Business Plan Template: Step-

by-Step Guide to Writing Your

Own

This post was last updated on September 7, 2020.

There’s a difference between deciding it’s a good idea to start a business and actually
bringing it to fruition. You will need to take several steps to make it official, such as
registering your business and creating a website. Another quite large leap to truly test
your commitment is to write a business plan.
This document will allow you to formulate your ideas into a streamlined and organized
process, as well as set goals for your future. With this business plan template guide,
you’ll be able to get started on your very own right away.

What is a business plan?

A business plan is a written document used when starting a business. It serves several
purposes, such as attracting potential partners, as well as investors and banks when it
comes to raising capital. Most importantly though, you’ll be able to use your business
plan as a roadmap for how to structure, operate and manage your new venture.

Components of a business plan

1. Executive summary
2. Company description
3. Products and services
4. Market analysis
5. Marketing and operations plan
6. Management and organization
7. Financial projections
8. Appendices

01. Executive summary

The executive summary should be the strongest component of your business plan.
That's not only because it's the first part of the document, but it also serves its own
standalone purposes, just like in a business proposal.
We mentioned raising capital above. Your executive summary does the grunt work for
that. In order words, it’s a necessary piece of information for getting the attention of
investors.

In this section, you should give a high level overview of everything included within. Write
a few sentences about each of the components of your business plan - company
description, products and services, market analysis and more - while leaving your
reader intrigued and wanting to know more. It should be short and engaging, at a
maximum two pages long.

Although we have listed this part first, you should write it last. Your executive summary
will be placed at the beginning of your business plan, but you won’t know what
information to include until you’ve completed the sections below.

02. Company description

The first thing you’ll find yourself writing out is your company description. This piece is
pretty straight forward too.

Begin with your business name and the names of your founders. Then, give a
background story on your business, as well as the people who started it. Include things
like the year and location, your company’s purpose, and your mission statement. Briefly
describe your core products or services, but without going into too much information
since you’ll want to save that for the next section.

Discuss the development stage of your business at this moment as well as past
achievements you’re proud of. You’ll want to draw attention to the competitive
advantages that can help your business succeed, such as teaming up with other
experts in the industry or offering specialized products or services.

Follow up with your future plans by mentioning your goals, partnered with your plan of
action for achieving them. Describe the milestones of these goals in a timeline fashion,
thinking in terms of quarters and years. Your current or potential investors and other
stakeholders will want to know how your company plans to expand and progress.
03. Products and services

Here’s where you’ll explain your current and future products and services in depth.
You’ll need to provide descriptions and potential names of each offering. Predict any
questions that could arise from someone who knows nothing about them or even the
related industry. Answer them extensively, making sure to not leave out a single detail.

If you’re still working on your idea, describe what stage of development you’re in, and
the further processes you have to go through. Next, add diagrams, product images, and
other visual components where necessary.
Finish this section by listing your pricing plan, including the cost of the materials and
labor, the cost of the final products/services, and the profit you intend to make on each
unit.

04. Market analysis

This is one of the most extensive sections of the business plan template, as it has many
lengthy parts. You’ll need to conduct market research, draw conclusions, and write out
the related findings for the following points:

 Industry background: Give a background of the industry your business operates in,
whether that’s health and wellness, education, or something else. Answer questions like:
“What’s the current status of the industry?” and “How is it expected to change?” Discuss
the key business players and their offerings.

 Competitor review: List and analyze your top competitors and how you plan to compete
with them. Perform a SWOT analysis. This is where you’ll write out the strengths,
weaknesses, opportunities, and threats of each of these businesses.

 Barrier to entry: Explain what makes it difficult for a newcomer to enter the industry. Is
it high start up costs? Specific equipment? Patent requirements?

 Target market: Here, you will give details about your target market. Describe exactly
what your potential customer base looks like within this industry, using your market’s
demographics, such as age and occupation. You can also include buyer personas to gain
valuable insights into the needs and wants of your ideal customer.

 Assess your business: Noting the areas listed above, assess how your business fits into
them. What advantages do you have? What does the demand look like for your specific
product or service? How will you reach your target audience?

05. Marketing and operations plan

In this section, you’ve got to detail how your business idea will translate into selling and
delivering your offerings to potential customers.

Start by building your brand. Establish a brand identity of your own, from the colors and
fonts to creating the right online personality for you.

With your brand in place, the next thing to do is explain your advertising and promotion
plan, along with your marketing budget. This includes creating a professional website to
display and sell your products, and picking the right social media channel for your
audience.

The reason you’re thinking this all through ahead of time is because you’ll need to plan
how you will fulfill those orders or manage your bookings. You’ll want to explain the
labor, supplies, equipment and facility requirements necessary to create and ship
orders. If you’re choosing alternative options such as dropshipping, mention those here
too.
06. Management and organization
Share with your reader how your business will be structured and who will be the people
that make it what it is. This includes everyone from your founders and executive team to
all of the other stakeholders.

Stakeholders include Board of Directors and advisors, shareholders, heads of

departments and other team members. Even if you haven’t hired all of these people yet,
it’s important to show what your venture will eventually look like with all of them on
board.

To display all of this, create a visual layout of your stakeholders. A diagram or pyramid
of some sort will do the job. Following that, describe the roles of the key players
mentioned in your illustration.

07. Financial projections

It’s always important to know how you will be able to sustain your business financially,
both for your own sake and for that of potential investors.

In this section, write out the answers to the following kinds of questions:
 How much will you need to invest at first?
 How much funding are you requesting from investors?
 How long until you’ll start earning a profit?
 How much profit do you expect to earn in the next year? 3 years? 5 years?

Additionally, you’ll need to be able to manage your finances through budgeting and
keeping track of your income and expenses. This is both to understand how much
money is coming in and out, and to be able to pay your obligatory taxes. To learn how
to do so, turn to this guide to small business accounting.

08. Appendices
For this final section, list any additional information that will help readers understand the
full picture of your business. If you referenced any visuals, research data, or links in
your business plan, you can include the supporting details here.

Also make sure to place in this section your licenses, trademarks and patents,
contracts, articles of incorporation, insurance, and appraisals.
Business plan template

Writing a business plan may sound daunting at first, but with the right template, you will
feel confident about choosing the right direction for your business idea. To facilitate this
process, we recommend using our free business plan template for inspiration: