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What Is a Business Plan?

Understanding business plans, how to write a business plan, common elements of a business plan, how often should a business plan be updated, 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.

A business plan is a document that details a company's goals and how it intends to achieve them. Business plans can be of benefit to both startups and well-established companies. For startups, a business plan can be essential for winning over potential lenders and investors. Established businesses can find one useful for staying on track and not losing sight of their goals. This article explains what an effective business plan needs to include and how to write one.

Key Takeaways

• A business plan is a document describing a company's business activities and how it plans to achieve its goals.
• Startup companies use business plans to get off the ground and attract outside investors.
• For established companies, a business plan can help keep the executive team focused on and working toward the company's short- and long-term objectives.
• There is no single format that a business plan must follow, but there are certain key elements that most companies will want to include.

Investopedia / Ryan Oakley

Any new business should have a business plan in place prior to beginning operations. In fact, banks and venture capital firms often want to see a business plan before they'll consider making a loan or providing capital to new businesses.

Even if a business isn't looking to raise additional money, a business plan can help it focus on its goals. A 2017 Harvard Business Review article reported that, "Entrepreneurs who write formal plans are 16% more likely to achieve viability than the otherwise identical nonplanning entrepreneurs."

Ideally, a business plan should be reviewed and updated periodically to reflect any goals that have been achieved or that may have changed. An established business that has decided to move in a new direction might create an entirely new business plan for itself.

There are numerous benefits to creating (and sticking to) a well-conceived business plan. These include being able to think through ideas before investing too much money in them and highlighting any potential obstacles to success. A company might also share its business plan with trusted outsiders to get their objective feedback. In addition, a business plan can help keep a company's executive team on the same page about strategic action items and priorities.

Business plans, even among competitors in the same industry, are rarely identical. However, they often have some of the same basic elements, as we describe below.

While it's a good idea to provide as much detail as necessary, it's also important that a business plan be concise enough to hold a reader's attention to the end.

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, it's best to fit the basic information into a 15- to 25-page document. Other crucial elements that take up a lot of space—such as applications for patents—can be referenced in the main document and attached as appendices.

These are some of the most common elements in many business plans:

• 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: Here, the company should describe the products and services it offers or plans to introduce. That might include details on pricing, product lifespan, and unique benefits to the consumer. Other factors that could go into this section include production and manufacturing processes, any relevant patents the company may have, as well as proprietary technology . Information about research and development (R&D) can also be included here.
• Market analysis: A company needs to have a good handle on the current state of its industry and the existing competition. This section should explain where the company fits in, what types of customers it plans to target, and how easy or difficult it may be to take market share from incumbents.
• Marketing strategy: This section can describe how the company plans to attract and keep customers, including any anticipated advertising and marketing campaigns. It should also describe the distribution channel or channels it will use to get its products or services to consumers.
• Financial plans and projections: Established businesses can include financial statements, balance sheets, and other relevant financial information. New businesses can provide financial targets and estimates for the first few years. Your plan might also include any funding requests you're making.

The best business plans aren't generic ones created from easily accessed templates. A company should aim to entice readers with a plan that demonstrates its uniqueness and potential for success.

2 Types of Business Plans

Business plans can take many forms, but they are sometimes divided into two basic categories: traditional and lean startup. According to the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) , the traditional business plan is the more common of the two.

• Traditional business plans : These plans tend to be much longer than lean startup plans and contain considerably more detail. As a result they require more work on the part of the business, but they can also be more persuasive (and reassuring) to potential investors.
• Lean startup business plans : These use an abbreviated structure that highlights key elements. These business plans are short—as short as one page—and provide only the most basic detail. If a company wants to use this kind of plan, it should be prepared to provide more detail if an investor or a lender requests it.

Why Do Business Plans Fail?

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

How frequently a business plan needs to be revised will depend on the nature of the business. 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 an option when a company prefers to give a quick explanation of its business. For example, a brand-new company may feel that it doesn't have a lot of information to provide yet.

Sections can include: a value proposition ; the company's major activities and advantages; resources such as staff, intellectual property, and capital; a list of partnerships; customer segments; and revenue sources.

A business plan can be useful to companies of all kinds. But as a company grows and the world around it changes, so too should its business plan. So don't think of your business plan as carved in granite but as a living document designed to evolve with your business.

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

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

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

Published: June 07, 2023

In an era where more than 20% of small enterprises fail in their first year, having a clear, defined, and well-thought-out business plan is a crucial first step for setting up a business for long-term success.

Business plans are a required tool for all entrepreneurs, business owners, business acquirers, and even business school students. But … what exactly is a business plan?

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

What is a business plan?

A business plan is a documented strategy for a business that highlights its goals and its plans for achieving them. It outlines a company's go-to-market plan, financial projections, market research, business purpose, and mission statement. Key staff who are responsible for achieving the goals may also be included in the business plan along with a timeline.

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

What is a business plan used for?

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

Business Plan Template [ Download Now ]

Working on your business plan? Try using our Business Plan Template . Pre-filled with the sections a great business plan needs, the template will give aspiring entrepreneurs a feel for what a business plan is, what should be in it, and how it can be used to establish and grow a business from the ground up.

Purposes of a Business Plan

Chances are, someone drafting a business plan will be doing so for one or more of the following reasons:

1. Securing financing from investors.

Since its contents revolve around how businesses succeed, break even, and turn a profit, a business plan is used as a tool for sourcing capital. This document is an entrepreneur's way of showing potential investors or lenders how their capital will be put to work and how it will help the business thrive.

All banks, investors, and venture capital firms will want to see a business plan before handing over their money, and investors typically expect a 10% ROI or more from the capital they invest in a business.

Therefore, these investors need to know if — and when — they'll be making their money back (and then some). Additionally, they'll want to read about the process and strategy for how the business will reach those financial goals, which is where the context provided by sales, marketing, and operations plans come into play.

2. Documenting a company's strategy and goals.

A business plan should leave no stone unturned.

Business plans can span dozens or even hundreds of pages, affording their drafters the opportunity to explain what a business' goals are and how the business will achieve them.

To show potential investors that they've addressed every question and thought through every possible scenario, entrepreneurs should thoroughly explain their marketing, sales, and operations strategies — from acquiring a physical location for the business to explaining a tactical approach for marketing penetration.

These explanations should ultimately lead to a business' break-even point supported by a sales forecast and financial projections, with the business plan writer being able to speak to the why behind anything outlined in the plan.

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Fill out the form to access your free business plan., 3. legitimizing a business idea..

Everyone's got a great idea for a company — until they put pen to paper and realize that it's not exactly feasible.

A business plan is an aspiring entrepreneur's way to prove that a business idea is actually worth pursuing.

As entrepreneurs document their go-to-market process, capital needs, and expected return on investment, entrepreneurs likely come across a few hiccups that will make them second guess their strategies and metrics — and that's exactly what the business plan is for.

It ensures an entrepreneur's ducks are in a row before bringing their business idea to the world and reassures the readers that whoever wrote the plan is serious about the idea, having put hours into thinking of the business idea, fleshing out growth tactics, and calculating financial projections.

4. Getting an A in your business class.

Speaking from personal experience, there's a chance you're here to get business plan ideas for your Business 101 class project.

If that's the case, might we suggest checking out this post on How to Write a Business Plan — providing a section-by-section guide on creating your plan?

What does a business plan need to include?

• Business Plan Subtitle
• Executive Summary
• Company Description
• The Business Opportunity
• Competitive Analysis
• Target Market
• Marketing Plan
• Financial Summary
• Funding Requirements

1. Business Plan Subtitle

Every great business plan starts with a captivating title and subtitle. You’ll want to make it clear that the document is, in fact, a business plan, but the subtitle can help tell the story of your business in just a short sentence.

2. Executive Summary

Although this is the last part of the business plan that you’ll write, it’s the first section (and maybe the only section) that stakeholders will read. The executive summary of a business plan sets the stage for the rest of the document. It includes your company’s mission or vision statement, value proposition, and long-term goals.

3. Company Description

This brief part of your business plan will detail your business name, years in operation, key offerings, and positioning statement. You might even add core values or a short history of the company. The company description’s role in a business plan is to introduce your business to the reader in a compelling and concise way.

4. The Business Opportunity

The business opportunity should convince investors that your organization meets the needs of the market in a way that no other company can. This section explains the specific problem your business solves within the marketplace and how it solves them. It will include your value proposition as well as some high-level information about your target market.

5. Competitive Analysis

Just about every industry has more than one player in the market. Even if your business owns the majority of the market share in your industry or your business concept is the first of its kind, you still have competition. In the competitive analysis section, you’ll take an objective look at the industry landscape to determine where your business fits. A SWOT analysis is an organized way to format this section.

6. Target Market

Who are the core customers of your business and why? The target market portion of your business plan outlines this in detail. The target market should explain the demographics, psychographics, behavioristics, and geographics of the ideal customer.

7. Marketing Plan

Marketing is expansive, and it’ll be tempting to cover every type of marketing possible, but a brief overview of how you’ll market your unique value proposition to your target audience, followed by a tactical plan will suffice.

Think broadly and narrow down from there: Will you focus on a slow-and-steady play where you make an upfront investment in organic customer acquisition? Or will you generate lots of quick customers using a pay-to-play advertising strategy? This kind of information should guide the marketing plan section of your business plan.

8. Financial Summary

Money doesn’t grow on trees and even the most digital, sustainable businesses have expenses. Outlining a financial summary of where your business is currently and where you’d like it to be in the future will substantiate this section. Consider including any monetary information that will give potential investors a glimpse into the financial health of your business. Assets, liabilities, expenses, debt, investments, revenue, and more are all useful adds here.

So, you’ve outlined some great goals, the business opportunity is valid, and the industry is ready for what you have to offer. Who’s responsible for turning all this high-level talk into results? The "team" section of your business plan answers that question by providing an overview of the roles responsible for each goal. Don’t worry if you don’t have every team member on board yet, knowing what roles to hire for is helpful as you seek funding from investors.

10. Funding Requirements

Remember that one of the goals of a business plan is to secure funding from investors, so you’ll need to include funding requirements you’d like them to fulfill. The amount your business needs, for what reasons, and for how long will meet the requirement for this section.

Types of Business Plans

• Startup Business Plan
• Feasibility Business Plan
• Internal Business Plan
• Strategic Business Plan
• Business Acquisition Plan
• Business Repositioning Plan
• Expansion or Growth Business Plan

There’s no one size fits all business plan as there are several types of businesses in the market today. From startups with just one founder to historic household names that need to stay competitive, every type of business needs a business plan that’s tailored to its needs. Below are a few of the most common types of business plans.

For even more examples, check out these sample business plans to help you write your own .

1. Startup Business Plan

As one of the most common types of business plans, a startup business plan is for new business ideas. This plan lays the foundation for the eventual success of a business.

The biggest challenge with the startup business plan is that it’s written completely from scratch. Startup business plans often reference existing industry data. They also explain unique business strategies and go-to-market plans.

Because startup business plans expand on an original idea, the contents will vary by the top priority goals.

For example, say a startup is looking for funding. If capital is a priority, this business plan might focus more on financial projections than marketing or company culture.

2. Feasibility Business Plan

This type of business plan focuses on a single essential aspect of the business — the product or service. It may be part of a startup business plan or a standalone plan for an existing organization. This comprehensive plan may include:

• A detailed product description
• Market analysis
• Technology needs
• Production needs
• Financial sources
• Production operations

According to CBInsights research, 35% of startups fail because of a lack of market need. Another 10% fail because of mistimed products.

Some businesses will complete a feasibility study to explore ideas and narrow product plans to the best choice. They conduct these studies before completing the feasibility business plan. Then the feasibility plan centers on that one product or service.

3. Internal Business Plan

Internal business plans help leaders communicate company goals, strategy, and performance. This helps the business align and work toward objectives more effectively.

Besides the typical elements in a startup business plan, an internal business plan may also include:

• Department-specific budgets
• Target demographic analysis
• Market size and share of voice analysis
• Action plans
• Sustainability plans

Most external-facing business plans focus on raising capital and support for a business. But an internal business plan helps keep the business mission consistent in the face of change.

4. Strategic Business Plan

Strategic business plans focus on long-term objectives for your business. They usually cover the first three to five years of operations. This is different from the typical startup business plan which focuses on the first one to three years. The audience for this plan is also primarily internal stakeholders.

These types of business plans may include:

• Relevant data and analysis
• Assessments of company resources
• Vision and mission statements

It's important to remember that, while many businesses create a strategic plan before launching, some business owners just jump in. So, this business plan can add value by outlining how your business plans to reach specific goals. This type of planning can also help a business anticipate future challenges.

5. Business Acquisition Plan

Investors use business plans to acquire existing businesses, too — not just new businesses.

A business acquisition plan may include costs, schedules, or management requirements. This data will come from an acquisition strategy.

A business plan for an existing company will explain:

• How an acquisition will change its operating model
• What will stay the same under new ownership
• Why things will change or stay the same
• Acquisition planning documentation
• Timelines for acquisition

Additionally, the business plan should speak to the current state of the business and why it's up for sale.

For example, if someone is purchasing a failing business, the business plan should explain why the business is being purchased. It should also include:

• What the new owner will do to turn the business around
• Historic business metrics
• Sales projections after the acquisition
• Justification for those projections

6. Business Repositioning Plan

When a business wants to avoid acquisition, reposition its brand, or try something new, CEOs or owners will develop a business repositioning plan.

This plan will:

• Acknowledge the current state of the company.
• State a vision for the future of the company.
• Explain why the business needs to reposition itself.
• Outline a process for how the company will adjust.

Companies planning for a business reposition often do so — proactively or retroactively — due to a shift in market trends and customer needs.

For example, shoe brand AllBirds plans to refocus its brand on core customers and shift its go-to-market strategy. These decisions are a reaction to lackluster sales following product changes and other missteps.

7. Expansion or Growth Business Plan

When your business is ready to expand, a growth business plan creates a useful structure for reaching specific targets.

For example, a successful business expanding into another location can use a growth business plan. This is because it may also mean the business needs to focus on a new target market or generate more capital.

This type of plan usually covers the next year or two of growth. It often references current sales, revenue, and successes. It may also include:

• SWOT analysis
• Growth opportunity studies
• Financial goals and plans
• Marketing plans
• Capability planning

These types of business plans will vary by business, but they can help businesses quickly rally around new priorities to drive growth.

Getting Started With Your Business Plan

At the end of the day, a business plan is simply an explanation of a business idea and why it will be successful. The more detail and thought you put into it, the more successful your plan — and the business it outlines — will be.

When writing your business plan, you’ll benefit from extensive research, feedback from your team or board of directors, and a solid template to organize your thoughts. If you need one of these, download HubSpot's Free Business Plan Template below to get started.

Editor's note: This post was originally published in August 2020 and has been updated for comprehensiveness.

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What Is a Business Plan? Definition and Planning Essentials Explained

Posted february 21, 2022 by kody wirth.

What is a business plan? It’s the roadmap for your business. The outline of your goals, objectives, and the steps you’ll take to get there. It describes the structure of your organization, how it operates, as well as the financial expectations and actual performance. 

A business plan can help you explore ideas, successfully start a business, manage operations, and pursue growth. In short, a business plan is a lot of different things. It’s more than just a stack of paper and can be one of your most effective tools as a business owner. 

Let’s explore the basics of business planning, the structure of a traditional plan, your planning options, and how you can use your plan to succeed. 

What is a business plan?

A business plan is a document that explains how your business operates. It summarizes your business structure, objectives, milestones, and financial performance. Again, it’s a guide that helps you, and anyone else, better understand how your business will succeed.  

Why do you need a business plan?

The primary purpose of a business plan is to help you understand the direction of your business and the steps it will take to get there. Having a solid business plan can help you grow up to 30% faster and according to our own 2021 Small Business research working on a business plan increases confidence regarding business health—even in the midst of a crisis. 

These benefits are directly connected to how writing a business plan makes you more informed and better prepares you for entrepreneurship. It helps you reduce risk and avoid pursuing potentially poor ideas. You’ll also be able to more easily uncover your business’s potential. By regularly returning to your plan you can understand what parts of your strategy are working and those that are not.

That just scratches the surface for why having a plan is valuable. Check out our full write-up for fifteen more reasons why you need a business plan .  

What can you do with your plan?

So what can you do with a business plan once you’ve created it? It can be all too easy to write a plan and just let it be. Here are just a few ways you can leverage your plan to benefit your business.

Test an idea

Writing a plan isn’t just for those that are ready to start a business. It’s just as valuable for those that have an idea and want to determine if it’s actually possible or not. By writing a plan to explore the validity of an idea, you are working through the process of understanding what it would take to be successful. 

The market and competitive research alone can tell you a lot about your idea. Is the marketplace too crowded? Is the solution you have in mind not really needed? Add in the exploration of milestones, potential expenses, and the sales needed to attain profitability and you can paint a pretty clear picture of the potential of your business.

Document your strategy and goals

For those starting or managing a business understanding where you’re going and how you’re going to get there are vital. Writing your plan helps you do that. It ensures that you are considering all aspects of your business, know what milestones you need to hit, and can effectively make adjustments if that doesn’t happen. 

With a plan in place, you’ll have an idea of where you want your business to go as well as how you’ve performed in the past. This alone better prepares you to take on challenges, review what you’ve done before, and make the right adjustments.

Pursue funding

Even if you do not intend to pursue funding right away, having a business plan will prepare you for it. It will ensure that you have all of the information necessary to submit a loan application and pitch to investors. So, rather than scrambling to gather documentation and write a cohesive plan once it’s relevant, you can instead keep your plan up-to-date and attempt to attain funding. Just add a use of funds report to your financial plan and you’ll be ready to go.

The benefits of having a plan don’t stop there. You can then use your business plan to help you manage the funding you receive. You’ll not only be able to easily track and forecast how you’ll use your funds but easily report on how it’s been used. 

Better manage your business

A solid business plan isn’t meant to be something you do once and forget about. Instead, it should be a useful tool that you can regularly use to analyze performance, make strategic decisions, and anticipate future scenarios. It’s a document that you should regularly update and adjust as you go to better fit the actual state of your business.

Doing so makes it easier to understand what’s working and what’s not. It helps you understand if you’re truly reaching your goals or if you need to make further adjustments. Having your plan in place makes that process quicker, more informative, and leaves you with far more time to actually spend running your business.

What should your business plan include?

The content and structure of your business plan should include anything that will help you use it effectively. That being said, there are some key elements that you should cover and that investors will expect to see. 

Executive summary

The executive summary is a simple overview of your business and your overall plan. It should serve as a standalone document that provides enough detail for anyone—including yourself, team members, or investors—to fully understand your business strategy. Make sure to cover the problem you’re solving, a description of your product or service, your target market, organizational structure, a financial summary, and any necessary funding requirements.

This will be the first part of your plan but it’s easiest to write it after you’ve created your full plan.

Products & Services

When describing your products or services, you need to start by outlining the problem you’re solving and why what you offer is valuable. This is where you’ll also address current competition in the market and any competitive advantages your products or services bring to the table. Lastly, be sure to outline the steps or milestones that you’ll need to hit to successfully launch your business. If you’ve already hit some initial milestones, like taking pre-orders or early funding, be sure to include it here to further prove the validity of your business. 

Market analysis

A market analysis is a qualitative and quantitative assessment of the current market you’re entering or competing in. It helps you understand the overall state and potential of the industry, who your ideal customers are, the positioning of your competition, and how you intend to position your own business. This helps you better explore the long-term trends of the market, what challenges to expect, and how you will need to initially introduce and even price your products or services.

Check out our full guide for how to conduct a market analysis in just four easy steps .  

Marketing & sales

Here you detail how you intend to reach your target market. This includes your sales activities, general pricing plan, and the beginnings of your marketing strategy. If you have any branding elements, sample marketing campaigns, or messaging available—this is the place to add it. 

Additionally, it may be wise to include a SWOT analysis that demonstrates your business or specific product/service position. This will showcase how you intend to leverage sales and marketing channels to deal with competitive threats and take advantage of any opportunities.

Check out our full write-up to learn how to create a cohesive marketing strategy for your business. 

Organization & management

This section addresses the legal structure of your business, your current team, and any gaps that need to be filled. Depending on your business type and longevity, you’ll also need to include your location, ownership information, and business history. Basically, add any information that helps explain your organizational structure and how you operate. This section is particularly important for pitching to investors but should be included even if attempted funding is not in your immediate future.

Financial projections

Possibly the most important piece of your plan, your financials section is vital for showcasing the viability of your business. It also helps you establish a baseline to measure against and makes it easier to make ongoing strategic decisions as your business grows. This may seem complex on the surface, but it can be far easier than you think. 

Focus on building solid forecasts, keep your categories simple, and lean on assumptions. You can always return to this section to add more details and refine your financial statements as you operate. 

Here are the statements you should include in your financial plan:

• Sales and revenue projections
• Profit and loss statement
• Cash flow statement
• Balance sheet

The appendix is where you add additional detail, documentation, or extended notes that support the other sections of your plan. Don’t worry about adding this section at first and only add documentation that you think will be beneficial for anyone reading your plan.

Types of business plans explained

While all business plans cover similar categories, the style and function fully depend on how you intend to use your plan. So, to get the most out of your plan, it’s best to find a format that suits your needs. 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 for external purposes. Typically this is the type of plan you’ll need when applying for funding or pitching to investors. It can also be used when training or hiring employees, working with vendors, or any other situation where the full details of your business must be understood by another individual. 

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. We recommend only starting with this business plan format if you plan to immediately pursue funding and already have a solid handle on your business information. 

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. 

The structure ditches a linear structure in favor of a cell-based template. It encourages you to build connections between every element of your business. It’s faster to write out and update, and much easier for you, your team, and anyone else to visualize your business operations. This is really best for those exploring their business idea for the first time, but keep in mind that it can be difficult to actually validate your idea this way as well as adapt it into a full plan.

One-page business plan

The true middle ground between the business model canvas and a traditional business plan is the one-page business plan. This format is a simplified version of the traditional plan that focuses on the core aspects of your business. It basically serves as a beefed-up pitch document and can be finished as quickly as the business model canvas.

By starting with a one-page plan, you give yourself a minimal document to build from. You’ll typically stick with bullet points and single sentences making it much easier to elaborate or expand sections into a longer-form business plan. This plan type is 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.

Now, the option that we here at LivePlan recommend is the Lean Plan . This 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 holds all of the benefits of the single-page plan, including the potential to complete it in as little as 27-minutes . However, it’s even easier to convert into a full plan thanks to how heavily it’s tied to your financials. The overall goal of Lean Planning isn’t to just produce documents that you use once and shelve. Instead, the Lean Planning process helps you build a healthier company that thrives in times of growth and stable through times of crisis.

It’s faster, keeps your plan concise, and ensures that your plan is always up-to-date.

Try the LivePlan Method for Lean Business Planning

Now that you know the basics of business planning, it’s time to get started. Again we recommend leveraging a Lean Plan for a faster, easier, and far more useful planning process. 

To get familiar with the Lean Plan format, you can download our free Lean Plan template . However, if you want to elevate your ability to create and use your lean plan even further, you may want to explore LivePlan. 

It features step-by-step guidance that ensures you cover everything necessary while reducing the time spent on formatting and presenting. You’ll also gain access to financial forecasting tools that propel you through the process. Finally, it will transform your plan into a management tool that will help you easily compare your forecasts to your actual results. 

Check out how LivePlan streamlines Lean Planning by downloading our Kickstart Your Business ebook .

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Home > Business > Business Startup

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?

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.

Related content

• 5 Best Business Plan Software and Tools in 2023 for Your Small Business
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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.

ZenBusiness

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

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 make a business plan

Table of Contents

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

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

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

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

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

What is a business plan?

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

Products or services

Target market

Competitors

Marketing and sales strategies

Financial plan

Management team

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

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

Business plan vs. business model canvas

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

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

Key partnerships

Key activities

Key propositions

Customer relationships

Customer segments

Key resources

Cost structure

Revenue streams

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

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

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

Why is a business plan important?

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

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

Helps to define the business goals and objectives

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

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

Guides decision-making

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

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

Attracts investors and secures funding

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

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

Identifies potential challenges and risks

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

Is there enough demand for my product or service?

Will I have enough capital to start my business?

Is the market oversaturated with too many competitors?

What will happen if my marketing strategy is ineffective?

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

Provides a basis for measuring success

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

Are we where we want to be at this point?

Did we achieve our goals?

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

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

How to make a business plan step by step

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

1. Create an executive summary

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

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

2. Write your company description

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

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

3. Conduct a market analysis

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

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

What does the current market look like?

Who are your competitors?

What are they offering?

What will give you a competitive advantage?

Who is your target market?

What are they looking for and why?

How will your product or service satisfy a need?

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

4. Describe your products and services

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

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

5. Design a marketing and sales strategy

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

Pricing strategy

Advertising and promotional tactics

Sales channels

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

6. Determine budget and financial projections

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

Some details to include in this section are:

Startup costs

Revenue projections

Profit and loss statement

Funding you have received or plan to receive

Strategy for raising funds

7. Set the organization and management structure

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

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

8. Make an action plan

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

Types of business plans

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

Startup business plan

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

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

Strategic business plan

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

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

Operational business plan

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

Organizational structure

Staffing plan

Production plan

Quality control

Inventory management

Supply chain

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

Growth-business plan

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

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

One-page business plan

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

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

Best practices for how to make a good business plan

Here are some additional tips for creating a business plan:

Use a template

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

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

Be practical

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

Be specific

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

Be thorough with your research

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

Get input from others

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

Review and revise regularly

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

Create a winning business plan to chart your path to success

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

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

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

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What is a business plan? Definition, Purpose, and Types

In the world of business, a well-thought-out plan is often the key to success. This plan, known as a business plan, is a comprehensive document that outlines a company’s goals, strategies , and financial projections. Whether you’re starting a new business or looking to expand an existing one, a business plan is an essential tool.

As a business plan writer and consultant , I’ve crafted over 15,000 plans for a diverse range of businesses. In this article, I’ll be sharing my wealth of experience about what a business plan is, its purpose, and the step-by-step process of creating one. By the end, you’ll have a thorough understanding of how to develop a robust business plan that can drive your business to success.

What is a business plan?

Purposes of a business plan, what are the essential components of a business plan, executive summary, business description or overview, product and price, competitive analysis, target market, marketing plan, financial plan, funding requirements, types of business plan, lean startup business plans, traditional business plans, how often should a business plan be reviewed and revised, what are the key elements of a lean startup business plan.

• What are some of the reasons why business plans don't succeed?

A business plan is a roadmap for your business. It outlines your goals, strategies, and how you plan to achieve them. It’s a living document that you can update as your business grows and changes.

Looking for someone to write a business plan?

Find professional business plan writers for your business success.

These are the following purpose of business plan:

• Attract investors and lenders: If you’re seeking funding for your business , a business plan is a must-have. Investors and lenders want to see that you have a clear plan for how you’ll use their money to grow your business and generate revenue.
• Get organized and stay on track: Writing a business plan forces you to think through all aspects of your business, from your target market to your marketing strategy. This can help you identify any potential challenges and opportunities early on, so you can develop a plan to address them.
• Make better decisions: A business plan can help you make better decisions about your business by providing you with a framework to evaluate different options. For example, if you’re considering launching a new product, your business plan can help you assess the potential market demand, costs, and profitability.

The executive summary is the most important part of your business plan, even though it’s the last one you’ll write. It’s the first section that potential investors or lenders will read, and it may be the only one they read. The executive summary sets the stage for the rest of the document by introducing your company’s mission or vision statement, value proposition, and long-term goals.

The business description section of your business plan should introduce your business to the reader in a compelling and concise way. It should include your business name, years in operation, key offerings, positioning statement, and core values (if applicable). You may also want to include a short history of your company.

In this section, the company should describe its products or services , including pricing, product lifespan, and unique benefits to the consumer. Other relevant information could include production and manufacturing processes, patents, and proprietary technology.

Every industry has competitors, even if your business is the first of its kind or has the majority of the market share. In the competitive analysis section of your business plan, you’ll objectively assess the industry landscape to understand your business’s competitive position. A SWOT analysis is a structured way to organize this section.

Your target market section explains the core customers of your business and why they are your ideal customers. It should include demographic, psychographic, behavioral, and geographic information about your target market.

Marketing plan describes how the company will attract and retain customers, including any planned advertising and marketing campaigns . It also describes how the company will distribute its products or services to consumers.

After outlining your goals, validating your business opportunity, and assessing the industry landscape, the team section of your business plan identifies who will be responsible for achieving your goals. Even if you don’t have your full team in place yet, investors will be impressed by your clear understanding of the roles that need to be filled.

In the financial plan section,established businesses should provide financial statements , balance sheets , and other financial data. New businesses should provide financial targets and estimates for the first few years, and may also request funding.

Since one goal of a business plan is to secure funding from investors , you should include the amount of funding you need, why you need it, and how long you need it for.

• Tip: Use bullet points and numbered lists to make your plan easy to read and scannable.

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Business plans can come in many different formats, but they are often divided into two main types: traditional and lean startup. The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) says that the traditional business plan is the more common of the two.

Lean startup business plans are short (as short as one page) and focus on the most important elements. They are easy to create, but companies may need to provide more information if requested by investors or lenders.

Traditional business plans are longer and more detailed than lean startup business plans, which makes them more time-consuming to create but more persuasive to potential investors. Lean startup business plans are shorter and less detailed, but companies should be prepared to provide more information if requested.

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A business plan should be reviewed and revised at least annually, or more often if the business is experiencing significant changes. This is because the business landscape is constantly changing, and your business plan needs to reflect those changes in order to remain relevant and effective.

Here are some specific situations in which you should review and revise your business plan:

• You have launched a new product or service line.
• You have entered a new market.
• You have experienced significant changes in your customer base or competitive landscape.
• You have made changes to your management team or organizational structure.
• You have raised new funding.

A lean startup business plan is a short and simple way for a company to explain its business, especially if it is new and does not have a lot of information yet. It can include sections on the company’s value proposition, major activities and advantages, resources, partnerships, customer segments, and revenue sources.

What are some of the reasons why business plans don't succeed?

• Unrealistic assumptions: Business plans are often based on assumptions about the market, the competition, and the company’s own capabilities. If these assumptions are unrealistic, the plan is doomed to fail.
• Lack of focus: A good business plan should be focused on a specific goal and how the company will achieve it. If the plan is too broad or tries to do too much, it is unlikely to be successful.
• Poor execution: Even the best business plan is useless if it is not executed properly. This means having the right team in place, the necessary resources, and the ability to adapt to changing circumstances.
• Unforeseen challenges:  Every business faces challenges that could not be predicted or planned for. These challenges can be anything from a natural disaster to a new competitor to a change in government regulations.

What are the benefits of having a business plan?

• It helps you to clarify your business goals and strategies.
• It can help you to attract investors and lenders.
• It can serve as a roadmap for your business as it grows and changes.
• It can help you to make better business decisions.

How to write a business plan?

There are many different ways to write a business plan, but most follow the same basic structure. Here is a step-by-step guide:

• Executive summary.
• Company description.
• Management and organization description.
• Financial projections.

How to write a business plan step by step?

Start with an executive summary, then describe your business, analyze the market, outline your products or services, detail your marketing and sales strategies, introduce your team, and provide financial projections.

Why do I need a business plan for my startup?

A business plan helps define your startup’s direction, attract investors, secure funding, and make informed decisions crucial for success.

What are the key components of a business plan?

Key components include an executive summary, business description, market analysis, products or services, marketing and sales strategy, management and team, financial projections, and funding requirements.

Can a business plan help secure funding for my business?

Yes, a well-crafted business plan demonstrates your business’s viability, the use of investment, and potential returns, making it a valuable tool for attracting investors and lenders.

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15 Ways to Use and Get Incredible Value From a Business Plan

14 min. read

Updated October 27, 2023

What is a business plan used for? That fully depends on your business stage and specific business needs. 

If you’re just starting, you’ll use a business plan to deal with uncertainty and navigate early doubts and questions. If you’re seeking funding then you’ll be using your business plan to explain your value to potential investors and lenders. 

When  created correctly , a detailed plan can help you successfully start, manage, and grow your business. Of course, this is just a simple introduction to the purpose of a business plan. Let’s explore and explain the uses of a business plan for each business stage.

• How to use a business plan when starting your business

When starting a new business, your business plan is meant to help you explore, define, and connect. You’re evaluating the type of business you’ll be running, who your target market will be, and defining how sections of your business will operate. Here are the key methods for using a business plan to successfully start your business.

1. Evaluate and develop your business idea

Is  your business idea  valid? Should you even pursue it? Will it sell enough to cover costs and expenses? Who else is doing something like this?  

Your business plan will help you answer these critical questions. It guides you through the process of making the right educated guesses for every area of your business. This includes initial financial planning and outlining expected sales, costs of goods sold, expenses, and cash flow. You’ll also set up your strategy, tactics, major milestones, and success metrics.

Evaluating your idea by developing a plan ensures that you’re prepared and minimizing risk. You don’t need to have everything perfectly developed. However, you should know enough to determine if your idea is valuable and sustainable. Shouldn’t you be able to write these down for yourself before you take the risk? 

You want to keep things short and simple. Start with a lean business plan, which is a collection of bullet-point lists and projections. Use it for yourself and your team members only, not to show to outsiders. 

At the end of the day, your goal is to be able to deal with the big questions. Is this really a good idea? Will it work? Can you feasibly do it?  

2. Inform your branding and mission

Writing a business plan  doesn’t just help evaluate your business idea. It also ensures that you’re outlining core business operations that allow people to recognize, like, and trust your company. This is encompassed by your branding, value proposition, and company mission.

Branding is all about how your business looks and feels. Your mission statement then helps define what your brand stands for. Then your value proposition officially defines how your products and services effectively serve your potential customers.

Trying to please everybody is usually a shortcut to failure. Creating these upfront streamlines your focus toward the right people. Through effective market research, you create an informed brand position that is designed to reach and resonate with a specific audience. 

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3. Identify professional gaps

Just like you can’t serve everyone, you also can’t be an expert on everything involved in running a successful business. Maybe you have industry expertise, solid management skills, or a specialized skillset. However, there may be other areas such as accounting, customer service, or marketing that you are completely unprepared to take on.

Creating a business plan allows you to explore operational areas that you are unfamiliar with and assess what skill gaps you need to fill. Even without experience, you’ll attempt to outline the functions of your marketing plan, financial forecasts, sales channels, etc. As part of this exercise, you can also mention specific roles or areas of operation that you need to outsource or fill.

This will directly tie the onboarding of professionals to your milestones and startup strategy. This will help you determine the right time to bring on more people. It will also prove to investors that you are thinking ahead and already understand your weaknesses. 

4. Connect with mentors

Your business plan can be a great introduction to working with mentors, counselors, and business development organizations. The best example is in the U.S. Where more than 1,000 Small Business Development Centers offer workshops, counseling, and mentorship for small business owners and entrepreneurs. They really appreciate business owners having a business plan as part of the relationship.

Aside from these formal relationships with mentors, there are informal relationships that can evolve into mentorship over time. It may be another business owner, someone you’re pitching to, an employee, or someone you randomly connect with at a networking event. 

This is where your business plan can be a great tool for explaining a business to somebody who might be able to help with it. Just keep a  lean and streamlined version of your plan , or even just your executive summary, ready to share.  

5. Connect and partner with suppliers

Business owners use forecasts and financial statements to manage their sourcing, suppliers, contractors, and inventory. You’ll anticipate sales and expenses ahead of time, review actual results, and revise accordingly. 

Regularly scrutinizing your projected sales and costs can better inform your purchasing decisions and optimize inventory. Too much inventory can be a drain on cash. Too little can hurt production and sales. 

Understanding the state of your financials will also make it much easier to approach suppliers and vendors. You’ll be prepared to discuss growth plans, negotiate product or service pricing, and changes to inventory. Your business plan can even be a key part of proposing a strategic alliance with a supplier.

The importance of a business plan in this instance is making sure you’re fully prepared to have these conversations. You’re not scrambling when you suddenly start bleeding cash or take on an excess of inventory. Instead, you’re using your plan to look ahead and prepare. 

• How to use a business plan to pursue funding

An inevitable step for most existing businesses is the  pursuit of funding . It can occur early in the lifespan of a business to help get it off the ground. It may also take years until it becomes necessary for a business to achieve an escalated level of growth. Here are the specific ways that you can use your business plan to successfully gain funding and present it to potential investors.  

6. Solidify your funding needs

In years of angel investment, I’ve seen many attempts to raise investment run aground over entrepreneurs and owners not knowing how much money they need. Investors always want to know how much money you need and what it will be spent on. Bankers expect you to apply for loans for some specific amount. 

Before you seek out a loan or make a pitch, you’ll need to understand how much funding you require. You can use your business plan to estimate that total. It will also demonstrate why you need that money, what you’ll do with it, and how it will help the business. 

That process starts with your educated guesses about sales, costs, expenses, and cash flow. If your projections indicate that you can get by without other people’s money, then heave a sigh of relief because you don’t need investment or loans. If the projects show a deficit, then that deficit is likely how much money you need in funding. 

7. Support for loan applications 

Your business plan is your best-supporting documentation when submitting a loan application. Most commercial bank loans and especially Small Business Administration-backed loan applications require a business plan as part of the process. Your business plan should include your essential financials including sales, costs, expenses, and cash flow statements. Again, it should also show why you need funding, how you’ll spend it, and how you’ll pay it back. 

These days it doesn’t always take a long formal business plan document. Often a lean business plan is enough to support a loan. That will include those essential numbers, plus short summaries of strategy, tactics, major milestones, and metrics. 

8. Guide your pitch to investors

I’ve seen founders fail a pitch because they couldn’t answer common questions that come up. Questions such as:

• What are you projecting for marketing expenses? 
• How much is your gross margin?
• What’s the headcount assumption?

This can be a death sentence for your chance at funding. Investors can immediately tell if you don’t have a plan to back up your pitch. 

Another important myth to dispel is that investors don’t read business plans. The truth is that investors will often reject a proposal based on just a summary, without having read the whole plan. But when they like the proposal, the summary, and the  pitch , they need the full business plan to guide due diligence. 

In 12 years with an angel investment group, I’ve never seen an investment made without investors reading a business plan in detail. In short, you need to have your business plan prepared. It will enhance your pitch and make it far easier to move on to the next step to gain funding.

9. Manage funding once received

Having a business plan doesn’t just help you gain funding, it also helps you  effectively manage it . You’ll have this outlined in an initial use of funds report and actively engage with investors through the ongoing business planning process. This doesn’t mean that you’ll be forced to stick to the strategy you set out with, and are instead able to optimize how to leverage your funding. 

Track results including essential numbers and execution. Review those results regularly and revise as necessary. Use that process to provide updates as needed for your bankers or investors. That way you aren’t scrambling to pull together your financial statements and strategy when asked for them.

• How to use a business plan to manage and grow your business

The best and most common ongoing use of your business plan is to steer, manage, and grow your business. The business plan is for you to use to better run your business. Think of business planning for your business as a system that mimics navigation in your car. 

The long-term goals are the destination. The strategy, tactics, execution, and essential budgets are the route. Tracking and reviewing real-time information are the choices you make when driving. They help you determine if you should adjust you’re route or stay on course. 

Recognizing this primary use of the business plan also helps you focus on what you need and don’t need for your business plan. You can opt to work with a one-page business plan  instead of a big formal business planning document. Here are the key ways you can use your business plan for effective business management and growth.

10. Establish a strategy and the tactics needed to execute it

Use your business plan  to clarify your strategy , determine the tactics necessary to support it, and track your execution. No need to write elaborate text explanations. You can deal with just bullet points that summarize and remind you of the main aspects of your plan. 

Think of this as a tool for maintaining focus. Most business owners and entrepreneurs want to do everything they can to please every customer. I certainly always did with my business. 

But what we learn in the real world is that there is the principle of displacement in small businesses. What we do rules out what we can’t do. 

11. Monitor and measure business performance

This ties directly into establishing your strategy and tactics but deserves its own focus. Your business plan is not only useful for defining milestones, key performance indicators, and success metrics. It’s also an invaluable tool for tracking and measuring this data on an ongoing basis. 

Having these metrics sit directly within your plan ensures that you’re always linking tactile performance back to your broader strategy. It makes  performance reviews and revisions  much easier to complete. And should you need funding at a later stage, it makes it much easier to prepare your plan for a professional pitch.

12. Explore potential scenarios

A what-if analysis, more often called a scenario analysis, allows you to explore what might happen to your business in different scenarios. 

What if we open another location? What if we change pricing? What if we add another employee? What happens if we don’t reach our sales goals?

You can use your business plan as a tool for scenario analysis. Save your current plan as the most likely scenario. Then leverage your forecasts to develop at least a worst-case and best-case financial scenario. From here, you can outline specific strategies within your plan to take advantage of opportunities and prepare for crisis events. 

13. Plan revisions in response to a crisis

Speaking of a crisis, you can easily use your plan to develop an emergency response strategy. For example, when COVID changed everything almost overnight, business owners with well-established business plans were able to adapt far more quickly. Using their plan like a performance dashboard puts strategy, tactics, metrics, milestones, and essential projections all in one place. 

This enabled these owners to look quickly at educated guesses on revenue decline and then adjust spending to compensate. They had a view of milestones due, and performance against metrics, and were able to adjust timing, scheduling, and priorities to deal with the crisis. 

14. Determine the right time for growth initiatives

Similar to crisis planning, you can also use your business plan to better  prepare your business to take on growth initiatives . Rather than blindly guessing if you’re needing to invest further to achieve growth, you can instead coordinate around swings in revenue, costs, expenses, and priorities. 

For example, there may be an optimal time to launch a new website, a second location, or even an additional product. Any of these initiatives bring with them an opportunity for substantial gains, as well as an incredible risk if not executed properly. In any of these circumstances, you can use your plan to better understand how introducing a website, location, product, or anything else will affect your business.

What timeframe do you need to gain traction? What’s the necessary ROI that makes it a success? Do you have enough cash to invest in it right now?

You can answer all of these questions, and take full advantage of growth opportunities with your business plan.

15. Update your plan based on actual results

Using your business plan to track your strategy, tactics, and execution is the first step. The next step is to engage in regular plan reviews to maintain an accurate view of your actual results. 

The point of reviewing your plan and tracking results is so that you can steer your business with course corrections as required.  Plan vs. actual business plan analysis  is perfect for this. 

When a business plan review turns up results different than expected, you will always have the dilemma of whether to change the plan or the execution. When results are better than expected, then you have to decide whether you change the plan to take advantage of what’s working. And when you have bad news, you have to decide whether the disappointment means changing the plan or just improving execution.  

In any case, using your plan in this way means you spend more time reviewing and less time pulling together data. 

• Additional ways to use your business plan

Outside of this list, there are some special and less common use cases for your business plan. If you’re planning to sell your business, a business plan can help inform buyers beforehand. A business plan can also inform parties involved in a divorce or estate execution. It can also be useful for developing a continuity plan when a business is being passed on to a relative or employee. 

Lastly, a business plan is key for determining the valuation of a business for purposes including sale, legal settlements, and taxation. All of these use cases tend to deal with helping streamline legal aspects of selling, transitioning, or valuing a business. Similar to how having a business plan prepped helps you prepare to pursue funding, it can also eliminate the need to do any additional work in these scenarios.

How do you ensure that you actually use your plan? Leverage growth planning 

Business planning is the best way to get what you want from your business. It coordinates strategy, tactics, business activities, and teamwork, and pushes results to the forefront. More than likely, you’ll find  even more specific use cases  for your own business beyond the fifteen listed here.

There are many types of business plans out there, and you don’t always need a formal business plan document. If your full intention is to leverage your plan as an internal management tool, then you should start with a one-page plan.

See why 1.2 million entrepreneurs have written their business plans with LivePlan

Tim Berry is the founder and chairman of Palo Alto Software , a co-founder of Borland International, and a recognized expert in business planning. He has an MBA from Stanford and degrees with honors from the University of Oregon and the University of Notre Dame. Today, Tim dedicates most of his time to blogging, teaching and evangelizing for business planning.

Table of Contents

• How do you ensure that you actually use your plan? Leverage growth planning 

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

May 24, 2021

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

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

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

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

What Is a Business Plan?

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

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

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

Get a Business Idea

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

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

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

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

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

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

Conduct Market Analysis

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

Product and Service Demand

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

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

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

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

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

Identify Demographics of Target Market

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

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

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

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

How to Write a Business Plan

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

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

• Business Plan Cover Page
• Table of Contents
• Executive Summary
• Company Description
• Description of Products and Services
• SWOT Analysis
• Competitor Data
• Competitive Analysis
• Marketing Expenses Strategy 
• Pricing Strategy
• Distribution Channel Assessment
• Operational Plan
• Management and Organizational Strategy
• Financial Statements and/or Financial Projections

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Mike told us,

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

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

It consists of three basic parts:

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

Example of an informal executive summary 

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

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

What should I include in an executive summary for investors?

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

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

Successful business plan examples

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

Here’s the interview with the owner of Urbanity:

When to write an executive summary?

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

What mistakes do people make when writing an executive summary?

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

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

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

How to Write a Business Plan Step 4. Company Description

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

• Mission statement
• Philosophy and vision
• Company goals

Target market

• Legal structure

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

Mission Statement

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

Company Philosophy and Vision

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

What makes your company different?

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

Examples of core values

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

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

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

What is a vision statement?

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

Example vision statements

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

A world without Alzheimer’s Disease and other dementia.

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

Business Goals

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

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

How far in advance should a business plan?

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

Example of great business goals

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

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

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

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

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

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

Industry resources

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

• Trade Associations
• Federal Reserve
• Bureau of Labor Statistics

Legal Structure

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

• Sole proprietorships
• Limited Liability Companies (LLC)

Partnerships

Corporations.

• Franchises.

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

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

Sole Proprietorship

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

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

Limited Liability Company (LLC)

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Questions to answer about your products and services

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

SWOT Examples

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

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

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

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

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

Include Competitor Data in Your Business Plan

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

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

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

Marketing Strategy

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

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

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

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

Advertising Strategy

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

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

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

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

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

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

Some common pricing strategies are:

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

HubSpot has a great calculator and blog on pricing strategies.

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

Distribution Plan

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

Supply Chain Examples

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

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

Examples of Supply Chains

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Quality Control

• Legal environment

Let’s look at each for some insight.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Legal Environment

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

How to Write a Business Plan Step 8. Financial Statements 

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

Provide All Financial Income from an Existing Business

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

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

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

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

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

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

Financial Projections For A Startup Business Plan

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

Mike gave the following advice in his interview:

Financial Forecasting Mistakes

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Ways to get funding for a small business

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

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

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

How funding will be used

When asking for business financing make sure to include:

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

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

How to Write a Business Plan Resources

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

• Sample plan

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

80% of businesses fail... Learn how not to.

Learn from business failures and successes in 5 min or less. The stories, frameworks, and tactics that will make you a 10x better founder.

Brandon Boushy

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How to Start a $9K/Month Carpet Cleaning Business (with $3K Budget)

• Developing the skills to run a carpet cleaning business.
• Choosing a name for a carpet cleaning business.
• Writing a business plan for a carpet cleaning business.
• Registering a carpet cleaning business.
• Funding a carpet cleaning business.
• Preparing for launch
• Operating a carpet cleaning business
• Marketing a carpet cleaning business

Step 1: Developing the skills to run a carpet cleaning business

• Customer Service
• Inventory and Equipment Management
• Technical Skills Required for Carpet Cleaning Businesses

Is carpet cleaning an excellent business to start?

Step 2: Choosing a Name for the Carpet Cleaning Business

Does the name explain the carpet cleaning business, is the carpet cleaning business name easy to spell, does the carpet cleaning business name include your location, does the branding fit the carpet cleaning business.

Register a .com

Give it a go, step 3: writing a carpet cleaning business plan.

• Marketing Plan
• Financial Statements and Financial Projections

Step 4: How to Register a Carpet Cleaning Business

 Licenses, Permits, and Taxes

Options for business structures, sole proprietorship, limited liability corporation (llc), partnerships and corporations, apply for an ein, state/local business licenses, unemployment insurance, step 5: funding a carpet cleaning business.

• What equipment, software, and inventory do I need?
• How much will the carpet cleaning equipment cost?
• Will I need a location where customers can come? If so, how much will it cost?
• What are the costs for marketing and a website?
• Will the company have employees or sub-contractors?
• How much money is currently available to start a carpet cleaning service?
• How many routine customers do I have? Will the current revenue and savings cover costs?
• How much financing do I need?
• How will I get the financing?

How much does it cost to start a cleaning business?

Personal savings, loans or gifts from friends and family, small business loans, crowd funding, credit cards.

• "Isn't this risky? Shouldn't you go get a job?"
• "Can I get your service for free?"

Step 6: Preparing to start a commercial cleaning business

• Getting equipment, inventory, and other supplies.
• Creating a website.
• Setting up social media accounts.
• Signing up for payment processors.
• Setting up a Customer Relationship Management system and other administrative software.
• Establishing a physical location if necessary.
• Getting general liability insurance.

Carpet Cleaning Equipment, Inventory, and Other Supplies

• A truck or van - Just search "dealerships near me." They should have a truck that works.
• A Carpet Cleaning Machine -  Bissell , Janilink , and Hoover are some brands to consider. 
• Carpet Cleaning Tools - Make sure they are compatible with the model of the machine you buy.
• Cleaning products - Make sure they are compatible with the model of the machine you buy. Eco-friendly products can be used as premium or differentiating products.

Create a website

Setting Up Social Media Accounts

• Facebook - Selling products or services to people over 30.
• LinkedIn - Selling products or services to other businesses.
• Twitter - Best for current events.
• TikTok - Best for products and services for kids and teens
• Instagram - Best for products and services targeting people under 35.

Choosing a payment processor

• At different locations
• A combination of the above

Setting up a CRM and other administrative software

Finding a physical location, getting business insurance.

• General liability insurance- Used when a freak accident occurs. Typically $1m/2m coverage is needed, but it varies based on location and type of business.
• Professional liability- Used when the work you are doing causes damage. If a carpet cleaner causes mold, this will cover the mold remediation service.
• Cybersecurity insurance- This insurance protects against cyber attacks. If your systems are hacked, it will help protect your company.

Step 7: How to operate a carpet cleaning business

• Sending emails
• Performing marketing tasks
• Handling payroll
• Doing interviews
• Keep consistent business hours. If customers don't know when you'll be available, they'll go to someone who they know is available.
• Provide estimates you know you can meet. A customer would rather be quoted more and spend less than be approached for more money later. The same goes for time.
• Set time aside for life. Entrepreneurs are notorious workaholics. If you don't make time for the other aspects of life, they will suffer and seep into your work.
• Keep business and personal accounts separate. Depending on your legal structure, this is mandatory.
• Put 50% of the revenue aside for ongoing expenses, tax payments, and business re-investment. If you don't do this, you'll eventually have a scenario where you have to come up with the money you don't have.
• The customer expects their home to be spotless when you leave. Use Industry best practices like wearing booties in their home to protect the customer's property.

Step 8: Marketing Your Commercial Carpet Cleaning Companies

Related reading.

• Strategies for Success Facebook Page
• Flow , by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi - Free PDF Download
• Mason's Network Facebook page
• The Time Paradox , by Philip Zimbardo. Free Audiobook with Audible Trial.
• Small Business Development Center Courses - Add  Your Zip Code for your SBDC.
• The Structure of Scientific Revolutions , by Thomas Kuhn- 2nd Edition PDF
• Stanley Steemer - Requires a phone call.

The Ultimate Guide to Restaurant Marketing (2024)

The restaurant industry is highly competitive. Restaurant marketing is no different—you’re competing against restaurants in your niche and in every niche.

There are so many ways to promote your restaurant that you need a well-laid marketing plan. We’ll explain the goal of restaurant marketing and provide restaurant marketing tips, sample marketing plans and budgets, and software recommendations.

[su_note note_color="#dbeafc"]  We’ll cover the following topics:

What is restaurant marketing?

Step #1. dream up your restaurant, step #2. create a restaurant marketing strategy, step #3. create a restaurant marketing plan, step #4. prepare a restaurant marketing budget, step #5. buy restaurant marketing software, step #6. implement the restaurant marketing strategies, step #7. optimize your restaurant marketing strategies, how to advertise a restaurant, how to promote a restaurant.

• What are your favorite restaurant marketing ideas?   [/su_note]

Click on any of the links above to learn more about how to promote a restaurant, or just continue reading.

Restaurant marketing focuses on identifying the ideal clients for a restaurant, getting them to try your restaurant, collecting data, and creating loyalty. It can increase your restaurant's brand reputation, revenue, and profits.

How to market a restaurant

The four Ps of marketing are product, price, place, and promotion. So essentially, marketing should have a role in nearly every decision you make as you start a restaurant.

To effectively market your restaurant, follow the following steps:

• Dream up your restaurant.
• Choose a restaurant marketing strategy.
• Create a marketing plan.
• Prepare a marketing budget.
• Market your restaurant.

Let’s look at each of these steps to understand how to market a business in the restaurant industry.

Before your restaurant is even open, you’ll need to make decisions that affect your restaurant marketing, like:

• The type of food you’ll serve
• How much you’ll charge for food
• The location of your restaurant
• Your menu design
• Whether you’ll provide dine-in, carry-out, drive-thru, delivery, or other methods

These decisions will impact everything you do. It’s essential to think about them before you start spending money.

Once you’ve thought about the big picture, you need to narrow it down to the restaurant marketing strategies you want to use.

You can choose a combination of traditional and digital marketing strategies. Some restaurant marketing strategies include:

1. Style of restaurant 2. Brand 3. Location 4. Pricing 5. Menu design 6. Visually appealing dishes 7. Online food delivery system 8. Online booking platforms 9. Customer loyalty programs

10. Coupon-based discounts 11. Promotions 12. Paid advertising 13. Print/free-standing inserts 14. Events (like soft openings and a grand opening 15. Search engine optimization (SEO) 16. Local SEO 17. Influencer marketing 18. Social media marketing

Let’s look at how each of these restaurant marketing ideas helps you market your business.

#1. Style of restaurant

This decision is more of a business decision than a restaurant marketing strategy, but you’ll need to decide it before you do anything else. This will help you do competitor research and target market research.

Of course, if you have a themed restaurant (like Noah’s Ark, a former St. Louis-area restaurant shaped like a massive wooden boat), your style of restaurant will be closely related to your marketing.

It’s essential to establish your brand. A restaurant brand includes:

• Restaurant values and mission: Your values and mission statement should explain how and why you do what you do.
• Restaurant name: Your restaurant's name will be on countless marketing materials, including its logo, website, and social media accounts. It will appear on ordering apps as well.
• Restaurant logo: The visual representation of your restaurant will be used just as much—if not more. If your logo becomes iconic—think the McDonald’s Golden Arches—you won’t even need the name for people to know what company it is.
• Color palette: The colors you use help create a brand image. Think of some of your favorite restaurants. What colors do they use? The colors can be used for everything from uniforms to marketing materials and even the restaurant’s interior. Dig into color theory here .
• Font: Different fonts are interpreted in different ways. Learn more about font psychology here .
• Communication style: How does your restaurant communicate with the public? A bar or neighborhood grill might want a friendly vibe, while a fine-dining establishment may use more formal communication.
• Slogans: Is there something you want your company to be known for? These are commonly used with fast food. For instance, what restaurant comes to mind when you see the words “I’m lovin’ it”?

#3. Location

Your restaurant location doesn’t inherently seem like a marketing decision, but it is.

The placement of your restaurant can make or break it. It could be in an area with a perfect vibe, or it could be a mismatch for your target audience.

Make sure the restaurant location is:

• Easily accessible from all directions
• Near your target market
• Convenient for employees who need to ride a bus

Learn more about choosing a location .

Note: Many modern-day point-of-sale (POS) systems make it easy to implement restaurant marketing strategies #4 through #9.

#4. Online food delivery system

An online food delivery system is a marketing strategy that connects you with outside companies such as Uber Eats, DoorDash, and Grubhub.

Lightspeed HQ expects a 20% or higher compound annual growth rate in food delivery between now and 2030.

You can’t really afford to ignore these restaurant marketing channels anymore, but you need to be aware that each delivery company has different commissions they take for their services.

You should assume that 30% of the total ticket price will be spent on delivery. That means if you need to make $15 on a meal to stay in business, you need to charge $21.99 for the meal to cover the delivery costs.

Failing to factor in these costs could cause your restaurant to fail, as the average restaurant has a slim 9.08% net profit margin . Make sure you get this right. Hire a restaurant consultant if you need help.

Hear from a restaurant consultant below:

#5. Online booking platforms

In addition to online deliveries, you can also take online orders or reservations through marketing channels like OpenTable, Resy, and Reserve with Google.

These restaurant marketing strategies increase your digital footprint and make it easier for customers to book reservations and orders. They might also increase productivity by reducing incoming phone calls.

#6. Customer loyalty programs

Another marketing strategy that every restaurant owner needs is a customer loyalty program. Rewarding loyal customers encourages people to keep coming back. It also helps you gather data about your customers to create better customer avatars.

Whether you’re using branded punch cards or digital rewards programs, business owners who implement loyalty programs could see up to 67% increased customer spending .

#7. Coupon-based discounts

Offering physical or digital coupons is another of the restaurant marketing ideas that may be included in your point-of-sale system. You can use coupons as a way to bring in first-time clients, encourage birthday meals, or reward loyal customers.

Make sure to calculate the cost of the discounts and include them in your restaurant marketing budget plan. As a good rule of thumb, don’t make coupons greater than the expected gross profit from the purchases.

#8. Running promotions

Promotions are similar to discounts but cover a broader range of strategies. They might include discounts, buy-one-get-one, giveaways, or other restaurant marketing strategies that help increase awareness of the restaurant on social media and other marketing channels.

#9. Pricing

Restaurant owners need to get the price of the food they are selling right. Too expensive, and you’ll scare off most customers; too inexpensive, and you may lose money with every item sold. The sweet spot will attract customers and allow for profit.

#10. Menu design

Your menu is part of your restaurant marketing strategy. Will it be professional looking in a leather-bound protector or laminated with lots of pictures? Maybe it will be on the wall.

Consider what your competitors do before making a decision. It would be weird to go into fine dining and see a fast food-style menu above the hostess stand.

#11. Visually appealing dishes

While you might not think of the plate layout as part of marketing, impressed customers might share photos of their dishes on social media. Take a food-styling course, plan out your food presentation, and train your employees to duplicate it with every dish. Just remember to be reasonable.

#12. Paid advertising

Restaurant advertising can take on many formats. In a search engine, you might have text-based advertisements, while you might prioritize pictures or videos when advertising on social media.

Make sure that you are narrowing your restaurant advertisement to people who live near the restaurant or travel to the location consistently. Otherwise, online advertising platforms can become prohibitively expensive.

#13. Events (like soft openings and a grand opening)

A great restaurant marketing strategy is to host soft openings and a grand opening. New restaurants can use these to get a lot of attention, especially if you combine them with promotions.

A soft opening also acts as a low-pressure environment for your staff to prepare for the grand opening by only serving friends and family. The grand opening is a more formal event that should include media and influencers.

Talk to people with PR credentials in your area to maximize the results.

#14. Search engine optimization (SEO)

Optimizing your restaurant website for search engines is a great way to bring more awareness to your business. You’ll want to research keywords for your type of restaurant, create pages that describe each item, provide an online menu, and make it easy to place online orders and provide reviews.

Check out TouchBistro’s blog about restaurant SEO .

#15. Local SEO

You’ll need to use local SEO techniques and directories, including:

• Google Business Profile (Formerly Google My Business)
• Tripadvisor
• Yellow Pages

Learn more about starting a Google Business Profile for your restaurant .

#16. Social media marketing for restaurants

Social media marketing will require you to:

• Create a social media restaurant profile on all social media platforms.
• Add your business information.
• Invite your friends to like the page.
• Share posts about the food and restaurant.
• Use QR codes to make it easy for guests to find your socials in your restaurant.
• Encourage people to share pictures and tag your business.
• Ask people to provide reviews. You can even offer incentives or discounts to provide reviews.
• Consider using social media ads.

Suppose you don’t love being on social media. You might find a friend or family member who enjoys social media and have them manage it. Alternatively, you could pay a restaurant marketing company to manage your social media marketing.

#17. Influencer marketing

Another social media marketing strategy is inviting influencers to eat for free. If they enjoy your restaurant and provide a stellar review, it can help drive new customers.

There are keys to making this marketing strategy effective, including:

• Brand goals: Before hiring any influencer, define what you want to achieve by hiring them.
• Target audience: The influencer should share your target audience.
• Engagement rate: An influencer’s engagement rate, or how many people interact with posts, is more important than how many followers they have. Customer engagement is a sign that the influencer isn’t buying followers.
• Content alignment: If the influencer style and content don’t align with your brand identity, it could turn off potential customers.
• Cost: User-generated content helps attract customers, but the prices for influencers can range from free products to a percentage of sales to a flat rate per post. Learn about influencer pricing .
• Platform: Make sure your restaurant has a presence on the platforms the influencer works on.
• Reach: Pricing may be partially based on how many potential customers will see the user-generated content. If you take online reservations, you can use a promo code to tie the influencer directly to the revenue and then pay them a percentage.
• Search and discovery tools: How does the platform allow the content to be found by your target audience? Some platforms are more successful at bringing in new customers than others.
• Influencer vetting system: Each influencer has their own requirements for who they work with. You should also have requirements because digital marketing for restaurants can have unintended consequences if the influencer is involved in a scandal.

Klear and Traackr are influencer marketing tools that match influencers with businesses.

#18. Restaurant email marketing

Restaurants use email marketing to offer discounts, offer birthday gifts, notify people about new products, or confirm online orders. The more ways you use email marketing to communicate with your audience, the more you’ll stay in their mind.

Restaurant owners need to create a marketing plan (a document) for handling each of the marketing efforts (time and resources put into marketing), including:

• The marketing strategy (the goals and process), including a step-by-step process
• How much to spend on the marketing efforts
• The restaurant marketing software that will be used
• Who is responsible for implementing the restaurant’s marketing strategy
• Metrics to measure the marketing strategy success
• How often to optimize the marketing strategy

These will help provide a restaurant marketing plan that drives your marketing decision-making and efforts as you run your restaurant.

Steal restaurant marketing ideas from the big guys

There are two lists you might want to look at to get an idea of what the most successful restaurants do:

Independent restaurants

Restaurant Business estimated the earnings of the top 100 independent restaurants . Below, we did some calculations with the figures to help guide your goals.

To be one of the top 100 restaurants, you’d want to serve $20M in food at a price between $50 and $70 per person. Not feasible to start, but something to shoot for.

Look at restaurants on Restaurant Business’s list to see which are comparable to your restaurant, then research their marketing.

We also gathered some data about the top chains in the U.S. You can view the full list on Nation’s Restaurant News , but it’s most important to understand that there are 500 chains with a combined 230,250 locations and that you’ll want to aim for at least $1.5M in revenue to be among the top 50% of performers.

You can review our calculations here .

Check out restaurants with Instagram followers

Another easy way to learn how to market a restaurant is to look at what the restaurants in your area are doing. Delicious has a great list of the “most Instagrammed restaurants” by state .

A restaurant marketing budget is normally only 2% of revenue, according to the Small Business Administration (SBA). This number is less than 25% of what the SBA suggests.

Based on IBIS World’s industry revenue and number of businesses, the average revenue for a restaurant is nearly $1.67M. That means your marketing budget should be somewhere between the values in the table below.

Some recommend spending up to 30% on restaurant marketing strategies during the first year to help develop brand awareness at a much quicker base. If you decide to take such an aggressive strategy, monitor your marketing campaigns to verify that they are bringing in new customers and increasing customer retention.

If they are not, we highly suggest optimizing the strategies by focusing your spending on campaigns that are outperforming the others.

Learn how to prepare your marketing budget here .

A powerful restaurant marketing plan will encompass many of these strategies. You’ll also need to collect important marketing campaign data to refine your approach.

A key component of collecting valuable customer data is using marketing software to collect and optimize marketing strategies. A restaurant marketer will need several hardware and software solutions to serve their customers best.

You’ll need a:

• Social media

POS and restaurant management system

• Customer relationship management software

Analytics software

Accounting systems, keyword research tools.

You’ll want to consider how each tool fits into your restaurant marketing plan, business goals, and marketing campaigns. In addition, you’ll want to consider costs, integration with other software, and online reviews when making decisions on marketing tools.

When you create a restaurant website, you’ll want to consider what new and repeat customers need when they visit your website.

Take a minute to think about what you do when you are researching a restaurant. What did you want when you were a first-time customer? What did you want as a repeat customer?

The table below includes some restaurant marketing tools people expect to see when they visit a restaurant website. Can you think of more?

In addition, you’ll want the website to link to your social media, restaurant management software, and analytics software.

Restaurant social media marketing software

In addition to social media accounts, some tools can help with social media marketing for restaurants.

Agorapulse (“agora” means meeting place) helps you track 10 social media platforms, providing analytics, scheduling, and responding. There is a free 30-day trial, and many other features depending on your plan. It’s the preferred social management platform for industry behemoth McDonald’s.

Learn about other social media tools .

Remember all the marketing strategies that were part of a POS system?

You can use POS or restaurant management systems like Toast to get all those features. Find out how Toast stacks up against competitors . You can get started for free, but the paid packages range from $69 and up , depending on your desired features.

Customer relationship management (CRM) software

OpenTable, Upserve, Toast, and Sugar CRM are some CRM software for restaurants . Many CRM software platforms will also serve as POS and online ordering systems. Before you mix and match software, make sure it works together.

Posist and Restaurant365 are top performers in small restaurant analytics software . Analytics software combines revenue, employee scheduling information, and food inventory to help local businesses and major corporations in the restaurant industry manage their costs more effectively.

You may be able to access analytics with your POS system, but make sure to check each provider to see what is included.

Restaurant marketing tips are great, but you’ll have no idea how well you’re doing unless you can tie the marketing to financial results.

Most small businesses use QuickBooks, but restaurants can also use the POS systems to monitor financial performance for quick managerial decisions.

Another helpful tool is keyword research software. You can use software like SurferSEO or Ahrefs to find online search keywords.

A good rule of thumb is to go for high-volume, low-difficulty keywords, and as you increase your authority, progress to high-volume, high-difficulty keywords.

During this phase, you will set up all the software, create your restaurant marketing campaign, and monitor it to see whether it meets the goal of bringing in potential customers.

Even the most effective marketing strategies require time to work. In our courses, Joshua Brown explains that you’ll generally want to start email marketing and paid ads between one and three weeks before you want to earn revenue from new or existing customers.

Should I hire a restaurant marketing agency?

Restaurant marketing agencies can be tremendously helpful. They can help you establish your restaurant’s brand identity, advise you on the best software, set up effective marketing strategies, and monitor and optimize your campaigns.

Despite the benefits of hiring a restaurant marketing agency, a local restaurant may be better off hiring them for specific tasks than to manage everything.

When a single company does all your restaurant marketing, they might claim ownership of assets, like your Google Business Profile or website. If you want to fire them, you must find new, effective restaurant marketing strategies.

Be prepared to spend over $1K monthly if you’re looking for full-service marketing agencies. You’ll want to check their online reviews to see what their customer base likes and dislikes about the company.

When you market a restaurant, you’ll adjust your marketing budget for each channel's spending based on how well they attract customers. Most small restaurants find local online and Google Ads to be the most effective.

Approximately once per month, you’ll want to adjust each marketing strategy for restaurant operations. But another business owner warned us:

[su_quote] You can’t throw $100 at ads for a month and decide it didn’t work. Give marketing for a restaurant a few months to adjust how to market your restaurant. [/su_quote]

When you find that marketing ideas for restaurants are not getting the results you want, you have a couple of options:

• Change the call to action.
• Change the offer.
• Reduce the spending on the marketing channel.

Brandon told us you must track everything to see where you lose your customer base.

Suppose you get many potential customers from a source, but they aren’t ordering food at the same rate as other restaurant digital marketing campaigns. In that case, it’s probably not the right marketing channel.

Stop wasting money marketing a restaurant to the wrong people. Likewise, shift the budget to restaurant ads you know work.

The best restaurant marketing campaigns will be able to scale and attract more customers. No matter how well the campaign attracts customers, there will be a point where your returns start to drop. When this occurs, you’ve hit the point of diminishing returns and should stop increasing the allocation to those local ads.

Advertising a restaurant should use a combination of traditional marketing strategies, paid digital ads, and customer retention methods. Restaurant advertisement examples will normally include:

• Google Business Profile: Provides location in Google Maps. This will help people see your food, restaurant, business hours, and location.
• Google Ads: Run paid advertisements on Google Ads. Help people find your restaurant when they search for the type of food you serve, or simply “food near me”.
• Social Media: Social media ads are the best place to increase brand awareness because you can narrow your audience to people in your location and show them videos.

On any of the platforms, you’ll want to:

• Create a business account.
• Sign up for ads.
• Specify your goals.
• Create the ad copy and/or designs.
• Specify your budget.
• Monitor the performance.

Restaurant marketing companies can help you market your restaurant online to help remove the learning curve, but the saved time comes with higher upfront costs.

There are numerous ways to promote a restaurant. Consider some of the following ideas:

• Schedule a grand opening and publish it in places that announce local events.
• Run local online ads with a promotional offer or discount for new customers.
• Make it easy for people to provide positive reviews.
• Respond kindly to negative reviews to show you care about the customers’ experience.

What are your favorite restaurant marketing ideas?

At this point, you should know what to do to prepare to market your restaurant. It’s up to you to choose the best strategies for you.

What restaurant marketing appeals most to you? Let us know in the comments.

One-Page Business Plan Template (with Examples)

One-Page Strategic Plan (OPSP)

Long Term Plan

• Strengths and Weaknesses
• People that Drive Your Reputation
• Core Values
• 3 to 5-Year Targets
• 1-Year Goals
• Struggling to meet core customer demands
• Spending too much time
• Reaching a point that you need to hire more people

People Drive Reputation (Top)

Employees (1st Question)

Customers (2nd question).

• Customer service surveys
• Beta testing
• Market research
• Requests for new product features. Craft.io has a blog on collecting feedback , and it sounds like many product managers love their feedback portals.

Owners and debt holders (3rd-6th Question)

• Shareholders
• Debt holders
• Exceeding performance goals
• Establishing a reputation as an expert, both within the company and externally
• Fitting the company's culture

Core Values (Column 1)

Purpose (Column 2)

Big Hairy Audacious Goal ®

• Numerical: Hit a specific revenue, profit, or customer number.
• Aspirational: Attempt to be like another company, for instance, become the "Nike" of backpacks.
• Market Leader: General Electric once aimed to be one of the top two companies in the industry or exit the business.
• Transformational: Change how the industry operates. For instance, Airbnb and Uber changed their industries by making it so that homeowners and restaurants can earn additional income. Both companies' main asset is tech playing the middleman between consumers and owners.

Measuring Profits

• Profit per Customer
• Profit per Transaction
• Profit per Employee
• Profit per Piece of Content

3 to 5-Year Targets (Column 3)

Brand promises (column 3, bottom).

• Product: Explain your product features, performance, efficiency, warranty, etc.
• Service: Explain how your services compare to the industry.
• Channel: Explain how you deliver your product or service to the customer.
• Relationship: Explain how your customer service differs from the competition. Are you faster or friendlier? For instance, the HVAC company One Hour Air promises "ALWAYS ON TIME...OR YOU DON'T PAY A DIME!®"
• Reputation: This can be accomplished through marketing or by combining the differentiation strategies so when people ask about your service, your clients immediately think of you.
• Price: Are you a premium brand, a low-cost provider, or priced based on client needs?

Measuring Brand Promises with Key Performance Indicators

Primary Capabilities

• Automate fulfillment
• Start using a phone app for employees to input receipts into the accounting system
• Create a database for customer feature requests

Sandbox (aka Target Market)

1 year goals (column 4).

Key Initiatives

• Research alternatives
• Plan layout for implementation
• Implement a fulfillment automation plan
• Train employees on the process

Critical Personal Numbers (Columns 4, 5, and 7)

• 50 general construction workers
• Four project managers
• Two accountants
• Four delivery drivers
• Dark green: Meets 100% of the goal
• Light green: Can successfully meet the goal, over 75%
• Yellow: 25% to 75% of the goal
• Red: Under 25% of the way to the goal

Critical Profit  and Loss Numbers (Columns 4, 5, and 7)

• Emails collected
• Requests for bids
• Phone calls received
• The number of people who click on your ads
• Anything that can be used with other data to approximate the number of sales you can expect

Process Plan

Trends (Bottom)

• Trade Organizations
• Location of searches
• Historical trends
• Related topics
• Related search terms
• Check out the picture below for what comes up with eCommerce:

Productivity Drivers (Top)

Make or buy, record and report, quarterly actions (column 5).

Quarterly and Annual Theme (Column 6)

Scoreboard design.

Celebration and Reward

Accountability (column 7).

Personal KPIs

Personal priorities.

nice work https://binarychemist.com/

My Name is PRETTY NGOMANE. A south African female. Aspiring to do farming. And finding a home away from home for the differently abled persons in their daily needs.

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Use This Business Plan Format to Expertly Write Your Plan

Written by Dave Lavinsky

In this guide, you’ll learn how to format your business plan professionally. Business plan structure and format helps readers look beyond distracting style to the real meat of your idea.

Download our Ultimate Business Plan Template here >

How to Format Your Business Plan: The Cover Sheet

Every business plan should begin with a simple business plan cover page including the business name, your name and contact information. An easy to read table of contents should follow.

Example Business Plan Table of Contents

I: Executive Summary      a. Business Overview      b. Success Factors      c. Financial Highlights

II: Company Overview      a. Who is [Company Name]?      b. [Company Name]’s History      c. [Company Name]’s Products & Services

III: Industry Analysis      a. Industry Trends

IV: Customer Analysis      a. Customer Segmentation

V: Competitive Analysis      a. Direct & Indirect Competitors      b. Competitive Advantage

VI: Marketing Plan      a. The [Company Name] Brand      b. Promotions Strategy      c. Pricing Strategy

VII: Operations Plan      a. Functional Roles      b. Goals and Milestones

VIII: Management Team      a. Management Team Members      b. Hiring Plan

IX: Financial Plan      a. Revenue Model      b. Revenue and Cost Drivers      c. Key Assumptions & Forecasts

X: Appendix

The cover sheet should leave no question for readers to be able to identify the business plan when it is in a stack with dozens of others on their desk. The table of contents allows them to easily refer to sections within the plan. For example, after reading the executive summary, some investors with an eye for numbers may turn directly to the financial plan and statements. Proper business plan format allows readers to quickly get the information they want.

Example Business Plan Format

There are 10 business plan components or sections that every entrepreneur and business owner must include in their plan. These include:

• Executive summary
• Company overview
• Industry analysis
• Customer analysis
• Competitive analysis
• Marketing plan
• Operations plan
• Management team
• Financial plan

You should recognize these if you’ve ever worked with the best business plan template .

Formatting your business plan with charts and graphs is welcomed to break up long blocks of text. However, charts and graphs shouldn’t be used for their own sake. They must make the information easier to pass on than text would.

The business plan format that investors and lenders expect includes the following 10 sections. You can download our business plan format pdf here, to help you get started. We’ve included important notes in each section specific to business plan formatting to help you as you write your plan.

1. Start with Your Executive Summary

An executive summary gives readers a crisp overview of your business at the start of your plan. This section should not be more than two pages long and should include the following:

• What is the business about?
• Where and why did the idea of the business originate?
• Who are the owners?
• Which industry is it operating in?
• What is its core function?
• Where is it located?
• How is it going to make money?
• How much money (if any) is it already making?
• What are its financial projections?

The best format for your executive summary is paragraphs. Utilizing bullets and headings is also useful formatting within an executive summary, as it aids the reader in scanning the content on the page.

2. Company Overview Section

The company overview is the perfect place to highlight the strengths of your business. This section gives the reader additional information about your products and/or services and describes your company’s past accomplishments.

Including the below in this section will provide further clarity about your business:

• What type of business you are (e.g., C-Corporation, sole proprietor)
• When your business started
• Business’ accomplishments to date

The best formatting to use in this section is paragraphs to describe your company’s strengths and products/services. You should also include a chart that outlines your company’s achievements to date.

3. Industry or Market Analysis

The industry or market analysis gives the reader a clear understanding of your industry and the audience it serves. It includes a detailed explanation of your market size and trends.

Typically, the format of this section should be paragraphs. Feel free to include charts and graphs to best convey the information to the reader.

4. The Customer Analysis States Who Your Customers Are and What They Need

In this section of your plan, explain who your target customers are and identify their specific needs. Doing this will help you better target and attract customers.

5. Competitive Analysis

The Competitive Analysis section identifies your direct and indirect competitors. It discusses who they are and their strengths and weaknesses. It then details your areas of competitive advantages.

Whether your competitors are small or large businesses, describe them. Telling investors there are no competitors (big or small) often gives the impression that a market does not exist for your company.

With regards to formatting, use paragraphs to describe each competitor. As appropriate, adding a competitor matrix to show similarities and differences between your company and the competition can be very powerful.

6. Your Marketing Plan is a Key Section

The marketing & sales section of your business plan should outline how you plan to attract new customers and retain old ones. This section should outline the ways customers can be introduced to and engage with your offerings and describe how you will convert these prospects into paying customers.

Set marketing objectives that include the following (if applicable):

• Introducing new products
• Extending the market reach
• Exploring new markets
• Boosting sales
• Cross-selling
• Creating a long-term partnership with clients
• Increasing prices without affecting sales
• Creating a content marketing strategy

Organize your Marketing Plan into the 4 P’s – Price, Product, Promotions and Place. If you have multiple products or services, include a menu with each key item and its price.

7. The Operations Plan Format

Your Operations Plan identifies your key operational processes and milestones you expect to accomplish. Using a Gantt chart is a great way to show your expected future milestones. You can also format this section with tables that document the dates of future milestones.

8. You Need to Prove Your Management Team Can Execute

“A company is only as good as the people it keeps.” – Mary Kay Ash, American Entrepreneur and Businesswoman

The Management Team section of your business plan focuses on the people who run the business.

Who are the decision-makers, who is the product expert, who is the operations head, and who is running the entire show? A glimpse into the expertise and capabilities of your team members and how their experiences will help grow your business will boost stakeholder confidence.

To improve the formatting and best convey your management team to readers, consider adding an organizational chart that shows your team members and reporting structure.

9. Format Your Financial Plan

The goal of this section is to convince the reader that your business is stable and will be financially successful. Arm this section with past and/or forecasted cash flow statements, balance sheets, profit & loss statements, expense budgeting and sales forecasts.

If you run an operational business, include 3 years of historical data to help investors gain an understanding of how feasible your funding request is and if your business is capable of generating good returns.

Also include your funding request, if applicable, in this section. You should mention how much investment is required to take your business to the next significant milestone and how the money will be spent. You should also define if you are seeking debt or equity funding. If you are seeking debt financing like an SBA loan, ensure your financial projections include the debt and show steady repayments of both the principal and return under reasonable loan terms.

If you are seeking equity financing, you don’t need to include your valuation expectations in the business plan, but you should be aligned within your ownership team on the amount of equity you are willing to exchange before you pitch investors.

Example Financial Plan

Projected sales, gross profit & net income.

5 Year Annual Income Statement

5 year annual balance sheet, 5 year annual cash flow statement, 10. appendix.

This section includes supporting documentation of your business case. This could include renderings of a planned store location, market research reports referenced in the plan, key supplier or buyer contracts that substantiate your financial projections or historical marketing and sales data.

Formatting Your Business Plan

Overall, business plans should use simple and standard formatting. Twelve point font size in a standard font like Arial or Times New Roman is best, as well as the standard margin size of one inch on each side. Pages should be numbered, and the name of the company should appear on each page in the header or footer.

Use charts whenever possible as it makes it much easier for readers to consume the information in your plan.

How to Finish Your Business Plan in 1 Day!

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With Growthink’s Ultimate Business Plan Template you can finish your plan in just 8 hours or less!

Click here to finish your business plan today.

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Since 1999, Growthink has developed business plans for thousands of companies who have gone on to achieve tremendous success.

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Other Helpful Business Plan Articles & Templates

Money latest: Chocolate is a superfood - if you buy these bars

Read all today's personal finance and consumer news below - and leave a comment on any of the stories we're covering.

Friday 10 May 2024 22:26, UK

• UK exits recession, official figures show
• Ed Conway:  Three reasons to be gleeful about the ONS figures
• Interest rate held at 5.25% | Bank of England: June rate cut 'not ruled out but not fait accompli'

Essential reads

• Chocolate is a superfood - if you buy these bars
• How to avoid a holiday data roaming charge (while still using the internet)
• Mortgage rates up again this week - here are the best deals on the market
• PG Tips enlists stars in big-budget ad after falling behind competitors - but poll shows Britons prefer rival
• My daughter discovered undeclared £600 management fee after buying her flat - can we complain?
• Best of the Money blog - an archive

Ask a question or make a comment

If you've missed any of the features we've been running in Money this year, or want to check back on something you've previously seen in the blog, this archive of our most popular articles may help...

Loaves of bread have been recalled from shelves in Japan after they were found to contain the remains of a rat.

Production of the bread in Tokyo has been halted after parts of a "small animal" were found by at least two people.

Pasco Shikishima Corp, which produces the bread, said 104,000 packages have been recalled as it apologised and promised compensation.

A company representative told Sky News's US partner network, NBC News, that a "small black rat" was found in the bread. No customers were reported to have fallen ill as a result of ingesting the contaminated bread.

"We deeply apologise for the serious inconvenience and trouble this has caused to our customers, suppliers, and other concerned parties," the spokesman said.

Pasco added in a separate statement that "we will do our utmost to strengthen our quality controls so that this will never happen again. We ask for your understanding and your co-operation."

Japanese media reports said at least two people who bought the bread in the Gunma prefecture, north-west of Tokyo, complained to the company about finding a rodent in the bread.

Record levels of shoplifting appear to be declining as fewer shopkeepers reported thefts last year, new figures show. 

A survey by the Office for National Statistics shows 26% of retailers experienced customer theft in 2023, down from a record high of 28% in 2022.

This comes despite a number of reports suggesting shoplifting is becoming more frequent. 

A  separate ONS finding , which used police crime data, showed reports of shoplifting were at their highest level in 20 years in 2023, with law enforcements logging 430,000 instances of the crime.

Let's get you up to speed on the biggest business news of the past 24 hours. 

A privately owned used-car platform is circling Cazoo Group, its stricken US-listed rival, which is on the brink of administration.

Sky News has learnt that Motors.co.uk is a leading contender to acquire Cazoo's marketplace operation, which would include its brand and intellectual property assets.

The process to auction the used-car platform's constituent parts comes after it spent tens of millions of pounds on sponsorship deals in football, snooker and darts in a rapid attempt to gain market share.

The owner of British Airways has reported a sharp rise in profits amid soaring demand for trips and a fall in the cost of fuel.

International Airlines Group said its operating profit for the first three months of the year was €68m (£58.5m) - above expectations and up from €9m (£7.7m) during the same period in 2023.

The company, which also owns Aer Lingus, Iberia and Vueling, said earnings had soared thanks to strong demand, particularly over the Easter holidays.

The prospect of a strike across Tata Steel's UK operations has gained further traction after a key union secured support for industrial action.

Community, which has more than 3,000 members, said 85% voted in favour of fighting the India-owned company's plans for up to 2,800 job losses, the majority of them at the country's biggest steelworks in Port Talbot, South Wales.

Tata confirmed last month it was to press ahead with the closure of the blast furnaces at the plant, replacing them with electric arc furnaces to reduce emissions and costs.

In doing so, the company rejected an alternative plan put forward by the Community, GMB and Unite unions that, they said, would raise productivity and protect jobs across the supply chain.

Rishi Sunak has told Sky News that the UK exiting recession shows the economy has "turned a corner". 

He told our economics editor Ed Conway : "I am pleased that while there's more work to do, today's figures show that the economy now has real momentum, and I'm confident that with time, people will start to feel the benefits of that.

"We've had multiple months now where wages are rising, energy bills have fallen, mortgage rates are down and taxes are being cut... I'm pleased with the progress that we're making."

Mr Sunak added: "I am confident the economy is getting healthier every week."

Lidl will increase staff wages for the third time in 12 months, the supermarket has announced. 

Shop workers in London will get £13.65, up from £13.55, while staff elsewhere will get a rise from a minimum £12 to £12.40 - at a cost of £2.5m to Lidl.

The supermarket invested £37m in pay increases in March, on top of £8m in September - a total of more than £50m in the past 12 months. 

The increase comes into effect from 1 June. 

Lidl GB chief executive Ryan McDonnell said: "As we continue to expand, we are welcoming more customers and attracting more colleagues into the business every day.

"It's absolutely right, therefore, that we continue to offer industry-leading pay."

Tech giant Apple has apologised after an advert for its new iPad model prompted outrage.  

The ad promoting the thinnest-ever iPad shows creative tools including cameras, books, paint cans and musical instruments being crushed in an industrial press.

But many, including celebrities like Hugh Grant, decried the crushing of artistic objects.

In a statement released to Ad Age, Tor Myhren, Apple's vice president of marketing communications, said: "Creativity is in our DNA at Apple, and it's incredibly important to us to design products that empower creatives all over the world.

"Our goal is to always celebrate the myriad of ways users express themselves and bring their ideas to life through iPad. We missed the mark with this video, and we're sorry."

By Daniel Binns, business reporter

The FTSE 100 has been propelled to another record high this morning after official figures showed that the UK is now out of recession.

The index, of the London Stock Exchange's 100 most valuable companies, is up more than 0.5% and hit an intraday (during the day) high of 8,433 points earlier.

The score is based on a calculation of the total value of the shares on the index.

It comes after officials revealed that gross domestic product (GDP) in the UK grew by a better-than-expected 0.6% during the first three months of the year. 

However, commentators said investors had been buoyed more by the rising cost of metals, along with suggestions from the Bank of England yesterday that interest rates could be cut soon . 

Russ Mould, from investment platform AJ Bell, said: "Given its international horizons, this has little to do with the UK's better-than-expected GDP growth and is largely being driven by strength in the resources space where higher metals prices and the promise of M&A [mergers and acquisitions] are helping to stoke share prices.

"The next key test of the index's new-found vim and vigour will likely come next week in the form of US inflation figures. Investors have broadly accepted rate cuts won't be as deep or come as soon as would have been anticipated at the start of the year. However, any signs inflation is proving much more stubborn than predicted would still represent a shock to the system for financial markets."

Among the movers on Friday is UK-based mining firm Anglo American. 

Its shares are up almost 2% after reports that industry giant Rio Tinto has been considering a multibillion-pound takeover of the firm. It comes after Anglo American rejected a bid from rival BHP.  

Meanwhile, shares in Vodafone are up more than 2% after the government conditionally approved its plans to merge with fellow mobile operator Three. However, an investigation into the deal by the UK's competition watchdog is still ongoing, meaning it’s not a done deal yet. 

On the flip side, property listings website Rightmove is down nearly 6% this morning. It comes after the company cut its advertising revenue growth estimates in a trading update.

Rightmove said higher mortgage rates and lengthier completion times for sales were likely to weigh on buyer sentiment in the coming months, but it also forecast a better year for the UK residential market as a whole.

On the currency markets, £1 buys $1.25 US or €1.16.

Sainsbury's is running a scheme that allows some shoppers to earn easy Nectar card points. 

To earn extra points, shoppers just need to spend £1 across multiple transactions at Sainsbury's this month. 

The supermarket says the scheme is available to "millions" of customers, though all it would say about the eligibility criteria is that it's "based on a range of factors".

Check if you're eligible

Log into your nectar card app and check to see if you have this message...   

Make sure you opt in once you see the message. 

From there, you simply need to spend £1 or more five times - earning extra points each time. 

The number of bonus points on offer varies for each customer.

The offer runs until 4 June. 

Britain is not just out of recession. 

It is out of recession with a bang.

The economic growth reported this morning by the Office for National Statistics is not just faster than most economists expected, it's also the fastest growth we've seen since the tailend of the pandemic, when the UK was bouncing back from lockdown.

But, more than that, there are three other facts that the prime minister and chancellor will be gleeful about (and you can expect them to be talking about this number for a long time).

First, it's not just that the economy is now growing again after two quarters of contraction - that was the recession. 

An economic growth rate of 0.6% is near enough to what economists used to call "trend growth", back before the crisis - in other words, it's the kind of number that signifies the economy growing at more or less "normal" rates. 

And normality is precisely the thing the government wants us to believe we've returned to.

Second, that 0.6% means the UK is, alongside Canada, the fastest-growing economy in the G7 (we've yet to hear from Japan, but economists expect its economy to contract in the first quarter).

Third, it's not just gross domestic product that's up. So too is gross domestic product per head - the number you get when you divide our national income by every person in the country. After seven years without any growth, GDP per head rose by 0.4% in the first quarter. 

And since GDP per head is a better yardstick for the "feelgood factor", perhaps this means people will finally start to feel better off.

But this is where the problems come in. 

Because while this latest set of GDP figures is undoubtedly positive, the numbers that came before are undoubtedly grim.

GDP per head is still considerably lower, in real terms, than it was in 2022, before Liz Truss's disastrous mini-budget, or for that matter lower than in early 2019.

Raising another question: when people think about the state of the economy ahead of the election (and obviously these new figures are likely to increase the speculation about the date of the election), do they put more weight on the years of economic disappointment or the bounce back after them?

Do they focus on the fact that we're now growing at decent whack or on the fact that their income per head is, in real terms, no higher today than it was five years ago?

These are the questions we will all be mulling in the coming months - as the next election approaches. One thing is for sure: this won't be the last time you hear about these GDP numbers.

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Entrepreneurship / General Business

What is a Business Plan Used For?

June 8, 2007

A business plan is a tool with three basic purposes: communication, management, and planning.

Communication

As a communication tool, it is used to attract investment capital, secure loans, convince workers to hire on, and assist in attracting strategic business partners. The development of a comprehensive business plan shows whether or not a business has the potential to make a profit. It requires a realistic look at almost every phase of business and allows you to show that you have worked out all the problems and decided on potential alternatives before actually launching your business.

As a management tool, the business plan helps you track, monitor and evaluate your progress. The business plan is a living document that you will modify as you gain knowledge and experience. By using your business plan to establish timelines and milestones, you can gauge your progress and compare your projections to actual accomplishments.

As a planning tool, the business plan guides you through the various phases of your business. A thoughtful plan will help identify roadblocks and obstacles so that you can avoid them and establish alternatives. Many business owners share their business plans with their employees to foster a broader understanding of where the business is going.

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Japan’s Kishida unveils a framework for global regulation of generative AI

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida arrived at the Elysee Palace on Thursday for a bilateral meeting with French President Emmanuel Macron. (AP Video/Nicolas Garriga)

French President Emmanuel Macron, left, shakes hands with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida before a working lunch, Thursday, May 2, 2024 at the Elysee Palace in Paris. (AP Photo/Michel Euler)

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French President Emmanuel Macron, left, welcomes Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida before a working lunch, Thursday, May 2, 2024 at the Elysee Palace in Paris. (AP Photo/Michel Euler)

French President Emmanuel Macron, right, hugs Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida before a working lunch, Thursday, May 2, 2024 at the Elysee Palace in Paris. (AP Photo/Michel Euler)

French President Emmanuel Macron, center left, shakes hands with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida before a working lunch, Thursday, May 2, 2024 at the Elysee Palace in Paris. (AP Photo/Michel Euler)

PARIS (AP) — Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida unveiled an international framework for regulation and use of generative AI on Thursday, adding to global efforts on governance for the rapidly advancing technology.

Kishida made the announcement in a speech at the Paris-based Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.

“Generative AI has the potential to be a vital tool to further enrich the world,” Kishida said. But “we must also confront the dark side of AI, such as the risk of disinformation.”

When Japan chaired the Group of Seven leading industrialized nations last year, it launched a Hiroshima AI process to draw up international guiding principles and a code of conduct for AI developers.

Some 49 countries and regions have signed up to the voluntary framework, called the Hiroshima AI Process Friends Group, Kishida said, without naming any. They will work on implementing principles and code of conduct to address the risks of generative AI and “promote cooperation to ensure that people all over the world can benefit from the use of safe, secure, and trustworthy AI,” he said.

The European Union , the United States , China and many other nations have been racing to draw up regulations and oversight for AI, while global bodies such as the United Nations have been grappling with how to supervise it.