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How Many Pages Should a Business Plan Be? 10, 25, 50 or 100?

How many pages should a business plan be? 10, 25, 50, 100 or more? Here is a quick comparison of the business plan types available and their optimum length.

A lot of new entrepreneurs often wonder how long is too long for a business plan. Most business experts and counselors say it should be 30 to 50 pages, as a minimum, while others give a more or lesser number than the one named above. One thing you have to understand is that there is no specific number a business plan should be before it is considered perfect. Everything depends on your audience and what you intend to use the business plan for.

According to the United States’ Small Business Association, ‘a business plan needs to be whatever length is required to excite the financing source, prove that management truly understands the market, and detail the execution strategy’.

From various surveys done by many organizations and professionals, it was concluded that a workable business plan should be in the ranges of 25 to 100 pages, depending on the various factors involved in writing the plan. Some of these factors may include; targeted markets, difficult assumptions or non-industry data, industry risk, poor credit factors that require additional explanation or documentation, financing source, etc.

Using the SBA model, a business plan can range in size from 38 to 50 pages for a basic plan to as high as 80 to 100 pages for complex plans. On the other hand, venture contests have come to the conclusion that an effective business plan should be around 30 pages, sometimes 40, but rarely 50 – and that includes detailed financials in the appendices.

Page Length Expectation for Various Kinds of Business Plans

The various kinds of business plans in existence have their own page length expectation according to experts. They usually fall within these indices;

• For small internal reports, the page length is usually Ten to fifteen pages
• For corporate business plans, the page length allowed can be up to hundred and even over
• Startup and expansion plans used for potential investors, vendors or other business partners can be 20 to 40 pages.
• Venture contests limit page length (including the appendix with financial information), at a minimum 30 pages, and in some rare instances as many as 50 pages.

A Breakdown of the Pages of a Business Plan 

The SBA model allows business plans to run from 38 pages to as much as hundred pages depending on the kind of plan in question. The pages of the typical business plan are broken down as follows;

• Part 1: Introduction (3 to 5 pages)
• Part 2: Market Analysis (9 to 22 pages)

The market analysis section illustrates the knowledge about the particular industry in question. It presents general highlights and conclusions of any marketing research data that have been have collected; however, the specific details of the marketing research studies should be moved to the appendix section of the business plan .

• Part 3: Company Description (1 to 2 pages)

Without going into detail, this section usually includes a high-level look at how all of the different elements of the business fits together. The company description section should include information about the nature of the business as well as list the primary factors that is believe will make the business a success.

• Part 4: Organization and Management (3 to 5 pages)

This section should include the company’s organizational structure, details about the ownership of the company, profiles of the management team, and the qualifications of the board of directors.

• Part 5: Marketing and Sales Strategies (4 to 6 pages)

Marketing is the process of creating customers, and customers are the lifeblood of a business. In this section, the first thing to do is define the company’s marketing strategy. There is no single way to approach a marketing strategy; the strategy should be part of an ongoing self-evaluation process and unique to the company.

• Part 6: Product or Service (4 to 10 pages)

What is the company selling? What is their service? In this section, describe the service or product, emphasizing the benefits to potential and current customers. Focus on the areas where it has a distinct advantage. Identify the problem in your target market for which your service or product provides a solution. Give the reader hard evidence that people are, or will be, willing to pay for your solution.

• Part 7: Equity Investment and Funding Request (2 to 4 pages)

In this section, you will identify how much you plan or have already invested in the business. Identify the exact amount of funding you will need to start and make sure it ties specifically to your Financial Plan.

If necessary, you can include different funding scenarios, such as a best and worst case scenarios, but remember that later, in the financial section, you must be able to back up these requests and scenarios with corresponding financial statements and projections.

• Part 8: Financial Information (12 to 25 pages)

This section is considered the most important part of your business plan and requires significant effort. Make sure your financial information is reviewed by a professional such as your accountant. The financials should be developed after you’ve analyzed the market and set clear objectives. That’s when you can allocate resources efficiently.

More on Business Plan Tips

How To Write A Business Plan (2024 Guide)

Updated: Apr 17, 2024, 11:59am

Table of Contents

Brainstorm an executive summary, create a company description, brainstorm your business goals, describe your services or products, conduct market research, create financial plans, bottom line, frequently asked questions.

Every business starts with a vision, which is distilled and communicated through a business plan. In addition to your high-level hopes and dreams, a strong business plan outlines short-term and long-term goals, budget and whatever else you might need to get started. In this guide, we’ll walk you through how to write a business plan that you can stick to and help guide your operations as you get started.

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Drafting the Summary

An executive summary is an extremely important first step in your business. You have to be able to put the basic facts of your business in an elevator pitch-style sentence to grab investors’ attention and keep their interest. This should communicate your business’s name, what the products or services you’re selling are and what marketplace you’re entering.

Ask for Help

When drafting the executive summary, you should have a few different options. Enlist a few thought partners to review your executive summary possibilities to determine which one is best.

After you have the executive summary in place, you can work on the company description, which contains more specific information. In the description, you’ll need to include your business’s registered name , your business address and any key employees involved in the business. 

The business description should also include the structure of your business, such as sole proprietorship , limited liability company (LLC) , partnership or corporation. This is the time to specify how much of an ownership stake everyone has in the company. Finally, include a section that outlines the history of the company and how it has evolved over time.

Wherever you are on the business journey, you return to your goals and assess where you are in meeting your in-progress targets and setting new goals to work toward.

Numbers-based Goals

Goals can cover a variety of sections of your business. Financial and profit goals are a given for when you’re establishing your business, but there are other goals to take into account as well with regard to brand awareness and growth. For example, you might want to hit a certain number of followers across social channels or raise your engagement rates.

Another goal could be to attract new investors or find grants if you’re a nonprofit business. If you’re looking to grow, you’ll want to set revenue targets to make that happen as well.

Intangible Goals

Goals unrelated to traceable numbers are important as well. These can include seeing your business’s advertisement reach the general public or receiving a terrific client review. These goals are important for the direction you take your business and the direction you want it to go in the future.

The business plan should have a section that explains the services or products that you’re offering. This is the part where you can also describe how they fit in the current market or are providing something necessary or entirely new. If you have any patents or trademarks, this is where you can include those too.

If you have any visual aids, they should be included here as well. This would also be a good place to include pricing strategy and explain your materials.

This is the part of the business plan where you can explain your expertise and different approach in greater depth. Show how what you’re offering is vital to the market and fills an important gap.

You can also situate your business in your industry and compare it to other ones and how you have a competitive advantage in the marketplace.

Other than financial goals, you want to have a budget and set your planned weekly, monthly and annual spending. There are several different costs to consider, such as operational costs.

Business Operations Costs

Rent for your business is the first big cost to factor into your budget. If your business is remote, the cost that replaces rent will be the software that maintains your virtual operations.

Marketing and sales costs should be next on your list. Devoting money to making sure people know about your business is as important as making sure it functions.

Other Costs

Although you can’t anticipate disasters, there are likely to be unanticipated costs that come up at some point in your business’s existence. It’s important to factor these possible costs into your financial plans so you’re not caught totally unaware.

Business plans are important for businesses of all sizes so that you can define where your business is and where you want it to go. Growing your business requires a vision, and giving yourself a roadmap in the form of a business plan will set you up for success.

How do I write a simple business plan?

When you’re working on a business plan, make sure you have as much information as possible so that you can simplify it to the most relevant information. A simple business plan still needs all of the parts included in this article, but you can be very clear and direct.

What are some common mistakes in a business plan?

The most common mistakes in a business plan are common writing issues like grammar errors or misspellings. It’s important to be clear in your sentence structure and proofread your business plan before sending it to any investors or partners.

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.

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Julia is a writer in New York and started covering tech and business during the pandemic. She also covers books and the publishing industry.

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Business Plan Length: How Long Should a Business Plan be?

Business Plan Template

• April 17, 2024

What should be my business plan length? It is a common question for entrepreneurs who are new to business planning.

Certain people hold the opinion that a business plan should be one page long, while some believe a business plan should be extensive and filled with minute details.

Every business plan and business is different. While some may be heavily text-based and include extensive market research, others may rely on graphics to make their points.

If your business plan is too brief, you’re probably not offering potential investors enough details about your operation. In contrast, if it goes on for too long, you will bore them, and they will lose interest since you are giving them too much information.

Confused about the length of a business plan? Make sure your business plan is detailed enough to show that investing in or getting involved with your business is a good idea.

In light of this, a business plan length should typically be between 15-30 pages . Let’s see the detailed guide on how long should a business plan be

Length Depends on the Purpose of Your Business Plan

Don’t overlook the main mission of your plan while you determine the ideal length of your business plan. The goal of your plan is to persuade readers to support your business, financially or by being an active part of your business.

Certain questions to answer to know your purpose are:

• Who is the target audience, first, for whom you are creating a business plan? (E.g., banks, investors, potential partners, etc.)
• Will it have details of the business and the management team that everyone can read?
• Do you require showing the whole business plan or only the executive summary to your readers?
• Does it contain thorough research, plans, designs, and charts?

Length Also Depends on the Type of Business Plan

The page count of a business plan also depends on its type. There are three types of business plans , let’s deep dive into them, and then you can decide the ideal length of your business plan.

One-Page Business Plan

A business owner prefers a one-page business plan to introduce their business to investors. A one-page startup business plan encompasses the key elements of the company into just one page, much like an executive summary.

One of the advantages is that investors can read it quickly because it is simply one page long and has just enough details to pique their interest.

Mini Business Plan

A mini business plan contains 1 to 10 pages and has every component that is in a normal traditional business plan, but all are synchronized.

A short plan has all the essential elements of your business in bullet points to make it concise. Even though it contains some of the same details, a detailed business plan is still necessary.

If an investor asks for further details, after reading a one-page business plan, then this mini-business plan can come in handy.

This version will contain more detailed information, such as the problem, the solution, the marketing plan, the expected financial results, the target market, the company and management team, short financial tables, business charts, and the details to secure funding.

The Comprehensive Business Plan

Comprehensive business plans can range in length from 15 to 35 pages and beyond.

This business plan provides readers with a complete overview of the company, including the market problem, the proposed solution, company description, objectives, and goals, as well as its marketing plan, competitive analysis, operational plan, financial projections, management team, and funding request.

A comprehensive plan starts with an executive summary and then expands on it with supporting data. This plan includes essential research to validate the overall business idea.

These business plans should only be provided upon request and following the delivery of a one-page or mini-business plan. An extensive business plan gives investors a complete picture of the company while raising the starting capital.

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Elements to Include in a Business Plan

Now that you know the types of businesses and the average length of a plan, let’s move ahead with what to actually include in a plan. By exploring these essential components , you will be able to create a solid plan.

Executive summary

It is an overview of the whole business plan. Generally, entrepreneurs prefer to write it at the last, after having the clarity of each section of the business plan.

Company description

There is a detailed introduction to your business in this section, including the structure, name of your business, location, history, etc.

Market analysis

This is the section where you provide information about the market, like market size, market trends, target market, industry trends, regulatory environment, etc.

Products or services

Mention the products or services you will provide in this section, including the competitive advantage, unique value proposition, and benefits of the product or service.

Sales and marketing strategy

Here should be your marketing plan on how will attract new and retain old customers.

Management team

Here, mention the names, roles, and experiences of key members, managers, and owners.

Financial projections

Attach financial forecasts of at least 3 years to 5 years in this section, including income statement, balance sheet, and cash flow statement.

Additional information that supports the main sections of the business plan, such as resumes, market research data, legal documents, and any other relevant materials.

Tips for Writing a Concise Business Plan

Writing a concise business plan is essential for capturing the attention of potential investors and partners. Here are some tips to help you write a concise business plan:

1. The Length of an Executive Summary is Crucial

The executive summary is typically the whole overview of the business plan, so it is one of the essential components. Therefore, make sure your summary is well-presented and brief with all the details.

The executive summary’s opening paragraph, in particular, is of utmost significance, since if you don’t grab the reader’s attention right away, they won’t continue reading.

It should normally be one to two pages long to get the reader’s interest in your plan.

A good executive summary should be 5-10% of the whole business plan, so write all the information in a synchronized yet clear manner.

Your business plan has six essential components after the executive summary. These sections should each be between one and two pages long.

2. Correctly Format Your Plan

By organizing your plan, you can avoid including information that would make the plan too cluttered, long, and difficult to read.

Formatting will:

• Give readers a more enjoyable experience
• Make it simple for them to locate the exact information
• Help you fit in the ideal length of the business plan
• Increases engagement and your chances of getting results
• Will also help you understand key elements of your business

3. No One Wants a Novel

When it comes to your business plan length, no one would be interested in reading 100 long pages.

If you include every minute detail of your business, then the plan will be excessively lengthy, and the majority of readers will become bored. Keep in mind that no one will read a 100-page business plan.

Instead, include the most significant information in the executive summary, and then in the other sections of your plan, validate what you mentioned in the executive summary.

4. Move Supporting Documents to the Appendix

While an executive summary gives a quick overview of your whole plan, the appendix supports the data presented in the plan, making it simple to read with all the evidence.

For instance, the primary component of your plan includes revenue projections for years 1 and 5. You can include the specifics of how those forecasts were made in your appendix, rather than putting all pertinent information in the main text.

Therefore, to make your plan clutter-free, move all the supporting documents to the appendix.

5. The 15 Minutes Readability

The 15-minute readability is an actual answer to the question; how long should a business plan be? After quickly scanning the main points of a strong business plan for 15 minutes, the reader should have a good understanding of its main components.

Format, headlines, white space, and graphics all significantly impact readability. The main ideas of a business strategy should be presented as rapidly as they are in a business proposal or business presentation.

If you are still confused about how to write a business plan, then you can also use free business plan samples to make your plan perfect.

6. Use Graphics Wisely

Never reduce a plan by removing helpful graphics. Readability and understanding of the plan are much more important with the help of graphics.

Make your financial projections easier to understand by using business charts to illustrate the numbers. As much as possible, use pictures and drawings to illustrate locations, items, sample menus, product images, and other things.

Are You Ready for Your Business Plan?

In final words, a business plan’s length depends on various factors, like the type & complexity of your plan, the audience of your plan, the purpose of the plan, and many more.

The thing that only matters is your plan should reflect all the main elements of your business, whether it is 15 pages or 30 pages with clarity.

Don’t worry if the ideal length of your business plan is still confusing, because you can always rely on a good business plan software like Upmetrics for writing a business plan. So, start writing, and all the best!

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Upmetrics is the #1 business planning software that helps entrepreneurs and business owners create investment-ready business plans using AI. We regularly share business planning insights on our blog. Check out the Upmetrics blog for such interesting reads. Read more

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Business Plan Length: How Long Should a Business Plan Be?

Fifteen to 25 pages is enough room to explain your business’ vision and excite readers to support your company. Importantly, your business plan is not supposed to answer every question someone might possibly have about your business. Rather, it is to give the reader a solid understanding of your business, and allow them to make an informed decision as to whether they should meet with you to take next steps such as to fund or partner with your business.

Having written thousands of business plans over the past 20+ years, Growthink’s business plan consultants have found 15 to 25 pages of text to be the sweet spot. Any more and the time-constrained investor will be forced to skim certain sections of the plan, even if they are generally interested, which could lead them to miss essential information. Any less and the investor will think that the business has not been fully thought through, or will simply not have enough information to make an investment decision.

Download our Ultimate Business Plan Template here

These essential components, taken from our best business plan template , are as follows:

• Executive Summary
• Company Overview
• Industry Analysis
• Customer Analysis
• Competitive Analysis
• Marketing Plan
• Operations Plan
• Management Team
• Financial Plan

Business plans, like other marketing communications documents, should be visually appealing and easy-to-read. This can be accomplished by using charts and graphics and by formatting the plan for readability. Effectively using these techniques will enable the investor to more quickly and easily understand the company’s value proposition within fewer pages.

While a business plan writer should make the body of document between 15 and 25 pages, the Appendix can be used for supplemental information, thus potentially making your full plan longer.

The Appendix should include a full set of financial projections, and as appropriate, technical and/or operational drawings, partnership and/or customer agreements, expanded competitor reviews, and lists of key customers among others.

If the Appendix is long, if you a printing it out, a divider should be used to separate it from the body of the plan, or a separate Appendix document should be prepared. These techniques ensure that the investor is not handed a thick plan, which will make them queasy before even opening it up.

To summarize, the goal of your plan is to create interest – not to have an investor write you a check.

In creating interest, the full story of your company need not be told. Rather, the plan should include the essential elements regarding why an investor should invest and spend more time examining the business opportunity.

The shorter length does not mean that your plan should take less time to prepare. Rather, the entire process will take more time. As Mark Twain once said, “If I had more time, I would write a shorter story.”

So, in answering how long should a business plan be, you can keep it short, yet quite compelling and comprehensive. While condensing your plan to a concise, strong document is challenging and time consuming, fortunately the rewards are significant.

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Business Plan: What It Is and How to Write One in 9 Steps

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 the process. When you make a business plan, you get to take time to step back, research your idea and the market you’re looking to enter, and understand the scope and the strategy behind your tactics.

Learn how to write a business plan with this step-by-step guide, including tips for getting the most of your plan and 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. Ultimately, a business plan serves 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.

The key components of a business plan

Putting together a business plan will highlight the parts of your company’s strategy and goals. It involves several key business plan components that work together to show the roadmap to your success.

Your business plan’s key components should include: 

• Executive summary: A brief overview of your entire plan.
• Company description: An explanation of what your business does and why it’s unique. 
• Market analysis: Research on your industry, target market, and competitors.
• Organization and management: Details about your business structure and the people running it.
• Products or services: A description of what you’re selling and how it benefits customers. 
• Customer segmentation: A breakdown of your target market into different groups.
• Marketing and sales plan: The strategy for promoting and selling your products and services.
• Logistics and operations: An overview of how your business will run its daily activities and manage resources.
• Financials: A complete look at projected income, expenses, and funding needs. 

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 help you 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 business 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 accomplish?
• 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?
• 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

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

No matter what type of business you start, whether a home-based business or service-based, 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. Your market analysis 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.

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. 

That involves asking questions like: 

• 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 otherwise 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

The management and organization section of your business plan should tell readers about who’s running your company. Detail the legal structure of your business. Communicate whether you’ll incorporate your business as an S corporation or create a limited partnership or sole proprietorship.

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 category.

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

Your ideal customer, also known as your target market, is the foundation of your marketing plan , if not your business plan as a whole. 

You’ll want to keep this buyer persona in mind as you make strategic decisions, which is why an overview of who they are is important to understand and include in your business plan.

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

Your marketing efforts are directly informed by your ideal customer. That’s why, as you outline your current decisions and future strategy, your marketing plan should keep a sharp focus on how your business idea is a fit for that ideal customer.

If you’re planning to invest heavily in Instagram marketing or TikTok ads , for example, it makes sense to include whether Instagram and TikTok are leading platforms for your audience. If the answer is no, 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.

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 software 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, with 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 anticipate breaking even on your initial spending.

9. Make a financial plan

No matter how great your idea is—and regardless of the effort, time, and money you invest—a business lives or dies based on its financial health. At the end of the day, people want to work with a business they expect to be viable for the foreseeable future.

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: Cash Flow Management: What It Is & How To Do It (+ 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 business 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, making 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 right 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 a lean business plan 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. If you want to write a business plan purely for your own planning purposes when starting a new small business, a lean business plan is typically the way to go. 

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 would communicate that they aim to help people with hearing disabilities. Donors often request this type of business plan.

📚 Read more: 7 Business Plan Examples to Inspire Your Own (2024)

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 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 templates 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 Platforms (2024)

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, so avoid these common mistakes:

• Bad business idea. Sometimes your idea may be too risky for potential investors or 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 securing 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 operationally. 
• Missing financial projections. Don’t forget 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, sloppy errors like those can evoke a larger sense of distrust in your capabilities to run a successful company. It may seem minor, but legibility and error-free writing helps make a good impression on your business plan’s audience. 

Updating and revising a business plan

Business plans aren’t static documents. The business world moves fast and your plan will need to keep up. You don’t want it to get stale. 

Here’s a good rule of thumb for business plan revisions:

• Monthly: Update KPIs like sales, website traffic, and customer acquisition costs. Review your cash flow. Is your money situation as expected? Make the necessary changes.
• Quarterly : Are you hitting your targets? Be sure to update your financial performance, successful marketing campaigns, and any other recent milestones achieved.
• Yearly : Think of this as a big overhaul. Compare projections to actuals and update your forecasts. 

When updating your plan, don’t just go with your gut. Use data like surveys and website analytics to inform each update. Using outdated information will only lead to confusion and missed opportunities.

Remember not to just update one part of your plan—it’s all connected. Fortunately, with business plan software you can easily give your plan attention and help your business thrive. 

How to present a business plan

Here are some tips for presenting your business plan to stakeholders.

Understand your audience

Start by doing homework on who you’ll be presenting to. Are they investors, potential partners, or a bank? Each group will have different interests and expectations. 

Consider the following about your presentation audience:

• Background: What’s their professional experience?
• Knowledge level: How familiar are they with your industry?
• Interests: What aspects of your plan will excite them most?
• Concerns: What might make them hesitant about your idea?

Depending on who you’re presenting to, you can tweak your presentation accordingly. For example, if you’re presenting to a group of investors, you’d probably want to highlight financial projections and market analysis. 

Structure your presentation

Once you know your audience, you can organize your presentation. Think of this as the story you’ll tell listeners. A well-structured presentation helps listeners follow along and remember key points. 

Your opening should grab attention and give a snapshot of what’s to come. It’s kind of like an elevator pitch that gives an overview of your business idea. 

From there, break your presentation into clear sections:

• Problem: What issue are you solving?
• Solution: How does your business address this problem?
• Market: Who are your potential customers?
• Competition: Who else is in this space, and how are you different?
• Business model: How will you make money?
• Financial projections: What are your expected costs and revenues?
• Team: Who’s involved, and what makes them qualified?

Use visual aids to support your points. Graphs, charts, and even simple illustrations can make your information more digestible. Remember to practice your timing, too. A good presentation flows smoothly, giving each section the right amount of attention for its intended audience. 

Handle objections and questions

Facing objections or questions can be nerve-wracking, but it’s actually a great opportunity. It shows your listeners are engaged and thinking critically about your idea. The key is to be prepared and stay calm. 

Try to anticipate potential questions. Put yourself in the listener’s shoes: What would you want to know if you were them? Come up with clear answers to these questions ahead of time.

When handling questions:

• Listen carefully: Make sure you fully understand the question before answering.
• Stay positive: Even if the question seems critical, respond with enthusiasm.
• Be honest: If you don’t know something, it’s OK. Offer to find out and follow up. 

Use questions as a way to highlight the strengths of your business plan. If a question needs more thought or refresh, it’s perfectly fine to say, “That’s a great question. I’d love to look further into it and get back to you with a detailed answer.”

Handling questions well shows that you’re knowledgeable, thoughtful, and open to feedback—all things that will impress listeners and make them feel confident in your business plan. 

Prepare your business plan today

A business plan can help you identify clear, deliberate next steps for your business, even if you never plan to pitch investors—and it can help you see gaps in your plan before they become issues. 

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

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 clearly communicates your company’s purpose, goals, and growth strategies. It starts with a strong executive summary, then 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 also 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.

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How to Write a Business Plan for a Small Business

Noah Parsons

24 min. read

Updated September 2, 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 writing a business plan

If you’re reading this guide, then you already know why you need a business plan . 

You understand that writing a business plan helps you: 

• Raise money
• Grow strategically
• Keep your business on the right track 

As you start to write your business 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 writing your business 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

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• 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

When writing a business plan, the produces and services section 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

When writing a business plan, 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

The last section of your business plan is your financial plan and forecasts. 

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 to write a 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 writing 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.

Writing 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 writing 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

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In this article:

How long should a business plan be hint: smart is better than short.

How long should a business plan be? That question is typical, and every entrepreneur or business owner involved in a business plan writing process has to answer it sooner than later.

The stakes are high. If you consider that investors and bankers are permanently solicited and thus have a ton of business proposals on their desk (let alone in their inbox), then the quality, the ease of reading, and the length of a business plan are crucial. Not to say vital.

Is your business plan too long to read? You’re out.

Is it boring to read? Out.

Not visual enough? Out.

Not teasing enough? Out.

Not aligned with the code everyone expects you to follow?

Long story short? Business plan writing is a codified exercise, so your interlocutors will have specific (and standard) expectations as to what they want to read. And your job as the business owner is to provide them with just that.

Before getting into typical and ideal business plan lengths, let me give you a quick background reminder, though.

First, this article is part of a more extensive series of articles written to share  tips on how to write a business plan people will want to read . As business coaches, we repeatedly answer the same questions, and coming up with these resources felt logical. So please give them a look!

Second, in case the articles are not enough and you want to get your own business plan ready in no time, we also created  a very efficient business plan template and module (The Business Plan Builder)  to get you going fast, with two hours of business coaching videos, a template you can use immediately, automated financial tables and two designer-made renderings you’ll be able to adapt to your liking. The module will get you going immediately and pays for itself in no time. You have no excuse!

Back to our question now: how long should a business plan be?

In this article, we’ll give you various elements of answer.

We’ll answer the question the best we can, but we’ll also go through a brief reality check to tell you how long a typical business plan is (as compared to an ideal one) and how many pages yours should be if you want to give your business a chance with investors.

We’ll also talk briefly about the importance of pitching your operational plan in your business plan. Finally, we’ll conclude with some hints about the importance of storytelling.

Sounds good? Let’s get going.

The stake: How long should a business plan be?

So, how long should a business plan be, then? Well. Let us come back to the basics:  what is a business plan for? A business plan is an excuse to tell a story people about your business that people will want to remember.

How does that translate in terms of length? Your document should be long enough to convey your story and message. But it should also be short enough to keep people focused and attentive.

That’s not helping too much, we know. But read again. The answer is there (and in the next section, so keep reading).

Your document should be long enough to convey your story and message. If you get people excited about your project with just one page: fantastic. And if you need a few pages to get the same result, that’s fine too.

Your goal is to get people on board, so the stake is to pitch your story in just the right amount of words and pages needed to tease and get the excitement through. Once that occurs, your reader will ask you for more information, which gets you to second base. And then you’ll be able to get the relationship going.

However, there is no point in putting absolutely everything about your business in your business plan document. If the business plan is too long, you’ll lose your reader. And if the design is boring (i.e., black text on a white page), you’ll also lose the reader.

Having said that, the point is obviously not to start printing your business plan in blue on a pink background. It is to turn your business plan into something fancy to read. More on that later, but in short, you have everything to lose in not being concise and teasing!

So – how long is a business plan? Long enough to tease and turn people on. Short enough to keep them focused. That’s it. Period!

Okay, that’s still vague, so we’re going to give you the number you want. Keep reading.

Reality check: how long is a typical business plan, and how many pages should a business plan be?

Ready for the number you’re looking for?

Seven pages, plus the cover page (obviously) and the financial statements in an annex. That’s how long your business plan should be. Not less, not more. Here’s why.

So, how many pages should a business plan be?

As I’ve suggested before, your readers – investors and bankers – expect your business plan to match a code everyone in the industry abides by.

That code is there for a reason. It creates a standardized best practice that shows who’s done their research or not (insights on the investor’s side). And it gives business owners a framework to work with to structure their thinking (insights on the business owner’s side).

According to that code, your business plan should follow a precise outline and include the following seven points (and recommended pages):

• An executive summary
• A big picture presentation of the issue solved by the business idea
• A description of your offering (the products & services) and target market analysis
• A go-to-market strategy presentation (your business model, marketing plan…)
• An operations presentation (including the company description)
• A presentation of your management team
• Your financial plan & projections, plus the corresponding financial documents & cash flow projections

All of them. Not less, not more. Seven!

And, because you don’t want people to die out of boredom, you want each topic covered over one page tops! So, seven topics, seven pages. Plus a cover page and the financial tables, which, as we just said, can be provided in the annex.

If you want to learn more about  business plan outlines and formatting , we wrote an entire article on the topic – follow the link.

How long is a typical business plan?

In comparison, though, the typical business plan is long, bland, and boring.

Most business owners are not aware of the code part of the exercise. Therefore, they have no idea about what they are expected to do. So they think a bit, try and find a free template and write their thoughts without being too careful about the amount of text they’re using.

Walk a mile in your investor’s shoes: how’s that type of business plan looking to you?

Yes, exactly.

The good news, though, is that you have a chance to stand out from the crowd now that you know. So what are you waiting for? It’s time to get started!

Beware of the one-page business plan trap!

Right. Before moving on to the next step – let me finish this point with a short comment on one-page business plans.

Long story short? These can be highly efficient as teasers if (if if if) you have a real strategic plan for your business and you can really (really really really) defend that strategic plan. Otherwise, just a page will lack depth and will likely be pointless.

Or, said differently, the stake is not to do a quick and dirty plan on a page. Instead, it is first to build an elaborate plan that allows you to consider your options for real. And then, to go straight to the point on one page designed to sell your story and tease your reader so bad they’ll want to know more. The logic is really close to the one you’d typically want to use to  create the executive summary of a business plan . Can you see the difference?

To explore the topic in more depth, We’ve also published an article to explain  how to use one page business plans  (and why they can be a trap). Have a look and see for yourself!

In short: How many pages is a business plan?

• The typical business plan is usually way too long
• Your ideal business plan should be concise: it’s a pitch and a teaser!
• Aim for seven key topics, developed on seven pages. Period.

Pitching your operational plan in your business plan is critical.

So we just gave you a framework here: seven key topics, seven pages to tell a story and tease. But what’s the reader looking for exactly?

Again, it depends on who you are talking to.

Suppose you are looking to  write a business plan for a loan . In that case, your interlocutor is likely to be a banker – and their expectations are very specific. We dedicated an article to the topic (follow the link), so I’ll be brief.

A banker wants to see that the operational plan in your business plan will enable you to repay the loan asap. The point, therefore, is to make sure that your seven pages build confidence in your ability to deliver on that.

Now suppose that you are looking to  write an investor proposal . The perspective is dramatically different. An investor is not expecting you to repay a loan. Instead, they expect you to generate profit so they can get their money back a few years from now with an X factor as significant as possible.

There, the point is to show that  the operational plan in your business plan  is (beyond) likely to generate the drive needed to make a profit that makes their investment worthwhile.

As far as the length of your business plan document is concerned, your job is, therefore, to optimize the storytelling power of your presentation. Written and oral.

Again, the point is not to expend the document as much as needed to stuff everything inside it. Instead, it is to tweak and tailor your arguments to fit them nicely into your space. One page for one topic.

Ultimately, the goal is to tease and give people a reason to invite you to the next meeting, so be selective!

How to make the financial projections fit?

Financial projections are an essential component of your business plan  if you remember the list of topics and pages we provided earlier. Still, if you only have one page dedicated to the subject, how do you do? How do you fit all the financial tables into one page?

Well, the keyword we used earlier was ‘financial projections’, which is a matter of showing what targets you have in terms of turnover and EBITDA for the next three to five years.

Reminder: your turnover is the money that comes in, while the EBITDA is the profit leftover on your bank account after all the expenses are paid, but before the taxman claims their share. 

So, well, you could use that important page to throw in a graph showing both elements and a few other indicators. For example, your expected marketing plan budget, expected customer acquisition cost, expected margin or expected return on investment.

To go deeper, think about who your reader is.

If the business plan is written for a banker, show numbers related to your investment capacity and cashflow, and demonstrate your borrowing and repayment capacity.

If you are talking to investors, show that your financial estimates give your company some value and develop valuation numbers that show what’s in for the investors.

Note, however, that the financial statements and tables used to obtain your target numbers (Cashflow, P&L, and balance sheet) should not be displayed on your financial projections page. Instead, you can put them as annex documents at the end of the business plan.

Oh, and just in case you’re wondering how you’ll come up with those financial tables in the first place, we’re providing the automated spreadsheets you’ll need in our Business Plan Builder module – you know what to do!

Smart is better than short: focus on storytelling!

So, how long should a business plan be? How long should a startup business plan be? How many pages should a business plan be? What’s the ideal length of a business plan?

The questions are all the same, so the answer is also the same. To wrap things up, you’ll probably want to keep three key ideas in mind.

Idea one: make your business plan long enough to pass your message, but make it short enough to keep people focused.

Idea two: seven topics, seven pages, plus the financial information (the tables) in the annex. That’s it.

Your business plan should be a teaser , not a profitability report, so the focus should be on building storytelling. This is what business plans are about if you think about it. So, more than making yours short, make it smart!

Idea three: coming up with a short business plan usually requires a lot of business planning work. You first need to build a complete business plan that gets all your ideas laid down before summarizing everything into something straightforward. Sounds unfun, we know, but that’s also an excellent opportunity to stand on the table and take some needed perspective on your business, so why not give it a try?

Meet The Business Plan Builder: 2 hours of tutorial videos and the tools you need to get started

Now – If you are looking for a push to get started with everything we’ve talked about in this article, the  Impactified  Business Plan package was created for you! It’s built around over 2 hours of explanatory videos and comes with a template you’ll be able to use to:

• Figure out what you need to figure out – powerful, uh?
• Understand the business plan code!
• Write your business plan – with just the right amount of words and pages!
• Build your financial estimates – with automated tables!
• Create a visually appealing (designer-made!) document and deck people will want to read!

If you want to stop wasting your time, this is THE most simple business plan template, and you can’t afford to miss it!

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Topics related to How Long Should a Business Plan Be? Hint: Smart is Better Than Short!:

• How long should a business plan be?
• How long is a business plan? How many pages should a business plan be?
• Do I need a business plan software?
• Should I hire a business plan writer?

Need help with building & scaling your business?

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More Insights on Business Plan Writing

Financial Projections: How to write the financial plan in business plan

Hey coach! I’m writing a business plan and I’m wondering how to build the financial projections part of the document. What’s the importance of financial projections exactly – I mean, isn’t it absolute BS? How do I write the financial plan in business plan, and even more importantly, how can I make sense of all those messy tables? Can you help me understand this? Thanks in advance!

Do I Need a Business Plan Consultant? No, You Don’t!

Hey there Coach! I’m a small business owner and I need to find some support with my business plan. People suggested that I find a business plan consultant near me, but that’s a big cost and I’m not too sure about what to expect from that. What’s your opinion about business plan consultants in general? Is there any alternative you would highly recommend? Thanks!

How Much Does a Business Plan Cost? Just Under $100!

Hey coach! I was wondering – how much does a business plan cost? I need one, and I’m thinking about having it written for me, so I’d love your insights. Also, I’ve heard business plan writers cost a lot of money, so I’m interested if you have tips for writing a low-cost business plan! Thanks!

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• Business Planning

Ask The Experts: How Long Should A Business Plan Be?

Business planning can be confusing, and one of the questions that entrepreneurs often ponder is, “how long should a business plan be?”

Asking around doesn’t seem to help much. One camp of people believes that a business plan should be a single page, while the other camp believes that a business plan should be comprehensive and extremely detailed.

The truth is, there is no perfect answer to this question. A plan should be as long as is needed to fulfill its purpose – and not everyone has the same objective when developing a business plan.

Each business plan is unique. While some plans may be text-heavy and go into deep detail with research about its market, others may use graphics to get their points across. The way a business plan writer presents their information can drastically affect the overall length of their business plan.

Does business plan length matter? Yes, but the length of your business plan is highly dependent upon your business, your audience, your writing style, and the type of plan you are developing.

The One-Page Business Plan

Over the last several years, the one-page business plan has become more and more popular as an introduction tool. Very similar to a standard executive summary, a one-page business plan summarizes the important points of the business into a single page. This  business plan format  is extremely digestible but isn’t acceptable for all situations.  

The most applicable scenario for a one-page business plan is for introducing an investor (or another party) to a business that they are unfamiliar with. With only one page, it isn’t too time-consuming for them to read, and provides just enough information to spark their curiosity.

When building your one-page business plan, it is important to realize that a single page does not leave much room for extreme detail. With a one-pager, you will have to choose the elements that are most important and the information that will best describe your business to drive the interest of readers.

However, for an investor who is already curious about your business and seeking to learn about it in detail, a one-page business plan is often not enough. Unfortunately, a business plan of this length does not provide enough context to get into the fine details of your overall strategy.

Is a one-page business plan right for you? Consider the following pros and cons.

• Easy to put together quickly when in a pinch.
• Provides just enough content for readers to easily digest.
• Allows entrepreneurs to explain the market problem, their solution and their strategy for reaching the market.
• Often does not provide enough context for readers to fully understand your business.
• If investors are interested after reading the one-pager, they will likely request a more comprehensive business plan.
• A one-page business plan doesn’t provide enough research and won’t prove the feasibility of a company.

The Mini Business Plan

A “mini business plan” is typically around 1-10 pages and provides much of the same information as a comprehensive business plan. However, the information is condensed and minimizes all fine details and explanations.

A mini business plan cuts to the chase, often using bullet points to fulfill the section. While it includes some of the same information, it doesn’t replace a comprehensive plan. It is perfect in a situation where more detail is required to prove the feasibility of the business but immense detail is not yet necessary.

For example, if an entrepreneur has already shared their one-page plan, but the investor requests more information, a mini business plan can be sent. This version will include more extensive information including the problem, solution, marketing strategy, financial projections, and financial requirements.

Is a mini business plan right for you? Consider the following pros and cons.

• Much more inclusive than a one-pager, but easier to digest than a comprehensive business plan.
• Provides a better balance between document length and business information.
• Can be written within several days.
• Meant for brevity. Does not give enough room to thoroughly explain the major points within the plan.
• Typically excludes certain information such as an operational strategy, exit strategy, and etc.
• Provides a strong introduction to the business, but does not typically include enough research or background information to prove feasibility.

The Comprehensive Business Plan

Comprehensive business plans are full-scale plans that can be anywhere from 15-35 pages and beyond. This business plan gives readers a full view of the business including the market problem, the solution, company mission, objectives and goals, marketing strategy, competitive analysis, operational strategy, financial projections, management team, financial ask, and more.

A comprehensive plan begins with an executive summary (similar to the one-page business plan) and then expands on the summary with details and supporting information. This plan tells the story of the business, connects the entire strategy together, and provides the necessary research to validate the entire idea.

However, comprehensive business plans have their place. Virtually no one will read a 35-page document with no prior knowledge of the business. Instead, these business plans are best given on request, and after a one-page or mini-business plan has already been sent. When  raising seed funding , a comprehensive business plan provides investors with a full scope of the business.

Is writing a comprehensive business plan right for you? Consider the following pros and cons.

• Provides the most detail and information with supporting research and data using text, pie charts , and other visual aids.
• Examines every aspect of the business with a solid go-to-market strategy.
• Gives the most context and answers reader’s questions with full detail.
• Readers may not read through the entire plan and flip directly to specific sections.
• Comprehensive plans require thorough research and preparation and may take weeks to fully complete.
• Plans must be extremely informative and be presented in a way that captures the reader’s attention. If they get bored while reading, they may miss important points.

What Type of Plan Do You Need?

Many entrepreneurs only complete one business plan, and they send that one business plan out for every situation. Unfortunately, this is not an effective method. Instead, entrepreneurs should have all three types of business plans in their arsenal and be able to supply the right business plan when needed. The length of your plan isn’t what’s most important – knowing what type of plan to use, and when, is what will give you an advantage when seeking funding.

Whether you need a one-pager, a mini-plan, or a full-scale comprehensive business plan, we can help. Our experts have written hundreds of winning business plans for startups around the world. We’d love to help you, too.  Contact us  today and let’s write your investor-ready business plan!

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How Many Pages Is a Business Plan?

How many pages is a business plan? In reality, a quality business plan is not based on page length. 3 min read updated on September 19, 2022

How many pages is a business plan? In reality, a quality business plan is not based on page length. It should be measured by readability and how well it summarizes the business plan. A business plan should give the reader a solid overview and idea of the main contents in under fifteen minutes. If the reader skims the document, proper formatting including headings, white space and graphics will help relay the main points of the business plan.

Pages in a Business Plan

Business plan length will depend on the intended use of the plan and how it will be distributed. Length will also depend on what will be included. Questions to consider when planning a business plan include:

• Will a company description be included?
• Will the management team biographies be listed?
• Will an executive summary be sufficient?
• Will detailed research, blueprints and drawings be included?
• Will the language meet legal requirements if used as part of an investment proposal?

If the writer has a page length expectation rough guidelines are:

• Ten to fifteen pages are sufficient for small, internal reports.
• Corporate business plans can be hundreds of pages long.
• Startup and expansion plans used for potential investors, vendors or other business partners can be 20 to 40 pages.
• Venture contests limit page length (including the appendix with financial information), at a minimum 30 pages, and in some rare instances as many as 50 pages.

Elements of a Business Plan

All business plans should be:

• Easy to read.
• Text should be properly spaced.
• Formatting, including bullets, should be used for increased readability.
• Include illustrated charts and tables.
• Have an appendix with all relevant financial details.

Business plans should never be shortened by removing pertinent graphics. For the reader, graphics are an easier way to absorb important information including tables for:

• Income statements
• Balance sheets
• Annual numbers

Photographs and drawings are helpful when showing:

• Samples menus

While graphics, photographs and drawings are very beneficial, don't include material that is not relevant to the business plan. The irrelevant material will distract the reader.

Business Plan Mistakes

Many business plans do not successfully showcase their viable business because the plan is not written well. Mistakes and elements that should be reviewed include the following:

• The plan is written poorly and includes significant issues with spelling, grammar and punctuation. Investors see these types of errors as a lack of attention to detail and raise the concern of what else is wrong with the business. If the plan is riddled with errors, investors are likely to move on to the next plan without hesitation. To avoid this, you should use spell check and have other people edit and proofread the document.
• Authoritative
• Margins that are inconsistent throughout the document.
• Page numbers are missing.
• Charts are not properly labeled or show incorrect units of measurement.
• Tables do not have headings.
• Technical terms are not explained.
• A table of contents is not included.
• Products and services
• Management team
• Competitors
• Industry trends
• Market growth (positive or negative)
• Financial Projections
• Monthly cashflow
• Annual balance sheets covering three years
• The plan should not be vague and difficult to follow. If the plan includes proprietary information, consider showing an executive summary first. Executive summaries can show important information while not including any confidential information. If interest exists after reading the executive summary, using nondisclosure and noncompete will protect the information included in the business plan. In some cases, investors and venture capitalists will not agree to sign any agreements due to the associated legal fees.
• The plan includes too much information. If there is technical information overload, investors may be overwhelmed. The technical information should be in an appendix, rather than the main body of the business plan.

If you need help with understanding how many pages is a business plan, you can post your legal need on UpCounsel's marketplace. UpCounsel accepts only the top 5 percent of lawyers to its site. Lawyers on UpCounsel come from law schools such as Harvard Law and Yale Law and average 14 years of legal experience, including work with or on behalf of companies like Google, Menlo Ventures, and Airbnb.

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How Many Pages Should a Business Plan be

One of the questions that many entrepreneurs face when writing a business plan is: how long should it be? There is no definitive answer to this question, as different types of businesses and investors may have different expectations and preferences. However, there are some general guidelines that can help you craft a business plan that is clear, concise and compelling.

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Keep These Guidelines in Mind When Choosing Your Business Plan

Avoiding extremes: length pitfalls to watch for.

A common mistake that some entrepreneurs make is to write a business plan that is too long or too short. A very long business plan may include unnecessary details, repetitions, or irrelevant information that can bore or confuse the reader. A very short business plan may lack essential information, evidence, or analysis that can convince the reader of the feasibility and potential of the business idea.

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Striking the balance: ideal length for a business plan.

A good rule of thumb is to aim for a business plan that is between 15 and 25 pages long, excluding appendices. This length allows you to cover the main aspects of your business, such as the problem you are solving, the solution you are offering, the market opportunity, the competitive advantage, the revenue model, the marketing strategy, the financial projections, and the team. You can also include a summary or an executive summary at the beginning of your business plan that highlights the key points and captures the reader’s attention.

Flexibility in Length: Tailoring Your Plan to Your Idea

Of course, this rule of thumb is not set in stone, and you may need to adjust the length of your business plan depending on your specific situation. For example, if you are writing a business plan for a very complex or innovative business idea, you may need more pages to explain it clearly and convincingly. On the other hand, if you are writing a business plan for a very simple or straightforward business idea, you may be able to communicate it effectively in fewer pages.

Quality Over Quantity: Crafting a Compelling Business Plan

The most important thing to remember is that the quality of your business plan matters more than the quantity. A well-written business plan that covers all the essential aspects of your business in a clear, concise and compelling way will have a better chance of attracting investors and customers than a poorly-written business plan that is either too long or too short. Therefore, focus on writing a business plan that showcases your value proposition, demonstrates your market potential, and proves your financial viability.

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The length of a business plan can vary greatly depending on its purpose. For a lean startup plan, it can be as short as one page, provided it contains all the essential information.

The key components of a business plan include the executive summary, company description, market analysis, organization and management, service or product line, marketing and sales strategy, funding request, and financial projections. These components work together to create a comprehensive and informative plan.

To make your business plan more engaging, use clear and simple language that is easily understandable. Tailor the plan to suit your specific audience, addressing their needs and expectations. Additionally, incorporate visual elements such as graphs, charts, and infographics to present information in a visually appealing manner.

No, the success of a business plan does not solely depend on its length. Instead, the content, clarity, and effectiveness of presenting and justifying the business idea play a more significant role in determining its success.

Yes, a business plan can become too long if it includes unnecessary details or goes off on tangents. It is essential to keep the plan concise, focused, and to the point, ensuring that every section contributes directly to the overall purpose of the plan.

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The Ultimate Guide: How Many Pages Is A Business Plan?

How Many Pages Is a Business Plan

Creating a business plan is a crucial step for any entrepreneur aiming to establish a successful business. One common question that arises during this process is, “How many pages should a business plan be?” The answer can vary based on several factors, including the business type, target audience, and the plan’s purpose. Understanding these nuances can help you craft a business plan that is both effective and appropriately detailed.

The Ideal Length of a Business Plan

While there’s no one-size-fits-all answer, most business plans typically range from 10 to 20 pages. This length is generally sufficient to cover key aspects of the business without overwhelming the reader. A concise plan allows investors and stakeholders to quickly grasp your vision, market potential, and financial projections .

Factors Influencing Business Plan Length

Several factors can influence the length of your business plan:

• Business Type:  Tech startups might require more detailed plans due to the complexity of their offerings, while service-based businesses might keep it shorter.
• Audience:  If your business plan is for a bank loan, it may need more details, whereas a pitch to a potential investor can be more concise.
• Stage of Business:  A startup may need a more extensive plan to address uncertainties, while an established business can summarize its operations more succinctly.

Key Components of a Business Plan

To ensure your business plan meets the appropriate length while retaining essential details, focus on the following components:

• Executive Summary:  1-2 pages summarizing your business, including mission statement and objectives.
• Business Description:  1-2 pages detailing your industry, structure, and offerings.
• Market Analysis :  2-4 pages discussing market trends, target market, and competitive analysis.
• Organization and Management:  1-2 pages outlining your team structure and management roles.
• Marketing and Sales Strategy:  2-3 pages explaining how you plan to attract and retain customers.
• Funding Request:  1 page detailing your funding needs and future financial plans.
• Financial Projections:  3-5 pages with income statements, cash flow forecasts, and break-even analysis.
• Appendix:  As needed – this can include charts, graphs, or other additional information.

Keeping It Concise

When crafting your business plan, aim to be concise yet comprehensive. Every section should present key insights without unnecessary jargon. Avoid filler content, as every word matters. Using bullet points and visuals, such as graphs and charts, can help convey complex information clearly and succinctly.

Tips for Writing Your Business Plan

Here are some advanced strategies to enhance your business plan writing:

• Know Your Audience:  Tailor the content to their understanding and expectations.
• Be Clear and Specific:  Use precise language and concrete figures to back up your claims.
• Stay Focused:  Stick to relevant information that directly supports your business’s goals and vision.
• Revise and Edit:  After your initial draft, take the time to revise and refine your writing. Ask for feedback from trusted peers.
• Use Visuals Wisely:  Incorporate tables, graphs, and images to break up text and enhance understanding.

Final Thoughts

There isn’t a definitive answer to the length of a business plan, but a range of 10 to 20 pages is often ideal. By focusing on the main components, tailoring content to your audience, and maintaining clarity, you can create a business plan that not only meets formatting expectations but also engages and persuades your readers.

Remember, your business plan is a living document. Regularly update it to reflect changes within your industry, shifts in your business strategy, and any new goals you’ve set. Keeping it relevant will ensure it continues to serve its purpose effectively.

Key Components Every Business Plan Should Include

Creating a solid business plan is essential for any entrepreneur looking to successfully launch or grow their business. An effective plan not only helps you clarify your business idea but also serves as a roadmap for achieving your goals. Here are the key components that every business plan should include.

Executive Summary

The executive summary is a brief summary of your entire business plan. It should encapsulate the vision, mission, and the primary objectives of your business in a concise manner. Often considered one of the most critical sections, it must grab the reader’s attention and encourage them to read further. Key elements to include:

• Business name and location
• Business goals
• Description of products/services
• Target market summary
• Financial highlights

Business Description

Your business description offers a deeper insight into what your business does. It should detail the industry in which you are operating and explain the value your business brings to the market. Consider discussing:

• Industry background
• Business structure (e.g., sole proprietorship, LLC)
• Your unique selling proposition ( USP )
• Short and long-term business objectives

Market Analysis

Understanding your target market and competition is vital. Conduct thorough research to identify your ideal customers and examine market trends. Include:

• Target demographics (age, income, location)
• Market size and growth potential
• Competitive analysis (key competitors, their strengths and weaknesses)
• Market opportunities and threats

Organization and Management

Detail how your business is organized and who is running it. This section helps investors understand your management structure and key team members. You should discuss:

• Organizational structure (chart can be helpful)
• Management team bios with relevant experience
• Ownership stakes
• Advisory board (if applicable)

Products and Services

In this section, describe your products or services in detail. Highlight what differentiates them from competitors and the benefits they provide to customers. Be sure to cover:

• Detailed descriptions of products/services
• Pricing model
• Product lifecycle (introduction, growth, maturity, decline)
• Research and development (pending products or future enhancements)

Marketing and Sales Strategy

Without a robust marketing and sales strategy, your business may struggle to attract and retain customers. Discuss your approaches to gain visibility and sell your products or services. Key points include:

• Marketing channels ( digital marketing , social media, print ads)
• Sales tactics (direct sales, partnerships, online sales)
• Customer engagement and retention strategies
• Pricing strategy

Financial Projections

This section is particularly important for potential investors or lenders. Provide financial forecasts that include anticipated revenue, expenses, and profitability. Essential elements to include are:

• Projected income statements
• Cash flow statements
• Break-even analysis
• Funding requirements (if applicable)

Use the appendix to provide additional details and documents that can enhance your business plan. This could include:

• Resumes of the management team
• Legal agreements (leases, registrations)
• Detailed market research
• Visuals (photos of products, charts)

Each of these components plays a vital role in creating a comprehensive business plan. Investors and stakeholders will refer to your plan to gauge the potential of your business. By crafting an informative and engaging document, you increase your chances of achieving your business goals and securing necessary funding.

Tailoring Your Business Plan for Different Audiences

When developing a business plan, it’s crucial to understand that different audiences will require varying degrees of detail and emphasis. For example, investors may seek in-depth financial projections, while a partner could be more interested in operational plans and vision alignment. Tailoring your business plan for each audience not only makes it more effective but also deepens the engagement with your stakeholders.

Here are some key audiences you might consider when crafting your business plan and what specific aspects you may want to tailor for each:

• Focus on financial projections, ROI (Return on Investment) , and clear exit strategies.
• Highlight the unique value proposition and market opportunity.
• Incorporate industry analysis and competitive landscape.
• Emphasize how collaboration will achieve mutual goals and benefits.
• Detail operational plans and resource requirements.
• Showcase existing strengths that complement the partner’s capabilities.
• Discuss company culture and values to align the team with the vision.
• Outline roles and responsibilities to clarify expectations.
• Provide insight into growth opportunities and career paths within the company.
• Focus on how your product or service meets their needs.
• Explain your customer service philosophy and after-sale support.
• Share customer testimonials or case studies to build credibility.

Additionally, consider the following strategies as you tailor your business plan:

• Language and Tone:  Use language that resonates with the specific audience. For investors, be professional and data-driven; for employees, use an engaging and motivational tone.
• Visuals:  Employ charts, graphs, and visuals that correspond to the audience’s interests. Investors may respond well to finance-related graphs while partners might appreciate operational flow charts.
• Detail Level:  Adjust the level of detail based on the audience’s familiarity with the industry. While investors may require extensive data, a partner might need higher-level insights.

To illustrate how to tailor your business plan effectively across different audiences, here’s a formatted table showcasing key focus areas:

Successful business plans are flexible documents. They should evolve to meet the needs of different audiences. By combining various strategies catered to each stakeholder group, your business plan becomes a powerful tool for communication and engagement.

Remember that tailoring your business plan involves more than just formatting; it’s about understanding your audience’s needs, preferences, and expectations. By strategically crafting your message for each group, you pave the way for better engagement and ultimately, greater success.

Common Mistakes to Avoid When Writing a Business Plan

When embarking on the journey of writing a business plan, it’s crucial to steer clear of common pitfalls that can undermine your success. A well-structured plan not only serves as a roadmap for your business venture but also communicates your vision effectively to potential investors. Here are some critical mistakes to avoid.

Neglecting Market Research

A frequent misstep is underestimating the importance of thorough market research. Without solid data about your target audience and competitors, your business plan will lack credibility. It’s vital to analyze your market dynamics to understand consumer behaviors and preferences. This information will guide your strategies and position your offering competitively.

How to Conduct Effective Market Research

• Identify Your Target Audience : Determine demographics, interests, and spending habits.
• Analyze Competitors : Look at strengths and weaknesses, and identify gaps in the market.
• Utilize Surveys and Interviews : Collect direct feedback from potential customers.

Overlooking the Financial Plan

Inadequate financial planning is another common mistake. Potential investors want to see clear projections and a robust financial strategy. This section includes forecasts for revenue, expenses, and profitability. Failing to outline these aspects may lead them to question the viability of your business.

Components of a Solid Financial Plan

• Revenue Projections : Estimate sales and growth over a specified period.
• Cost Estimates : Include fixed and variable costs.
• Cash Flow Statement : Show projected inflows and outflows.
• Break-Even Analysis : Determine when your business will become profitable.

Being Too Vague

Another mistake involves a lack of specificity in the business plan. Generic statements can dilute your message and confuse readers. Clearly articulate your goals, plans, and tactics to avoid ambiguity.

Tips for Clarity

• Use clear and concise language.
• Provide tangible examples and data to support your claims.
• Define specific objectives with measurable outcomes.

Ignoring the Executive Summary

The executive summary is your first impression; neglecting its importance is detrimental. A well-crafted executive summary encapsulates the essential components of your business plan. It should attract attention and encourage investors to read further.

What to Include in the Executive Summary

• Business Description : Describe your business and its objectives.
• Market Analysis : Brief insights from your research.
• Financial Highlights : Summarize key financial projections.
• Funding Needs : Indicate how much funding is required and its purpose.

Failing to Adapt

A rigid business plan can hinder flexibility and innovation. The market is constantly evolving; your plan should reflect that. Regular reviews and updates ensure that your business plan remains relevant.

How to Maintain Flexibility

• Review and revise your plan quarterly to incorporate changes in the market.
• Encourage feedback from stakeholders to adapt strategies effectively.

Neglecting to Outline Marketing Strategies

Often, entrepreneurs focus extensively on the product but overlook how they will reach their audience. A comprehensive marketing strategy is essential to convert potential customers into lasting clients.

Elements of a Marketing Strategy

• Target Market Identification : Define your ideal customers.
• Brand Positioning : Establish what differentiates your brand.
• Marketing Channels : Choose the best platforms (social media, email, etc.) to communicate with your audience.

Underestimating the Importance of Formatting

While the content of your business plan is paramount, presentation also matters. A well-organized document enhances readability and professionalism.

Best Practices for Formatting

• Use bullet points for lists to aid comprehension.
• Maintain consistent font size and style throughout the document.
• Include visuals, such as graphs or charts, to represent data effectively.

Avoiding these common mistakes in your business plan will significantly enhance its quality and effectiveness. By conducting thorough market research, creating a detailed financial plan, maintaining clarity, and regularly updating your strategy, you can craft a compelling business plan that not only appeals to investors but also serves as a practical guide for your business journey. Remember, your business plan is a living document designed to evolve as your business does.

The Importance of Business Plan Formatting and Structure

Every entrepreneur knows that a well-crafted business plan is essential for success. However, the formatting and structure of that plan can be just as crucial as the content itself. A coherent and organized presentation of a business plan not only enhances readability but also strengthens the impact of the ideas within it.

When potential investors or stakeholders review a business plan, they look for professionalism and clarity. A well-structured document demonstrates careful thought and attention to detail, which can instill confidence in your business. Here’s why business plan formatting and structure matter so much.

Creating Clarity and Focus

Proper formatting helps organize your thoughts, making it easier for readers to grasp key concepts. Consider using bullet points and numbered lists to break down complex information. This approach allows readers to digest data more effectively.

• Bullet Points:  Use these to summarize key risks, benefits, or features.
• Numbered Lists:  Ideal for outlining step-by-step processes or chronological events.

For example, if you’re detailing your sales projections, a simple table will communicate your numbers more effectively than long paragraphs. Here’s how to format such data:

Enhancing Professionalism

Investors often review multiple business plans and quickly form opinions based on initial impressions. A visually appealing layout underscores professionalism. Use a consistent font and size throughout the document. Avoid overly decorative fonts that may distract from the message. Standard fonts like Arial, Calibri, or Times New Roman are usually your best bet.

The spacing between lines and paragraphs affects readability, too. White space gives the eyes a place to rest and helps emphasize key points. Aim to have a clear structure with plenty of sections and headings to guide readers through your document smoothly.

Ease of Navigation

Imagine reading a business plan that’s dense and overwhelming. Many potential investors simply won’t take the time. Clearly defined sections with headings and subheadings will make navigation easier. Include a table of contents at the beginning of your document. Not only does this add a professional touch, but it also allows readers to jump to sections that pique their interest.

Strategic Use of Visuals

Charts and graphs can be extremely impactful when presenting data. These visuals can provide context to your statistics and make them easier to understand. Use visuals to highlight key metrics and trends. Just be sure that they are clear and relevant to the content around them; otherwise, they may confuse rather than clarify.

For instance, a bar graph illustrating customer growth over a few years can convey spikes in demand more effectively than a series of numbers. Remember to label your visuals clearly; otherwise, readers might misinterpret your data.

Showcasing Your Brand Identity

How you format your business plan can reflect your brand’s identity. Use your brand colors and logo strategically throughout the document. While maintaining a professional tone is essential, integrating your brand aesthetic can make your plan stand out. Just ensure that any design choices made serve to enhance, not detract from, your plan’s readability.

Fostering Engagement

Readers are more likely to engage with a well-structured and formatted business plan. If your plan flows well, they are more inclined to read it in its entirety. When you engage readers effectively, you invite them to invest not just their money but also their trust in your vision. An inviting and structured business plan can make all the difference in securing the support you need.

While the information within your business plan is undeniably crucial, never underestimate the power of how that information is presented. A well-formatted and structured business plan will resonate with readers, generate interest, and help pave the way for your business’s success.

Key Takeaway: Creating a business plan can be both an exciting and daunting task for entrepreneurs. Understanding the nuances of how to construct an effective document is paramount for success. Here’s a key takeaway based on essential topics covered in the ultimate guide on writing a business plan.  Understanding the Length and Structure of Your Business Plan   The length of a business plan often varies, typically ranging from 15 to 30 pages. However, the real challenge lies not in the number of pages but in including vital information that aligns with your unique business objectives and target audience. Identify the essential components your plan must include, such as an executive summary, market analysis, company description, organization structure, product offerings, marketing strategies, and financial projections. These key components lay the groundwork for an impactful business plan that effectively communicates your vision.  Adapting the Plan for Different Audiences   Another significant takeaway is the necessity of tailoring your business plan for varying audiences. Whether you are pitching to potential investors, seeking loans from financial institutions, or using your plan for internal purposes, recognizing the audience’s expectations and interests is crucial. For instance, investors might focus more on financial projections and market opportunities, while internal stakeholders may look for practical strategies and operational details. Adjusting the tone and emphasis of your document appropriately can significantly increase its effectiveness.  Avoiding Common Pitfalls   Additionally, entrepreneurs should be aware of common pitfalls to avoid during the writing process. Writing overly complicated language, neglecting formatting, or failing to provide a cohesive structure can confuse readers. Ensuring clarity and cohesiveness can make a substantial difference in how your plan is received.  Remember that a solid business plan successfully intertwines the core sections with a clean structure and appealing formatting. By paying attention to detail, addressing your audience’s needs, and steering clear of common mistakes, you can craft a compelling document that propels your business toward success. Ultimately, a well-structured business plan acts not just as a roadmap for your business journey but also as an essential tool for persuasion when garnering support.

Crafting a well-structured business plan is not just about meeting a page count but also about creating a comprehensive document that effectively communicates your vision. Different businesses may vary in complexity and needs, which consequently affects the required length. While there’s no one-size-fits-all answer to how many pages a business plan should be, understanding your audience and purpose can guide you in finding that balance.

Throughout this guide, we highlighted key components that every effective business plan must contain. Aspects such as an executive summary, market analysis, organizational structure, and financial projections are foundational. These elements not only provide clarity and direction for your endeavor but also serve as vital touchpoints for stakeholders, investors, and partners. By ensuring these components are present and well-articulated, you lay the groundwork for a compelling business narrative.

Tailoring your business plan for specific audiences is crucial. Whether you’re appealing to investors, lenders, or internal stakeholders, the core message may remain the same, but the details should adjust. An investor may be more interested in financial returns and market potential, while a lender might prioritize cash flow projections and repayment strategies. Therefore, understanding your audience’s priorities allows you to emphasize the most relevant elements of your plan. Doing so enhances engagement and increases the likelihood of achieving your desired outcome.

It’s equally important to consider the common mistakes people often encounter when drafting a business plan. Rushing through the planning process or failing to do adequate market research are missteps that can lead to a negatively perceived business plan. Additionally, ignoring the importance of clarity, detail, and precision can hinder your plan’s effectiveness. A well-considered and informed approach ensures you’re presenting a realistic and convincing picture of your business strategy. Avoiding these pitfalls not only improves your plan’s quality but also builds your credibility as an entrepreneur.

Furthermore, the formatting and structure you choose can greatly influence how your business plan is received. A clear, organized format enhances readability and keeps the reader engaged. Proper use of headings, bullet points, and spacing allows for quick navigation, making it easier for your readers to find key information. In contrast, a cluttered or poorly structured document can lead to frustration and disinterest. Remember, clarity is vital—the more accessible your plan, the better the chances it will successfully convey your message.

Each stage of writing your business plan should be treated as an iterative process. Regularly revisiting and revising your plan can lead to a more refined and effective document. As your business evolves and outside market conditions change, your business plan can serve as a dynamic tool that adapts to these shifts. Conducting reviews not only reinforces your commitment to developing a comprehensive plan but also instills confidence in potential investors and partners, knowing you are forward-thinking and responsive to the business landscape.

Ultimately, a successful business plan is akin to a well-crafted story—it must resonate with its intended audience while providing valuable insights into your business aspirations. The page count may vary, but what’s most crucial is the quality of content that lies within those pages. By focusing on the essential components, tailoring your message, avoiding common pitfalls, and ensuring proper formatting, you can create a business plan that stands out in a crowded marketplace.

Remember, the primary goal of any business plan is to serve as a roadmap for your venture. It should articulate your vision in a clear, engaging manner. The attention you give to developing this document will not only benefit you as a business owner but will also inspire trust and enthusiasm in those who may wish to invest in or partner with you. So, take the time to craft your business plan thoughtfully—it’s your chance to make a lasting impression and set the course for your business’s future success.

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How to write an effective business plan in 11 steps (with workbook)

February 02, 2023 | 14 minute read

Writing a business plan is a powerful way to position your small business for success as you set out to meet your goals. Landmark studies suggest that business founders who write one are 16% more likely to build viable businesses than those who don’t and that entrepreneurs focused on high growth are 7% more likely to have written a business plan. 1 Even better, other research shows that owners who complete business plans are twice as likely to grow their business successfully or obtain capital compared with those who don’t. 2

The best time to write a business plan is typically after you have vetted and researched your business idea. (See How to start a business in 15 steps. ) If conditions change later, you can rewrite the plan, much like how your GPS reroutes you if there is traffic ahead. When you update your plan regularly, everyone on your team, including outside stakeholders such as investors, will know where you are headed.

What is a business plan?

Typically 15-20 pages long, a business plan is a document that explains what your business does, what you want to achieve in the business and the strategy you plan to use to get there. It details the opportunities you are going after, what resources you will need to achieve your goals and how you will define success.

Why are business plans important?

Business plans help you think through barriers and discover opportunities you may have recognized subconsciously but have not yet articulated. A business plan can also help you to attract potential lenders, investors and partners by providing them with evidence that your business has all of the ingredients necessary for success.

What questions should a business plan answer?

Your business plan should explain how your business will grow and succeed. A great plan will provide detailed answers to questions that a banker or investor will have before putting money into the business, such as:

• What products or services do you provide?
• Who is your target customer?
• What are the benefits of your product and service for customers?
• How much will you charge?
• What is the size of the market?
• What are your marketing plans?
• How much competition does the business face in penetrating that market?
• How much experience does the management team have in running businesses like it?
• How do you plan to measure success?
• What do you expect the business’s revenue, costs and profit to be for the first few years?
• How much will it cost to achieve the goals stated in the business plan?
• What is the long-term growth potential of the business? Is the business scalable?
• How will you enable investors to reap the rewards of backing the business? Do you plan to sell the business to a bigger company eventually or take it public as your “exit strategy”?

How to write a business plan in 11 steps

This step-by-step outline will make it easier to write an effective business plan, even if you’re managing the day-to-day demands of starting a new business. Creating a table of contents that lists key sections of the plan with page numbers will make it easy for readers to flip to the sections that interest them most.

• Use our editable workbook to capture notes and organize your thoughts as you review these critical steps. Note: To avoid losing your work, please remember to save this PDF to your desktop before you begin.

1. Executive summary

The executive summary is your opportunity to make a great first impression on investors and bankers. It should be just as engaging as the enthusiastic elevator pitch you might give if you bumped into a potential backer in an elevator.

In three to five paragraphs, you’ll want to explain what your business does, why it will succeed and where it will be in five years. The executive summary should include short descriptions of the following:

• Business concept. What will your business do?
• Goals and vision. What do you expect the business to achieve, both financially and for other key stakeholders, such as the community?
• Product or service. What does your product or service do — and how is it different from those of competitors?
• Target market. Who do you expect to buy your product or service?
• Marketing strategy. How will you tell people about your product or service?
• Current revenue and profits. If your business is pre-revenue, offer sales projections.
• Projected revenue and profits. Provide a realistic look at the next year, as well as the next three years, ideally.
• Financial resources needed. How much money do you need to borrow or raise to fund your plan?
• Management team. Who are the company’s leaders and what relevant experience will they contribute?

2. Business overview

Here is where you provide a brief history of the business and describe the product(s) or service(s) it offers. Make sure you describe the problem you are attempting to solve, for whom you will solve it (your customers) and how you will solve it. Be sure to describe your business model (such as direct-to-consumer sales through an online store) so readers can envision how you will make sales. Also mention your business structure (such as a sole proprietorship , general partnership, limited partnership or corporation) and why it is advantageous for the business. And be sure to provide context on the state of your industry and where your business will fit into it.

3. Business goals and vision

Explain what you hope to achieve in the business (your vision) as well as its mission and value proposition. Most founders judge success by the size to which they grow the business using measures such as revenue or number of employees. Your goals may not be solely financial. You may also wish to provide jobs or solve a societal problem. If that’s the case, mention those goals as well.

If you are seeking outside funding, explain why you need the money, how you will put it to work to grow the business and how you expect to achieve the goals you have set for the business. Also explain your exit strategy—that is, how you would enable investors to cash out, whether that means selling the business or taking it public.

4. Management and organization

Many investors say they bet on the team behind a business more than the business idea, trusting that talented and experienced people will be capable of bringing sound business concepts to life. With that in mind, make sure to provide short bios of the key members of your management team (including yourself) that emphasize the relevant experience each individual brings, along with their special talents and industry recognition. Many business plans include headshots of the management team with the bios.

Also describe more about how your organization will be structured. Your company may be a sole proprietorship, a limited liability company (LLC) or a corporation in one or more states.

If you will need to hire people for specific roles, this is the place to mention those plans. And if you will rely on outside consultants for certain roles — such as an outsourced CFO — be sure to make a note of it here. Outside backers want to know if you’ve anticipated the staffing you need.

5. Service or product line

A business will only succeed if it sells something people want or need to buy. As you describe the products or services you will offer, make sure to explain what benefits they will provide to your target customers, how they will differ from competing offerings and what the buying cycle will likely be so it is clear that you can actually sell what you are offering. If you have plans to protect your intellectual property through a copyright or patent filing, be sure to mention that. Also explain any research and development work that is underway to show investors the potential for additional revenue streams.

6. Market/industry analysis

Anyone interested in providing financial backing to your business will want to know how big your company can potentially grow so they have an idea of what kind of returns they can expect. In this section, you’ll be able to convey that by explaining to whom you will be selling and how much opportunity there is to reach them. Key details to include are market size; a strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats (SWOT) analysis ; a competitive analysis; and customer segmentation. Make it clear how you developed any projections you’ve made by citing interviews or research.

Also describe the current state of the industry. Where is there room for improvement? Are most companies using antiquated processes and technology? If your business is a local one, what is the market in your area like? Do most of the restaurants where you plan to open your café serve mediocre food? What will you do better?

In this section, also list competitors, including their names, websites and social media handles. Describe each source of competition and how your business will address it.

7. Sales and marketing

Explain how you will spread the word to potential customers about what you sell. Will you be using paid online search advertising, social media promotions, traditional direct mail, print advertising in local publications, sponsorship of a local radio or TV show, your own YouTube content or some other method entirely? List all of the methods you will use.

Make sure readers know exactly what the path to a sale will be and why that approach will resonate with customers in your ideal target markets as well as existing customer segments. If you have already begun using the methods you’ve outlined, include data on the results so readers know whether they have been effective.

8. Financials

In a new business, you may not have any past financial data or financial statements to include, but that doesn’t mean you have nothing to share. Preparing a budget and financial plan will help show investors or bankers that you have developed a clear understanding of the financial aspects of running your business. (The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) has prepared a guide you can use; SCORE , a nonprofit organization that partners with the SBA, offers a financial projections template to help you look ahead.) For an existing business, you will want to include income statements, profit and loss statements, cash flow statements and balance sheets, ideally going back three years.

Make a list of the specific steps you plan to take to achieve the financial results you have outlined. The steps are generally the most detailed for the first year, given that you may need to revise your plan later as you gather feedback from the marketplace.

Include interactive spreadsheets that contain a detailed financial analysis showing how much it costs your business to produce the goods and services you provide, the profits you will generate, any planned investments and the taxes you will pay. See our startup costs calculator to get started.

9. Financial projections

Creating a detailed sales forecast can help you get outside backers excited about supporting you. A sales forecast is typically a table or simple line graph that shows the projected sales of the company over time with monthly or quarterly details for the next 12 months and a broader projection as much as five years into the future. If you haven’t yet launched the company, turn to your market research to develop estimates. For more information, see “ How to create a sales forecast for your small business. ”

10. Funding request

If you are seeking outside financing such as a loan or equity investment, your potential backers will want to know how much money you need and how you will spend it. Describe the amount you are trying to raise, how you arrived at that number and what type of funding you are seeking (such as debt, equity or a combination of both). If you are contributing some of your own funds, it is worth noting this, as it shows that you have skin in the game.

11. Appendix

This should include any information and supporting documents that will help investors and bankers gain a greater understanding of the potential of your business. Depending on your industry, you might include local permits, licenses, deeds and other legal documents; professional certifications and licenses; media clips; information on patents and other intellectual property; key customer contracts and purchase orders; and other relevant documents.

Some business owners find it helpful to develop a list of key concepts, such as the names of the company’s products and industry terms. This can be helpful if you do business in an industry that may not be familiar to the readers of the business plan.

Tips for creating an effective business plan

Use clear, simple language. It’ll be easier to win people over if your plan is easy to read. Steer clear of industry jargon, and if you must use any phrases the average adult won’t know, be sure to define them.

Emphasize what makes your business unique. Investors and bankers want to know how you will solve a problem or gap in the marketplace differently from anyone else. Make sure you’re conveying your differentiating factors.

Nail the details. An ideal business plan will be detailed and accurate. Make sure that any financial projections you make are realistic and grounded in solid market research. (If you need help in making your calculations, you can get free advice at SCORE.) Seasoned bankers and investors will quickly spot numbers that are overly optimistic.

Take time to polish it. Your final version of the plan should be neat and professional with an attractive layout and copy that has been carefully proofread.

Include professional photos. High-quality shots of your product or place of business can help make it clear why your business stands out.

Updating an existing business plan

Some business owners in rapidly growing businesses update their business plan quarterly. Others do so every six months or every year. When you update your plan make sure you consider these three things:

• Are your goals still current? As you’ve tested your concept, your goals may have changed. The plan should reflect this.
• Have you revised any strategies in response to feedback from the marketplace? You may have found that your offerings resonated with a different customer segment than you expected or that your advertising plan didn’t work and you need to try a different approach. Given that investors will want to see a marketing and advertising plan that works, keeping this section current will ensure you are always ready to meet with one who shows interest.
• Have your staffing needs changed? If you set ambitious goals, you may need help from team members or outside consultants you did not anticipate when you first started the business. Take stock now so you can plan accordingly.

Final thoughts

Most business owners don’t follow their business plans exactly. But writing one will get you off to a much better start than simply opening your doors and hoping for the best, and it will be easier to analyze any aspects of your business that aren’t working later so you can course-correct. Ultimately, it may be one of the best investments you can make in the future of your business.

Business plan FAQs

What are common mistakes when writing a business plan.

The biggest mistake you can make when writing a business plan is creating one before the idea has been properly researched and tested. Not every idea is meant to become a business. Other common mistakes include:

• Not describing your management team in a way that is appealing to investors. Simply cutting and pasting someone’s professional bio into the management section won’t do the trick. You’ll want to highlight the credentials of each team member in a way that is relevant to this business.
• Failing to include financial projections — or including overly optimistic ones. Investors look at a lot of business plans and can tell quickly whether your numbers are accurate or pie in the sky. Have a good small business accountant review your numbers to make sure they are realistic.
• Lack of a clear exit strategy for investors. Investors may want the option to cash out eventually and would want to know how they can go about doing that.
• Slapdash presentation. Make sure to fact-check any industry statistics you cite and that any charts, graphs or images are carefully prepared and easy to read.

What are the different types of business plans?

There are a variety of styles of business plans. Here are three major types:

Traditional business plan. This is a formal document for pitching to investors based on the outline in this article. If your business is a complicated one, the plan may exceed the typical length and stretch to as many as 50 pages.

One-page business plan. This is a simplified version of a formal business plan designed to fit on one page. Typically, each section will be described in bullet points or in a chart format rather than in the narrative style of an executive summary. It can be helpful as a summary document to give to investors — or for internal use. Another variation on the one-page theme is the business model canvas .

Lean plan. This methodology for creating a business plan is ideal for a business that is evolving quickly. It is designed in a way that makes it easy to update on a regular basis. Lean business plans are usually about one page long. The SBA has provided an example of what this type of plan includes on its website.

Is the business plan for a nonprofit different from the plan for other business types?

Many elements of a business plan for a nonprofit are similar to those of a for-profit business. However, because the goal of a nonprofit is achieving its mission — rather than turning a profit — the business plan should emphasize its specific goals on that front and how it will achieve them. Many nonprofits set key performance indicators (KPIs) — numbers that they track to show they are moving the needle on their goals.

Nonprofits will generally emphasize their fundraising strategies in their business plans rather than sales strategies. The funds they raise are the lifeblood of the programs they run.

What is the difference between a business plan, a strategic plan and a marketing plan?

A strategic plan is different from the type of business plan you’ve read about here in that it emphasizes the long-term goals of the business and how your business will achieve them over the long run. A strong business plan can function as both a business plan and a strategic plan.

A marketing plan is different from a business plan in that it is focused on four main areas of the business: product (what you are selling and how you will differentiate it), price (how much your products or services will cost and why), promotion (how you will get your ideal customer to notice and buy what you are selling) and place (where you will sell your products). A thorough business plan may cover these topics, doing double duty as both a business plan and a marketing plan.

Explore more

Editable business plan workbook

Starting a new business

1 . Francis J. Green and Christian Hopp. “Research: Writing a Business Plan Makes Your Startup More Likely to Succeed.” HBR. July 14, 2017. Available online at https://hbr.org/2017/07/research-writing-a-business-plan-makes-your-startup-more-likely-to-succeed.

2 . CorpNet, “The Startup Business Plan: Why It’s Important and How You Can Create One,” June 29, 2022.

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How long your business plan should be?

It’s a common question: How long should a business plan be? This is one of the most important questions to ask when you’re creating your business plan since it impacts how much time and effort you put into writing the document.

Introduction (3 to 5 pages)

Market analysis (9 to 22 pages), company description (1 to 2 pages), organization and management (3 to 5 pages), marketing and sales strategies (4 to 6 pages), product or service (4 to 10 pages), equity investment and funding request (2 to 4 pages), financial information (12 to 25 pages), in conclusion.

In answering the question as to how long a business plan should be, the first thing to know is that it shouldn’t be any longer than necessary. Why are you writing the document in the first place? Recall that it should be considered a “living document.” You’ll want to revise it over time.

In this article, we’ll give you a good idea about how many pages should a business plan be so that you know how much work is required ahead of time!

The introduction section of your business plan should be around three to five pages long and is your chance to seize the reader’s attention and give them a broad overview of what you’re trying to do. You should include:

• The problem that you are solving or an issue in need of resolution
• How your product, service, or company can solve the problem
• Why it matters for the reader (the investor or company executive) and why they’ll care about the suggested solutions
• How much of a profit do you believe you’ll realize?
• Who is your target audience? What are their demographics?
• What is the size of the market?
• How large of a market share do you believe you can seize?

These points help paint a picture of who you are and what you intend to achieve.

In brief, your introductory section should include:

• An attention-grabbing Cover Page (1 page)
• An Executive Summary (1 to 2 pages); and
• A Table of Contents (1 page)

Generally, a market analysis should include the following:

• Background information about your company and its products/services
• An overview of the industry with an examination of key trends that are driving change in the marketplace (industry structure)
• Identification of customer needs and how these compare to competitive offerings (customer profiles), which will help you determine where there is an opportunity for profitable growth.

It’s also essential to understand how well positioned your company is relative to competitors on various performance indicators such as product quality or service levels.

The company description is a snapshot of your organization’s history, what you do, and how the values that drive success. It should be succinct – no more than two pages.

The following are some potential parts to include in this section:

• How long has the company existed? What were its early years like?
• How does it operate today?
• How have recent changes impacted operations or strategy, and why was change needed?
• What sets your business apart from competitors (products/services)?
• Why would someone want to work at the organization as opposed to others out there in similar industries?

The organization and management section of a standard business plan includes all the information about running and developing your organization. You also explain what your company’s culture is like and who your executive team members are.

This section should cover how you will promote your products/services, the media channels being used, and whether or not there is any need for additional help. How much of a budget do you have? What’s your target audience? Have all these questions been answered before spending valuable time creating ads without knowing if they will produce results?

The product or service section is one of the most important parts and should give an in-depth look at your company’s products and services. How will they be produced? How much do you charge for them? This section may take some time to write if it includes things like manufacturing costs, but it’ll save time later when making decisions about how to sell your goods.

The investment and funding request section is a brief overview of the requester’s strengths, what you need from an equity partner, how much it’ll cost an investor to be invested in your business, and other pertinent information.

This section is detailed and provides all relevant information about the company’s financials, such as how much money you’ve made in past years. This includes a comparison to other companies of similar size or industry.

The length of a typical business plan ranges from 15-25 pages. How long yours be? That’s up to you. How much information do your readers need or want about your company and its plans for growth? For example, if investors are looking at investing in your company, they may require more detailed financial information.

Finally, keep in mind that the Executive Summary at the beginning of your plan is the section most people will read and pay attention to the most. You’ll want to write it after you’ve written the rest of your document as it summarizes everything you’ve put together. However, you’ll want to ensure that the summary is presented in an exciting and engaging style so that it keeps the reader’s interest.

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• Business plans

You are a hard worker who does constant labor on the job. You could be a construction worker, electrician, fisherman or woman, or a scientist, hard labor requires a lot of supplies. You want certain tools for your job that prevents you from possible issues or injuries. Your job can be dangerous, and it could be quite stressful not being able to accomplish one thing during your work hours. Your safety is your top priority. You enjoy the hard labor, so you rely on a lot of planning ahead. Your job requires tools for safety and for storage as well.

You want constant supplies for your job, supplies that make it easier for you to finish the task at hand. In your job, you run the risk of toxication, burned from chemicals, and electrocuted. You risk your life every day in your labor job. That is why supplies are essential to your daily work life. The listed supplies are some supplies that are required for your daily work life. These supplies are a way to plan your job and accomplish your job tasks. You will appreciate having the supplies to make it easier for you to do your job in labor.

Event planning can make or break a business. Events can help market products, improve business networks, and launch successful ventures, but that is only if they are considered a success. Whether your event includes a series of speakers or simply a short welcome from the CEO, the business's message can be lost if the audio isn't up to par. That's why the products on this list are so important to planning the event.

This list goes beyond the microphone and speaker, since those are often provided by the venue. A professional event planner should bring their own inventory of a few key products to ensure they can handle the audio. A couple of cords, a filter, and some stands should cover any last minute concerns that might arise. It's definitely a good idea to have these products on stand by because the audio is one of the most important aspects of the event.

As a part of your journalism career, it involves traveling and the weather. You report the weather, and sometimes it could be hard to speak with your microphone with chattering teeth. When it comes to the cold or rainy seasons, it can be tough for you to report the weather. You need the supplies to keep you dry and warm while reporting the weather news forecast. You do not want to catch a cold or get frostbite while trying to warn people about the current weather conditions. It is a part of your job that involves traveling and the weather.

It can be freezing during the winter season, especially when you have to stand outside to report the news. You want to stay focused on the camera and speak clearly without your teeth chattering or the distraction from the cold breeze. As a reporter, the weather can make it difficult for you to have a clear mind and clear speech. You are risking your body during the cold season with determination to report information for everyone's safety. You love your career in journalism, but you also have to rely on thinking ahead. Importantly, you need the supplies to keep yourself and your equipment from freezing during the winter season.

How to Write a Business Plan (Plus Examples & Templates)

Have you ever wondered how to write a business plan step by step? Mike Andes, told us: 

This guide will help you write a business plan to impress investors.

Throughout this process, we’ll get information from Mike Andes, who started Augusta Lawn Care Services when he was 12 and turned it into a franchise with over 90 locations. He has gone on to help others learn how to write business plans and start businesses.  He knows a thing or two about writing  business plans!

We’ll start by discussing the definition of a business plan. Then we’ll discuss how to come up with the idea, how to do the market research, and then the important elements in the business plan format. Keep reading to start your journey!

What Is a Business Plan?

A business plan is simply a road map of what you are trying to achieve with your business and how you will go about achieving it. It should cover all elements of your business including: 

• Finding customers
• Plans for developing a team
•  Competition
• Legal structures
• Key milestones you are pursuing

If you aren’t quite ready to create a business plan, consider starting by reading our business startup guide .

Get a Business Idea

Before you can write a business plan, you have to have a business idea. You may see a problem that needs to be solved and have an idea how to solve it, or you might start by evaluating your interests and skills. 

Mike told us, “The three things I suggest asking yourself when thinking about starting a business are:

• What am I good at?
• What would I enjoy doing?
• What can I get paid for?”

If all three of these questions don’t lead to at least one common answer, it will probably be a much harder road to success. Either there is not much market for it, you won’t be good at it, or you won’t enjoy doing it. 

As Mike told us, “There’s enough stress starting and running a business that if you don’t like it or aren’t good at it, it’s hard to succeed.”

If you’d like to hear more about Mike’s approach to starting a business, check out our YouTube video

Conduct Market Analysis

Market analysis is focused on establishing if there is a target market for your products and services, how large the target market is, and identifying the demographics of people or businesses that would be interested in the product or service. The goal here is to establish how much money your business concept can make.

Product and Service Demand

A search engine is your best friend when trying to figure out if there is demand for your products and services. Personally, I love using presearch.org because it lets you directly search on a ton of different platforms including Google, Youtube, Twitter, and more. Check out the screenshot for the full list of search options.

With quick web searches, you can find out how many competitors you have, look through their reviews, and see if there are common complaints about the competitors. Bad reviews are a great place to find opportunities to offer better products or services. 

If there are no similar products or services, you may have stumbled upon something new, or there may just be no demand for it. To find out, go talk to your most honest friend about the idea and see what they think. If they tell you it’s dumb or stare at you vacantly, there’s probably no market for it.

You can also conduct a survey through social media to get public opinion on your idea. Using Facebook Business Manager , you could get a feel for who would be interested in your product or service.

 I ran a quick test of how many people between 18-65  you could reach in the U.S. during a week. It returned an estimated 700-2,000 for the total number of leads, which is enough to do a fairly accurate statistical analysis.

Identify Demographics of Target Market

Depending on what type of business you want to run, your target market will be different. The narrower the demographic, the fewer potential customers you’ll have. If you did a survey, you’ll be able to use that data to help define your target audience. Some considerations you’ll want to consider are:

• Other Interests
• Marital Status
• Do they have kids?

Once you have this information, it can help you narrow down your options for location and help define your marketing further. One resource that Mike recommended using is the Census Bureau’s Quick Facts Map . He told us,  

“It helps you quickly evaluate what the best areas are for your business to be located.”

How to Write a Business Plan

Now that you’ve developed your idea a little and established there is a market for it, you can begin writing a business plan. Getting started is easier with the business plan template we created for you to download. I strongly recommend using it as it is updated to make it easier to create an action plan. 

Each of the following should be a section of your business plan:

• Business Plan Cover Page
• Table of Contents
• Executive Summary
• Company Description
• Description of Products and Services

SWOT Analysis

• Competitor Data
• Competitive Analysis
• Marketing Expenses Strategy 

Pricing Strategy

• Distribution Channel Assessment
• Operational Plan
• Management and Organizational Strategy
• Financial Statements and/or Financial Projections

We’ll look into each of these. Don’t forget to download our free business plan template (mentioned just above) so you can follow along as we go. 

How to Write a Business Plan Step 1. Create a Cover Page

The first thing investors will see is the cover page for your business plan. Make sure it looks professional. A great cover page shows that you think about first impressions.

A good business plan should have the following elements on a cover page:

• Professionally designed logo
• Company name
• Mission or Vision Statement
• Contact Info

Basically, think of a cover page for your business plan like a giant business card. It is meant to capture people’s attention but be quickly processed.

How to Write a Business Plan Step 2. Create a Table of Contents

Most people are busy enough that they don’t have a lot of time. Providing a table of contents makes it easy for them to find the pages of your plan that are meaningful to them.

A table of contents will be immediately after the cover page, but you can include it after the executive summary. Including the table of contents immediately after the executive summary will help investors know what section of your business plan they want to review more thoroughly.

Check out Canva’s article about creating a  table of contents . It has a ton of great information about creating easy access to each section of your business plan. Just remember that you’ll want to use different strategies for digital and hard copy business plans.

How to Write a Business Plan Step 3. Write an Executive Summary

An executive summary is where your business plan should catch the readers interest.  It doesn’t need to be long, but should be quick and easy to read.

Mike told us,

How long should an executive summary bein an informal business plan?

For casual use, an executive summary should be similar to an elevator pitch, no more than 150-160 words, just enough to get them interested and wanting more. Indeed has a great article on elevator pitches .  This can also be used for the content of emails to get readers’ attention.

It consists of three basic parts:

• An introduction to you and your business.
• What your business is about.
• A call to action

Example of an informal executive summary 

One of the best elevator pitches I’ve used is:

So far that pitch has achieved a 100% success rate in getting partnerships for the business.

What should I include in an executive summary for investors?

Investors are going to need a more detailed executive summary if you want to secure financing or sell equity. The executive summary should be a brief overview of your entire business plan and include:

• Introduction of yourself and company.
• An origin story (Recognition of a problem and how you came to solution)
• An introduction to your products or services.
• Your unique value proposition. Make sure to include intellectual property.
• Where you are in the business life cycle
• Request and why you need it.

Successful business plan examples

The owner of Urbanity told us he spent 2 months writing a 75-page business plan and received a $250,000 loan from the bank when he was 23. Make your business plan as detailed as possible when looking for financing. We’ve provided a template to help you prepare the portions of a business plan that banks expect.

Here’s the interview with the owner of Urbanity:

When to write an executive summary?

Even though the summary is near the beginning of a business plan, you should write it after you complete the rest of a business plan. You can’t talk about revenue, profits, and expected expenditures if you haven’t done the market research and created a financial plan.

What mistakes do people make when writing an executive summary?

Business owners commonly go into too much detail about the following items in an executive summary:

• Marketing and sales processes
• Financial statements
• Organizational structure
• Market analysis

These are things that people will want to know later, but they don’t hook the reader. They won’t spark interest in your small business, but they’ll close the deal.

How to Write a Business Plan Step 4. Company Description

Every business plan should include a company description. A great business plan will include the following elements while describing the company:

• Mission statement
• Philosophy and vision
• Company goals

Target market

• Legal structure

Let’s take a look at what each section includes in a good business plan.

Mission Statement

A mission statement is a brief explanation of why you started the company and what the company’s main focus is. It should be no more than one or two sentences. Check out HubSpot’s article 27 Inspiring Mission Statement for a great read on informative and inspiring mission and vision statements. 

Company Philosophy and Vision

The company philosophy is what drives your company. You’ll normally hear them called core values.  These are the building blocks that make your company different. You want to communicate your values to customers, business owners, and investors as often as possible to build a company culture, but make sure to back them up.

What makes your company different?

Each company is different. Your new business should rise above the standard company lines of honesty, integrity, fun, innovation, and community when communicating your business values. The standard answers are corporate jargon and lack authenticity. 

Examples of core values

One of my clients decided to add a core values page to their website. As a tech company they emphasized the values:

•  Prioritize communication.
•  Never stop learning.
•  Be transparent.
•  Start small and grow incrementally.

These values communicate how the owner and the rest of the company operate. They also show a value proposition and competitive advantage because they specifically focus on delivering business value from the start. These values also genuinely show what the company is about and customers recognize the sincerity. Indeed has a great blog about how to identify your core values .

What is a vision statement?

A vision statement communicate the long lasting change a business pursues. The vision helps investors and customers understand what your company is trying to accomplish. The vision statement goes beyond a mission statement to provide something meaningful to the community, customer’s lives, or even the world.

Example vision statements

The Alzheimer’s Association is a great example of a vision statement:

A world without Alzheimer’s Disease and other dementia.

It clearly tells how they want to change the world. A world without Alzheimers might be unachievable, but that means they always have room for improvement.

Business Goals

You have to measure success against goals for a business plan to be meaningful. A business plan helps guide a company similar to how your GPS provides a road map to your favorite travel destination. A goal to make as much money as possible is not inspirational and sounds greedy.

Sure, business owners want to increase their profits and improve customer service, but they need to present an overview of what they consider success. The goals should help everyone prioritize their work.

How far in advance should a business plan?

Business planning should be done at least one year in advance, but many banks and investors prefer three to five year business plans. Longer plans show investors that the management team  understands the market and knows the business is operating in a constantly shifting market. In addition, a plan helps businesses to adjust to changes because they have already considered how to handle them.

Example of great business goals

My all time-favorite long-term company goals are included in Tesla’s Master Plan, Part Deux . These goals were written in 2016 and drive the company’s decisions through 2026. They are the reason that investors are so forgiving when Elon Musk continually fails to meet his quarterly and annual goals.

If the progress aligns with the business plan investors are likely to continue to believe in the company. Just make sure the goals are reasonable or you’ll be discredited (unless you’re Elon Musk).

You did target market research before creating a business plan. Now it’s time to add it to the plan so others understand what your ideal customer looks like. As a new business owner, you may not be considered an expert in your field yet, so document everything. Make sure the references you use are from respectable sources. 

Use information from the specific lender when you are applying for lending. Most lenders provide industry research reports and using their data can strengthen the position of your business plan.

A small business plan should include a section on the external environment. Understanding the industry is crucial because we don’t plan a business in a vacuum. Make sure to research the industry trends, competitors, and forecasts. I personally prefer IBIS World for my business research. Make sure to answer questions like:

• What is the industry outlook long-term and short-term?
• How will your business take advantage of projected industry changes and trends?
• What might happen to your competitors and how will your business successfully compete?

Industry resources

Some helpful resources to help you establish more about your industry are:

• Trade Associations
• Federal Reserve
• Bureau of Labor Statistics

Legal Structure

There are five basic types of legal structures that most people will utilize:

• Sole proprietorships
• Limited Liability Companies (LLC)

Partnerships

Corporations.

• Franchises.

Each business structure has their pros and cons. An LLC is the most common legal structure due to its protection of personal assets and ease of setting up. Make sure to specify how ownership is divided and what roles each owner plays when you have more than one business owner.

You’ll have to decide which structure is best for you, but we’ve gathered information on each to make it easier.

Sole Proprietorship

A sole proprietorship is the easiest legal structure to set up but doesn’t protect the owner’s personal assets from legal issues. That means if something goes wrong, you could lose both your company and your home.

To start a sole proprietorship, fill out a special tax form called a  Schedule C . Sole proprietors can also join the American Independent Business Alliance .

Limited Liability Company (LLC)

An LLC is the most common business structure used in the United States because an LLC protects the owner’s personal assets. It’s similar to partnerships and corporations, but can be a single-member LLC in most states. An LLC requires a document called an operating agreement.

Each state has different requirements. Here’s a link to find your state’s requirements . Delaware and Nevada are common states to file an LLC because they are really business-friendly. Here’s a blog on the top 10 states to get an LLC.

Partnerships are typically for legal firms. If you choose to use a partnership choose a Limited Liability Partnership. Alternatively, you can just use an LLC.

Corporations are typically for massive organizations. Corporations have taxes on both corporate and income tax so unless you plan on selling stock, you are better off considering an LLC with S-Corp status . Investopedia has good information corporations here .

There are several opportunities to purchase successful franchises. TopFranchise.com has a list of companies in a variety of industries that offer franchise opportunities. This makes it where an entrepreneur can benefit from the reputation of an established business that has already worked out many of the kinks of starting from scratch.

How to Write a Business Plan Step 5. Products and Services

This section of the business plan should focus on what you sell, how you source it, and how you sell it. You should include:

• Unique features that differentiate your business products from competitors
• Intellectual property
• Your supply chain
• Cost and pricing structure 

Questions to answer about your products and services

Mike gave us a list  of the most important questions to answer about your product and services:

• How will you be selling the product? (in person, ecommerce, wholesale, direct to consumer)?
• How do you let them know they need a product?
• How do you communicate the message?
• How will you do transactions?
• How much will you be selling it for?
• How many do you think you’ll sell and why?

Make sure to use the worksheet on our business plan template .

How to Write a Business Plan Step 6. Sales and Marketing Plan

The marketing and sales plan is focused on the strategy to bring awareness to your company and guides how you will get the product to the consumer.  It should contain the following sections:

SWOT Analysis stands for strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. Not only do you want to identify them, but you also want to document how the business plans to deal with them.

Business owners need to do a thorough job documenting how their service or product stacks up against the competition.

If proper research isn’t done, investors will be able to tell that the owner hasn’t researched the competition and is less likely to believe that the team can protect its service from threats by the more well-established competition. This is one of the most common parts of a presentation that trips up business owners presenting on Shark Tank .

SWOT Examples

Examples of strengths and weaknesses could be things like the lack of cash flow, intellectual property ownership, high costs of suppliers, and customers’ expectations on shipping times.

Opportunities could be ways to capitalize on your strengths or improve your weaknesses, but may also be gaps in the industry. This includes:

• Adding offerings that fit with your current small business
• Increase sales to current customers
• Reducing costs through bulk ordering
• Finding ways to reduce inventory
•  And other areas you can improve

Threats will normally come from outside of the company but could also be things like losing a key member of the team. Threats normally come from competition, regulations, taxes, and unforeseen events.

The management team should use the SWOT analysis to guide other areas of business planning, but it absolutely has to be done before a business owner starts marketing. 

Include Competitor Data in Your Business Plan

When you plan a business, taking into consideration the strengths and weaknesses of the competition is key to navigating the field. Providing an overview of your competition and where they are headed shows that you are invested in understanding the industry.

For smaller businesses, you’ll want to search both the company and the owners names to see what they are working on. For publicly held corporations, you can find their quarterly and annual reports on the SEC website .

What another business plans to do can impact your business. Make sure to include things that might make it attractive for bigger companies to outsource to a small business.

Marketing Strategy

The marketing and sales part of business plans should be focused on how you are going to make potential customers aware of your business and then sell to them.

If you haven’t already included it, Mike recommends:

“They’ll want to know about Demographics, ages, and wealth of your target market.”

Make sure to include the Total addressable market .  The term refers to the value if you captured 100% of the market.

Advertising Strategy

You’ll explain what formats of advertising you’ll be using. Some possibilities are:

• Online: Facebook and Google are the big names to work with here.
• Print : Print can be used to reach broad groups or targeted markets. Check out this for tips .
• Radio : iHeartMedia is one of the best ways to advertise on the radio
• Cable television : High priced, hard to measure ROI, but here’s an explanation of the process
• Billboards: Attracting customers with billboards can be beneficial in high traffic areas.

You’ll want to define how you’ll be using each including frequency, duration, and cost. If you have the materials already created, including pictures or links to the marketing to show creative assets.

Mike told us “Most businesses are marketing digitally now due to Covid, but that’s not always the right answer.”

Make sure the marketing strategy will help team members or external marketing agencies stay within the brand guidelines .

This section of a business plan should be focused on pricing. There are a ton of pricing strategies that may work for different business plans. Which one will work for you depends on what kind of a business you run.

Some common pricing strategies are:

• Value-based pricing – Commonly used with home buying and selling or other products that are status symbols.
• Skimming pricing – Commonly seen in video game consoles, price starts off high to recoup expenses quickly, then reduces over time.
• Competition-based pricing – Pricing based on competitors’ pricing is commonly seen at gas stations.
• Freemium services –  Commonly used for software, where there is a free plan, then purchase options for more functionality.

HubSpot has a great calculator and blog on pricing strategies.

Beyond explaining what strategy your business plans to use, you should include references for how you came to this pricing strategy and how it will impact your cash flow.

Distribution Plan

This part of a business plan is focused on how the product or service is going to go through the supply chain. These may include multiple divisions or multiple companies. Make sure to include any parts of the workflow that are automated so investors can see where cost savings are expected and when.

Supply Chain Examples

For instance, lawn care companies  would need to cover aspects such as:

• Suppliers for lawn care equipment and tools
• Any chemicals or treatments needed
• Repair parts for sprinkler systems
• Vehicles to transport equipment and employees
• Insurance to protect the company vehicles and people.

Examples of Supply Chains

These are fairly flat supply chains compared to something like a clothing designer where the clothes would go through multiple vendors. A clothing company might have the following supply chain:

• Raw materials
• Shipping of raw materials
• Converting of raw materials to thread
• Shipping thread to produce garments
• Garment producer
• Shipping to company
• Company storage
• Shipping to retail stores

There have been advances such as print on demand that eliminate many of these steps. If you are designing completely custom clothing, all of this would need to be planned to keep from having business disruptions.

The main thing to include in the business plan is the list of suppliers, the path the supply chain follows, the time from order to the customer’s home, and the costs associated with each step of the process.

According to BizPlanReview , a business plan without this information is likely to get rejected because they have failed to research the key elements necessary to make sales to the customer.

How to Write a Business Plan Step 7. Company Organization and Operational Plan

This part of the business plan is focused on how the business model will function while serving customers.  The business plan should provide an overview of  how the team will manage the following aspects:

Quality Control

• Legal environment

Let’s look at each for some insight.

Production has already been discussed in previous sections so I won’t go into it much. When writing a business plan for investors, try to avoid repetition as it creates a more simple business plan.

If the organizational plan will be used by the team as an overview of how to perform the best services for the customer, then redundancy makes more sense as it communicates what is important to the business.

Quality control policies help to keep the team focused on how to verify that the company adheres to the business plan and meets or exceeds customer expectations.

Quality control can be anything from a standard that says “all labels on shirts can be no more than 1/16″ off center” to a defined checklist of steps that should be performed and filled out for every customer.

There are a variety of organizations that help define quality control including:

• International Organization for Standardization – Quality standards for energy, technology, food, production environments, and cybersecurity
• AICPA – Standard defined for accounting.
• The Joint Commission – Healthcare
• ASHRAE – HVAC best practices

You can find lists of the organizations that contribute most to the government regulation of industries on Open Secrets . Research what the leaders in your field are doing. Follow their example and implement it in your quality control plan.

For location, you should use information from the market research to establish where the location will be. Make sure to include the following in the location documentation.

• The size of your location
• The type of building (retail, industrial, commercial, etc.)
• Zoning restrictions – Urban Wire has a good map on how zoning works in each state
• Accessibility – Does it meet ADA requirements?
• Costs including rent, maintenance, utilities, insurance and any buildout or remodeling costs
• Utilities – b.e.f. has a good energy calculator .

Legal Environment

The legal requirement section is focused on defining how to meet the legal requirements for your industry. A good business plan should include all of the following:

• Any licenses and/or permits that are needed and whether you’ve obtained them
• Any trademarks, copyrights, or patents that you have or are in the process of applying for
• The insurance coverage your business requires and how much it costs
• Any environmental, health, or workplace regulations affecting your business
• Any special regulations affecting your industry
• Bonding requirements, if applicable

Your local SBA office can help you establish requirements in your area. I strongly recommend using them. They are a great resource.

Your business plan should include a plan for company organization and hiring. While you may be the only person with the company right now, down the road you’ll need more people. Make sure to consider and document the answers to the following questions:

• What is the current leadership structure and what will it look like in the future?
• What types of employees will you have? Are there any licensing or educational requirements?
• How many employees will you need?
• Will you ever hire freelancers or independent contractors?
• What is each position’s job description?
• What is the pay structure (hourly, salaried, base plus commission, etc.)?
• How do you plan to find qualified employees and contractors?

One of the most crucial parts of a business plan is the organizational chart. This simply shows the positions the company will need, who is in charge of them and the relationship of each of them. It will look similar to this:

Our small business plan template has a much more in-depth organizational chart you can edit to include when you include the organizational chart in your business plan.

How to Write a Business Plan Step 8. Financial Statements 

No business plan is complete without financial statements or financial projections. The business plan format will be different based on whether you are writing a business plan to expand a business or a startup business plan. Let’s dig deeper into each.

Provide All Financial Income from an Existing Business

An existing business should use their past financial documents including the income statement, balance sheet, and cash flow statement to find trends to estimate the next 3-5 years.

You can create easy trendlines in excel to predict future revenue, profit and loss, cash flow, and other changes in year-over-year performance. This will show your expected performance assuming business continues as normal.

If you are seeking an investment, then the business is probably not going to continue as normal. Depending on the financial plan and the purpose of getting financing, adjustments may be needed to the following:

• Higher Revenue if expanding business
• Lower Cost of Goods Sold if purchasing inventory with bulk discounts
• Adding interest if utilizing financing (not equity deal)
• Changes in expenses
• Addition of financing information to the cash flow statement
• Changes in Earnings per Share on the balance sheet

Financial modeling is a challenging subject, but there are plenty of low-cost courses on the subject. If you need help planning your business financial documentation take some time to watch some of them.

Make it a point to document how you calculated all the changes to the income statement, balance sheet, and cash flow statement in your business plan so that key team members or investors can verify your research.

Financial Projections For A Startup Business Plan

Unlike an existing business, a startup doesn’t have previous success to model its future performance. In this scenario, you need to focus on how to make a business plan realistic through the use of industry research and averages.

Mike gave the following advice in his interview:

Financial Forecasting Mistakes

One of the things a lot of inexperienced people use is the argument, “If I get one percent of the market, it is worth $100 million.” If you use this, investors are likely to file the document under bad business plan examples.

Let’s use custom t-shirts as an example.

Credence Research estimated in 2018 there were 11,334,800,000 custom t-shirts sold for a total of $206.12 Billion, with a 6% compound annual growth rate.

With that data,  you can calculate that the industry will grow to $270 Billion in 2023 and that the average shirt sold creates $18.18 in revenue.

Combine that with an IBIS World estimate of 11,094 custom screen printers and that means even if you become an average seller, you’ll get .009% of the market.

Here’s a table for easier viewing of that information.

The point here is to make sure your business proposal examples make sense.

You’ll need to know industry averages such as cost of customer acquisition, revenue per customer, the average cost of goods sold, and admin costs to be able to create accurate estimates.

Our simple business plan templates walk you through most of these processes. If you follow them you’ll have a good idea of how to write a business proposal.

How to Write a Business Plan Step 9. Business Plan Example of Funding Requests

What is a business plan without a plan on how to obtain funding?

The Small Business Administration has an example for a pizza restaurant that theoretically needed nearly $20k to make it through their first month.

In our video, How to Start a $500K/Year T-Shirt Business (Pt. 1 ), Sanford Booth told us he needed about $200,000 to start his franchise and broke even after 4 months.

Freshbooks estimates it takes on average 2-3 years for a business to be profitable, which means the fictitious pizza company from the SBA could need up to $330k to make it through that time and still pay their bills for their home and pizza shop.

Not every business needs that much to start, but realistically it’s a good idea to assume that you need a fairly large cushion.

Ways to get funding for a small business

There are a variety of ways to cover this. the most common are:

• Bootstrapping – Using your savings without external funding.
• Taking out debt – loans, credit cards
• Equity, Seed Funding – Ownership of a percentage of the company in exchange for current funds
• Crowdsourcing – Promising a good for funding to create the product

Keep reading for more tips on how to write a business plan.

How funding will be used

When asking for business financing make sure to include:

• How much to get started?
• What is the minimum viable product and how soon can you make money?
• How will the money be spent?

Mike emphasized two aspects that should be included in every plan, 

How to Write a Business Plan Resources

Here are some links to a business plan sample and business plan outline. 

• Sample plan

It’s also helpful to follow some of the leading influencers in the business plan writing community. Here’s a list:

• Wise Plans –  Shares a lot of information on starting businesses and is a business plan writing company.
• Optimus Business Plans –  Another business plan writing company.
• Venture Capital – A venture capital thread that can help give you ideas.

How to Write a Business Plan: What’s Next?

We hope this guide about how to write a simple business plan step by step has been helpful. We’ve covered:

• The definition of a business plan
• Coming up with a business idea
• Performing market research
• The critical components of a business plan
• An example business plan

In addition, we provided you with a simple business plan template to assist you in the process of writing your startup business plan. The startup business plan template also includes a business model template that will be the key to your success.

Don’t forget to check out the rest of our business hub .

Have you written a business plan before? How did it impact your ability to achieve your goals?

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How to write a business plan in 12 steps (2024 edition)

This guide breaks down how to write a business plan and what you need to think about to make your business plan as persuasive as possible.

20 August 2024

This guide breaks down how to write a business plan, step-by-step, detailing what your document needs to include and what you need to think about to make your business plan as persuasive as possible.

What is a business plan?

A business plan is an essential document that can provide immense value for new and existing companies of all sizes. It is an overview that includes an outline of your business, its key objectives and plan for achieving important goals.

This information can be used to communicate strategic actions to internal teams and also attract interest from potential partners and investors . However, writing a business plan can be a lengthy and involved process. For many, using a business plan template can be a good way to get started.

For best results, you’ll need to do a lot of thinking and planning before you start writing your business plan. This way you have all the information and resources you need at your fingertips and won’t be under time pressure to come up with something at the last minute. After all, a well-thought-out business plan can help you avoid generic information and set your company up for success.

Download your free business plan template .

Why write a business plan?

Writing your business plan helps to get your strategy nailed down and onto the page. A plan that stays in your head is probably going to be full of unrealistic assumptions and biases, whereas a strategically thought-out and organised approach forces you to notice your blind spots and find a way forward.

If you’re looking for financing, a bank or investor needs to be persuaded by your business proposal and the opportunity to work with you. Therefore, a well-written business plan can help provide potential financial partners with the confidence that your business can become profitable. Your business plan gives them a comprehensive view of all aspects of your business and details your strategy for achieving your goals.

What are the main sections of a business plan?

Whatever your line of work, your business plan will generally need to provide the following:

An executive summary

A business overview

The market opportunity

Your products/services

How to write a business plan

Make sure you cover each of the following steps when preparing your document:

1. Write an executive summary

This section of your business plan should be 1–2 pages in length and enables potential financiers or partners to get an overview of what your business does and – most importantly — what the opportunity is for them. If they’re interested in the opportunity, they’ll conduct their own due diligence - and this will start with going through your business plan and financials.

It’s a good idea to write your executive summary last, when you’ve clarified your thinking around every section of the document. As an overview section, you don’t want to add any new content that isn’t in your business plan. Aim to keep this summary succinct and engaging by using simple, plain language, as this is much more persuasive than complicated or academic wording.

Use sub-headings and bullet points to help your most important information stand out, especially as busy executives may simply scan your executive summary and use this to decide whether they want to find out more.

What to include in an executive summary?

Make sure you include details on:

What your business does

What the opportunity is

What your unique selling points / differentiators are

How much funding you’re looking for

What the funding will be used for

How you'll succeed

Remember, you’re providing the big picture overview of your business - the detail is in the rest of the document and in the appendices.

2. Write your business overview

This section of your business plan needs to be more than just a list of what your business does. Its purpose is to excite those you’re hoping will work with you or help to fund your business.

Information to address includes:

What's the purpose of your business?

What problem does your business’ product or service solve?

What niche could it fill?

What’s different about your offering?

How are you better than anyone else at what you do?

Consider what your customer value proposition is by deciding what you want to achieve and what your number 1 benefit is for your customer.

3. Identify your USP

Think about what your unique selling points (USP) or differentiators are, and what proof-points you can provide to back them up.

For example, you can use terms like “market-leading” but if you don’t provide any evidence to back up your claims, your reader will take them with a big pinch of salt!

You should certainly reference any awards or endorsements that position you as the best person to provide your product or service, as well as any client testimonials. Make sure you include any education or experience that makes you an expert in your field as well.

4. Describe the market opportunity

Show you understand your industry, market and where you fit in it. While no-one can predict the future, offer up where you think the opportunity is for your business and make sales projections based on that. 

For example, imagine your business is selling personalised cookies - there's little competition in your area and you see your market opportunity to create designs for all calendar and holiday events. You expect to increase sales by 30% in one year and 50% in three years, driven primarily by word-of-mouth referrals.

Make sure you also consider macro trends that may create opportunities for you, such as social, environmental, or technological changes that may affect buying behaviour.

5. Include a SWOT analysis

Whatever your business strengths or opportunities, they’ll always be known and unknown weaknesses and threats; there’s no such thing as certainty in business or in life!

However, you can demonstrate that you’ve examined your business through different lenses and have a thorough understanding of it by doing a SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats) analysis.

Don’t worry about drawing attention to your business’ shortcomings - every opportunity has them and it’ll give investors and partners confidence in you that you won't bury your head in the sand. Naturally, it's important that you specify what you’re going to do to address these weaknesses and counter these threats.

Here are some areas you can think about to get started: reputation, technology, location, experience, staff, overheads, competition, suppliers and price.

6. Present a competitor analysis

Let’s face it, no matter what industry you’re in, or what you’re selling, there’s going to be other businesses offering the same thing. But instead of worrying about the competition, use this as a positive opportunity to up your game and work out the unique advantages you have that will keep you competitive.

Identify your top 3 competitors and analyse what they're doing well and where they’re coming up short. Try to be as objective as possible and identify how to differentiate yourself from them.

You should also look into who the industry leaders are and what the benchmarks are for your industry so that you can set yourself targets for continuous improvement.

7. Create a customer persona

A customer persona is a fictional person who represents your company's ideal customer. Naturally, the persona can be based on a real person - the more you get to know your ideal customer, the more targeted and successful your marketing efforts will be.

To create a customer persona, you need to conduct research into your ideal customer’s age, sex, income, employment, daily activities, interests and hobbies. If you’re feeling unsure about your customer persona, you may need to give your ideal customer further thought and download the customer persona template to get started.

8. Write your marketing strategy

When you’ve created your customer persona, you need to work out how you’re going to reach them. Do they hang out on social media apps, like Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, Twitter or LinkedIn? Or are they more used to local, traditional marketing like free local papers or high foot traffic areas?

Once you’ve figured where your audience is likely to hang out, you can outline your strategies for promoting and advertising your products or services in the next 12 months.

Make a list of the marketing channels you’ll use to achieve your advertising strategy and be sure to include your budget. How much can you set aside for advertising? And where are you most likely to see a return on your efforts? Paid ads on Facebook? Half or full paid spreads in an industry magazine? Or even a direct mail out? 

For more structured help around this, check out free course: Business 101 | Get social with your business on Facebook . 

9. Design your customer retention strategy

Business success relies heavily on the relationship you’re able to build with your customers. What techniques will you use to keep them coming back? Consider the following:

What can your business do to increase the number of repeat customers? 

Does your business have a referral or loyalty program? 

Do you have a post-purchase follow up in place?

Will you use surveys to track customer satisfaction?

What ways can you continue delivering outstanding service?

Is there a way to continue educating and adding value to your customers?

10. Present your financials

Most people who are looking at investing their time and/or money in your business will want to see your financial statements - your performance to date and your projections over the short and medium term. They'll also want to know how much you’ve received in funding to date and what these other sources of funding are - including your own investment.

Current finances

You need to show how your business has performed financially over the last year, highlighting metrics such as positive cashflow , net profit and assets.

Financial forecasts

You should also provide a balance forecast projecting total assets, total liabilities and net assets over 1, 2 and 3 years, and a profit and loss forecast for the same periods detailing gross profit /net sales, total expenses and net profit/loss. Finally, you should also provide a cash flow forecast month by month over the next year.

It’s also a good idea to speak to an expert like an accountant or bookkeeper about your finances and get advice on how best to present them in this all-important section of your business plan.

11. Detail how much funding is needed

Naturally, you also need to be very clear about how much money you’re looking for and what you plan to do with it. If you’re looking for a loan , you need to detail what it’s for, over what period it’ll be repaid, and what collateral you have to secure it.

12. Propose an exit strategy

Any financial stakeholder in your business will want a return on investment. If you’re pursuing this type of funding, you should include some detail on your proposed exit strategy . For example, do you want to sell the company at some point or go public?

Similarly, you should outline your succession plan so the business can continue to operate if you decide to step away from it. Likewise, you need a plan for what happens if the business loses money and can’t sustain itself. Documenting this means that everyone is on the same page and potential investors have this information upfront.

Frequently asked questions about writing a business plan:

When to write a business plan.

Typically, entrepreneurs write their business plans within the first year of operations. A business plan is a tool that helps business owners refine their strategy, attract partners and financiers, and grow their business.

If a business plan is written too soon, it may lack the substance that comes with time in the market. However, it’s important to note that a business plan isn't a static document - it can and should change as the business evolves.

How long should your business plan be?

There are no hard and fast rules around how long your business plan should be - it just needs to include all the relevant information. Aim for clear, concise sections and build a business plan that is as easy to read and navigate as possible.

Using a business plan template can help you make sure you have everything covered off, while also having a document that looks as professional as possible. Make sure you run a spelling and grammar check too - any sloppy errors can undermine your credibility.

What’s a business plan on a page?

It’s important to write your business plan as it helps to embed your strategy - as well as communicate what you’re about to potential partners or investors. When you have a comprehensive business plan you can easily adapt it to suit different audiences. For example, a full business plan is essential for raising capital but a business plan on a page may be enough for potential partners or employees.

What do venture capitalists look for in a business plan?

Venture capitalists invest money into businesses with the goal of achieving a return on their investment within the short to medium term. As a result, they’re looking for an attractive market opportunity, a clear point of differentiation, a strong management team, a proven track record, solid financials and, importantly, an exit opportunity.

Where to go for help or more information?

There are many great resources out there to help you fine-tune your business strategy and write your business plan. The Australian Government has a comprehensive website dedicated to supporting businesses at all stages of their journey.

You can also get help from Business Enterprise Centres , business advisors, accountants and fellow business owners, so your venture has the very best chance of success. 

Disclaimer:  Information provided in this article is of a general nature and does not consider your personal situation. It does not constitute legal, financial, or other professional advice and should not be relied upon as a statement of law, policy or advice. You should consider whether this information is appropriate to your needs and, if necessary, seek independent advice. This information is only accurate at the time of publication. Although every effort has been made to verify the accuracy of the information contained on this webpage, MYOB disclaims, to the extent permitted by law, all liability for the information contained on this webpage or any loss or damage suffered by any person directly or indirectly through relying on this information.

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Step-by-Step Guide to Writing a Simple Business Plan

By Joe Weller | October 11, 2021

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A business plan is the cornerstone of any successful company, regardless of size or industry. This step-by-step guide provides information on writing a business plan for organizations at any stage, complete with free templates and expert advice. 

Included on this page, you’ll find a step-by-step guide to writing a business plan and a chart to identify which type of business plan you should write . Plus, find information on how a business plan can help grow a business and expert tips on writing one .

What Is a Business Plan?

A business plan is a document that communicates a company’s goals and ambitions, along with the timeline, finances, and methods needed to achieve them. Additionally, it may include a mission statement and details about the specific products or services offered.

A business plan can highlight varying time periods, depending on the stage of your company and its goals. That said, a typical business plan will include the following benchmarks:

• Product goals and deadlines for each month
• Monthly financials for the first two years
• Profit and loss statements for the first three to five years
• Balance sheet projections for the first three to five years

Startups, entrepreneurs, and small businesses all create business plans to use as a guide as their new company progresses. Larger organizations may also create (and update) a business plan to keep high-level goals, financials, and timelines in check.

While you certainly need to have a formalized outline of your business’s goals and finances, creating a business plan can also help you determine a company’s viability, its profitability (including when it will first turn a profit), and how much money you will need from investors. In turn, a business plan has functional value as well: Not only does outlining goals help keep you accountable on a timeline, it can also attract investors in and of itself and, therefore, act as an effective strategy for growth.

For more information, visit our comprehensive guide to writing a strategic plan or download free strategic plan templates . This page focuses on for-profit business plans, but you can read our article with nonprofit business plan templates .

Business Plan Steps

The specific information in your business plan will vary, depending on the needs and goals of your venture, but a typical plan includes the following ordered elements:

• Executive summary
• Description of business
• Market analysis
• Competitive analysis
• Description of organizational management
• Description of product or services
• Marketing plan
• Sales strategy
• Funding details (or request for funding)
• Financial projections

If your plan is particularly long or complicated, consider adding a table of contents or an appendix for reference. For an in-depth description of each step listed above, read “ How to Write a Business Plan Step by Step ” below.

Broadly speaking, your audience includes anyone with a vested interest in your organization. They can include potential and existing investors, as well as customers, internal team members, suppliers, and vendors.

Do I Need a Simple or Detailed Plan?

Your business’s stage and intended audience dictates the level of detail your plan needs. Corporations require a thorough business plan — up to 100 pages. Small businesses or startups should have a concise plan focusing on financials and strategy.

How to Choose the Right Plan for Your Business

In order to identify which type of business plan you need to create, ask: “What do we want the plan to do?” Identify function first, and form will follow.

Use the chart below as a guide for what type of business plan to create:

Is the Order of Your Business Plan Important?

There is no set order for a business plan, with the exception of the executive summary, which should always come first. Beyond that, simply ensure that you organize the plan in a way that makes sense and flows naturally.

The Difference Between Traditional and Lean Business Plans

A traditional business plan follows the standard structure — because these plans encourage detail, they tend to require more work upfront and can run dozens of pages. A Lean business plan is less common and focuses on summarizing critical points for each section. These plans take much less work and typically run one page in length.

In general, you should use a traditional model for a legacy company, a large company, or any business that does not adhere to Lean (or another Agile method ). Use Lean if you expect the company to pivot quickly or if you already employ a Lean strategy with other business operations. Additionally, a Lean business plan can suffice if the document is for internal use only. Stick to a traditional version for investors, as they may be more sensitive to sudden changes or a high degree of built-in flexibility in the plan.

How to Write a Business Plan Step by Step

Writing a strong business plan requires research and attention to detail for each section. Below, you’ll find a 10-step guide to researching and defining each element in the plan.

Step 1: Executive Summary

The executive summary will always be the first section of your business plan. The goal is to answer the following questions:

• What is the vision and mission of the company?
• What are the company’s short- and long-term goals?

See our  roundup of executive summary examples and templates for samples. Read our executive summary guide to learn more about writing one.

Step 2: Description of Business

The goal of this section is to define the realm, scope, and intent of your venture. To do so, answer the following questions as clearly and concisely as possible:

• What business are we in?
• What does our business do?

Step 3: Market Analysis

In this section, provide evidence that you have surveyed and understand the current marketplace, and that your product or service satisfies a niche in the market. To do so, answer these questions:

• Who is our customer? 
• What does that customer value?

Step 4: Competitive Analysis

In many cases, a business plan proposes not a brand-new (or even market-disrupting) venture, but a more competitive version — whether via features, pricing, integrations, etc. — than what is currently available. In this section, answer the following questions to show that your product or service stands to outpace competitors:

• Who is the competition? 
• What do they do best? 
• What is our unique value proposition?

Step 5: Description of Organizational Management

In this section, write an overview of the team members and other key personnel who are integral to success. List roles and responsibilities, and if possible, note the hierarchy or team structure.

Step 6: Description of Products or Services

In this section, clearly define your product or service, as well as all the effort and resources that go into producing it. The strength of your product largely defines the success of your business, so it’s imperative that you take time to test and refine the product before launching into marketing, sales, or funding details.

Questions to answer in this section are as follows:

• What is the product or service?
• How do we produce it, and what resources are necessary for production?

Step 7: Marketing Plan

In this section, define the marketing strategy for your product or service. This doesn’t need to be as fleshed out as a full marketing plan , but it should answer basic questions, such as the following:

• Who is the target market (if different from existing customer base)?
• What channels will you use to reach your target market?
• What resources does your marketing strategy require, and do you have access to them?
• If possible, do you have a rough estimate of timeline and budget?
• How will you measure success?

Step 8: Sales Plan

Write an overview of the sales strategy, including the priorities of each cycle, steps to achieve these goals, and metrics for success. For the purposes of a business plan, this section does not need to be a comprehensive, in-depth sales plan , but can simply outline the high-level objectives and strategies of your sales efforts. 

Start by answering the following questions:

• What is the sales strategy?
• What are the tools and tactics you will use to achieve your goals?
• What are the potential obstacles, and how will you overcome them?
• What is the timeline for sales and turning a profit?
• What are the metrics of success?

Step 9: Funding Details (or Request for Funding)

This section is one of the most critical parts of your business plan, particularly if you are sharing it with investors. You do not need to provide a full financial plan, but you should be able to answer the following questions:

• How much capital do you currently have? How much capital do you need?
• How will you grow the team (onboarding, team structure, training and development)?
• What are your physical needs and constraints (space, equipment, etc.)?

Step 10: Financial Projections

Apart from the fundraising analysis, investors like to see thought-out financial projections for the future. As discussed earlier, depending on the scope and stage of your business, this could be anywhere from one to five years. 

While these projections won’t be exact — and will need to be somewhat flexible — you should be able to gauge the following:

• How and when will the company first generate a profit?
• How will the company maintain profit thereafter?

Business Plan Template

Download Business Plan Template

Microsoft Excel | Smartsheet

This basic business plan template has space for all the traditional elements: an executive summary, product or service details, target audience, marketing and sales strategies, etc. In the finances sections, input your baseline numbers, and the template will automatically calculate projections for sales forecasting, financial statements, and more.

For templates tailored to more specific needs, visit this business plan template roundup or download a fill-in-the-blank business plan template to make things easy. 

If you are looking for a particular template by file type, visit our pages dedicated exclusively to Microsoft Excel , Microsoft Word , and Adobe PDF business plan templates.

How to Write a Simple Business Plan

A simple business plan is a streamlined, lightweight version of the large, traditional model. As opposed to a one-page business plan , which communicates high-level information for quick overviews (such as a stakeholder presentation), a simple business plan can exceed one page.

Below are the steps for creating a generic simple business plan, which are reflected in the template below .

• Write the Executive Summary This section is the same as in the traditional business plan — simply offer an overview of what’s in the business plan, the prospect or core offering, and the short- and long-term goals of the company. 
• Add a Company Overview Document the larger company mission and vision. 
• Provide the Problem and Solution In straightforward terms, define the problem you are attempting to solve with your product or service and how your company will attempt to do it. Think of this section as the gap in the market you are attempting to close.
• Identify the Target Market Who is your company (and its products or services) attempting to reach? If possible, briefly define your buyer personas .
• Write About the Competition In this section, demonstrate your knowledge of the market by listing the current competitors and outlining your competitive advantage.
• Describe Your Product or Service Offerings Get down to brass tacks and define your product or service. What exactly are you selling?
• Outline Your Marketing Tactics Without getting into too much detail, describe your planned marketing initiatives.
• Add a Timeline and the Metrics You Will Use to Measure Success Offer a rough timeline, including milestones and key performance indicators (KPIs) that you will use to measure your progress.
• Include Your Financial Forecasts Write an overview of your financial plan that demonstrates you have done your research and adequate modeling. You can also list key assumptions that go into this forecasting. 
• Identify Your Financing Needs This section is where you will make your funding request. Based on everything in the business plan, list your proposed sources of funding, as well as how you will use it.

Simple Business Plan Template

Download Simple Business Plan Template

Microsoft Excel |  Microsoft Word | Adobe PDF  | Smartsheet

Use this simple business plan template to outline each aspect of your organization, including information about financing and opportunities to seek out further funding. This template is completely customizable to fit the needs of any business, whether it’s a startup or large company.

Read our article offering free simple business plan templates or free 30-60-90-day business plan templates to find more tailored options. You can also explore our collection of one page business templates . 

How to Write a Business Plan for a Lean Startup

A Lean startup business plan is a more Agile approach to a traditional version. The plan focuses more on activities, processes, and relationships (and maintains flexibility in all aspects), rather than on concrete deliverables and timelines.

While there is some overlap between a traditional and a Lean business plan, you can write a Lean plan by following the steps below:

• Add Your Value Proposition Take a streamlined approach to describing your product or service. What is the unique value your startup aims to deliver to customers? Make sure the team is aligned on the core offering and that you can state it in clear, simple language.
• List Your Key Partners List any other businesses you will work with to realize your vision, including external vendors, suppliers, and partners. This section demonstrates that you have thoughtfully considered the resources you can provide internally, identified areas for external assistance, and conducted research to find alternatives.
• Note the Key Activities Describe the key activities of your business, including sourcing, production, marketing, distribution channels, and customer relationships.
• Include Your Key Resources List the critical resources — including personnel, equipment, space, and intellectual property — that will enable you to deliver your unique value.
• Identify Your Customer Relationships and Channels In this section, document how you will reach and build relationships with customers. Provide a high-level map of the customer experience from start to finish, including the spaces in which you will interact with the customer (online, retail, etc.). 
• Detail Your Marketing Channels Describe the marketing methods and communication platforms you will use to identify and nurture your relationships with customers. These could be email, advertising, social media, etc.
• Explain the Cost Structure This section is especially necessary in the early stages of a business. Will you prioritize maximizing value or keeping costs low? List the foundational startup costs and how you will move toward profit over time.
• Share Your Revenue Streams Over time, how will the company make money? Include both the direct product or service purchase, as well as secondary sources of revenue, such as subscriptions, selling advertising space, fundraising, etc.

Lean Business Plan Template for Startups

Download Lean Business Plan Template for Startups

Microsoft Word | Adobe PDF

Startup leaders can use this Lean business plan template to relay the most critical information from a traditional plan. You’ll find all the sections listed above, including spaces for industry and product overviews, cost structure and sources of revenue, and key metrics, and a timeline. The template is completely customizable, so you can edit it to suit the objectives of your Lean startups.

See our wide variety of  startup business plan templates for more options.

How to Write a Business Plan for a Loan

A business plan for a loan, often called a loan proposal , includes many of the same aspects of a traditional business plan, as well as additional financial documents, such as a credit history, a loan request, and a loan repayment plan.

In addition, you may be asked to include personal and business financial statements, a form of collateral, and equity investment information.

Download free financial templates to support your business plan.

Tips for Writing a Business Plan

Outside of including all the key details in your business plan, you have several options to elevate the document for the highest chance of winning funding and other resources. Follow these tips from experts:.

• Keep It Simple: Avner Brodsky , the Co-Founder and CEO of Lezgo Limited, an online marketing company, uses the acronym KISS (keep it short and simple) as a variation on this idea. “The business plan is not a college thesis,” he says. “Just focus on providing the essential information.”
• Do Adequate Research: Michael Dean, the Co-Founder of Pool Research , encourages business leaders to “invest time in research, both internal and external (market, finance, legal etc.). Avoid being overly ambitious or presumptive. Instead, keep everything objective, balanced, and accurate.” Your plan needs to stand on its own, and you must have the data to back up any claims or forecasting you make. As Brodsky explains, “Your business needs to be grounded on the realities of the market in your chosen location. Get the most recent data from authoritative sources so that the figures are vetted by experts and are reliable.”
• Set Clear Goals: Make sure your plan includes clear, time-based goals. “Short-term goals are key to momentum growth and are especially important to identify for new businesses,” advises Dean.
• Know (and Address) Your Weaknesses: “This awareness sets you up to overcome your weak points much quicker than waiting for them to arise,” shares Dean. Brodsky recommends performing a full SWOT analysis to identify your weaknesses, too. “Your business will fare better with self-knowledge, which will help you better define the mission of your business, as well as the strategies you will choose to achieve your objectives,” he adds.
• Seek Peer or Mentor Review: “Ask for feedback on your drafts and for areas to improve,” advises Brodsky. “When your mind is filled with dreams for your business, sometimes it is an outsider who can tell you what you’re missing and will save your business from being a product of whimsy.”

Outside of these more practical tips, the language you use is also important and may make or break your business plan.

Shaun Heng, VP of Operations at Coin Market Cap , gives the following advice on the writing, “Your business plan is your sales pitch to an investor. And as with any sales pitch, you need to strike the right tone and hit a few emotional chords. This is a little tricky in a business plan, because you also need to be formal and matter-of-fact. But you can still impress by weaving in descriptive language and saying things in a more elegant way.

“A great way to do this is by expanding your vocabulary, avoiding word repetition, and using business language. Instead of saying that something ‘will bring in as many customers as possible,’ try saying ‘will garner the largest possible market segment.’ Elevate your writing with precise descriptive words and you'll impress even the busiest investor.”

Additionally, Dean recommends that you “stay consistent and concise by keeping your tone and style steady throughout, and your language clear and precise. Include only what is 100 percent necessary.”

Resources for Writing a Business Plan

While a template provides a great outline of what to include in a business plan, a live document or more robust program can provide additional functionality, visibility, and real-time updates. The U.S. Small Business Association also curates resources for writing a business plan.

Additionally, you can use business plan software to house data, attach documentation, and share information with stakeholders. Popular options include LivePlan, Enloop, BizPlanner, PlanGuru, and iPlanner.

How a Business Plan Helps to Grow Your Business

A business plan — both the exercise of creating one and the document — can grow your business by helping you to refine your product, target audience, sales plan, identify opportunities, secure funding, and build new partnerships. 

Outside of these immediate returns, writing a business plan is a useful exercise in that it forces you to research the market, which prompts you to forge your unique value proposition and identify ways to beat the competition. Doing so will also help you build (and keep you accountable to) attainable financial and product milestones. And down the line, it will serve as a welcome guide as hurdles inevitably arise.

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How many pages should a business plan have?

The length of a business plan can vary anywhere from 10 to 100 pages. The length of the business plan is related to the purpose it was created and the audience for which it is intended. A business plan for external use will place emphasis on the strategy and implementation part while disregarding sections such as the managing team and its experience.

A standard business plan included in the necessary documents to apply for a bank loan has approximately 20 pages, plus the annexes with the financial documents.

The summary of the business plan shouldn’t be longer than 2-3 pages.

The most important aspect of a business plan is to offer relevant information that can play a significant part in the decision-making process, whether it’s about receiving funds or convincing potential partners to take part in your company.

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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
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How Many Pages Should a Business Plan Be? 10, 25, 50 or 100?

By: Author Tony Martins Ajaero

Home » Business Plans

How many pages should a business plan be? 10, 25, 50, 100 or more? Here is a quick comparison of the business plan types available and their optimum length.

A lot of new entrepreneurs often wonder how long is too long for a business plan. Most business experts and counselors say it should be 30 to 50 pages, as a minimum, while others give a more or lesser number than the one named above. One thing you have to understand is that there is no specific number a business plan should be before it is considered perfect. Everything depends on your audience and what you intend to use the business plan for.

According to the United States’ Small Business Association, ‘a business plan needs to be whatever length is required to excite the financing source, prove that management truly understands the market, and detail the execution strategy’.

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From various surveys done by many organizations and professionals, it was concluded that a workable business plan should be in the ranges of 25 to 100 pages, depending on the various factors involved in writing the plan. Some of these factors may include; targeted markets, difficult assumptions or non-industry data, industry risk, poor credit factors that require additional explanation or documentation, financing source, etc.

Using the SBA model, a business plan can range in size from 38 to 50 pages for a basic plan to as high as 80 to 100 pages for complex plans. On the other hand, venture contests have come to the conclusion that an effective business plan should be around 30 pages, sometimes 40, but rarely 50 – and that includes detailed financials in the appendices.

Page Length Expectation for Various Kinds of Business Plans

The various kinds of business plans in existence have their own page length expectation according to experts. They usually fall within these indices;

• For small internal reports, the page length is usually Ten to fifteen pages
• For corporate business plans, the page length allowed can be up to hundred and even over
• Startup and expansion plans used for potential investors, vendors or other business partners can be 20 to 40 pages.
• Venture contests limit page length (including the appendix with financial information), at a minimum 30 pages, and in some rare instances as many as 50 pages.

A Breakdown of the Pages of a Business Plan 

The SBA model allows business plans to run from 38 pages to as much as hundred pages depending on the kind of plan in question. The pages of the typical business plan are broken down as follows;

• Part 1: Introduction (3 to 5 pages)
• Part 2: Market Analysis (9 to 22 pages)

The market analysis section illustrates the knowledge about the particular industry in question. It presents general highlights and conclusions of any marketing research data that have been have collected; however, the specific details of the marketing research studies should be moved to the appendix section of the business plan.

• Part 3: Company Description (1 to 2 pages)

Without going into detail, this section usually includes a high-level look at how all of the different elements of the business fits together. The company description section should include information about the nature of the business as well as list the primary factors that is believe will make the business a success.

• Part 4: Organization and Management (3 to 5 pages)

This section should include the company’s organizational structure, details about the ownership of the company, profiles of the management team, and the qualifications of the board of directors.

• Part 5: Marketing and Sales Strategies (4 to 6 pages)

Marketing is the process of creating customers, and customers are the lifeblood of a business. In this section, the first thing to do is define the company’s marketing strategy. There is no single way to approach a marketing strategy; the strategy should be part of an ongoing self-evaluation process and unique to the company.

• Part 6: Product or Service (4 to 10 pages)

What is the company selling? What is their service? In this section, describe the service or product, emphasizing the benefits to potential and current customers. Focus on the areas where it has a distinct advantage. Identify the problem in your target market for which your service or product provides a solution. Give the reader hard evidence that people are, or will be, willing to pay for your solution.

• Part 7: Equity Investment and Funding Request (2 to 4 pages)

In this section, you will identify how much you plan or have already invested in the business. Identify the exact amount of funding you will need to start and make sure it ties specifically to your Financial Plan.

If necessary, you can include different funding scenarios, such as a best and worst case scenarios, but remember that later, in the financial section, you must be able to back up these requests and scenarios with corresponding financial statements and projections.

• Part 8: Financial Information (12 to 25 pages)

This section is considered the most important part of your business plan and requires significant effort. Make sure your financial information is reviewed by a professional such as your accountant. The financials should be developed after you’ve analyzed the market and set clear objectives. That’s when you can allocate resources efficiently.