- Sources of Business Finance
- Small Business Loans
- Small Business Grants
- Crowdfunding Sites
- How to Get a Business Loan
- Small Business Insurance Providers
- Best Factoring Companies
- Types of Bank Accounts
- Best Banks for Small Business
- Best Business Bank Accounts
- Open a Business Bank Account
- Bank Accounts for Small Businesses
- Free Business Checking Accounts
- Best Business Credit Cards
- Get a Business Credit Card
- Business Credit Cards for Bad Credit
- Build Business Credit Fast
- Business Loan Eligibility Criteria
- Small-Business Bookkeeping Basics
- How to Set Financial Goals
- Business Loan Calculators
- How to Calculate ROI
- Calculate Net Income
- Calculate Working Capital
- Calculate Operating Income
- Calculate Net Present Value (NPV)
- Calculate Payroll Tax
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12 Key Elements of a Business Plan (Top Components Explained)
Starting and running a successful business requires proper planning and execution of effective business tactics and strategies .
You need to prepare many essential business documents when starting a business for maximum success; the business plan is one such document.
When creating a business, you want to achieve business objectives and financial goals like productivity, profitability, and business growth. You need an effective business plan to help you get to your desired business destination.
Even if you are already running a business, the proper understanding and review of the key elements of a business plan help you navigate potential crises and obstacles.
This article will teach you why the business document is at the core of any successful business and its key elements you can not avoid.
Let’s get started.
Why Are Business Plans Important?
Business plans are practical steps or guidelines that usually outline what companies need to do to reach their goals. They are essential documents for any business wanting to grow and thrive in a highly-competitive business environment .
1. Proves Your Business Viability
A business plan gives companies an idea of how viable they are and what actions they need to take to grow and reach their financial targets. With a well-written and clearly defined business plan, your business is better positioned to meet its goals.
2. Guides You Throughout the Business Cycle
A business plan is not just important at the start of a business. As a business owner, you must draw up a business plan to remain relevant throughout the business cycle .
During the starting phase of your business, a business plan helps bring your ideas into reality. A solid business plan can secure funding from lenders and investors.
After successfully setting up your business, the next phase is management. Your business plan still has a role to play in this phase, as it assists in communicating your business vision to employees and external partners.
Essentially, your business plan needs to be flexible enough to adapt to changes in the needs of your business.
3. Helps You Make Better Business Decisions
As a business owner, you are involved in an endless decision-making cycle. Your business plan helps you find answers to your most crucial business decisions.
A robust business plan helps you settle your major business components before you launch your product, such as your marketing and sales strategy and competitive advantage.
4. Eliminates Big Mistakes
Many small businesses fail within their first five years for several reasons: lack of financing, stiff competition, low market need, inadequate teams, and inefficient pricing strategy.
Creating an effective plan helps you eliminate these big mistakes that lead to businesses' decline. Every business plan element is crucial for helping you avoid potential mistakes before they happen.
5. Secures Financing and Attracts Top Talents
Having an effective plan increases your chances of securing business loans. One of the essential requirements many lenders ask for to grant your loan request is your business plan.
A business plan helps investors feel confident that your business can attract a significant return on investments ( ROI ).
You can attract and retain top-quality talents with a clear business plan. It inspires your employees and keeps them aligned to achieve your strategic business goals.
Key Elements of Business Plan
Starting and running a successful business requires well-laid actions and supporting documents that better position a company to achieve its business goals and maximize success.
A business plan is a written document with relevant information detailing business objectives and how it intends to achieve its goals.
With an effective business plan, investors, lenders, and potential partners understand your organizational structure and goals, usually around profitability, productivity, and growth.
Every successful business plan is made up of key components that help solidify the efficacy of the business plan in delivering on what it was created to do.
Here are some of the components of an effective business plan.
1. Executive Summary
One of the key elements of a business plan is the executive summary. Write the executive summary as part of the concluding topics in the business plan. Creating an executive summary with all the facts and information available is easier.
In the overall business plan document, the executive summary should be at the forefront of the business plan. It helps set the tone for readers on what to expect from the business plan.
A well-written executive summary includes all vital information about the organization's operations, making it easy for a reader to understand.
The key points that need to be acted upon are highlighted in the executive summary. They should be well spelled out to make decisions easy for the management team.
A good and compelling executive summary points out a company's mission statement and a brief description of its products and services.
![items in a business plan Executive Summary of the Business Plan](https://www.founderjar.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/Executive-Summary-of-the-Business-Plan.jpeg)
An executive summary summarizes a business's expected value proposition to distinct customer segments. It highlights the other key elements to be discussed during the rest of the business plan.
Including your prior experiences as an entrepreneur is a good idea in drawing up an executive summary for your business. A brief but detailed explanation of why you decided to start the business in the first place is essential.
Adding your company's mission statement in your executive summary cannot be overemphasized. It creates a culture that defines how employees and all individuals associated with your company abide when carrying out its related processes and operations.
Your executive summary should be brief and detailed to catch readers' attention and encourage them to learn more about your company.
Components of an Executive Summary
Here are some of the information that makes up an executive summary:
- The name and location of your company
- Products and services offered by your company
- Mission and vision statements
- Success factors of your business plan
2. Business Description
Your business description needs to be exciting and captivating as it is the formal introduction a reader gets about your company.
What your company aims to provide, its products and services, goals and objectives, target audience , and potential customers it plans to serve need to be highlighted in your business description.
A company description helps point out notable qualities that make your company stand out from other businesses in the industry. It details its unique strengths and the competitive advantages that give it an edge to succeed over its direct and indirect competitors.
Spell out how your business aims to deliver on the particular needs and wants of identified customers in your company description, as well as the particular industry and target market of the particular focus of the company.
Include trends and significant competitors within your particular industry in your company description. Your business description should contain what sets your company apart from other businesses and provides it with the needed competitive advantage.
In essence, if there is any area in your business plan where you need to brag about your business, your company description provides that unique opportunity as readers look to get a high-level overview.
Components of a Business Description
Your business description needs to contain these categories of information.
- Business location
- The legal structure of your business
- Summary of your business’s short and long-term goals
3. Market Analysis
The market analysis section should be solely based on analytical research as it details trends particular to the market you want to penetrate.
Graphs, spreadsheets, and histograms are handy data and statistical tools you need to utilize in your market analysis. They make it easy to understand the relationship between your current ideas and the future goals you have for the business.
All details about the target customers you plan to sell products or services should be in the market analysis section. It helps readers with a helpful overview of the market.
In your market analysis, you provide the needed data and statistics about industry and market share, the identified strengths in your company description, and compare them against other businesses in the same industry.
The market analysis section aims to define your target audience and estimate how your product or service would fare with these identified audiences.
![items in a business plan Components of Market Analysis](https://www.founderjar.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/Components-of-Market-Analysis.jpeg)
Market analysis helps visualize a target market by researching and identifying the primary target audience of your company and detailing steps and plans based on your audience location.
Obtaining this information through market research is essential as it helps shape how your business achieves its short-term and long-term goals.
Market Analysis Factors
Here are some of the factors to be included in your market analysis.
- The geographical location of your target market
- Needs of your target market and how your products and services can meet those needs
- Demographics of your target audience
Components of the Market Analysis Section
Here is some of the information to be included in your market analysis.
- Industry description and statistics
- Demographics and profile of target customers
- Marketing data for your products and services
- Detailed evaluation of your competitors
4. Marketing Plan
A marketing plan defines how your business aims to reach its target customers, generate sales leads, and, ultimately, make sales.
Promotion is at the center of any successful marketing plan. It is a series of steps to pitch a product or service to a larger audience to generate engagement. Note that the marketing strategy for a business should not be stagnant and must evolve depending on its outcome.
Include the budgetary requirement for successfully implementing your marketing plan in this section to make it easy for readers to measure your marketing plan's impact in terms of numbers.
The information to include in your marketing plan includes marketing and promotion strategies, pricing plans and strategies , and sales proposals. You need to include how you intend to get customers to return and make repeat purchases in your business plan.
![items in a business plan Marketing Strategy vs Marketing Plan](https://www.founderjar.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/Marketing-Strategy-vs-Marketing-Plan.jpeg)
5. Sales Strategy
Sales strategy defines how you intend to get your product or service to your target customers and works hand in hand with your business marketing strategy.
Your sales strategy approach should not be complex. Break it down into simple and understandable steps to promote your product or service to target customers.
Apart from the steps to promote your product or service, define the budget you need to implement your sales strategies and the number of sales reps needed to help the business assist in direct sales.
Your sales strategy should be specific on what you need and how you intend to deliver on your sales targets, where numbers are reflected to make it easier for readers to understand and relate better.
![items in a business plan Sales Strategy](https://www.founderjar.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/Sales-Strategy.jpeg)
6. Competitive Analysis
Providing transparent and honest information, even with direct and indirect competitors, defines a good business plan. Provide the reader with a clear picture of your rank against major competitors.
Identifying your competitors' weaknesses and strengths is useful in drawing up a market analysis. It is one information investors look out for when assessing business plans.
![items in a business plan Competitive Analysis Framework](https://www.founderjar.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/Competitive-Analysis-Framework.jpeg)
The competitive analysis section clearly defines the notable differences between your company and your competitors as measured against their strengths and weaknesses.
This section should define the following:
- Your competitors' identified advantages in the market
- How do you plan to set up your company to challenge your competitors’ advantage and gain grounds from them?
- The standout qualities that distinguish you from other companies
- Potential bottlenecks you have identified that have plagued competitors in the same industry and how you intend to overcome these bottlenecks
In your business plan, you need to prove your industry knowledge to anyone who reads your business plan. The competitive analysis section is designed for that purpose.
7. Management and Organization
Management and organization are key components of a business plan. They define its structure and how it is positioned to run.
Whether you intend to run a sole proprietorship, general or limited partnership, or corporation, the legal structure of your business needs to be clearly defined in your business plan.
Use an organizational chart that illustrates the hierarchy of operations of your company and spells out separate departments and their roles and functions in this business plan section.
The management and organization section includes profiles of advisors, board of directors, and executive team members and their roles and responsibilities in guaranteeing the company's success.
Apparent factors that influence your company's corporate culture, such as human resources requirements and legal structure, should be well defined in the management and organization section.
Defining the business's chain of command if you are not a sole proprietor is necessary. It leaves room for little or no confusion about who is in charge or responsible during business operations.
This section provides relevant information on how the management team intends to help employees maximize their strengths and address their identified weaknesses to help all quarters improve for the business's success.
8. Products and Services
This business plan section describes what a company has to offer regarding products and services to the maximum benefit and satisfaction of its target market.
Boldly spell out pending patents or copyright products and intellectual property in this section alongside costs, expected sales revenue, research and development, and competitors' advantage as an overview.
At this stage of your business plan, the reader needs to know what your business plans to produce and sell and the benefits these products offer in meeting customers' needs.
The supply network of your business product, production costs, and how you intend to sell the products are crucial components of the products and services section.
Investors are always keen on this information to help them reach a balanced assessment of if investing in your business is risky or offer benefits to them.
You need to create a link in this section on how your products or services are designed to meet the market's needs and how you intend to keep those customers and carve out a market share for your company.
Repeat purchases are the backing that a successful business relies on and measure how much customers are into what your company is offering.
This section is more like an expansion of the executive summary section. You need to analyze each product or service under the business.
9. Operating Plan
An operations plan describes how you plan to carry out your business operations and processes.
The operating plan for your business should include:
- Information about how your company plans to carry out its operations.
- The base location from which your company intends to operate.
- The number of employees to be utilized and other information about your company's operations.
- Key business processes.
This section should highlight how your organization is set up to run. You can also introduce your company's management team in this section, alongside their skills, roles, and responsibilities in the company.
The best way to introduce the company team is by drawing up an organizational chart that effectively maps out an organization's rank and chain of command.
What should be spelled out to readers when they come across this business plan section is how the business plans to operate day-in and day-out successfully.
10. Financial Projections and Assumptions
Bringing your great business ideas into reality is why business plans are important. They help create a sustainable and viable business.
The financial section of your business plan offers significant value. A business uses a financial plan to solve all its financial concerns, which usually involves startup costs, labor expenses, financial projections, and funding and investor pitches.
All key assumptions about the business finances need to be listed alongside the business financial projection, and changes to be made on the assumptions side until it balances with the projection for the business.
The financial plan should also include how the business plans to generate income and the capital expenditure budgets that tend to eat into the budget to arrive at an accurate cash flow projection for the business.
Base your financial goals and expectations on extensive market research backed with relevant financial statements for the relevant period.
Examples of financial statements you can include in the financial projections and assumptions section of your business plan include:
- Projected income statements
- Cash flow statements
- Balance sheets
- Income statements
Revealing the financial goals and potentials of the business is what the financial projection and assumption section of your business plan is all about. It needs to be purely based on facts that can be measurable and attainable.
11. Request For Funding
The request for funding section focuses on the amount of money needed to set up your business and underlying plans for raising the money required. This section includes plans for utilizing the funds for your business's operational and manufacturing processes.
When seeking funding, a reasonable timeline is required alongside it. If the need arises for additional funding to complete other business-related projects, you are not left scampering and desperate for funds.
If you do not have the funds to start up your business, then you should devote a whole section of your business plan to explaining the amount of money you need and how you plan to utilize every penny of the funds. You need to explain it in detail for a future funding request.
When an investor picks up your business plan to analyze it, with all your plans for the funds well spelled out, they are motivated to invest as they have gotten a backing guarantee from your funding request section.
Include timelines and plans for how you intend to repay the loans received in your funding request section. This addition keeps investors assured that they could recoup their investment in the business.
12. Exhibits and Appendices
Exhibits and appendices comprise the final section of your business plan and contain all supporting documents for other sections of the business plan.
Some of the documents that comprise the exhibits and appendices section includes:
- Legal documents
- Licenses and permits
- Credit histories
- Customer lists
The choice of what additional document to include in your business plan to support your statements depends mainly on the intended audience of your business plan. Hence, it is better to play it safe and not leave anything out when drawing up the appendix and exhibit section.
Supporting documentation is particularly helpful when you need funding or support for your business. This section provides investors with a clearer understanding of the research that backs the claims made in your business plan.
There are key points to include in the appendix and exhibits section of your business plan.
- The management team and other stakeholders resume
- Marketing research
- Permits and relevant legal documents
- Financial documents
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Martin luenendonk.
Martin loves entrepreneurship and has helped dozens of entrepreneurs by validating the business idea, finding scalable customer acquisition channels, and building a data-driven organization. During his time working in investment banking, tech startups, and industry-leading companies he gained extensive knowledge in using different software tools to optimize business processes.
This insights and his love for researching SaaS products enables him to provide in-depth, fact-based software reviews to enable software buyers make better decisions.
How to Write a Business Plan: Step-by-Step Guide + Examples
![items in a business plan Determined female African-American entrepreneur scaling a mountain while wearing a large backpack. Represents the journey to starting and growing a business and needi](https://web-cdn.bplans.com/bplans/content/uploads/2023/11/07155325/how-to-write-a-business-plan-1.png)
Noah Parsons
24 min. read
Updated May 7, 2024
Writing a business plan doesn’t have to be complicated.
In this step-by-step guide, you’ll learn how to write a business plan that’s detailed enough to impress bankers and potential investors, while giving you the tools to start, run, and grow a successful business.
- The basics of business planning
If you’re reading this guide, then you already know why you need a business plan .
You understand that planning helps you:
- Raise money
- Grow strategically
- Keep your business on the right track
As you start to write your plan, it’s useful to zoom out and remember what a business plan is .
At its core, a business plan is an overview of the products and services you sell, and the customers that you sell to. It explains your business strategy: how you’re going to build and grow your business, what your marketing strategy is, and who your competitors are.
Most business plans also include financial forecasts for the future. These set sales goals, budget for expenses, and predict profits and cash flow.
A good business plan is much more than just a document that you write once and forget about. It’s also a guide that helps you outline and achieve your goals.
After completing your plan, you can use it as a management tool to track your progress toward your goals. Updating and adjusting your forecasts and budgets as you go is one of the most important steps you can take to run a healthier, smarter business.
We’ll dive into how to use your plan later in this article.
There are many different types of plans , but we’ll go over the most common type here, which includes everything you need for an investor-ready plan. However, if you’re just starting out and are looking for something simpler—I recommend starting with a one-page business plan . It’s faster and easier to create.
It’s also the perfect place to start if you’re just figuring out your idea, or need a simple strategic plan to use inside your business.
Dig deeper : How to write a one-page business plan
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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
This is where you describe exactly what you’re selling, and how it solves a problem for your target market. The best way to organize this part of your plan is to start by describing the problem that exists for your customers. After that, you can describe how you plan to solve that problem with your product or service.
This is usually called a problem and solution statement .
To truly showcase the value of your products and services, you need to craft a compelling narrative around your offerings. How will your product or service transform your customers’ lives or jobs? A strong narrative will draw in your readers.
This is also the part of the business plan to discuss any competitive advantages you may have, like specific intellectual property or patents that protect your product. If you have any initial sales, contracts, or other evidence that your product or service is likely to sell, include that information as well. It will show that your idea has traction , which can help convince readers that your plan has a high chance of success.
Market analysis
Your target market is a description of the type of people that you plan to sell to. You might even have multiple target markets, depending on your business.
A market analysis is the part of your plan where you bring together all of the information you know about your target market. Basically, it’s a thorough description of who your customers are and why they need what you’re selling. You’ll also include information about the growth of your market and your industry .
Try to be as specific as possible when you describe your market.
Include information such as age, income level, and location—these are what’s called “demographics.” If you can, also describe your market’s interests and habits as they relate to your business—these are “psychographics.”
Related: Target market examples
Essentially, you want to include any knowledge you have about your customers that is relevant to how your product or service is right for them. With a solid target market, it will be easier to create a sales and marketing plan that will reach your customers. That’s because you know who they are, what they like to do, and the best ways to reach them.
Next, provide any additional information you have about your market.
What is the size of your market ? Is the market growing or shrinking? Ideally, you’ll want to demonstrate that your market is growing over time, and also explain how your business is positioned to take advantage of any expected changes in your industry.
Dig Deeper: Learn how to write a market analysis
Competitive analysis
Part of defining your business opportunity is determining what your competitive advantage is. To do this effectively, you need to know as much about your competitors as your target customers.
Every business has some form of competition. If you don’t think you have competitors, then explore what alternatives there are in the market for your product or service.
For example: In the early years of cars, their main competition was horses. For social media, the early competition was reading books, watching TV, and talking on the phone.
A good competitive analysis fully lays out the competitive landscape and then explains how your business is different. Maybe your products are better made, or cheaper, or your customer service is superior. Maybe your competitive advantage is your location – a wide variety of factors can ultimately give you an advantage.
Dig Deeper: How to write a competitive analysis for your business plan
Marketing and sales plan
The marketing and sales plan covers how you will position your product or service in the market, the marketing channels and messaging you will use, and your sales tactics.
The best place to start with a marketing plan is with a positioning statement .
This explains how your business fits into the overall market, and how you will explain the advantages of your product or service to customers. You’ll use the information from your competitive analysis to help you with your positioning.
For example: You might position your company as the premium, most expensive but the highest quality option in the market. Or your positioning might focus on being locally owned and that shoppers support the local economy by buying your products.
Once you understand your positioning, you’ll bring this together with the information about your target market to create your marketing strategy .
This is how you plan to communicate your message to potential customers. Depending on who your customers are and how they purchase products like yours, you might use many different strategies, from social media advertising to creating a podcast. Your marketing plan is all about how your customers discover who you are and why they should consider your products and services.
While your marketing plan is about reaching your customers—your sales plan will describe the actual sales process once a customer has decided that they’re interested in what you have to offer.
If your business requires salespeople and a long sales process, describe that in this section. If your customers can “self-serve” and just make purchases quickly on your website, describe that process.
A good sales plan picks up where your marketing plan leaves off. The marketing plan brings customers in the door and the sales plan is how you close the deal.
Together, these specific plans paint a picture of how you will connect with your target audience, and how you will turn them into paying customers.
Dig deeper: What to include in your sales and marketing plan
Business operations
The operations section describes the necessary requirements for your business to run smoothly. It’s where you talk about how your business works and what day-to-day operations look like.
Depending on how your business is structured, your operations plan may include elements of the business like:
- Supply chain management
- Manufacturing processes
- Equipment and technology
- Distribution
Some businesses distribute their products and reach their customers through large retailers like Amazon.com, Walmart, Target, and grocery store chains.
These businesses should review how this part of their business works. The plan should discuss the logistics and costs of getting products onto store shelves and any potential hurdles the business may have to overcome.
If your business is much simpler than this, that’s OK. This section of your business plan can be either extremely short or more detailed, depending on the type of business you are building.
For businesses selling services, such as physical therapy or online software, you can use this section to describe the technology you’ll leverage, what goes into your service, and who you will partner with to deliver your services.
Dig Deeper: Learn how to write the operations chapter of your plan
Key milestones and metrics
Although it’s not required to complete your business plan, mapping out key business milestones and the metrics can be incredibly useful for measuring your success.
Good milestones clearly lay out the parameters of the task and set expectations for their execution. You’ll want to include:
- A description of each task
- The proposed due date
- Who is responsible for each task
If you have a budget, you can include projected costs to hit each milestone. You don’t need extensive project planning in this section—just list key milestones you want to hit and when you plan to hit them. This is your overall business roadmap.
Possible milestones might be:
- Website launch date
- Store or office opening date
- First significant sales
- Break even date
- Business licenses and approvals
You should also discuss the key numbers you will track to determine your success. Some common metrics worth tracking include:
- Conversion rates
- Customer acquisition costs
- Profit per customer
- Repeat purchases
It’s perfectly fine to start with just a few metrics and grow the number you are tracking over time. You also may find that some metrics simply aren’t relevant to your business and can narrow down what you’re tracking.
Dig Deeper: How to use milestones in your business plan
Organization and management team
Investors don’t just look for great ideas—they want to find great teams. Use this chapter to describe your current team and who you need to hire . You should also provide a quick overview of your location and history if you’re already up and running.
Briefly highlight the relevant experiences of each key team member in the company. It’s important to make the case for why yours is the right team to turn an idea into a reality.
Do they have the right industry experience and background? Have members of the team had entrepreneurial successes before?
If you still need to hire key team members, that’s OK. Just note those gaps in this section.
Your company overview should also include a summary of your company’s current business structure . The most common business structures include:
- Sole proprietor
- Partnership
Be sure to provide an overview of how the business is owned as well. Does each business partner own an equal portion of the business? How is ownership divided?
Potential lenders and investors will want to know the structure of the business before they will consider a loan or investment.
Dig Deeper: How to write about your company structure and team
Financial plan
Last, but certainly not least, is your financial plan chapter.
Entrepreneurs often find this section the most daunting. But, business financials for most startups are less complicated than you think, and a business degree is certainly not required to build a solid financial forecast.
A typical financial forecast in a business plan includes the following:
- Sales forecast : An estimate of the sales expected over a given period. You’ll break down your forecast into the key revenue streams that you expect to have.
- Expense budget : Your planned spending such as personnel costs , marketing expenses, and taxes.
- Profit & Loss : Brings together your sales and expenses and helps you calculate planned profits.
- Cash Flow : Shows how cash moves into and out of your business. It can predict how much cash you’ll have on hand at any given point in the future.
- Balance Sheet : A list of the assets, liabilities, and equity in your company. In short, it provides an overview of the financial health of your business.
A strong business plan will include a description of assumptions about the future, and potential risks that could impact the financial plan. Including those will be especially important if you’re writing a business plan to pursue a loan or other investment.
Dig Deeper: How to create financial forecasts and budgets
This is the place for additional data, charts, or other information that supports your plan.
Including an appendix can significantly enhance the credibility of your plan by showing readers that you’ve thoroughly considered the details of your business idea, and are backing your ideas up with solid data.
Just remember that the information in the appendix is meant to be supplementary. Your business plan should stand on its own, even if the reader skips this section.
Dig Deeper : What to include in your business plan appendix
Optional: Business plan cover page
Adding a business plan cover page can make your plan, and by extension your business, seem more professional in the eyes of potential investors, lenders, and partners. It serves as the introduction to your document and provides necessary contact information for stakeholders to reference.
Your cover page should be simple and include:
- Company logo
- Business name
- Value proposition (optional)
- Business plan title
- Completion and/or update date
- Address and contact information
- Confidentiality statement
Just remember, the cover page is optional. If you decide to include it, keep it very simple and only spend a short amount of time putting it together.
Dig Deeper: How to create a business plan cover page
How to use AI to help write your business plan
Generative AI tools such as ChatGPT can speed up the business plan writing process and help you think through concepts like market segmentation and competition. These tools are especially useful for taking ideas that you provide and converting them into polished text for your business plan.
The best way to use AI for your business plan is to leverage it as a collaborator , not a replacement for human creative thinking and ingenuity.
AI can come up with lots of ideas and act as a brainstorming partner. It’s up to you to filter through those ideas and figure out which ones are realistic enough to resonate with your customers.
There are pros and cons of using AI to help with your business plan . So, spend some time understanding how it can be most helpful before just outsourcing the job to AI.
Learn more: 10 AI prompts you need to write a business plan
- Writing tips and strategies
To help streamline the business plan writing process, here are a few tips and key questions to answer to make sure you get the most out of your plan and avoid common mistakes .
Determine why you are writing a business plan
Knowing why you are writing a business plan will determine your approach to your planning project.
For example: If you are writing a business plan for yourself, or just to use inside your own business , you can probably skip the section about your team and organizational structure.
If you’re raising money, you’ll want to spend more time explaining why you’re looking to raise the funds and exactly how you will use them.
Regardless of how you intend to use your business plan , think about why you are writing and what you’re trying to get out of the process before you begin.
Keep things concise
Probably the most important tip is to keep your business plan short and simple. There are no prizes for long business plans . The longer your plan is, the less likely people are to read it.
So focus on trimming things down to the essentials your readers need to know. Skip the extended, wordy descriptions and instead focus on creating a plan that is easy to read —using bullets and short sentences whenever possible.
Have someone review your business plan
Writing a business plan in a vacuum is never a good idea. Sometimes it’s helpful to zoom out and check if your plan makes sense to someone else. You also want to make sure that it’s easy to read and understand.
Don’t wait until your plan is “done” to get a second look. Start sharing your plan early, and find out from readers what questions your plan leaves unanswered. This early review cycle will help you spot shortcomings in your plan and address them quickly, rather than finding out about them right before you present your plan to a lender or investor.
If you need a more detailed review, you may want to explore hiring a professional plan writer to thoroughly examine it.
Use a free business plan template and business plan examples to get started
Knowing what information to include in a business plan is sometimes not quite enough. If you’re struggling to get started or need additional guidance, it may be worth using a business plan template.
There are plenty of great options available (we’ve rounded up our 8 favorites to streamline your search).
But, if you’re looking for a free downloadable business plan template , you can get one right now; download the template used by more than 1 million businesses.
Or, if you just want to see what a completed business plan looks like, check out our library of over 550 free business plan examples .
We even have a growing list of industry business planning guides with tips for what to focus on depending on your business type.
Common pitfalls and how to avoid them
It’s easy to make mistakes when you’re writing your business plan. Some entrepreneurs get sucked into the writing and research process, and don’t focus enough on actually getting their business started.
Here are a few common mistakes and how to avoid them:
Not talking to your customers : This is one of the most common mistakes. It’s easy to assume that your product or service is something that people want. Before you invest too much in your business and too much in the planning process, make sure you talk to your prospective customers and have a good understanding of their needs.
- Overly optimistic sales and profit forecasts: By nature, entrepreneurs are optimistic about the future. But it’s good to temper that optimism a little when you’re planning, and make sure your forecasts are grounded in reality.
- Spending too much time planning: Yes, planning is crucial. But you also need to get out and talk to customers, build prototypes of your product and figure out if there’s a market for your idea. Make sure to balance planning with building.
- Not revising the plan: Planning is useful, but nothing ever goes exactly as planned. As you learn more about what’s working and what’s not—revise your plan, your budgets, and your revenue forecast. Doing so will provide a more realistic picture of where your business is going, and what your financial needs will be moving forward.
- Not using the plan to manage your business: A good business plan is a management tool. Don’t just write it and put it on the shelf to collect dust – use it to track your progress and help you reach your goals.
- Presenting your business plan
The planning process forces you to think through every aspect of your business and answer questions that you may not have thought of. That’s the real benefit of writing a business plan – the knowledge you gain about your business that you may not have been able to discover otherwise.
With all of this knowledge, you’re well prepared to convert your business plan into a pitch presentation to present your ideas.
A pitch presentation is a summary of your plan, just hitting the highlights and key points. It’s the best way to present your business plan to investors and team members.
Dig Deeper: Learn what key slides should be included in your pitch deck
Use your business plan to manage your business
One of the biggest benefits of planning is that it gives you a tool to manage your business better. With a revenue forecast, expense budget, and projected cash flow, you know your targets and where you are headed.
And yet, nothing ever goes exactly as planned – it’s the nature of business.
That’s where using your plan as a management tool comes in. The key to leveraging it for your business is to review it periodically and compare your forecasts and projections to your actual results.
Start by setting up a regular time to review the plan – a monthly review is a good starting point. During this review, answer questions like:
- Did you meet your sales goals?
- Is spending following your budget?
- Has anything gone differently than what you expected?
Now that you see whether you’re meeting your goals or are off track, you can make adjustments and set new targets.
Maybe you’re exceeding your sales goals and should set new, more aggressive goals. In that case, maybe you should also explore more spending or hiring more employees.
Or maybe expenses are rising faster than you projected. If that’s the case, you would need to look at where you can cut costs.
A plan, and a method for comparing your plan to your actual results , is the tool you need to steer your business toward success.
Learn More: How to run a regular plan review
Free business plan templates and examples
Kickstart your business plan writing with one of our free business plan templates or recommended tools.
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Free business plan template
Download a free SBA-approved business plan template built for small businesses and startups.
Download Template
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One-page plan template
Download a free one-page plan template to write a useful business plan in as little as 30-minutes.
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Sample business plan library
Explore over 500 real-world business plan examples from a wide variety of industries.
View Sample Plans
How to write a business plan FAQ
What is a business plan?
A document that describes your business , the products and services you sell, and the customers that you sell to. It explains your business strategy, how you’re going to build and grow your business, what your marketing strategy is, and who your competitors are.
What are the benefits of a business plan?
A business plan helps you understand where you want to go with your business and what it will take to get there. It reduces your overall risk, helps you uncover your business’s potential, attracts investors, and identifies areas for growth.
Having a business plan ultimately makes you more confident as a business owner and more likely to succeed for a longer period of time.
What are the 7 steps of a business plan?
The seven steps to writing a business plan include:
- Write a brief executive summary
- Describe your products and services.
- Conduct market research and compile data into a cohesive market analysis.
- Describe your marketing and sales strategy.
- Outline your organizational structure and management team.
- Develop financial projections for sales, revenue, and cash flow.
- Add any additional documents to your appendix.
What are the 5 most common business plan mistakes?
There are plenty of mistakes that can be made when writing a business plan. However, these are the 5 most common that you should do your best to avoid:
- 1. Not taking the planning process seriously.
- Having unrealistic financial projections or incomplete financial information.
- Inconsistent information or simple mistakes.
- Failing to establish a sound business model.
- Not having a defined purpose for your business plan.
What questions should be answered in a business plan?
Writing a business plan is all about asking yourself questions about your business and being able to answer them through the planning process. You’ll likely be asking dozens and dozens of questions for each section of your plan.
However, these are the key questions you should ask and answer with your business plan:
- How will your business make money?
- Is there a need for your product or service?
- Who are your customers?
- How are you different from the competition?
- How will you reach your customers?
- How will you measure success?
How long should a business plan be?
The length of your business plan fully depends on what you intend to do with it. From the SBA and traditional lender point of view, a business plan needs to be whatever length necessary to fully explain your business. This means that you prove the viability of your business, show that you understand the market, and have a detailed strategy in place.
If you intend to use your business plan for internal management purposes, you don’t necessarily need a full 25-50 page business plan. Instead, you can start with a one-page plan to get all of the necessary information in place.
What are the different types of business plans?
While all business plans cover similar categories, the style and function fully depend on how you intend to use your plan. Here are a few common business plan types worth considering.
Traditional business plan: The tried-and-true traditional business plan is a formal document meant to be used when applying for funding or pitching to investors. This type of business plan follows the outline above and can be anywhere from 10-50 pages depending on the amount of detail included, the complexity of your business, and what you include in your appendix.
Business model canvas: The business model canvas is a one-page template designed to demystify the business planning process. It removes the need for a traditional, copy-heavy business plan, in favor of a single-page outline that can help you and outside parties better explore your business idea.
One-page business plan: This format is a simplified version of the traditional plan that focuses on the core aspects of your business. You’ll typically stick with bullet points and single sentences. It’s most useful for those exploring ideas, needing to validate their business model, or who need an internal plan to help them run and manage their business.
Lean Plan: The Lean Plan is less of a specific document type and more of a methodology. It takes the simplicity and styling of the one-page business plan and turns it into a process for you to continuously plan, test, review, refine, and take action based on performance. It’s faster, keeps your plan concise, and ensures that your plan is always up-to-date.
What’s the difference between a business plan and a strategic plan?
A business plan covers the “who” and “what” of your business. It explains what your business is doing right now and how it functions. The strategic plan explores long-term goals and explains “how” the business will get there. It encourages you to look more intently toward the future and how you will achieve your vision.
However, when approached correctly, your business plan can actually function as a strategic plan as well. If kept lean, you can define your business, outline strategic steps, and track ongoing operations all with a single plan.
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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.
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Table of Contents
- Use AI to help write your plan
- Common planning mistakes
- Manage with your business plan
- Templates and examples
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What Is a Business Plan?
Understanding business plans, how to write a business plan, common elements of a business plan, the bottom line, business plan: what it is, what's included, and how to write one.
Adam Hayes, Ph.D., CFA, is a financial writer with 15+ years Wall Street experience as a derivatives trader. Besides his extensive derivative trading expertise, Adam is an expert in economics and behavioral finance. Adam received his master's in economics from The New School for Social Research and his Ph.D. from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in sociology. He is a CFA charterholder as well as holding FINRA Series 7, 55 & 63 licenses. He currently researches and teaches economic sociology and the social studies of finance at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem.
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A business plan is a document that outlines a company's goals and the strategies to achieve them. It's valuable for both startups and established companies. For startups, a well-crafted business plan is crucial for attracting potential lenders and investors. Established businesses use business plans to stay on track and aligned with their growth objectives. This article will explain the key components of an effective business plan and guidance on how to write one.
Key Takeaways
- A business plan is a document detailing a company's business activities and strategies for achieving its goals.
- Startup companies use business plans to launch their venture and to attract outside investors.
- For established companies, a business plan helps keep the executive team focused on short- and long-term objectives.
- There's no single required format for a business plan, but certain key elements are essential for most companies.
Investopedia / Ryan Oakley
Any new business should have a business plan in place before beginning operations. Banks and venture capital firms often want to see a business plan before considering making a loan or providing capital to new businesses.
Even if a company doesn't need additional funding, having a business plan helps it stay focused on its goals. Research from the University of Oregon shows that businesses with a plan are significantly more likely to secure funding than those without one. Moreover, companies with a business plan grow 30% faster than those that don't plan. According to a Harvard Business Review article, entrepreneurs who write formal plans are 16% more likely to achieve viability than those who don't.
A business plan should ideally be reviewed and updated periodically to reflect achieved goals or changes in direction. An established business moving in a new direction might even create an entirely new plan.
There are numerous benefits to creating (and sticking to) a well-conceived business plan. It allows for careful consideration of ideas before significant investment, highlights potential obstacles to success, and provides a tool for seeking objective feedback from trusted outsiders. A business plan may also help ensure that a company’s executive team remains aligned on strategic action items and priorities.
While business plans vary widely, even among competitors in the same industry, they often share basic elements detailed below.
A well-crafted business plan is essential for attracting investors and guiding a company's strategic growth. It should address market needs and investor requirements and provide clear financial projections.
While there are any number of templates that you can use to write a business plan, it's best to try to avoid producing a generic-looking one. Let your plan reflect the unique personality of your business.
Many business plans use some combination of the sections below, with varying levels of detail, depending on the company.
The length of a business plan can vary greatly from business to business. Regardless, gathering the basic information into a 15- to 25-page document is best. Any additional crucial elements, such as patent applications, can be referenced in the main document and included as appendices.
Common elements in many business plans include:
- Executive summary : This section introduces the company and includes its mission statement along with relevant information about the company's leadership, employees, operations, and locations.
- Products and services : Describe the products and services the company offers or plans to introduce. Include details on pricing, product lifespan, and unique consumer benefits. Mention production and manufacturing processes, relevant patents , proprietary technology , and research and development (R&D) information.
- Market analysis : Explain the current state of the industry and the competition. Detail where the company fits in, the types of customers it plans to target, and how it plans to capture market share from competitors.
- Marketing strategy : Outline the company's plans to attract and retain customers, including anticipated advertising and marketing campaigns. Describe the distribution channels that will be used to deliver products or services to consumers.
- Financial plans and projections : Established businesses should include financial statements, balance sheets, and other relevant financial information. New businesses should provide financial targets and estimates for the first few years. This section may also include any funding requests.
Investors want to see a clear exit strategy, expected returns, and a timeline for cashing out. It's likely a good idea to provide five-year profitability forecasts and realistic financial estimates.
2 Types of Business Plans
Business plans can vary in format, often categorized into traditional and lean startup plans. According to the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) , the traditional business plan is the more common of the two.
- Traditional business plans : These are detailed and lengthy, requiring more effort to create but offering comprehensive information that can be persuasive to potential investors.
- Lean startup business plans : These are concise, sometimes just one page, and focus on key elements. While they save time, companies should be ready to provide additional details if requested by investors or lenders.
Why Do Business Plans Fail?
A business plan isn't a surefire recipe for success. The plan may have been unrealistic in its assumptions and projections. Markets and the economy might change in ways that couldn't have been foreseen. A competitor might introduce a revolutionary new product or service. All this calls for building flexibility into your plan, so you can pivot to a new course if needed.
How Often Should a Business Plan Be Updated?
How frequently a business plan needs to be revised will depend on its nature. Updating your business plan is crucial due to changes in external factors (market trends, competition, and regulations) and internal developments (like employee growth and new products). While a well-established business might want to review its plan once a year and make changes if necessary, a new or fast-growing business in a fiercely competitive market might want to revise it more often, such as quarterly.
What Does a Lean Startup Business Plan Include?
The lean startup business plan is ideal for quickly explaining a business, especially for new companies that don't have much information yet. Key sections may include a value proposition , major activities and advantages, resources (staff, intellectual property, and capital), partnerships, customer segments, and revenue sources.
A well-crafted business plan is crucial for any company, whether it's a startup looking for investment or an established business wanting to stay on course. It outlines goals and strategies, boosting a company's chances of securing funding and achieving growth.
As your business and the market change, update your business plan regularly. This keeps it relevant and aligned with your current goals and conditions. Think of your business plan as a living document that evolves with your company, not something carved in stone.
University of Oregon Department of Economics. " Evaluation of the Effectiveness of Business Planning Using Palo Alto's Business Plan Pro ." Eason Ding & Tim Hursey.
Bplans. " Do You Need a Business Plan? Scientific Research Says Yes ."
Harvard Business Review. " Research: Writing a Business Plan Makes Your Startup More Likely to Succeed ."
Harvard Business Review. " How to Write a Winning Business Plan ."
U.S. Small Business Administration. " Write Your Business Plan ."
SCORE. " When and Why Should You Review Your Business Plan? "
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How to Write a Business Plan, Step by Step
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What is a business plan?
1. write an executive summary, 2. describe your company, 3. state your business goals, 4. describe your products and services, 5. do your market research, 6. outline your marketing and sales plan, 7. perform a business financial analysis, 8. make financial projections, 9. summarize how your company operates, 10. add any additional information to an appendix, business plan tips and resources.
A business plan outlines your business’s financial goals and explains how you’ll achieve them over the next three to five years. Here’s a step-by-step guide to writing a business plan that will offer a strong, detailed road map for your business.
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LLC Formation
A business plan is a document that explains what your business does, how it makes money and who its customers are. Internally, writing a business plan should help you clarify your vision and organize your operations. Externally, you can share it with potential lenders and investors to show them you’re on the right track.
Business plans are living documents; it’s OK for them to change over time. Startups may update their business plans often as they figure out who their customers are and what products and services fit them best. Mature companies might only revisit their business plan every few years. Regardless of your business’s age, brush up this document before you apply for a business loan .
» Need help writing? Learn about the best business plan software .
This is your elevator pitch. It should include a mission statement, a brief description of the products or services your business offers and a broad summary of your financial growth plans.
Though the executive summary is the first thing your investors will read, it can be easier to write it last. That way, you can highlight information you’ve identified while writing other sections that go into more detail.
» MORE: How to write an executive summary in 6 steps
Next up is your company description. This should contain basic information like:
Your business’s registered name.
Address of your business location .
Names of key people in the business. Make sure to highlight unique skills or technical expertise among members of your team.
Your company description should also define your business structure — such as a sole proprietorship, partnership or corporation — and include the percent ownership that each owner has and the extent of each owner’s involvement in the company.
Lastly, write a little about the history of your company and the nature of your business now. This prepares the reader to learn about your goals in the next section.
» MORE: How to write a company overview for a business plan
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The third part of a business plan is an objective statement. This section spells out what you’d like to accomplish, both in the near term and over the coming years.
If you’re looking for a business loan or outside investment, you can use this section to explain how the financing will help your business grow and how you plan to achieve those growth targets. The key is to provide a clear explanation of the opportunity your business presents to the lender.
For example, if your business is launching a second product line, you might explain how the loan will help your company launch that new product and how much you think sales will increase over the next three years as a result.
» MORE: How to write a successful business plan for a loan
In this section, go into detail about the products or services you offer or plan to offer.
You should include the following:
An explanation of how your product or service works.
The pricing model for your product or service.
The typical customers you serve.
Your supply chain and order fulfillment strategy.
You can also discuss current or pending trademarks and patents associated with your product or service.
Lenders and investors will want to know what sets your product apart from your competition. In your market analysis section , explain who your competitors are. Discuss what they do well, and point out what you can do better. If you’re serving a different or underserved market, explain that.
Here, you can address how you plan to persuade customers to buy your products or services, or how you will develop customer loyalty that will lead to repeat business.
Include details about your sales and distribution strategies, including the costs involved in selling each product .
» MORE: R e a d our complete guide to small business marketing
If you’re a startup, you may not have much information on your business financials yet. However, if you’re an existing business, you’ll want to include income or profit-and-loss statements, a balance sheet that lists your assets and debts, and a cash flow statement that shows how cash comes into and goes out of the company.
Accounting software may be able to generate these reports for you. It may also help you calculate metrics such as:
Net profit margin: the percentage of revenue you keep as net income.
Current ratio: the measurement of your liquidity and ability to repay debts.
Accounts receivable turnover ratio: a measurement of how frequently you collect on receivables per year.
This is a great place to include charts and graphs that make it easy for those reading your plan to understand the financial health of your business.
This is a critical part of your business plan if you’re seeking financing or investors. It outlines how your business will generate enough profit to repay the loan or how you will earn a decent return for investors.
Here, you’ll provide your business’s monthly or quarterly sales, expenses and profit estimates over at least a three-year period — with the future numbers assuming you’ve obtained a new loan.
Accuracy is key, so carefully analyze your past financial statements before giving projections. Your goals may be aggressive, but they should also be realistic.
NerdWallet’s picks for setting up your business finances:
The best business checking accounts .
The best business credit cards .
The best accounting software .
Before the end of your business plan, summarize how your business is structured and outline each team’s responsibilities. This will help your readers understand who performs each of the functions you’ve described above — making and selling your products or services — and how much each of those functions cost.
If any of your employees have exceptional skills, you may want to include their resumes to help explain the competitive advantage they give you.
Finally, attach any supporting information or additional materials that you couldn’t fit in elsewhere. That might include:
Licenses and permits.
Equipment leases.
Bank statements.
Details of your personal and business credit history, if you’re seeking financing.
If the appendix is long, you may want to consider adding a table of contents at the beginning of this section.
How much do you need?
with Fundera by NerdWallet
We’ll start with a brief questionnaire to better understand the unique needs of your business.
Once we uncover your personalized matches, our team will consult you on the process moving forward.
Here are some tips to write a detailed, convincing business plan:
Avoid over-optimism: If you’re applying for a business bank loan or professional investment, someone will be reading your business plan closely. Providing unreasonable sales estimates can hurt your chances of approval.
Proofread: Spelling, punctuation and grammatical errors can jump off the page and turn off lenders and prospective investors. If writing and editing aren't your strong suit, you may want to hire a professional business plan writer, copy editor or proofreader.
Use free resources: SCORE is a nonprofit association that offers a large network of volunteer business mentors and experts who can help you write or edit your business plan. The U.S. Small Business Administration’s Small Business Development Centers , which provide free business consulting and help with business plan development, can also be a resource.
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How To Write a Business Plan
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Starting a business is a wild ride, and a solid business plan can be the key to keeping you on track. A business plan is essentially a roadmap for your business — outlining your goals, strategies, market analysis and financial projections. Not only will it guide your decision-making, a business plan can help you secure funding with a loan or from investors .
Writing a business plan can seem like a huge task, but taking it one step at a time can break the plan down into manageable milestones. Here is our step-by-step guide on how to write a business plan.
Table of contents
- Write your executive summary
- Do your market research homework
- Set your business goals and objectives
- Plan your business strategy
- Describe your product or service
- Crunch the numbers
- Finalize your business plan
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Step 1: Write your executive summary
Though this will be the first page of your business plan , we recommend you actually write the executive summary last. That’s because an executive summary highlights what’s to come in the business plan but in a more condensed fashion.
An executive summary gives stakeholders who are reading your business plan the key points quickly without having to comb through pages and pages. Be sure to cover each successive point in a concise manner, and include as much data as necessary to support your claims.
You’ll cover other things too, but answer these basic questions in your executive summary:
- Idea: What’s your business concept? What problem does your business solve? What are your business goals?
- Product: What’s your product/service and how is it different?
- Market: Who’s your audience? How will you reach customers?
- Finance: How much will your idea cost? And if you’re seeking funding, how much money do you need? How much do you expect to earn? If you’ve already started, where is your revenue at now?
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Step 2: Do your market research homework
The next step in writing a business plan is to conduct market research . This involves gathering information about your target market (or customer persona), your competition, and the industry as a whole. You can use a variety of research methods such as surveys, focus groups, and online research to gather this information. Your method may be formal or more casual, just make sure that you’re getting good data back.
This research will help you to understand the needs of your target market and the potential demand for your product or service—essential aspects of starting and growing a successful business.
Step 3: Set your business goals and objectives
Once you’ve completed your market research, you can begin to define your business goals and objectives. What is the problem you want to solve? What’s your vision for the future? Where do you want to be in a year from now?
Use this step to decide what you want to achieve with your business, both in the short and long term. Try to set SMART goals—specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound benchmarks—that will help you to stay focused and motivated as you build your business.
Step 4: Plan your business strategy
Your business strategy is how you plan to reach your goals and objectives. This includes details on positioning your product or service, marketing and sales strategies, operational plans, and the organizational structure of your small business.
Make sure to include key roles and responsibilities for each team member if you’re in a business entity with multiple people.
Step 5: Describe your product or service
In this section, get into the nitty-gritty of your product or service. Go into depth regarding the features, benefits, target market, and any patents or proprietary tech you have. Make sure to paint a clear picture of what sets your product apart from the competition—and don’t forget to highlight any customer benefits.
Step 6: Crunch the numbers
Financial analysis is an essential part of your business plan. If you’re already in business that includes your profit and loss statement , cash flow statement and balance sheet .
These financial projections will give investors and lenders an understanding of the financial health of your business and the potential return on investment.
You may want to work with a financial professional to ensure your financial projections are realistic and accurate.
Step 7: Finalize your business plan
Once you’ve completed everything, it's time to finalize your business plan. This involves reviewing and editing your plan to ensure that it is clear, concise, and easy to understand.
You should also have someone else review your plan to get a fresh perspective and identify any areas that may need improvement. You could even work with a free SCORE mentor on your business plan or use a SCORE business plan template for more detailed guidance.
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The takeaway
Writing a business plan is an essential process for any forward-thinking entrepreneur or business owner. A business plan requires a lot of up-front research, planning, and attention to detail, but it’s worthwhile. Creating a comprehensive business plan can help you achieve your business goals and secure the funding you need.
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What Should a Business Plan Include?
A business plan serves as a roadmap to successfully launch a business. It helps you overcome the challenges you might experience in your industry. Learn how to create and use a business plan for your startup.
One of the most fatal mistakes that aspiring entrepreneurs make in launching a startup is forgetting a business plan . You wouldn’t launch a ship at sea without establishing its routes and the direction you’ll steer it to. Without proper planning, your ship will end up adrift or worst, dramatically sink when the tides hit. And in a volatile commercial industry, the tides are constantly changing.
Avoid common startup mistakes by creating a business plan. A business plan not only strengthens your foundation but also helps you navigate the ever-changing field of business. Chances are your customers’ preferences will change over time and you have to keep up with them. Hence, a business plan also changes accordingly.
But how exactly do you create a business plan ? Is there a template to follow? Should you enlist the help of other experts to write it? Today, we’ll look into what should be included in your business plan and how it should be written. The first step is by understanding what it is and what it is for.
What is a business plan?
A business plan is an official company document that breaks down all the goals of a business and how to achieve them. It basically lays out the groundwork for your idea to come alive. It’s often referred to as the “blueprint of the business”, summarizing your goals.
Although there are many ways to write it, its key point usually discusses the financial, marketing, and operational strategies of the business.
What is it for?
A business plan serves as a guide for a growing company. It’s a consistent reference for business owners and stakeholders to base critical decisions on. It’s especially useful for early-stage startups to attract investors. When a company doesn’t have a proven track record, it can lay out its full potential instead.
Not only is the business plan useful for the initial launching of a business, but it also helps with pivotal changes. Since the market is perpetually changing, it’s crucial that your plan also evolves with it. Hence, the goals and methods of achieving will be updated. In some cases, a whole new plan is created if the company wants to drastically move in a new direction.
What’s included in a Business Plan
Although there’s no fixed formula for writing a business plan, there are some identifiable key points. These are generally the items factored in its creation:
1. Executive Summary
The executive summary outlines the whole plan. You start with a clear introduction of who you are, what you sell, and what your ambitions are as a business. This section includes your mission statement, product description, and the basic overview of your company’s structure. It should also include your financial plans.
2. Business Description
The business description provides detailed information about your industry. It must describe its current outlook as well as its profit potential. You will go into detail about your target market and other organizations or businesses you cater to. Also, this section briefly discusses what problem the business is trying to solve.
3. Market Analysis
A business must have a firm understanding of its target market and should be able to prove its sustainability. The market analysis provides trends and studies about the target consumers—their size, demographics, buying power, and frequent activities. This section also touches briefly on the competitors.
4. Product Development
Investors need a clear idea of how you would create and maintain your product. The development plan section contains the details of the product’s design; its production methods, lifecycle, marketing, and development budget. This includes the overall strategy of how it will be sold in the market.
5. Marketing Strategies
The product is only as good as how much it will sell. Therefore, this section describes how you will present your products and services to the market. This will discuss your marketing campaigns, distribution channels, and types of media you’ll tap into. You will summarize how you intend to reach your customers and pitch your products to them.
6. Operations and Management
Your investors need an overview of how the business functions. The operations plan highlights the logistics of the company such as team responsibilities, division tasks, and operational expenses. This helps track down who is responsible for certain areas of the business. Including specific software that you are interested in using for operations makes it easier to estimate the costs involved. For example, adding help desk tools that you know will work well in your business as well as elevate customer service and improve relationships.
7. Financial Plans
Money mobilizes the idea. Hence, it’s important to keep an accurate record of where it’s going. This section shows the company’s monetary plans and its future projections. This includes financial statements, balance sheets, and third-party business transactions. For startups, it will mostly contain the target profit and estimates of expenses.
Tips on Writing a Business Plan
Now that we have an idea of the business plan template , it’s time to learn how to write it effectively.
Here are some things to keep in mind when you’re writing one for your business.
- Keep it concise. It serve as a guide for the company and the investors. It needs to be easy to understand and direct to the point. You can’t afford to waste a reader’s time by creating a 100-page business plan. Instead, aim for a summarized version of your plan, only highlighting the important points and outlining the rest.
- Avoid jargon. Ensure that everyone, especially investors, can understand your business plan. Do not include complex jargon in your content. Save the technicalities for the experts and simplify the terms in explaining your ideas.
- Keep it up-to-date. As previously mentioned, business plans are not static. Over time, a lot of things in the industry will change and might make your original plans obsolete. Frequently update your business plan according to what’s new in the field and with new methods you’re employing. Remember, a business plan is only useful if it’s still relevant.
Build your Business
Business plans are important when you’re starting your business from scratch. However, the success of your business still heavily relies on their execution. A lot of startups fail because they can’t push through with what was proposed in the business plans.
More than just articulating your ideas, you need to do a lot more to make them come to life. For one, you’ll need the capital to kick things off and make everything operational. Second, you’ll need to hire the best people to run your operations. Lastly, you have to find investors to sustain your business.
One way to ensure that your business plan is properly executed is by enlisting the help of business experts. Full Scale is an offshore software development company that specializes in helping startups.
We can provide the talent and resources needed to begin your operations. Whether you need project managers, marketing specialists, or technical experts; we’ve got them all. We’ll take care of all the processes of recruitment and management so you can focus on your core competencies.
Ready to begin your entrepreneurial journey? Get your FREE consultation today!
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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 .
![items in a business plan Business Plan - Document with the words Business Plan on the title](https://cdn.corporatefinanceinstitute.com/assets/business-plan1-1024x682.jpeg)
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.
![items in a business plan Business Plan Template - Components](https://cdn.corporatefinanceinstitute.com/assets/business-plan.png)
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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18 of My Favorite Sample Business Plans & Examples For Your Inspiration
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Published: July 01, 2024
I believe that reading sample business plans is essential when writing your own.
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As you explore business plan examples from real companies and brands, it’s easier for you to learn how to write a good one.
So what does a good business plan look like? And how do you write one that’s both viable and convincing? I’ll walk you through the ideal business plan format along with some examples to help you get started.
Table of Contents
Business Plan Types
Business plan format, sample business plan: section by section, sample business plan templates, top business plan examples.
Ultimately, the format of your business plan will vary based on your goals for that plan. I’ve added this quick review of different business plan types that achieve differing goals.
For a more detailed exploration of business plan types, you can check out this post .
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1. Startups
Startup business plans are for proposing new business ideas. If you’re planning to start a small business, preparing a business plan is crucial. The plan should include all the major factors of your business.
You can check out this guide for more detailed business plan inspiration .
2. Feasibility Studies
Feasibility business plans focus on that business's product or service. Feasibility plans are sometimes added to startup business plans. They can also be a new business plan for an already thriving organization.
3. Internal Use
You can use internal business plans to share goals, strategies, or performance updates with stakeholders. In my opinion, internal business plans are useful for alignment and building support for ambitious goals.
4. Strategic Initiatives
A strategic business plan is another business plan that's often shared internally. This plan covers long-term business objectives that might not have been included in the startup business plan.
5. Business Acquisition or Repositioning
When a business is moving forward with an acquisition or repositioning, it may need extra structure and support. These types of business plans expand on a company's acquisition or repositioning strategy.
Growth sometimes just happens as a business continues operations. But more often, a business needs to create a structure with specific targets to meet set goals for expansion. This business plan type can help a business focus on short-term growth goals and align resources with those goals.
I’m going to focus on a startup business plan that needs to be detailed and research-backed as well as compelling enough to convince investors to offer funding. In my experience, the most comprehensive and convincing business plans contain the following sections.
Executive Summary
This all-important introduction to your business plan sets the tone and includes the company description as well as what you will be exchanging for money — whether that’s product lines, services, or product-service hybrids.
Market Opportunity
Information about gaps in your industry’s market and how you plan to fill them, focused on demand and potential for growth.
Competitive Landscape Analysis
An overview of your competitors that includes consideration of their strengths and how you’ll manage them, their weaknesses and how you’ll capitalize on them, and how you can differentiate your offerings in the industry.
![](http://writinghelp.online/777/templates/cheerup/res/banner1.gif)
Target Audience
Descriptions of your ideal customers, their various problems that you can solve, and your customer acquisition strategy.
Marketing Strategy
This section details how you will market your brand to achieve specific goals, the channels and tactics you’ll utilize to reach those goals, and the metrics you’ll be using to measure your progress.
Key Features and Benefits
This is where you’ll use plain language to emphasize the value of your product/service, how it solves the problems of your target audiences, and how you’ll scale up over time.
Pricing and Revenue
This section describes your pricing strategy and plans for building revenue streams that fit your audiences while achieving your business goals.
This is the final section, communicating with investors that your business idea is worth investing in via profit/loss statements, cash flow statements, and balance sheets to prove viability.
Okay, so now that we have a format established, I’ll give you more specific details about each section along with examples. Truthfully, I wish I’d had this resource to help me flesh out those first business plans long ago.
1. Executive Summary
I’d say the executive summary is the most important section of the entire business plan. It is essentially an overview of and introduction to your entire project.
Write this in such a way that it grabs your readers' attention and guides them through the rest of the business plan. This is important because a business plan can be dozens or hundreds of pages long.
There are two main elements I’d recommend including in your executive summary: your company description and your products and services.
Company Description
This is the perfect space to highlight your company’s mission statement and goals, a brief overview of your history and leadership, and your top accomplishments as a business.
Tell potential investors who you are and why what you do matters. Naturally, they’re going to want to know who they’re getting into business with up front. This is a great opportunity to showcase your impact.
Need some extra help firming up your business goals? I’d recommend HubSpot Academy’s free course to help you set meaningful goals that matter most for your business.
Products and Services
Here, you will incorporate an overview of your offerings. This doesn’t have to be extensive, as it is just a chance to introduce your industry and overall purpose as a business. I recommend including snippets of information about your financial projections and competitive advantage here as well.
Keep in mind that you'll cover many of these topics in more detail later on in the business plan. The executive summary should be clear and brief, only including the most important takeaways.
Executive Summary Business Plan Examples
This example was created with HubSpot’s business plan template . What makes this executive summary good is that it tells potential investors a short story while still covering all of the most important details.
Our Mission
Maria’s Gluten Free Bagels offers gluten-free bagels, along with various toppings, other gluten-free breakfast sandwich items, and coffee. The facility is entirely gluten free. Our team expects to catch the interest of gluten-free, celiac, or health-conscious community members who are seeking an enjoyable cafe to socialize. Due to a lack of gluten-free bagel products in the food industry currently, we expect mild competition and are confident we will be able to build a strong market position.
The Company and Management
Maria’s Gluten Free Bagels was founded in 2010 by Maria Jones, who first began selling her gluten-free bagels online from her home, using social media to spread the word. In 2012 she bought a retail location in Hamilton, MA, which now employs four full-time employees and six part-time employees. Prior to her bagel shop, Maria was a chef in New York and has extensive experience in the food industry.
Along with Maria Jones, Gluten Free Bagel Shop has a board of advisors. The advisors are:
- Jeni King, partner at Winding Communications, Ltd.
- Henry Wilson, president of Blue Robin, LLP.
Our Product
We offer gluten-free products ranging from bagels and cream cheese to blueberry muffins, coffee, and pastries. Our customers are health-conscious, community-oriented people who enjoy gluten-free products. We will create a welcoming, warm environment with opportunities for open mic nights, poetry readings, and other community functions. We will focus on creating an environment in which someone feels comfortable meeting a friend for lunch, or working remotely.
Our Competitive Advantages
While there are other coffee shops and cafes in the North Shore region, there are none that offer purely gluten-free options. This restricts those suffering from gluten-free illnesses or simply those with a gluten-free preference. This will be our primary selling point. Additionally, our market research [see Section 3] has shown a demand for a community-oriented coffee and bagel shop in the town of Hamilton, MA.
Financial Considerations
Our sales projections for the first year are $400,000. We project a 15% growth rate over the next two years. By year three, we project 61% gross margins.
We will have four full-time employees. The salary for each employee will be $50,000.
Start-up Financing Requirements
We are seeking to raise $125,000 in startup to finance year one. The owner has invested $50,000 to meet working capital requirements, and will use a loan of $100,000 to supplement the rest.
Example 2 :
Marianne and Keith Bean have been involved with the food industry for several years. They opened their first restaurant in Antlers, Oklahoma in 1981, and their second in Hugo in 1988. Although praised for the quality of many of the items on their menu, they have attained a special notoriety for their desserts. After years of requests for their flavored whipped cream toppings, they have decided to pursue marketing these products separately from the restaurants.
Marianne and Keith Bean have developed several recipes for flavored whipped cream topping. They include chocolate, raspberry, cinnamon almond, and strawberry. These flavored dessert toppings have been used in the setting of their two restaurants over the past 18 years, and have been produced in large quantities. The estimated shelf life of the product is 21 days at refrigeration temperatures and up to six months when frozen. The Beans intend to market this product in its frozen state in 8 and 12-ounce plastic tubs. They also intend to have the products available in six ounce pressurized cans. Special attention has been given to developing an attractive label that will stress the gourmet/specialty nature of the products.
Distribution of Fancy's Foods Whipped Dream product will begin in the local southeastern Oklahoma area. The Beans have an established name and reputation in this area, and product introduction should encounter little resistance.
Financial analyses show that the company will have both a positive cash flow and profit in the first year. The expected return on equity in the first year is 10.88%
Tips for Writing Your Executive Summary
- Start with a strong introduction of your company that showcases your mission and impact, then outline the products and services you provide.
- Clearly define a problem, explain how your product solves that problem, and show why the market needs your business.
- Be sure to highlight your value proposition, market opportunity, and growth potential.
- Keep it concise and support ideas with data.
- Customize your summary to your audience. For example, you might emphasize finances and return on investment for venture capitalists, whereas you might emphasize community benefits and minimal environmental impact for progressive nonprofits.
For more guidance, check out our tips for writing an effective executive summary .
2. Market Opportunity
This is where you'll detail the opportunity in the market. Ask and answer: Where is the gap in the current industry, and how will my product fill that gap?
To get a thorough understanding of the market opportunity, you'll want to conduct a TAM, SAM, SOM analysis , a SWOT analysis , and perform market research on your industry to get some insights for this section. More specifically, here’s what I’d include.
- The size of the market
- Current or potential market share
- Trends in the industry and consumer behavior
- Where the gap is
- What caused the gap
- How you intend to fill it
Market Opportunity Business Plan Example
I like this example because it uses critical data to underline the size of the potential market and what part of that market this service hopes to capture.
Example: The market for Doggie Pause is all of the dog owners in the metropolitan area and surrounding areas of the city. We believe that this is going to be 2/3 of the population, and we have a goal of gaining a 50% market share. We have a target of a 20% yearly profit increase as the business continues.
Tips for Writing Your Market Opportunity Section
- Focus on demand and potential for growth.
- Use market research, surveys, and industry trend data to support your market forecast and projections.
- Add a review of regulation shifts, tech advances, and consumer behavior changes.
- Refer to reliable sources.
- Showcase how your business can make the most of this opportunity.
3. Competitive Landscape Analysis
Since we’re already speaking of market share, you‘ll also need to create a section that shares details on who the top competitors are. After all, your customers likely have more than one brand to choose from, and you’ll want to understand exactly why they might choose one over another.
My favorite part of performing a competitive analysis is that it can help you uncover the following:
- Industry trends that other brands may not be utilizing.
- Strengths in your competition that may be obstacles to handle.
- Weaknesses in your competition that may help you develop selling points.
- The unique proposition you bring to the market that may resonate with customers.
Competitive Landscape Business Plan Example
I like how the competitive landscape section of this business plan shows a clear outline of who the top competitors are. It also highlights specific industry knowledge and the importance of location. This demonstrates useful experience in the industry, helping to build trust in your ability to execute your business plan.
Competitive Environment
Currently, there are four primary competitors in the Greater Omaha Area: Pinot’s Palette Lakeside (franchise partner), Village Canvas and Cabernet, The Corky Canvas, and Twisted Vine Collective. The first three competitors are in Omaha and the fourth is located in Papillion.
Despite the competition, all locations have both public and private events. Each location has a few sold-out painting events each month. The Omaha locations are in new, popular retail locations, while the existing Papillion location is in a downtown business district.
There is an opportunity to take advantage of the environment and open a studio in a well-traveled or growing area. Pinot’s Palette La Vista will differentiate itself from its competitors by offering a premium experience in a high-growth, influential location.
Tips for Writing Your Competitive Landscape
- Complete in-depth research, then emphasize your most important findings.
- Compare your unique selling proposition (USP) to your direct and indirect competitors.
- Show a clear and realistic plan for product and brand differentiation.
- Look for specific advantages and barriers in the competitive landscape. Then, highlight how that information could impact your business.
- Outline growth opportunities from a competitive perspective.
- Add customer feedback and insights to support your competitive analysis.
4. Target Audience
Use this section to describe who your customer segments are in detail. What is the demographic and psychographic information of your audience? I’d recommend building a buyer persona to get in the mindset of your ideal customers and be clear about why you're targeting them. Here are some questions I’d ask myself:
- What demographics will most likely need/buy your product or service?
- What are the psychographics of this audience? (Desires, triggering events, etc.)
- Why are your offerings valuable to them?
Target Audience Business Plan Example
I like the example below because it uses in-depth research to draw conclusions about audience priorities. It also analyzes how to create the right content for this audience.
The Audience
Recognize that audiences are often already aware of important issues. Outreach materials should:
- Emphasize a pollution-prevention practice
- Tell audience a little about how to prevent pollution
- Tell audience where they can obtain information about prevention.
Message Content
- Focus the content for outreach materials on cost savings, such as when and where pollution prevention is as cheap as or cheaper than traditional techniques. Include facts and figures.
- Emphasize how easy it is to do the right thing and the impacts of not engaging in pollution prevention.
- Stress benefits such as efficiency or better relations with government, for businesses not primarily concerned with public image.
Tips for Writing Your Target Audience Section
- Include details on the size and growth potential of your target audience.
- Figure out and refine the pain points for your target audience , then show why your product is a useful solution.
- Describe your targeted customer acquisition strategy in detail.
- Share anticipated challenges your business may face in acquiring customers and how you plan to address them.
- Add case studies, testimonials, and other data to support your target audience ideas.
- Remember to consider niche audiences and segments of your target audience in your business plan.
5. Marketing Strategy
Here, you‘ll discuss how you’ll acquire new customers with your marketing strategy. I think it’s helpful to have a marketing plan built out in advance to make this part of your business plan easier. I’d suggest including these details:
- Your brand positioning vision and how you'll cultivate it.
- The goal targets you aim to achieve.
- The metrics you'll use to measure success.
- The channels and distribution tactics you'll use.
Marketing Strategy Business Plan Example
This business plan example includes the marketing strategy for the town of Gawler. In my opinion, it works because it offers a comprehensive picture of how they plan to use digital marketing to promote the community.
![items in a business plan Screenshot of sample marketing plan](https://knowledge.hubspot.com/hubfs/sample-business-plan-1-20240628-7175828.webp)
You’ll also learn the financial benefits investors can reap from putting money into your venture rather than trying to sell them on how great your product or service is.
This business plan guide focuses less on the individual parts of a business plan, and more on the overarching goal of writing one. For that reason, it’s one of my favorites to supplement any template you choose to use. Harvard Business Review’s guide is instrumental for both new and seasoned business owners.
7. HubSpot’s Complete Guide to Starting a Business
![items in a business plan Screenshot of business startup kit download page from hubspot](https://knowledge.hubspot.com/hubfs/sample-business-plan-7-20240628-9740856.webp)
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How to Write the Perfect Business Plan: A Comprehensive Guide
Thinking of starting a business here's the best step-by-step template for writing the perfect business plan when creating your startup..
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Maybe you think you don't need a step-by-step guide to writing a great business plan . Maybe you think you don't need a template for writing a business plan. After all, some entrepreneurs succeed without writing a business plan. With great timing, solid business skills, entrepreneurial drive, and a little luck , some founders build thriving businesses without creating even an informal business plan .
But the odds are greater that those entrepreneurs will fail.
Does a business plan make startup success inevitable? Absolutely not. But great planning often means the difference between success and failure. Where your entrepreneurial dreams are concerned, you should do everything possible to set the stage for success.
And that's why a great business plan is one that helps you succeed .
The following is a comprehensive guide to creating a great business plan. We'll start with an overview of key concepts. Then we'll look at each section of a typical business plan:
Executive Summary
Overview and objectives, products and services, market opportunities, sales and marketing.
- Competitive Analysis
Management Team
Financial analysis.
So first let's gain a little perspective on why you need a business plan.
Key Concepts
Many business plans are fantasies. That's because many aspiring entrepreneurs see a business plan as simply a tool--filled with strategies and projections and hyperbole--that will convince lenders or investors the business makes sense.
That's a huge mistake.
First and foremost, your business plan should convince you that your idea makes sense--because your time, your money, and your effort are on the line.
So a solid business plan should be a blueprint for a successful business . It should flesh out strategic plans, develop marketing and sales plans, create the foundation for smooth operations, and maybe--just maybe--persuade a lender or investor to jump on board.
For many entrepreneurs, developing a business plan is the first step in the process of deciding whether to actually start a business. Determining if an idea fails on paper can help a prospective founder avoid wasting time and money on a business with no realistic hope of success.
So, at a minimum, your plan should:
- Be as objective and logical as possible. What may have seemed like a good idea for a business can, after some thought and analysis, prove not viable because of heavy competition, insufficient funding, or a nonexistent market. (Sometimes even the best ideas are simply ahead of their time.)
- Serve as a guide to the business's operations for the first months and sometimes years, creating a blueprint for company leaders to follow.
- Communicate the company's purpose and vision, describe management responsibilities, detail personnel requirements, provide an overview of marketing plans, and evaluate current and future competition in the marketplace.
- Create the foundation of a financing proposal for investors and lenders to use to evaluate the company.
A good business plan delves into each of the above categories, but it should also accomplish other objectives. Most of all, a good business plan is convincing . It proves a case. It provides concrete, factual evidence showing your idea for a business is in fact sound and reasonable and has every chance of success.
Who must your business plan convince?
First and foremost, your business plan should convince you that your idea for a business is not just a dream but can be a viable reality. Entrepreneurs are by nature confident, positive, can-do people. After you objectively evaluate your capital needs, products or services, competition, marketing plans, and potential to make a profit, you'll have a much better grasp on your chances for success.
And if you're not convinced, fine: Take a step back and refine your ideas and your plans.
Who can your business plan convince?
1. Potential sources of financing. If you need seed money from a bank or friends and relatives, your business plan can help you make a great case. Financial statements can show where you have been. Financial projections describe where you plan to go.
Your business plan shows how you will get there. Lending naturally involves risk, and a great business plan can help lenders understand and quantity that risk, increasing your chances for approval.
2. Potential partners and investors. Where friends and family are concerned, sharing your business plan may not be necessary (although it certainly could help).
Other investors--including angel investors or venture capitalists--generally require a business plan in order to evaluate your business.
3. Skilled employees . When you need to attract talent, you need something to show prospective employees since you're still in the startup phase. Early on, your business is more of an idea than a reality, so your business plan can help prospective employees understand your goals--and, more important, their place in helping you achieve those goals.
4. Potential joint ventures. Joint ventures are like partnerships between two companies. A joint venture is a formal agreement to share the work--and share the revenue and profit. As a new company, you will likely be an unknown quantity in your market. Setting up a joint venture with an established partner could make all the difference in getting your business off the ground.
But above all, your business plan should convince you that it makes sense to move forward.
As you map out your plan, you may discover issues or challenges you had not anticipated.
Maybe the market isn't as large as you thought. Maybe, after evaluating the competition, you realize your plan to be the low-cost provider isn't feasible since the profit margins will be too low to cover your costs.
Or you might realize the fundamental idea for your business is sound, but how you implement that idea should change. Maybe establishing a storefront for your operation isn't as cost-effective as taking your products directly to customers--not only will your operating costs be lower, but you can charge a premium since you provide additional customer convenience.
Think of it this way. Successful businesses do not remain static. They learn from mistakes, and adapt and react to changes: changes in the economy, the marketplace, their customers, their products and services, etc. Successful businesses identify opportunities and challenges and react accordingly.
Creating a business plan lets you spot opportunities and challenges without risk. Use your plan to dip your toe in the business water. It's the perfect way to review and revise your ideas and concepts before you ever spend a penny.
Many people see writing a business plan as a "necessary evil" required to attract financing or investors. Instead, see your plan as a no-cost way to explore the viability of your potential business and avoid costly mistakes.
Now let's look at the first section of your business plan: The Executive Summary.
The Executive Summary is a brief outline of the company's purpose and goals. While it can be tough to fit on one or two pages, a good Summary includes:
- A brief description of products and services
- A summary of objectives
- A solid description of the market
- A high-level justification for viability (including a quick look at your competition and your competitive advantage)
- A snapshot of growth potential
- An overview of funding requirements
I know that seems like a lot, and that's why it's so important you get it right. The Executive Summary is often the make-or-break section of your business plan.
A great business solves customer problems. If your Summary cannot clearly describe, in one or two pages, how your business will solve a particular problem and make a profit, then it's very possible the opportunity does not exist--or your plan to take advantage of a genuine opportunity is not well developed.
So think of it as a snapshot of your business plan. Don't try to "hype" your business--focus on helping a busy reader get a great feel for what you plan to do, how you plan to do it, and how you will succeed.
Since a business plan should above all help you start and grow your business, your Executive Summary should first and foremost help you do the following.
1. Refine and tighten your concept.
Think of it as a written elevator pitch (with more detail, of course). Your Summary describes the highlights of your plan, includes only the most critical points, and leaves out less important issues and factors.
As you develop your Summary, you will naturally focus on the issues that contribute most to potential success. If your concept is too fuzzy, too broad, or too complicated, go back and start again. Most great businesses can be described in several sentences, not several pages.
2. Determine your priorities.
Your business plan walks the reader through your plan. What ranks high in terms of importance? Product development? Research? Acquiring the right location? Creating strategic partnerships?
Your Summary can serve as a guide to writing the rest of your plan.
3. Make the rest of the process easy.
Once your Summary is complete, you can use it as an outline for the rest of your plan. Simply flesh out the highlights with more detail.
Then work to accomplish your secondary objective by focusing on your readers. Even though you may be creating a business plan solely for your own purposes, at some point you may decide to seek financing or to bring on other investors, so make sure your Summary meets their needs as well. Work hard to set the stage for the rest of the plan. Let your excitement for your idea and your business shine through.
In short, make readers want to turn the page and keep reading. Just make sure your sizzle meets your steak by providing clear, factual descriptions.
How? The following is how an Executive Summary for a bicycle rental store might read.
Introduction
Blue Mountain Cycle Rentals will offer road and mountain bike rentals in a strategic location directly adjacent to an entrance to the George Washington National Forest. Our primary strategy is to develop Blue Mountain Cycle Rentals as the most convenient and cost-effective rental alternative for the thousands of visitors who flock to the area each year.
Once underway, we will expand our scope and take advantage of high-margin new equipment sales and leverage our existing labor force to sell and service those products. Within three years we intend to create the area's premier destination for cycling enthusiasts.
Company and Management
Blue Mountain Cycle Rentals will be located at 321 Mountain Drive, a location providing extremely high visibility as well as direct entry and exit from a primary national park access road. The owner of the company, Marty Cycle, has over 20 years experience in the bicycle business, having served as a product manager for Acme Cycles as well as the general manager of Epic Cycling.
Because of his extensive industry contacts, initial equipment inventory will be purchased at significant discounts from OEM suppliers as well by sourcing excess inventory from shops around the country.
Because of the somewhat seasonal nature of the business, part-time employees will be hired to handle spikes in demand. Those employees will be attracted through competitive wages as well as discounts products and services.
460,000 people visited the George Washington National Forest during the last 12 months. While the outdoor tourism industry as a whole is flat, the park expects its number of visitors to grow over the next few years.
- The economic outlook indicates fewer VA, WV, NC, and MD cycling enthusiasts will travel outside the region
- The park has added a camping and lodging facilities that should attract an increased number of visitors
- The park has opened up additional areas for trail exploration and construction, ensuring a greater number of single-track options and therefore a greater number of visitors
The market potential inherent in those visitors is substantial. According to third-party research data, approximately 30 percent of all cyclists would rather rent than transport their own bicycles, especially those who are visiting the area for reasons other than cycling.
Competitive Advantages
The cycling shops located in Harrisonburg, VA, are direct and established competitors. Our two primary competitive advantages will be location and lower costs.
Our location is also a key disadvantage where non-park rentals are concerned. We will overcome that issue by establishing a satellite location in Harrisonburg for enthusiasts who wish to rent bicycles to use in town or on other local trails.
We will also use online tools to better engage customers, allowing them to reserve and pay online as well as create individual profiles regarding sizes, preferences, and special needs.
Financial Projections
Blue Mountain Cycle Rentals expects to earn a modest profit by year two based on projected sales. Our projections are based on the following key assumptions:
- Initial growth will be moderate as we establish awareness in the market
- Initial equipment purchases will stay in service for an average of three to four years; after two years we will begin investing in "new" equipment to replace damaged or obsolete equipment
- Marketing costs will not exceed 14 percent of sales
- Residual profits will be reinvested in expanding the product and service line
We project first-year revenue of $720,000 and a 10 percent growth rate for the next two years. Direct cost of sales is projected to average 60 percent of gross sales, including 50 percent for the purchase of equipment and 10 percent for the purchase of ancillary items. Net income is projected to reach $105,000 in year three as sales increase and operations become more efficient.
And so on ...
Keep in mind this is just a made-up example of how your Summary might read. Also keep in mind this example focused on the rental business, so a description of products was not included. (They'll show up later.) If your business will manufacture or sell products, or provide a variety of services, then be sure to include a Products and Services section in your Summary. (In this case the products and services are obvious, so including a specific section would be redundant.)
Bottom line: Provide some sizzle in your Executive Summary, but make sure you show a reasonable look at the steak, too.
Providing an overview of your business can be tricky, especially when you're still in the planning stages. If you already own an existing business, summarizing your current operation should be relatively easy; it can be a lot harder to explain what you plan to become .
So start by taking a step back.
Think about what products and services you will provide, how you will provide those items, what you need to have in order to provide those items, exactly who will provide those items, and most important, whom you will provide those items to.
Consider our bicycle rental business example. It's serves retail customers. It has an online component, but the core of the business is based on face-to-face transactions for bike rentals and support.
So you'll need a physical location, bikes, racks and tools and supporting equipment, and other brick-and-mortar related items. You'll need employees with a very particular set of skills to serve those customers, and you'll need an operating plan to guide your everyday activities.
Sound like a lot? It boils down to:
- What you will provide
- What you need to run your business
- Who will service your customers, and
- Who your customers are.
In our example, defining the above is fairly simple. You know what you will provide to meet your customer's needs. You will of course need a certain quantity of bikes to service demand, but you will not need a number of different types of bikes. You need a retail location, furnished to meet the demands of your business. You need semi-skilled employees capable of sizing, customizing, and repairing bikes.
And you know your customers: cycling enthusiasts.
In other businesses and industries, answering the above questions can be more difficult. If you open a restaurant, what you plan to serve will in some ways determine your labor needs, the location you choose, the equipment you need to purchase. And, most important, it will help define your customer. Changing any one element may change other elements; if you cannot afford to purchase expensive kitchen equipment, you may need to adapt your menu accordingly. If you hope to attract an upscale clientele, you may need to invest more in purchasing a prime location and creating an appealing ambience.
So where do you start? Focus on the basics first:
- Identify your industry. Retail, wholesale, service, manufacturing, etc. Clearly define your type of business.
- Identify your customer. You cannot market and sell to customers until you know who they are.
- Explain the problem you solve. Successful businesses create customer value by solving problems. In our rental example, one problem is cycling enthusiasts who don't--or can't--travel with bikes. Another problem is casual cyclists who can't--or choose not to--spend significant sums on their own bikes. The rental shop will solve that problem by offering a lower-cost and convenient alternative.
- Show how you will solve that problem. Our rental shop will offer better prices and enhanced services like remote deliveries, off-hours equipment returns, and online reservations.
If you are still stuck, try answering these questions. Some may pertain to you; others may not.
- Who is my average customer? Who am I targeting? (Unless you plan to open a grocery store, you should be unlikely to answer, "Everyone!")
- What pain point do I solve for my customers?
- How will I overcome that paint point?
- Where will I fail to solve a customer problem, and what can I do to overcome that issue? (In our rental example, one problem is a potential lack of convenience; we will overcome that issue by offering online reservations, on-resort deliveries, and drive-up equipment returns.)
- Where will I locate my business?
- What products, services, and equipment do I need to run my business?
- What skills do my employees need, and how many do I need?
- How will I beat my competition?
- How can I differentiate myself from my competition in the eyes of my customers? (You can have a great plan to beat your competition, but you also must win the perception battle among your customers. If customers don't feel you are different, then you aren't truly different. Perception is critical.)
Once you work through this list you will probably end up with a lot more detail than is necessary for your business plan. That is not a problem: Start summarizing the main points. For example, your Business Overview and Objectives section could start something like this:
History and Vision
Blue Mountain Cycle Rentals is a new retail venture that will be located at 321 Mountain Drive, directly adjacent to an extremely popular cycling destination. Our initial goal is to become the premier provider for bicycle rentals. We will then leverage our customer base and position in the market to offer new equipment sales as well as comprehensive maintenance and service, custom equipment fittings, and expert trail advice.
- Achieve the largest market share bicycle rentals in the area
- Generate a net income of $235,000 at the end of the second year of operation
- Minimize rental inventory replacement costs by maintaining a 7 percent attrition rate on existing equipment (industry average is 12 percent)
Keys to Success
- Provide high-quality equipment, sourcing that equipment as inexpensively as possible through existing relationships with equipment manufacturers and other cycling shops
- Use signage to attract visitors traveling to the national forest, highlighting our cost and service advantage
- Create additional customer convenience factors to overcome a perceived lack of convenience for customers planning to ride roads and trails some distance away from our shop
- Develop customer incentive and loyalty programs to leverage customer relationships and create positive word of mouth
You could certainly include more detail in each section; this is simply a quick guide. And if you plan to develop a product or service, you should thoroughly describe the development process as well as the end result.
The key is to describe what you will do for your customers--if you can't, you won't have any customers.
In the Products and Services section of your business plan, you will clearly describe--yep--the products and services your business will provide.
Keep in mind that highly detailed or technical descriptions are not necessary and definitely not recommended. Use simple terms and avoid industry buzzwords.
On the other hand, describing how the company's products and services will differ from the competition is critical. So is describing why your products and services are needed if no market currently exists. (For example, before there was Federal Express, overnight delivery was a niche business served by small companies. FedEx had to define the opportunity for a new, large-scale service and justify why customers needed--and would actually use --that service.)
Patents, copyrights, and trademarks you own or have applied for should also be listed in this section.
Depending on the nature of your business, your Products and Services section could be very long or relatively short. If your business is product-focused, you will want to spend more time describing those products.
If you plan to sell a commodity item and the key to your success lies in, say, competitive pricing, you probably don't need to provide significant product detail. Or if you plan to sell a commodity readily available in a variety of outlets, the key to your business may not be the commodity itself but your ability to market in a more cost-effective way than your competition.
But if you're creating a new product (or service), make sure you thoroughly explain the nature of the product, its uses, and its value, etc.--otherwise your readers will not have enough information to evaluate your business.
Key questions to answer:
- Are products or services in development or existing (and on the market)?
- What is the timeline for bringing new products and services to market?
- What makes your products or services different? Are there competitive advantages compared with offerings from other competitors? Are there competitive disadvantages you will need to overcome? (And if so, how?)
- Is price an issue? Will your operating costs be low enough to allow a reasonable profit margin?
- How will you acquire your products? Are you the manufacturer? Do you assemble products using components provided by others? Do you purchase products from suppliers or wholesalers? If your business takes off, is a steady supply of products available?
In the cycling rental business example we've been using, products and services could be a relatively simple section to complete or it could be fairly involved. It depends on the nature of the products the company plans to rent to customers.
If Blue Mountain Cycling Rentals plans to market itself as a provider of high-end bikes, describing those bikes--and the sources for those bikes--is important, since "high-end cycling rentals" is intended to be a market differentiation. If the company plans to be the low-cost provider, then describing specific brands of equipment is probably not necessary.
Also, keep in mind that if a supplier runs out of capacity--or goes out of business altogether--you may not have a sufficient supply to meet your demand. Plan to set up multiple vendor or supplier relationships, and describe those relationships fully.
Remember, the primary goal of your business plan is to convince you that the business is viable--and to create a road map for you to follow.
The Products and Services section for our cycling rental business could start something like this:
Product Description
Blue Mountain Cycle Rentals will provide a comprehensive line of bicycles and cycling equipment for all ages and levels of ability. Since the typical customer seeks medium-quality equipment and excellent services at competitive prices, we will focus on providing brands like Trek bikes, Shimano footwear, and Giro helmets. These manufacturers have a widespread reputation as mid- to high-level quality, unlike equipment typically found in the rental market.
The following is a breakdown of anticipated rental price points, per day and per week:
- Bicycle $30/$120
- Helmet $6/$30
- Customers can extend the rental term online without visiting the store.
- A grace period of two hours will be applied to all rentals; customers who return equipment within that two-hour period will not be charged an additional fee.
Competition
Blue Mountain Cycle Rentals will have clear advantages over its primary competitors, the bike shops located in Harrisonburg, VA:
- Newer equipment inventory with higher perceived quality
- Price points 15 percent below the competition
- Online renewals offering greater convenience
- A liberal return grace period that will reinforce our reputation as a customer-friendly rental experience
Future Products
Expansion will allow us to move product offerings into new equipment sales. We will also explore maintenance and fitting services, leveraging our existing maintenance staff to provide value-added services at a premium price.
When you draft your Products and Services section, think of your reader as a person who knows little to nothing about your business. Be clear and to the point.
Think of it this way: The Products and Services section answers the "what" question for your business. Make sure you fully understand the "what" factor; you may run the business, but your products and services are its lifeblood.
Market research is critical to business success. A good business plan analyzes and evaluates customer demographics, purchasing habits, buying cycles, and willingness to adopt new products and services.
The process starts with understanding your market and the opportunities inherent in that market. And that means you'll need to do a little research. Before you start a business you must be sure there is a viable market for what you plan to offer.
That process requires asking, and more importantly answering, a number of questions. The more thoroughly you answer the following questions, the better you will understand your market.
Start by evaluating the market at a relatively high level, answering some high-level questions about your market and your industry:
- What is the size of the market? Is it growing, stable, or in decline?
- Is the overall industry growing, stable, or in decline?
- What segment of the market do I plan to target? What demographics and behaviors make up the market I plan to target?
- Is demand for my specific products and services rising or falling?
- Can I differentiate myself from the competition in a way customers will find meaningful? If so, can I differentiate myself in a cost-effective manner?
- What do customers expect to pay for my products and services? Are they considered to be a commodity or to be custom and individualized?
Fortunately, you've already done some of the legwork. You've already defined and mapped out your products and services. The Market Opportunities section provides a sense-check of that analysis, which is particularly important since choosing the right products and services is such a critical factor in business success.
But your analysis should go further: Great products are great, but there still must be a market for those products. (Ferraris are awesome, but you're unlikely to sell many where I live.)
So let's dig deeper and quantify your market. Your goal is to thoroughly understand the characteristics and purchasing ability of potential customers in your market. A little Googling can yield a tremendous amount of data.
For the market you hope to serve, determine:
- Your potential customers. In general terms, potential customers are the people in the market segment you plan to target. Say you sell jet skis; anyone under the age of 16 and over the age of 60 or so is unlikely to be a customer. Plus, again in general terms, women make up a relatively small percentage of jet ski purchasers. Determining the total population for the market is not particularly helpful if your product or service does not serve a need for the entire population. Most products and services do not.
- Total households. In some cases determining the number of total households is important depending on your business. For example, if you sell heating and air conditioning systems, knowing the number of households is more important than simply knowing the total population in your area. While people purchase HVAC systems, "households" consume those systems.
- Median income. Spending ability is important. Does your market area have sufficient spending power to purchase enough of your products and services to enable you to make a profit? Some areas are more affluent than others. Don't assume every city or locality is the same in terms of spending power. A service that is viable in New York City may not be viable in your town.
- Income by demographics. You can also determine income levels by age group, by ethnic group, and by gender. (Again, potential spending power is an important number to quantify.) Senior citizens could very well have a lower income level than males or females age 45 to 55 in the prime of their careers. Or say you plan to sell services to local businesses; in that case, try to determine the amount they currently spend on similar services.
The key is to understand the market in general terms and then to dig deeper to understand whether there are specific segments within that market--the segments you plan to target--that can become customers and support the growth of your business.
Also keep in mind that if you plan to sell products online the global marketplace is incredibly crowded and competitive. Any business can sell a product online and ship that product around the world. Don't simply assume that just because "the bicycle industry is a $62 billion business" (a number I just made up) that you can capture a meaningful percentage of that market.
On the other hand, if you live in an area with 50,000 people and there's only one bicycle shop, you may be able to enter that market and attract a major portion of bicycle customers in your area.
Always remember it's much easier to serve a market you can define and quantify.
After you complete your research you may feel a little overwhelmed. While data is good, and more data is great, sifting through and making sense of too much data can be daunting.
For the purposes of your business plan, narrow your focus and focus on answering these main questions:
- What is your market? Include geographic descriptions, target demographics, and company profiles (if you're B2B). In short: Who are your customers?
- What segment of your market will you focus on? What niche will you attempt to carve out? What percentage of that market do you hope to penetrate and acquire?
- What is the size of your intended market? What is the population and spending habits and levels?
- Why do customers need and why will they be willing to purchase your products and services?
- How will you price your products and services? Will you be the low cost provider or provide value-added services at higher prices?
- Is your market likely to grow? How much? Why?
- How can you increase your market share over time?
The Market Opportunities section for our cycling rental business could start something like this:
Market Summary
Consumer spending on cycling equipment reached $9,250,000 in the states of VA, WV, MD, and NC last year. While we expect sales to rise, for the purposes of performing a conservative analysis we have projected a zero growth rate for the next three years.
In those states 2,500,000 people visited a national forest last year. Our target market includes customers visiting the Shenandoah National Forest; last year 120,000 people visited the area during spring, summer, and fall months.
Over time, however, we do expect equipment rentals and sales to increase as the popularity of cycling continues to rise. In particular we forecast a spike in demand in 2015 since the national road racing championships will be held in Richmond, VA.
Market Trends
Participation and population trends favor our venture:
- Recreational sports in general and both family-oriented and "extreme" sports continue to gain in exposure and popularity.
- Western VA and eastern WV have experienced population growth rates nearly double that of the country as a whole.
- Industry trends show cycling has risen at a more rapid rate than most other recreational activities.
Market Growth
According to the latest studies, recreation spending in our target market has grown by 14 percent per year for the past three years.
In addition, we anticipate greater than industry-norm growth rates for cycling in the area due to the increase in popularity of cycling events like the Alpine Loop Gran Fondo.
Market Needs
Out target market has one basic need: The availability to source bicycle rentals at a competitive price. Our only other competition are the bike shops in Harrisonburg, VA, and our location will give us a competitive advantage over those and other companies who try to serve our market.
You may want to add other categories to this section based on your particular industry.
For example, you might decide to provide information about Market Segments. In our case, the cycling rental business does not require much segmentation. Rentals are typically not broken down into segments like "inexpensive," "midrange," and "high-end." For the most part rental bikes are more of a commodity. (Although you'll notice in our Products and Services section, we decided to provide "high-end" rentals.)
But say you decide to open a clothing store. You could focus on high fashion, or children's clothes, or outdoor wear, or casual--you could segment the market in a number of ways. If that's the case, provide detail on segmentation that supports your plan.
The key is to define your market--and then show how you will serve your market.
Providing great products and services is wonderful, but customers must actually know those products and services exist. That's why marketing plans and strategies are critical to business success. (Duh, right?)
But keep in mind marketing is not just advertising. Marketing--whether advertising, public relations, promotional literature, etc.--is an investment in the growth of your business.
Like any other investment you would make, money spent on marketing must generate a return. (Otherwise why make the investment?) While that return could simply be greater cash flow, good marketing plans result in higher sales and profits.
So don't simply plan to spend money on a variety of advertising efforts. Do your homework and create a smart marketing program .
Here are some of the basic steps involved in creating your marketing plan:
- Focus on your target market. Who are your customers? Who will you target? Who makes the decisions? Determine how you can best reach potential customers.
- Evaluate your competition. Your marketing plan must set you apart from your competition, and you can't stand out unless you know your competition. (It's hard to stand out from a crowd if you don't know where the crowd stands.) Know your competitors by gathering information about their products, service, quality, pricing, and advertising campaigns. In marketing terms, what does your competition do that works well? What are their weaknesses? How can you create a marketing plan that highlights the advantages you offer to customers?
- Consider your brand. How customers perceive your business makes a dramatic impact on sales. Your marketing program should consistently reinforce and extend your brand. Before you start to market your business, think about how you want your marketing to reflect on your business and your products and services. Marketing is the face of your to potential customers--make sure you put your best face forward.
- Focus on benefits. What problems do you solve? What benefits do you deliver? Customers don't think in terms of products--they think in terms of benefits and solutions. Your marketing plan should clearly identify benefits customers will receive. Focus on what customers get instead of on what you provide. (Take Dominos; theoretically they're in the pizza business, but really they're a delivery business.)
- Focus on differentiation. Your products and services have to stand out from the competition in some way. How will you compete in terms of price, product, or service?
Then focus on providing detail and backup for your marketing plan.
- What is your budget for sales and marketing efforts?
- How will you determine if your initial marketing efforts are successful? In what ways will you adapt if your initial efforts do not succeed?
- Will you need sales representatives (inside or external) to promote your products?
- Can you set up public relations activities to help market your business?
The Sales and Marketing section for our cycling rental business could start something like this:
Target Market
The target market for Blue Mountain Cycling Rentals is western VA, eastern WV, southwestern MD, and northern NC. While customers in the counties surrounding the George Washington National Forest make up 35 percent of our potential customer base, much of our market travels from outside that geographic area.
Marketing Strategy
Our marketing strategy will focus on three basic initiatives:
- Road signage. Access to the forest is restricted to a few primary entrances, and visitors reach those entrances after traveling on one of several main roadways. Since customers currently rent bicycles in the local town of Harrisonburg, road signage will communicate our value proposition to all potential customers.
- Web initiatives. Our website will attract potential visitors to the resort. We will partner with local businesses that serve our target market to provide discounts and incentives.
- Promotional events. We will hold regular events with professional cyclists, like demonstrations and autograph signings, to bring more customers to the store as well as to extend the athletes' "brand" to our brand.
Pricing Strategy
We will not be the low-cost provider for our target market. Our goal is to provide mid- to high-end equipment. However, we will create web-based loyalty programs to incent customers to set up online profiles and reserve and renew equipment rentals online, and provide discounts for those who do. Over time we will be able to market specifically to those customers.
Just as in the Market Opportunity section, you may want to include a few more categories. For example, if your business involves a commission-compensated sales force, describe your Sales Programs and incentives. If you distribute products to other companies or suppliers and those distribution efforts will impact your overall marketing plans, lay out your Distribution Strategy.
The key is to show you understand your market and you understand how you will reach your market. Marketing and promotions must result in customers--your goal is to thoroughly describe how you will acquire and keep your customers.
Also keep in mind you may want to include examples of marketing materials you have already prepared, like website descriptions, print ads, web-based advertising programs, etc. While you don't need to include samples, taking the time to create actual marketing materials might help you better understand and communicate your marketing plans and objectives.
Make sure your Sales and Marketing section answers the "How will I reach my customers?" question.
Competitive Advantage
The Competitive Analysis section of your business plan is devoted to analyzing your competition--both your current competition and potential competitors who might enter your market.
Every business has competition. Understanding the strengths and weaknesses of your competition--or potential competition--is critical to making sure your business survives and grows. While you don't need to hire a private detective, you do need to thoroughly assess your competition on a regular basis even if you plan to run only a small business.
In fact, small businesses can be especially vulnerable to competition, especially when new companies enter a marketplace.
Competitive analysis can be incredibly complicated and time-consuming, but it doesn't have to be. Here is a simple process you can follow to identify, analyze, and determine the strengths and weaknesses of your competition.
Profile Current Competitors
First, develop a basic profile of each of your current competition. For example, if you plan to open an office supply store, you may have three competing stores in your market.
Online retailers will also provide competition, but thoroughly analyzing those companies will be less valuable unless you also decide you want to sell office supplies online. (Although it's also possible that they--or, say, Amazon--are your real competition. Only you can determine that.)
To make the process easier, stick to analyzing companies you will directly compete with. If you plan to set up an accounting firm, you will compete with other accounting firms in your area. If you plan to open a clothing store, you will compete with other clothing retailers in your area.
Again, if you run a clothing store, you also compete with online retailers, but there is relatively little you can do about that type of competition other than to work hard to distinguish yourself in other ways: great service, friendly salespeople, convenient hours, truly understanding your customers, etc.
Once you identify your main competitors, answer these questions about each one. And be objective. It's easy to identify weaknesses in your competition, but less easy (and a lot less fun) to recognize how they may be able to outperform you:
- What are their strengths? Price, service, convenience, and extensive inventory are all areas where you may be vulnerable.
- What are their weaknesses? Weaknesses are opportunities you should plan to take advantage of.
- What are their basic objectives? Do they seek to gain market share? Do they attempt to capture premium clients? See your industry through their eyes. What are they trying to achieve?
- What marketing strategies do they use? Look at their advertising, public relations, etc.
- How can you take market share away from their business?
- How will they respond when you enter the market?
While these questions may seem like a lot of work to answer, in reality the process should be fairly easy. You should already have a feel for the competition's strengths and weaknesses--if you know your market and your industry.
To gather information, you can also:
- Check out their websites and marketing materials. Most of the information you need about products, services, prices, and company objectives should be readily available. If that information is not available, you may have identified a weakness.
- Visit their locations. Take a look around. Check out sales materials and promotional literature. Have friends stop in or call to ask for information.
- Evaluate their marketing and advertising campaigns. How a company advertises creates a great opportunity to uncover the objectives and strategies of that business. Advertising should help you quickly determine how a company positions itself, who it markets to, and what strategies it employs to reach potential customers.
- Browse. Search the Internet for news, public relations, and other mentions of your competition. Search blogs and Twitter feeds as well as review and recommendation sites. While most of the information you find will be anecdotal and based on the opinion of just a few people, you may at least get a sense of how some consumers perceive your competition. Plus you may also get advance warning about expansion plans, new markets they intend to enter, or changes in management.
Keep in mind competitive analysis does more than help you understand your competition. Competitive analysis can also help you identify changes you should make to your business strategies. Learn from competitor strengths, take advantage of competitor's weaknesses, and apply the same analysis to your own business plan.
You might be surprised by what you can learn about your business by evaluating other businesses.
Identify Potential Competitors
It can be tough to predict when and where new competitors may pop up. For starters, regularly search for news on your industry, your products, your services, and your target market.
But there are other ways to predict when competition may follow you into a market. Other people may see the same opportunity you see. Think about your business and your industry, and if the following conditions exist, you may face competition does the road:
- The industry enjoys relatively high profit margins
- Entering the market is relatively easy and inexpensive
- The market is growing--the more rapidly it is growing the greater the risk of competition
- Supply and demand is off--supply is low and demand is high
- Very little competition exists, so there is plenty of "room" for others to enter the market
In general terms, if serving your market seems easy you can safely assume competitors will enter your market. A good business plan anticipates and accounts for new competitors.
Now distill what you've learned by answering these questions in your business plan:
- Who are my current competitors? What is their market share? How successful are they?
- What market do current competitors target? Do they focus on a specific customer type, on serving the mass market, or on a particular niche?
- Are competing businesses growing or scaling back their operations? Why? What does that mean for your business?
- How will your company be different from the competition? What competitor weaknesses can you exploit? What competitor strengths will you need to overcome to be successful?
- What will you do if competitors drop out of the marketplace? What will you do to take advantage of the opportunity?
- What will you do if new competitors enter the marketplace? How will you react to and overcome new challenges?
The Competitive Analysis section for our cycling rental business could start something like this:
Primary Competitors
Our nearest and only competition is the bike shops in Harrisonburg, VA. Our next closest competitor is located over 100 miles away.
The in-town bike shops will be strong competitors. They are established businesses with excellent reputations. On the other hand, they offer inferior-quality equipment and their location is significantly less convenient.
Secondary Competitors
We do not plan to sell bicycles for at least the first two years of operation. However, sellers of new equipment do indirectly compete with our business since a customer who buys equipment no longer needs to rent equipment.
Later, when we add new equipment sales to our operation, we will face competition from online retailers. We will compete with new equipment retailers through personalized service and targeted marketing to our existing customer base, especially through online initiatives.
Opportunities
- By offering mid- to high-end quality equipment, we provide customers the opportunity to "try out" bikes they may wish to purchase at a later date, providing additional incentive (besides cost savings) to use our service.
- Offering drive-up, express rental return services will be seen as a much more attractive option compared with the hassle of renting bikes in Harrisonburg and transporting them to intended take-off points for rides.
- Online initiatives like online renewals and online reservations enhances customer convenience and positions us as a cutting-edge supplier in a market largely populated, especially in the cycling segment, by customers who tend to be early technology adapters.
- Renting bikes and cycling equipment may be perceived by some of our target market as a commodity transaction. If we do not differentiate ourselves in terms of quality, convenience, and service, we could face additional competition from other entrants to the market.
- One of the bike shops in Harrisonburg is a subsidiary of a larger corporation with significant financial assets. If we, as hoped, carve out a significant market share, the corporation may use those assets to increase service, improve equipment quality, or cut prices.
While your business plan is primarily intended to convince you that your business makes sense, keep in mind most investors look closely at your competitive analysis. A common mistake made by entrepreneurs is assuming they will simply "do it better" than any competition.
Experienced businesspeople know you will face stiff competition: showing you understand your competition, understand your strengths and weaknesses relative to that competition, and that you understand you will have to adapt and change based on that competition is critical.
And, even if you do not ever plan to seek financing or bring in investors, you absolutely must know your competition.
The Competitive Analysis section helps you answer the "Against whom?" question.
The next step in creating your business plan is to develop an Operations Plan that will serve your customers, keep your operating costs in line, and ensure profitability . Your ops plan should detail strategies for managing, staffing, manufacturing, fulfillment, inventory--all the stuff involved in operating your business on a day-to-day basis.
Fortunately, most entrepreneurs have a better handle on their operations plan than on any other aspect of their business. After all, while it may not seem natural to analyze your market or your competition, most budding entrepreneurs tend to spend a lot of time thinking about how they will run their businesses.
Your goal is to answer the following key questions:
- What facilities, equipment, and supplies do you need?
- What is your organizational structure? Who is responsible for which aspects of the business?
- Is research and development required, either during start up or as an ongoing operation? If so, how will you accomplish this task?
- What are your initial staffing needs? When and how will you add staff?
- How will you establish business relationships with vendors and suppliers? How will those relationships impact your day-to-day operations?
- How will your operations change as the company grows? What steps will you take to cut costs if the company initially does not perform up to expectations?
Operations plans should be highly specific to your industry, your market sector, and your customers. Instead of providing an example like I've done with other sections, use the following to determine the key areas your plan should address:
Location and Facility Management
In terms of location, describe:
- Zoning requirements
- The type of building you need
- The space you need
- Power and utility requirements
- Access: Customers, suppliers, shipping, etc.
- Specialized construction or renovations
- Interior and exterior remodeling and preparation
Daily Operations
- Production methods
- Service methods
- Inventory control
- Sales and customer service
- Receiving and Delivery
- Maintenance, cleaning, and re-stocking
- Licenses and permits
- Environmental or health regulations
- Patents, trademarks, and copyrights
Personnel Requirements
- Typical staffing
- Breakdown of skills required
- Recruiting and retention
- Policies and procedures
- Pay structures
- Anticipated inventory levels
- Turnover rate
- Seasonal fluctuations in demand
- Major suppliers
- Back-up suppliers and contingency plans
- Credit and payment policies
Sound like a lot? It can be, but not all of the above needs to be in your business plan.
You should think through and create a detailed plan for each category, but you won't need to share the results with the people who read your business plan
Working through each issue and developing concrete operations plans helps you in two major ways:
- If you don't plan to seek financing or outside capital, you can still take advantage of creating a comprehensive plan that addresses all of your operational needs.
- If you do seek financing or outside capital, you may not include all the detail in your business plan--but you will have answers to any operations questions at your fingertips.
Think of Operations as the "implementation" section of your business plan. What do you need to do? How will you get it done? Then create an overview of that plan to make sure your milestones and timeline make sense.
That way the operations section answers the "How?" question.
Many investors and lenders feel the quality and experience of the management team is one of the most important factors used to evaluate the potential of a new business.
But putting work into the Management Team section will not only benefit people who may read your plan. It will also help you evaluate the skills, experiences, and resources your management team will need . Addressing your company's needs during implementation will make a major impact on your chances for success.
- Who are the key leaders? (If actual people have not been identified, describe the type of people needed.) What are their experiences, educational backgrounds, and skills?
- Do your key leaders have industry experience? If not, what experience do they bring to the business that is applicable?
- What duties will each position perform? (Creating an organization chart might be helpful.) What authority is granted to and what responsibilities are expected in each position?
- What salary levels will be required to attract qualified candidates for each position? What is the salary structure for the company, by position?
The Management Team section for our cycling rental business could start something like this:
Jim Rouleur, Owner and Manager
Joe has over 20 years experience in the cycling business. He served for 10 years as a product manager for Acme Bikes. After that he was the operations manager of Single Track Cycles, a full-service bike shop located in Bend, Oregon. He has an undergraduate degree in marketing from Duke University and an MBA from Virginia Commonwealth University. (A complete resume for Mr. Rouleur can be found in the Appendix.)
Mary Gearset, Assistant Manager
Mary was the 2009 U.S. Mountain Biking National Champion. She worked in product development for High Tec frames, creating custom frames and frame modifications for professional cyclists. She also has extensive customer service and sales experience, having worked for four years as the online manager of Pro Parts Unlimited, an online retailer of high-end cycling equipment and accessories.
In some instances you may also wish to describe your staffing plans.
For example, if you manufacture a product or provide a service and will hire a key skilled employee, describe that employee's credentials. Otherwise, include staffing plans in the Operations section.
One key note: Don't be tempted to add a "name" to your management team in hopes of attracting investors. Celebrity management team members may attract the attention of your readers, but experienced lenders and investors will immediately ask what role that person will actually play in the running of the business--and in most cases those individuals won't play any meaningful role.
If you don't have a lot of experience--but are willing to work hard to overcome that lack of experience--don't be tempted to include people in your plan who will not actually work in the business.
If you can't survive without help, that's okay. In fact, that's expected; no one does anything worthwhile on their own. Just make plans to get help from the right people.
Finally, when you create your Management section, focus on credentials but pay extra attention to what each person actually will do . Experience and reputation are great, but action is everything.
That way your Management section will answer the "Who is in charge?" question.
Numbers tell the story. Bottom line results indicate the success or failure of any business.
Financial projections and estimates help entrepreneurs, lenders, and investors or lenders objectively evaluate a company's potential for success. If a business seeks outside funding, providing comprehensive financial reports and analysis is critical.
But most important, financial projections tell you whether your business has a chance of being viable--and if not let you know you have more work to do.
Most business plans include at least five basic reports or projections:
- Balance Sheet: Describes the company cash position including assets, liabilities, shareholders, and earnings retained to fund future operations or to serve as funding for expansion and growth. It indicates the financial health of a business.
- Income Statement: Also called a Profit and Loss statement, this report lists projected revenue and expenses. It shows whether a company will be profitable during a given time period.
- Cash Flow Statement: A projection of cash receipts and expense payments. It shows how and when cash will flow through the business; without cash, payments (including salaries) cannot be made.
- Operating Budget: A detailed breakdown of income and expenses; provides a guide for how the company will operate from a "dollars" point of view.
- Break-Even Analysis: A projection of the revenue required to cover all fixed and variable expenses. Shows when, under specific conditions, a business can expect to become profitable.
It's easy to find examples of all of the above. Even the most basic accounting software packages include templates and samples. You can also find templates in Excel and Google Docs. (A quick search like "google docs profit and loss statement" yields plenty of examples.)
Or you can work with an accountant to create the necessary financial projections and documents. Certainly feel free to do so, but first play around with the reports yourself. While you don't need to be an accountant to run a business, you do need to understand your numbers, and the best way to understand your numbers is usually to actually work with your numbers.
But ultimately the tools you use to develop your numbers are not as important as whether those numbers are as accurate as possible--and whether those numbers help you decide whether to take the next step and put your business plan into action.
Then Financial Analysis can help you answer the most important business question: "Can we make a profit?"
Some business plans include less essential but potentially important information in an Appendix section. You may decide to include, as backup or additional information:
- Resumes of key leaders
- Additional descriptions of products and services
- Legal agreements
- Organizational charts
- Examples of marketing and advertising collateral
- Photographs of potential facilities, products, etc.
- Backup for market research or competitive analysis
- Additional financial documents or projections
Keep in mind creating an Appendix is usually only necessary if you're seeking financing or hoping to bring in partners or investors. Initially the people reading your business plan don't wish to plow through reams and reams of charts, numbers, and backup information. If one does want to dig deeper, fine--he or she can check out the documents in the Appendix.
That way your business plan can share your story clearly and concisely.
Otherwise, since you created your business plan, you should already have the backup.
Tying It All Together
While you may use your business plan to attract investors, partners, suppliers, etc., never forget that the goal of your business plan is to convince you that your idea makes sense.
Because ultimately it's your time, your money, and your effort on the line.
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$3.99 monthly subscription or $47.88 annual subscription
- Check mark icon A check mark. It indicates a confirmation of your intended interaction. Connect all your bank accounts, investments accounts, and credit cards
- Check mark icon A check mark. It indicates a confirmation of your intended interaction. Help you save for individual savings goals
- Check mark icon A check mark. It indicates a confirmation of your intended interaction. Create a budget
- Check mark icon A check mark. It indicates a confirmation of your intended interaction. Track expenses
- Check mark icon A check mark. It indicates a confirmation of your intended interaction. 30-day money-back guarantee
- con icon Two crossed lines that form an 'X'. Must buy a subscription (no free option)
Quicken Simplifi is a great budgeting tool if you want to create a detailed monthly spending and savings plan and don't mind paying for a subscription. If you would rather get a budgeting app that doesn't have a subscription fee, you'll have to consider other options.
- Up to 50% off on Simplifi for all new customers
- Stay on top of your finances in under 5 minutes per week.
- Check your custom budgeting plan — anytime, anywhere!
- Track your spending
- See where your money is going and discover places to save.
- Keep your bills in check
- Find subscriptions you don't use and start saving from day one.
Check out our picks for the best budgeting apps, and read more about how we chose the winners.
Best Budgeting Apps of July 2024
- Rocket Money : Best overall for reducing spending and creating a budget
- Monarch Money : Best for saving toward financial goals
- Quicken Simplifi : Best for robust budgeting features
- Honeydue App: Best for couples
The top budgeting apps have a straightforward sign-up process, a decent fee structure, strong budgeting tools, and an overall positive user experience. Learn more about the best budgeting apps, below.
Free to create a budget. Subscription fee applies to premium services.
- Check mark icon A check mark. It indicates a confirmation of your intended interaction. Connect all your bank accounts, credit cards, and investment accounts to track spending
- Check mark icon A check mark. It indicates a confirmation of your intended interaction. Bill negotiation feature
- Check mark icon A check mark. It indicates a confirmation of your intended interaction. Free plan available
- con icon Two crossed lines that form an 'X'. Limited features available with free plan
- con icon Two crossed lines that form an 'X'. Limited customer support availability
Rocket Money is featured in our best budgeting apps guide. While the Rocket Money app is free, there is a subscription fee if you want to use Premium features, like concierge services or premium chat.
Offers a 7-day free trial
Premium Plan with a 7-day free-trial, then $14.99 per month or $99.99 annually
- Check mark icon A check mark. It indicates a confirmation of your intended interaction. Link bank accounts
- Check mark icon A check mark. It indicates a confirmation of your intended interaction. Create unlimited budgets and make customizable categories
- Check mark icon A check mark. It indicates a confirmation of your intended interaction. Track individual savings goals
- Check mark icon A check mark. It indicates a confirmation of your intended interaction. Graphs and charts that track your spending and savings
- con icon Two crossed lines that form an 'X'. No free plan
Monarch Money is an overall solid option if you prioritize creating monthly budgets and saving for individual savings goals. The main downside of the app is that it doesn't offer a free plan. You'll have to a monthly or annual subscription fee.
- Check mark icon A check mark. It indicates a confirmation of your intended interaction. Budgeting app for couples
- Check mark icon A check mark. It indicates a confirmation of your intended interaction. Can have individual and shared finances
- Check mark icon A check mark. It indicates a confirmation of your intended interaction. Create monthly bill reminders
- Check mark icon A check mark. It indicates a confirmation of your intended interaction. Can discuss finances through chat feature
- con icon Two crossed lines that form an 'X'. Only available through mobile app
Honeydue is featured in our best budgeting apps guide as the best option for couples. It's a great option if you don't want to pay a fee. It also allows you to have individual and shared finances.
Top Budgeting App Reviews
Budgeting looks different for everyone, so we selected four picks for budgeting apps. We selected a well-rounded budgeting app, one designed for couples, another that's appealing for setting goals, and lastly one with more detailed budgeting features.
We have a mix of free budgeting apps and ones that have premium plans with subscription fees, so you can choose an option based on your financial needs and priorities.
Best Overall: Rocket Money
Rocket Money (previously known as TrueBill) is our best budgeting app overall because it has a variety of tools to help you save and limit spending.
Rocket Money has both a free plan and a premium plan. With the free plan, you'll be able to link bank accounts, credit cards, and investment accounts to track spending and you'll also be able to create a budget .
The premium plan includes concierge services, which review your bills and subscriptions to help you cancel or get refunds for these services on your behalf. It also includes premium customer chat, unlimited budgets, customizable budget categories, a savings account, real-time updated syncing, and a credit score report.
The app's standout feature is Bill Negotiation. You'll upload a copy of your bill, and Rocket Money will determine whether you can get the same service with the company for a lower price. Rocket Money may also help you get refunds if you're charged bank overdraft fees or late fees.
When Rocket Money negotiates a bill, you'll have to pay a percentage (you may choose any amount from 30% to 60%) of whatever it will save you for the year. If you plan to change your internet, cable, phone, or wireless provider in the next year, you could end up losing money, though.
Pricing: You may choose how much to pay each month through a sliding scale. Rocket Money has a free plan that's $0. The Premium plan has a 7-day free trial; after the free trial, you'll have to pay around $6 to $12 per month (the lower-price plans are billed annually instead of monthly).
Rocket Money Review
Best for Couples: Honeydue App
Honeydue is a budgeting app designed specifically for couples. The sign-up process is short and simple — you'll create an account by setting up your email, then invite your partner to Honeydue.
Honeydue allows you to see both your individual and shared finances in one place. You also have to option of setting limits to how much your partner can see. When you connect a bank account to the app, you may choose to share both balance and transaction information, share information only, or share no information.
With Honeydue, you can organize your finances by creating monthly bill reminders or discussing personal financial information through the app's chat feature.
If you would like an additional place to store money for a common goal, like a holiday budget or a couple's vacation.
You won't be able to access Honeydue through your computer; it's only available through a mobile app. Some of our other top picks have both online and mobile platforms for more convenience.
Regular Pricing: Free
Best for Saving for Financial Goals: Monarch Money
Monarch Money may be worthwhile if you are looking for a budgeting app that helps you save for financial goals and create a budget. It's also become one of the most hyped-up Mint alternatives among Redditor users since Mint shut down.
Through Monarch Money, you'll be able to make unlimited personalized savings goals . You can customize goals, organize them by order of importance, and link them to bank accounts. The app also helps you create a zero-based budget, track your net worth, and analyze your cash flow.
Monarch Money doesn't have a free plan. You can try out a 7-day free trial. However, after that, you'll need to pay a subscription fee. If you do not want to pay a subscription fee for a budgeting app, you'll want to consider one of our other picks.
Regular Pricing: Premium Plan with a 7-day free-trial, then $14.99 per month or $99.99 annually
Best for Robust Budgeting Features: Quicken Simplifi
Quicken Simplifi might be a good choice if you want a budgeting app that provides a detailed breakdown of your spending and savings.
In addition to letting you create budgets with customizable categories and make individual savings goals, Quicken Simplifi analyzes your spending and savings through charts and data.
You can receive monthly reports for spending, general income, income after expenses, savings, and net worth . You can also now check your credit score through the web application if you have early access (This feature is currently only available to U.S. residents). Checking your credit score through Simplifi won't affect it.
The one major downside to this app is that it doesn't have a free plan. You'll have to pay a subscription fee, although you can try the app for 30 days with a money-back guarantee.
There's also a special promotion available right now — 50% off for new customers.
Regular Pricing: $3.99 monthly subscription or $47.88 annual subscription
Quicken Simplfi Review
Budgeting App Trustworthiness and BBB Ratings
We review the ethics of each company so you can see if a specific financial institution aligns with your values.
We also include the settlement history of the last 3 years so you're aware of any recent public controversies involving the bank.
We include ratings from the Better Business Bureau to evaluate how companies address customer issues and handle transparency.
Company | BBB rating |
Rocket Money | B |
Honeydue | F |
Monarch Money | Not rated |
Quicken Simplifi | F (rating for parent company, Quicken) |
Rocket Money has a B rating due to a high volume of customer complaints.
Honeydue has an F rating because it hasn't responded to three customer complaints and it hasn't been in operation for a long time.
Quicken has an F rating because it has received a high volume of customer complaints filed, and failed to respond to 13 customer complaints.
A good BBB rating won't guarantee you'll have a good relationship with a company. You also might want to read customer reviews or talk to current customers before making your decision.
Intuit does have some public issues surrounding its tax-filing software, TurboTax.
Introduction to Budgeting Apps
Why use a budgeting app.
A budgeting app can help you understand where you spend your money. It's also useful for building and maintaining an effective budget.
The top budgeting apps let you create a monthly budget using customizable categories.
Many also help you save money effectively . For example, budgeting apps use your transaction history to make charts and graphs. You can use this information to analyze your spending patterns and figure out where to make adjustments in your budget.
Key Benefits of Budgeting Apps
The primary benefit of using a budgeting app is that it gives you a big-picture view of your financial situation.
Many budgeting apps let you link different types of bank accounts, investment accounts, credit cards , and loans. You'll be able to see all your accounts in one place and see how you're spending versus saving.
Budgeting apps also help you build better money habits. If you've struggled to maintain a budget in the past, it might be easier to track your spending on an app than completely on your own. Budgeting apps do the work for you by syncing all your accounts — you just need to make sure everything is synced correctly and make small adjustments when they aren't.
Features to Look for in a Budgeting App
User-friendly interface.
A good budgeting app has a design format that's easy to use. The app should load quickly and make it easy to get started. You should be able to create a budget on your own without much help. If you encounter technical difficulties, you should also easily be able to contact a customer representative through the app.
Syncing with Bank Account
Many easy-to-use budgeting apps for beginners allow you to sync savings accounts, checking accounts , investment accounts, or credit cards.
Apps often use Plaid to link bank accounts. Plaid can connect more than 11,000 U.S. banks and credit unions, including the best banks .
Expense Tracking
Once bank accounts are linked, your spending will be updated on the app so you have up-to-date information. A strong budgeting app will provide updates frequently, and during the same day so you can stay on top of your budget.
Customizable Budgeting Categories
Many budgeting apps allow you to create a zero-balance budget. With a zero-balance budget, you're figuring out where every dollar of your income is going. You can create budget categories for every expense. You can also create savings goals if you're setting aside money for a specific purpose, like a down payment on a home or a future vacation.
A good budgeting app allows you to make customizable budgeting categories rather than pre-set categories. That way, you can make a budget that's tailored to your life and make categories as broad or specific as you want.
Charts and Visual Analysis Features
A top budgeting app analyzes your habits so you can see how you manage your money over time. Some apps provide charts of your monthly budget so you can see how your categories compare to one another. Others might have visuals to indicate how much money you have left to spend in a certain category for that month.
Several budgeting apps also provide reports for broader areas of your finances. For example, you might be able to view your cash flow balance over several months or how your money in your retirement plans has grown over time.
How to Choose the Best Budgeting App for You
To find the right budgeting app, you need to know what features you're looking for. Are you looking for ways to cut back on spending? Do you want a free plan or a subscription plan for your budgeting app? Do you want a detailed breakdown of your finances or more of a general overview? Knowing the answers to these questions can help narrow down your options.
If you have your eye on a few budgeting apps, you can try out the free trials or free versions of each before settling on the right one. That way, you can see if the interface is also user-friendly and manageable for the long-term.
Setting Up and Using a Budgeting App
Step-by-step guide to setting up your budgeting app.
To use a budgeting app, you'll have to download it through the Android or Apple store. To set up most budgeting apps, you'll enter your name and email address. If the app charges a subscription fee, it will prompt you to sign up for a plan or free trial.
The best budgeting apps will walk you through the app's different features and help you get started. You'll typically be prompted to link accounts. Then, you can create a budget or set savings goals.
Tips for Effective Budgeting with the Apps
If you're new to budgeting apps, it may be helpful to start off with some structure.
For example, you could use a popular savings method like the 50/30/20 rule or pay-yourself-first strategy.
The 50/30/20 rule breaks down your budgeting, so 50% goes to needs, 30% goes to wants, and 20% goes to debt or savings. The pay-yourself-first strategy focuses on savings — you'll automatically transfer money from your paycheck to some of your savings and then distribute what's left over to your expenses.
Another tip for effective budgeting is to look at your expenses to see if they reflect your financial goals and values. If you have certain goals that are of higher priority than others, find ways to reduce spending in categories that aren't a priority for you. That might mean waiting before making a purchase, creating a meal plan or grocery list to limit spending on food, or auditing your subscriptions to see if there are any you can cancel.
Common Mistakes to Avoid on Budgeting Apps
Experts recommend trying out a budgeting app's free plan or free trial before committing to an annual plan.
There are many budgeting apps out there, so you want to try to find the one that best aligns with your financial needs. Testing a few apps can help you decide the best one, and it also keeps you from paying too much for a budgeting app that you won't end up using.
Pros and Cons of Budgeting Apps
Pros | Cons |
Alternatives to Budgeting Apps
Budgeting apps vs. spreadsheet or diy budgeting methods.
You may prefer building a spreadsheet budget if you don't want to link all of your bank accounts or credit cards in a mobile app. However, setting up and maintaining your budget will primarily hinge on how much work you're willing to put into it.
A budgeting app does the tracking for you. With a spreadsheet, you'll have to either start from scratch or use a template. Either way, a budgeting app still offers more comprehensive features.
Budgeting Apps vs. Personal Finance Software
Budgeting apps and personal finance software share the same features. The best option for you will depend on whether you have preferences on the tool's accessibility.
A budgeting app is primarily designed for mobile experiences. Some apps also have an online dashboard which you can access through your computer, but it is always something that's offered.
Meanwhile, personal finance software is designed for computer access. You'll either download the software to a desktop or use an online platform. Some will also have apps, but some features might not be available.
Budgeting Apps vs. Savings Accounts with Goals Features
Some of the best online banks have added unique features to their savings accounts to help customers with goal-setting.
If you're specifically looking for a way to save for goals, it may benefit you to get a savings account with buckets . Buckets are customizable tools that separate your savings so you can save for specific goals. Since they are an integrated bank account feature, they also might be easier to manage than a budgeting app.
If you would rather have more robust budgeting tools, a budgeting app will likely still stand out to you. Budgeting apps also connect investment accounts, credit cards, and loans, so you'll be able to see everything in one place.
Budgeting App FAQs
A budgeting app is beneficial for tracking expenses and sticking to a budget. It can also help you save for financial goals and prevent lifestyle creep .
To choose the best budgeting app for your needs, consider what your financial goals are and how a budgeting app can best help you achieve them. If you need help cutting back on expenses, you might consider a budgeting app with bill negotiation features. If you need help with savings, you might prioritize an app that helps with goal-setting features.
Most budgeting apps have encryption to store data, making them secure to use if you're linking your accounts. To keep your username and password safe, budgeting apps might also have multi-factor authentication so they can verify your identity when you're logging in.
A budgeting app can help you understand your financial situation so you can create a budget that saves you money over time. These apps can help you find areas where you can reduce your spending. Some also offer a bill negotiation feature so you can see if you can save money on subscriptions.
Yes, there are free budgeting apps available in the Apple and Android stores, though they typically have more limited features than apps with paid subscriptions. The best free budgeting app is Honeydue, which is specifically for couples.
Mint shut down in March 2024. You'll have to switch to Credit Karma if you want to continue using an Intuit personal finance platform, or you can switch to an alternative budgeting app.
In most cases, the best budgeting app for beginners will be one that makes budgeting easy — this means it has an easy-to-use interface and links to your accounts, so you don't have to enter every transaction manually. It can also be good to have an app that teaches you about money.
Rocket Money is our best budgeting app overall, and it has a free plan. If you're in a couple, our top pick is Honeydue which is also free to download.
Why You Should Trust Us: Experts' Advice on the Best Budgeting Apps
We consulted banking and financial planning experts to inform these picks and provide their advice on finding the budgeting app for your needs.
- Sophia Acevedo, banking editor, Business Insider
- Mykail James, MBA, certified financial education instructor, BoujieBudgets.com
Here's what they had to say about budgeting apps. (Some text may be lightly edited for clarity.)
What should I look for in a budgeting app?
Mykail James, MBA, certified financial education instructor, BoujieBudgets.com :
"My best tip for people who are looking to start using a budgeting app is to figure out what you're missing in your financial system. For example, if you are a person who knows that you want to stick to a zero-based budget, and you've been doing that manually, but you need maybe a little bit more help with the organization, then you can center your focus on searching for apps specifically solve your problem."
Sophia Acevedo, banking editor, Business Insider :
"I would look for features that would help me with my goals. Like if I'm trying to curb spending, I would look for a budgeting app that helps me minimize payments in certain spending areas."
How do I know if a budgeting app is right for me?
Mykail James, MBA, CFEI:
"Give it time. Every budgeting app is going to feel uncomfortable during the first month. Give it at least three months before deciding if it's not something for you. Actively try and use it before considering a switch."
Sophia Acevedo, CEPF:
"I would first try out the free version and see how it works. Some budgeting apps are entirely free, while others have different plans or trials at a variety of price points."
Methodology: How Did We Choose the Best Budgeting Apps?
At Business Insider, we aim to help smart people make the best decisions with their money. We understand that "best" is often subjective, so in addition to highlighting the clear benefits of a financial product, we outline the limitations, too.
First, we compiled a list of 18 popular budgeting apps available in both the Google Play Store and Apple Store.
Then, we reviewed each budgeting app for a week. To determine our top picks, we reviewed the initial sign-up process, pricing, budgeting tools, and user experience. We also considered whether each app accomplished everything it advertised, and how regular users reviewed the product on the Apple and Google Play store.
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Editorial Note: Any opinions, analyses, reviews, or recommendations expressed in this article are the author’s alone, and have not been reviewed, approved, or otherwise endorsed by any card issuer. Read our editorial standards .
Please note: While the offers mentioned above are accurate at the time of publication, they're subject to change at any time and may have changed, or may no longer be available.
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NCPA Announces Finalists for 2024 Good Neighbor Pharmacy NCPA Pruitt-Schutte Student Business Plan Competition
NCPA July 22, 2024
ALEXANDRIA, Va. (July 22, 2024) – The National Community Pharmacists Association and the NCPA Foundation are pleased to announce that teams of pharmacy students from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, the University of South Carolina, and the University of Texas at Austin have been named finalists in the 2024 Good Neighbor Pharmacy NCPA Pruitt-Schutte Student Business Plan Competition. The three teams will present their business plans in a live competition on Saturday, Oct. 26, 2024, at the NCPA Annual Convention in Columbus. The winning team will be announced on Sunday, Oct. 27, as part of the convention’s First General Session.
“Having a solid business plan in place makes it easier for pharmacy teams to address whatever challenges inevitably arise in the future,” said NCPA President Lea Wolsoncroft, RPh. “This competition helps pharmacy students feel confident in writing a thorough business plan now, so that they are better equipped as their careers progress. I’m proud of all teams participating in this year’s Student Business Plan Competition for their strong work and wish good luck to this year’s finalists at the live competition in October! We’re looking forward to seeing them present the plans they’ve been working so hard to design.”
Team members from final three schools will compete for the following first, second, and third place awards:
- First Place: $3,000 to the NCPA student chapter and $3,000 contributed to the school in the dean’s name to promote independent pharmacy.
- Second Place: $2,000 to the NCPA student chapter and $2,000 contributed to the school in the dean’s name to promote independent pharmacy.
- Third Place: $1,000 to the NCPA student chapter and $1,000 contributed to the school in the dean’s name to promote independent pharmacy.
The Student Business Plan Competition, which is supported by Good Neighbor Pharmacy, Pharmacists Mutual Insurance Company and the NCPA Foundation, is the first national competition of its kind in the pharmacy profession and honors two great champions of independent community pharmacy, the late Neil Pruitt Sr. and the late H. Joseph Schutte. It aims to motivate students in pharmacy school to create a thought-out plan for either purchasing an existing pharmacy or opening a pharmacy from the ground up, and to prepare tomorrow’s pharmacy entrepreneurs for a successful future.
There were 20 entries in this year’s competition. The teams rounding out the top 10, listed alphabetically, are Mercer University; Northeastern University; Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey; the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences; the University of California, San Francisco; the University of Georgia; and the University of Missouri-Kansas City.
The teams’ business plans were graded by independent pharmacy owners, business coaches and consultants, financiers, or community pharmacy practitioners, who must follow a detailed rubric when grading plans. Schools submitting to the competition for the first time receive a plaque for their participation. Each year that a school participates, it will receive a plate commemorating the year of participation to be added to the competition plaque. Teams placing in the top 10 receive a special plate acknowledging this distinction.
For more information about the Student Business Plan Competition, please visit NCPA’s website .
Founded in 1898, the National Community Pharmacists Association is the voice for the community pharmacist , representing over 19,400 pharmacies that employ more than 230,000 individuals nationwide. Community pharmacies are rooted in the communities where they are located and are among America’s most accessible health care providers. To learn more, visit www.ncpa.org .
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Amid House Oversight Hearing, Pharmacy Organizations Issue United Call for Action on ‘Must-Pass’ PBM Reform Legislation
Ncpa leads retail pharmacy in a class action suit against change healthcare, unitedhealth group, and optum for data breach and losses, scathing ftc interim report on pbms warrants further investigations, immediate action by policymakers and regulators, ncpa launches powerful new tv ad: "pbm career day".
More From Forbes
How To Start A Business Plan: A Step-By-Step Guide
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Creating a business plan is a critical first step for any entrepreneur. Knowing how to start a business plan will help you create a roadmap, guiding your business from startup to growth and beyond. Whether you're looking for investment, trying to set clear goals, or simply organizing your thoughts, a solid business plan can make all the difference.
Here is a guide to help you get started on your business plan:
1. executive summary.
What It Is: This section summarizes your business plan as a whole and outlines your company profile and goals.
What to Include:
- Business name and location
- Products or services offered
- Mission statement
- The purpose of the plan (e.g., seeking funding, guiding the startup process)
Tip: Keep it concise. Although it's the first section, it's often best to write it last, after you’ve detailed everything else.
2. Company Description
What It Is: This section provides detailed information about your company, including who you are, what you do, and what markets you serve.
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- Your business structure (e.g., sole proprietorship, LLC, corporation)
- The industry and marketplace needs your business meets
- Your business’s objectives and how you stand out from competitors
Tip: Use this section to highlight your company’s strengths and what makes you unique.
3. Market Research
What It Is: Market research demonstrates your understanding of the industry and target market.
- Market size and growth potential
- Target customer demographics
- Market trends and outlook
- Competitive analysis, including strengths and weaknesses of competitors
Tip: Include data and statistics to back up your findings and show that you’ve done your homework.
4. Organization and Management
What It Is: This section outlines your business’s organizational structure and management team.
- Organizational chart
- Information about the ownership of the company
- Backgrounds and qualifications of the management team
- Roles and responsibilities within the company
Tip: Highlight the skills and experiences of your team that will help the business succeed.
5. Products or Services Line
What It Is: Here, you detail the products or services you offer or plan to offer.
- A description of each product or service
- The lifecycle of products or services
- Research and development activities, if applicable
- Intellectual property, such as patents or trademarks
Tip: Focus on the benefits your products or services bring to your customers.
6. Marketing and Sales Strategy
What It Is: This section explains how you will attract and retain customers.
- Marketing strategies, including advertising, promotions, and public relations
- Sales strategies, including sales processes, channels, and tactics
- Pricing strategy and how it compares to competitors
Tip: Ensure your marketing and sales strategies are aligned with your market research findings.
7. Funding Request
What It Is: If you’re seeking funding , this section outlines your requirements.
- Your current funding needs
- Future funding requirements over the next five years
- How you intend to use the funds
- Potential future financial plans (e.g., selling the business, repaying debt)
Tip: Be specific and realistic about how much funding you need and how it will be used.
8. Financial Projections
What It Is: Financial projections provide a forecast of your business’s financial future.
- Income statements
- Cash flow statements
- Balance sheets
- Break-even analysis
Tip: Use realistic and conservative estimates. Consider hiring a financial professional to help with this section if needed.
9. Appendix
What It Is: The appendix includes any additional information that supports your business plan.
- Resumes of key management team members
- Permits and leases
- Legal documents
- Detailed market research data
- Product photos
Tip: Only include essential information that adds value to your business plan.
Final Tips for Creating a Business Plan
Creating a business plan requires clarity and precision. First and foremost, keep your business plan clear and concise. Avoid using jargon or complex language that could make the plan difficult to read or understand. Your aim should be to communicate your ideas effectively and efficiently.
Next, be realistic in your approach. Ensure that your goals and financial projections are attainable based on your research and understanding of the market. Overly ambitious projections can undermine your credibility and potentially lead to unrealistic expectations.
It's also essential to remember that a business plan is a dynamic document. As your business grows and market conditions change, you should revisit and revise your plan regularly. This helps you stay aligned with your goals and adapt to new challenges and opportunities.
Finally, seek feedback from experienced business professionals. Having someone with business experience review your plan can provide valuable insights and help identify any potential issues or areas for improvement. Their feedback can enhance the overall quality and effectiveness of your business plan.
By following these tips, you'll be better equipped to create a robust and effective business plan that can guide your business towards success.
The bottom line is that starting a business plan may seem challenging, but with careful planning and attention to detail, you can create a comprehensive guide to steer your business toward success. Use this step-by-step guide to ensure that all essential components are covered, giving your business the best possible start.
Melissa Houston, CPA is the author of Cash Confident: An Entrepreneur’s Guide to Creating a Profitable Business and the founder of She Means Profit . As a Business Strategist for small business owners, Melissa helps women making mid-career shifts, to launch their dream businesses, and I also guide established business owners to grow their businesses to more profitably.
The opinions expressed in this article are not intended to replace any professional or expert accounting and/or tax advice whatsoever.
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Money blog: Budget airline set to slash fares as profits slump
Welcome to the Money blog, your place for personal finance and consumer news and tips. Share your Money Problem or consumer dispute below along with your email address and we'll get answers from an expert - today we're helping a reader having trouble with a neighbour.
Monday 22 July 2024 20:12, UK
- 'I constantly smell smoke from my neighbour's log burner - what can I do?'
- Popular European city to 'substantially' raise tourist tax for cruises
- Budget airline set to slash fares as profits slump
- Biden bombshell fails to move markets - here's why
Essential reads
- What happens when our gold mines run dry?
- Cheapest ways to get your holiday money
- We tried UK's cheapest three-course dinner* - here's what you get for £4 (or £5 if you want to splash out)
- Women in Business: 'I set up business with £200 and went on Dragons' Den - now it's worth £1.5m'
- Basically... What happens when you go bankrupt?
- Best of the Money blog - an archive of features
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By Mark Kleinman , city editor
Nadhim Zahawi, the former Conservative chancellor, is assembling a £600m bid for The Daily Telegraph that could up-end the auction of some of Britain’s most influential media assets.
Sky News has learnt that Mr Zahawi, who left parliament in May after opting not to stand again in his Stratford-on-Avon seat, has approached a number of billionaire backers about helping to finance an offer for the daily newspaper, its Sunday sister title and The Spectator magazine.
City sources said the Reuben family, which owns a vast swathe of property assets and a stake in Newcastle United Football Club, was among those to have been sounded out by Mr Zahawi in recent weeks.
The former cabinet minister, who also spent time as business secretary, education secretary and as the government's vaccines minister during the Covid-19 pandemic, is said to believe the Telegraph has significant scope to boost its profitability by expanding in the US.
Read more here .
Online grocery retailer Ocado has struck a deal with a company that will oversee its warehouses controlled mainly by robots .
Ocado told shareholders today that US firm Kroger will roll out its "Re:imagined" tech across "multiple" fulfilment centres, as well as "future" ones.
"The technologies include proprietary Ocado innovations such as On-Grid Robotic Pick and Automated Frameload, which will bring new levels of efficiency and labour productivity to the Kroger Delivery network," Ocado said.
"These innovations will enable Kroger to further drive down their cost to serve from CFCs, and enhance an already market-leading customer proposition."
Lucozade has added to its "Alert" energy drink range with two new flavours .
Coming in 250ml cans, Lucozade Alert Ultimate Energy (guarana-flavoured) and Lucozade Alert Mango Peachade are set to roll out from next month.
RRP is £1 a can.
Carpetright's future is understood to have been secured but the majority of its 1,800 staff are set to lose their jobs under a limited rescue deal.
It is believed that rival floorings retailer Tapi will confirm it is buying just 54 of 272 stores and two warehouses in a so-called pre-pack administration that allows a buyer to cherry-pick assets.
The deal would see, however, only 300 staff retained.
The brand and Carpetright's intellectual property rights are also believed to be included in the sale.
Read more here :
Families paying for holiday clubs this summer now face a bill of £1,045 for six weeks' care for one child, a study has found.
A survey of councils across the UK by charity Coram Family and Childcare found that represented a rise of 6% on last year's costs.
Providers say they are trying to keep costs down as they struggle with staff shortages.
This table shows how prices have increased in the past 12 months in England, Scotland and Wales...
"Too many families dread the onset of the summer holidays," Coram Family and Childcare managing director Ellen Broomé said.
"Finding a place will be a challenge this summer, particularly for children with special educational needs and disabilities."
Lending for buy-to-let (BTL) house purchases has more than halved over the past year, a banking and finance industry body has said.
New mortgage deals granted for this purpose fell from 25,280 in the fourth quarter of 2022 to 12,422 in the first quarter of this year.
The market also shrank - from 2.04 million outstanding BTL mortgages in the first quarter of 2023 to 1.98 million in the first quarter of this year.
This has been put down to rapidly rising interest rates, which made it harder for those looking to buy a BTL property to pass bank affordability tests, UK Finance said.
Stamp duty surcharges on second and subsequent properties also played a part.
James Tatch, head of analytics at UK Finance, said: "Without more unexpected negative shocks, strong rental demand and strong lending standards could mean the buy-to-let sector emerges from last year's downturn sooner than previously expected, also that further rises in arrears are limited.
"Lenders continue to offer a range of support to anyone who's worried about their finances, with teams of trained experts ready to help. If you are struggling, please reach out to your lender as soon as possible to discuss the support options available."
Are you struggling because of high interest rates? Sky News is keen to hear from people who are due to refix their mortgages, are on variable rates or are trying to get on the housing ladder.
Email us your stories at [email protected] or use the box at the top of this page.
We've all heard of unusual jobs, but this may take the biscuit...
A 72-year-old grandmother has been appointed theme park Alton Towers' first "chief thrillseeker".
Jackie Smith, from Wiltshire, was the first female to join the Parachute Regiment in 1971 (at aged 19) and has led an adrenaline-fuelled life since.
Her new role, which will last 12 months, will see her responsible for testing rides.
"It's my absolute honour to be appointed Alton Towers' first chief thrillseeker," she said.
"I can't wait to bring my expertise from a lifetime of adventure to help ensure they continue to set new standards."
She has already been on rides in the park, and offered her thoughts.
"My first time on the iconic Nemesis Reborn definitely met my high standards for thrills - it felt like my first jump all over again."
Ms Smith has completed some 5,000 parachute jumps in her career and has previously been nominated for the BBC Sports Personality of the Year award.
Gin & Juice by Dre and Snoop, the pre-mixed cocktail brand created by legendary American rappers Dr Dre and Snoop Dogg, is launching in the UK.
The drinks take their name from Snoop Dogg's 1994 single (which was produced by Dr Dre) and will be available via independent retail, DTC and Amazon.
Drinkers can choose from citrus, melon, passionfruit and apricot flavours.
Gin & Juice are 5.9% abv, costing £2.50 per 250ml can and made from a "premium light gin base" with real fruit, the brand said.
Gin & Juice launched in the US in February.
Barcelona is set to "substantially" raise the tourist tax for cruise passengers visiting the city for less than 12 hours.
It comes as anti-tourism protests have taken place across parts of Spain in recent weeks.
Jaume Collboni, the mayor of Barcelona, has confirmed the charge will be increasing but hasn't said by how much.
The tourist tax for stopover cruise passengers is currently €7 (£6).
Mr Collboni said in an interview with El Pais newspaper: "We are going to propose... substantially increasing the tax for stopover cruise passengers.
"In the case of stopover cruise passengers (less than 12 hours) there is intensive use of public space without any benefit for the city and a feeling of occupation and saturation. We want to have tourism that is respectful of the destination."
Mr Collboni said tourists, not local taxpayers, should pay for local projects like air-conditioning in schools.
The proposal will have to be agreed with the Catalan regional government, he added.
You can read more here :
By James Sillars , business reporter
The widely expected (but nevertheless bombshell) news that Joe Biden had pulled out of the US presidential race failed to produce a crater on financial markets.
US stock market futures gained slightly but the dollar and US bond yields were static as the trading week opened in Asia.
Market analysts said the election development was largely inconsequential as a win for Donald Trump remained priced in.
A big sympathy vote was anticipated after the failed assassination attempt earlier in the month.
In London, the FTSE 100 gained back most of the losses seen on Friday when dealing began.
It was 0.5% higher at 8,196.
Utilities and real estate stocks were leading the charge.
The big story, however, was in Ireland, where Ryanair shares fell by more than 12% at the open.
Investors were reacting to a slump in first quarter profits and the revelation of big discounting to drive ticket sales.
You can read more about the budget airline's fortunes in our previous post...
Ryanair fares will likely be lower than those we saw last summer, the airline has said.
The average fare is 15% cheaper this summer, with Europe's largest carrier (by passenger numbers) engaging in significant discounting in an attempt to keep customers interested.
Reporting weaker profits, which the company blamed on heightened consumer caution, group chief executive Michael O'Leary warned shareholders that fares over the key summer holiday months would be significantly down as a result of the weaker than anticipated consumer backdrop.
He also indicated that prices would continue to drop.
Mr O'Leary told shareholders: "While Q2 demand is strong, pricing remains softer than we expected, and we now expect Q2 fares to be materially lower than last summer [previously expected to be flat to modestly up]".
Ryanair reported the weaker profits than expected for its first financial quarter, blaming a need to "stimulate" flight sales.
Every Monday we get an expert to answer your Money Problems or consumer disputes. Find out how to submit yours at the bottom of this post. Today's question is...
My neighbour has installed a log burner and the chimney is as close to our property as it is legally allowed. Every time I go out of my front door I can smell acrid smoke. What can I do about it? Crissy
The first thing to do is speak to your neighbour and try to resolve it amicably, according to Chun Wong, a partner at law firm Hodge Jones & Allen.
"Remember you do need to live by them in close proximity on a daily basis, so aim to maintain a good relationship," she says.
"Although neighbours may install items within their own boundaries so it may technically not trespass into your property, there may still be recourse for consequential losses due to noise or smells escaping into your property.
"Smells and noise can be classed as a statutory or private nuisance, which may depend on expert evidence or the effect/harm on you such as the frequency of the smell or noise."
Statutory nuisance is something that affects a person's health or causes disturbance to them in their property. It has to occur frequently and continue for a period of time that makes it unreasonable.
Private nuisance is a branch of the law which provides more robust remedies through the civil courts where there has been a significant detriment to the use or enjoyment of a person's land.
It's down to the individual to decide which route they want to go down - bearing in mind statutory nuisance may not give compensation but will likely be cheaper and easier to action.
If the smoke is seen as a statutory nuisance, Wong says, then you should complain to your local council, which could end up serving an abatement notice.
"This is a notice which only the local authority can serve requiring someone to take action or refrain from action. If that fails, breach of an abatement notice can lead to a substantial fine and in serious cases, prosecution," she says.
"If it is a private nuisance you may be able to bring court proceedings to stop the nuisance and claim for compensation.
"The first step would be to send a letter of claim to your neighbour and also submit a claim form in your local county court with all the details and supporting evidence.
"You do not need a solicitor to do this, but I strongly advise you to seek legal advice before taking this drastic step given the serious consequences involved."
This feature is not intended as financial advice - the aim is to give an overview of the things you should think about. Submit your dilemma or consumer dispute via:
- The form above - you need to leave a phone number or email address so we can contact you for further details
- Email [email protected] with the subject line "Money blog"
- WhatsApp us here
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Describe Your Services or Products. 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 ...
A good business plan guides you through each stage of starting and managing your business. You'll use your business plan as a roadmap for how to structure, run, and grow your new business. ... Common items to include are credit histories, resumes, product pictures, letters of reference, licenses, permits, patents, legal documents, and other ...
Here are some of the components of an effective business plan. 1. Executive Summary. One of the key elements of a business plan is the executive summary. Write the executive summary as part of the concluding topics in the business plan. Creating an executive summary with all the facts and information available is easier.
Most business plans also include financial forecasts for the future. These set sales goals, budget for expenses, and predict profits and cash flow. A good business plan is much more than just a document that you write once and forget about. It's also a guide that helps you outline and achieve your goals. After completing your plan, you can ...
Business Plan: A business plan is a written document that describes in detail how a business, usually a new one, is going to achieve its goals. A business plan lays out a written plan from a ...
That's where your business plan comes in. It provides investors, lenders and potential partners with an understanding of your company's structure and goals. If you want to gain the financial autonomy to run a business or become an entrepreneur, a financial advisor can help align your finances. 1. Executive Summary.
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.
A business plan is a comprehensive document that outlines a company's goals, strategies, and financial projections. It provides a detailed description of the business, including its products or services, target market, competitive landscape, and marketing and sales strategies.
Learn about the best business plan software. 1. Write an executive summary. This is your elevator pitch. It should include a mission statement, a brief description of the products or services your ...
Step 2: Do your market research homework. The next step in writing a business plan is to conduct market research. This involves gathering information about your target market (or customer persona), your competition, and the industry as a whole. You can use a variety of research methods such as surveys, focus groups, and online research to ...
Create a company description. 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 ...
Some entrepreneurs choose to use diagrams and charts, while others rely on text alone. Regardless of how you go about it, good business plans tend to include the following elements: Executive summary. Company description. Market analysis. Marketing plan. Sales plan. Competitive analysis. Organizational structure.
1. Executive Summary. The executive summary outlines the whole plan. You start with a clear introduction of who you are, what you sell, and what your ambitions are as a business. This section includes your mission statement, product description, and the basic overview of your company's structure. It should also include your financial plans.
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.
Effective business plans contain several key components that cover various aspects of a company's goals. The most important parts of a business plan include: 1. Executive summary. The executive summary is the first and one of the most critical parts of a business plan. This summary provides an overview of the business plan as a whole and ...
7 business plan examples: section by section. The business plan examples in this article follow this template: Executive summary. An introductory overview of your business. Company description. A more in-depth and detailed description of your business and why it exists. Market analysis.
This section of your simple business plan template explores how to structure and operate your business. Details include the type of business organization your startup will take, roles and ...
1. Startups. Startup business plans are for proposing new business ideas. If you're planning to start a small business, preparing a business plan is crucial. The plan should include all the major factors of your business. You can check out this guide for more detailed business plan inspiration. 2.
Once you've got your audience in mind, you can start your business plan, which should include: 1. Executive summary. Even though it appears first in the official plan, write this section last so you can condense essential ideas from the other nine sections. For now, leave it as a placeholder.
Determine how you can best reach potential customers. Evaluate your competition. Your marketing plan must set you apart from your competition, and you can't stand out unless you know your ...
Include the following to have a comprehensive company description: Your company's legal structure (corporation, dual proprietorship) A short history of your company. A short overview of your company's business operations. The demands your company meets for customers. A list of your company's products, services, current customers and suppliers.
3. Key management bios. With a limited track record and usually few assets, the success of a small business is typically a bet on the owner. So this section must convince readers that the bet is a good one. Include a one-page bio on each of the key people involved in your business.
In the new book "Write Your Own Business Plan," business expert Eric Butow takes the anxiety and confusion out of planning and offers an easy-to-follow roadmap to success. Entrepreneur. 10 Simple ...
3. Products & Services. This section allows for a more complete explanation of the kinds of goods or services the business will be selling or providing. Make the descriptions compelling and ...
The Biden campaign has attacked Donald J. Trump's ties to the conservative policy plan that would amass power in the executive branch, though it is not his official platform. By Simon J. Levien ...
Check out our picks for the best budgeting apps, and read more about how we chose the winners. Best Budgeting Apps of July 2024. Rocket Money: Best overall for reducing spending and creating a ...
ALEXANDRIA, Va. (July 22, 2024) - The National Community Pharmacists Association and the NCPA Foundation are pleased to announce that teams of pharmacy students from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, the University of South Carolina, and the University of Texas at Austin have been named finalists in the 2024 Good Neighbor Pharmacy NCPA Pruitt-Schutte Student Business Plan ...
Here is a guide to help you get started on your business plan: 1. Executive Summary. What It Is: This section summarizes your business plan as a whole and outlines your company profile and goals.
Lending for buy-to-let (BTL) house purchases has more than halved over the past year, a banking and finance industry body has said. New mortgage deals granted for this purpose fell from 25,280 in ...