- Education
- Professional background
- Awards and honors
- Notable clients
Your marketing strategy or marketing plan can be the difference between selling so much that growth explodes or getting no business at all. Growth strategies here are a critical part of your business plan.
In this post, we’ll cover everything you need to write a successful business plan, step-by-step, and turn your idea into a reality. Even better—if you’re pressed for time—we’ve compiled the 10 steps and examples into a downloadable (PDF) template:
Laura’s Landscapers’s service—our competitive advantage—is differentiated by three core features.
Example of organization and management
- How much of your revenue you retain as your net income
- Your ratio of liquidity to debt repayment ability
- How often you collect on your invoices
- Time between purchases
- Upsells, cross-sells, and down-sells
- Future plans for research and development
If your time has become more focused on small projects rather than tangible growth and building a valuable client list, consider packaging your existing products or services differently. For example, can you bundle a few things together?
Defining your audience helps you determine the language you’ll need to propose your ideas as well as the depth to which you need to go to help readers conduct due diligence.
- Know your audience. If you’re writing a business plan for yourself in order to get clarity on your ideas and your industry as a whole, you may not need to include the same level of detail or polish you would with a business plan you want to send to potential investors. Knowing who will read your plan will help you decide how much time to spend on it.
- Know your goals. Understanding the goals of your plan can help you set the right scope. If your goal is to use the plan as a roadmap for growth, you may invest more time in it than if your goal is to understand the competitive landscape of a new industry.
- Take it step by step. Writing a 10- to 15-page document can feel daunting, so try to tackle one section at a time. Select a couple of sections you feel most confident writing and start there—you can start on the next few sections once those are complete. Jot down bullet-point notes in each section before you start writing to organize your thoughts and streamline the writing process.
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You’re already investing time and energy in planning your small business—there’s no need to reinvent the wheel when it comes to formatting your plan. Instead, to help build a complete and effective plan, lean on time-tested structures created by entrepreneurs and startups who have come before you.
Business planning is often used to secure funding, but plenty of business owners find writing a plan valuable, even if they never work with an investor. That’s why we put together a free business plan template to help you get started.
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- Executive summary. A one-page summary of your whole plan, typically written after the rest of the plan is completed.
- Company description. An overview can include many potential sub-sections, from the basics (your type of business model) to the meaningful (your business’ vision and mission statement).
- Market analysis. Everything from estimated market size to your target markets. It’ll also include a competitive analysis of your industry to address competitors strengths and weaknesses.
- Products and services. What you sell and the most important features of your products or services. It’ll also include any plans for intellectual property, like patent filings or copyright. If you do market research for your products, it’ll show up in this section of your business plan.
- Marketing plan. How you intend to get the word out about your business, and what strategic decisions you’ve made about things like your pricing strategy.
- Logistics and operations plan. Everything that needs to happen to turn your raw materials into products and get them into the hands of your customers.
- Financial plan. It’s important to include a look at your financial projections. This section includes templates for three key financial statements: an income statement, a balance sheet, and a cash-flow statement.
That said, it may not include the specific details or structure preferred by a potential investor or lender. If your goal with a business plan is to secure funding, check with your target organizations—typically banks or investors—to see if they have a template you can follow to maximize your chances of success.
Before you write your own, read through the following business plan example. You can download a copy in Microsoft Word or Google Docs and use it to inspire your own planning.
Business planning is often used to secure funding, but plenty of business owners find writing a plan valuable, even if they never work with an investor. That’s why we put together a free business plan template to help you get started.
- Outline the problem and your proposed solution
- Share facts and figures about your target market
- Describe your product
- Outline your business model
- Illustrate the competitive landscape and your place in it
- Propose a timeline and product roadmap
- Introduce your team
- Detail financial requirements
This presentation template also includes Designer Pro Tips that will help you add a new photo to the background and customize chart data for better visualization. You’ll also get two slides with supplemental charts.
The user experience sets the LawDepot business plan template apart from the best business plan templates, with simple input fields and a nice preview option that lets you watch the progress.
Whether you are pitching investors for a funding round, applying for a traditional small business loan, or self-funding, you need a rock-solid business plan to lay out your vision and map out the steps required to create a successful business.
3. Slideshop Visionary Pitch template
The Business Pitch deck includes slides that allow you to quickly and visually:
Do you know what to include in a business plan, especially when it comes to your specific state? If not, don’t worry. Rocket Lawyer has created a standout the best business plan templates, which walks you through the entire process of building a business plan that meets the financing requirements in the state where you are seeking funding.
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“Many new business owners aren’t aware of the lending requirements as they pertain to the state in which they will be based out of. The online tool from Rocket Lawyer is very helpful, especially for those that need a business plan specifically for securing funding.”
The dynamic Visionary Pitch deck is designed to communicate big business ideas — the whys and hows of a new business model.
- Outline the problem and your proposed solution
- Share facts and figures about your target market
- Describe your product
- Outline your business model
- Illustrate the competitive landscape and your place in it
- Propose a timeline and product roadmap
- Introduce your team
- Detail financial requirements
The user experience sets the LawDepot business plan template apart from the best business plan templates, with simple input fields and a nice preview option that lets you watch the progress.
4. Rocket Lawyer state-specific templates
“There are a lot of free business plan templates available online, but very few are as well structured as the offering from SCORE. There are 150 questions to answer, all designed to help you create the best business plan for your specific situation. I highly recommend this template, especially if it’s your first time writing a business plan.”
The Business Pitch deck includes slides that allow you to quickly and visually:
Writing a business plan isn’t the most glamorous part of starting a new business, but it’s extremely important. To help you save time and eliminate stress, you can access some of the best business plan templates online. Some are available to use at no cost, while others require a nominal subscription fee.
By presenting a potential lender with a business plan that meets your state requirements, you show that you have done your research — and this shows the financial institution that you are serious. You can select your state and start building your business plan using Rocket Lawyer’s template here.
- Executive Summary
- Business Overview
- Market Analysis
- Company
- Strategy and Implementation
- Financial Plan
- Appendices
- Download the free trial of PDF Converter OCR, install and launch on your mac
As you may have noticed, though business plans differ in details, they basically cover all the above-mentioned parts. And it is deemed as conventional that all the business plans should be consisted of these parts to make it professional, authorized and feasible. Consequently, there are free business plan templates in open to us, to save our time to create a plan from the start. We just need to add our details into the template and modify a little to make it our own.
You can find several business plan template in PDF for different business program. Just click on the “Download this plan” and get the free template in PDF.
Where to Download Business Plan Template PDF?
A web-based platform to offer paid and free templates for different usage, including CMS, Web, eCommerce, Design, Business and so on. Users can free download those general templates, while those with creative and advanced design will require a commercial investment.
First, choose the business plan template in your field, then preview the templates in the newly opened webpage and choose one. Those come with a “Buy” icon are not free, those come with a “Free Download” icon are for free use.
Readiris 16 for Windows allows users to scan document to PDF, also convert any PDFs into searchable PDF, Microsoft Office files, ODT, ePub, Audio and image.