how to write a winning business plan harvard business review

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How to Write a Winning Business Plan (HBR OnPoint Enhanced Edition)

How to Write a Winning Business Plan (HBR OnPoint Enhanced Edition) ^ 584X

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Publication Date: January 01, 2001

This is an enhanced edition of HBR article 85314, originally published in May 1985. HBR OnPoint articles include the full-text HBR article plus a summary of key ideas and company examples to help you quickly absorb and apply the concepts. A well-conceived business plan is essential to the success of an enterprise. Whether you are starting up a venture, seeking additional capital for an existing product line, or proposing a new activity for a corporate division, you will have to write a plan detailing your project's resource requirements, marketing decisions, financial projections, production demands, and personnel needs. The plan must reflect the viewpoint of three constituencies: the customer, the investor, and the producer. Too many business plans focus excessively on the producer.

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• January–February 1997
• Harvard Business Review

How to Write a Great Business Plan

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About The Author

William A. Sahlman

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How to Write a Great Business Plan (Harvard Business Review Classics) Paperback – March 1, 2008

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• The people—the individuals launching and leading the venture and outside parties providing key services or important resources
• The opportunity—what the business will sell and to whom, and whether the venture can grow and how fast
• The context—the regulatory environment, interest rates, demographic trends, and other forces shaping the venture's fate
• Risk and reward—what can go wrong and right, and how the entrepreneurial team will respond
• Print length 72 pages
• Language English
• Publisher Harvard Business Review Press
• Publication date March 1, 2008
• Dimensions 4.32 x 0.22 x 6.53 inches
• ISBN-10 1422121429
• ISBN-13 978-1422121429
• See all details

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• Publisher ‏ : ‎ Harvard Business Review Press (March 1, 2008)
• Language ‏ : ‎ English
• Paperback ‏ : ‎ 72 pages
• ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1422121429
• ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1422121429
• Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 2.01 ounces
• Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 4.32 x 0.22 x 6.53 inches
• #1,475 in Strategic Business Planning
• #2,133 in Systems & Planning
• #5,732 in Entrepreneurship (Books)

About the author

William andrews sahlman.

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Write a business plan

• Review templates and tools for developing and pitching your business plan.

Public Web sites:

Small business administration.

The "Small Business Planner" section has a specific page of resources to guide you when creating this essential component for getting your business started.

Start-Up Resource Center

An Inc. Magazine Web site offering a useful and thorough how-to guide with advice and ideas on Structuring a Business Plan .

Additional information on Business Plans is available at the Arthur Rock Center for Entrepreneurship. There is also a classic article written by Professor Bill Sahlman on How to Write a Great Business Plan .

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Write a Business Plan

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Instructor: Google for Education Course

Define and organize your business’s growth by writing a business plan.

How to Write a Great Business Plan

Every seasoned investor knows that detailed financial projections for a new company are an act of imagination. Nevertheless, most business plans pour far too much ink on the numbers—and far too little on the information that really matters. Why?

In an article in the Harvard Business Review , HBS Professor William Sahlman suggests that a great business plan is one that focuses on a series of questions. These questions relate to the four factors critical to the success of every new venture: the people, the opportunity, the context, and the possibilities for both risk and reward.

The questions about people revolve around three issues: What do they know? Whom do they know? and How well are they known? As for opportunity, the plan should focus on two questions: Is the market for the venture's product or service large or rapidly growing (or preferably both)? and Is the industry structurally attractive?

Then, in addition to demonstrating an understanding of the context in which their venture will operate, entrepreneurs should make clear how they will respond when that context inevitably changes. Finally, the plan should look unflinchingly at the risks the new venture faces, giving would-be backers a realistic idea of what magnitude of reward they can expect and when they can expect it.

A great business plan is not easy to compose, Sahlman acknowledges, largely because most entrepreneurs are wild-eyed optimists. But one that asks the right questions is a powerful tool. A better deal, not to mention a better shot at success, awaits entrepreneurs who use it.

Based on an article "How to Write a Great Business Plan" by William A. Sahlman in the Harvard Business Review , July-August 1997.

[ Order the full article ]

The Opportunity of a Lifetime—or Is It?

Nine Questions About the Business Every Business Plan Should Answer

• Who is the new venture's customer?
• How does the customer make decisions about buying this product or service?
• To what degree is the product or service a compelling purchase for the customer?
• How will the product or service be priced?
• How will the venture reach all the identified customer segments?
• How much does it cost (in time and resources) to acquire a customer?
• How much does it cost to produce and deliver the product or service?
• How much does it cost to support a customer?
• How easy is it to retain a customer?

Who are These People, Anyway?

Fourteen "Personal" Questions Every Business Plan Should Answer

• Where are the founders from?
• Where have they been educated?
• Where have they worked — and for whom?
• What have they accomplished — professionally and personally — in the past?
• What is their reputation within the business community?
• What experience do they have that is directly relevant to the opportunity they are pursuing?
• What skills, abilities, and knowledge do they have?
• How realistic are they about the venture's chances for success and the tribulations it will face?
• Who else needs to be on the team?
• Are they prepared to recruit high-quality people?
• How will they respond to adversity?
• Do they have the mettle to make the inevitable hard choices that have to be made?
• How committed are they to this venture?
• What are their motivations?

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How to Write a Great Business Plan (Harvard Business Review Classics)

By: William A. Sahlman

Judging by all the hoopla surrounding business plans, you'd think the only things standing between would-be entrepreneurs and spectacular success are glossy five-color charts, bundles of…

• Length: 72 page(s)
• Publication Date: Mar 1, 2008
• Discipline: Entrepreneurship
• Product #: 2142-PBK-ENG

This item is no longer available. Try our website search to find available products, or contact us for assistance.

Judging by all the hoopla surrounding business plans, you'd think the only things standing between would-be entrepreneurs and spectacular success are glossy five-color charts, bundles of meticulous-looking spreadsheets, and decades of month-by-month financial projections. Yet nothing could be further from the truth. In fact, often the more elaborately crafted a business plan, the more likely the venture is to flop. Why? Most plans waste too much ink on numbers and devote too little to information that really matters to investors. The result? Investors discount them. In "How to Write a Great Business Plan," William A. Sahlman shows how to avoid this all-too-common mistake by ensuring that your plan assesses the factors critical to every new venture; the people--the individuals launching and leading the venture and outside parties providing key services or important resources; the opportunity--what the business will sell and to whom, and whether the venture can grow and how fast; the context--the regulatory environment, interest rates, demographic trends, and other forces shaping the venture's fate; and risk and reward--what can go wrong and right, and how the entrepreneurial team will respond. Timely in this age of innovation, "How to Write a Great Business Plan" helps you give your new venture the best possible chances for success. Since 1922, "Harvard Business Review" has been a leading source of breakthrough management ideas-many of which still speak to and influence us today. The Harvard Business Review Classics series now offers readers the opportunity to make these seminal pieces a part of your permanent management library. Each highly readable volume contains a groundbreaking idea that continues to shape best practices and inspire countless managers around the world-and will have a direct impact on you today and for years to come.

Mar 1, 2008

Discipline:

Entrepreneurship

Harvard Business Press Books

2142-PBK-ENG

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