business concept in business plan

In this blog...

How to Develop a Business Concept

Is there a secret recipe to a successful business concept? Short answer, there’s none. But there are ways to create a foundational concept that transforms your idea into a profitable business.

There’s always that ‘aha!’ moment before the next up-and-coming business is born. Indeed, everyone seems to have an idea for a successful startup. However, only a few would dare to make it happen.

If you’re ready to mobilize this dream, first you need to decide what business it would be. Developing a business concept is an important step to express your entire plan in writing. A business concept statement provides a roadmap for your startup once you’re ready to assemble all the resources for your new startup.

What is a Business Concept?

That’s the million-dollar question for which we have an answer. Essentially, a business concept is a brief description of an idea behind the existence of a business. It describes key consumer problems it seeks to solve, articulates how the idea applies to a market and provides a clear direction when processing a business plan .

We all know that business plans are quite extensive; it’ll take a long time to read the entire document. Since most of its readers are busy people like entrepreneurs and investors, it’s unreasonable to read the whole business plan only to find out that the content doesn’t meet the readers’ expectations in the end.

Hence, it’s practical to hit the right balance. You need a document that’s short as a note but still informational as a business plan. This is why you need a compelling business concept statement along with the proposal.

Additionally, a business concept serves as an overview to potential business partners or investors. It provides them with enough information on whether or not they should continue with the proposed plan. Thus, your concept statement should hook your audience’s attention as well as justifies the investors’ decisions

What to include in a Business Concept Statement?

While a business concept statement needs to be short, it should still include key elements of your business. These includes:

A short description of the business

Explain what your business is about and the reason for starting this endeavor. You may also include features that make your company stand out from its competitors. It should be no more than 1-2 sentences long.

Market need

Are there any gaps in the market that your business idea can fill? Identify these market problems that your product or service will solve. You can also pinpoint the lack of products (services) that consumers don’t know they need.

Core products or services

Elaborate more about the product or service that your company is or will be offering. Similarly, discuss why your offerings are the solution and why you are the right company to deliver that idea to the market.

Target market

In here, mention who are your product’s target consumers are. Be specific and present data backed by credible market research findings.

Business model

This is an important element in the business concept since it outlines how the company will make money. Your business model answers the question, ‘ How do you charge customers for your product or service?’   

Unique Value Proposition

What makes your product (service) different from those already in the marketplace? Point out why consumers should consider buying your offerings from that of the competitors. Is it more affordable? Do you offer same-day delivery? Or do you offer better quality products? These are examples of things to consider when writing your Unique Value Proposition (UVP) .   

Competitive Analysis

Identify your potential competitors. What are their strengths and weaknesses? Also, include the annual revenue and market share. It gives the readers an idea about the size of the market and its growth potential.

Related Video: Tips for Achieving Business Goals

This concludes your business concept statement. Touch on the goals of the company in a particular timeframe. These can be short and long-term goals.

Please note that a concept statement is not a sales pitch. So, don’t make any unverified claims or write it like a catchy sales copy. This helps stakeholders gauge if your business idea is reasonable based on the analysis of the market.

7 Tips to Develop the Best Business Concept

• Observe your surroundings – Are there any products or services that are not available right now? Or perhaps what’s currently available doesn’t live up to the things it claims to offer. This is a great opportunity for you to build a better product.
• Check out trends – See if there are any changes in lifestyle or market needs. Tune in to what’s happening on the Internet, TV, or newspaper. For example, more people today are choosing veganism as a lifestyle. This heightens the demand for vegan or plant-based products.
• Nostalgia – Was there a product or service that you liked in the past that is no longer offered in your area? Maybe you want to relive that. Ask around and see if other people share your sentiment.  
• Bring new life – Is there a way to modernize common services such as home appliances repair and pet grooming? Find out how you can transform routine services into something better.
• Gaps in operations – More companies choose to let go of some of their business operations to save time and cost. If you can find a way to close this gap, it can be a potential business waiting to happen. As an example, our founders here at Full Scale saw that new American startups can’t find top-notch developers in the country. So, they built Full Scale, an offshore development company that answers the growing demand for quick and affordable software services.
• Create a new demand – As industries grow, the core needs of the market often gets ignored. Revive or create a new demand that answers an existing need.
• Hobbies and Interests – Yes, your hobbies can also be a great inspiration for starting a business. Is there a clear demand for which your hobbies or expertise can answer?

Related Video: Business Analysis Tips and Tricks

A Business Concept that Works

When starting a business, there are several nuts and bolts you need to consider. Critical of them all is a business concept. It’s a pillar that crystalizes your idea into a money-making machine.

Position your business concept in a way that answers a key need in the market today, and in the years to come. By following the tips shared in this article, you can assess your strengths in providing optimal value for your customers.

In this way, it saves you more time and money and minimizes any missteps in your journey. So, have you already thought about what your business concept will be? How can your idea extend to providing answers or solutions to customers’ problems?

If you’re not sure how your business idea will turn out in the market, you can count on startup gurus, Matt DeCoursey and Matt Watson, to pave the way for you. They are experts in all things startup—from conception to launch.

Best of all, they are the geniuses behind Full Scale , Kansas City’s unrivaled choice for quick and top-quality software development services. From software engineers, web developers, to marketing specialists, we got you covered.

Interested? Get your FREE consultation today.

Learn More about Offshore Development

Copyright 2024 © Full Scale

• Click here - to use the wp menu builder
• Start Your Business
• Run Your Business
• Business Growth
• Business Quizzes
• Career Quizzes
• Entrepreneurship Quizzes
• Finance Quizzes
• Fun Quizzes
• Lifestyle Quizzes
• Personality Quizzes
• Privacy Policy
• Cookie Policy
• Terms of Service

2024 © Webpreneurships.com. All rights reserved.

As a professional web and software developer, the author possesses a strong foundational background in Computer Science. This equips him with both academic rigor and practical insights into the world of web-based entrepreneurship. As the founder of this platform, webpreneurships.com, he stands at the intersection of technology and business.

What Is A Business Concept? Ultimate Guide & Writing Tips

Latest articles, 20 sports general knowledge quiz with answers, 20 geography general knowledge quiz with answers, 20 science and technology general knowledge quiz with answers.

Every successful business, from the large corporations that we all know to the small businesses starts with an idea. This idea can be a solution to a specific problem of a group of people, or a way to make life easier for the general public. It could also be a simpler approach to a complicated challenge. This preliminary idea is what we call a business concept.

It is the backbone that gives direction and purpose to a business idea and helps entrepreneurs strategize how to enter the market competitively. However, it is more than just thinking of an idea, it will involve several steps that need to be accomplished for a business to be grown out of it.

What is a business concept?

A business concept is the comprehensive idea and vision behind a venture. It outlines its mission, strategy, target audience, and unique value proposition, acting as a roadmap for turning entrepreneurial aspirations into actionable business plans.

A successful business concept distinguishes a business into its niche, setting it apart from other businesses in the same industry.

Fundamental to the creation of a robust business model, its application spans various aspects of a business, from consumer goods concept that resonates with your target audience to infrastructure concept tailored to support business operations.

A business concept contains several key elements that ensure its effectiveness and relevance in your selected industries. So, what are these components that define a business concept?

Related: What Is A Serial Entrepreneur? Traits & How To Become One

What should a business concept include?

A business concept is not just an idea or a statement of what you want to do that you think has a possibility of generating some profit. It involves several important details for it to successfully guide your whole business timeline. Here are some of them:

1. Structured Business Plan

A structured business plan acts as the foundation of your business, outlining the steps to make your concept a reality. This plan should provide a clear trajectory on how to enter the market successfully, or even which market to choose. The key is to be as specific as you can without limiting the scalability of the business before it even begins.

2. Product/Service Description

It is not just about what you sell but how you position it. This involves detailing how your products or services solve a problem and its unique benefits for the consumers. It is crucial to understand and communicate how your offerings cater to customer’s needs and fit in the marketplace.

3. Target Market Identification

In developing a successful business concept, the individuals you are targeting to be your customers should be specific. It is not even possible to create one without knowing who they are. It is because the very foundation of a business’s existence revolves around solving a market’s problem or providing their needs.

So, you have to be able to describe your target market. This includes their age range, the country they live in or a city if you want to be more specific, their hobbies and interests, and a lot more. The more you know about them the better the business concept will be.

Now, in developing this business concept, it is also important to know that there are several types all dependent on your chosen business models. So, what are the types of business concepts?

Types of business concepts

The world of business has undergone several seismic shifts over the past decades, from the creation of Internet and social media apps to the evolution of Artificial Intelligence. Yet, a business concept is still fundamentally the same.

Its goal is to outline a plan and make an idea an actionable step into success. But since the business landscape has changed and evolved, several types of business concept has emerged. Here are some of the most utilized business concepts:

1. Traditional Business Models

These are the tried and tested business concepts that have stood the test of time. Traditional business models focus on selling a product or service directly to customers. An example would be a restaurant or coffee shop where the primary business operation is done on the spot.

2. Digital Business Concepts

With the surge of the internet in recent years, digital business concept is now the norm. These concepts revolve around online services, apps, or digital products catering to an international market. Companies in this industry aim to meet consumer demands through the online world and the digital marketplace.

Related: Starting An Online Business Checklist: Launching Your Dream

3. Franchise Models

This concept allows the company to extend its brand without bearing the entire cost of operations. Entrepreneurs have seen the success of franchise models specifically used by restaurants, hotels, and clothing brands. It is also a proven and tested business concept.

4. Subscription-Based Models

Subscription-based models are the number one business concept that everyone is trying to accomplish these days. This is because of its benefits for your business, including income stability and returning customers. You can also build upon what you have achieved in the last month and easily increase your revenue.

Understanding these different types of business concepts is important to know how to write a successful plan. But, how do we actually write a business concept?

How to write a business concept?

Crafting a comprehensive business concept is the same as laying a foundation for an infrastructure. It must be detailed, insightful, and adaptable. Here’s a step-by-step guide on how to write a business concept.

1. Understand the Market

Before you can develop a compelling concept, you need to have a good understanding of the market. You have to know the answers to the following questions:

Which industry do I have expertise in?

Which solutions are already available?

What do customers truly need?

Researching competitors and potential gaps in the market can provide informational insights that can help you build your ideal business concept.

Related: What Are Five Things To Consider When Evaluating A Business Opportunity?

2. Define Business Vision

Every successful company has a vision that guides its decisions, operations, and brand-making. Your vision will be the north star of the business. This isn’t just about earning as much money as possible, it is about the impact you wish to bring to your target audience and industry.

3. Identify Unique Selling Proposition (USP)

Your USP or unique selling proposition is what makes your company or product stand out from the crowd. It’s the unique benefit, feature, or solution you offer that competitors don’t. Because there will be a lot of competition whichever market you choose, it’s not a bad sign, it is actually the opposite and it means that there is an actual market for that specific business concept.

4. Seek Feedback & Refine

No business concept is perfect from the get-go. After drafting your business concept it is necessary to seek feedback either from professionals or your target customer. However, doing this without the expense of a big budget can prove to be difficult.

The key is to be creative, and this involves leveraging social media apps and connecting with possible customers to get some reviews on a business concept. It can be through polls and surveys, or even just asking out friends and family who have some type of knowledge on your idea.

Final Thoughts on Business Concept

Developing a solid and detailed business concept will go a long way to help entrepreneurs on their road to success. This is especially true for small businesses, where standing out in a crowded market is more important than ever due to the amount of competition there is.

As discussed above, creating a strong business concept is not just about having a good idea, it is about developing this idea, and making it as detailed as possible without spending a lot of time and resources. It is the preliminary test that an idea must pass before moving forward to a business plan.

Interested in Testing Your Financial IQ?

Ready to challenge yourself further? Our Finance IQ Quiz covers a range of topics including insurance, loans, mortgages, and more. See how well you know about financial matters that affect your everyday life. Click below to get started!

Start the Quiz

Related Articles

Ethical entrepreneurship: 7 business ventures to avoid, 25 international business ideas to start in 2024, how to start freelancing with no experience, 20 literature general knowledge quiz with answers, more from webpreneurships, how smart are you find out in this quiz, what is your perfect career based on your personality, only the top 2% of high iq individuals can score at least 8/10 on this quiz, am i dumb take this fun quiz to find out, what is actually your intelligence type, are you meant to be a leader or a follower, no one can get 100% in this general knowledge test from 1935, what career is right for me quiz: based on your life goals, which powerful woman in history do you resemble, learn more with webpreneurships.

Subscribe and learn insights and strategies to help you discover the right career or business. Also includes informational and entrepreneurial quizzes.

Webpreneurships

Webpreneurships is a premier platform dedicated to guiding digital entrepreneurs. As your essential business resource, we provide informational quizzes, insights and strategies to help you discover the right career or business.

Discover more from Webpreneurships

Subscribe now to keep reading and get access to the full archive.

Type your email…

Continue reading

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

Brought to you by

Create a professional business plan

Using ai and step-by-step instructions.

Secure funding

Validate ideas

Build a strategy

• 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

Related Articles

1 Min. Read

How to Calculate Return on Investment (ROI)

7 Min. Read

How to Write a Bakery Business Plan + Sample

3 Min. Read

What to Include in Your Business Plan Appendix

5 Min. Read

How To Write a Business Plan for a Life Coaching Business + Free Example

The Bplans Newsletter

The Bplans Weekly

Subscribe now for weekly advice and free downloadable resources to help start and grow your business.

We care about your privacy. See our privacy policy .

The quickest way to turn a business idea into a business plan

Fill-in-the-blanks and automatic financials make it easy.

No thanks, I prefer writing 40-page documents.

Discover the world’s #1 plan building software

• Search Search Please fill out this field.
• Building Your Business
• Becoming an Owner
• Business Plans

How to Write a Business Plan "Concept and Value Proposition" Section

A key component of your business plan is your business concept and value proposition, which is the clear articulation of why customers should choose your solution over that of your competitors.

This section of the plan for developing your business concept and positioning your value proposition follows the executive summary and company history , so readers should already have a general idea of what your company does, who it's for, and what your long-term goals are for the business.

The business concept comprises your vision of the company, explaining the value your product or service will bring to the customer, why you are especially qualified to offer it, as well describing your offering's uniqueness and growth potential  within your industry.

This section enables you, as well as interested parties and potential investors, to research and analyze the concept for feasibility, both from a market and financial perspective. Keep in mind that everything in your business plan must relate back to the value and benefits your product or service provides to your target customers.

The Feasibility Test

Think of a feasibility test as a reality check for your business idea. The goal of conducting a feasibility test is to prove to yourself and your team or investors the probability of your product or service being successful within your industry.

A feasibility test should be as low-cost as possible and should revolve around creating a Minimum Viable Product (MVP) or simple proof of concept, which communicates the most simple, basic value propositions of your future product or service.

According to Entrepreneurship For Dummies, by Kathleen Allen, a feasibility test weighs the validity of your business concept by examining four main points:

• The product your firm will offer.
• The customer you will target.
• Your value proposition.
• How you will get the product to its intended users.

By this stage in your business plan, you should have a firm grasp on what product or service you intend to offer, as well as who you believe will be your primary customer. The final item requires weighing various distribution channels, but, again, should be answerable with a little legwork.

The Value Proposition

Your value proposition is what makes customers choose you instead of the competition. It's part marketing, part operations, and part strategy; your value proposition is the foundation of your competitive advantage.

On a subconscious level, customers will compare the value proposition of your company against those of your competitors when deciding where to take their business. With that in mind, here are a few things to remember when writing your value proposition:

• Keep it short and uncluttered. Your value proposition explains why customers should buy from you. If you can't sum it up in 10 words or less, chances are you won't be able to execute it, either.
• Be precise. Your customers have specific needs; your value proposition should offer targeted solutions
• It is about your customer, not you. Your value proposition should discuss only what matters to your customers and the value you can bring to them.
• Value comes in numerous forms. Money, time, convenience and superior service are a few of the ways you can help deliver value to your customers.

Distribution Strategy

After you've validated your business idea with a small group of paying customers, the last part of the business concept is to determine how you will deliver your product to your customers at scale. Taking a manual approach to reaching your first customers is necessary, but won't work as you grow your business. Are you going to sell directly to consumers? Through strategic partnerships? Retail distributors?

Consider these several factors when planning the distribution strategy for your business:

• Will you set up a brick-and-mortar shop or office, sell online, or both?
• What unique obstacles exist for your company in these two different channels?
• If your company sells a product, will you have the space to keep enough inventory on hand, or will customers have to agree to waiting periods?
• Can you strike exclusive deals with any particular distributor or retailer? Do your competitors have any such deals that hinder your operation?

Vision is important if your business is going to grow. The more focus your business concept has in terms of clear solutions for a like-minded niche group of people, the greater the likelihood that you'll attract the best investors and customers.

What is a Business Plan? Definition, Tips, and Templates

Published: June 28, 2024

Years ago, I had an idea to launch a line of region-specific board games. I knew there was a market for games that celebrated local culture and heritage. I was so excited about the concept and couldn't wait to get started.

But my idea never took off. Why? Because I didn‘t have a plan. I lacked direction, missed opportunities, and ultimately, the venture never got off the ground.

And that’s exactly why a business plan is important. It cements your vision, gives you clarity, and outlines your next step.

In this post, I‘ll explain what a business plan is, the reasons why you’d need one, identify different types of business plans, and what you should include in yours.

Table of Contents

What is a business plan?

What is a business plan used for.

• Business Plan Template [Download Now]

Purposes of a Business Plan

What does a business plan need to include, types of business plans.

Free Business Plan Template

The essential document for starting a business -- custom built for your needs.

• Outline your idea.
• Pitch to investors.
• Secure funding.
• Get to work!

Download Free

All fields are required.

You're all set!

Click this link to access this resource at any time.

A business plan is a comprehensive document that outlines a company's goals, strategies, and financial projections. It provides a detailed description of the business, including its products or services, target market, competitive landscape, and marketing and sales strategies. The plan also includes a financial section that forecasts revenue, expenses, and cash flow, as well as a funding request if the business is seeking investment.

The business plan is an undeniably critical component to getting any company off the ground. It's key to securing financing, documenting your business model, outlining your financial projections, and turning that nugget of a business idea into a reality.

The purpose of a business plan is three-fold: It summarizes the organization’s strategy in order to execute it long term, secures financing from investors, and helps forecast future business demands.

Business Plan Template [ Download Now ]

Don't forget to share this post!

Related articles.

23 of My Favorite Free Marketing Newsletters

The 8 Best Free Flowchart Templates [+ Examples]

18 of My Favorite Sample Business Plans & Examples For Your Inspiration

7 Gantt Chart Examples You'll Want to Copy [+ 5 Steps to Make One]

How to Write an Executive Summary Execs Can't Ignore [+ 5 Top Examples]

20 Free & Paid Small Business Tools for Any Budget

Maximizing Your Social Media Strategy: The Top Aggregator Tools to Use

The Content Aggregator Guide for 2024

16 Best Screen Recorders to Use for Collaboration

The 25 Best Google Chrome Extensions for SEO

2 Essential Templates For Starting Your Business

Marketing software that helps you drive revenue, save time and resources, and measure and optimize your investments — all on one easy-to-use platform

How to make a business plan

Table of Contents

How to make a good business plan: step-by-step guide.

A business plan is a strategic roadmap used to navigate the challenging journey of entrepreneurship. It's the foundation upon which you build a successful business.

A well-crafted business plan can help you define your vision, clarify your goals, and identify potential problems before they arise.

But where do you start? How do you create a business plan that sets you up for success?

This article will explore the step-by-step process of creating a comprehensive business plan.

What is a business plan?

A business plan is a formal document that outlines a business's objectives, strategies, and operational procedures. It typically includes the following information about a company:

Products or services

Target market

Competitors

Marketing and sales strategies

Financial plan

Management team

A business plan serves as a roadmap for a company's success and provides a blueprint for its growth and development. It helps entrepreneurs and business owners organize their ideas, evaluate the feasibility, and identify potential challenges and opportunities.

As well as serving as a guide for business owners, a business plan can attract investors and secure funding. It demonstrates the company's understanding of the market, its ability to generate revenue and profits, and its strategy for managing risks and achieving success.

Business plan vs. business model canvas

A business plan may seem similar to a business model canvas, but each document serves a different purpose.

A business model canvas is a high-level overview that helps entrepreneurs and business owners quickly test and iterate their ideas. It is often a one-page document that briefly outlines the following:

Key partnerships

Key activities

Key propositions

Customer relationships

Customer segments

Key resources

Cost structure

Revenue streams

On the other hand, a Business Plan Template provides a more in-depth analysis of a company's strategy and operations. It is typically a lengthy document and requires significant time and effort to develop.

A business model shouldn’t replace a business plan, and vice versa. Business owners should lay the foundations and visually capture the most important information with a Business Model Canvas Template . Because this is a fast and efficient way to communicate a business idea, a business model canvas is a good starting point before developing a more comprehensive business plan.

A business plan can aim to secure funding from investors or lenders, while a business model canvas communicates a business idea to potential customers or partners.

Why is a business plan important?

A business plan is crucial for any entrepreneur or business owner wanting to increase their chances of success.

Here are some of the many benefits of having a thorough business plan.

Helps to define the business goals and objectives

A business plan encourages you to think critically about your goals and objectives. Doing so lets you clearly understand what you want to achieve and how you plan to get there.

A well-defined set of goals, objectives, and key results also provides a sense of direction and purpose, which helps keep business owners focused and motivated.

Guides decision-making

A business plan requires you to consider different scenarios and potential problems that may arise in your business. This awareness allows you to devise strategies to deal with these issues and avoid pitfalls.

With a clear plan, entrepreneurs can make informed decisions aligning with their overall business goals and objectives. This helps reduce the risk of making costly mistakes and ensures they make decisions with long-term success in mind.

Attracts investors and secures funding

Investors and lenders often require a business plan before considering investing in your business. A document that outlines the company's goals, objectives, and financial forecasts can help instill confidence in potential investors and lenders.

A well-written business plan demonstrates that you have thoroughly thought through your business idea and have a solid plan for success.

Identifies potential challenges and risks

A business plan requires entrepreneurs to consider potential challenges and risks that could impact their business. For example:

Is there enough demand for my product or service?

Will I have enough capital to start my business?

Is the market oversaturated with too many competitors?

What will happen if my marketing strategy is ineffective?

By identifying these potential challenges, entrepreneurs can develop strategies to mitigate risks and overcome challenges. This can reduce the likelihood of costly mistakes and ensure the business is well-positioned to take on any challenges.

Provides a basis for measuring success

A business plan serves as a framework for measuring success by providing clear goals and financial projections . Entrepreneurs can regularly refer to the original business plan as a benchmark to measure progress. By comparing the current business position to initial forecasts, business owners can answer questions such as:

Are we where we want to be at this point?

Did we achieve our goals?

If not, why not, and what do we need to do?

After assessing whether the business is meeting its objectives or falling short, business owners can adjust their strategies as needed.

How to make a business plan step by step

The steps below will guide you through the process of creating a business plan and what key components you need to include.

1. Create an executive summary

Start with a brief overview of your entire plan. The executive summary should cover your business plan's main points and key takeaways.

Keep your executive summary concise and clear with the Executive Summary Template . The simple design helps readers understand the crux of your business plan without reading the entire document.

2. Write your company description

Provide a detailed explanation of your company. Include information on what your company does, the mission statement, and your vision for the future.

Provide additional background information on the history of your company, the founders, and any notable achievements or milestones.

3. Conduct a market analysis

Conduct an in-depth analysis of your industry, competitors, and target market. This is best done with a SWOT analysis to identify your strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. Next, identify your target market's needs, demographics, and behaviors.

Use the Competitive Analysis Template to brainstorm answers to simple questions like:

What does the current market look like?

Who are your competitors?

What are they offering?

What will give you a competitive advantage?

Who is your target market?

What are they looking for and why?

How will your product or service satisfy a need?

These questions should give you valuable insights into the current market and where your business stands.

4. Describe your products and services

Provide detailed information about your products and services. This includes pricing information, product features, and any unique selling points.

Use the Product/Market Fit Template to explain how your products meet the needs of your target market. Describe what sets them apart from the competition.

5. Design a marketing and sales strategy

Outline how you plan to promote and sell your products. Your marketing strategy and sales strategy should include information about your:

Pricing strategy

Advertising and promotional tactics

Sales channels

The Go to Market Strategy Template is a great way to visually map how you plan to launch your product or service in a new or existing market.

6. Determine budget and financial projections

Document detailed information on your business’ finances. Describe the current financial position of the company and how you expect the finances to play out.

Some details to include in this section are:

Startup costs

Revenue projections

Profit and loss statement

Funding you have received or plan to receive

Strategy for raising funds

7. Set the organization and management structure

Define how your company is structured and who will be responsible for each aspect of the business. Use the Business Organizational Chart Template to visually map the company’s teams, roles, and hierarchy.

As well as the organization and management structure, discuss the legal structure of your business. Clarify whether your business is a corporation, partnership, sole proprietorship, or LLC.

8. Make an action plan

At this point in your business plan, you’ve described what you’re aiming for. But how are you going to get there? The Action Plan Template describes the following steps to move your business plan forward. Outline the next steps you plan to take to bring your business plan to fruition.

Types of business plans

Several types of business plans cater to different purposes and stages of a company's lifecycle. Here are some of the most common types of business plans.

Startup business plan

A startup business plan is typically an entrepreneur's first business plan. This document helps entrepreneurs articulate their business idea when starting a new business.

Not sure how to make a business plan for a startup? It’s pretty similar to a regular business plan, except the primary purpose of a startup business plan is to convince investors to provide funding for the business. A startup business plan also outlines the potential target market, product/service offering, marketing plan, and financial projections.

Strategic business plan

A strategic business plan is a long-term plan that outlines a company's overall strategy, objectives, and tactics. This type of strategic plan focuses on the big picture and helps business owners set goals and priorities and measure progress.

The primary purpose of a strategic business plan is to provide direction and guidance to the company's management team and stakeholders. The plan typically covers a period of three to five years.

Operational business plan

An operational business plan is a detailed document that outlines the day-to-day operations of a business. It focuses on the specific activities and processes required to run the business, such as:

Organizational structure

Staffing plan

Production plan

Quality control

Inventory management

Supply chain

The primary purpose of an operational business plan is to ensure that the business runs efficiently and effectively. It helps business owners manage their resources, track their performance, and identify areas for improvement.

Growth-business plan

A growth-business plan is a strategic plan that outlines how a company plans to expand its business. It helps business owners identify new market opportunities and increase revenue and profitability. The primary purpose of a growth-business plan is to provide a roadmap for the company's expansion and growth.

The 3 Horizons of Growth Template is a great tool to identify new areas of growth. This framework categorizes growth opportunities into three categories: Horizon 1 (core business), Horizon 2 (emerging business), and Horizon 3 (potential business).

One-page business plan

A one-page business plan is a condensed version of a full business plan that focuses on the most critical aspects of a business. It’s a great tool for entrepreneurs who want to quickly communicate their business idea to potential investors, partners, or employees.

A one-page business plan typically includes sections such as business concept, value proposition, revenue streams, and cost structure.

Best practices for how to make a good business plan

Here are some additional tips for creating a business plan:

Use a template

A template can help you organize your thoughts and effectively communicate your business ideas and strategies. Starting with a template can also save you time and effort when formatting your plan.

Miro’s extensive library of customizable templates includes all the necessary sections for a comprehensive business plan. With our templates, you can confidently present your business plans to stakeholders and investors.

Be practical

Avoid overestimating revenue projections or underestimating expenses. Your business plan should be grounded in practical realities like your budget, resources, and capabilities.

Be specific

Provide as much detail as possible in your business plan. A specific plan is easier to execute because it provides clear guidance on what needs to be done and how. Without specific details, your plan may be too broad or vague, making it difficult to know where to start or how to measure success.

Be thorough with your research

Conduct thorough research to fully understand the market, your competitors, and your target audience . By conducting thorough research, you can identify potential risks and challenges your business may face and develop strategies to mitigate them.

Get input from others

It can be easy to become overly focused on your vision and ideas, leading to tunnel vision and a lack of objectivity. By seeking input from others, you can identify potential opportunities you may have overlooked.

Review and revise regularly

A business plan is a living document. You should update it regularly to reflect market, industry, and business changes. Set aside time for regular reviews and revisions to ensure your plan remains relevant and effective.

Create a winning business plan to chart your path to success

Starting or growing a business can be challenging, but it doesn't have to be. Whether you're a seasoned entrepreneur or just starting, a well-written business plan can make or break your business’ success.

The purpose of a business plan is more than just to secure funding and attract investors. It also serves as a roadmap for achieving your business goals and realizing your vision. With the right mindset, tools, and strategies, you can develop a visually appealing, persuasive business plan.

Ready to make an effective business plan that works for you? Check out our library of ready-made strategy and planning templates and chart your path to success.

Get on board in seconds

Join thousands of teams using Miro to do their best work yet.

• Start free trial

Start selling with Shopify today

Start your free trial with Shopify today—then use these resources to guide you through every step of the process.

How To Write a Business Plan in 9 Steps (2024)

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 taking time to step back, research their idea and the market they’re looking to enter, and understand the scope and the strategy behind their tactics. That’s where writing a business plan comes in.

Learn how to write a business plan with a step-by-step guide, get tips for getting the most of your plan, and see 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, serving 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.

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 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 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 do?
• 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, and 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.

No matter what type of business you start, 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.

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

This is why market research and analysis is a key section of your business plan, whether or not you ever intend for anyone else to read it. It 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.

Here is an example to illustrate how to approach this section:

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. 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 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.

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.

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.

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.

If you’re planning to invest heavily in Instagram marketing or TikTok ads , for example, it might make sense to include whether Instagram and TikTok are a leading platform for your audience—if it’s not, 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.

Here is an example of a marketing plan for a new business:

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 computers 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 and 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 plan to break even on your initial spending.

9. Make a financial plan.

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: What Is Cash Flow Management: Template and 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 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, 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 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 the next type 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.

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 that aims to help people with hearing disabilities. Donors often request this plan.

📚 Read more: The Road to Success: Business Plan Examples to Inspire Your Own .

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 even 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 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 to Help Write Your Future

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. Avoid these common mistakes:

• Bad business idea. Sometimes your idea may be too risky for potential investors, 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 finding 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. 
• Missing financial projections. Don’t leave out 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, how can they believe you’ll run a successful company?

Prepare your business plan today

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

• How to Start a Dropshipping Business- A Complete Playbook for 2024
• The Ultimate Guide To Dropshipping (2024)
• AliExpress Dropshipping- How to Dropship From AliExpress
• How to Start a Clothing Line in 12 Steps (2024)
• How To Source Products To Sell Online
• How To Do Crowdfunding: With Expert Tips and Examples From Successful Campaigns
• How to Start a Candle Business (with Examples)
• What Is Affiliate Marketing and How to Get Started
• Pinterest Marketing 101- How to Promote Your Business on Pinterest
• Getting Started on IG- A Beginner’s Guide to Instagram Marketing

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 starts with a strong executive summary. It also 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 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.

Keep up with the latest from Shopify

Get free ecommerce tips, inspiration, and resources delivered directly to your inbox.

By entering your email, you agree to receive marketing emails from Shopify.

popular posts

The point of sale for every sale.

Subscribe to our blog and get free ecommerce tips, inspiration, and resources delivered directly to your inbox.

Unsubscribe anytime. By entering your email, you agree to receive marketing emails from Shopify.

Latest from Shopify

Aug 1, 2024

Jul 31, 2024

Learn on the go. Try Shopify for free, and explore all the tools you need to start, run, and grow your business.

Try Shopify for free, no credit card required.

• Search Search Please fill out this field.

What Is a Business Plan?

Understanding business plans, how to write a business plan, common elements of a business plan, the bottom line, business plan: what it is, what's included, and how to write one.

Adam Hayes, Ph.D., CFA, is a financial writer with 15+ years Wall Street experience as a derivatives trader. Besides his extensive derivative trading expertise, Adam is an expert in economics and behavioral finance. Adam received his master's in economics from The New School for Social Research and his Ph.D. from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in sociology. He is a CFA charterholder as well as holding FINRA Series 7, 55 & 63 licenses. He currently researches and teaches economic sociology and the social studies of finance at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem.

• How to Start a Business: A Comprehensive Guide and Essential Steps
• How to Do Market Research, Types, and Example
• Marketing Strategy: What It Is, How It Works, How To Create One
• Marketing in Business: Strategies and Types Explained
• What Is a Marketing Plan? Types and How to Write One
• Business Development: Definition, Strategies, Steps & Skills
• Business Plan: What It Is, What's Included, and How to Write One CURRENT ARTICLE
• Small Business Development Center (SBDC): Meaning, Types, Impact
• How to Write a Business Plan for a Loan
• Business Startup Costs: It’s in the Details
• Startup Capital Definition, Types, and Risks
• Bootstrapping Definition, Strategies, and Pros/Cons
• Crowdfunding: What It Is, How It Works, and Popular Websites
• Starting a Business with No Money: How to Begin
• A Comprehensive Guide to Establishing Business Credit
• Equity Financing: What It Is, How It Works, Pros and Cons
• Best Startup Business Loans
• Sole Proprietorship: What It Is, Pros & Cons, and Differences From an LLC
• Partnership: Definition, How It Works, Taxation, and Types
• What is an LLC? Limited Liability Company Structure and Benefits Defined
• Corporation: What It Is and How to Form One
• Starting a Small Business: Your Complete How-to Guide
• Starting an Online Business: A Step-by-Step Guide
• How to Start Your Own Bookkeeping Business: Essential Tips
• How to Start a Successful Dropshipping Business: A Comprehensive Guide

A business plan is a document that outlines a company's goals and the strategies to achieve them. It's valuable for both startups and established companies. For startups, a well-crafted business plan is crucial for attracting potential lenders and investors. Established businesses use business plans to stay on track and aligned with their growth objectives. This article will explain the key components of an effective business plan and guidance on how to write one.

Key Takeaways

• A business plan is a document detailing a company's business activities and strategies for achieving its goals.
• Startup companies use business plans to launch their venture and to attract outside investors.
• For established companies, a business plan helps keep the executive team focused on short- and long-term objectives.
• There's no single required format for a business plan, but certain key elements are essential for most companies.

Investopedia / Ryan Oakley

Any new business should have a business plan in place before beginning operations. Banks and venture capital firms often want to see a business plan before considering making a loan or providing capital to new businesses.

Even if a company doesn't need additional funding, having a business plan helps it stay focused on its goals. Research from the University of Oregon shows that businesses with a plan are significantly more likely to secure funding than those without one. Moreover, companies with a business plan grow 30% faster than those that don't plan. According to a Harvard Business Review article, entrepreneurs who write formal plans are 16% more likely to achieve viability than those who don't.

A business plan should ideally be reviewed and updated periodically to reflect achieved goals or changes in direction. An established business moving in a new direction might even create an entirely new plan.

There are numerous benefits to creating (and sticking to) a well-conceived business plan. It allows for careful consideration of ideas before significant investment, highlights potential obstacles to success, and provides a tool for seeking objective feedback from trusted outsiders. A business plan may also help ensure that a company’s executive team remains aligned on strategic action items and priorities.

While business plans vary widely, even among competitors in the same industry, they often share basic elements detailed below.

A well-crafted business plan is essential for attracting investors and guiding a company's strategic growth. It should address market needs and investor requirements and provide clear financial projections.

While there are any number of templates that you can use to write a business plan, it's best to try to avoid producing a generic-looking one. Let your plan reflect the unique personality of your business.

Many business plans use some combination of the sections below, with varying levels of detail, depending on the company.

The length of a business plan can vary greatly from business to business. Regardless, gathering the basic information into a 15- to 25-page document is best. Any additional crucial elements, such as patent applications, can be referenced in the main document and included as appendices.

Common elements in many business plans include:

• Executive summary : This section introduces the company and includes its mission statement along with relevant information about the company's leadership, employees, operations, and locations.
• Products and services : Describe the products and services the company offers or plans to introduce. Include details on pricing, product lifespan, and unique consumer benefits. Mention production and manufacturing processes, relevant patents , proprietary technology , and research and development (R&D) information.
• Market analysis : Explain the current state of the industry and the competition. Detail where the company fits in, the types of customers it plans to target, and how it plans to capture market share from competitors.
• Marketing strategy : Outline the company's plans to attract and retain customers, including anticipated advertising and marketing campaigns. Describe the distribution channels that will be used to deliver products or services to consumers.
• Financial plans and projections : Established businesses should include financial statements, balance sheets, and other relevant financial information. New businesses should provide financial targets and estimates for the first few years. This section may also include any funding requests.

Investors want to see a clear exit strategy, expected returns, and a timeline for cashing out. It's likely a good idea to provide five-year profitability forecasts and realistic financial estimates.

2 Types of Business Plans

Business plans can vary in format, often categorized into traditional and lean startup plans. According to the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) , the traditional business plan is the more common of the two.

• Traditional business plans : These are detailed and lengthy, requiring more effort to create but offering comprehensive information that can be persuasive to potential investors.
• Lean startup business plans : These are concise, sometimes just one page, and focus on key elements. While they save time, companies should be ready to provide additional details if requested by investors or lenders.

Why Do Business Plans Fail?

A business plan isn't a surefire recipe for success. The plan may have been unrealistic in its assumptions and projections. Markets and the economy might change in ways that couldn't have been foreseen. A competitor might introduce a revolutionary new product or service. All this calls for building flexibility into your plan, so you can pivot to a new course if needed.

How Often Should a Business Plan Be Updated?

How frequently a business plan needs to be revised will depend on its nature. Updating your business plan is crucial due to changes in external factors (market trends, competition, and regulations) and internal developments (like employee growth and new products). While a well-established business might want to review its plan once a year and make changes if necessary, a new or fast-growing business in a fiercely competitive market might want to revise it more often, such as quarterly.

What Does a Lean Startup Business Plan Include?

The lean startup business plan is ideal for quickly explaining a business, especially for new companies that don't have much information yet. Key sections may include a value proposition , major activities and advantages, resources (staff, intellectual property, and capital), partnerships, customer segments, and revenue sources.

A well-crafted business plan is crucial for any company, whether it's a startup looking for investment or an established business wanting to stay on course. It outlines goals and strategies, boosting a company's chances of securing funding and achieving growth.

As your business and the market change, update your business plan regularly. This keeps it relevant and aligned with your current goals and conditions. Think of your business plan as a living document that evolves with your company, not something carved in stone.

University of Oregon Department of Economics. " Evaluation of the Effectiveness of Business Planning Using Palo Alto's Business Plan Pro ." Eason Ding & Tim Hursey.

Bplans. " Do You Need a Business Plan? Scientific Research Says Yes ."

Harvard Business Review. " Research: Writing a Business Plan Makes Your Startup More Likely to Succeed ."

Harvard Business Review. " How to Write a Winning Business Plan ."

U.S. Small Business Administration. " Write Your Business Plan ."

SCORE. " When and Why Should You Review Your Business Plan? "

• Terms of Service
• Editorial Policy
• Privacy Policy

Original text

In business as in life, you should always crawl before you walk and walk before you run. And so it goes when developing the idea for your new startup.

In the early stages of your business’s development, you’ll hear from plenty of experts and prognosticators who will emphasize the need to create a sound, air-tight business plan. While it’s true that a business plan is an important tool for defining your strategy, detailing deliverables for stakeholders, and developing cashflow forecasts for investors, it’s important to first crystallize the idea behind the business by putting together a Business Concept Statement.

What is a Business Concept Statement?

Think of your Business Concept Statement as a tool that distills your voluminous business plan into a handy one- or two-page document. Not only does it lay the groundwork for the business plan to come, it also refines your idea, outlines the consumer problem it aims to solve, and discusses how the idea will fit into the overall market. It’s a snackable snapshot you can share with investors, lenders, and/or future partners.

What Should a Business Concept Statement Include?

While brevity is the hallmark of a solid Business Concepts Statement, it should still encompass some key elements and provide a thoughtful analysis of your idea, a glimpse of the existing market, and a value proposition that distinguishes you from the rest of the market.

• A Brief Description of the Business Concept . This doesn’t have to be more than a sentence or two that captures the essence of your product or service.
• The Market Need. Identify the void in the marketplace that your business idea is going to fill. This could be a problem your product or service will solve, an emerging market your product will help to define, or the absence of a product or service that people don’t even know they need.
• Your Solution . This is a more in-depth discussion of how your business idea is going to fill the void, solve the problem, or create a new market. It’s also your chance to discuss why your product or service is the answer and, more specifically, why YOU are the perfect person to bring the idea to market.
• Your Proposed Business Model . This is a critical component for every stakeholder involved because this is the element of the Business Concept Statement that details how you are going to make money. You’ll want to discuss how you’re going to charge for your product or service, the business processes you plan to implement, and the resources you’ll need to make it a success.
• Your Unique Value Proposition (UVP). Explain how your product or service is different from others in the marketplace. Identify why someone would want to buy your product instead of one that’s already on the market. Your UVP is your differentiator—the reason your business will exist. Will it be your unparalleled customer service? A new technology? A higher-quality product? Better price points? Faster delivery? Or a combination of those things? Even something as simple as more attractive packaging can make all the difference for many consumers.
• A Succinct Competitive Analysis. To be absolutely sure your new business idea will fill a hole in the market, you’ll need to look at your potential competition . Who else is currently providing products or services to your prospective customers? What are their strengths and weaknesses? Examine the competition’s annual revenue (or estimate it if you have to) and identify their market share. This will help you determine both the size of the market and its potential for disruption, innovation, or new products or services.
• A Quick Overview of Your Marketing Plan. How you market your business will be critical to its success. In some cases, your marketing plan may actually be your UVP. Establish buyer personas, develop a target audience, and assess and prioritize your ideal marketing verticals. Then, discuss how you plan to promote your business idea in a way that’s different from your competitors.

Once you’ve finished developing your Business Concept Statement, you’ll have a useful tool to pursue business partners, investors, lenders, advisors, mentors, peers, and even future employees.

One important endnote: make sure your Business Concept Statement isn’t a sales pitch! Stakeholders aren’t looking for catchy slogans, guarantees, or pushy sales copy. They want to see a well-thought-out business idea that’s supported by an actionable analysis of the existing market.

If you’re thinking about bringing a new business idea to market, but aren’t sure where to start, reach out to a SCORE mentor , who can help guide you through the process of developing a compelling Business Concept Statement.

Business Plan Template for a Startup Business To increase your odds of a successful business startup, download this step-by-step business plan template you can use to plan for your new business.

Identifying Your Core Value Proposition A core value proposition is the value that customers get from doing business with you. It's not your product or service. It’s the overall essence that makes your business stand out from the competition. This eguide can help you determine your company's core value proposition.

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.

Business Plan Example and Template

Learn how to create a business plan

What is a Business Plan?

A business plan is a document that contains the operational and financial plan of a business, and details how its objectives will be achieved. It serves as a road map for the business and can be used when pitching investors or financial institutions for debt or equity financing .

A business plan should follow a standard format and contain all the important business plan elements. Typically, it should present whatever information an investor or financial institution expects to see before providing financing to a business.

Contents of a Business Plan

A business plan should be structured in a way that it contains all the important information that investors are looking for. Here are the main sections of a business plan:

1. Title Page

The title page captures the legal information of the business, which includes the registered business name, physical address, phone number, email address, date, and the company logo.

2. Executive Summary

The executive summary is the most important section because it is the first section that investors and bankers see when they open the business plan. It provides a summary of the entire business plan. It should be written last to ensure that you don’t leave any details out. It must be short and to the point, and it should capture the reader’s attention. The executive summary should not exceed two pages.

3. Industry Overview

The industry overview section provides information about the specific industry that the business operates in. Some of the information provided in this section includes major competitors, industry trends, and estimated revenues. It also shows the company’s position in the industry and how it will compete in the market against other major players.

4. Market Analysis and Competition

The market analysis section details the target market for the company’s product offerings. This section confirms that the company understands the market and that it has already analyzed the existing market to determine that there is adequate demand to support its proposed business model.

Market analysis includes information about the target market’s demographics , geographical location, consumer behavior, and market needs. The company can present numbers and sources to give an overview of the target market size.

A business can choose to consolidate the market analysis and competition analysis into one section or present them as two separate sections.

5. Sales and Marketing Plan

The sales and marketing plan details how the company plans to sell its products to the target market. It attempts to present the business’s unique selling proposition and the channels it will use to sell its goods and services. It details the company’s advertising and promotion activities, pricing strategy, sales and distribution methods, and after-sales support.

6. Management Plan

The management plan provides an outline of the company’s legal structure, its management team, and internal and external human resource requirements. It should list the number of employees that will be needed and the remuneration to be paid to each of the employees.

Any external professionals, such as lawyers, valuers, architects, and consultants, that the company will need should also be included. If the company intends to use the business plan to source funding from investors, it should list the members of the executive team, as well as the members of the advisory board.

7. Operating Plan

The operating plan provides an overview of the company’s physical requirements, such as office space, machinery, labor, supplies, and inventory . For a business that requires custom warehouses and specialized equipment, the operating plan will be more detailed, as compared to, say, a home-based consulting business. If the business plan is for a manufacturing company, it will include information on raw material requirements and the supply chain.

8. Financial Plan

The financial plan is an important section that will often determine whether the business will obtain required financing from financial institutions, investors, or venture capitalists. It should demonstrate that the proposed business is viable and will return enough revenues to be able to meet its financial obligations. Some of the information contained in the financial plan includes a projected income statement , balance sheet, and cash flow.

9. Appendices and Exhibits

The appendices and exhibits part is the last section of a business plan. It includes any additional information that banks and investors may be interested in or that adds credibility to the business. Some of the information that may be included in the appendices section includes office/building plans, detailed market research , products/services offering information, marketing brochures, and credit histories of the promoters.

Business Plan Template

Here is a basic template that any business can use when developing its business plan:

Section 1: Executive Summary

• Present the company’s mission.
• Describe the company’s product and/or service offerings.
• Give a summary of the target market and its demographics.
• Summarize the industry competition and how the company will capture a share of the available market.
• Give a summary of the operational plan, such as inventory, office and labor, and equipment requirements.

Section 2: Industry Overview

• Describe the company’s position in the industry.
• Describe the existing competition and the major players in the industry.
• Provide information about the industry that the business will operate in, estimated revenues, industry trends, government influences, as well as the demographics of the target market.

Section 3: Market Analysis and Competition

• Define your target market, their needs, and their geographical location.
• Describe the size of the market, the units of the company’s products that potential customers may buy, and the market changes that may occur due to overall economic changes.
• Give an overview of the estimated sales volume vis-à-vis what competitors sell.
• Give a plan on how the company plans to combat the existing competition to gain and retain market share.

Section 4: Sales and Marketing Plan

• Describe the products that the company will offer for sale and its unique selling proposition.
• List the different advertising platforms that the business will use to get its message to customers.
• Describe how the business plans to price its products in a way that allows it to make a profit.
• Give details on how the company’s products will be distributed to the target market and the shipping method.

Section 5: Management Plan

• Describe the organizational structure of the company.
• List the owners of the company and their ownership percentages.
• List the key executives, their roles, and remuneration.
• List any internal and external professionals that the company plans to hire, and how they will be compensated.
• Include a list of the members of the advisory board, if available.

Section 6: Operating Plan

• Describe the location of the business, including office and warehouse requirements.
• Describe the labor requirement of the company. Outline the number of staff that the company needs, their roles, skills training needed, and employee tenures (full-time or part-time).
• Describe the manufacturing process, and the time it will take to produce one unit of a product.
• Describe the equipment and machinery requirements, and if the company will lease or purchase equipment and machinery, and the related costs that the company estimates it will incur.
• Provide a list of raw material requirements, how they will be sourced, and the main suppliers that will supply the required inputs.

Section 7: Financial Plan

• Describe the financial projections of the company, by including the projected income statement, projected cash flow statement, and the balance sheet projection.

Section 8: Appendices and Exhibits

• Quotes of building and machinery leases
• Proposed office and warehouse plan
• Market research and a summary of the target market
• Credit information of the owners
• List of product and/or services

Related Readings

Thank you for reading CFI’s guide to Business Plans. To keep learning and advancing your career, the following CFI resources will be helpful:

• Corporate Structure
• Three Financial Statements
• Business Model Canvas Examples
• See all management & strategy resources
• Share this article

Create a free account to unlock this Template

Access and download collection of free Templates to help power your productivity and performance.

Already have an account? Log in

Supercharge your skills with Premium Templates

Take your learning and productivity to the next level with our Premium Templates.

Upgrading to a paid membership gives you access to our extensive collection of plug-and-play Templates designed to power your performance—as well as CFI's full course catalog and accredited Certification Programs.

Already have a Self-Study or Full-Immersion membership? Log in

Access Exclusive Templates

Gain unlimited access to more than 250 productivity Templates, CFI's full course catalog and accredited Certification Programs, hundreds of resources, expert reviews and support, the chance to work with real-world finance and research tools, and more.

Already have a Full-Immersion membership? Log in

• Starting a Business
• Growing a Business
• Small Business Guide
• Business News
• Science & Technology
• Money & Finance
• For Subscribers
• Write for Entrepreneur
• Tips White Papers
• Entrepreneur Store
• United States
• Asia Pacific
• Middle East
• South Africa

Copyright © 2024 Entrepreneur Media, LLC All rights reserved. Entrepreneur® and its related marks are registered trademarks of Entrepreneur Media LLC

An Introduction to Business Plans Why is a business plan so vital to the health of your business? Read the first section of our tutorial on How to Build a Business Plan to find out.

A business plan is a written description of your business's future. That's all there is to it--a document that desribes what you plan to do and how you plan to do it. If you jot down a paragraph on the back of an envelope describing your business strategy, you've written a plan, or at least the germ of a plan.

Business plans can help perform a number of tasks for those who write and read them. They're used by investment-seeking entrepreneurs to convey their vision to potential investors. They may also be used by firms that are trying to attract key employees, prospect for new business, deal with suppliers or simply to understand how to manage their companies better.

So what's included in a business plan, and how do you put one together? Simply stated, a business plan conveys your business goals, the strategies you'll use to meet them, potential problems that may confront your business and ways to solve them, the organizational structure of your business (including titles and responsibilities), and finally, the amount of capital required to finance your venture and keep it going until it breaks even.

Sound impressive? It can be, if put together properly. A good business plan follows generally accepted guidelines for both form and content. There are three primary parts to a business plan:

• The first is the business concept , where you discuss the industry, your business structure, your particular product or service, and how you plan to make your business a success.
• The second is the marketplace section , in which you describe and analyze potential customers: who and where they are, what makes them buy and so on. Here, you also describe the competition and how you'll position yourself to beat it.
• Finally, the financial section contains your income and cash flow statement, balance sheet and other financial ratios, such as break-even analyses. This part may require help from your accountant and a good spreadsheet software program.

Breaking these three major sections down even further, a business plan consists of seven key components:

• Executive summary
• Business description
• Market strategies
• Competitive analysis
• Design and development plan
• Operations and management plan
• Financial factors

In addition to these sections, a business plan should also have a cover, title page and table of contents.

How Long Should Your Business Plan Be? Depending on what you're using it for, a useful business plan can be any length, from a scrawl on the back of an envelope to, in the case of an especially detailed plan describing a complex enterprise, more than 100 pages. A typical business plan runs 15 to 20 pages, but there's room for wide variation from that norm. Much will depend on the nature of your business. If you have a simple concept, you may be able to express it in very few words. On the other hand, if you're proposing a new kind of business or even a new industry, it may require quite a bit of explanation to get the message across.

The purpose of your plan also determines its length. If you want to use your plan to seek millions of dollars in seed capital to start a risky venture, you may have to do a lot of explaining and convincing. If you're just going to use your plan for internal purposes to manage an ongoing business, a much more abbreviated version should be fine.

Who Needs a Business Plan?

About the only person who doesn't need a business plan is one who's not going into business. You don't need a plan to start a hobby or to moonlight from your regular job. But anybody beginning or extending a venture that will consume significant resources of money, energy or time, and that is expected to return a profit, should take the time to draft some kind of plan.

Startups. The classic business plan writer is an entrepreneur seeking funds to help start a new venture. Many, many great companies had their starts on paper, in the form of a plan that was used to convince investors to put up the capital necessary to get them under way.

Most books on business planning seem to be aimed at these startup business owners. There's one good reason for that: As the least experienced of the potential plan writers, they're probably most appreciative of the guidance. However, it's a mistake to think that only cash-starved startups need business plans. Business owners find plans useful at all stages of their companies' existence, whether they're seeking financing or trying to figure out how to invest a surplus.

Established firms seeking help. Not all business plans are written by starry-eyed entrepreneurs. Many are written by and for companies that are long past the startup stage. WalkerGroup/Designs, for instance, was already well-established as a designer of stores for major retailers when founder Ken Walker got the idea of trademarking and licensing to apparel makers and others the symbols 01-01-00 as a sort of numeric shorthand for the approaching millennium. Before beginning the arduous and costly task of trademarking it worldwide, Walker used a business plan complete with sales forecasts to convince big retailers it would be a good idea to promise to carry the 01-01-00 goods. It helped make the new venture a winner long before the big day arrived. "As a result of the retail support up front," Walker says, "we had over 45 licensees running the gamut of product lines almost from the beginning."

These middle-stage enterprises may draft plans to help them find funding for growth just as the startups do, although the amounts they seek may be larger and the investors more willing. They may feel the need for a written plan to help manage an already rapidly growing business. Or a plan may be seen as a valuable tool to be used to convey the mission and prospects of the business to customers, suppliers or others.

Plan an Updating Checklist Here are seven reasons to think about updating your business plan. If even just one applies to you, it's time for an update.

• A new financial period is about to begin. You may update your plan annually, quarterly or even monthly if your industry is a fast-changing one.
• You need financing , or additional financing. Lenders and other financiers need an updated plan to help them make financing decisions.
• There's been a significant market change . Shifting client tastes, consolidation trends among customers and altered regulatory climates can trigger a need for plan updates.
• Your firm develops or is about to develop a new product , technology , service or skill. If your business has changed a lot since you wrote your plan the first time around, it's time for an update.
• You have had a change in management . New managers should get fresh information about your business and your goals.
• Your company has crossed a threshold, such as moving out of your home office, crossing the $1 million sales mark or employing your 100th employee .
• Your old plan doesn't seem to reflect reality any more. Maybe you did a poor job last time; maybe things have just changed faster than you expected. But if your plan seems irrelevant, redo it.

Finding the Right Plan for You

Business plans tend to have a lot of elements in common, like cash flow projections and marketing plans. And many of them share certain objectives as well, such as raising money or persuading a partner to join the firm. But business plans are not all the same any more than all businesses are.

Depending on your business and what you intend to use your plan for, you may need a very different type of business plan from another entrepreneur. Plans differ widely in their length, their appearance, the detail of their contents, and the varying emphases they place on different aspects of the business.

The reason that plan selection is so important is that it has a powerful effect on the overall impact of your plan. You want your plan to present you and your business in the best, most accurate light. That's true no matter what you intend to use your plan for, whether it's destined for presentation at a venture capital conference, or will never leave your own office or be seen outside internal strategy sessions.

When you select clothing for an important occasion, odds are you try to pick items that will play up your best features. Think about your plan the same way. You want to reveal any positives that your business may have and make sure they receive due consideration.

Types of Plans Business plans can be divided roughly into four separate types. There are very short plans, or miniplans. There are working plans, presentation plans and even electronic plans. They require very different amounts of labor and not always with proportionately different results. That is to say, a more elaborate plan is not guaranteed to be superior to an abbreviated one, depending on what you want to use it for.

• The Miniplan. A miniplan may consist of one to 10 pages and should include at least cursory attention to such key matters as business concept, financing needs, marketing plan and financial statements, especially cash flow, income projection and balance sheet. It's a great way to quickly test a business concept or measure the interest of a potential partner or minor investor. It can also serve as a valuable prelude to a full-length plan later on.

Be careful about misusing a miniplan. It's not intended to substitute for a full-length plan. If you send a miniplan to an investor who's looking for a comprehensive one, you're only going to look foolish.

• The Working Plan. A working plan is a tool to be used to operate your business. It has to be long on detail but may be short on presentation. As with a miniplan, you can probably afford a somewhat higher degree of candor and informality when preparing a working plan.

A plan intended strictly for internal use may also omit some elements that would be important in one aimed at someone outside the firm. You probably don't need to include an appendix with resumes of key executives, for example. Nor would a working plan especially benefit from, say, product photos.

Fit and finish are liable to be quite different in a working plan. It's not essential that a working plan be printed on high-quality paper and enclosed in a fancy binder. An old three-ring binder with "Plan" scrawled across it with a felt-tip marker will serve quite well.

Internal consistency of facts and figures is just as crucial with a working plan as with one aimed at outsiders. You don't have to be as careful, however, about such things as typos in the text, perfectly conforming to business style, being consistent with date formats and so on. This document is like an old pair of khakis you wear into the office on Saturdays or that one ancient delivery truck that never seems to break down. It's there to be used, not admired.

• The Presentation Plan. If you take a working plan, with its low stress on cosmetics and impression, and twist the knob to boost the amount of attention paid to its looks, you'll wind up with a presentation plan. This plan is suitable for showing to bankers, investors and others outside the company.

Almost all the information in a presentation plan is going to be the same as your working plan, although it may be styled somewhat differently. For instance, you should use standard business vocabulary, omitting the informal jargon, slang and shorthand that's so useful in the workplace and is appropriate in a working plan. Remember, these readers won't be familiar with your operation. Unlike the working plan, this plan isn't being used as a reminder but as an introduction.

You'll also have to include some added elements. Among investors' requirements for due diligence is information on all competitive threats and risks. Even if you consider some of only peripheral significance, you need to address these concerns by providing the information.

The big difference between the presentation and working plans is in the details of appearance and polish. A working plan may be run off on the office printer and stapled together at one corner. A presentation plan should be printed by a high-quality printer, probably using color. It must be bound expertly into a booklet that is durable and easy to read. It should include graphics such as charts, graphs, tables and illustrations.

It's essential that a presentation plan be accurate and internally consistent. A mistake here could be construed as a misrepresentation by an unsympathetic outsider. At best, it will make you look less than careful. If the plan's summary describes a need for $40,000 in financing, but the cash flow projection shows $50,000 in financing coming in during the first year, you might think, "Oops! Forgot to update that summary to show the new numbers." The investor you're asking to pony up the cash, however, is unlikely to be so charitable.

• The Electronic Plan. The majority of business plans are composed on a computer of some kind, then printed out and presented in hard copy. But more and more business information that once was transferred between parties only on paper is now sent electronically. So you may find it appropriate to have an electronic version of your plan available. An electronic plan can be handy for presentations to a group using a computer-driven overhead projector, for example, or for satisfying the demands of a discriminating investor who wants to be able to delve deeply into the underpinnings of complex spreadsheets.

Source: The Small Business Encyclopedia , Business Plans Made Easy , Start Your Own Business and Entrepreneur magazine .

Continue on to the next section of our Business Plan How-To >> Plan Your Plan

Want to be an Entrepreneur Leadership Network contributor? Apply now to join.

Editor's Pick Red Arrow

• Jake Paul Has Made Millions Using This Mindset Hack — and It Will Help Him Fight Mike Tyson, Too: 'Let It Fuel You'
• Lock How to Tell You're About to Get Fired — Plus 4 'Typical' Reasons for It, From a Career Expert
• They Showed Up to Apple With a Product They Built in Their Dorm Room. Now These Entrepreneurs Are on the Way to Changing the Way Fans Watch Sports.
• Got Some Bad Press? 5 Tactics to Reclaim Your Reputation — and Your Google Search Ranking
• You Can Earn Full-Time Profits With This Part-Time Work — Just Don't Call It a Side Hustle
• Lock 4 Not-So-Obvious Signs That Your Company Culture Is Becoming Toxic

Most Popular Red Arrow

How to find the right programmers: a brief guideline for startup founders.

For startup founders under a plethora of challenges like timing, investors and changing market demand, it is extremely hard to hire programmers who can deliver.

Stephen Nedoroscik Helped Team USA Win Bronze After Nailing an 'Impossible Task.' Here's the Counterintuitive Advice His Coach Used to Get Him Ready.

The U.S. men's gymnastics team's first Olympic medal in 16 years was just one pommel horse routine away. Here's how a gymnastics coach got the best from his athlete when it mattered most.

He Spent a Weekend Working on His Side Hustle in an Airbnb. Then a 'Big Breakthrough' Led to $53 Million — and Counting.

Anish Dhar, co-founder and CEO of Cortex, got the idea for the project management platform while he was an engineer at Uber.

These Grandparents Make $10,000 a Month on Their Delivery Side Hustle, With Free Workcations — 'We Hit a Hotel With a Pool'

These seniors started driving for Instacart and Doordash, then added apps from there. Within a few months, the "Giggin' Grandparents" had turned a part-time delivery gig into a comfortable living.

Apple Finally Revealed a First Look at Apple Intelligence. Here's Why the Tech Giant's Slow and Steady Approach to AI Could Be Beneficial.

Apple is taking its time with AI. And the CEO of an AI detection company thinks that may not be a bad thing.

Transform Your Business Travel with a Lifetime OneAir Elite Plan for $100

Save big on flights, hotels, and more with lifetime access to exclusive deals.

Successfully copied link

• Sources of Business Finance
• Small Business Loans
• Small Business Grants
• Crowdfunding Sites
• How to Get a Business Loan
• Small Business Insurance Providers
• Best Factoring Companies
• Types of Bank Accounts
• Best Banks for Small Business
• Best Business Bank Accounts
• Open a Business Bank Account
• Bank Accounts for Small Businesses
• Free Business Checking Accounts
• Best Business Credit Cards
• Get a Business Credit Card
• Business Credit Cards for Bad Credit
• Build Business Credit Fast
• Business Loan Eligibility Criteria
• Small-Business Bookkeeping Basics
• How to Set Financial Goals
• Business Loan Calculators
• How to Calculate ROI
• Calculate Net Income
• Calculate Working Capital
• Calculate Operating Income
• Calculate Net Present Value (NPV)
• Calculate Payroll Tax

12 Key Elements of a Business Plan (Top Components Explained)

Starting and running a successful business requires proper planning and execution of effective business tactics and strategies .

You need to prepare many essential business documents when starting a business for maximum success; the business plan is one such document.

When creating a business, you want to achieve business objectives and financial goals like productivity, profitability, and business growth. You need an effective business plan to help you get to your desired business destination.

Even if you are already running a business, the proper understanding and review of the key elements of a business plan help you navigate potential crises and obstacles.

This article will teach you why the business document is at the core of any successful business and its key elements you can not avoid.

Let’s get started.

Why Are Business Plans Important?

Business plans are practical steps or guidelines that usually outline what companies need to do to reach their goals. They are essential documents for any business wanting to grow and thrive in a highly-competitive business environment .

1. Proves Your Business Viability

A business plan gives companies an idea of how viable they are and what actions they need to take to grow and reach their financial targets. With a well-written and clearly defined business plan, your business is better positioned to meet its goals.

2. Guides You Throughout the Business Cycle

A business plan is not just important at the start of a business. As a business owner, you must draw up a business plan to remain relevant throughout the business cycle .

During the starting phase of your business, a business plan helps bring your ideas into reality. A solid business plan can secure funding from lenders and investors.

After successfully setting up your business, the next phase is management. Your business plan still has a role to play in this phase, as it assists in communicating your business vision to employees and external partners.

Essentially, your business plan needs to be flexible enough to adapt to changes in the needs of your business.

3. Helps You Make Better Business Decisions

As a business owner, you are involved in an endless decision-making cycle. Your business plan helps you find answers to your most crucial business decisions.

A robust business plan helps you settle your major business components before you launch your product, such as your marketing and sales strategy and competitive advantage.

4. Eliminates Big Mistakes

Many small businesses fail within their first five years for several reasons: lack of financing, stiff competition, low market need, inadequate teams, and inefficient pricing strategy.

Creating an effective plan helps you eliminate these big mistakes that lead to businesses' decline. Every business plan element is crucial for helping you avoid potential mistakes before they happen.

5. Secures Financing and Attracts Top Talents

Having an effective plan increases your chances of securing business loans. One of the essential requirements many lenders ask for to grant your loan request is your business plan.

A business plan helps investors feel confident that your business can attract a significant return on investments ( ROI ).

You can attract and retain top-quality talents with a clear business plan. It inspires your employees and keeps them aligned to achieve your strategic business goals.

Key Elements of Business Plan

Starting and running a successful business requires well-laid actions and supporting documents that better position a company to achieve its business goals and maximize success.

A business plan is a written document with relevant information detailing business objectives and how it intends to achieve its goals.

With an effective business plan, investors, lenders, and potential partners understand your organizational structure and goals, usually around profitability, productivity, and growth.

Every successful business plan is made up of key components that help solidify the efficacy of the business plan in delivering on what it was created to do.

Here are some of the components of an effective business plan.

1. Executive Summary

One of the key elements of a business plan is the executive summary. Write the executive summary as part of the concluding topics in the business plan. Creating an executive summary with all the facts and information available is easier.

In the overall business plan document, the executive summary should be at the forefront of the business plan. It helps set the tone for readers on what to expect from the business plan.

A well-written executive summary includes all vital information about the organization's operations, making it easy for a reader to understand.

The key points that need to be acted upon are highlighted in the executive summary. They should be well spelled out to make decisions easy for the management team.

A good and compelling executive summary points out a company's mission statement and a brief description of its products and services.

An executive summary summarizes a business's expected value proposition to distinct customer segments. It highlights the other key elements to be discussed during the rest of the business plan.

Including your prior experiences as an entrepreneur is a good idea in drawing up an executive summary for your business. A brief but detailed explanation of why you decided to start the business in the first place is essential.

Adding your company's mission statement in your executive summary cannot be overemphasized. It creates a culture that defines how employees and all individuals associated with your company abide when carrying out its related processes and operations.

Your executive summary should be brief and detailed to catch readers' attention and encourage them to learn more about your company.

Components of an Executive Summary

Here are some of the information that makes up an executive summary:

• The name and location of your company
• Products and services offered by your company
• Mission and vision statements
• Success factors of your business plan

2. Business Description

Your business description needs to be exciting and captivating as it is the formal introduction a reader gets about your company.

What your company aims to provide, its products and services, goals and objectives, target audience , and potential customers it plans to serve need to be highlighted in your business description.

A company description helps point out notable qualities that make your company stand out from other businesses in the industry. It details its unique strengths and the competitive advantages that give it an edge to succeed over its direct and indirect competitors.

Spell out how your business aims to deliver on the particular needs and wants of identified customers in your company description, as well as the particular industry and target market of the particular focus of the company.

Include trends and significant competitors within your particular industry in your company description. Your business description should contain what sets your company apart from other businesses and provides it with the needed competitive advantage.

In essence, if there is any area in your business plan where you need to brag about your business, your company description provides that unique opportunity as readers look to get a high-level overview.

Components of a Business Description

Your business description needs to contain these categories of information.

• Business location
• The legal structure of your business
• Summary of your business’s short and long-term goals

3. Market Analysis

The market analysis section should be solely based on analytical research as it details trends particular to the market you want to penetrate.

Graphs, spreadsheets, and histograms are handy data and statistical tools you need to utilize in your market analysis. They make it easy to understand the relationship between your current ideas and the future goals you have for the business.

All details about the target customers you plan to sell products or services should be in the market analysis section. It helps readers with a helpful overview of the market.

In your market analysis, you provide the needed data and statistics about industry and market share, the identified strengths in your company description, and compare them against other businesses in the same industry.

The market analysis section aims to define your target audience and estimate how your product or service would fare with these identified audiences.

Market analysis helps visualize a target market by researching and identifying the primary target audience of your company and detailing steps and plans based on your audience location.

Obtaining this information through market research is essential as it helps shape how your business achieves its short-term and long-term goals.

Market Analysis Factors

Here are some of the factors to be included in your market analysis.

• The geographical location of your target market
• Needs of your target market and how your products and services can meet those needs
• Demographics of your target audience

Components of the Market Analysis Section

Here is some of the information to be included in your market analysis.

• Industry description and statistics
• Demographics and profile of target customers
• Marketing data for your products and services
• Detailed evaluation of your competitors

4. Marketing Plan

A marketing plan defines how your business aims to reach its target customers, generate sales leads, and, ultimately, make sales.

Promotion is at the center of any successful marketing plan. It is a series of steps to pitch a product or service to a larger audience to generate engagement. Note that the marketing strategy for a business should not be stagnant and must evolve depending on its outcome.

Include the budgetary requirement for successfully implementing your marketing plan in this section to make it easy for readers to measure your marketing plan's impact in terms of numbers.

The information to include in your marketing plan includes marketing and promotion strategies, pricing plans and strategies , and sales proposals. You need to include how you intend to get customers to return and make repeat purchases in your business plan.

5. Sales Strategy

Sales strategy defines how you intend to get your product or service to your target customers and works hand in hand with your business marketing strategy.

Your sales strategy approach should not be complex. Break it down into simple and understandable steps to promote your product or service to target customers.

Apart from the steps to promote your product or service, define the budget you need to implement your sales strategies and the number of sales reps needed to help the business assist in direct sales.

Your sales strategy should be specific on what you need and how you intend to deliver on your sales targets, where numbers are reflected to make it easier for readers to understand and relate better.

6. Competitive Analysis

Providing transparent and honest information, even with direct and indirect competitors, defines a good business plan. Provide the reader with a clear picture of your rank against major competitors.

Identifying your competitors' weaknesses and strengths is useful in drawing up a market analysis. It is one information investors look out for when assessing business plans.

The competitive analysis section clearly defines the notable differences between your company and your competitors as measured against their strengths and weaknesses.

This section should define the following:

• Your competitors' identified advantages in the market
• How do you plan to set up your company to challenge your competitors’ advantage and gain grounds from them?
• The standout qualities that distinguish you from other companies
• Potential bottlenecks you have identified that have plagued competitors in the same industry and how you intend to overcome these bottlenecks

In your business plan, you need to prove your industry knowledge to anyone who reads your business plan. The competitive analysis section is designed for that purpose.

7. Management and Organization

Management and organization are key components of a business plan. They define its structure and how it is positioned to run.

Whether you intend to run a sole proprietorship, general or limited partnership, or corporation, the legal structure of your business needs to be clearly defined in your business plan.

Use an organizational chart that illustrates the hierarchy of operations of your company and spells out separate departments and their roles and functions in this business plan section.

The management and organization section includes profiles of advisors, board of directors, and executive team members and their roles and responsibilities in guaranteeing the company's success.

Apparent factors that influence your company's corporate culture, such as human resources requirements and legal structure, should be well defined in the management and organization section.

Defining the business's chain of command if you are not a sole proprietor is necessary. It leaves room for little or no confusion about who is in charge or responsible during business operations.

This section provides relevant information on how the management team intends to help employees maximize their strengths and address their identified weaknesses to help all quarters improve for the business's success.

8. Products and Services

This business plan section describes what a company has to offer regarding products and services to the maximum benefit and satisfaction of its target market.

Boldly spell out pending patents or copyright products and intellectual property in this section alongside costs, expected sales revenue, research and development, and competitors' advantage as an overview.

At this stage of your business plan, the reader needs to know what your business plans to produce and sell and the benefits these products offer in meeting customers' needs.

The supply network of your business product, production costs, and how you intend to sell the products are crucial components of the products and services section.

Investors are always keen on this information to help them reach a balanced assessment of if investing in your business is risky or offer benefits to them.

You need to create a link in this section on how your products or services are designed to meet the market's needs and how you intend to keep those customers and carve out a market share for your company.

Repeat purchases are the backing that a successful business relies on and measure how much customers are into what your company is offering.

This section is more like an expansion of the executive summary section. You need to analyze each product or service under the business.

9. Operating Plan

An operations plan describes how you plan to carry out your business operations and processes.

The operating plan for your business should include:

• Information about how your company plans to carry out its operations.
• The base location from which your company intends to operate.
• The number of employees to be utilized and other information about your company's operations.
• Key business processes.

This section should highlight how your organization is set up to run. You can also introduce your company's management team in this section, alongside their skills, roles, and responsibilities in the company.

The best way to introduce the company team is by drawing up an organizational chart that effectively maps out an organization's rank and chain of command.

What should be spelled out to readers when they come across this business plan section is how the business plans to operate day-in and day-out successfully.

10. Financial Projections and Assumptions

Bringing your great business ideas into reality is why business plans are important. They help create a sustainable and viable business.

The financial section of your business plan offers significant value. A business uses a financial plan to solve all its financial concerns, which usually involves startup costs, labor expenses, financial projections, and funding and investor pitches.

All key assumptions about the business finances need to be listed alongside the business financial projection, and changes to be made on the assumptions side until it balances with the projection for the business.

The financial plan should also include how the business plans to generate income and the capital expenditure budgets that tend to eat into the budget to arrive at an accurate cash flow projection for the business.

Base your financial goals and expectations on extensive market research backed with relevant financial statements for the relevant period.

Examples of financial statements you can include in the financial projections and assumptions section of your business plan include:

• Projected income statements
• Cash flow statements
• Balance sheets
• Income statements

Revealing the financial goals and potentials of the business is what the financial projection and assumption section of your business plan is all about. It needs to be purely based on facts that can be measurable and attainable.

11. Request For Funding

The request for funding section focuses on the amount of money needed to set up your business and underlying plans for raising the money required. This section includes plans for utilizing the funds for your business's operational and manufacturing processes.

When seeking funding, a reasonable timeline is required alongside it. If the need arises for additional funding to complete other business-related projects, you are not left scampering and desperate for funds.

If you do not have the funds to start up your business, then you should devote a whole section of your business plan to explaining the amount of money you need and how you plan to utilize every penny of the funds. You need to explain it in detail for a future funding request.

When an investor picks up your business plan to analyze it, with all your plans for the funds well spelled out, they are motivated to invest as they have gotten a backing guarantee from your funding request section.

Include timelines and plans for how you intend to repay the loans received in your funding request section. This addition keeps investors assured that they could recoup their investment in the business.

12. Exhibits and Appendices

Exhibits and appendices comprise the final section of your business plan and contain all supporting documents for other sections of the business plan.

Some of the documents that comprise the exhibits and appendices section includes:

• Legal documents
• Licenses and permits
• Credit histories
• Customer lists

The choice of what additional document to include in your business plan to support your statements depends mainly on the intended audience of your business plan. Hence, it is better to play it safe and not leave anything out when drawing up the appendix and exhibit section.

Supporting documentation is particularly helpful when you need funding or support for your business. This section provides investors with a clearer understanding of the research that backs the claims made in your business plan.

There are key points to include in the appendix and exhibits section of your business plan.

• The management team and other stakeholders resume
• Marketing research
• Permits and relevant legal documents
• Financial documents

Was This Article Helpful?

Martin luenendonk.

Martin loves entrepreneurship and has helped dozens of entrepreneurs by validating the business idea, finding scalable customer acquisition channels, and building a data-driven organization. During his time working in investment banking, tech startups, and industry-leading companies he gained extensive knowledge in using different software tools to optimize business processes.

This insights and his love for researching SaaS products enables him to provide in-depth, fact-based software reviews to enable software buyers make better decisions.

• Newsletters
• Best Industries
• Business Plans
• Home-Based Business
• The UPS Store
• Customer Service
• Black in Business
• Your Next Move
• Female Founders
• Best Workplaces
• Company Culture
• Public Speaking
• HR/Benefits
• Productivity
• All the Hats
• Digital Transformation
• Artificial Intelligence
• Bringing Innovation to Market
• Cloud Computing
• Social Media
• Data Detectives
• Exit Interview
• Bootstrapping
• Crowdfunding
• Venture Capital
• Business Models
• Personal Finance
• Founder-Friendly Investors
• Upcoming Events
• Inc. 5000 Vision Conference
• Become a Sponsor
• Cox Business
• Verizon Business
• Branded Content
• Apply Inc. 5000 US

Inc. Premium

• How to Write a Great Business Plan: Key Concepts

The first in a comprehensive series to help you craft the perfect business plan for your startup.

This article is part of a series on how to write a great business plan .

Some entrepreneurs succeed without a business plan. With great timing, solid business skills, entrepreneurial drive, and a little luck, some founders build thriving businesses without ever creating even an informal business plan.

But the chances are more likely that those entrepreneurs fail.

Will a business plan make 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 .

What matters most

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--convince 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 rational 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.

Next time we'll take a closer look at the main components of a business plan. We'll start with the Executive Summary .

More from this series:

• How to Write a Great Business Plan: the Executive Summary
• How to Write a Great Business Plan: Overview and Objectives
• How to Write a Great Business Plan: Products and Services
• How to Write a Great Business Plan: Market Opportunities
• How to Write a Great Business Plan: Sales and Marketing
• How to Write a Great Business Plan: Competitive Analysis
• How to Write a Great Business Plan: Operations
• How to Write a Great Business Plan: Management Team
• How to Write a Great Business Plan: Financial Analysis

The Daily Digest for Entrepreneurs and Business Leaders

Privacy Policy

• Get Started

Home >> #realtalk Blog >> Manage a business >> How to Start a Bar S…

How to Start a Bar Step by Step

Thinking about starting a bar? You’re not alone. Many people dream of owning a place where friends gather, drinks flow, and good times roll.

But before you dive in, you need to know what type of bar fits your vision. Different bars cater to different crowds and offer unique experiences.

Let’s explore the main types of bars you might consider.

Types of Bars

A bar is an establishment that serves alcoholic drinks. The type of bar you choose will define the atmosphere, clientele, and overall vibe of your place.

Brewpubs serve their own craft beers. These establishments often brew beer on-site, offering a unique selection that you won’t find in other bars. Customers come for the fresh, locally-made beer and often stay for the relaxed, community-focused atmosphere. Brewpubs usually pair their beers with a menu of pub-style foods, enhancing the overall experience. If you’re passionate about brewing and want to share that passion with others, a brewpub might be the right choice for you.

Nightclubs focus on music and dancing. These venues are all about high energy, loud music, and a lively crowd. Nightclubs often feature DJs, live bands, and dance floors designed to keep people moving all night long. The decor is usually modern and flashy, with lighting and sound systems that create an immersive experience. If you love the nightlife and want to create a space where people can dance and have fun, consider opening a nightclub.

Dive bars offer a casual, unpretentious atmosphere. These bars are often characterized by their laid-back vibe, affordable drinks, and a no-frills approach. Dive bars attract a diverse crowd looking for a relaxed place to hang out without any pretense. The decor is usually simple, and the focus is on creating a welcoming environment where everyone feels at home. If you want to create a neighborhood spot where people can unwind and enjoy a drink without any fuss, a dive bar could be the way to go.

Speakeasies

Speakeasies are Prohibition-era themed bars. These establishments recreate the secretive, exclusive feel of the 1920s speakeasies, often with hidden entrances and vintage decor. The drinks menu typically features classic cocktails made with high-quality ingredients, and the atmosphere is intimate and sophisticated. Speakeasies appeal to customers looking for a unique, nostalgic experience. If you’re drawn to the glamour and mystery of the Prohibition era, opening a speakeasy might be your ideal path.

Each type of bar offers a different experience and attracts a different crowd. Think about what kind of atmosphere you want to create and who you want to attract. Your choice will shape every aspect of your bar, from the decor to the drinks menu to the overall vibe.

TIP: Get insights from other business owners on why start a business and learn from their experiences.

Benefits of Opening a Bar

Opening a bar is not just about serving drinks; it’s about creating a space where people can come together and enjoy themselves. But let’s be real, the journey comes with its own set of worries.

Be Your Own Boss

Opening a bar allows you to make all the decisions. You get to choose the concept that excites you, whether it’s a cozy neighborhood pub or a trendy cocktail lounge. You decide the menu, selecting the drinks and food that best represent your vision. Hiring and managing staff also falls under your control, giving you the chance to build a team that aligns with your values and goals. This level of autonomy can be incredibly rewarding, as you shape every aspect of your business.

TIP: Learn how to recruit bar staff efficiently to build a competent and reliable team.

Potential for High Profits

Alcohol sales often come with high profit margins. Drinks, especially cocktails and specialty beverages, can be sold at a significant markup. This potential for high profits makes the bar industry appealing. With effective management and a good understanding of your market, you can maximize these margins. Regular promotions and events can also drive sales, increasing your revenue. The key is to balance quality and cost, ensuring your customers feel they are getting value while you maintain healthy profits.

Social Aspect

Running a bar provides a unique opportunity to meet new people and build relationships. Your establishment can become a local hotspot where regulars feel at home and new patrons feel welcomed. This social environment fosters connections, both personal and professional. As the owner, you become a central figure in this community, creating a network that can support your business in various ways. Hosting events and themed nights can further enhance this social aspect, attracting diverse groups and keeping the atmosphere lively.

Creative Expression

A bar offers a platform for creative expression. You can develop unique drinks that showcase your creativity and stand out from the competition. The decor and ambiance of your bar also reflect your personal style, from the lighting and furniture to the music and overall vibe. Additionally, you can plan special events that highlight your creativity, such as themed parties, live performances, or mixology classes. This creative freedom not only makes your bar unique but also keeps it exciting for your customers.

Efficient Management

To manage a bar successfully, it’s essential to streamline operations and reduce administrative burdens. Tools like the Homebase mobile management app allow you to oversee your business on the go, ensuring flexibility and efficiency.

Auto-convert timesheets into wages, catch errors, pay your team, and file taxes all in one place.

How to Create a Bar Business Plan

Creating a bar business plan is your roadmap to success. It helps you clarify your vision and provides a structured approach to making your bar a reality.

Describe Your Bar Concept and Target Market

Start by defining your bar concept. Are you opening a cozy brewpub, a vibrant nightclub, a laid-back dive bar, or a nostalgic speakeasy? Your concept sets the tone for everything else. Next, identify your target market. Who are your ideal customers? Consider their age, lifestyle, and preferences. For example, a speakeasy might attract an older, more sophisticated crowd, while a nightclub appeals to younger patrons looking for a lively night out.

Detail Your Drinks Menu and Pricing

Outline your drinks menu. Include a variety of options that align with your concept. For a brewpub, list your craft beers and any seasonal specials. A nightclub might focus on cocktails and premium spirits. Dive bars often feature affordable beers and simple mixed drinks. Speakeasies can offer classic cocktails with a modern twist. Pricing should reflect your target market and location. Competitive pricing attracts customers, but ensure your prices cover costs and generate profit.

Outline Your Marketing and Financial Strategies

Develop a marketing strategy to attract and retain customers. Use social media to promote your bar and engage with potential patrons. Plan special events like live music, trivia nights, or themed parties to draw in crowds. Collaborate with local businesses for cross-promotions. Financially, create a budget that includes all startup costs, such as renovations, equipment, and initial inventory. Forecast your monthly expenses and expected revenue. This helps you understand how much capital you need and when you can expect to break even.

Project Startup Costs and Revenue

List all startup costs in detail. Include expenses for leasing or purchasing a location, renovations, furniture, bar equipment, initial inventory, and marketing. Don’t forget to budget for permits and licenses. Estimate your monthly operating costs, including rent, utilities, staff salaries, and supplies. Project your revenue based on your pricing and expected customer volume. This projection helps you determine if your business is financially viable and guides you in securing funding from investors or lenders.

TIP: Efficiently create employee schedules to ensure smooth operations and cost management in your new bar.

Licenses and Permits Needed to Open a Bar

Navigating the legal landscape can be daunting, but understanding what you need helps you avoid costly mistakes.

Business License

A business license allows you to legally operate your bar within your city or county. You must apply through your local government office, providing details about your business structure, ownership, and location. Fees vary depending on your location and the size of your business. This license ensures your bar complies with local regulations and is recognized as a legitimate business entity.

Liquor License

A liquor license permits you to sell alcoholic beverages. The process to obtain this license can be lengthy and involves multiple steps. You must apply through your state’s Alcoholic Beverage Control (ABC) board. Requirements include background checks, public notices, and sometimes community approval. The type of liquor license you need depends on the kind of alcohol you plan to sell (beer, wine, spirits) and your bar’s operational hours. Fees and availability vary by state and locality.

Food Service License

If you plan to serve food, you need a food service license. This license ensures your bar meets health and safety standards for food preparation and handling. Apply through your local health department, which will inspect your kitchen and food storage areas. You must demonstrate that your facilities are clean and that staff follows proper food safety protocols. Regular inspections will follow to ensure ongoing compliance.

Music License

Playing music in your bar requires a music license. This license covers the rights to play copyrighted music, whether through a live band, DJ, or recorded playlist. Organizations like ASCAP, BMI, and SESAC issue these licenses. You may need to obtain licenses from multiple organizations to cover different music catalogs. Fees depend on your bar’s size, the type of music, and how often you play it.

Sign Permit

A sign permit allows you to display your bar’s signage. Local zoning laws regulate the size, type, and placement of signs. Apply through your city’s planning or zoning department. You must submit design plans and ensure your sign complies with local codes. This permit helps maintain the visual aesthetics of the community and ensures your signage is safe and appropriate for the area.

TIP: Automate timesheets to ensure compliance with labor laws and accurate payroll, which is critical for legal operations.

How to Find the Right Location for Your Bar

Choosing the right location is crucial for your bar’s success. It’s not just about finding a spot; it’s about finding the right spot.

Assess Demographics

Understanding the demographics of your potential location is key. Look at the age and income levels of local residents. A neighborhood with a younger population might be ideal for a trendy nightclub or a casual dive bar. On the other hand, an area with higher income levels might support a sophisticated speakeasy or a brewpub offering craft beers. Knowing who lives nearby helps tailor your bar’s concept to meet their preferences and spending habits.

Evaluate Accessibility

Accessibility can make or break your bar’s success. Ensure your location offers easy parking options. Ample parking encourages more customers to visit, especially those who might drive from surrounding areas. Additionally, consider proximity to public transit. Being near a bus stop or subway station makes it convenient for patrons who prefer not to drive, especially after a night of drinking. Accessibility impacts foot traffic and overall customer convenience.

Research Local Competition

Researching local competition provides insights into what already exists and what gaps you can fill. Visit other bars in the area to understand their offerings, customer base, and pricing. Identify what they do well and where they fall short. This research helps you find opportunities to differentiate your bar. Maybe there’s a lack of live music venues, or perhaps no one offers a particular type of craft beer. Differentiation attracts a unique crowd and reduces direct competition.

Consider Zoning Restrictions

Zoning laws dictate where you can legally operate a bar. Check with local zoning authorities to ensure your chosen location is zoned for a bar or nightlife establishment. Some areas have restrictions on noise levels, operating hours, or proximity to schools and churches. Understanding these regulations upfront prevents legal issues and costly relocations later. Confirming zoning compliance early in the process saves time and ensures your bar can operate without interruptions.

Essential Equipment for Opening a Bar

Opening a bar requires specific equipment to ensure smooth operations and a great customer experience. Here’s a detailed look at what you’ll need.

Bar tools are the backbone of any bar. Shakers, jiggers, and strainers are just the beginning. Shakers help mix cocktails efficiently, while jiggers ensure precise measurements for consistent drinks. Strainers keep ice and other solids out of the final pour. Other essential tools include muddlers for crushing ingredients, bar spoons for stirring, and bottle openers for quick access to beverages. Having a well-stocked bar tool kit allows bartenders to work efficiently and keep customers happy.

Refrigeration

Proper refrigeration is vital for storing ingredients and keeping drinks cold. Coolers and freezers are necessary for maintaining the freshness of perishable items like fruits, juices, and garnishes. Under-counter coolers are convenient for storing frequently used items within easy reach. Freezers are essential for storing ice and frozen ingredients. Investing in high-quality refrigeration units ensures that your bar runs smoothly and that your drinks are always served at the right temperature.

Glassware plays a significant role in the presentation of drinks. Different types of glasses are designed for specific beverages to enhance their flavors and aromas. Pint glasses are perfect for serving beer, while wine glasses come in various shapes to suit red, white, and sparkling wines. Cocktail glasses, such as martini glasses and highball glasses, are essential for mixed drinks. Stocking a variety of glassware ensures that you can serve any drink your customers order, enhancing their overall experience.

Draft Beer System

A draft beer system is a must-have for bars that serve beer. This system includes a keg cooler, CO2 tanks, and taps. The keg cooler keeps the beer at the optimal temperature, while CO2 tanks ensure the beer is properly carbonated. Taps allow for easy dispensing of beer, providing a fresh and crisp pour every time. A well-maintained draft beer system can attract beer enthusiasts and keep them coming back for more.

TIP: Integrate business tools to streamline bar operations and improve overall efficiency.

Investing in the right equipment sets the foundation for a successful bar. Each piece plays a crucial role in daily operations, ensuring that you can serve high-quality drinks efficiently and keep your customers satisfied.

5 Strategies for Marketing Your New Bar

Marketing can be a daunting task, but it’s essential to get the word out and attract customers to your new bar.

1. Develop Your Brand

Creating a unique bar name, logo, and aesthetic sets you apart from the competition. Your brand should reflect the atmosphere and experience you want to offer. Think about what makes your bar special. Is it the craft cocktails, the cozy ambiance, or the live music? Use these elements to shape your brand identity. A memorable name and eye-catching logo can attract attention and make your bar easily recognizable. Consistent branding across all touchpoints, from your signage to your social media profiles, reinforces your bar’s identity and helps build a loyal customer base.

2. Leverage Social Media

Promote your bar on Instagram and Facebook to reach a wider audience. Post high-quality photos of your drinks, events, and interior to showcase what makes your bar unique. Use stories and reels to give followers a behind-the-scenes look and create a sense of exclusivity. Engage with your audience by responding to comments and messages promptly. Run targeted ads to attract locals who might be interested in your bar. Share user-generated content, like photos and reviews from customers, to build trust and authenticity. Social media platforms also offer analytics tools to track your engagement and adjust your strategy accordingly.

3. Host Special Events

Plan trivia nights, live music, and tastings to draw in crowds and keep them coming back. Special events create buzz and give people a reason to visit your bar. Trivia nights can attract groups of friends looking for a fun evening out. Live music adds energy and entertainment, making your bar a destination for music lovers. Tastings, whether for wine, beer, or cocktails, offer a unique experience and can introduce customers to new favorites. Promote these events through your social media channels, email newsletters, and in-bar signage to maximize attendance. Regularly hosting events keeps your bar lively and gives customers something to look forward to.

4. Partner With Local Businesses

Cross-promote with nearby restaurants and shops to expand your reach. Partnering with local businesses can introduce your bar to new customers who might not have discovered it otherwise. Offer joint promotions, like discounts for customers who visit both establishments. Host collaborative events, such as a food and drink pairing night with a local restaurant. Display flyers or business cards for your partners in your bar, and ask them to do the same for you. Building relationships with other local businesses fosters a sense of community and can lead to mutually beneficial opportunities.

5. Implement a Loyalty Program

Reward repeat customers with discounts and perks to encourage them to return. A loyalty program can be as simple as a punch card offering a free drink after a certain number of visits or as sophisticated as a digital app tracking points for purchases. Offer exclusive deals, such as members-only happy hours or early access to event tickets. Recognize and appreciate your loyal customers by giving them personalized offers on their birthdays or anniversaries. A well-designed loyalty program not only incentivizes repeat business but also makes customers feel valued and appreciated, enhancing their overall experience at your bar.

TIP: Discover strategies to create a business plan that will guide you in crafting a comprehensive bar business plan.

Is Opening a Bar Right for You?

Opening a bar can be an exciting venture, but it’s important to assess whether it’s the right path for you. Start by evaluating your skills, experience, and passion. Do you have a background in hospitality or management? Have you worked in a bar or restaurant before? Your experience in the industry can provide valuable insights and help you navigate the challenges of running a bar. Passion is equally important; loving what you do can make the long hours and hard work more rewarding.

Next, consider the financial investment and risks. Opening a bar requires significant capital for leasing or purchasing a location, renovations, equipment, inventory, and initial staffing. Calculate your startup costs and ensure you have access to sufficient funds. Understand the risks involved, including fluctuating market conditions, competition, and the potential for slow business periods. A clear financial plan can help mitigate these risks and set realistic expectations.

Assess your ability to manage staff and operations. Running a bar involves hiring, training, and managing a team. Effective communication and leadership skills are crucial for maintaining a positive work environment and ensuring smooth operations. You’ll also need to handle scheduling, payroll, and conflict resolution. If you enjoy working with people and have strong organizational skills, you’ll be better equipped to manage these responsibilities. Ensure you comply with HR regulations to avoid legal issues and maintain a lawful operation.

Determine if the lifestyle aligns with your goals. Bar ownership often means working late nights, weekends, and holidays. Consider how this schedule will impact your personal life and whether you’re prepared for the demands. The social aspect of running a bar can be rewarding, but it also requires a high level of energy and commitment. Make sure the lifestyle fits with your long-term goals and personal circumstances.

• What : Opening a bar.
• So What : Success depends on type and planning.
• Pros & Cons : High profits vs. big investment and long hours.
• Bottom Line : Plan well and know your market.

Ready to take your bar to the next level? At Homebase, we make managing your team simple and efficient. Let’s make work easier— get started today .

Remember:  This is not legal advice. If you have questions about your particular situation, please consult a lawyer, CPA, or other appropriate professional advisor or agency.

Related posts

July 30, 2024

How to Start a Brewery in 10 Steps

The craft beer industry continues to grow, offering opportunities for passionate brewers to turn their hobby into a business. But…

How Much Does It Cost to Start a Bar

Starting a bar is a thrilling venture, but it comes with hefty financial commitments. The average cost to start a…

How to Start a Food Truck Business in Texas

Starting a food truck business in Texas can be an exciting venture, but it can also feel overwhelming with all…

How to Build a Women’s Clothing Business

Starting a women’s clothing business can be an exciting and rewarding venture. You have several options for how to structure…

How to Start a Grocery Store Business

Thinking about starting a grocery store? Many entrepreneurs see the potential in this business. Grocery stores offer a unique blend…

Guide to Start a Buffet Restaurant

Buffets offer a unique dining experience that attracts a wide range of customers. But where do you start? Understanding the…

Subscribe to our newsletter

Looking for ways to stay up to date on employment laws and small business news?

Homebase makes managing hourly work easier for over 100,000 local businesses. With free employee scheduling , time tracking , and team communication , managers and employees can spend less time on paperwork and more time on growing their business.

• Hiring & onboarding
• Team communication
• Employee happiness
• HR & compliance
• Integrations
• Food & beverage
• Beauty & wellness
• Medical & veterinary
• Home & repair
• Hospitality & leisure
• Education & caregiving
• Contact sales
• Become a Partner
• Careers – We’re hiring!
• #realtalk Blog

• Marketing Tips

• Online Ordering
• App Marketplace
• Integrations
• Suppliers Hub
• Food-Courts & Canteens
• Cloud Kitchens
• Ice-Cream & Dessert shops
• Bar & Brewery
• Pizzeria or Pizza Shop
• Large Chains

Brewing Success: Crafting Your Cafe Business Plan in 2024

Coffee culture is a big part of daily life for many people worldwide. Whether it’s grabbing a quick espresso to start the day or chilling with friends over a latte, cafes are more than just places for drinks—they’re social hangouts, creative spots, and community hubs. As the cafe industry keeps changing in 2024 with new trends, tech, and what customers want, owning a cafe is more tempting than ever.

In this blog, we’ll walk you through creating a business plan for your cafe idea. We’ll cover everything from understanding the cafe market to building a unique brand, handling money matters, and promoting your cafe effectively. Let’s make your cafe dream a reality.

Understanding the Cafe Business Landscape in 2024

As you start planning your cafe business in 2024, it’s important to familiarize yourself with current industry trends. Understanding what’s trending, how customers act, and who else is out there competing will give you the inside scoop to make your cafe a hit.

• Trends: The cafe industry in 2024 is full of exciting trends, such as specialty coffee and unique culinary experiences. Keep an eye on emerging trends like sustainability and health-conscious menu options to attract customers.
• Market Analysis: Before starting your cafe venture, conduct a thorough market analysis. Identify your target audience, understand their preferences, and analyze your competitors to find ways to stand out.
• Challenges and Opportunities: While the cafe industry offers growth opportunities, it also comes with challenges like rising costs and strong competition. With careful planning, you can turn these challenges into opportunities for success.
• Resources: Luckily, there are plenty of resources available to help you. Utilize cafe business plan PDFs, templates, and industry reports to ensure your plan is well-informed and comprehensive.

Developing Your Cafe Concept and Brand Identity

Crafting a successful cafe business plan in 2024 starts with building a unique cafe concept and a strong brand identity. These elements are the heart and soul of your cafe, making sure customers have a memorable experience and keep coming back.

Defining Your Cafe Concept

Start by defining your cafe concept. Consider what sets your cafe apart in the competitive market. Are you focusing on speciality coffee, artisanal pastries, or creating a cosy atmosphere? Tailor your concept to meet the demands of the cafe business in India, ensuring it resonates with your target audience.

Crafting Your Brand Story

Once you’ve defined your cafe concept, craft a compelling brand story. Your brand story should reflect your cafe’s values, mission, and personality. Incorporate elements that highlight your unique selling points and differentiate your cafe from others in the market.

Creating a Compelling Brand Aesthetic

Create a visually captivating brand aesthetic that incorporates your logo, signage, interior design , and decor. Make sure your brand aesthetic complements your cafe’s concept and resonates with your target audience in India. Use images and design elements that capture the essence and ambience of your cafe experience.

Develop Your Menu

Your menu plays a significant role in shaping your cafe’s identity. Create a menu that reflects your cafe’s concept and brand values. Incorporate local flavours and preferences into your offerings, ensuring they resonate with customers in India. Consider providing a diverse selection of menu items, including both classic favourites and innovative creations.

Creating a Financial Plan For Your Cafe Business

Crafting a comprehensive financial plan tailored to the Indian market is important for the success of your cafe business in 2024. To develop one, you need to estimate your startup costs. These expenses may include equipment , furniture, permits, licenses, and initial supplies. Utilize a cafe business plan template to organize and track these costs effectively.

Once you understand your startup expenses, it’s time to calculate your ongoing operational costs. Considerations such as rent, utilities, wages, ingredients, and marketing need to be accounted for. It’s important to be practical and anticipate any unforeseen expenses at this stage.

To measure your cafe’s potential revenue, analyze factors such as menu prices, expected customer volume, and average spending per customer. Looking at successful cafes in India can provide valuable insights into revenue expectations and market trends.

Create a cash flow forecast to keep track of your money flow and understand your income and expenses. Calculate your break-even point, which is when your income equals your expenses, to determine when your cafe will start making a profit. If you need more funding, consider options like loans or investors.

Choosing the Perfect Location for Your Cafe Business

When it comes to setting up your cafe business in 2024, finding the right location is key. Where your cafe is can really make or break its success, affecting how many customers you get and how well you compete with other cafes.

Firstly, consider a few factors when picking a spot for your cafe. Think about how many people walk by, prominent aspects of your neighbourhood like whether it is commercial or residential, and what the competition like? Is it easy for people to get to, and is there parking? You want to make sure there are enough people around who might pop in for a coffee. Take a look at what other cafes in the area are doing. See what they offer and who their regulars are. This will give you an idea of what there’s room for your cafe and what you can do differently to stand out.

When you find a good spot, negotiate lease agreements with the landlord. Make sure you understand things like how much rent you’ll pay, how long you can stay, and if there are any extra costs. Before you sign anything, ensure you understand zoning regulations. Know about any rules or permits you’ll need to follow to run a cafe in that area. This might include things like getting a business license or making sure your space meets health and safety standards . Remember, a good location can make a big difference in how well your cafe does.

Operations and Management for Your Cafe Business Plan in 2024

Running a cafe business in 2024 is an exciting journey, but it does have its challenges. To make sure your cafe stands out and thrives, you’ve got to nail down efficient operations and management . Here’s how you can do it:

• Efficient Operational Systems: Streamline day-to-day activities by assigning clear roles and optimizing processes to maximize productivity.
• Inventory Management and Suppliers: Keep track of stock levels and maintain strong relationships with suppliers for consistent menu offerings.
• Monitoring Performance Metrics: Stay informed about sales, customer feedback, and employee productivity to adapt strategies as needed.

It’s all about finding the right balance and staying on top of things. With some careful planning and a willingness to adapt, you’ll be well on your way to running a successful cafe in India.

Marketing and Promotion Strategies for Your Cafe Business

Marketing is the key to getting the word out about your cafe. Start by crafting a plan that outlines your goals and who you want to reach. A cafe business plan template can help organize your ideas.

Next, make the most of social media and digital marketing. Platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter are great for showing off your cafe’s vibe and letting people know about any specials or events you have coming up. Don’t forget about email marketing and making sure your cafe shows up when people search online.

Speaking of events, hosting themed nights or offering special deals can be a big draw for customers. It’s a great way to get people excited about your cafe and keep them coming back for more.

To sum up, launching a cafe business plan in 2024 requires understanding your customers, creating a standout brand, and running things smoothly. You’re on the right path by keeping up with trends, crafting a unique concept, and managing your money wisely. Plus, key ingredients for success are picking a great location, keeping operations efficient, and spreading the word effectively. Cheers to making your cafe dream a reality this year and beyond!

• What is the minimum budget to start a cafe? The minimum budget to start a cafe varies depending on factors like location and size. You’ll need funds for essentials such as equipment, permits, licenses, and initial supplies, along with ongoing expenses like rent and wages. Thorough planning and research are essential for estimating costs accurately and ensuring a successful launch.
• How do I start planning for a cafe? Conduct market research to understand trends and competition to start planning for a cafe. Define your concept and target audience. Develop a financial plan, choose a location, establish operations, and craft a marketing strategy. Thorough planning is key to launching a successful cafe business.
• Is cafe a profitable business? Yes, cafes can be profitable businesses when managed effectively. Success depends on factors like location, concept uniqueness, operational efficiency, and customer satisfaction. With careful planning, quality offerings, and strategic marketing, cafes have the potential to generate revenue and achieve profitability.
• What is the success rate of a cafe business? The success rate of a cafe business varies depending on factors such as location, competition, and management. While some cafes thrive and become profitable, others may face challenges. Adaptation to market trends, delivering exceptional service, and maintaining high-quality standards are key factors influencing a cafe business’s success rate. Hope this blog was helpful. For more restaurant industry-related updates, subscribe to our newsletter and follow us on  Instagram !
• Restaurant Management

Subscribe Newsletter

To be updated with all the latest news, offers and special announcements.

Important GST Update For Restaurants

Complete guide on cloud kitchen licenses required in india , 7 reasons why you should not open a cloud kitchen, trending this week, utilising technology to promote healthy eating in restaurants, 2024 guide to pick the best restaurant pos system, attendance systems: a game changer for restaurant management, related updates, the 2024 restaurant checklist for closing time, from beans to profits: top 11 cafe franchises to invest in 2024, should i open a food truck 8 tips you must read before making a choice, leave a reply cancel reply, outlet types.

• Pizzeria or Pizza shop

Get in Touch

Prayosha food services pvt. ltd..

© 2021 All rights Reserved by Petpooja.

Terms & Conditions | Privacy Policy | Cancellation & Refund Policy

Discover more from Petpooja

Subscribe now to keep reading and get access to the full archive.

Type your email…

Continue reading

Business Plan Executive Summary Example & Template

Updated: Jun 3, 2024, 1:03pm

Table of Contents

Components of an executive summary, how to write an executive summary, example of an executive summary, frequently asked questions.

A business plan is a document that you create that outlines your company’s objectives and how you plan to meet those objectives. Every business plan has key sections such as management and marketing. It should also have an executive summary, which is a synopsis of each of the plan sections in a one- to two-page overview. This guide will help you create an executive summary for your business plan that is comprehensive while being concise.

Featured Partners

ZenBusiness

$0 + State Fees

Varies By State & Package

On ZenBusiness' Website

On LegalZoom's Website

Northwest Registered Agent

$39 + State Fees

On Northwest Registered Agent's Website

$0 + State Fee

On Formations' Website

The executive summary should mimic the sections found in the business plan . It is just a more concise way of stating what’s in the plan so that a reader can get a broad overview of what to expect.

State the company’s mission statement and provide a few sentences on what the company’s purpose is.

Company History and Management

This section describes the basics of where the company is located, how long it has been in operation, who is running it and what their level of experience is. Remember that this is a summary and that you’ll expand on management experience within the business plan itself. But the reader should know the basics of the company structure and who is running the company from this section.

Products or Services

This section tells the reader what the product or service of the company is. Every company does something. This is where you outline exactly what you do and how you solve a problem for the consumer.

This is an important section that summarizes how large the market is for the product or service. In the business plan, you’ll do a complete market analysis. Here, you will write the key takeaways that show that you have the potential to grow the business because there are consumers in the market for it.

Competitive Advantages

This is where you will summarize what makes you better than the competitors. Identify key strengths that will be reasons why consumers will choose you over another company.

Financial Projections

This is where you estimate the sales projections for the first years in business. At a minimum, you should have at least one year’s projections, but it may be better to have three to five years if you can project that far ahead.

Startup Financing Requirements

This states what it will cost to get the company launched and running. You may tackle this as a first-year requirement or if you have made further projections, look at two to three years of cost needs.

The executive summary is found at the start of the business plan, even though it is a summary of the plan. However, you should write the executive summary last. Writing the summary once you have done the work and written the business plan will be easier. After all, it is a summary of what is in the plan. Keep the executive summary limited to two pages so that it doesn’t take someone a long time to peruse what the summary says.

Start A Limited Liability Company Online Today with ZenBusiness

Click to get started.

It might be easier to write an executive summary if you know what to expect. Here is an example of an executive summary that you can use as a template.

Bottom Line

Writing an executive summary doesn’t need to be difficult if you’ve already done the work of writing the business plan itself. Take the elements from the plan and summarize each section. Point out key details that will make the reader want to learn more about the company and its financing needs.

How long is an executive summary?

An executive summary should be one to two pages and no more. This is just enough information to help the reader determine their overall interest in the company.

Does an executive summary have keywords?

The executive summary uses keywords to help sell the idea of the business. As such, there may be enumeration, causation and contrasting words.

How do I write a business plan?

If you have business partners, make sure to collaborate with them to ensure that the plan accurately reflects the goals of all parties involved. You can use our simple business plan template to get started.

What basic items should be included in a business plan?

When writing out a business plan, you want to make sure that you cover everything related to your concept for the business,  an analysis of the industry―including potential customers and an overview of the market for your goods or services―how you plan to execute your vision for the business, how you plan to grow the business if it becomes successful and all financial data around the business, including current cash on hand, potential investors and budget plans for the next few years.

• Best LLC Services
• Best Registered Agent Services
• Best Trademark Registration Services
• Top LegalZoom Competitors
• Best Business Loans
• Best Business Plan Software
• ZenBusiness Review
• LegalZoom LLC Review
• Northwest Registered Agent Review
• Rocket Lawyer Review
• Inc. Authority Review
• Rocket Lawyer vs. LegalZoom
• Bizee Review (Formerly Incfile)
• Swyft Filings Review
• Harbor Compliance Review
• Sole Proprietorship vs. LLC
• LLC vs. Corporation
• LLC vs. S Corp
• LLP vs. LLC
• DBA vs. LLC
• LegalZoom vs. Incfile
• LegalZoom vs. ZenBusiness
• LegalZoom vs. Rocket Lawyer
• ZenBusiness vs. Incfile
• How To Start A Business
• How to Set Up an LLC
• How to Get a Business License
• LLC Operating Agreement Template
• 501(c)(3) Application Guide
• What is a Business License?
• What is an LLC?
• What is an S Corp?
• What is a C Corp?
• What is a DBA?
• What is a Sole Proprietorship?
• What is a Registered Agent?
• How to Dissolve an LLC
• How to File a DBA
• What Are Articles Of Incorporation?
• Types Of Business Ownership

Next Up In Business

• Best Online Legal Services
• How To Write A Business Plan
• Member-Managed LLC Vs. Manager-Managed LLC
• Starting An S-Corp
• LLC Vs. C Corp
• How Much Does It Cost To Start An LLC?

How To Get A Business License In New Hampshire (2024)

Best Kansas Registered Agent Services Of 2024

Best Indiana Registered Agent Services Of 2024

Best Mississippi Registered Agent Services Of 2024

Tor Vs. VPN: What’s The Difference?

Best Massachusetts Registered Agent Services Of 2024

Kimberlee Leonard has 22 years of experience as a freelance writer. Her work has been featured on US News and World Report, Business.com and Fit Small Business. She brings practical experience as a business owner and insurance agent to her role as a small business writer.

Cassie is a deputy editor collaborating with teams around the world while living in the beautiful hills of Kentucky. Focusing on bringing growth to small businesses, she is passionate about economic development and has held positions on the boards of directors of two non-profit organizations seeking to revitalize her former railroad town. Prior to joining the team at Forbes Advisor, Cassie was a content operations manager and copywriting manager.

EHS Daily Advisor

Practical EHS Tips, News & Advice. Updated Daily.

EHS Management

Plan, do, review: enhancing safety by implementing best processes.

Updated: Aug 1, 2024

The “Plan, Do, Review” cycle is critical for safety professionals looking to avoid wasted energy, boost productivity, and safeguard workers from harm. It helps companies identify and control their health and safety risks, reduce incidents, and consistently improve performance. This article discusses the Plan, Do, Review (PDR) concept to help those companies get started, lays out steps for implementing a plan, and how a company might review the results based on its initial objectives.

What Is the Plan, Do, Review Cycle? The PDR cycle is an ongoing, continuous loop of planning, doing, and reviewing designed to improve processes, boost safety, and eliminate recurring mistakes.

This approach focuses on ongoing improvement. It’s a way to keep pushing forward and ensure the working environment is safer and more productive. It provides an effective means for solving ongoing safety problems and managing change on the worksite. Creating an Effective Plan (the “Plan”) The steps for creating an effective plan might include the following: Breaking Down Objectives into Achievable Steps The first phase of creating a strategy involves breaking down goals into steps. Teams accomplish this by dissecting larger, overarching goals into more manageable tasks. Dividing objectives into action items facilitates clarity in direction and aids in supporting progress. Assigning Roles and Duties This phase marks the beginning of planning. Team leaders should ensure that everyone understands their responsibilities and deadlines and knows who oversees the process to keep everyone aligned with the plan.

Establishing Timelines and Milestones Setting clear timelines and milestones can really boost everyone’s motivation and keep the project on track. Safety managers should remember to celebrate achievements as they are reached. Recognizing progress keeps everyone excited and engaged with the team’s work. Implementing the Plan (the “Do”) After laying out the plan, it’s time to put it into action, and doing so might include the following steps: Sharing the Plan with the Team All team members must be informed and understand their responsibilities. This means ensuring that each team member is aware of their tasks, deadlines, and the significance of their roles. Showing them how their contributions can positively impact the company’s performance is essential. Tracking Progress and Adjusting as Needed Team leaders should identify what milestones they’ve achieved and confirm that everything is going according to schedule. If it is not, they must decide on what adjustments are required. One advantage of using the PDR method is that it promotes progress and continual improvement. Overcoming Obstacles and Challenges Every plan faces challenges, and teams may encounter hurdles and difficulties during the process. The strategy for designing that plan should include welcoming ideas from the workers on the ground because they’re the ones involved in the daily processes. Team leaders should encourage members to think creatively and collaborate to find answers. Reviewing and Evaluating Results (the “Review’) The teams have planned and executed. Now it’s time to review and evaluate the results. This is where management takes a step back and sees how far they’ve come.

Measuring Success Against Goals and Objectives The initial step should be checking if they’ve achieved their targets based on set company goals and objectives.

Now’s the time to put those precise goals they created into action. Safety managers should analyze how well teams did compared to their goals. As always, they should not overlook the team’s thoughts and ideas.

Identifying Areas for Improvement Even if a company hits all its safety goals, there’s still room for growth. Management should use the review and evaluation steps to spot areas that could improve in the future. Companies should use this as an opportunity to learn and grow.

Creating the Best PDR Process Requires Top-Notch Safety Training and Coaching The Plan, Do, Review cycle isn’t just a one-time solution; it’s a continuous process that fosters a culture of safety and continuous improvement. By embracing this ongoing cycle, companies can proactively manage risk, empower their workforce, and create a safer, more productive work environment for everyone.

Veriforce understands your need to make sure your operations are efficient. That’s why we partnered with WorkSafe-Texas, which helps small businesses in the Austin, Dallas, and Houston Metro areas develop effective Plan, Do, and Review processes.

Contact Veriforce for more information.

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment.

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed .

Transportation | A new north DuSable Lake Shore Drive?…

Share this:.

• Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
• Click to share on X (Opens in new window)
• Click to print (Opens in new window)
• Click to email a link to a friend (Opens in new window)
• Top Workplaces
• Real Estate

Transportation

Transportation | a new north dusable lake shore drive long-running idea takes step forward with a concept that leaves out bus lanes, includes more park space.

A long-running idea to revamp north DuSable Lake Shore Drive is poised to take a step forward despite calls to halt the project, as city and state officials have selected their vision for the future of the busy thoroughfare.

That vision includes changes to the sharp curves and bottleneck-inducing traffic lights as the roadway enters downtown, and priority for CTA buses on exit and entrance ramps. It calls for adding lakefill in some places downtown and separating pedestrians from cyclists along the Lakefront Trail. It includes eliminating one lane of traffic north of Irving Park Road.

Missing from the concept are lanes on Lake Shore Drive that would prioritize the many CTA express buses that use the route. Transit priority lanes had been a key element of each of the other options that had been finalists for consideration.

Finalization of plans and construction are still years away, but the recommendation of one option by the Illinois and Chicago departments of transportation marks a step forward for a plan to revamp 7 miles of DuSable Lake Shore Drive between Grand Avenue downtown and Hollywood Avenue in Edgewater. The plan, estimated at $4 billion, has been in the works for some 11 years, and comes down to deciding how the storied roadway and lakefront should serve drivers, transit riders, cyclists, pedestrians and residents looking for recreation.

The plan only addresses the north section of DuSable Lake Shore Drive. A southern portion, from 23rd to 67th streets, was rebuilt between 2001-2005.

But the path forward selected by the transportation agencies, identified during a meeting with the people and groups involved in the process Tuesday ,  has already drawn the consternation of transportation advocates, who said it amounted to maintaining the status quo and didn’t go far enough to promote transit, biking and walking, or to address climate goals.

Elected officials also weighed in earlier this summer, when state lawmakers passed resolutions urging state and city transportation officials to “transform DuSable Lake Shore Drive into a true boulevard and to be creative and forward-thinking in their redesign.” Chicago City Council members voiced their opposition in June, when four lakefront aldermen called for pausing the effort in a letter to the Tribune “because of the trajectory of the project as an urban highway without significant mass transit elements.”

But IDOT and CDOT have now selected their preferred option from among five finalists. They plan to present the recommendation to the public at an open house Aug. 8.

Their selection calls for dedicated transit priority lanes at entrance ramps, which allow buses to bypass backups entering the road. It would replace a traffic light at Chicago Avenue with an underpass and ramps, and smooth out a large curve at Oak Street, intended to cut back on delays and boost safety, IDOT and CDOT said in a joint statement.

The number of places recreational users could access the lakefront would increase from 22 to 27. “Shoreline protection improvements” would be intended to prevent lake waves from flooding the park, trail and road, the agencies said. Existing parks and beaches would be upgraded, and new park space would be created.

Construction does not yet have funding, but IDOT and CDOT said they would pursue several options to pay for the project, including potentially partnerships between public agencies to operate and maintain the lakefront infrastructure.

The option selected is not as significant an overhaul of the road as other options that made the finalist list. The other concepts under consideration would have converted one or two lanes along the center median to either bus-only lanes or managed lanes, which are reserved for buses and toll-paying cars. One option called for building an additional lane and dedicating it only for transit use.

State Rep. Kambium “Kam” Buckner of Chicago, who co-sponsored the House resolution, said the recommended option seemed to be a “rehashing of an old paradigm.” Instead, planners should be talking about transit, dedicated bus lanes and maybe even creating land bridges over the Drive to improve access to the lakefront, he said.

“At the cost of being dramatic, (historic Chicago planner) Daniel Burnham is probably running around his grave at the thought of these plans,” he said. “We should really find a way to not do more of the same.”

The project has also drawn the concern of some aldermen, who earlier this summer joined a push organized by activist group Bike Grid Now calling to dramatically reconsider the redesign.

Ald. Leni Manaa-Hoppenworth, part of the push and one of the co-authors of the letter calling for a halt to the project, reiterated her call to pause the effort. Changes to the roadway will directly affect the neighborhoods nearby, and the community should have more of a voice, she said. In the letter, the alderman, whose 48th Ward includes the northern end of the roadway, wrote the overhaul should include mass transit elements such as buses or light rail.

“We do want people to get to downtown easily,” she said. “We want people to get to the South Side of Chicago easily. I would like to also see that when they come to the 48th Ward, traffic does not create conditions which promote less safety for our pedestrians.”

Advocates also opposed the project, saying the plan selected was a missed chance to boost sustainability and accessibility.   More than a dozen transportation, planning and environmental organizations signed onto a statement expressing “strong opposition” to the concept.

The project amounts to simply rebuilding a highway along the lakefront, said Jim Merrell, managing director of advocacy for the Active Transportation Alliance, which participated in the project planning process and signed onto the letter. Rather than seeking to improve the road equally for cars and buses, he would have liked to see priority for transit.

“If we want to meet our climate goals, we need to move people out of single occupancy vehicle cars and make transit a good alternative for them,” he said. “And the best way to do that is to give dedicated space on the road for transit”

Transportation officials said the concept they presented balanced transit benefits with preserving park space. As they outlined their proposed path forward during the meeting with those who were involved in the process, they said alternatives that involved creating bus lanes along the center median or building an additional bus lane would have meant dedicating more space to infrastructure, such as access ramps to the center lanes and retaining walls, and would have made it feel more like an expressway.

Each of the options was expected to reduce bus travel times by seven to nine minutes during an average rush hour, they said. But some of the alternatives would have added one or two minutes to an average rush hour drive in a personal car.

The option selected is expected to put more acres of lakefront toward transportation than is used now, but the increase would be less than the other options, according to transportation officials. And it will add more green space than the other options, they said.

But the Regional Transportation Authority, which oversees finances for the CTA, Metra and Pace, pushed back, calling for options that better prioritize transit. After he heard the agency’s vision, Maulik Vaishnav, senior deputy executive director for planning, told transportation officials they should revisit their decision.

“I know there will be some improvements to buses on Lake Shore Drive but especially as part of transit’s recovery from the pandemic, it’s really important to prioritize buses,” he said. “I think the city and the region has been behind.”

More in Transportation

Transportation | Your next O’Hare flight could be (partly) powered by leftover grease

Post-Tribune | Trains, capacity added on South Shore Line for Lollapalooza weekend

Transportation | Boeing names new CEO as it posts a loss of more than $1.4 billion in second quarter

Transportation | Chicago travelers pleased with Southwest Airlines’ decision to assign seats — if it doesn’t raise ticket prices

Trending nationally.

• Peregrine falcons mount a comeback in Yosemite, thanks to rock climbers
• A complete list of Paris Olympics medal winners
• PHOTOS: Colorado wildfires burn across Front Range
• Everything you need to know about the Boar’s Head meat recall
• Olympics 2024: Here’s where to get the chocolate muffins Olympians can’t get enough of

• Personal Finance
• Today's Paper
• Olympics 2024
• Partner Content
• Entertainment
• Social Viral

Over 30% GenAI projects won't survive beyond proof of concept: Gartner

A major challenge for organisations is to justify the substantial investment in genai for productivity enhancement, which can be difficult to directly translate into financial benefit, said gartner.

Regardless of AI ambition, Gartner research indicates GenAI requires a higher tolerance for indirect, future financial investment criteria versus immediate return on investment (ROI).

Listen to This Article

More from this section, govt plans to operationalise car nicobar, 11 other airports under udan, domestic airlines reported 427 technical faults in aircraft this year: govt, rajasthan govt to form a three-member panel to control industrial pollution, india has potential to export 15 mn tonnes coal to its neighbours: study, no plan to mandate blending of ethanol with diesel: hardeep singh puri, gnani.ai on a mission to enhance customer experience using voice-first ai, ai, sports, health tourism hub to come up on hyderabad outskirts: t'gana cm, samsung flags strong ai demand as q2 profit soars on higher chip prices, microsoft's slow cloud growth signals ai payoff likely to take longer, here's how harris and trump differ on artificial intelligence policy.

Don't miss the most important news and views of the day. Get them on our Telegram channel

First Published: Jul 29 2024 | 7:01 PM IST

Explore News

• Suzlon Energy Share Price Adani Enterprises Share Price Adani Power Share Price IRFC Share Price Tata Motors Share Price Tata Steel Share Price Yes Bank Share Price Infosys Share Price SBI Share Price Tata Power Share Price
• Latest News Company News Market News India News Politics News Cricket News Personal Finance Technology News World News Industry News Education News Opinion Shows Economy News Lifestyle News Health News
• Today's Paper About Us T&C Privacy Policy Cookie Policy Disclaimer Investor Communication GST registration number List Compliance Contact Us Advertise with Us Sitemap Subscribe Careers BS Apps
• ICC T20 World Cup 2024 Budget 2024 Olympics 2024 Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)