the most important metrics in succession planning in relation to each other: Potential & Performance.

While the 9-box grid can be customized to reflect other evaluation criteria, potential and performance are the most common and easy-to-evaluate areas.

We put together an entire list of customizable 9-box grid templates for succession planning! You can download them for free right here: Free 9-Box Grid Succession Planning Templates

Succession Plan Step 3: Developing Employee Training and Development Plans

To ensure that potential successors are fully prepared for leadership roles, organizations must invest in comprehensive employee development plans.

Employee development plans should focus on developing both hard skills, such as technical expertise, and soft skills like leadership, communication, and decision-making.

Tailored training opportunities and employee mentorship programs will help accelerate the growth of high-potential employees, making them ready to step into key roles when needed.

Creating & Monitoring Individual Development Plans

The employee individual development plans you create should be made up of SMART development goals.

These goals should be followed up on regularly through regular one-on-one meetings and competency reviews to ensure their effectiveness.

Whether you are developing plans for regular employees or for leadership succession planning, the development plans you create should be flexible, letting you make adjustments if necessary.

Below you will find a helpful tutorial you can use regardless of your succession planning model. Here is a video guide on how you can use AI effectively to analyze competencies and performance, in order to create employee development goals:

Succession Plan Step 4: Review & Evaluate the Succession Planning Framework

Once you have your succession plan, the work is not finished. Frequent analysis and evaluation of the succession planning framework’s efficacy are crucial to sustain its relevance with respect to the evolving goals of your organization.

This step involves assessing whether the chosen successors are still the best fit for the roles identified and determining if the skills and competencies targeted in the development plans are being cultivated effectively.

You need to conduct regular reviews that will monitor how well potential successors are progressing and make any necessary adjustments to their development plans as well as identify any new gaps that may have emerged.

During this stage, feedback from managers, HR teams, and even those who will take over is invaluable. A flexible succession planning strategy framework that can accommodate unforeseen eventualities such as alterations within organizational structure or strategic direction guarantees that your scheme remains relevant.

Helpful Succession Planning Tools

There are plenty of tools for succession planning that you can use in order to maximize the efficiency of your succession planning process. These tools include:

• The 9-Box Talent Grid
• Succession Planning Templates
• Individual Development Plans

The best thing you can do regarding these tools for succession planning is to find a solution that integrates all of them into your everyday operations.

For those using Microsoft Teams or Outlook on a regular basis, the best option here is Teamflect.

Teamflect is an all-in-one performance management app that just happens to be the highest-rated succession planning software in the Microsoft ecosystem.

Teamflect users can:

• Create branching career paths for employees
• Use AI to create data-driven development plans
• Conduct performance reviews
• Use the 9-box talent grid, customize it, and add multiple people inside it
• Practice 360-degree feedback

And so much more without having to leave Microsoft Teams or Outlook once! Best part is, you can try this succession planning tool for absolutely free!

Succession Planning Best Practices

To create a truly effective succession plan, businesses need to follow a set of best practices that ensure both the continuity of leadership and alignment with long-term goals.

By adopting a proactive approach and continuously refining your process, succession planning can become an integral part of your organization’s growth strategy.

1. Start Succession Planning Early

The best succession planning starts much before any key roles become vacant. Companies waiting until an executive leaves or a critical role opens up often end up looking for suitable replacements overnight.

Starting the planning process early guarantees that there is adequate time to evaluate internal talent, offer necessary developmental opportunities and avoid hasty actions when the transitions happen.

Being Proactive vs. Reactive

Being proactive in succession planning means anticipating future vacancies and preparing for them well in advance.

Having a proactive approach means regularly identifying employees with high potential and creating tailored development plans to groom them for leadership positions.

On the other hand, reactive planning occurs when organizations are forced to fill roles due to an unforeseen departure. Reactive planning often leads to poor choices, reliance on external hires, and gaps in leadership that can disrupt business continuity.

2. Align Succession Plans with Organizational Goals

Effective succession planning goes hand-in-hand with your organization’s broader strategic objectives. The key roles you focus on and the successors you develop should align with where your company is headed in the long term.

This ensures that your leadership pipeline not only fills gaps but actively drives the company towards its future goals.

Succession Planning and Long-Term Business Strategy

Succession planning should be viewed as a strategic initiative, not just an HR task. To align succession planning with long-term business strategy, it’s important to understand what skills, competencies, and leadership qualities will be needed to steer the organization in the future.

This can involve considering industry trends, potential business expansions, and anticipated leadership challenges, and then developing a succession plan that prepares leaders who can meet those demands.

3. Invest in Leadership Development

Developing future leaders is an ongoing process that requires significant investment in leadership development.

It’s not enough to simply identify successors. You need to provide them with the tools, training, and mentorship necessary to grow into their future roles.

A robust leadership development program should focus on both the technical skills required for key positions and the soft skills needed for effective leadership.

Tools, Training, and Development Opportunities

Leadership development programs should be tailored to the individual needs of each potential successor.

This might include providing access to management training programs, one-on-one mentorship with senior leaders, or opportunities to take on new projects that build relevant skills.

Utilizing technology like Teamflect can help automate and track these development initiatives, ensuring that employees are progressing according to plan.

4. Regularly Review and Update Your Succession Plan

A succession plan is not a one-time effort. As your organization evolves, so should your succession strategy.

Regular reviews allow you to adjust for any changes in business goals, employee performance, or industry trends.

Succession plans that are reviewed and updated periodically are more likely to remain relevant and effective in preparing your organization for future leadership transitions.

Adapt to Changes Within the Organization

Organizations are dynamic, with shifts in leadership, new business initiatives, and unforeseen challenges.

Succession planning must adapt to these changes.

For example, a high-potential employee may leave the company, or a key role may evolve to require new skills. By regularly revisiting and adjusting your succession plan, you ensure that it continues to align with your organization’s current and future needs.

Succession Planning Challenges and Pitfalls to Avoid

Even with the best intentions, succession planning can encounter several challenges and pitfalls that may undermine its effectiveness.

Being aware of these common mistakes helps organizations refine their approach to ensure their succession plan truly serves its purpose.

Common Mistakes in Succession Planning

Succession planning requires careful strategy and execution, and there are several common mistakes that organizations should avoid if they want to develop a successful leadership pipeline.

Relying Too Heavily on External Hires

One of the most significant pitfalls in succession planning is over-reliance on external hires to fill leadership positions.

While bringing in fresh perspectives from outside the organization can be beneficial, an overemphasis on external talent may demotivate internal employees who see fewer opportunities for advancement.

External hires often require more time to acclimate to the company culture and processes, increasing the risk of leadership gaps during critical transitions.

Lack of Communication Within the Organization

Another frequent mistake is failing to communicate the goals and processes of succession planning within the organization.

Without transparent communication, employees may feel uncertain about their future or perceive favoritism in the selection of successors.

Moreover, a lack of clarity can hinder the overall success of the plan, as employees might not fully understand the expectations for growth or how they can position themselves for leadership roles.

How to Overcome Succession Planning Challenges

Succession planning challenges can be addressed through proactive measures that focus on building internal talent, promoting transparency, and aligning succession planning with overall organizational growth.

Building a Culture of Talent Development

The most effective way to overcome succession planning challenges is to foster a culture where talent development is a priority.

When employees are encouraged to develop their skills and seek out growth opportunities continuously, the organization naturally builds a robust leadership pipeline. This requires organizations to invest in training, mentorship, and performance feedback programs that support employee growth at all levels.

To successfully build this culture:

• Create clear career paths that show employees how they can advance within the company.
• Invest in leadership training that is accessible to a broader range of employees, not just those already in management roles.
• Encourage cross-department collaboration , allowing employees to broaden their skill sets and gain experience in different areas of the business.

Related Posts:

Written by emre ok.

Emre is a content writer at Teamflect who aims to share fun and unique insight into the world of performance management.

Complete Guide: Remote Onboarding New Hires

Original text

In the swift currents of modern businesses, anchoring decisions in data isn't merely clever, it's a cornerstone of business prosperity. You hold the key to informed planning and growth. 

Imagine having powerful tools at your fingertips that allow you to track performance indicators effortlessly. You can transform insights into action. 

Stay with us as we explore how advanced document management solutions can empower your business strategy. You’ll discover fresh ideas and practical steps to elevate decision-making like never before.

The Role of Advanced Analytics in Business Planning 

Advanced analytics is crucial for  effective business planning . This approach enables you to navigate vast data landscapes, uncovering patterns and insights that inform your tactical direction.

Consider deploying machine learning algorithms to forecast sales trajectories or applying data mining methods to pinpoint consumer inclinations.

These tools enable you to optimize resource allocation and set realistic targets with confidence.

By turning complex data into clear visualizations, advanced analytics transforms information overload into strategic clarity. For some, finding the right background noise such as  relaxing lo-fi music can also clear mental clutter and improve focus, complementing the analytical process.

This method not only streamlines operations but also instills trust among stakeholders who value decision-making grounded in solid evidence and reliable forecasts for sustained growth.

Key Performance Indicators: What to Measure and Why 

Selecting the appropriate KPIs is crucial. Opt for measures that directly correspond with your distinct aims, such as:

• Sales Growth: Indicates revenue increases over time.
• Customer Satisfaction: Reflects how well you meet client needs.
• Operational Efficiency: Measures productivity and resource use.

For example, tracking customer acquisition costs reveals insights into marketing effectiveness. Monitoring employee productivity assesses  workforce engagement .

Consistently monitoring these metrics offers a clear read on your business's vitality. Skillful use of KPIs allows you to adjust tactics as required and to acknowledge triumphs - fueling collective motivation towards common objectives.

Data Visualization Tools: Making Insights Accessible

Data visualization tools play a transformative role in business analysis. They simplify complex data, making it easier to interpret and act on insights.

With advanced functionalities provided by the  Angular spreadsheet library API , you can create dynamic reports and interactive dashboards that empower small businesses to monitor key performance indicators effectively.

These tools allow for deeper analysis, helping you visualize trends and patterns at a glance. For example, real-time data updates enable timely decisions that positively impact strategy.

When you leverage these visualization techniques, you not only clarify information but also engage stakeholders - ensuring everyone understands the data driving your business success.

Integrating Real-Time Data into Decision-Making Processes 

Weaving real-time data into your decision-making fabric is vital for any business. Harnessing fresh insights enables you to pivot quickly in response to market shifts and consumer demands.

Envision leveraging live dashboards that amalgamate information from diverse streams, offering an integral perspective of your operational landscape. This tactic allows you to pinpoint issues promptly and act without delay.

Moreover, real-time analytics  bolsters teamwork across departments by aligning all members with the most recent data.

Informed choices grounded in up-to-the-minute intelligence not only heighten agility but also propel strategic endeavors effectively - catalyzing enhanced performance and expansion for your enterprise.

Challenges of Data-Driven Strategies and How to Overcome Them 

Though strategies rooted in data can revolutionize your enterprise, they frequently introduce unique challenges. Grasping these complications equips you to address them adeptly.

Some common obstacles include:

• Data Quality: Poor-quality data can skew insights and lead to misguided decisions.
• Integration Difficulties: Merging information from disparate sources might create gaps in visibility.
• Cultural Resistance: Team members may resist new processes or tools that require a shift in mindset.

To navigate these challenges successfully, consider the following approaches:

• Implement comprehensive  data validation practices to enhance accuracy.
• Utilize APIs for smoother integration between various systems.
• Cultivate a learning-centric environment with workshops that underscore the advantages of data utilization.

Proactively managing these obstacles enables your business to harness data with finesse, paving the way for enhanced results.

Embracing Data-Driven Culture for Long-Term Success 

Nurturing a culture steeped in data is indispensable for continuous business expansion. With a team that prizes insights and analytics, decision-making refines, becoming more astute.

Promote teamwork, offer consistent education, and showcase triumphs to nurture this perspective.

Integrating data as a fundamental aspect of your company's framework equips you to tackle obstacles adeptly and capitalize on emerging prospects.

Copyright © 2024 SCORE Association, SCORE.org

Funded, in part, through a Cooperative Agreement with the U.S. Small Business Administration. All opinions, and/or recommendations expressed herein are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the SBA.

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How to Plan the Ultimate Staycation in The Woodlands

With destination restaurants, drink specials, and plenty of outdoor activities, here’s how to spend 24 hours (or more) in The Woodlands

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When searching for a staycation in the Houston area, The Woodlands should be at the top of your list. This metropolitan suburb, located just 30 miles north of Houston, was established in 1974 and aptly named after its lush acres of trees and wooded areas, which, at times, can make any visitor feel as though they’re nestled in an enchanted forest. Though relatively new compared to the city of Houston, The Woodlands has been growing steadily, becoming fertile grounds for new and established restaurants like Katy’s Phat Eatery, fan-favorite chains like North Italia, and homegrown, lauded restaurants like Amrina. Fortunately for residents and visitors alike, this means the area is brimming with dining options, plus walkable districts that guarantee hours of bouncing between bars, restaurants, and shops.

Whether seeking a short 24-hour stay or a full weekend getaway, here’s the ultimate guide on how to spend your time eating and dining wisely in The Woodlands.

7 a.m. Coffee at Third Gen Coffee

Early risers seeking a cup of coffee should check out this coffee shop run by a third-generation Honduran coffee-farming family . Enjoy its selection of signature and flavored lattes, like the white chocolate-laced cinnamon roll latte, or the Cane Break latte, a simple but potent mix of brown sugar, espresso, and milk made with unique varieties of coffee, including beans sourced from Honduras. If waiting until brunch is out of the option, choose something from its menu of bagel sandwiches, sausage rolls, croissants, and chai oatmeal to hold you over.

10 a.m. Breakfast/Brunch at State Fare Kitchen & Bar

Enormous pancakes that span the plate, behemoth biscuits, spicy brown sugar-crusted bacon, jammy egg-topped burgers, mimosa flights, and chef-curated brunch boards await at State Fare Kitchen, which prides itself on its Southern hospitality and dishes. Other strong brunch options include Bosscat Kitchen and Libations , a whiskey-fueled import initially founded in Newport Beach, California, that serves Fruity Pebbles French toast, peach cobbler waffles, short rib chilaquiles, and cinnamon rolls made with Vietnamese spices until 3 p.m. If in search of something hyper-local, try out the Kitchen , which offers staples like pastrami hash, lobster tostada Benedicts, plenty of pancakes, Tex-Mex breakfast staples, frozen cocktails, milkshakes, and more until 3 p.m. on weekends.

2 p.m. Lunch at Phat Eatery

With its flagship in Katy, this James Beard Award-recognized restaurant has earned a reputation for some of the best hawker-style Malaysian food in the Houston area, served family-style. The restaurant’s layout is also uniquely charming, with a bar and kitchen area that resemble a bustling food market and its main dining area lined with windows that offer views of the picturesque trees and trails that surround the restaurant. Start with the satay skewers and the roti canai, composed of Indian flatbread with a sinful curry sauce for dipping. Then, dig into mainstays, like the award-winning spice-laden beef rendang, the delightful poached Hainanese chicken, which is served at room temperature, and the sizzling egg tofu. The salt and pepper calamari is a sleeper hit.

5 p.m. Happy Hour at Kirby Ice House

The Woodlands location of this popular Houston watering hole is somewhat of a landmark. This dog- and family-friendly locale of Kirby Ice House is home to the longest bar in Texas , plus a massive outdoor patio that’s ideal for lounging with friends and pups while watching the latest game on its colossal screens. While there are plenty of daily specials during the week , weekends offer steals, too, with $5 bloody marys and mimosas poured in the early morning, and $7 cocktails served all day on Sundays along with $4 Jameson and Fireball shots in the afternoon. Open until 2 a.m., it’s also a great late-night option, so don’t be afraid to double back.

7 p.m. Dinner at Amrina

Chef Jassi Bindra, who has worked in Michelin-starred kitchens, creates a phenomenal experience at this Woodlands Indian restaurant , which offers an inventive journey through Indian cuisine. Opt for the tapas bar for street-style snacks like golgappa and papri chaat, which can be enjoyed a la carte or in a tasting menu format, or experience a full spread in its sharply designed dining room, with sumptuous dishes like pork vindaloo, the festive whole Queens duck served with rumali pancakes and tamarind hoisin, and a world of breads, including spinach and goat cheese kulcha and whisky naan. The restaurant also makes for an easy late-night transition, with a lounge area and compelling cocktails, including the smooth “New Fashioned” made with cardamom-spiced syrup.

10 p.m. Cake at Dessert Gallery

If dinner ends early enough, a visit to the Dessert Gallery is essential. The shop, which closes around 10 p.m. during the week and at midnight on the weekends, is a late-night draw for diners in search of cake, cookies, or caffeinated pick-me-ups. Crowd-pleasers include the brookie, a brownie-cookie dessert hybrid, and the decadent, multi-layered chocolate mousse cake.

11 p.m. Late Night: Decisions, Decisions

End the night with a bang at Two Tones Dueling Piano Bar , which promises live music played by at least two artists on pianos, plus drinks and shots aplenty, or check out the swanky Como Social Club , which offers live music until 1 a.m. on Friday and Saturday nights. Those looking to do a little bar hopping should stay on Waterway Square, where people-watching and no-frills drinking experiences are a guarantee, particularly at Mahoney’s and Bar Louie .

Things to do

• See a movie at Reel Luxury Cinemas: Dine and catch a flick at one of the fanciest movie theaters in the Houston area . Reel Luxury is outfitted with its own restaurant, the Audrey, plus private booths in-theater that offer reclining seats, blankets, and full dinner, bar, and snack service with the press of a button .
• Kayak on The Woodlands Waterway: Riva Row Boat House rents out a bevy of individual and tandem watercrafts, including stand-up paddle boards, a variety of kayaks, water bikes, and swan boats for further exploration of the Waterway.

• Catch a concert at Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion. While planning your weekend in the Woodlands, check the lineup at this popular outdoor music venue and book your favorite artist. Pro-tip: Schedule dinner or drinks beforehand in Market Street at wine bar and restaurant Sixty Vines or Schilleci’s New Orleans Kitchen . The dining and retail district is just a four-minute walk from Cynthia Woods, which will help avoid the traffic that’s common before and after music performances.
• Test your limits at Texas Treeventures: This aerial treehouse adventure course in Rob Fleming Park will have you swinging from the trees, with three levels of challenging obstacles that participants can choose to match their comfort and skill levels. Admission is $40 to $45 per person.

If staying longer than 24 hours, choosing where to stay in The Woodlands is essential to building your ideal dining and drinking itinerary.

Stay in the center of it all at the Westin on the Waterway , a walkable area that’s packed with various restaurants and bars. The hotel is just a stone’s throw from some of the area’s best restaurants, including Tris and Amrina, casual haunts like Grimaldi’s and Hearsay, and bars like Bar Louie, Texas-Irish bar Mahoney’s, and the chic Rose Rooftop. Acquaint yourself with the area by walking along the waterfront that leads to Riva Row Boat House, which rents out kayaks and paddleboards, or hop on The Woodlands’ trolley, which will take you to surrounding areas teeming with places to eat and drink. But if looking to stay central, the Westin offers its own pool, bar, and on-site Italian restaurant, Sorriso.

The Woodlands Resort

Those looking for a more all-in-one experience that feels like a true escape should consider The Woodlands Resort. Nestled in a wooded area, this family-friendly resort has its own impressive golf course, restaurant, bar, and a massive pool area with a lazy river, numerous waterslides, and poolside food and bar service with ice cream — meaning leaving is not necessary. The resort is, however, a short ride or drive from the city’s action and dining areas. Rent one of its bikes and cruise the surrounding miles of verdant trails leading to local neighborhoods and the long-running local farmers market , which runs weekly in the Grogan Mills’s shopping center on Saturday mornings. Or drive or take a rideshare service to one of The Woodlands’ many nearby restaurants or bars.

Getting Around

Visitors staying or dining near areas like The Woodlands Mall , Market Street , the Waterway , or Hughes Landing can take advantage of The Woodlands Town Center Trolley . The free trolley traverses a 4.1-mile route that connects all of The Woodlands’s main dining, retail, and hotel areas, which are largely walkable upon arrival. Wait times are usually under 10 minutes thanks to multiple trolleys in service. Otherwise, driving or rideshare is one of the easiest ways to get around the area.

Houston Restaurant Weeks Adds a Month-Long Encore Running Through the End of September

Dallas-founded restaurant drake’s hollywood opens its largest location in houston, this houston brewery’s new restaurant has pizza, beer, and a top-notch chocolate cake.

How to Plan a U.S. National Park Road Trip | Build the Ultimate Itinerary

Aug 27, 2024 | National Parks , Travel Tips | 0 comments

At Alice’s Adventures on Earth, we’ve planned and taken a lot of national park road trips — from plotting the best routes, trails, and activities for awe-inspiring views to hand-picking parks that are worth venturing across the U.S. to visit. 

I started thinking recently about how to plan a U.S. national park road trip (logistics, activities, travel dates, etc.) and realized it would be helpful to break down the steps to creating a complete game plan and itinerary that perfectly suits your travel style and goals. 

Planning a U.S. national park road trip might seem a little overwhelming at first, purely because there are so many options (63 national parks!) and each park’s landscapes, trails, amenities, and activities are a little different. 

You’ll find it so much easier to get started on your custom national park road trip itinerary when you follow the 6 steps laid out below. Hit the highlights of the parks you’re most excited to visit and keep to an adventure-filled itinerary that packs plenty of fun and relaxation into your trip! 

• Choose Your National Parks
• Plan Your Road Trip Dates
• Map Out Your Route
• Pick Your Trails & Activities
• Book Your Accommodations & Rental Car
• Pack & Prep for Your Trip

1. Choose Your National Parks

With 63 parks as potential stops on your road trip, start by picking the region you want to visit by looking at differences in scenery, terrain, and activities. Then, browse parks in the region and start looking at entrance fees, permit requirements, and lodging/camping options. 

Pick Your Road Trip Region

You might want to start your road trip from home, visiting parks in your own region. Maybe you’ll be flying or driving to another city, renting a car, and road tripping from park to park in another part of the country. 

There are more parks in the western U.S., but some really incredible parks in the eastern and northern U.S. can make these regions well worth a national parks road trip. Find a list of parks here .

What scenery are you looking for? Breathtaking mountains, deep forests, wild islands , pristine beaches, glittering lakes, rushing waterfalls, peaceful meadows —  no matter what you’re looking for, there’s a national park in the U.S. that’ll be a perfect fit. 

The terrain of the parks you’re considering should be taken into account. Research any vehicle requirements – high clearance, 4WD, etc. to make sure your vehicle can handle the terrain! 

Another consideration is your hiking fitness level. Difficult terrain makes for challenging hikes. Consider park altitude and any acclimation requirements, too. 

Browse Nearby Parks

With your chosen region in mind, you can start honing in on nearby parks that interest you most. Research the regional parks’ entrance fees, required passes or permits for areas you want to visit, and available lodging/camping options to choose the best parks for your trip. 

Some parks require entrance passes and fees. The fee to enter or get a park entrance pass varies by park, so check this page to find out what you’ll need to pay (if anything). Entrance fees typically range from $20-$35 per vehicle. 

Take a look at each park’s available lodging and camping options and think about the activities you want to do while you’re visiting each park to narrow down your options a bit more.

Consider Your Trip Length

Are you able to travel for a weekend? Four days? Two weeks? The amount of time you have will help you start bringing your national park road trip plans to life and decide how many parks to visit. 

While it’s always fun to stick around in a park for 4+ days to do some thorough exploring, that’s not the point of a national park road trip — the idea is enjoying the highlights in a few different parks, and that means moving on after a few days to see what the next park has to offer!

2. Plan Your Road Trip Dates

What time of year is best to plan a U.S. national parks road trip? Visiting a national park during peak season is a completely different experience than going during the low season or shoulder season. 

Every park’s peak season is slightly different, but in general, here’s what you can expect:

• Peak/high season: Most parks are busiest in the summer months between July and August, when roads are clear and open, weather is warm, and camping is in full swing
• Shoulder season: You may find slightly smaller crowds during the spring/summer (May-June) and fall (September-October) shoulder seasons
• Low/off season: Most, but not all, parks see the fewest visitors between November and April, when colder weather and low tourism numbers can mean road/trail/amenity/activity closures  

Take Seasonal Changes Into Account

The season you visit national parks during will affect the landscapes you see during your road trip. It can be the difference between seeing bare trees, lush green canopies, or fiery fall foliage, dealing with dense, view-obscuring fog or clear views, witnessing trickling or gushing waterfalls, or wandering meadows in sepia tones or a rainbow of wildflower color. 

Peak runoff season after snowmelt occurs in many parks means waterfalls are flowing mightily. Wildflower meadows begin to bloom at lower elevations and deciduous trees begin regaining their buds and leaves. 

Fog can interrupt mountain views on brisk spring mornings. Some parks, especially those at higher elevations, see snow and cold temperatures well into spring with road and trail closures as a result. Others may see mild temperatures and rainy conditions. 

Warm weather, perfect opportunities for swimming, lush greenery, and wildflowers in bloom make summertime the most popular time to visit national parks across the U.S. People fill parks across the U.S. to go camping, hiking, canoeing, kayaking, fishing, climbing, and more. 

Afternoon thunderstorms may be more common in some regions during summer, but many parks see the driest weather during these months. It’s a great time to visit to ensure high-elevation roads, trails, and full park amenities (like shuttles and lodging) are open.

Gorgeous, warm shades of gold, red, and purple transform even basic landscapes into something spectacular during fall, with mountainous areas offering incredible views of the fall foliage as deciduous trees blanket the slopes in an array of autumnal color. 

Parks are typically less crowded this season as temperatures begin to drop, offering a peaceful chance to hike or bike trails, canoe or kayak around lakes and rivers, and camp. Fog can create visibility issues on fall mornings in mountainous areas, and road/trail/amenity closures may begin in colder or high-elevation parks.  

Bare deciduous trees can offer a better view of mountains and surrounding landscapes with snow blanketing some areas for a beautiful, wintry scene. Dense evergreen forests look especially captivating with snow on the ground! Crowds are typically low during winter if you want a secluded feel in more popular parks. 

Crampons, microspikes, or snowshoes may be required for winter hikes in some parks. Winter activities like cross-country skiing, snowshoeing, and sledding are fun options this time of year.

3. Map Out Your Route

Once you know which parks you want to visit and when, you can start mapping out your route. I always use Google Maps to create a logical route — it really helps to have the address for the park entrance station you plan to use for the most accurate mapping.

Make sure to check park websites for any road closures or temporarily closed sections of the park due to wildfires, construction, etc. Add any additional stops you’re planning to make to your route to develop a clear-cut plan for your travel! 

You might modify your route to take you through specific cities you’d like to visit on your road trip , or choose a scenic route over the fastest one. That’s the beauty of planning your own road trip.

4. Pick Your Trails & Activities

What are you up for during your national park road trip? You’ll probably want to do lots of hiking, but depending on the season you visit during and which parks are on your list, your activity list will vary. 

Make sure to check out towns and cities you pass from park to park and stop by local shops, museums, and restaurants to round out your trip. You never know what you might find! 

Do some research on each park on your list and figure out what the must-do activities are at each one. Here are some ideas to keep an eye out for as you’re building your daily plans and activities:

• Scenic drives & notable overlooks
• Hiking & biking trails 
• Hanging out on beaches, riverbanks & lakeshores
• Waterfalls & natural swimming holes
• Boating, cruises, canoeing & kayaking
• Cave tours (guided/self-guided)
• Historic sites, visitor centers & museums
• Notable natural features & rock formations
• Rock climbing
• Winter sports (skiing, snowshoeing, etc.)

Pick the activities that interest you most at each park and find out when these activities are available. Some will need to be booked in advance (like cave tours, boat cruises, or kayak rentals), while others can be squeezed into your itinerary wherever they fit best (like hiking and swimming). 

Don’t overbook your days with activities — leave plenty of time to enjoy the parks and relax a little. Even the best-laid plans can change last-minute, so having wiggle room is important.

Choosing National Park Hiking Trails

Consider your hiking fitness level when you’re planning a national park road trip. Are you ready for easy, moderate, or hard trails? There are a few ways that trails get labeled as easy, moderate, or hard/strenuous, but here’s what the National Parks Service says:

• Easy: Usually relatively flat, short trails under 3 miles on level ground that may be paved; best choice for beginning hikers with limited experience on longer or more challenging trails; some may be appropriate for children, seniors, and people with limited mobility
• Moderate: Trails with easy, moderate, and/or hard sections that may feature some steep zones and elevation changes that require a moderate hiking fitness level; appropriate for hikers with some skill and may range from 5-8 miles
• Hard/Strenuous: Challenging hikes generally 5-10+ miles with steep inclines, stream crossings, rock scrambles, and other sections that require high hiking fitness and skill levels to complete

AllTrails.com is really helpful to find the most popular trails in a given park, user-submitted photos and comments on current trail conditions, estimated hike duration, and trail layouts. 

Consider how long each hike will take you (leaving a little extra time for resting, taking photos, and admiring the views). Pick trails that won’t exhaust you when you have more hiking days and exploring ahead of you!

Want help planning your National Park roadtrip. I’m an expert in parks, and would love to help you plan the trip of your dreams. Drop a line with where youre heading and when. 

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5. Book Your Accommodations & Rental Car

Whether you’ll be staying in park lodges, campgrounds, or nearby hotels, getting your accommodations sorted out for each leg of your trip is the next step to making your national park road trip a reality. 

Some parks allow or require you to make campsite reservations or buy backcountry permits in advance. Other parks offer first-come, first-served campsites and permits (a challenge to snag during the peak summer months). 

A word of advice: Book or reserve everything you can in advance!

If you’ll be camping outside of a park’s campgrounds, you might need a backcountry camping permit . 

Some parks require timed entry permits to go into specific areas of the park during peak visit times (like Paradise in Mount Rainier). Check the park website for details on how to obtain permits (free in some parks). 

If you plan on staying in a park lodge or nearby hotel , now’s the time to book your room online. Try to pick lodging that puts you close to the areas you’ll be hiking and exploring during your trip — national parks can be massive! 

Make your rental car reservations now (if you’re not driving your own vehicle). Remember to research any vehicle requirements for the parks you’re visiting to ensure your wheels can handle the terrain!

6. Pack & Prep for Your Trip

Packing and getting ready for your trip can be a lot of fun! Download a complete packing list if you’ll be doing longer, overnight hikes to make sure you’re not leaving essentials behind (or bringing unnecessary items that’ll weigh you down). 

Even if you’re sticking to shorter trails and other activities, you’ll still want to ensure you’ve got everything you need: 

• Comfortable hiking clothes, hat & footwear
• Outerwear for cold/rainy weather
• Water bottle
• Swimwear & towel
• Sunscreen, bug spray & travel toiletries
• Trail snacks
• First aid kit
• Emergency supplies (whistle, headlamp, firestarter, etc.)
• Phone & charger, cash/card, ID & keys

Your planned road trip length, terrain, trail length, and activities will play into your packing list, so be thorough when you’re reviewing what to bring. 

Here are some of our National Park essentials.  

Make sure you have digital proof or a printed copy of any permit, campsite/lodging reservation, or entrance pass you’ve purchased in advance with you.

Take care of any at-home needs before you go on your road trip — pausing mail, arranging pet care if needed, adjusting the thermostat, setting light timers, etc. Plug your route into GPS, load up the car, and get on the road! 

Set Out on the Road Trip of a Lifetime

With your route mapped and activities planned, your reservations, permits, and bookings taken care of, and your rental car picked up, you’re ready to embark on the road trip of a lifetime!

Gorgeous scenery, exhilarating hikes, and endless exploration in some of the country’s best national parks lie ahead. You can take pride in the fact that this memorable adventure was dreamt up, planned, and flawlessly executed by you!

Need a little inspiration for your national park road trip? Here are some adventurous ideas to read next and get you started! 

• The Ultimate 2-Week National Park Road Trip from Coast to Coast
• 7-Day Northwestern National Park Road Trip | Glaciers, Geysers & Waterfalls
• 10-Day Alaska National Parks Road Trip | 3 Awe-Inspiring Parks
• My Epic 7-Day California National Parks Road Trip
• 7-Day Pacific Northwest National Parks Road Trip  

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Selecting the Best Internet Service for Your Home: The Ultimate Guide

Now that the world is becoming more digital, having a reliable internet connection is essential at home. No matter if you're working from home, streaming your favorite shows, or managing smart home devices, the quality of your internet service can impact your daily life.

With so many options available, choosing the best home internet service can be overwhelming, as it involves careful considerations that fit your needs. This guide will walk you through everything you need to know to make an informed decision.

Understanding Your Internet Needs

The first step in selecting the right internet service is understanding your household’s needs. Internet usage varies widely, depending on activities like browsing, gaming, streaming, and remote work. For example:

Casual Browsers - If your household mainly checks emails, browses the web, and uses social media, a basic internet plan with speeds of 25–50 Mbps may suffice.

Gamers and Streamers - Online gaming and streaming in HD or 4K require higher speeds and more bandwidth. A plan offering 100-200 Mbps is more suitable.

Remote Workers - For video conferencing, large file uploads, and multiple users, you’ll need a plan with at least 100 Mbps, with higher upload speeds being a plus.

Types of Home Internet Connections

Different types of internet connections offer various benefits and limitations. Understanding these can help you make a more informed choice:

Fiber Optic - Fiber-optic connections are known for their high speeds and reliability . They’re ideal for heavy users who require fast download and upload speeds. However, fiber may not be available in all areas.

Cable - Cable internet is widely available and offers good speeds. However, since it shares bandwidth with others in your area, speeds may fluctuate during peak times.

DSL (Digital Subscriber Line) - DSL is an affordable option as it offers slower speeds than cable or fiber. It’s suitable for light users but may not meet the needs of larger households with many devices.

Satellite - Satellite internet is an option for those in rural or remote areas where other types of connections aren’t available. However, it tends to have higher latency and data limits.

5G/4G LTE - Wireless internet through 5G or 4G LTE can be a good option for those who need mobility. Coverage varies, and speeds can depend on your proximity to a cell tower.

Factors to Consider When Choosing an Internet Plan

Choosing an internet plan involves careful planning to make sure that the plan you choose suits your budget and needs. Here are some factors to consider:

Speed and Bandwidth

Internet speed is one of the most critical factors when choosing a home internet service. Speeds are typically measured in megabits per second (MBPS) and include both download and upload speeds.

Download Speed - This affects how quickly you can receive data from the internet. It’s essential for activities like streaming and downloading files.

Upload Speed - This is the speed at which you can send data to the internet, crucial for video conferencing and uploading large files.

25-50 Mbps - Suitable for casual browsing, streaming in SD, and light online gaming.

100-200 Mbps: Good for HD streaming, online gaming, and households with multiple users.

500 Mbps+ - Ideal for 4K streaming, heavy gaming, and households with many devices.

Data Caps and Limits

Data caps are limits on the amount of data you can use in a month. Exceeding these caps can result in additional charges or reduced speeds.

Unlimited Data Plans - These plans allow you to use as much data as you need without worrying about extra fees. They are ideal for heavy internet users or large households.

Capped Data Plans: If you opt for a plan with a data cap, be aware of how much data you typically use. Streaming video, especially in HD or 4K, can quickly consume data.

Understanding the full cost of your internet service is crucial for budgeting. Below are some of the fees that may come with your monthly subscription:

Installation Fees - Some providers charge for installation, while others offer it for free.

Monthly Service Fees - This is the regular cost of your internet plan. Be aware of promotional rates that increase after a certain period.

Equipment Costs - Factor in the cost of renting or purchasing a modem and router .

Additional Fees - These may include data overage fees, early termination fees, or taxes and surcharges.

Equipment and Installation

The right equipment is essential for getting the most out of your internet service. Below are some devices worth considering:

Modem and Router - Your ISP may provide a modem and router, but you might consider purchasing your own. This can save you money on rental fees and give you more control over your home network.

Rent vs. Buy - Renting equipment from your ISP is convenient but can add up over time. Buying your equipment involves a higher upfront cost but can be more economical in the long run.

Installation - Some ISPs offer free installation, while others charge a fee. Consider whether you’re comfortable with a self-installation kit or if you’d prefer professional installation.

Evaluating Internet Service Providers (ISPs)

Choosing the right ISP involves more than just comparing speeds and prices. Here are some things to remember:

Availability - Not all ISPs are available in all areas. Start by researching which providers service your location.

Customer Service - Reliable customer support is crucial if you encounter issues. Look for ISPs with good reputations for customer service.

Pricing and Contracts - Compare the costs of different plans, including any promotional rates and the regular price after the promotion ends. Be aware of contract terms, early termination fees, and price increases after the initial period.

Reliability and Uptime - An unreliable connection can be frustrating. Check for ISPs with high uptime percentages and positive reviews regarding connection stability.

Future-Proofing Your Home Internet

When selecting an internet plan, it's important to choose one that can scale with your household's growing usage needs. Keep an eye on emerging technologies like Wi-Fi 6 and expanding fiber networks, as these advancements can provide faster and more reliable connections. Also, try to stay informed about when it might be necessary to upgrade your plan or equipment, especially as new devices and technologies become standard in homes.

Selecting the best internet service for your home involves careful consideration of your specific needs, available options, and long-term costs. When you understand your internet usage, evaluate connection types, compare ISPs, and consider future growth, you can choose a service that will meet your household’s needs for years to come.

Use this guide to make an informed decision and ensure a reliable, fast, and cost-effective internet connection for your home. With TP-Link, you’ll benefit from its reliable network devices , accessories, and smart home products that are best for your homes and offices.

FAQs Before Purchasing Home Internet

1. what internet speed do i need.

The speed you need depends on how you use the internet. For basic browsing and streaming, 10-15 Mbps is enough. For online gaming, streaming in 4K, or multiple users in the household, you may need 100 Mbps or higher.

2. Do ISPs Offer Any Security Features?

Some ISPs include security features like antivirus software or parental controls, which add value to your service and help protect your home network.

3. How to Choose the Best Service Provider?

You can research the provider’s reputation for speed, reliability, and customer service. Consumer review sites can also provide insights into others' experiences.

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Corporate Travel Tips for the Year’s Busiest Business Months

Be ready, as corporate travel season is set to get going with the clock ticking closer to the busy work months, it's the perfect time to sharpen your skills in travel and get ready for the crazy pace ahead..

Be assured! It's not your usual travel book. We're going to explore the corporate travel tips for the busiest business months with a twist, including creative strategies and humor that will keep you one step ahead of confusion. Imagine it as your own toolbox for keeping well-organized, productive, or perhaps even taking pleasure in the trip.

Do you want to alter your daily routine to make those stressful months an easy ride? Let's go on an adventure with you. Grab your seat belt, and let us make each mile count!

Plan Ahead: But Stay Flexible

The importance of planning ahead is paramount. However, it is equally important to be able to change course as plans shift. The busiest months in business typically have flights that are overbooked and sudden schedule changes. Always be prepared with an emergency strategy. Utilize apps like TripIt to save all the details of your trip in one spot. Consider booking through airlines that allow free modifications or cancellations. Be aware that flexibility could help you out when the unexpected occurs.

Master the Art of Packing Light

It's a great idea to pack light, particularly during busy travel times when every second matters. Choose a consistent color style for your wardrobe and you can combine and mix outfits effortlessly. You can roll your clothes to save space and also prevent wrinkles. Choose a quality baggage bag that complies with the regulations of your airline and holds everything you need. Be aware that the less you bring, the better you'll be able to focus on the most important things—perfecting the presentation or sealing the deal.

Embrace Technology: Your Best Travel Companion

Technology is your ideal companion when you travel. Software such as Google Maps, Yelp, and Uber will make getting around an unfamiliar city easy. Utilize Slack as well as Microsoft Teams to stay connected to your group, regardless of how far away. Make sure to install offline maps as well as guides to travel if you're without internet. Also, for those extended delays or layovers, make sure you're using entertainment applications like Netflix or Spotify that are already loaded with your favorite entertainment.

Stay Productive on the Go

The ability to stay productive on the road is about achieving the ideal equilibrium. When you're traveling on a long trip, make use of this opportunity to check your emails, read through documents, and prepare for your next gatherings. Noise-cancelling headphones combined with an engaging playlist will help keep you present. If you find yourself stuck at an airport, try finding an uncluttered spot where you can work or take this time out to read or listen to an audio podcast instead of being stressed about work or travel delays. Keep in mind that it's not all about being a full-time worker and having breaks; it's essential for staying focused.

Optimize Your Travel Routine

A well-planned travel plan will reduce stress and help you save time. Make a checklist that will ensure that you do not forget any important items. Make your check-in online, select your seat in advance, and try to reach the airport with enough time left. For security, be aware of the rules to prevent delays. Make sure you have your electronic devices as well as liquids in a convenient location. After you have arrived at your destination, you should set aside the time to take your bags off and tidy up so that you're ready to start your journey on the right foot.

Prioritize Your Well-Being

It can strain both your mind and body, particularly during the busiest times of the year for business. Take care of yourself. Keep hydrated, consume healthy meals, and get enough sleep. If you are able, follow the routine of your workout. Many hotel gyms are available, or you could exercise within your hotel space. Do not forget to set aside time for relaxation and renewal with enjoyable reading material, taking a stroll with the dog, or getting enough restful sleep at night.

Make the Most of Loyalty Programs

If you travel frequently for business, loyalty programs can be invaluable resources. Signing up with hotels, airlines or car rentals allows you to collect points that add up over time into complimentary upgrades, priority boarding access, and lounge membership benefits. You can also track how they've been spent using apps such as AwardWallet, which is simple too! Make sure to follow the travel policies of your company for preferred partner bookings for the best rewards.

Networking on the Fly

Traveling for business shouldn't just involve transportation; it should also serve as an opportunity to expand your network. Be it at an airport lounge, bar at a hotel, or plane seat next to someone traveling across, don't shy away from engaging. Who knows, maybe you could meet a potential customer, colleague, or useful professional contact! Use business cards or software for your business card, such as HiHello, to make the exchange of details with contacts effortless.

Stay Connected with Your Team

Connecting with your colleagues when you are on the move is vital. However, it does not mean that you have to be on call all hours of the day. Make clear the expectations of communication before leaving. Determine key times in the day that you will be in touch through email, telephone, or video calls. Utilize collaboration tools such as Asana and Trello to ensure that projects stay up-to-date. Don't forget to refresh your email address outside of the office with pertinent details for people trying to contact you.

The Wrap-Up!!!

Traveling for business during peak months may seem chaotic, but with proper techniques in place, you'll be able to manage it efficiently. From optimizing productivity to prioritizing personal health needs, these strategies aim to maximize travel efficiency while still making use of every moment spent traveling.

Every trip should provide the chance for personal and professional growth as you travel and complete the tasks at hand. Make it an opportunity to develop knowledge, form connections, and gain new experiences along the way. Have a wonderful trip!

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