what should i include in my business plan

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How to Write a Business Plan, Step by Step

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What is a business plan?

1. write an executive summary, 2. describe your company, 3. state your business goals, 4. describe your products and services, 5. do your market research, 6. outline your marketing and sales plan, 7. perform a business financial analysis, 8. make financial projections, 9. summarize how your company operates, 10. add any additional information to an appendix, business plan tips and resources.

A business plan outlines your business’s financial goals and explains how you’ll achieve them over the next three to five years. Here’s a step-by-step guide to writing a business plan that will offer a strong, detailed road map for your business.

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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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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Plan Your Business

A well-written business plan is your path to a successful business. Learn to write, use, and improve your business plan with exclusive guides, templates, and examples.

What is a business plan?

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• How to write

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How to Write a Business Plan

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Learn to write a detailed business plan that will impress investors and lenders—and provide a foundation to start, run, and grow a successful business.

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Business Plan Template

A lender-approved fill-in-the-blanks resource crafted by business planning experts to help you write a great business plan.

Simple Business Plan Outline

Follow this detailed outline for a business plan to understand what the structure, details, and depth of a complete plan looks like.

550+ Sample Business Plans

Explore our industry-specific business plan examples to understand what details should be in your own plan.

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

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While a nonprofit business plan isn’t all that different from a traditional plan—there are unique considerations around fundraising, partnerships, and promotions that must be made.

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New to business planning? Start here

What should i include in my business plan.

You must have an executive summary, product/service description, market and competitive analysis, marketing and sales plan, operations overview, milestones, company overview, financial plan, and appendix.

Why should I write a business plan?

Businesses that write a business plan typically grow 30% faster because it helps them minimize risk, establish important milestones, track progress, and make more confident decisions.

What are the qualities of a good business plan?

A good business plan uses clear language, shows realistic goals, fits the needs of your business, and highlights any assumptions you’re making.

How long should my business plan be?

There is no target length for a business plan. It should be as long as you need it to be. A good rule of thumb is to go as short as possible, without missing any crucial information. You can always expand your business plan later.

How do I write a simple business plan?

Use a one-page business plan format to create a simple business plan. It includes all of the critical sections of a traditional business plan but can be completed in as little as 30 minutes.

What should I do before writing a business plan?

If you do anything before writing—figure out why you’re writing a business plan. You’ll save time and create a far more useful plan.

What is the first step in writing a business plan?

The first thing you’ll do when writing a business plan is describe the problem you’re solving and what your solution is.

What is the biggest mistake I can make when writing a business plan?

The worst thing you can do is not plan at all. You’ll miss potential issues and opportunities and struggle to make strategic decisions.

Business planning guides

Learn what a business plan is, why you need one, when to write it, and the fundamental elements that make it a unique tool for business success.

Types of business plans

Explore different business plan formats and determine which type best suits your needs.

How to write a business plan

A step-by-step guide to quickly create a working business plan.

Tips to write your business plan

A curated selection of business plan writing tips and best practices from our experienced in-house planning experts.

Explore industry-specific guides to learn what to focus on when writing your business plan.

Create your plan the paint by numbers way.

Business planning FAQ

What is business planning?

Business planning is the act of sitting down to establish goals, strategies, and actions you intend to take to successfully start, manage, and grow a business.

What are the 7 steps of a business plan?

The seven steps to write a business plan include:

• Craft a brief executive summary
• Describe your products and services
• Conduct market research and compile data into a 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 additional documents to your appendix

What should a business plan include?

A traditional business plan should include:

• An executive summary
• Description of your products and services
• Market analysis
• Competitive analysis
• Marketing and sales plan
• Overview of business operations
• Milestones and metrics
• Description of your organization and management team
• Financial plan and forecasts

Do you really need a business plan?

You are more likely to start and grow into a successful business if you write 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.

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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?

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Lean Manufacturing: The Definitive Guide (2024)

What is Lean Manufacturing?

• Eliminating Waste or "Muda" in Japanese
• Productivity Improvement.

What is different about the Toyota Production System?

Just-in-time manufacturing.

• Do not build until needed.
• Once an order is received, send production instructions to the assembly line as quickly as possible.
• The assembly line should be stocked with the exact number of parts to build any vehicle.
• Upon use of the parts, the assembly line should immediately replace them to be prepared for the next order.
• The company should keep a minimal amount of parts on hand to meet production.

What Are the Types of Waste in Lean Manufacturing?

• Unnecessary transportation
• Excess inventory
• Unnecessary movement of people, equipment, or machinery
• Waiting – either people or idle equipment
• Over-production of a product
• Over-processing or adding unnecessary features to a product
• Defects-part, product, or service doesn't work properly causing increased costs.
• Bonus: Wasted talent

Unnecessary Transportation

Reduce excess inventory, eliminate unnecessary movement, eliminate wasted time.

Avoid Over-production

Don't overprocess, respond when defects occur, bonus: don't waste talent, what are the 5 lean manufacturing principles.

Define Value

• Identify the Value Stream

Create the Flow through the Value Stream

Establish a pull system, continuously improve the system.

• Customers who buy a product or service.
• Regulators who require proof of compliance.
• Stakeholders who want proof that the improvement adds value as measured in profit.
• Cost of workplace injuries and deaths-According to the National Safety Council , workplace injuries cost $171 billion in 2019.
• Cost of product recalls - 4,217 product recalls in the U.S in 2015. According to SmartSense , food recalls can cost $10m/recall. Meanwhile, the Volkswagen recall cost $30 Billion .
• Cost of fines: OSHA can fine a company up to $136,532 per day, per violation.

Stakeholders

• Administration costs
• Sustainability practices
• Reducing debts
• Innovation management

Value Stream Mapping

• Rearranging the manufacturing system
• Investing in new equipment
• Cross-training employees

Use a Kanban Board to Manage Lean Production

• Toyota Way 2020 Update
• Paul Akers Twitter Account
• Lean Six Sigma Institute - Has information focused on lean manufacturing and other industries ’ approaches to using lean and six sigma to add value to their lean processes.

How to Start a Clothing Boutique (And Make $102K/Month)

What is an online boutique?

• Accessories
• Shopping bags

Defining the Idea

• What type of business models are used in successful boutiques and which is best for me?
• Who are the major players in clothing boutiques?

What is the industry outlook?

Which business model is best for a clothing boutique.

The traditional retail boutique

An online boutique, both a retail boutique and an online boutique.

• Increasing brand awareness
• Having higher cost-per-item with drop shipping because you are not ordering in bulk

Who are the major players in the clothing boutique business?

• Asos $2.5B/year in revenue
• Revolve $479.5M/year in revenue
• NastyGal $167.7M/year in revenue
• Lulus $385M/year in revenue
• Francesca's $34M/ year in revenue
• Urbanity $102K/month in revenue
• Check out our interview with Marcus
• Throwbacks NW $25K/month in revenue
• Trendy & Tipsy

Starting a successful boutique

• Writing a Boutique Business Plan
• Purchasing Inventory For Your Boutique
• How Much Does It Cost To Start A Clothing Boutique?
• How to start your own clothing boutique with little or no capital

Funding Your Clothing Boutique

• How Profitable is a boutique?

Naming Your Clothing Boutique

• Getting a domain name
• Meeting the legal requirements for a boutique business.

Write a Boutique Business Plan

• One-page business plan
• U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) Business Guide
• State-specific templates
• Business Plan Template for a Startup Business
• UpFlip’s blog on How to Write a Business Plan
• SCORE’s free business plans and startup assistance resources
• The Complete Business Plan Course (Includes 50 Templates)

Where to buy clothes for a boutique

• Check out resellers like Goodwill and other nonprofits. Sometimes you can find steals for a low cost.
• If you frequent other boutiques, you can sometimes find improperly priced items. A friend of mine has sold over 1,500 items on Poshmark this way.
• Magic Fashion Events are a great way to keep up with trends in the fashion industry.
• Dropshipping companies which I discussed earlier.
• Check out Brands Gateway's blog about 70 wholesalers for a great list of wholesalers to contact.

How Much Does It Cost To Start A Boutique?

How to start a boutique with no money.

• Shopify - 14-day free trial, which is plenty of time to set up an online shop and sell some products.
• Dropshipping - Check Shopify's app store for options that sell the brand-name clothing you want to sell.
• Amazon - Connect Shopify to Amazon Marketplace to increase exposure to potential customers
• Instagram - Create an Instagram shop and connect your Shopify to it.
• Use social media marketing to start selling to potential customers.
• Reinvest earnings to get some inventory for photoshoots and paid advertising to start marketing and attract even more customers.

• Personal funds/personal assets
• A loan from family or friends
• Funds from a business partner
• Government programs
• Crowdfunding  
• Credit cards
• Home equity loan
• Business loan - check out our partners
• Rollover for business startups (ROBS)

How much profit can a boutique make?

• Does it describe what you do?
• Is it easy to remember?
• Does it prevent weird acronyms?
• Is it available as a domain name? Check that the domain name and social media accounts are available with namechk .

Get a domain name

• Google Domains

Meeting the legal requirements for a boutique business

Sole proprietorship

Limited liability corporation (llc), partnerships and corporations, apply for an ein, sales tax permit.

Tax filing and withholding

Federal employment and labor law posters.

• Employment Eligibility Verification (Form I-9)
• State’s New Hire Program
• Worker’s Compensation Insurance
• Disability Insurance—varies by states
• Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA)

Unemployment Insurance

Launch a website, product pages.

• The backend of the platform
• Cybersecurity requirements to protect your customers’ credit card information

• Multiple pictures of the product. I suggest following Amazon photography specs as they are the leader in e-Commerce sales.
• Capitalize the 1st letter of each word in the title but don’t use all caps. Make sure the brand and product name is in the title too.
• Include the price, quantity, and an add-to-cart button.
• Product descriptions should communicate the purpose of the product, important features, dimensions, care instructions, and warranty.
• Product identifier that is used to differentiate products. To learn about them or buy some for your products, go to the GS1 website . You’ll need a separate barcode for each variation of size, color, style, or quantity.
• Quick checkout buttons, like the Checkout with Paypal button, are fabulous for conversions.
• Manufacturer information if it is not your own brand.

The back end of a boutique online store

• Woocommerce
• SquareSpace

Cybersecurity requirements

Payment processors, strategies for opening day of a clothing boutique.

• Set up social media pages for your business. Post whole pictures of whole outfits on your social media with links to each product page. Add a discount if they buy the whole outfit.
• Partner with popular brands and do popup stores at fun locations.
• If you are comfortable with Facebook Live, TikTok, or other social media that uses video, launch your brand there.
• Hire teenagers to help you keep an eye on the market and help spread the word with your business.

Grow through marketing

Market Research

• Marketing Plan
• Marketing on Social Media
• Growing Your Email List
• Tapping Into and Growing Your Network

How do I find out who my potential customers are?

Demographics and psychographics.

• Number of children

Use Demographics and interests to build your target market

Use your marketing plan and update it regularly.

Marketing with Social Media

• Facebook (rebranding as Meta) - the largest platform with over 2 billion global monthly users. You can use it for lead generation and email collection.
• Instagram - another Meta-owned platform with approximately 500 million global monthly users. With the highest engagement rate and the best ability to reach 18-29-year-olds, Instagram is best for showing off outfits and linking to product pages.
• Twitter Advertising - I'll be honest with you: I find Twitter to be a way to communicate in industries that move the quickest. While fashion changes, it doesn't change as fast as politics, current events, crypto, and other financial news. If your target market falls into these categories, it might be worth it. If not, don't bother.
• Pinterest Advertising - 175 million monthly users that are mostly women. Pinterest is best for products without being a promotion because the promoted pins blend in with the rest of the styles.
• LinkedIn Advertising - 227 million monthly users that are primarily in the B2B market. I'd only use this if you are offering fashion for business professionals that are too busy to do their own shopping.

Grow Your Email List

Tap into your network, running your boutique, hiring employees.

• Post Open Jobs
• Conduct Interviews
• Establish Compensation
• Manage Tax Filings and withholdings
• Comply with Federal and local labor laws

Job Posting 

• Zip Recruiter
• Who is your current favorite designer?
• How does your previous experience make you a better fit than other applicants?
• How do you respond to a customer when you don’t know the answer to your question?
• Have an article (or articles) of clothing ready and ask them to go through the store and find accessories to go with it.
• What are your compensation expectations?
• Do you have any ongoing commitments that impact your availability? If so, what dates and times will it impact?

Compensation

Hybrid Models

Outsourcing.

• State’s New Hire Program - This is required so that people who owe child support remain in compliance
• Worker’s Compensation Insurance - Insurance for when employees get hurt on the job. Check out this guide to state laws
• Disability insurance - California, Hawaii, New Jersey, New York, and Rhode Island, and Puerto Rico have requirements. Learn more about disability insurance
• Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) - Federal and state laws govern what are safe working conditions. Fines can be up to $136,532/violation or up to $13,653/day. Make sure you understand your area’s laws at OSHA.gov .

How To Retain Customers For Your Clothing Boutique

• Can they shop without logging in?
• How many steps does it take to check out?
• Can customers easily get to other products that will look good with the item they've added to the cart?
• Do you save items they've added to the cart?
• If they leave the cart (and you have their contact info), do you send them a friendly reminder in case they got distracted?

Managing inventory

Top influencers.

• CladandCloth
• The Pretty Dress
• Check out StarNGage for a ton of other influencers that might fit your boutique.

25 Side Business Ideas (for 2024)

Are you wondering how to make money on the side? We have 25 good side business ideas for your extra time.

We spend thousands of hours annually interviewing small business owners to learn the recipes they used to start and grow a business. We’ve put together a list of businesses to work on the side. Get ready to find a business idea you can start.

Good ideas for side business entrepreneurs are available in every field. You’ll want to consider various ideas for making extra money before choosing one. Check out some of the good business ideas below.

5 Top Side Business Ideas with Low Startup Costs

5 lucrative side hustles to make extra money, 5 small side business ideas, 5 second income ideas: good ways to make money on the side, 5 passive extra income ideas.

Keep reading for ideas on how to make extra money on the side.

All revenue figures are using IBIS World data by taking the industry revenue divided by the estimated businesses. Your performance will vary based on the time and business strategies you use. 

#1. Cleaning Business

• Average Annual Revenue: $74K+ • Average Profit Margins: 6.7% • Startup Costs: $500-$30K • Time To Revenue: 1-6 months • Annual Market Growth Rate: 1.2% • Best for: Self-motivated, independent, and detail-oriented entrepreneurs

Have about $1,000 saved up? Look no further than a cleaning side hustle. When it comes to success rate and ease of getting started with no experience, it blows most side hustles out of the water. The best part is that how much you make and how much time you spend are completely up to you.

Only have a couple of hours on the weekend? Book some gigs and make an extra income. Made your weekend money and feel ready to turn cleaning into a business you work on and not in ? Do what our friend Chris Mondragon did…

He went from earning $6,053 in his first month as a cleaning business owner to over $1.5M in annual revenue. Chris made a free masterclass that takes you through everything you need to get started. We recommend giving it a watch before starting your cleaning side hustle.

Check out our interview with Chris below:

#2. Lawn Care or Landscaping Business

• Average Annual Revenue: $272K+ • Average Profit Margins: 8.7% • Startup Costs: $2K-$10K • Time To Revenue: 1-3 months • Annual Market Growth Rate: 8.1 • Best for: Designers, gardeners, people who like physical work and working outside

A landscaping business is among the best “on the side” business ideas that you can start with almost no money. Trevor Kokenge invested $300 to start Plan-It Vision and runs it out of a small shed (hear how he did it in this interview ).

Granted, Trevor has a degree in landscape architecture, but you don’t need this training to make good money in lawn care. All it takes is some basic equipment, an eye for detail, strong communication skills, and a willingness to work hard. 

Since landscaping tends to be a seasonal business, this is also an ideal side hustle idea for those who have more time in the summers, like students or teachers looking to start a side business.

#3. Freelance Web Design

• Average Annual Revenue: $239K+ • Average Profit Margins: 5.3% • Startup Cost: $100-$1K • Time To Revenue: 1-3 months • Annual Market Growth Rate: 1.4% • Best for: Designers, programmers, or anyone with website-building skills

As a freelance website designer or developer, you can work on your own schedule and only take the jobs that you have time for. Because of this, it’s a top side business idea for people with design or coding skills who have full-time jobs.

The trickiest part of starting a web design business is often landing your first few clients. Maintaining your own website to show your skills can help build customer trust. 

Since you can work from home and don’t need expensive equipment, web design is a low-cost business idea. You also don’t need coding skills to start this side hustle if you’re skilled at using platforms like WordPress or Wix.

If you want to make more money, you can scale your side hustle into a very lucrative business by taking on more clients and projects, or even hiring a team to grow your business into an agency.

Check out this video by Flux Academy . They have a ton of videos about web design.

#4. Handyman Business 

• Average Annual Revenue: $204K+ • Average Profit Margins: 5.4% • Startup Costs: $500-$5K • Time To Revenue: 3+ months • Annual Market Growth Rate: 0.7% • Best for: Fixers and repair experts, entrepreneurs who like working with their hands

A handyman takes care of the repairs and odd jobs that their customers don’t have the time or skills to do themselves. Since you’re not doing full construction, you don’t need a license to start your own business (until you make over $600)—just be handy.

That said, you can charge more if you do have training in plumbing or electrical systems, so it’s a great side business idea for construction workers and skilled tradesmen.

Being a handyman proved a very profitable business idea for Caleb Ingraham. He started North Seattle Handyman when he realized the niche market with high demand. See how he got started:

In five years, Caleb has scaled his business to $25,000 a month, working six days a week. This is a side business idea with big growth potential. If you want to make money on the side, you can keep a smaller client list and work just a few hours a week.

#5. Mobile Car Wash or Car Detailing

• Average Annual Revenue: $73K+ • Average Profit Margins: 16.1% • Startup Cost: $500-$5K • Time To Revenue: 3+ months • Annual Market Growth Rate: 1.0% • Best for: Car enthusiasts, detail-oriented entrepreneurs, and those who enjoy working with their hands

Mobile detailing is a popular side business to earn extra cash because it hits the sweet spot of high demand and has a low barrier to entry. Making your business mobile is convenient for customers and cuts down on overhead costs. 

Mobile detailing small business owners can set their own schedules. That said, most customers will want the service in the evenings and on weekends when their cars aren’t in use. This is perfect for someone with a 9-to-5 day job who wants a side income.

Kevin Lieu sold insurance before he started his mobile detailing side hustle. Now detailing is his main job, earning him upward of $10,000 every month. 

This is a very lucrative business with a lot of growth potential. You can hear how Kevin started with just $500 in this interview :

Keep reading to find other ideas about how to make money on the side.

#6. Dropshipping

• Average Annual Revenue: $36K-$50K • Average Profit Margins: 5% • Startup Cost: $150-$500 • Time To Revenue: 1-3 months • Annual Market Growth Rate: 25% • Best for: Those with marketing and eCommerce skills

Dropshipping is one of the cheapest and easiest ways to earn money with an online business. In this business model, you create and online store and market products to customers, and someone else takes care of storing, managing, and shipping inventory.

A dropshipping business is one of the top side hustle ideas for people with a large online or social media presence and strong marketing skills. 

The most difficult part of starting a new business is connecting with customers, and it’s a fast way to earn money if you can do that well. 

Heather Johnson started her dropshipping business as a side hustle when her hours were cut during the pandemic. She grew her side business while working a day job in healthcare, and it now brings in more than $15,000 a month in revenue.

#7. Consulting Business

• Average Annual Revenue: $363K • Average Profit Margins: 6.4% • Startup Costs: $100K-$3.5M • Time To Revenue: 6-18 months • Annual Market Growth Rate: 2.2% • Best for: Teachers and educators, people with niche expertise and experience

Consulting is among the best side job ideas for marketers, leadership experts, or anyone with in-demand skills and knowledge who wants to make extra income. 

As a consultant, you help other entrepreneurs or existing businesses streamline their operations, increase their revenue, or otherwise improve their systems and processes. 

Starting a side business as a consultant can help you advance your career path in your full-time job, too. Establish yourself as an expert at the same time as you’re making money on the side. 

Of course, consulting can also be a lucrative business on its own.

Ryan Gromfin makes $35,000 a month as a restaurant consultant. His business idea lets him make money from his expertise in food service without the stress and long hours of managing restaurants. Hear how he started in this podcast interview :

Success as a small business that offers consulting starts by identifying your niche market. Among the most profitable consulting side hustles are recruiting and hiring, social media and marketing, leadership and management, IT and technology, and business strategy. Read our guide on business consulting to learn more.

#8. Vending Machine Business

• Average Annual Revenue: $182K+ • Average Profit Margins: 4.3% • Startup Cost: $2K-$10K • Time To Revenue: 3+ months • Annual Market Growth Rate: 0.5% • Best for: Those who like to tinker with machines and understand mechanics and those who enjoy driving

Many side hustles demand almost as much energy as a second full-time job. If you’re looking for the type of side hustle where you can put in concentrated effort now and reap the rewards, passively , for years to come, a vending business is it.

If done right, you set up your machine once and let it run itself, just a few hours of maintenance a month required. One of our guests, Adam Hill, has done just that. He’s pulling in six figures working two days a week.

Intrigued? We were, too! We pestered Adam until he agreed to spill the beans and take us behind the scenes of his vending machine empire. The best part? UpFlip readers get FREE access to his vending masterclass .

You can hear Adam’s story in this interview :

#9. Personal Trainer

• Average Annual Revenue: $16K+ • Average Profit Margins: 10.9% • Startup Costs: $500-$5K • Time To Revenue: 1-6 months • Annual Market Growth Rate: 0.6% • Best for: Fitness buffs, exercise experts, people who excel at motivating others

If you spend most of your free time at the gym, personal training is among the best side business ideas to start. A personal trainer helps other people meet their fitness goals with guided exercise, diet advice, and other wellness insights. 

There are many ways to start a side hustle as a personal trainer. You can work with people in their homes, reserve space in a gym or community center, or make it an online business with YouTube videos or Zoom sessions.

The low costs to start and high demand make personal training the right side business idea for exercise enthusiasts who want to be their own bosses. 

You can also tailor your services to your interests by choosing a niche market like senior fitness, mommy and baby exercise, or weight loss. 

Fitness training can be a very lucrative business. Just ask Bedros Keuilian, whose Fit Body Boot Camp is a key part of his $200-million-a-year empire:

#10. Food Truck

• Average Annual Revenue: $41,040 • Average Profit Margins: 6.4% • Startup Cost: $1K-$100K • Time To Revenue: 3+ months • Annual Market Growth Rate: 1.2% • Best for: Foodies, chefs, cooks, bakers, and other food service veterans

For food experts seeking profitable side business ideas, food trucks are one of the best ways to make money on the side. 

Unlike a brick-and-mortar restaurant, you don’t need to maintain consistent hours. Instead, you can open the truck when it’s most likely to make money and meet customers where they are. 

Now, a food truck does have higher upfront costs than other side hustle ideas, and while you can run it from home, you will need somewhere to park it. 

It’s still significantly cheaper than starting a cafe or restaurant, though, and is a top side business for those who want to break into the food industry.

Kyle Gourlie started the Vet Chef in 2016 and, by 2020, was making more than $400,000 a year, so this is another side business idea you can take full-time if you want to grow. You can hear Kyle’s story in this interview :

#11. Photography Business

• Average Annual Revenue: $50K • Average Profit Margins: 7.3% • Startup Costs: $1K-$10K • Time To Revenue: 1-6 months • Annual Market Growth Rate: 0.3% • Best for: Visual artists and photographers, outgoing and social entrepreneurs

A successful wedding photography business can be very lucrative, and it’s just one great side business idea for those with photography skills. 

See how Korbin and Whitney Korzan started their business, Mile High Productions, which has worked with big-name clients like the HGTV show House Hunters .

Other photography business ideas include a portrait studio or collaborating with other local businesses to take marketing and promotional photos. 

Photographer Katelyn James set out to make $24,000 a month and has now scaled to more than $2 million every year. You can hear how she did it in this podcast:

  #12. Tutoring and Test Prep

• Average Annual Revenue: $18K+ • Average Profit Margins: 13.10% • Startup Cost: $100-$1K • Time To Revenue: 1-3 months • Annual Market Growth Rate: 8.5% • Best for: Teachers, educators, professors, and tutors

Tutoring is among the easiest small businesses to start because all you need is knowledge or expertise in a given subject area. Keep your client list small to make extra cash or scale into a full-time job by starting an independent tutoring agency.

You can expand your side business income and build your authority with an online course, so there are many ways to make money as a tutor. There are also lots of online marketplaces to find students, including TutorMe , Skooli , and Wyzant .

#13. Event Planning or Wedding Planning Business

• Average Annual Revenue: $93K+ • Average Profit Margins: 13.8% • Startup Costs: $500-$5K • Time To Revenue: 3+ months • Annual Market Growth Rate:  -0.90% • Best for: Strong networkers, great party planners, outgoing and social entrepreneurs

A wedding planning business is among the best small business ideas if you want to make money using your logistics and communication skills. You’ll need those skills to get started, though having connections with other local businesses can help you grow your side business faster.

Check out the event planning business video by Elevate Experiences below.

#14. Dog Walking Business

• Average Annual Revenue: $34K+ • Average Profit Margins: 16% • Startup Costs: $500-$5K • Time To Revenue: 3+ months • Annual Market Growth Rate: 1.7% • Best for: Pet owners, animal lovers, those who like working outdoors

Dog owners and pet lovers can turn their passion into a side business for extra cash by walking people’s dogs while they’re at work or on vacation. 

This can be an especially good small business idea for people who live in urban areas and can maximize their revenue by walking multiple dogs at once.

Check out our blog on pet care businesses if you’re interested in this business or the next one.

#15. Pet Sitting Business

Similar to dog walking, a side business as a pet sitter lets you make money for hanging out with animals, and you can even offer both services to make extra cash.

Both dog walking and pet sitting are in the same NAICS code , so business owners will see similar profit margins.

Pet sitters feed and care for animals while their owners are away, usually in the owner’s home. 

While some jobs may ask you to stay with the animal for multiple hours per day, you can often do other things while you’re there, making it ideal for students or freelancers looking to make extra cash on the side

#16. Sell Products Online

• Average Annual Revenue: $60K-$120K • Average Profit Margins: 5-15% • Startup Cost: $100-$10K • Time To Revenue: 30-90 days • Annual Market Growth Rate: -9.3% • Best for: Thrifters, collectors, hobbyists and craftsmen

Opening your own online store is a great way to start a side business selling products without the expense or time commitment of a storefront.

If you’re creative or crafty, you can sell things you make yourself. That’s what Jazmin Richards did when she started Blk Sunflower, and she made $300,000 in 18 months selling handmade candles:

If you’d rather buy things than make them, you can sell products you find for cheap in thrift stores or on Facebook Marketplace. Mike Wilson makes upward of $30,000 a month reselling on eBay. Hear how he got started in this podcast interview:

#17. Be a Virtual Assistant 

• Average Annual Revenue: $35K-$50K • Average Profit Margins: 10.5% • Startup Costs: $100-$200 • Time To Revenue: 1-3 months • Annual Market Growth Rate: 1.9% • Best for: Outgoing and social entrepreneurs, those with strong scheduling, time management, and problem-solving skills

A virtual assistant takes care of necessary administrative tasks for busy professionals. This can include things like making travel plans and dinner reservations, replying to emails, or managing their social media channels.

If being a virtual assistant sounds like the side business idea for you, you can find work on freelancer platforms like Upwork or 24/7 Virtual Assistant .

#18. Freelance Writing or Editing

• Average Annual Revenue: $46K • Average Profit Margins: 14.6% • Startup Cost: $100-$200 • Time To Revenue: 1 month to 3 years • Annual Market Growth Rate: -1.5% • Best for: Creative entrepreneurs with strong communication skills

Writing and editing work is often independent work, meaning you can make extra cash in your free time on your own schedule.

There’s also a wide variety of work you can write or edit, from social media and blog posts to news and magazine articles, advertising copy, or novels and short stories. Writers and editors with niche skills and knowledge can also get work like technical or medical writing and editing.

You can find writing and editing jobs on freelancer platforms like Fiverr , Upwork , or the Freelance Writing job board, just to name a few options.

#19. Be a Delivery or Rideshare Driver

• Average Annual Revenue: $131K • Average Profit Margins: 3.6% • Startup Cost: $100-$9.5K • Time To Revenue: 3+ months • Annual Market Growth Rate: 6.7% • Best for: Drivers, those who like to socialize

If you like meeting new people, being a rideshare driver through Uber or Lyft is a fun way to earn extra cash. More introverted folks can deliver food or groceries instead through platforms like Uber Eats or DoorDash .

The flexibility of delivery and rideshare driving is great, too. Some people do it as their full-time job, but when and how often you work is completely up to you.

#20. Be an Airbnb Host

• Average Annual Revenue: $201K • Average Profit Margins: 8.1% • Startup Cost: $1K-$3.5M • Time To Revenue: 6-18 months • Annual Market Growth Rate: 2.2% • Best for: Homeowners, frequent travelers, people with hospitality experience

If you have a spare room in your home or are often away from home for business or vacations, you can turn that space into a side business by listing it on Airbnb. 

Where you live will affect how much you can make with this side business idea. You can charge more if you live near a tourist attraction or in an urban area that gets lots of visitors. 

Check out how Sid and Eva started their business, Nicasa, which grew to 22 properties that generate a lucrative revenue of $400,000 a month.

[su_youtube url="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6m-MosXlpOE&ab_channel=UpFlip"]

#21. Make and Sell Online Courses

• Average Annual Revenue: $234K+ • Average Profit Margins: 5.8% • Startup Cost: $100-$1K • Time To Revenue: 1-3 months • Annual Market Growth Rate: 1.1% • Best for: People with niche or in-demand skills and expertise

You don’t need technical knowledge to make and sell online courses, thanks to platforms like Kajabi and Udemy . All you need to start this side business idea is knowledge or skills others want to learn.

Online courses do take some time and effort to make. Once they’re launched, though, they’re great ways to make side money without an ongoing time commitment.

You don’t need to be an expert in your subject area, either. Jacques Hopkins played piano as a hobby before starting his online course, Piano in 21 Days, and now it brings in almost $500,000 a year. Hear more from Jacques in this interview:

#22. Affiliate Marketing

• Average Annual Revenue: $60K-$160K • Average Profit Margins: 8% • Startup Cost: $100-$2K • Time To Revenue: 1-3 months • Annual Market Growth Rate: 10.5% • Best for: Bloggers, YouTubers, those with a large social media presence

With affiliate marketing, you promote products or services and get a commission each time someone buys through your platforms. You don’t need your own online store—just a way to reach potential customers. 

If you have a large social media or online presence, affiliate marketing is among the best side business ideas for making extra money with a minimal time investment. You can hear how Matt Diggity started a $400,000-a-month affiliate marketing business in this podcast interview:

#23. Be a Landlord or Property Manager 

• Average Annual Revenue: $372K+ • Average Profit Margins: 10.1% • Startup Cost: $100K-$3.5M • Time To Revenue: 6-18 months • Annual Market Growth Rate: 1.3% • Best for: Those who are interested in real estate investing, home repair, and home maintenance

People will always need places to live, and local businesses need storefronts. If you own property, you can make extra money renting it out to people who need it.

Getting the property is often the hardest part of starting a side business as a landlord. Thach Nguyen has a winning formula he used to start his own business in real estate from scratch, and you can hear it in this interview :

Emma Powell’s real estate side hustle started when her family moved. She was a real estate photographer but realized real estate investing is a better supplemental income. 

Within 18 months, Powell Ventures acquired almost 100 units and gave Emma more time to homeschool her kids. The company now has over 400 units and is approaching 100% passive income.

#24. Print-on-Demand (POD) eCommerce Store

• Average Annual Revenue: $1.6M • Average Profit Margins: 4.3% • Startup Cost: $500-$250K • Time To Revenue: 3+ months • Annual Market Growth Rate: -5.6% • Best for: Visual artists and graphic designers, people with strong marketing skills

There’s a big market for customized products, and you can tap into that when you start a side business as a print-on-demand online store.

While you will need your own website or eCommerce storefront, you don’t need to worry about inventory or shipping, making this a top home business idea, too. 

A POD store is easy to manage alongside a day job. Ryan Hogue had two jobs when he started his Amazon POD store. He shares his Ryan’s Method passive income plan in this podcast interview:

#25. Sell Domain Names

• Average Annual Revenue: $1.5M • Average Profit Margins: 4.5% • Startup Cost: $500-$5K • Time To Revenue: 1-3 months • Annual Market Growth Rate: 3.4% • Best for: Analytical entrepreneurs, data and internet experts, smart investors

This is another side hustle that’s easy to work around a day job. It’s similar to real estate investing but in the digital realm. You buy domain names at a low price then resell them for a profit to people or businesses that want them. 

While you can definitely make extra cash selling domain names, that profit isn’t necessarily consistent. Understanding keywords and what makes a domain name valuable can help you to maximize your revenue. 

You can also make money from the websites while you own them. Ron Stefanski makes an average of $30,000 a month from the seven sites he owns. You can hear his advice for growing website traffic and revenue in this podcast interview:

Come Up With Your Own Business Idea

As you can see, there are a lot of ways to make extra money. You just have to consider the time requirements and startup costs, then take the steps to make it happen.

Did we help you figure out how to make more money on the side? Which business idea are you considering?

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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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How to write a business plan in seven simple steps

When written effectively, a business plan can help raise capital, inform decisions, and draw new talent.

Companies of all sizes have one thing in common: They all began as small businesses.  Starting small  is the corner for those just getting off the ground. Learn about how to make that first hire, deal with all things administrative, and set yourself up for success.

Writing a business plan is often the first step in transforming your business from an idea into something tangible . As you write, your thoughts begin to solidify into strategy, and a path forward starts to emerge. But a business plan is not only the realm of startups; established companies can also benefit from revisiting and rewriting theirs. In any case, the formal documentation can provide the clarity needed to motivate staff , woo investors, or inform future decisions.  

No matter your industry or the size of your team, the task of writing a business plan—a document filled with so much detail and documentation—can feel daunting. Don’t let that stop you, however; there are easy steps to getting started. 

What is a business plan and why does it matter? 

A business plan is a formal document outlining the goals, direction, finances, team, and future planning of your business. It can be geared toward investors, in a bid to raise capital, or used as an internal document to align teams and provide direction. It typically includes extensive market research, competitor analysis, financial documentation, and an overview of your business and marketing strategy. When written effectively, a business plan can help prescribe action and keep business owners on track to meeting business goals. 

Who needs a business plan?

A business plan can be particularly helpful during a company’s initial growth and serve as a guiding force amid the uncertainty, distractions, and at-times rapid developments involved in starting a business . For enterprise companies, a business plan should be a living, breathing document that guides decision-making and facilitates intentional growth.

“You should have a game plan for every major commitment you’ll have, from early-stage founder agreements to onboarding legal professionals,” says Colin Keogh, CEO of the Rapid Foundation—a company that brings technology and training to communities in need—and a WeWork Labs mentor in the UK . “You can’t go out on funding rounds or take part in accelerators without any planning.”

How to make a business plan and seven components every plan needs

While there is no set format for writing a business plan, there are several elements that are typically included. Here’s what’s important to consider when writing your business plan. 

1. Executive summary 

No longer than half a page, the executive summary should briefly introduce your business and describe the purpose of the business plan. Are you writing the plan to attract capital? If so, specify how much money you hope to raise, and how you’re going to repay the loan. If you’re writing the plan to align your team and provide direction, explain at a high level what you hope to achieve with this alignment, as well as the size and state of your existing team.

The executive summary should explain what your business does, and provide an introductory overview of your financial health and major achievements to date.  

2. Company description 

To properly introduce your company, it’s important to also describe the wider industry. What is the financial worth of your market? Are there market trends that will affect the success of your company? What is the state of the industry and its future potential? Use data to support your claims and be sure to include the full gamut of information—both positive and negative—to provide investors and your employees a complete and accurate portrayal of your company’s milieu. 

Go on to describe your company and what it provides your customers. Are you a sole proprietor , LLC, partnership, or corporation? Are you an established company or a budding startup? What does your leadership team look like and how many employees do you have? This section should provide both historical and future context around your business, including its founding story, mission statement , and vision for the future. 

It’s essential to showcase your point of difference in your company description, as well as any advantages you may have in terms of expert talent or leading technology. This is typically one of the first pieces of the plan to be written.

3. Market analysis and opportunity

Research is key in completing a business plan and, ideally, more time should be spent on research and analysis than writing the plan itself. Understanding the size, growth, history, future potential, and current risks inherent to the wider market is essential for the success of your business, and these considerations should be described here. 

In addition to this, it’s important to include research into the target demographic of your product or service. This might be in the form of fictional customer personas, or a broader overview of the income, location, age, gender, and buying habits of your existing and potential customers. 

Though the research should be objective, the analysis in this section is a good place to reiterate your point of difference and the ways you plan to capture the market and surpass your competition.

4. Competitive analysis 

Beyond explaining the elements that differentiate you from your competition, it’s important to provide an in-depth analysis of your competitors themselves.

This research should delve into the operations, financials, history, leadership, and distribution channels of your direct and indirect competitors. It should explore the value propositions of these competitors, and explain the ways you can compete with, or exploit, their strengths and weaknesses. 

5. Execution plan: operations, development, management 

This segment provides details around how you’re going to do the work necessary to fulfill this plan. It should include information about your organizational structure and the everyday operations of your team, contractors, and physical and digital assets.

Consider including your company’s organizational chart, as well as more in-depth information on the leadership team: Who are they? What are their backgrounds? What do they bring to the table? Potentially include the résumés of key people on your team. 

For startups, your execution plan should include how long it will take to begin operations, and then how much longer to reach profitability. For established companies, it’s a good idea to outline how long it will take to execute your plan, and the ways in which you will change existing operations.

If applicable, it’s also beneficial to include your strategy for hiring new team members and scaling into different markets. 

6. Marketing plan 

It’s essential to have a comprehensive marketing plan in place as you scale operations or kick off a new strategy—and this should be shared with your stakeholders and employees. This segment of your business plan should show how you’re going to promote your business, attract customers, and retain existing clients.

Include brand messaging, marketing assets, and the timeline and budget for engaging consumers across different channels. Potentially include a marketing SWOT analysis into your strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. Evaluate the way your competitors market themselves, and how your target audience responds—or doesn’t respond—to these messages.

7. Financial history and projections  

It’s essential to disclose all finances involved in running your company within your business plan. This is so your shareholders properly understand how you’re projected to perform going forward, and the progress you’ve made so far. 

You should include your income statement, which outlines annual net profits or losses; a cash flow statement, which shows how much money you need to launch or scale operations; and a balance sheet that shows financial liabilities and assets. 

“An income statement is the measure of your financial results for a certain period and the most accurate report of business activities during that time, [whereas a balance sheet] presents your assets, liabilities, and equity,” Amit Perry, a corporate finance expert, explained at a WeWork Labs educational session in Israel.

It’s crucial to understand the terms correctly so you know how to present your finances when you’re speaking to investors. Amit Perry, CEO and founder of Perryllion Ltd.

In addition, if you’re asking for funding, you will need to outline exactly how much money you need as well as where this money will go and how you plan to pay it back. 

12 quick tips for writing a business plan 

Now that you know what components are traditionally included in a business plan, it’s time to consider how you’ll actually construct the document.

Here are 12 key factors to keep in mind when writing a business plan. These overarching principles will help you write a business plan that serves its purpose (whatever that may be) and becomes an easy reference in the years ahead. 

1. Don’t be long-winded

Use clear, concise language and avoid jargon. When business plans are too long-winded, they’re less likely to be used as intended and more likely to be forgotten or glazed over by stakeholders. 

2. Show why you care

Let your passion for your business shine through; show employees and investors why you care (and why they should too). 

3. Provide supporting documents

Don’t be afraid to have an extensive list of appendices, including the CVs of team members, built-out customer personas, product demonstrations, and examples of internal or external messaging. 

4. Reference data

All information regarding the market, your competitors, and your customers should reference authoritative and relevant data points.  

5. Research, research, research

The research that goes into your business plan should take you longer than the writing itself. Consider tracking your research as supporting documentation. 

6. Clearly demonstrate your points of difference

At every opportunity, it’s important to drive home the way your product or service differentiates you from your competition and helps solve a problem for your target audience. Don’t shy away from reiterating these differentiating factors throughout the plan. 

7. Be objective in your research

As important as it is to showcase your company and the benefits you provide your customers, it’s also important to be objective in the data and research you reference. Showcase the good and the bad when it comes to market research and your financials; you want your shareholders to know you’ve thought through every possible contingency. 

8. Know the purpose of your plan

It’s important you understand the purpose of your plan before you begin researching and writing. Be clear about whether you’re writing this plan to attract investment, align teams, or provide direction. 

9. Identify your audience

The same way your business plan must have a clearly defined purpose, you must have a clearly defined audience. To whom are you writing? New investors? Current employees? Potential collaborators? Existing shareholders? 

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10. Avoid jargon

Avoid using industry-specific jargon, unless completely unavoidable, and try making your business plan as easy to understand as possible—for all potential stakeholders. 

11. Don’t be afraid to change it

Your business plan should evolve with your company’s growth, which means your business plan document should evolve as well. Revisit and rework your business plan as needed, and remember the most important factor: having a plan in place, even if it changes.

A business plan shouldn’t just be a line on your to-do list; it should be referenced and used as intended going forward. Keep your business plan close, and use it to inform decisions and guide your team in the years ahead. 

Creating a business plan is an important step in growing your company 

Whether you’re just starting out or running an existing operation, writing an effective business plan can be a key predictor of future success. It can be a foundational document from which you grow and thrive . It can serve as a constant reminder to employees and clients about what you stand for, and the direction in which you’re moving. Or, it can prove to investors that your business, team, and vision are worth their investment. 

No matter the size or stage of your business, WeWork can help you fulfill the objectives outlined in your business plan—and WeWork’s coworking spaces can be a hotbed for finding talent and investors, too. The benefits of coworking spaces include intentionally designed lounges, conference rooms, and private offices that foster connection and bolster creativity, while a global network of professionals allows you to expand your reach and meet new collaborators. 

Using these steps to write a business plan will put you in good stead to not only create a document that fulfills a purpose but one that also helps to more clearly understand your market, competition, point of difference, and plan for the future. 

For more tips on growing teams and building a business, check out all our articles on  Ideas by WeWork.

Caitlin Bishop is a writer for WeWork’s  Ideas by WeWork , based in New York City. Previously, she was a journalist and editor at  Mamamia  in Sydney, Australia, and a contributing reporter at  Gotham Gazette .

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What to Include in Your Business Plan Here's what your business plan should contain, how long it should be and what it should look like.

By The Staff of Entrepreneur Media, Inc. • Dec 9, 2014

In their book Write Your Business Plan , the staff of Entrepreneur Media offer an in-depth understanding of what's essential to any business plan, what's appropriate for your venture, and what it takes to ensure success. In this edited excerpt, the authors briefly describe just what your business plan should contain, how long it should be and how to know if it's time to write it.

A business plan is a written description of the future of your business. It's a document that tells the story of what you plan to do and how you plan to do it. If you jot down a paragraph on the back of an envelope describing your business strategy, you've written a plan, or at least the germ of a plan.

But there are some generally accepted conventions about what a full-blown business plan should include and how it should be presented. A plan should cover all the important matters that will contribute to making your business a success. These include the following:

1. Your basic business concept. This is where you discuss the industry, your business structure, your particular product or service, and how you plan to make your business a success.

2. Your strategy and the specific actions you plan to take to implement it. What goals do you have for your business? When and how will you reach your goals?

3. Your products and services and their competitive advantages. Here's your chance to dazzle the readers with good, solid information about your products or services and why customers will want to purchase your products and services and not those of your competitors.

4. The markets you'll pursue. Now you have to lay out your marketing plan. Who will your customers be? What is your demographic audience? How will you attract and retain enough customers to make a profit? What methods will you use to capture your audience? What sets your business apart from the competition?

5. The background of your management team and key employees. Having information about key personnel is an important but often misrepresented portion of a business plan. It's not a long and detailed biography of each person involved but an accurate account of what they've done and what they bring to the table for this specific business opportunity.

6. Your financing needs. These will be based on your projected financial statements. These statements provide a model of how your ideas about the company, its markets and its strategies will play out.

As you write your business plan, stick to facts instead of feelings, projections instead of hopes, and realistic expectations of profit instead of unrealistic dreams of wealth. Facts—checkable, demonstrable facts—will invest your plan with the most important component of all: credibility.

How long should your plan be?

A useful business plan can be any length, from that scrawl on the back of an envelope to more than 100 pages for an especially detailed plan describing a complex enterprise. A typical business plan runs 15 to 25 pages.

Miniplans of five to 10 pages are the popular concise models that may stand on their own for smaller businesses. Larger businesses seeking major funding will often have miniplans as well, but the full business plan will be waiting in the wings. It's to your advantage to run long when creating your plan, then narrow it down for presentation purposes.

The size of the plan will also depend on the nature of your business and your reason for writing it. If you have a simple concept, you may be able to express it in very few words. On the other hand, if you're proposing a new kind of business or even a new industry, it may require quite a bit of explanation to get the message across.

The purpose of your plan also determines its length. If you're looking for millions of dollars in seed capital to start a risky venture, you'll usually (although not always) have to do a lot of explaining and convincing. If you already have relationships with potential investors, they may simply want a miniplan. If you're just going to use your plan for internal purposes to manage an ongoing business, a much more abbreviated version may suffice.

Many business plan presentations are made with PowerPoint decks, using 10 to 12 slides to tell your story. That's a great starting point, but you should have at least a miniplan available, especially if you're seeking millions of dollars.

When should you write it?

Still not sure if it's time to write a business plan? Here are a few clues that it's time to start writing:

• A business plan is a good way to explore the feasibility of a new business without actually having to start it and run it. A good plan can help you see serious flaws in your business concept. You may uncover tough competition when researching the market section, or you may find that your financial projections simply aren't realistic.
• Any venture that faces major changes (and that means almost all businesses) needs a business plan. If the demographics of your market are rapidly changing, strong new competitive products challenge your profitability, you expect your business to grow or shrink dramatically, or the economic climate is improving or slipping rapidly, you'll need a business plan. This will allow you to make changes accordingly.
• If you're contemplating buying or selling a business, your business plan can provide you with a handy tool to establish a value—and to support that value if challenged.
• You'll need a business plan if you're seeking financing. Your business plan is the backbone of your financing proposal. Bankers, venture capitalists and other financiers rarely provide money without seeing a plan. Less sophisticated investors or friends and family may not require a business plan, but they deserve one. Even if you're funding the business with your own savings, you owe it to yourself to plan how you'll expend the resources you're committing.

Entrepreneur Staff

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

Updated 18 April 2024 • 12 min read

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

What is a business plan?

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

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

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

Download your free business plan template .

Why write a business plan?

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

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

What are the main sections of a business plan?

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

An executive summary

A business overview

The market opportunity

Your products/services

How to write a business plan

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

1. Write an executive summary

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

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

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

What to include in an executive summary?

Make sure you include details on:

What your business does

What the opportunity is

What your unique selling points / differentiators are

How much funding you’re looking for

What the funding will be used for

How you'll succeed

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

2. Write your business overview

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

Information to address includes:

What's the purpose of your business?

What problem does your business’ product or service solve?

What niche could it fill?

What’s different about your offering?

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

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

3. Identify your USP

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

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

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

4. Describe the market opportunity

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

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

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

5. Include a SWOT analysis

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

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

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

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

6. Present a competitor analysis

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

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

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

7. Create a customer persona

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

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

8. Write your marketing strategy

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

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

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

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

9. Design your customer retention strategy

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

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

Does your business have a referral or loyalty program? 

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

Will you use surveys to track customer satisfaction?

What ways can you continue delivering outstanding service?

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

10. Present your financials

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

Current finances

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

Financial forecasts

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

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

11. Detail how much funding is needed

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

12. Propose an exit strategy

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

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

Frequently asked questions about writing a business plan:

When to write a business plan.

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

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

How long should your business plan be?

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

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

What’s a business plan on a page?

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

What do venture capitalists look for in a business plan?

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

Where to go for help or more information?

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

You can also get help from Business Enterprise Centres , business advisors, accountants and fellow business owners. MYOB also has a list of business advisors who can give you feedback on your business plan, so your venture has the very best chance of success. 

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12 Key Elements of a Business Plan (Top Components Explained)

Starting and running a successful business requires proper planning and execution of effective business tactics and strategies .

You need to prepare many essential business documents when starting a business for maximum success; the business plan is one such document.

When creating a business, you want to achieve business objectives and financial goals like productivity, profitability, and business growth. You need an effective business plan to help you get to your desired business destination.

Even if you are already running a business, the proper understanding and review of the key elements of a business plan help you navigate potential crises and obstacles.

This article will teach you why the business document is at the core of any successful business and its key elements you can not avoid.

Let’s get started.

Why Are Business Plans Important?

Business plans are practical steps or guidelines that usually outline what companies need to do to reach their goals. They are essential documents for any business wanting to grow and thrive in a highly-competitive business environment .

1. Proves Your Business Viability

A business plan gives companies an idea of how viable they are and what actions they need to take to grow and reach their financial targets. With a well-written and clearly defined business plan, your business is better positioned to meet its goals.

2. Guides You Throughout the Business Cycle

A business plan is not just important at the start of a business. As a business owner, you must draw up a business plan to remain relevant throughout the business cycle .

During the starting phase of your business, a business plan helps bring your ideas into reality. A solid business plan can secure funding from lenders and investors.

After successfully setting up your business, the next phase is management. Your business plan still has a role to play in this phase, as it assists in communicating your business vision to employees and external partners.

Essentially, your business plan needs to be flexible enough to adapt to changes in the needs of your business.

3. Helps You Make Better Business Decisions

As a business owner, you are involved in an endless decision-making cycle. Your business plan helps you find answers to your most crucial business decisions.

A robust business plan helps you settle your major business components before you launch your product, such as your marketing and sales strategy and competitive advantage.

4. Eliminates Big Mistakes

Many small businesses fail within their first five years for several reasons: lack of financing, stiff competition, low market need, inadequate teams, and inefficient pricing strategy.

Creating an effective plan helps you eliminate these big mistakes that lead to businesses' decline. Every business plan element is crucial for helping you avoid potential mistakes before they happen.

5. Secures Financing and Attracts Top Talents

Having an effective plan increases your chances of securing business loans. One of the essential requirements many lenders ask for to grant your loan request is your business plan.

A business plan helps investors feel confident that your business can attract a significant return on investments ( ROI ).

You can attract and retain top-quality talents with a clear business plan. It inspires your employees and keeps them aligned to achieve your strategic business goals.

Key Elements of Business Plan

Starting and running a successful business requires well-laid actions and supporting documents that better position a company to achieve its business goals and maximize success.

A business plan is a written document with relevant information detailing business objectives and how it intends to achieve its goals.

With an effective business plan, investors, lenders, and potential partners understand your organizational structure and goals, usually around profitability, productivity, and growth.

Every successful business plan is made up of key components that help solidify the efficacy of the business plan in delivering on what it was created to do.

Here are some of the components of an effective business plan.

1. Executive Summary

One of the key elements of a business plan is the executive summary. Write the executive summary as part of the concluding topics in the business plan. Creating an executive summary with all the facts and information available is easier.

In the overall business plan document, the executive summary should be at the forefront of the business plan. It helps set the tone for readers on what to expect from the business plan.

A well-written executive summary includes all vital information about the organization's operations, making it easy for a reader to understand.

The key points that need to be acted upon are highlighted in the executive summary. They should be well spelled out to make decisions easy for the management team.

A good and compelling executive summary points out a company's mission statement and a brief description of its products and services.

An executive summary summarizes a business's expected value proposition to distinct customer segments. It highlights the other key elements to be discussed during the rest of the business plan.

Including your prior experiences as an entrepreneur is a good idea in drawing up an executive summary for your business. A brief but detailed explanation of why you decided to start the business in the first place is essential.

Adding your company's mission statement in your executive summary cannot be overemphasized. It creates a culture that defines how employees and all individuals associated with your company abide when carrying out its related processes and operations.

Your executive summary should be brief and detailed to catch readers' attention and encourage them to learn more about your company.

Components of an Executive Summary

Here are some of the information that makes up an executive summary:

• The name and location of your company
• Products and services offered by your company
• Mission and vision statements
• Success factors of your business plan

2. Business Description

Your business description needs to be exciting and captivating as it is the formal introduction a reader gets about your company.

What your company aims to provide, its products and services, goals and objectives, target audience , and potential customers it plans to serve need to be highlighted in your business description.

A company description helps point out notable qualities that make your company stand out from other businesses in the industry. It details its unique strengths and the competitive advantages that give it an edge to succeed over its direct and indirect competitors.

Spell out how your business aims to deliver on the particular needs and wants of identified customers in your company description, as well as the particular industry and target market of the particular focus of the company.

Include trends and significant competitors within your particular industry in your company description. Your business description should contain what sets your company apart from other businesses and provides it with the needed competitive advantage.

In essence, if there is any area in your business plan where you need to brag about your business, your company description provides that unique opportunity as readers look to get a high-level overview.

Components of a Business Description

Your business description needs to contain these categories of information.

• Business location
• The legal structure of your business
• Summary of your business’s short and long-term goals

3. Market Analysis

The market analysis section should be solely based on analytical research as it details trends particular to the market you want to penetrate.

Graphs, spreadsheets, and histograms are handy data and statistical tools you need to utilize in your market analysis. They make it easy to understand the relationship between your current ideas and the future goals you have for the business.

All details about the target customers you plan to sell products or services should be in the market analysis section. It helps readers with a helpful overview of the market.

In your market analysis, you provide the needed data and statistics about industry and market share, the identified strengths in your company description, and compare them against other businesses in the same industry.

The market analysis section aims to define your target audience and estimate how your product or service would fare with these identified audiences.

Market analysis helps visualize a target market by researching and identifying the primary target audience of your company and detailing steps and plans based on your audience location.

Obtaining this information through market research is essential as it helps shape how your business achieves its short-term and long-term goals.

Market Analysis Factors

Here are some of the factors to be included in your market analysis.

• The geographical location of your target market
• Needs of your target market and how your products and services can meet those needs
• Demographics of your target audience

Components of the Market Analysis Section

Here is some of the information to be included in your market analysis.

• Industry description and statistics
• Demographics and profile of target customers
• Marketing data for your products and services
• Detailed evaluation of your competitors

4. Marketing Plan

A marketing plan defines how your business aims to reach its target customers, generate sales leads, and, ultimately, make sales.

Promotion is at the center of any successful marketing plan. It is a series of steps to pitch a product or service to a larger audience to generate engagement. Note that the marketing strategy for a business should not be stagnant and must evolve depending on its outcome.

Include the budgetary requirement for successfully implementing your marketing plan in this section to make it easy for readers to measure your marketing plan's impact in terms of numbers.

The information to include in your marketing plan includes marketing and promotion strategies, pricing plans and strategies , and sales proposals. You need to include how you intend to get customers to return and make repeat purchases in your business plan.

5. Sales Strategy

Sales strategy defines how you intend to get your product or service to your target customers and works hand in hand with your business marketing strategy.

Your sales strategy approach should not be complex. Break it down into simple and understandable steps to promote your product or service to target customers.

Apart from the steps to promote your product or service, define the budget you need to implement your sales strategies and the number of sales reps needed to help the business assist in direct sales.

Your sales strategy should be specific on what you need and how you intend to deliver on your sales targets, where numbers are reflected to make it easier for readers to understand and relate better.

6. Competitive Analysis

Providing transparent and honest information, even with direct and indirect competitors, defines a good business plan. Provide the reader with a clear picture of your rank against major competitors.

Identifying your competitors' weaknesses and strengths is useful in drawing up a market analysis. It is one information investors look out for when assessing business plans.

The competitive analysis section clearly defines the notable differences between your company and your competitors as measured against their strengths and weaknesses.

This section should define the following:

• Your competitors' identified advantages in the market
• How do you plan to set up your company to challenge your competitors’ advantage and gain grounds from them?
• The standout qualities that distinguish you from other companies
• Potential bottlenecks you have identified that have plagued competitors in the same industry and how you intend to overcome these bottlenecks

In your business plan, you need to prove your industry knowledge to anyone who reads your business plan. The competitive analysis section is designed for that purpose.

7. Management and Organization

Management and organization are key components of a business plan. They define its structure and how it is positioned to run.

Whether you intend to run a sole proprietorship, general or limited partnership, or corporation, the legal structure of your business needs to be clearly defined in your business plan.

Use an organizational chart that illustrates the hierarchy of operations of your company and spells out separate departments and their roles and functions in this business plan section.

The management and organization section includes profiles of advisors, board of directors, and executive team members and their roles and responsibilities in guaranteeing the company's success.

Apparent factors that influence your company's corporate culture, such as human resources requirements and legal structure, should be well defined in the management and organization section.

Defining the business's chain of command if you are not a sole proprietor is necessary. It leaves room for little or no confusion about who is in charge or responsible during business operations.

This section provides relevant information on how the management team intends to help employees maximize their strengths and address their identified weaknesses to help all quarters improve for the business's success.

8. Products and Services

This business plan section describes what a company has to offer regarding products and services to the maximum benefit and satisfaction of its target market.

Boldly spell out pending patents or copyright products and intellectual property in this section alongside costs, expected sales revenue, research and development, and competitors' advantage as an overview.

At this stage of your business plan, the reader needs to know what your business plans to produce and sell and the benefits these products offer in meeting customers' needs.

The supply network of your business product, production costs, and how you intend to sell the products are crucial components of the products and services section.

Investors are always keen on this information to help them reach a balanced assessment of if investing in your business is risky or offer benefits to them.

You need to create a link in this section on how your products or services are designed to meet the market's needs and how you intend to keep those customers and carve out a market share for your company.

Repeat purchases are the backing that a successful business relies on and measure how much customers are into what your company is offering.

This section is more like an expansion of the executive summary section. You need to analyze each product or service under the business.

9. Operating Plan

An operations plan describes how you plan to carry out your business operations and processes.

The operating plan for your business should include:

• Information about how your company plans to carry out its operations.
• The base location from which your company intends to operate.
• The number of employees to be utilized and other information about your company's operations.
• Key business processes.

This section should highlight how your organization is set up to run. You can also introduce your company's management team in this section, alongside their skills, roles, and responsibilities in the company.

The best way to introduce the company team is by drawing up an organizational chart that effectively maps out an organization's rank and chain of command.

What should be spelled out to readers when they come across this business plan section is how the business plans to operate day-in and day-out successfully.

10. Financial Projections and Assumptions

Bringing your great business ideas into reality is why business plans are important. They help create a sustainable and viable business.

The financial section of your business plan offers significant value. A business uses a financial plan to solve all its financial concerns, which usually involves startup costs, labor expenses, financial projections, and funding and investor pitches.

All key assumptions about the business finances need to be listed alongside the business financial projection, and changes to be made on the assumptions side until it balances with the projection for the business.

The financial plan should also include how the business plans to generate income and the capital expenditure budgets that tend to eat into the budget to arrive at an accurate cash flow projection for the business.

Base your financial goals and expectations on extensive market research backed with relevant financial statements for the relevant period.

Examples of financial statements you can include in the financial projections and assumptions section of your business plan include:

• Projected income statements
• Cash flow statements
• Balance sheets
• Income statements

Revealing the financial goals and potentials of the business is what the financial projection and assumption section of your business plan is all about. It needs to be purely based on facts that can be measurable and attainable.

11. Request For Funding

The request for funding section focuses on the amount of money needed to set up your business and underlying plans for raising the money required. This section includes plans for utilizing the funds for your business's operational and manufacturing processes.

When seeking funding, a reasonable timeline is required alongside it. If the need arises for additional funding to complete other business-related projects, you are not left scampering and desperate for funds.

If you do not have the funds to start up your business, then you should devote a whole section of your business plan to explaining the amount of money you need and how you plan to utilize every penny of the funds. You need to explain it in detail for a future funding request.

When an investor picks up your business plan to analyze it, with all your plans for the funds well spelled out, they are motivated to invest as they have gotten a backing guarantee from your funding request section.

Include timelines and plans for how you intend to repay the loans received in your funding request section. This addition keeps investors assured that they could recoup their investment in the business.

12. Exhibits and Appendices

Exhibits and appendices comprise the final section of your business plan and contain all supporting documents for other sections of the business plan.

Some of the documents that comprise the exhibits and appendices section includes:

• Legal documents
• Licenses and permits
• Credit histories
• Customer lists

The choice of what additional document to include in your business plan to support your statements depends mainly on the intended audience of your business plan. Hence, it is better to play it safe and not leave anything out when drawing up the appendix and exhibit section.

Supporting documentation is particularly helpful when you need funding or support for your business. This section provides investors with a clearer understanding of the research that backs the claims made in your business plan.

There are key points to include in the appendix and exhibits section of your business plan.

• The management team and other stakeholders resume
• Marketing research
• Permits and relevant legal documents
• Financial documents

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Martin luenendonk.

Martin loves entrepreneurship and has helped dozens of entrepreneurs by validating the business idea, finding scalable customer acquisition channels, and building a data-driven organization. During his time working in investment banking, tech startups, and industry-leading companies he gained extensive knowledge in using different software tools to optimize business processes.

This insights and his love for researching SaaS products enables him to provide in-depth, fact-based software reviews to enable software buyers make better decisions.

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What Should a Business Plan Include?

A business plan serves as a roadmap to successfully launch a business. It helps you overcome the challenges you might experience in your industry. Learn how to create and use a business plan for your startup.

One of the most fatal mistakes that aspiring entrepreneurs make in launching a startup is forgetting a business plan . You wouldn’t launch a ship at sea without establishing its routes and the direction you’ll steer it to. Without proper planning, your ship will end up adrift or worst, dramatically sink when the tides hit. And in a volatile commercial industry, the tides are constantly changing.

Avoid common startup mistakes by creating a business plan. A business plan not only strengthens your foundation but also helps you navigate the ever-changing field of business. Chances are your customers’ preferences will change over time and you have to keep up with them. Hence, a business plan also changes accordingly.

But how exactly do you create a business plan ? Is there a template to follow? Should you enlist the help of other experts to write it? Today, we’ll look into what should be included in your business plan and how it should be written. The first step is by understanding what it is and what it is for.

What is a business plan?

A business plan is an official company document that breaks down all the goals of a business and how to achieve them. It basically lays out the groundwork for your idea to come alive. It’s often referred to as the “blueprint of the business”, summarizing your goals.

Although there are many ways to write it, its key point usually discusses the financial, marketing, and operational strategies of the business.   

What is it for?

A business plan serves as a guide for a growing company. It’s a consistent reference for business owners and stakeholders to base critical decisions on. It’s especially useful for early-stage startups to attract investors. When a company doesn’t have a proven track record, it can lay out its full potential instead.

Not only is the business plan useful for the initial launching of a business, but it also helps with pivotal changes. Since the market is perpetually changing, it’s crucial that your plan also evolves with it. Hence, the goals and methods of achieving will be updated. In some cases, a whole new plan is created if the company wants to drastically move in a new direction.   

What’s included in a Business Plan

Although there’s no fixed formula for writing a business plan, there are some identifiable key points. These are generally the items factored in its creation:

1.     Executive Summary

The executive summary outlines the whole plan. You start with a clear introduction of who you are, what you sell, and what your ambitions are as a business. This section includes your mission statement, product description, and the basic overview of your company’s structure. It should also include your financial plans.   

2.     Business Description

The business description provides detailed information about your industry. It must describe its current outlook as well as its profit potential. You will go into detail about your target market and other organizations or businesses you cater to. Also, this section briefly discusses what problem the business is trying to solve.  

3.     Market Analysis

A business must have a firm understanding of its target market and should be able to prove its sustainability. The market analysis provides trends and studies about the target consumers—their size, demographics, buying power, and frequent activities. This section also touches briefly on the competitors.

4.     Product Development

Investors need a clear idea of how you would create and maintain your product. The development plan section contains the details of the product’s design; its production methods, lifecycle, marketing, and development budget. This includes the overall strategy of how it will be sold in the market.

5.     Marketing Strategies

The product is only as good as how much it will sell. Therefore, this section describes how you will present your products and services to the market. This will discuss your marketing campaigns, distribution channels, and types of media you’ll tap into. You will summarize how you intend to reach your customers and pitch your products to them.

6.     Operations and Management

Your investors need an overview of how the business functions. The operations plan highlights the logistics of the company such as team responsibilities, division tasks, and operational expenses. This helps track down who is responsible for certain areas of the business.  

7.     Financial Plans

Money mobilizes the idea. Hence, it’s important to keep an accurate record of where it’s going. This section shows the company’s monetary plans and its future projections. This includes financial statements, balance sheets, and third-party business transactions. For startups, it will mostly contain the target profit and estimates of expenses.    

Tips on Writing a Business Plan

Now that we have an idea of the business plan template , it’s time to learn how to write it effectively. 

Here are some things to keep in mind when you’re writing one for your business.

• Keep it concise. It serve as a guide for the company and the investors. It needs to be easy to understand and direct to the point. You can’t afford to waste a reader’s time by creating a 100-page business plan. Instead, aim for a summarized version of your plan, only highlighting the important points and outlining the rest.
• Avoid jargon. Ensure that everyone, especially investors, can understand your business plan. Do not include complex jargon in your content. Save the technicalities for the experts and simplify the terms in explaining your ideas.
• Keep it up-to-date. As previously mentioned, business plans are not static. Over time, a lot of things in the industry will change and might make your original plans obsolete. Frequently update your business plan according to what’s new in the field and with new methods you’re employing. Remember, a business plan is only useful if it’s still relevant.  

Build your Business

Business plans are important when you’re starting your business from scratch. However, the success of your business still heavily relies on their execution. A lot of startups fail because they can’t push through with what was proposed in the business plans.

More than just articulating your ideas, you need to do a lot more to make them come to life. For one, you’ll need the capital to kick things off and make everything operational. Second, you’ll need to hire the best people to run your operations. Lastly, you have to find investors to sustain your business.

One way to ensure that your business plan is properly executed is by enlisting the help of business experts. Full Scale is an offshore software development company that specializes in helping startups.

We can provide the talent and resources needed to begin your operations. Whether you need project managers, marketing specialists, or technical experts; we’ve got them all. We’ll take care of all the processes of recruitment and management so you can focus on your core competencies.

Ready to begin your entrepreneurial journey? Get your FREE consultation today!

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How to Write The Industry Section of a Business Plan

Writing a Business Plan: Section 2

Susan Ward wrote about small businesses for The Balance for 18 years. She has run an IT consulting firm and designed and presented courses on how to promote small businesses.

Geber86 / Getty Images

When writing a business plan, the Industry section is best organized as two parts: an overview of the industry and a summary of your business's position within the overall industry.

Before writing this section of the business plan, use these questions to focus your research:

• What is the size of your industry?
• What sectors does this industry include?
• Who are the major players in this industry?
• What are the markets and customers for this industry?
• What are the industry's estimated sales this year? Last year? The year before?
• What national and economic trends have affected this industry and how?
• What national and economic trends might affect it in the future and how?
• What is the long-term outlook for this industry?
• What products or services will your business be selling?
• What is your Unique Selling Proposition? (What is it about your business that makes it unique and sets it apart from competitors?)
• What are the barriers to entry in your industry?
• How will you overcome these barriers?
• Who are your competitors?
• What is the market share of your competitors?
• What is your business's competitive advantage (i.e., your market niche or estimated market share)?
• What is your target market?
• How are you protecting your product or process (i.e., patents, copyrights, trademarks, franchise rights that you either hold or plan to acquire)?

Once you have all this information, you'll write this section of the business plan in the form of several short paragraphs. (Remember, each of these paragraphs is a summary, not a detailed point-by-point explanation.) Use appropriate headings for each paragraph. 

Finding Information on Your Industry

But where do you find the information that you need for writing the Industry Overview section of your business plan?

United States Research

In the United States, you may want to start your research by reviewing information from the U.S. Census Bureau, Industry Statistics Portal. This site provides data for selected industries separated into categories using the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS). The Bureau of Labor Statistics also offers a large selection of information grouped by NAICS industry.

There are also other sources of information—some free and some paid sources—including IBIS World, Select USA, and the U.S. the Department of Commerce Bureau of Economic Analysis.

Canadian Research

When you're writing a business plan and looking for information on Canadian industries, Industry Canada is your logical first stop. Their Find Statistics by Industry  page lets you see key economic indicators for different sectors of the Canadian economy, access industry profiles, and analysis and research small businesses in Canada generally.

Another primary source for industry and economic information that you can easily access online when you're writing a business plan is Statistics Canada. From this homepage you can find a wealth of free statistical information; use this page, to search for Statistics Canada publications back to 1980.

There are also provincial statistics websites where you'll be able to find more economic, social, and demographic statistics relating to your industry and the business environment.

The Canada Business Service Centres located in each province also offer excellent collections of resources online, and telephone and email information services. You'll find a list of links to the Canada Business Service Centre in each province in my Provincial Programs and Services Resources.

The business sections of national newspapers and business magazines will also be helpful; these often carry features on the past and future business trends.

And don't forget your local sources of business information when you're researching your business plans, such as your Economic Development Centre, Chamber of Commerce, or Women's Enterprise Centre, or the business section of the local library.

Doing Business Plan Research

If your business is related to manufacturing when you're writing a business plan begin by determining the NAICS of your particular industry, and the sector and sub-sector if applicable. It will make it easier for you to find statistical information relating to your industry. If your business is a service, begin with Industry Canada's service industry profiles.

Refer to the list of questions earlier in this article on how to write a business plan as a research guide. Whenever you find a piece of information that you want:

• Check its date and determine whether or not the information is current enough to be valid;
• Write down the date and source of the information, as you'll need to cite your information sources in the business plan.

When you're writing a business plan, you want your research information to be as up-to-date as possible. After all, there's no point in starting a business if you don't want it to succeed.

9 Essential Sections You Can Include in a Business Plan

Table of Contents

As an entrepreneur, your business plan is one of your most important documents. Your plan is the best way to share your goals and secure financing. A well-written plan shares your story, drive, passion, and tells the world that you are serious and committed to making your dream real. So what should you include in your business plan to highlight this?

In your plan, you share your business concept, what you plan to do with your business, and how you intend to execute your idea and achieve your goals. Your business plan is a written document and management tool that outlines the details of your company.

What to include in a business plan

A business plan is the story of your company split up into key sections. These include but are not limited to:

• Cover Page – Include your company name, a logo, title of the document, contact information and a confidentiality disclaimer.
• Executive Summary – Just as it sounds, you’ll write a summary that covers everything in your business plan. I suggest waiting until you write every part of your business plan before you write this one. It will be easier to do later. Although you will want your executive summary to be the first thing people read in your business plan. Often readers won’t get past this part, so it’s important your key details are here to snag their attention and keep them reading further.
• Business Overview – Introduce the key parts of your business, including a description of your company, your place in the market, your product and your strategic objectives.
• The Market – Who are you selling to? Break down your market and ideal customers here.
• Marketing & Sales Plan – Create a plan that covers your product, price, place and promotion strategy so you can effectively reach and sell to your chosen market.
• Operations Plan – Outline how your business will operate on a daily basis, from location, to inventory, to customer service. Include key operating systems .
• Management Plan – Who is part of your team? Describe your existing and projected team members. Include an org chart if you have one, if you don’t I suggest making one.
• Financial Plan – Prove your business will be profitable by projecting your company finances for the next 3-5 years. Find out where you can get funding and list those options here.
• Action Plan – How do you plan to meet your objectives? How will you put your business plan into action? You’ll explain that in this section.

Taking your great business idea and putting it onto paper is no easy task. It’s one thing to document your idea, and another to do the research, analysis, writing and presentation to create a comprehensive, neat package you can use to easily sell your idea to investors, funders, employees or potential customers.

Take your time really giving each section the detail and attention it deserves. If you need any assistance with your business plan, we are here to help. Reach out any time .

Until next time, enjoy your Entrepreneurial Journey

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