business plan project prezi

How to Write a Business Plan: Step-by-Step Guide + Examples

Noah Parsons

24 min. read

Updated May 7, 2024

Writing a business plan doesn’t have to be complicated. 

In this step-by-step guide, you’ll learn how to write a business plan that’s detailed enough to impress bankers and potential investors, while giving you the tools to start, run, and grow a successful business.

• The basics of business planning

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

You understand that planning helps you: 

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

As you start to write your plan, it’s useful to zoom out and remember what a business plan is .

At its core, a business plan is an overview of the products and services you sell, and the customers that you sell to. It explains your business strategy: how you’re going to build and grow your business, what your marketing strategy is, and who your competitors are.

Most business plans also include financial forecasts for the future. These set sales goals, budget for expenses, and predict profits and cash flow. 

A good business plan is much more than just a document that you write once and forget about. It’s also a guide that helps you outline and achieve your goals. 

After completing your plan, you can use it as a management tool to track your progress toward your goals. Updating and adjusting your forecasts and budgets as you go is one of the most important steps you can take to run a healthier, smarter business. 

We’ll dive into how to use your plan later in this article.

There are many different types of plans , but we’ll go over the most common type here, which includes everything you need for an investor-ready plan. However, if you’re just starting out and are looking for something simpler—I recommend starting with a one-page business plan . It’s faster and easier to create. 

It’s also the perfect place to start if you’re just figuring out your idea, or need a simple strategic plan to use inside your business.

Dig deeper : How to write a one-page business plan

Brought to you by

Create a professional business plan

Using ai and step-by-step instructions.

Secure funding

Validate ideas

Build a strategy

• What to include in your business plan

Executive summary

The executive summary is an overview of your business and your plans. It comes first in your plan and is ideally just one to two pages. Most people write it last because it’s a summary of the complete business plan.

Ideally, the executive summary can act as a stand-alone document that covers the highlights of your detailed plan. 

In fact, it’s common for investors to ask only for the executive summary when evaluating your business. If they like what they see in the executive summary, they’ll often follow up with a request for a complete plan, a pitch presentation , or more in-depth financial forecasts .

Your executive summary should include:

• A summary of the problem you are solving
• A description of your product or service
• An overview of your target market
• A brief description of your team
• A summary of your financials
• Your funding requirements (if you are raising money)

Dig Deeper: How to write an effective executive summary

Products and services description

This is where you describe exactly what you’re selling, and how it solves a problem for your target market. The best way to organize this part of your plan is to start by describing the problem that exists for your customers. After that, you can describe how you plan to solve that problem with your product or service. 

This is usually called a problem and solution statement .

To truly showcase the value of your products and services, you need to craft a compelling narrative around your offerings. How will your product or service transform your customers’ lives or jobs? A strong narrative will draw in your readers.

This is also the part of the business plan to discuss any competitive advantages you may have, like specific intellectual property or patents that protect your product. If you have any initial sales, contracts, or other evidence that your product or service is likely to sell, include that information as well. It will show that your idea has traction , which can help convince readers that your plan has a high chance of success.

Market analysis

Your target market is a description of the type of people that you plan to sell to. You might even have multiple target markets, depending on your business. 

A market analysis is the part of your plan where you bring together all of the information you know about your target market. Basically, it’s a thorough description of who your customers are and why they need what you’re selling. You’ll also include information about the growth of your market and your industry .

Try to be as specific as possible when you describe your market. 

Include information such as age, income level, and location—these are what’s called “demographics.” If you can, also describe your market’s interests and habits as they relate to your business—these are “psychographics.” 

Related: Target market examples

Essentially, you want to include any knowledge you have about your customers that is relevant to how your product or service is right for them. With a solid target market, it will be easier to create a sales and marketing plan that will reach your customers. That’s because you know who they are, what they like to do, and the best ways to reach them.

Next, provide any additional information you have about your market. 

What is the size of your market ? Is the market growing or shrinking? Ideally, you’ll want to demonstrate that your market is growing over time, and also explain how your business is positioned to take advantage of any expected changes in your industry.

Dig Deeper: Learn how to write a market analysis

Competitive analysis

Part of defining your business opportunity is determining what your competitive advantage is. To do this effectively, you need to know as much about your competitors as your target customers. 

Every business has some form of competition. If you don’t think you have competitors, then explore what alternatives there are in the market for your product or service. 

For example: In the early years of cars, their main competition was horses. For social media, the early competition was reading books, watching TV, and talking on the phone.

A good competitive analysis fully lays out the competitive landscape and then explains how your business is different. Maybe your products are better made, or cheaper, or your customer service is superior. Maybe your competitive advantage is your location – a wide variety of factors can ultimately give you an advantage.

Dig Deeper: How to write a competitive analysis for your business plan

Marketing and sales plan

The marketing and sales plan covers how you will position your product or service in the market, the marketing channels and messaging you will use, and your sales tactics. 

The best place to start with a marketing plan is with a positioning statement . 

This explains how your business fits into the overall market, and how you will explain the advantages of your product or service to customers. You’ll use the information from your competitive analysis to help you with your positioning. 

For example: You might position your company as the premium, most expensive but the highest quality option in the market. Or your positioning might focus on being locally owned and that shoppers support the local economy by buying your products.

Once you understand your positioning, you’ll bring this together with the information about your target market to create your marketing strategy . 

This is how you plan to communicate your message to potential customers. Depending on who your customers are and how they purchase products like yours, you might use many different strategies, from social media advertising to creating a podcast. Your marketing plan is all about how your customers discover who you are and why they should consider your products and services. 

While your marketing plan is about reaching your customers—your sales plan will describe the actual sales process once a customer has decided that they’re interested in what you have to offer. 

If your business requires salespeople and a long sales process, describe that in this section. If your customers can “self-serve” and just make purchases quickly on your website, describe that process. 

A good sales plan picks up where your marketing plan leaves off. The marketing plan brings customers in the door and the sales plan is how you close the deal.

Together, these specific plans paint a picture of how you will connect with your target audience, and how you will turn them into paying customers.

Dig deeper: What to include in your sales and marketing plan

Business operations

The operations section describes the necessary requirements for your business to run smoothly. It’s where you talk about how your business works and what day-to-day operations look like. 

Depending on how your business is structured, your operations plan may include elements of the business like:

• Supply chain management
• Manufacturing processes
• Equipment and technology
• Distribution

Some businesses distribute their products and reach their customers through large retailers like Amazon.com, Walmart, Target, and grocery store chains. 

These businesses should review how this part of their business works. The plan should discuss the logistics and costs of getting products onto store shelves and any potential hurdles the business may have to overcome.

If your business is much simpler than this, that’s OK. This section of your business plan can be either extremely short or more detailed, depending on the type of business you are building.

For businesses selling services, such as physical therapy or online software, you can use this section to describe the technology you’ll leverage, what goes into your service, and who you will partner with to deliver your services.

Dig Deeper: Learn how to write the operations chapter of your plan

Key milestones and metrics

Although it’s not required to complete your business plan, mapping out key business milestones and the metrics can be incredibly useful for measuring your success.

Good milestones clearly lay out the parameters of the task and set expectations for their execution. You’ll want to include:

• A description of each task
• The proposed due date
• Who is responsible for each task

If you have a budget, you can include projected costs to hit each milestone. You don’t need extensive project planning in this section—just list key milestones you want to hit and when you plan to hit them. This is your overall business roadmap. 

Possible milestones might be:

• Website launch date
• Store or office opening date
• First significant sales
• Break even date
• Business licenses and approvals

You should also discuss the key numbers you will track to determine your success. Some common metrics worth tracking include:

• Conversion rates
• Customer acquisition costs
• Profit per customer
• Repeat purchases

It’s perfectly fine to start with just a few metrics and grow the number you are tracking over time. You also may find that some metrics simply aren’t relevant to your business and can narrow down what you’re tracking.

Dig Deeper: How to use milestones in your business plan

Organization and management team

Investors don’t just look for great ideas—they want to find great teams. Use this chapter to describe your current team and who you need to hire . You should also provide a quick overview of your location and history if you’re already up and running.

Briefly highlight the relevant experiences of each key team member in the company. It’s important to make the case for why yours is the right team to turn an idea into a reality. 

Do they have the right industry experience and background? Have members of the team had entrepreneurial successes before? 

If you still need to hire key team members, that’s OK. Just note those gaps in this section.

Your company overview should also include a summary of your company’s current business structure . The most common business structures include:

• Sole proprietor
• Partnership

Be sure to provide an overview of how the business is owned as well. Does each business partner own an equal portion of the business? How is ownership divided? 

Potential lenders and investors will want to know the structure of the business before they will consider a loan or investment.

Dig Deeper: How to write about your company structure and team

Financial plan

Last, but certainly not least, is your financial plan chapter. 

Entrepreneurs often find this section the most daunting. But, business financials for most startups are less complicated than you think, and a business degree is certainly not required to build a solid financial forecast. 

A typical financial forecast in a business plan includes the following:

• Sales forecast : An estimate of the sales expected over a given period. You’ll break down your forecast into the key revenue streams that you expect to have.
• Expense budget : Your planned spending such as personnel costs , marketing expenses, and taxes.
• Profit & Loss : Brings together your sales and expenses and helps you calculate planned profits.
• Cash Flow : Shows how cash moves into and out of your business. It can predict how much cash you’ll have on hand at any given point in the future.
• Balance Sheet : A list of the assets, liabilities, and equity in your company. In short, it provides an overview of the financial health of your business. 

A strong business plan will include a description of assumptions about the future, and potential risks that could impact the financial plan. Including those will be especially important if you’re writing a business plan to pursue a loan or other investment.

Dig Deeper: How to create financial forecasts and budgets

This is the place for additional data, charts, or other information that supports your plan.

Including an appendix can significantly enhance the credibility of your plan by showing readers that you’ve thoroughly considered the details of your business idea, and are backing your ideas up with solid data.

Just remember that the information in the appendix is meant to be supplementary. Your business plan should stand on its own, even if the reader skips this section.

Dig Deeper : What to include in your business plan appendix

Optional: Business plan cover page

Adding a business plan cover page can make your plan, and by extension your business, seem more professional in the eyes of potential investors, lenders, and partners. It serves as the introduction to your document and provides necessary contact information for stakeholders to reference.

Your cover page should be simple and include:

• Company logo
• Business name
• Value proposition (optional)
• Business plan title
• Completion and/or update date
• Address and contact information
• Confidentiality statement

Just remember, the cover page is optional. If you decide to include it, keep it very simple and only spend a short amount of time putting it together.

Dig Deeper: How to create a business plan cover page

How to use AI to help write your business plan

Generative AI tools such as ChatGPT can speed up the business plan writing process and help you think through concepts like market segmentation and competition. These tools are especially useful for taking ideas that you provide and converting them into polished text for your business plan.

The best way to use AI for your business plan is to leverage it as a collaborator , not a replacement for human creative thinking and ingenuity. 

AI can come up with lots of ideas and act as a brainstorming partner. It’s up to you to filter through those ideas and figure out which ones are realistic enough to resonate with your customers. 

There are pros and cons of using AI to help with your business plan . So, spend some time understanding how it can be most helpful before just outsourcing the job to AI.

Learn more: 10 AI prompts you need to write a business plan

• Writing tips and strategies

To help streamline the business plan writing process, here are a few tips and key questions to answer to make sure you get the most out of your plan and avoid common mistakes .  

Determine why you are writing a business plan

Knowing why you are writing a business plan will determine your approach to your planning project. 

For example: If you are writing a business plan for yourself, or just to use inside your own business , you can probably skip the section about your team and organizational structure. 

If you’re raising money, you’ll want to spend more time explaining why you’re looking to raise the funds and exactly how you will use them.

Regardless of how you intend to use your business plan , think about why you are writing and what you’re trying to get out of the process before you begin.

Keep things concise

Probably the most important tip is to keep your business plan short and simple. There are no prizes for long business plans . The longer your plan is, the less likely people are to read it. 

So focus on trimming things down to the essentials your readers need to know. Skip the extended, wordy descriptions and instead focus on creating a plan that is easy to read —using bullets and short sentences whenever possible.

Have someone review your business plan

Writing a business plan in a vacuum is never a good idea. Sometimes it’s helpful to zoom out and check if your plan makes sense to someone else. You also want to make sure that it’s easy to read and understand.

Don’t wait until your plan is “done” to get a second look. Start sharing your plan early, and find out from readers what questions your plan leaves unanswered. This early review cycle will help you spot shortcomings in your plan and address them quickly, rather than finding out about them right before you present your plan to a lender or investor.

If you need a more detailed review, you may want to explore hiring a professional plan writer to thoroughly examine it.

Use a free business plan template and business plan examples to get started

Knowing what information to include in a business plan is sometimes not quite enough. If you’re struggling to get started or need additional guidance, it may be worth using a business plan template. 

There are plenty of great options available (we’ve rounded up our 8 favorites to streamline your search).

But, if you’re looking for a free downloadable business plan template , you can get one right now; download the template used by more than 1 million businesses. 

Or, if you just want to see what a completed business plan looks like, check out our library of over 550 free business plan examples . 

We even have a growing list of industry business planning guides with tips for what to focus on depending on your business type.

Common pitfalls and how to avoid them

It’s easy to make mistakes when you’re writing your business plan. Some entrepreneurs get sucked into the writing and research process, and don’t focus enough on actually getting their business started. 

Here are a few common mistakes and how to avoid them:

Not talking to your customers : This is one of the most common mistakes. It’s easy to assume that your product or service is something that people want. Before you invest too much in your business and too much in the planning process, make sure you talk to your prospective customers and have a good understanding of their needs.

• Overly optimistic sales and profit forecasts: By nature, entrepreneurs are optimistic about the future. But it’s good to temper that optimism a little when you’re planning, and make sure your forecasts are grounded in reality. 
• Spending too much time planning: Yes, planning is crucial. But you also need to get out and talk to customers, build prototypes of your product and figure out if there’s a market for your idea. Make sure to balance planning with building.
• Not revising the plan: Planning is useful, but nothing ever goes exactly as planned. As you learn more about what’s working and what’s not—revise your plan, your budgets, and your revenue forecast. Doing so will provide a more realistic picture of where your business is going, and what your financial needs will be moving forward.
• Not using the plan to manage your business: A good business plan is a management tool. Don’t just write it and put it on the shelf to collect dust – use it to track your progress and help you reach your goals.
• Presenting your business plan

The planning process forces you to think through every aspect of your business and answer questions that you may not have thought of. That’s the real benefit of writing a business plan – the knowledge you gain about your business that you may not have been able to discover otherwise.

With all of this knowledge, you’re well prepared to convert your business plan into a pitch presentation to present your ideas. 

A pitch presentation is a summary of your plan, just hitting the highlights and key points. It’s the best way to present your business plan to investors and team members.

Dig Deeper: Learn what key slides should be included in your pitch deck

Use your business plan to manage your business

One of the biggest benefits of planning is that it gives you a tool to manage your business better. With a revenue forecast, expense budget, and projected cash flow, you know your targets and where you are headed.

And yet, nothing ever goes exactly as planned – it’s the nature of business.

That’s where using your plan as a management tool comes in. The key to leveraging it for your business is to review it periodically and compare your forecasts and projections to your actual results.

Start by setting up a regular time to review the plan – a monthly review is a good starting point. During this review, answer questions like:

• Did you meet your sales goals?
• Is spending following your budget?
• Has anything gone differently than what you expected?

Now that you see whether you’re meeting your goals or are off track, you can make adjustments and set new targets. 

Maybe you’re exceeding your sales goals and should set new, more aggressive goals. In that case, maybe you should also explore more spending or hiring more employees. 

Or maybe expenses are rising faster than you projected. If that’s the case, you would need to look at where you can cut costs.

A plan, and a method for comparing your plan to your actual results , is the tool you need to steer your business toward success.

Learn More: How to run a regular plan review

Free business plan templates and examples

Kickstart your business plan writing with one of our free business plan templates or recommended tools.

Free business plan template

Download a free SBA-approved business plan template built for small businesses and startups.

Download Template

One-page plan template

Download a free one-page plan template to write a useful business plan in as little as 30-minutes.

Sample business plan library

Explore over 500 real-world business plan examples from a wide variety of industries.

View Sample Plans

How to write a business plan FAQ

What is a business plan?

A document that describes your business , the products and services you sell, and the customers that you sell to. It explains your business strategy, how you’re going to build and grow your business, what your marketing strategy is, and who your competitors are.

What are the benefits of a business plan?

A business plan helps you understand where you want to go with your business and what it will take to get there. It reduces your overall risk, helps you uncover your business’s potential, attracts investors, and identifies areas for growth.

Having a business plan ultimately makes you more confident as a business owner and more likely to succeed for a longer period of time.

What are the 7 steps of a business plan?

The seven steps to writing a business plan include:

• Write a brief executive summary
• Describe your products and services.
• Conduct market research and compile data into a cohesive market analysis.
• Describe your marketing and sales strategy.
• Outline your organizational structure and management team.
• Develop financial projections for sales, revenue, and cash flow.
• Add any additional documents to your appendix.

What are the 5 most common business plan mistakes?

There are plenty of mistakes that can be made when writing a business plan. However, these are the 5 most common that you should do your best to avoid:

• 1. Not taking the planning process seriously.
• Having unrealistic financial projections or incomplete financial information.
• Inconsistent information or simple mistakes.
• Failing to establish a sound business model.
• Not having a defined purpose for your business plan.

What questions should be answered in a business plan?

Writing a business plan is all about asking yourself questions about your business and being able to answer them through the planning process. You’ll likely be asking dozens and dozens of questions for each section of your plan.

However, these are the key questions you should ask and answer with your business plan:

• How will your business make money?
• Is there a need for your product or service?
• Who are your customers?
• How are you different from the competition?
• How will you reach your customers?
• How will you measure success?

How long should a business plan be?

The length of your business plan fully depends on what you intend to do with it. From the SBA and traditional lender point of view, a business plan needs to be whatever length necessary to fully explain your business. This means that you prove the viability of your business, show that you understand the market, and have a detailed strategy in place.

If you intend to use your business plan for internal management purposes, you don’t necessarily need a full 25-50 page business plan. Instead, you can start with a one-page plan to get all of the necessary information in place.

What are the different types of business plans?

While all business plans cover similar categories, the style and function fully depend on how you intend to use your plan. Here are a few common business plan types worth considering.

Traditional business plan: The tried-and-true traditional business plan is a formal document meant to be used when applying for funding or pitching to investors. This type of business plan follows the outline above and can be anywhere from 10-50 pages depending on the amount of detail included, the complexity of your business, and what you include in your appendix.

Business model canvas: The business model canvas is a one-page template designed to demystify the business planning process. It removes the need for a traditional, copy-heavy business plan, in favor of a single-page outline that can help you and outside parties better explore your business idea.

One-page business plan: This format is a simplified version of the traditional plan that focuses on the core aspects of your business. You’ll typically stick with bullet points and single sentences. It’s most useful for those exploring ideas, needing to validate their business model, or who need an internal plan to help them run and manage their business.

Lean Plan: The Lean Plan is less of a specific document type and more of a methodology. It takes the simplicity and styling of the one-page business plan and turns it into a process for you to continuously plan, test, review, refine, and take action based on performance. It’s faster, keeps your plan concise, and ensures that your plan is always up-to-date.

What’s the difference between a business plan and a strategic plan?

A business plan covers the “who” and “what” of your business. It explains what your business is doing right now and how it functions. The strategic plan explores long-term goals and explains “how” the business will get there. It encourages you to look more intently toward the future and how you will achieve your vision.

However, when approached correctly, your business plan can actually function as a strategic plan as well. If kept lean, you can define your business, outline strategic steps, and track ongoing operations all with a single plan.

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

Noah is the COO at Palo Alto Software, makers of the online business plan app LivePlan. He started his career at Yahoo! and then helped start the user review site Epinions.com. From there he started a software distribution business in the UK before coming to Palo Alto Software to run the marketing and product teams.

Table of Contents

• Use AI to help write your plan
• Common planning mistakes
• Manage with your business plan
• Templates and examples

Related Articles

3 Min. Read

What to Include in Your Business Plan Appendix

5 Min. Read

How To Write a Business Plan for a Life Coaching Business + Free Example

7 Min. Read

How to Write a Bakery Business Plan + Sample

1 Min. Read

How to Calculate Return on Investment (ROI)

The Bplans Newsletter

The Bplans Weekly

Subscribe now for weekly advice and free downloadable resources to help start and grow your business.

We care about your privacy. See our privacy policy .

The quickest way to turn a business idea into a business plan

Fill-in-the-blanks and automatic financials make it easy.

No thanks, I prefer writing 40-page documents.

Discover the world’s #1 plan building software

Like what you're reading?

30+ presentation themes to help you create your best presentation yet

Get your team on prezi – watch this on demand video.

Anete Ezera July 14, 2023

When it comes to creating impactful presentations, an often overlooked but essential element is the presentation theme . A well-chosen theme can transform a mundane presentation into a visually stunning and cohesive experience for your audience. In this article, we’ll explore why opting for a presentation theme is beneficial, provide insights on how to choose the right theme and outline the characteristics of a great presentation theme.

Additionally, you’ll find a list of 30+ visually appealing and engaging Prezi presentation themes that’ll help you find the perfect design for your next presentation. Prezi offers a great range of templates and presentation examples that you can reuse for making your own presentation. This selection of presentation templates and examples come together to offer a wide range of presentation themes, ensuring that you find the ideal theme that aligns with your content and resonates with your audience. Whether you’re giving a business pitch, delivering an educational lecture, or presenting a creative project, we have presentation themes that’ll enhance your message and captivate your viewers. So, let’s dive in and discover some cool and fun presentation themes!

Why choose a presentation theme?

When it comes to creating a presentation, choosing the right theme can make all the difference. A presentation theme is essentially a pre-designed template that includes various design elements such as fonts, colors, and images that work well together. Using a theme can save you time and effort in designing the presentation from scratch. Plus, it can also help to create a cohesive and visually appealing presentation that engages your audience. In this section, we’ll explore the benefits of choosing a presentation theme and how it can enhance the impact of your presentation.

Visual appeal

If you have a clear presentation design in mind then you’re probably good with starting your presentation from scratch. However, if you’re still finding your way in designing a presentation and don’t have a clear vision of how you want it to look, it might be better to opt for a pre-designed presentation theme. A theme brings consistency and visual harmony to your slides, making them more appealing and engaging for your audience. Also, aesthetically pleasing presentations are more likely to capture attention and leave a lasting impression. 

Branding and professionalism

A well-selected slide presentation theme allows you to seamlessly incorporate your company’s branding elements, such as colors, logos, and fonts. Consistent branding adds a professional touch to your presentation, reinforcing your credibility and brand identity.

What’s more – your brand’s colors, fonts, and imagery have the power to evoke emotions and create a connection with your audience. By aligning your presentation’s theme with your brand’s visual identity, you can tap into these emotional associations and establish a deeper connection with your stakeholders.

Focus and organization

A presentation theme serves as a visual guide for structuring your content, acting as a roadmap that helps you maintain a logical flow and ensure that information is presented in a coherent and organized manner. When you have a well-selected theme, it provides a framework that informs the arrangement of your slides, the placement of key elements, and the overall visual hierarchy of your presentation.

With a coherent structure in place, your audience can more easily follow along and understand your key messages. The consistent visual cues provided by the theme guide their eyes and attention, directing them to the most important information and helping them grasp the main points you’re conveying. As a result, your audience can engage with your content more effectively, retaining information and insights with greater clarity.

Moreover, a well-structured presentation theme allows for effective storytelling. By arranging your content in a logical sequence, you can build anticipation, create suspense, and deliver information in a way that captivates your audience. Whether you’re presenting data, telling a story, or sharing insights, the theme helps you present information in a sequential and compelling manner, enhancing the overall impact of your message.

Time efficiency

By utilizing a slide presentation theme, you can save valuable time and effort that would otherwise be spent starting your presentation from scratch. Templates offer a ready-made foundation that you can build upon, providing you with a structured starting point and freeing up your resources to concentrate on content creation and delivery.

Creating a presentation from scratch can be a time-consuming process, requiring meticulous attention to detail in designing layouts, selecting color schemes, and aligning various visual elements. However, when you leverage a pre-designed theme, these foundational aspects are already established, allowing you to bypass the initial setup and dive straight into the heart of your presentation.

In addition, pre-designed themes offer customization options, allowing you to tailor them to suit your specific needs. This flexibility allows you to strike a balance between efficiency and customization, ensuring that your presentation reflects your brand while still benefiting from the time-saving advantages of a presentation theme.

What does a great presentation theme look like?

A great presentation theme possesses the following characteristics:

Clean and cohesive

The theme should have a clean design with consistent visual elements, such as font styles, color palettes, and graphical elements. This coherence creates a sense of professionalism and aids in visual comprehension.

Engaging and eye-catching

An effective theme captures attention and maintains engagement throughout the presentation. Consider using visually appealing graphics, appropriate animations, and well-placed images to enhance your presentations’ impact.

Customizable and versatile

While utilizing pre-designed themes can save time, ensure that the theme allows for customization and flexibility. This allows you to tailor the visuals to suit your specific content and adapt the theme to your branding needs.

Minimalistic yet impactful

Strive for a balance between simplicity and impact. Avoid cluttered or overly complex designs that can distract or overwhelm your audience. Opt for a minimalist approach that highlights the most crucial information and visuals. If you want to learn more about presentation design , watch the following video:

Presentation themes

Choosing a presentation theme isn’t easy. That’s why we created a list of presentation themes, based on their use cases or characteristics. From modern designs to interactive slides, our themes cater to a variety of topics and styles. Find the ideal theme that aligns with your content and captivates your audience!

Business presentation themes

This business proposal theme on Prezi offers a visually engaging and professional approach to presenting your business ideas, strategies, and solutions. The theme provides a visually stunning design that stands out from traditional slide-based presentations. Prezi’s zooming and panning effects create a dynamic flow, enabling you to present your ideas in a captivating manner, zooming in and out of topics. Also, the theme incorporates eye-catching graphics, charts, icons, and images, enhancing the overall aesthetic appeal of your proposal.

The Quarterly Business Review (QBR) is a critical milestone for organizations to assess their progress, identify growth opportunities, and align strategies for the upcoming quarter. To make your QBR presentation engaging and impactful, consider utilizing a traffic-themed business template on Prezi. This theme leverages the metaphor of traffic to symbolize the various factors that drive growth within your business. By leveraging this theme’s vivid colors and attention-grabbing design, we ensure that your QBR presentation will captivate and maintain the audience’s focus from beginning to end.

For small business owners, it’s crucial to comprehend the aspects that proved a success and those that fell short, especially during quarterly business reviews. By utilizing the office layout in this small business presentation theme , you’ll enhance your ability to visualize and contextualize your outcomes for your upcoming QBR. The thoughtful placement of elements and strategic use of negative space ensures that the content stands out and remains the focal point throughout the presentation.

The Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Prezi presentation offers a stunning example of how visual appeal and effective structure can create an engaging and informative experience. This presentation theme is designed to captivate the audience while conveying the importance of CSR in today’s business landscape. Through its creative visuals, dynamic transitions, and organized structure, it effectively communicates key concepts and encourages viewers to embrace social responsibility within their own organizations.

The 3 Types of Business Stories Prezi presentation is an exemplary showcase of how storytelling elements and visually engaging animations can elevate a presentation to new heights. This captivating presentation aims to explore the power of storytelling in the business world, highlighting three distinct types of business stories. Through its masterful use of storytelling techniques and visually stunning animations, it immerses the audience in a compelling narrative that brings the concepts to life.

Introducing new employees to the team is made memorable with Prezi’s employee onboarding presentation theme . Designed to ensure a smooth onboarding process, this theme is divided into four main sections that’ll help you structure your presentation seamlessly. From the warm welcome to discussing payroll and benefits, communication strategies, and fostering a sense of teamwork – this theme covers it all. 

Ensure that your team is aligned and well-prepared for a successful product launch using Prezi’s customizable product launch theme . Tailor this theme to include specific details about your product, development deadlines, and key milestones. It serves as a powerful visual aid to guide you during your presentation as you walk your team through the product launch schedule. With this presentation theme, you can effectively communicate the necessary information and foster a shared understanding among your team. This sets the stage for a coordinated and impactful product launch.

Experience seamless organization in your work life with Prezi’s sleek business presentation theme . Designed to streamline your professional presentations, this theme offers a polished and captivating visual aesthetic that’s sure to leave a lasting impression. With its user-friendly features, you can swiftly create a professional-grade presentation that stands out from the crowd. 

Your hard work in building a successful business model every quarter deserves an equally impressive presentation theme to showcase your achievements. With our vibrant and polished business model theme , you can create a visually captivating presentation for your upcoming business review. The colorful and clean design of this theme adds a touch of elegance, while its user-friendly features ensure a seamless presentation-building experience. Get ready to impress your audience with a professionally designed presentation that effectively communicates the strengths and accomplishments of your business model.

Deliver an engaging SWOT analysis presentation using Prezi’s dynamic SWOT analysis presentation theme . With an intuitive layout, this theme enables you to effortlessly highlight key areas, zoom in on important details, and zoom out to present the bigger picture. The straightforward design ensures that your audience can easily grasp the essential elements of your SWOT analysis.

Discover more business presentation templates and create your own in a matter of minutes!

Sales presentation themes

What makes a good sales kickoff? The presentation by Igor Lacerdino answers this question in a highly engaging and interactive format. The combination of visual metaphors and compelling presentation structure makes this the perfect presentation theme for those who want to illustrate a process or a step-by-step guide. By reusing the structure of this sales kickoff presentation, you can create a highly captivating and engaging presentation for your sales team.

Unleash the winning spirit of your sales team with our football-inspired sales plan presentation theme . This theme not only fosters a sense of team unity but also incorporates a relatable metaphor that resonates with everyone. With a clear focus on thoughtful strategy, it empowers you to deliver a compelling presentation that connects with your audience on a deeper level. Get ready to kick off your sales plan with style and captivate your audience with this dynamic and customizable theme.

The Prezi presentation created by NOBL Collective provides a comprehensive guide to developing a clear and impactful organizational framework . It illustrates the importance and benefits of defining purpose, vision, mission, values, and key measures. Prezi’s interactive elements encourage active participation and engagement and guide viewers through the presentation with ease. 

The presentation by Cindy McGovern provides a visually appealing and engaging experience. With its seamless blend of professional-looking visuals and a well-structured layout, this sales presentation theme ensures that your presentation leaves a lasting impression on your audience. It offers a wide array of visually appealing elements such as high-quality images, sleek graphics, and vibrant colors. These elements are strategically incorporated to enhance the visual experience and reinforce key messages. The visuals come to life with smooth transitions and animations, creating a dynamic and engaging experience for your audience.

Ignite the enthusiasm of your sales team with an engaging sales strategy presentation . Designed with a compelling football image, this presentation theme is guaranteed to captivate your audience from start to finish. With its dynamic visuals and interactive elements, this theme creates a memorable experience that leaves a lasting impact.

Discover a range of sales presentation templates and create your own today!

Marketing presentation themes

To ensure that your marketing efforts are successful, use the Flow marketing strategy theme from Prezi. This theme is specifically designed to help marketers tell their stories in a quick, yet memorable way. By utilizing the high-energy design of the Flow theme, you can make sure that your marketing efforts are eye-catching and engaging.

The social media presentation features an engaging and visually rich theme aimed at providing tips to help individuals or businesses increase their social media following and build loyalty among their audience. With the use of visual cues and icons related to social media, this theme is perfect for showcasing tips, resources, and social media data. 

By using Prezi’s visually appealing marketing proposal theme , you can easily capture the attention of your audience. With its sleek visuals and intuitive user interface, this theme is sure to impress both clients and colleagues alike. Additionally, the template’s flexibility allows for easy customization to fit the specific needs and branding of your company, ensuring that your proposal stands out from the competition.

Are you looking to showcase your social media reach? Now you can easily do that by using this map-themed social media marketing template . The global map theme allows you to highlight specific regions and numbers in a visually stunning way. As with all Prezi presentation templates, it’s customizable to fit your brand and message.

Explore other marketing presentation templates and start creating your own! 

Education presentation themes

Prezi offers a wide range of presentation themes for students and educators , perfect for presenting projects and lessons, just like the following presentation theme. 

This versatile and vibrant lesson plan presentation theme simplifies the creation and sharing of lesson plans. With its customizable features and vivid colors, this theme guarantees a clear and engaging representation of lessons. Drawing inspiration from friendly board games, the presentation theme offers a structured approach to organizing subjects, assignments, exams, and other educational elements.

For education professionals, having a well-structured training presentation theme is essential. Whether you’re creating roadmaps or conducting reviews, this theme is designed to elevate your next EDU training presentation to the forefront. With its user-friendly features and comprehensive layout, it ensures your training session stands out as exemplary.

You can impress your classmates by presenting your research findings using this captivating research project theme . Featuring stylish purple accents and a clean layout, this theme allows you to showcase your approach and research methodology in a clear and understandable format.

Enhance your science project with this user-friendly presentation theme that incorporates lively imagery. Designed to be easy to use, this theme is ideal for showcasing your project’s findings. Simply update the content with your research results and captivate your class with impressive research findings.

Utilize this book report theme to demonstrate your understanding of the topics and characters within any book. With its vibrant orange background and soothing color scheme, it’s the ideal choice for presenting your book report.

Bring your history lesson to life with this captivating history timeline theme . Featuring a black-and-white image of the Colosseum in the background, the vibrant red features of this template truly stand out. Engage your audience and make your historical content shine with this visually striking presentation theme!

Utilize this pre-designed presentation theme from Prezi to effortlessly create captivating and informative content about Black History Month . Designed to be visually stunning and engaging, this theme will captivate your students and ensure their active participation.

The Prezi presentation on the Civil Rights Movement is a great example of how multimedia can make a presentation more engaging and captivating. This education presentation theme hosts a variety of multimedia elements. It includes images, videos, and animations that provide a comprehensive overview of the movement. The use of multimedia makes the presentation more interesting and helps to better convey the historical significance of the Civil Rights Movement. 

The “Understanding the teenage brain” presentation makes use of a variety of visual aids. It includes images, videos, and icons to illustrate key concepts and engage the audience. It’s also structured in a way that makes it easy to follow and understand. With that in mind, this education presentation theme is perfect for conveying complex topics while engaging the audience.

The Earth Day history & timeline presentation theme is a great visual tool for displaying the progression of events related to Earth Day. The theme allows you to showcase important milestones and historical moments in an engaging and interactive way. This makes it easier for your audience to follow along with the story of how Earth Day came to be. By using this theme, you can create a more compelling presentation that’ll help your audience understand the importance of Earth Day and the ongoing efforts to protect our planet.

Explore other great education-themed presentation templates and design your own today! 

Online meeting presentation themes

The All Hands Meeting template is a highly professional Prezi Video theme designed for conducting effective online meetings within a company. It provides a comprehensive structure to share important news, updates, and announcements. Plus, just like any other Prezi Video template, it allows you to share your content right next to you on-screen. 

Maintain synchronization with your team by using the daily standup meeting theme . This comprehensive template incorporates essential elements to foster productive discussions, such as an overview of the topics to be covered and a review of yesterday’s accomplishments. Additionally, it provides prompts for discussing today’s plans, key takeaways, and actionable items to ensure effective collaboration.

Deliver a concise and impactful company update using Prezi Video’s dynamic newscast theme . This template is specifically designed to streamline the process of sharing important information with your organization. Seamlessly navigate through the top headlines, delve into company-wide news, and allocate time for team leads to discuss future initiatives and next steps, all within the framework of this template.

Empower your students with a comprehensive preview of upcoming classwork using this vibrant video theme designed specifically for introducing new assignments and projects. Infused with captivating blue, yellow, and orange details, this template is thoughtfully organized into five sections, allowing you to structure your content effectively while clearly articulating your expectations for the assignment.

Prezi’s Back to School theme created by Edward Quinn is crafted to captivate attention and effectively communicate school-related topics through intentional visual elements. This theme is designed to provide an engaging and dynamic experience for students, teachers, and educators alike. Whether you’re introducing a new curriculum, outlining classroom rules, or discussing exciting upcoming events, the Back to School theme ensures your message is conveyed in a visually stunning and impactful manner. 

Discover a plethora of video presentation templates and unleash your creativity by designing your very own today!

How to choose a presentation theme

When choosing a presentation theme, it’s important to consider a few aspects that can have a big impact on the effectiveness of your message with your audience. In this section, we’ll explore how to select a presentation theme that best fits your message and audience.

Understand your audience

Consider the preferences, demographics, and expectations of your audience. If your presentation is for a formal business setting, a clean and professional theme would be appropriate. For a creative or casual audience, a more vibrant and unconventional theme might be suitable.

Align with content

Ensure that the theme aligns with the content and topic of your presentation. The visuals should complement your message and help reinforce key points, rather than distract or confuse the audience.

Consistency with branding

If you’re representing a company or organization, choose a presentation theme that aligns with your brand’s visual identity. Incorporate your brand colors, logos, and fonts to maintain consistency across your presentation materials.

Accessibility and legibility

Pay attention to the legibility of your content. Select a theme that provides sufficient contrast between text and background, ensuring that your audience can easily read the information displayed on your slides.

Streamline the design process with presentation themes

Selecting the right presentation theme is a vital aspect of creating powerful and effective presentations. By opting for a theme, you can enhance the visual appeal, maintain consistency, and elevate the overall impact of your content. Plus, using Prezi’s presentation themes can streamline the design process and help you create a cohesive, professional-looking presentation quickly and easily. Remember to align the theme with your audience, content, and branding while ensuring accessibility and legibility. A great presentation theme strikes a balance between clean and cohesive design, engagement, customization, and minimalistic impact. With the right theme, you can captivate your audience and deliver a memorable presentation that leaves a lasting impression. So, embrace the power of a well-chosen presentation theme and take your presentations to new heights!

Give your team the tools they need to engage

Like what you’re reading join the mailing list..

• Prezi for Teams
• Top Presentations

• $ 0.00 0 items

Project Overview - Prezi Next Template

  $ 6.00, description.

• Video Presentation Preview

A perfect Prezi presentation template for introducing your company or project. A businesswoman with hands on her hips, standing in front of a large wall which is filled with a various business related sketch icons. Sketch out your ideas and present how you plan to execute them. Use the separated design elements to build a custom design layout on the wall. Use the sketch business icons and draw arrows to connect your topics. A great template for a small company or startup to present future plans or recent achievements.

Can you plan success or does it happen by accident? Taking a step back, looking over what you’ve done and assessing your ideas definitely helps in the process! A presentation template with a businesswoman holding hands on her hips and taking a look at the bigger picture – reviewing a business plan or sketch on the wall. Insert your own project details in the middle and zoom into the topics surrounding the title in an arc. A business plan sketch style presentation with hand drawn icons scattered over the wall. So if your project deadline is approaching, don’t just bang your head against the wall, grab a pencil… or mouse cursor and start sketching out your ideas.

You may also like…

Businessman Planning

Remote Work

Related products.

Formula for Success

Transform teamwork with Confluence. See why Confluence is the content collaboration hub for all teams.  Get it free

• The Workstream
• Project management
• Process Flow Chart

Process flow chart: what it is & how to create one

Browse topics.

Keeping your business organized can be a tall order — especially as it grows. Process flow charts are one way to organize business processes by visualizing the steps of a process or workflow . As you dive deeper into the individual steps of a process, you can discover opportunities to improve teamwork and productivity.

Visualizing processes with a flowchart can help you organize important details and improve your operations. As you develop your process flow chart, you can discover non-value-added processes and optimize your workflow.

In this guide, we’ll discuss what a process flow chart is and how you can create one for your business. Keep reading to learn more.

What is a process flow chart?

Process flow charts are a way of visually organizing your workflow. They use different shapes connected by lines, each representing an individual step.

A process flow chart aids in project management by helping you outline and visualize your workflows. An example could be a chart showing how you process and fulfill customer orders from the moment an order is placed to delivery.

Importance of process flow charts

Visualizing your workflow allows you to understand your project scope better so you can plan your project based on your goals and deadlines.

Having a clear visual representation of your processes helps improve teamwork and keep everyone on the same page. This way, everyone can understand your business processes from start to finish and the role they play in those processes.

Creating a flow process chart can improve productivity by weeding out non-value-added activities. You have ample room to grow and improve if you’re not wasting precious time on unnecessary steps.

Types of flow charts

There are several types of flow charts, each serving a different purpose. You can learn more about some of the different flow charts below:

• Basic flow chart: Simple flow charts are ideal for visualizing basic steps without many complexities or details.
• System flow chart: System flow charts show how every part of a system interacts with the other parts.
• Workflow diagram: Workflow diagrams visualize steps or processes required to complete a project, which can help you minimize waste.
• Data flow chart: Data flow charts show how data moves throughout your system and other connected systems.
• Decision flow chart: These flow charts play a vital role in the decision-making process , answering simple questions to arrive at a final decision.
• Swimlane flow chart: Swimlane flow charts allow you to visualize who’s responsible for each part of a process or project, whether that’s an individual or a group.

Components of a process flow chart

Process flow charts have a few key symbols used to contextualize the information in the chart. Different symbols are used for different steps within a process flow chart with connecting lines in between.

Different shapes and symbols—including diamonds and rectangles—are used for each process or step, with lines connecting the symbols. Different types of lines denote the beginning and end of the flow chart, and directional arrows indicate the flow direction of the chart.

Visualizing information with flow charts can play a crucial role in project planning , and it’s easy once you understand what the symbols represent.

Steps to create a process flow chart

Creating a process flow chart isn’t rocket science, but there are some basic guidelines you need to follow. Below is a step-by-step guide to help you create your next process flow chart.

Identify the process

Start by clearly defining the process or workflow you’re going to outline. Choosing which projects to visualize and optimize is critical to strategic planning . Once you have a good idea of what you want your flow chart to represent, you can start building it out.

Define boundaries

When it comes to process flow charts for businesses, you can always add more details or break a process down further by adding more steps. However, when creating a flow chart, you only want to include the necessary details.

Figure out the scope and boundaries of your flow chart before you start fleshing it out. That way, you’ll avoid wasting time adding information that complicates the main objective. Details are good, but you don’t want to go overboard.

Gather information

This is where knowledge sharing comes into play. Now, it’s time to collect detailed information about the steps, inputs, and outputs contributing to the process. Ensure you track the process from start to finish to avoid missing crucial steps.

Identify the sequence of steps

Now that you know the steps involved in the process you’re outlining, you can put them in the correct sequence to start organizing your flow chart. Your flow chart should move in one consistent direction from beginning to end, with each step bringing you closer to completing the process.

Draw the flow chart

With process flow charts, the individual steps only tell part of the story—you need to connect them to tell the whole story. Complete your flow chart by using symbols and connectors to connect individual steps and create an accurate visual representation of the process from start to finish.

Review and revise

Once you’ve organized and drawn everything out, review your flow chart to ensure it’s accurate, complete, and clear. If there are any issues, you can revise your flow chart.

Reviewing and revising is a never-ending battle. Even after completing a flow chart, you must review and update it regularly to ensure accuracy. Make sure to reflect any changes in your flow charts as they occur.

Uses of process flow charts

A good process flow chart can provide several benefits for businesses. Here are some of the common uses of process flow charts:

• Process improvement: Visualizing processes helps you understand how to optimize them, saving you time and money.
• Training and onboarding: When you clearly understand your training and onboarding process, you can streamline it and ensure everyone receives the same training.
• Communication: Flow charts can help you identify communication gaps in different project stages to keep everyone on the same page.
• Documentation: Using visuals helps everyone follow documentation best practices — from project documentation to team documentation.
• Compliance and quality assurance: Creating a step-by-step visual representation of a process helps you identify potential compliance or quality assurance issues before it’s too late.

Best practices for creating effective process flow charts

An effective flow chart can help you optimize business processes and improve productivity and project collaboration . Here are some guidelines to follow to ensure you’re doing it right.

Keep your process flow chart simple. Focus on adding key steps and information only.

Using consistent symbols and connecting lines adds clarity to your process flow charts, making it easier to collaborate with your team and boost productivity. You can even involve stakeholders in the process.

Once your flow chart is complete, there’s still work to do. Updating and maintaining flow charts helps you keep a constant visualization of the processes that your business relies on.

Create process flow charts with Confluence Whiteboards

Process flow charts can offer several benefits for businesses, improving productivity and teamwork while eliminating unnecessary steps. With Confluence Whiteboards, you can visualize and turn ideas into tasks.

Confluence brings everyone together in a connected workspace to move projects forward. Teams can create, edit, and share project plans in a connected workspace so everyone is on the same page.

Confluence flow chart templates make it easy to create effective flow charts quickly, plus you can convert stickies into Jira issues with a few clicks.

Use Confluence Whiteboards to visualize your workflow and optimize your business with process flow charts.

Process flow chart: Frequently Asked Questions

What is an example of a process flow chart.

A great process flow chart example is product delivery. You can use a process flow chart to visualize the delivery of a product from the moment the customer contacts you to the moment you finish the job. The first step may be the customer contacting you (or vice versa), eventually leading to the point where you fulfill the order, and the customer receives an email letting them know their order arrived.

You can use process flow charts for almost anything, including manufacturing, service delivery, product delivery, and project management processes.

What tools can you use to create process flow charts?

Confluence allows you to create process flow charts that visualize your business processes accurately. Confluence is easy to use, and you can start with a flow chart template so you don’t have to do all the work. Once you’ve chosen a template, you can add individual steps and symbols to clarify the chart. Confluence also integrates seamlessly with Jira and various third-party tools.

How often should process flow charts be updated?

If you modify a workflow or process outlined in a flow chart, update the chart accordingly. Flow charts don’t provide much value if they’re inaccurate, and you probably add or remove steps from various processes and workflows more than you think. You should regularly review and update your process flow charts to ensure they continuously add value to your business.

You may also like

Project poster template.

A collaborative one-pager that keeps your project team and stakeholders aligned.

Project Plan Template

Define, scope, and plan milestones for your next project.

Enable faster content collaboration for every team with Confluence

Copyright © 2024 Atlassian

Contribute to the Microsoft 365 and Office forum! Click  here  to learn more  💡

April 9, 2024

Contribute to the Microsoft 365 and Office forum!

Click  here  to learn more  💡

Project Forum Top Contributors: Dale Howard [MVP]  -  John - Project   ✅

May 10, 2024

Project Forum Top Contributors:

Dale Howard [MVP]  -  John - Project   ✅

• Search the community and support articles
• Microsoft 365 and Office
• Search Community member

Ask a new question

Microsoft Project Plan 3 - Desktop client installer no longer available under Apps & Devices

I'm using a new laptop. When I logged to my Microsft 365 portal, Project is no longer there to download as desktop client. It used to be there but not anymore.

I have a M365 E3 license.

• Subscribe to RSS feed

Report abuse

Reported content has been submitted​

Replies (1) 

• Microsoft Agent |

Dear Kevin,

Please first go to https://portal.office.com/account/?ref=MeControl#subscriptions and check whether Project Plan 3 as follows is listed. If no, you may have no license to install the Project application. I suggest you contact the administrator to assign the license to you to move forward.

Welcome to share any updates at your convenience.

Thank you for your effort and time.

Cliff | Microsoft Community Moderator

Was this reply helpful? Yes No

Sorry this didn't help.

Great! Thanks for your feedback.

How satisfied are you with this reply?

Thanks for your feedback, it helps us improve the site.

Thanks for your feedback.

Question Info

• For business
• Norsk Bokmål
• Ελληνικά
• Русский
• עברית
• العربية
• ไทย
• 한국어
• 中文(简体)
• 中文(繁體)
• 日本語

Google is co-funding a guaranteed basic income trial that gives families $12,000 a year to help keep them housed

• Google is co-funding a $2.8 million guaranteed income pilot in California's Bay Area.
• The program will give $12,000 over a year to 225 families to help them secure long-term housing.
• Universal basic income programs have surged in popularity as a poverty-fighting tool.

Alphabet -owned Google is co-funding a pilot program that will give $2.8 million to 450 California families on the verge of homelessness to test whether the cash helps them secure long-term housing.

Google.org, the search giant's philanthropic arm, will help provide 225 families with $1,000 a month in guaranteed basic income for 12 months, on a rolling basis over five years. Another 225 families will serve as a control group and receive $50 a month over the same period.

Google's funding partner is J-PAL North America, a regional office of the Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab, a global research center based at MIT.

Related stories

The " It All Adds Up " program will hand the no-strings-attached cash to families that have recently taken part in housing programs provided by non-profits, and are one to three months away from losing their housing subsidies.

The program's website says that more than 70% of the families enrolled in the pilot are headed by single mothers of color with children under five.

NYU's Housing Solutions Lab will analyze the pilot's results to gauge how effective the payments are in helping families remain in long-term housing. The university's researchers will also assess the impact on participants' health and financial outcomes.

Google's financing role is part of its $1 billion pledge to fight the housing crisis in San Francisco and surrounding areas. Basic income projects have surged in popularity in recent years, in part because data shows they're an effective tool in combating poverty, and participants overwhelmingly spend the money on essentials such as food, housing, and transportation.

Google is known for the generous perks it provides employees, including free food, transportation, and a discounted on-campus hotel.

While it has cut back on perks in recent years, there's a stark contrast between the immense wealth of California's biggest tech companies and their well-remunerated employees, and the many locals struggling to afford basic living expenses.

Alphabet's stock price has jumped 20% this year as investors bet it will be a massive winner from the AI revolution. Revenues surged 15% to $80.5 billion last quarter , driving net income up 57% to about $23.7 billion.

On February 28, Axel Springer, Business Insider's parent company, joined 31 other media groups and filed a $2.3 billion suit against Google in Dutch court, alleging losses suffered due to the company's advertising practices.

Watch: Supreme Court strikes down Biden's student-debt relief plan

• Main content

• Election 2024
• Entertainment
• Newsletters
• Photography
• Personal Finance
• AP Investigations
• AP Buyline Personal Finance
• AP Buyline Shopping
• Press Releases
• Israel-Hamas War
• Russia-Ukraine War
• Global elections
• Asia Pacific
• Latin America
• Middle East
• Election Results
• Delegate Tracker
• AP & Elections
• Auto Racing
• 2024 Paris Olympic Games
• Movie reviews
• Book reviews
• Personal finance
• Financial Markets
• Business Highlights
• Financial wellness
• Artificial Intelligence
• Social Media

US’s largest public utility ignores warnings in moving forward with new natural gas plant

President and CEO of the Tennessee Valley Authority Jeff Lyash listens during a board of directors meeting, Wednesday, May 8, 2024, in Nashville, Tenn. (AP Photo/George Walker IV)

Members of the Tennessee Valley Authority Board of Directors listen to members of the public during a meeting, Wednesday, May 8, 2024, in Nashville, Tenn. The nation’s largest public utility is moving ahead with a plan for a new natural gas plant in Tennessee despite warnings that its environmental review of the project doesn’t comply with federal law. (AP Photo/George Walker IV)

Paul Klein speaks during a Tennessee Valley Authority Board of Directors listening session Wednesday, May 8, 2024, in Nashville, Tenn. The nation’s largest public utility is moving ahead with a plan for a new natural gas plant in Tennessee despite warnings that its environmental review of the project doesn’t comply with federal law. (AP Photo/George Walker IV)

Nanette Mahler speaks in opposition of a proposed natural gas plant planned for Cheatham County during a Tennessee Valley Authority Board of Directors listening session, Wednesday, May 8, 2024, in Nashville, Tenn. The nation’s largest public utility is moving ahead with a plan for a new natural gas plant in Tennessee despite warnings that its environmental review of the project doesn’t comply with federal law. (AP Photo/George Walker IV)

Tennessee Valley Authority Board of Directors member Wade White listens to members of the public meeting, Wednesday, May 8, 2024, in Nashville, Tenn. The nation’s largest public utility is moving ahead with a plan for a new natural gas plant in Tennessee despite warnings that its environmental review of the project doesn’t comply with federal law. (AP Photo/George Walker IV)

Tennessee Valley Authority Board of Directors Chairman Joe Ritch listens during a public meeting, Wednesday, May 8, 2024, in Nashville, Tenn. The nation’s largest public utility is moving ahead with a plan for a new natural gas plant in Tennessee despite warnings that its environmental review of the project doesn’t comply with federal law. (AP Photo/George Walker IV)

Cheatham County resident Angela Moore, center, speaks against a proposed natural gas plant in her area during a Tennessee Valley Authority Board of Directors listening session Wednesday, May 8, 2024, in Nashville, Tenn. (AP Photo/George Walker IV)

FILE - In this Aug. 7, 2019, photo, the Kingston Fossil Plant stands near a waterway in Kingston, Tenn. The nation’s largest public utility is moving ahead with a plan for a new natural gas plant in Tennessee despite warnings that its environmental review of the project doesn’t comply with federal law. The Environmental Protection Agency asked the Tennessee Valley Authority in a March 25, 2024 letter to redo several aspects of its environmental impact statement for converting the coal-burning Kingston Fossil Plant. (AP Photo/Mark Humphrey, File)

• Copy Link copied

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — The nation’s largest public utility is moving ahead with a plan for a new natural gas plant in Tennessee despite warnings that its environmental review of the project doesn’t comply with federal law. The Tennessee Valley Authority announced in April that it would replace the aging coal-burning Kingston Fossil Plant with gas amid growing calls for the agency’s new board of directors to invest in renewables.

The board, with six of nine members appointed by President Biden , is expected to meet on Thursday in Nashville, a day after a planned protest by a coalition of environmental groups demanding the utility stop investing in fossil fuels.

Decommissioning the Kingston plant, the site of a massive 2008 coal ash spill , is part of TVA’s overall plan to reduce its reliance on coal. In analyzing alternatives to replace the plant, the utility considered either a new 1,500-megawatt gas plant or 1,500 megawatts of solar combined with 2,200 megawatts of battery storage. TVA concluded that a 2027 deadline for retiring the current plant does not give it enough time to develop the renewables alternative.

The Environmental Protection Agency asked the utility in a March 25 letter to redo several aspects of its analysis, citing “numerous” concerns with the plan to install new gas turbines . Among other things, the EPA accused the utility of defining the Kingston project so narrowly that only its predetermined choice of a new gas plant would meet the parameters, making the evaluation process a “foreordained formality.” EPA said the utility did not adequately explain the need for the 2027 closure or look at possible alternatives.

The EPA said the environmental review does not meet the requirements of the National Environmental Policy Act, which requires federal agencies like the Tennessee Valley Authority to assess the environmental impact of proposed actions before making a decision.

TVA declined to follow the Environmental Protection Agency’s suggestion for a do-over. It decided in April to forge ahead with gas — continuing to follow a plan of action that the EPA says fails to consider recent changes in the energy sector, including falling prices for renewables, billions of federal dollars for clean energy projects, and ever stricter environmental regulations . The corporation remains off track to meet the Biden administration’s goal of eliminating carbon pollution from power plants by 2035 to try to limit the effects of climate change .

The utility said in a statement that “we met with EPA following the letter and addressed their concerns.” EPA, meanwhile, maintained in an email to The Associated Press that its request that TVA revise its environmental impact statement still stands.

Dennis Wamsted, an energy analyst at the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis, said even with TVA’s 2027 deadline, “They could build twice the amount of solar that they say they need and twice the amount of battery storage they say they need.”

Other utilities are taking advantage of price drops, technical improvements and government incentives to build out solar, including in Texas and Florida.

By 2030, Florida Power and Light expects solar to account for close to 40% of its generation, Wamsted said.

“This is a big utility with, you know, the same daily responsibilities as TVA,” he said. “And they are building out solar as fast as they can.”

TVA provides power to 10 million people across seven Southern states. Florida Power and Light serves over 12 million people in that state.

Even if solar doesn’t produce power 24 hours per day, the amount of energy it does produce is knowable and can be planned for, Wamsted said. It can also be paired with batteries that store excess energy during the day to release back to the grid at night. That is already happening on a large scale in California where batteries are providing more than 20% of the power in the system on many evenings, he said.

In Wamsted’s view, many utilities resist the transition to renewables primarily because they are unfamiliar.

He points to an area called the Southwest Power Pool that runs from Oklahoma to Canada and now sees days where 60% or 70% of the system is wind-powered. In the late 2000s, he spoke to grid operators there who were afraid to go above 5% or 10% because they had never done it before, he said.

TVA’s Kingston project is not its first clash with the EPA over gas. The environmental regulator made many of the same criticisms a year ago when the utility decided to build a new 1,450-megawatt natural gas plant at its coal-burning Cumberland Fossil Plant . The Sierra Club and other groups are suing over that decision as well as an earlier one to install gas turbines at a retired coal plant in New Johnsonville. Both lawsuits claim that TVA’s environmental reviews are perfunctory, in violation of the law — similar to the EPA’s criticism of the Kingston plant.

Democratic Sen. Ed Markey, of Massachusetts, a frequent TVA critic, said in a statement to The Associated Press that the corporation should listen to the EPA.

“The National Environmental Policy Act isn’t optional — it’s the bedrock of our environmental protection and community engagement laws,” he said.

Although TVA has not embraced renewables, the utility still says a majority of its energy is carbon-free because 42% comes from nuclear and another 9% is from hydropower. Purchased wind and solar make up another 4% of its energy portfolio. The utility currently produces 1 megawatt of its own solar and has 20 megawatts of battery storage. The Kingston project includes another 3-4 megawatts of solar and 100 megawatts of battery storage. TVA estimates that the new gas plant will produce 1.68 million tons (1.52 million metric tons) of greenhouse gases a year, noting that that is a steep decline from Kingston’s current emissions.

Nationally, coal provided about 16% of U.S. electricity last year, down from about 45% in 2010. Natural gas provides about 43% of U.S. electricity, with the remainder from nuclear energy and renewables such as wind, solar and hydropower.

The Tennessee Valley Authority has said it intends to build 10,000 megawatts of solar by 2035. Wamsted contends that is too far in the future.

“It should be, ‘We’re going to build as much solar as we possibly can now,’ because it’s now that we really need to worry about,” he said. “We don’t need to worry about 10 years from now or 15 years from now.”

Associated Press writer Jonathan Mattise contributed to this report.