While you should touch on all of the sections of a business plan that we went over in this article, each business is unique. Summaries for plans will vary in their structure depending on the business. Your primary audience may be most interested in your unique logistical capabilities, your technical expertise, or some other aspect particular to your business.
Business plans aren’t just useful for you as an entrepreneur , although they’re definitely handy to create and refer back to regularly. They’re also helpful if you plan to secure funding for your business. A bank or other lenders will want to see that you’ve carefully created a strategic plan and shown that your enterprise can be profitable before they provide you with funds. You may even find a business plan competition to enter, giving you an opportunity to win funds.
While you may want to edit your executive summary a little bit depending on who the audience is, you should typically maintain a clear and professional tone. It should be easy to understand while avoiding being too casual.
Just because it’s the first part of your business plan doesn’t mean it should be the first section you write. Instead, write the entire business plan before getting to the summary. This gives you the chance to really work through all of your thoughts as you write the formal plan so that by the time you get the summary you’ve already processed the information contained in the document and it’ll be easier to pick out the key parts you should include.
A financial overview
This section explains how you will take your business from idea to launch.
Showing familiarity with your competition demonstrates that you’ve done your research and know what you’re up against. Include an overview of your primary competitors, including your competitive advantage and how you plan to capture market share for your business.
The executive summary is the opening section of a traditional business plan , but it’s relative brevity compared to some of the longer and more daunting sections mean that it’s often overlooked. Don’t be fooled by their short length: executive summaries can make or break a business plan, so read on to find out how to make your executive summary as strong as possible.
This section tells the reader that you’ve identified a need or opportunity in the market and describes your business is uniquely suited to meeting that need.
Writing a business plan doesn’t have to be complicated. In this comprehensive guide, I’ll show you how to quickly and easily write a business plan that will get the results you want. Don’t worry, you don’t have to have a business or accounting degree to put together a great business plan. This guide will show you how to get your plan done step-by-step without any of the complexity or frustration.
Why? Because once you know the details of your business inside and out, you will be better prepared to write your executive summary. After all, this section is a summary of everything else you’re going to write about.
People who read your business plan will already know a little bit about your business because they read your executive summary. But this chapter is still hugely important because it’s where you expand on your initial overview, providing more details and answering additional questions that you won’t cover in the executive summary.
“Our patent-pending technology is a one-connection add-on to existing bCPAP setups. When attached to a bCPAP setup, our product provides non-invasive dual pressure ventilation.”
Why write a business plan?
Most business plans include market research and compare their features against their competition using a SWOT analysis. The most important thing to illustrate in this section of your business plan is how your solution is different or better than other offerings that a potential customer might consider. Investors will want to know what advantages you have over the competition and how you plan on differentiating yourself.
To ensure that you are solving a real problem for your potential customers, a great step in the business planning process is to get away from your computer and actually go out and talk to potential customers. Validate that they have the problem you assume they have, and then take the next step and pitch your potential solution to their problem. Is it a good fit for them?
Now, you may not have every milestone or even specific steps in mind to reach your goals before starting. But that’s the beauty of working through your business plan. It will help you define metrics of success, flesh out your goals and further develop elements of your business to meet specific objectives. You just need a vision or even aspirational goals to start with to better hone in on what’s important.
- 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.
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.
Business plans often are used to secure funding, but plenty of businesses 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.
There are some high-level strategic guidelines beyond the advice included in this free business plan template that can help you write an effective, complete plan while minimizing busywork.
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A business plan can be as informal or formal as your situation calls for, but even if you’re a fan of the back-of-the-napkin approach to planning, there are some key benefits to starting your plan from an existing outline or template.
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.
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Whether you decide to hire someone who writes business plans, write it yourself, or use software, you still need to take an active role in the process. Whoever writes your plan needs accurate information for each section of the document and a clear understanding of your business.
There are several reasons why small and home businesses fail, but proper planning can help overcome them all. A business plan can help you:
A business plan is a written blueprint for your home business. Business plans are essential for getting a business loan, but even if you don't need outside funding, they are a valuable tool to helping you set goals in your home business, understand what you need to do, and anticipate future growth.
Gathering the information is also of great benefit to you because it helps you understand your business and what you need to do in order to succeed, and it gives you a clearer picture of your competitors and your market.
Writing a Business Plan
Whether formal or informal, when properly written and maintained, business plans provide a means to help you stay focused on the tasks that build a profitable home business.
However, even if you're starting small or have your own resources to fund your business, a business plan isn't required, but it can greatly improve the chances that your home business will succeed.
Keeping your business plan current offers some important benefits, such as:
If you fail to plan, you plan to fail. Don't handicap your home business by not taking the steps to create a business plan.
- Project timelines
- Data visualization
- Project checklists
- Business models
- Strategies
- Payments
- Security
- Revenue
A business plan also acts as a guide, which you constantly turn to during the early growth stages as well as day-to-day operations.
As one of the leading nonprofit organization devoted to helping business owners succeed, SCORE has created one of the best business plan templates because it is in-depth and customizable. It’s available in PDF or Microsoft Word format here.
- Mission statement/vision
- Market overview
- Hero quotes
- Trends focus and important stat callouts
- Growth chart
- Target audience versus current audience
- Competitive analysis
- Version comparison
- General notes and takeaways
- Upcoming priorities
- Team overview
- Thank you/contact info
7. Slideshop Business Strategy presentation deck
- 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 thing I like best about this free business plan template is the fact that it lets you go back in and edit as needed, so you don’t have to have all of the information in front of you the first time you set out to tackle the task. Creating a well thought-out business plan requires research and planning, so the edit option comes in very handy. The end result is a very professional looking business plan.”
You don’t want to rush your business plan — take time to perform proper research, and then go back to edit and complete each section when you are ready. You can access the SBA business plan template here.
“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.”