how to critique a business plan

How to Critique a Business Plan

by Katie Jensen

Published on 1 Jan 2021

When he completes his business plan, either for internal use or to present to capital sources, an entrepreneur often wonders whether it is ready or needs more work. He may not be sure his marketing strategies are sound or whether the financial projections he created are realistic. A solution is to have one or more trusted business associates review and critique the plan.

Read the full plan completely through and form an overall impression. Read it a second time, making notes in the margins about concepts that are not clear. Clarity is one of the most important attributes of a good business plan. If the reader doesn't get a clear understanding of why the business will be profitable, for example, she might stop reading. Look for completeness -- whether all the vital sections of a business plan have been addressed. Keep an outline of a well-written business plan nearby and compare the plan you're critiquing to this standard. Mark any spelling or grammatical errors you find.

Decide whether the business opportunity is adequately explained. Evaluate whether the size of the market is large enough to sustain growth and allow the company to achieve profitability. Review the explanation of market need -- why the target customers need or want the company's products or services. Look for compelling, tangible benefits for the customers -- some aspect of the product or service that saves them time or money.

Review the sources of revenues listed in the business model section and decide whether they are fully explained. The business model should show how the company will be profitable. Identify whether there is something special about the company's model that will cause it to exceed the profit margins earned by other companies in the industry.

Evaluate the explanation of competitive advantage. Make sure the business owner shows why his products or services provide benefits that are clearly superior to those of his competitors. Judge whether the competitive advantage is sustainable over time.

Review the company's marketing strategies. The strategies should be specific actions the business owner will take, not general statements of intention. The plan should contain detailed cost estimates for implementing each strategy. Look at the financial projections and decide whether the marketing expenditures are reasonable. Many business owners underestimate the cost of selling the company's products or services.

Scrutinize the management team and staffing section to determine whether the team has the necessary skills and business experience to execute the strategies. Identify gaps in the team that need to be filled. Look at the projected growth in staff and decide whether it is sufficient to perform all the management and operations tasks required to meet the company's revenue and profitability goals.

Review the financial projections and assumptions. Look at whether the revenue growth rates and forecast pre-tax profit rates are reasonable -- aggressive yet attainable. Make sure the plan includes a detailed explanation of how the line items in the revenue forecast were calculated. You should be able to replicate the calculations.

If you have quite a few suggested changes to the plan, let the business owner make them and then offer to do a second critique of the plan. Be sure your critique includes praise for aspects of the plan that are outstanding.

How to Critique a Business Plan

Once they have completed a business plan, many entrepreneurs wonder if it is ready to present to potential financing sources. They question whether the plan is as clear as it could be and if they have covered all the important points that investors want to see. They realize that the business plan is their first and perhaps only chance to get the investor's attention. They want to make it as good as it can possibly be. One approach is to ask experienced business associates to critique the plan and provide suggestions about how it can be improved.

• Read the plan through at least twice. Don't read it with a critical eye the first time. Just try to absorb as much information as you can. The second time through, begin making notes about sections that seem unclear or incomplete.
• Think like an investor. As you review the plan, ask yourself whether this business looks like a good investment. Many plans dwell too much on how intriguing the company's technology is and ignore the factor of critical importance to investors: Can we make money? Try to identify aspects of the company's business model that will allow it to earn higher than average profits. Perhaps it has a labor cost advantage over competitors, for example.
• Analyze the benefits of the products or services. The plan should give you a clear idea of the superiority of the company's products or services compared with those offered by competitors. Make sure you see why the target customers have a compelling need for the company's products or services. If you don't, suggest that this section of the plan be strengthened.
• Evaluate the management team. Ask yourself whether you believe this team is capable of executing the business strategy outlined in the plan. Does the team look complete? Look for gaps in talent or experience that need to be addressed by bringing additional managers aboard. Determine whether the capabilities of the team match up well with the requirements for success in this industry.
• Check the assumptions for the financial projections. Make sure the entrepreneur has provided easy-to-follow logic behind the numbers. You should be able to take the revenue assumptions and duplicate the calculations presented. Entrepreneurs tend to present overly optimistic revenue and profit projections. Look for areas where costs were underestimated or omitted altogether. Determine whether the projected revenue growth, particularly in the first two years, seems realistic.

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• Check for grammatical and spelling errors. The entrepreneur is so close to the plan document that it is easy for him to overlook common errors in grammar or spelling. Finding a lot of these can be jarring to investors reading the plan and may even cast doubt about the credibility of the statements made in the document.
• The writing style of the plan is important, not just the content. Make sure the entrepreneur conveyed excitement for the venture and its potential. The plan is partially a sales document. Look for a sense of urgency in the plan-that now is exactly the right time to be entering the market. The opportunity is emerging, and significant.

Brian Hill is the author of four popular business and finance books: "The Making of a Bestseller," "Inside Secrets to Venture Capital," "Attracting Capital from Angels" and his latest book, published in 2013, "The Pocket Small Business Owner's Guide to Business Plans."

Business Plan Review

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ContractsCounsel has assisted 42 clients with business plans and maintains a network of 31 business lawyers available daily.

A business plan review is an in-depth examination of your business plan and its viability. It can be conducted by a single expert, a panel of experts, or you and your colleagues.

What Is a Business Plan?

A business plan is essential for any company wishing to start or expand its operations. It provides a framework for decision-making and helps to make sure that all sections of the organization are working together towards common goals. A good business plan can also help attract investors or obtain loans from banks or other lending institutions.

The main purpose of a business plan is to provide investors with information about the opportunities and challenges facing your company so they can make informed decisions about whether or not they want to invest in it. If they decide to invest, they'll know how much money they are likely to make and what risks might arise during their investment term (usually between five years and ten years).

Of course, not all startups need a full-blown business plan — but if you seek outside funding or investment, it's best to start developing yours as early as possible. And even if you don't seek outside funding, it's still smart to develop a comprehensive plan for your business to clearly define what success looks like and how you'll get there.

What Is a Business Plan Review?

A business plan review should be conducted before you begin your venture, at least once during its life cycle (preferably after you have experienced some success), and when it comes time for you to close up shop. The objective is to identify strengths and weaknesses in your plan so that you can take steps toward improving those areas.

The purpose of a business plan review is not to evaluate the likelihood of success for a given project or company but rather to determine whether the project has been adequately researched and whether the information presented is accurate and comprehensive enough for investors or other stakeholders to make an informed decision about investing in it.

Why Should You Have Your Business Plan Reviewed?

Your business plan is a living document. Over time, it will change as you grow and learn more about your business, market and competition.

But even when the plan isn't changing, it's important to review it regularly to ensure that you're still on track. Here are seven reasons why:

A good review will give you an unbiased look at your plan, highlighting areas where more information is required or gaps in your thinking. This can help ensure that your plan contains everything it needs to, which makes it easier to manage and gives investors confidence in your business.

A business plan is a blueprint for reaching your long-term goals. But a good review will help you see how well your current strategy aligns with those goals and whether there are any holes in the plan. If there are gaps, the reviewer can help you identify what needs to be changed and where resources must be allocated to achieve those goals.

Having someone look over your plan from an objective point of view can help you see potential problems before they become major issues. You might find that something is missing from your strategy or that too many steps are involved in achieving your goals. It could also reveal other important information that will help improve the overall quality of your plan.

Business plans don't just cover what's happened so far — they also forecast what's going to happen next year, six months from now and beyond. So if things change along the way, they may not be reflected in the plan written today. A review can help keep your focus on where you want to go in the future by reviewing your progress each month and adjusting accordingly if needed.

A good consultant will give you constructive feedback about areas where your business plan falls short. This is invaluable when it comes time to revise your plan to more accurately reflect the reality of what's happening in your company, whether due to external factors or internal mistakes. A comprehensive review will also show you where there are holes in your strategy and suggest how they can be filled to strengthen your company's position in its marketplace.

Looking at how your business has performed over time, you can identify areas of concern before they become serious problems.

For example, if sales are declining or profits are shrinking, these trends might be due to temporary factors that can be corrected with better marketing or product development. If sales continue to fall despite these efforts, however, there could be deeper-rooted problems that need addressing.

A good business plan will give you an idea of what your company can accomplish in the short term and over time.

A good business plan also helps potential investors understand what your business is about and why it has the potential for success. This means that if they invest in your company, they can be more confident that they're making a smart choice that will make them money.

• Business Strategy: Planning a company's strategic direction and goals. The business strategy consists of setting a business's vision and mission, identifying its strengths and weaknesses, and evaluating growth opportunities.
• Business Forecast: A business forecast predicts how well the company's revenue and expenses will fare for the next few years. It typically includes financial statements for the current year, estimates for the following year, and projections for two or three subsequent years.
• Bank-Ready Business Plan: A business plan that has been carefully prepared to meet all criteria set by banks when applying for a loan. The bank will want financial projections showing how your business can repay the loan and reasonable evidence that you have identified all costs associated with starting and operating your new business.

Hire the best lawyers for a business plan review through Contracts Counsel where you can find many qualified and vetted lawyers to help you go over your business plan.

ContractsCounsel is not a law firm, and this post should not be considered and does not contain legal advice. To ensure the information and advice in this post are correct, sufficient, and appropriate for your situation, please consult a licensed attorney. Also, using or accessing ContractsCounsel's site does not create an attorney-client relationship between you and ContractsCounsel.

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Time To Conduct A Strategy Review? Here's How To Get Started

Tricia Jessee

Tricia manages our implementation and onboarding team to ensure the success of ClearPoint customers.

4 steps to help identify and approach any strategic shifts in your organization.

Table of Contents

Has your organization undergone a strategic shift this year? This could be anything from a technology advancement in your market, to a new political regulation, new competition, or just a major change in revenue (either positive or negative).

The issue is that many organizations don’t consider how these types of changes affect their strategic plan—or if they do consider them, they simply don’t know how to make the appropriate strategic changes to accommodate this shift. Making sure your strategy stays evergreen is a critical (but often overlooked) component of the strategy implementation process. We’ve found that the best approach to evaluating your strategic plan—and ensuring the changes are reflected in your strategy for the upcoming year—is to conduct annual strategy reviews .

What Is a Strategy Review?

A strategy review is the process in which organizations discuss the progress of their goals and objectives and make the necessary adjustments for the upcoming year.

Even though, on the surface, there might not be an apparent need for a strategy review, you’ll experience a number of benefits from taking the time to evaluate performance and identify areas for improvement:

• One of the most significant benefits is that employees have an opportunity to re-engage with the strategy. Depending on where they sit within the company, some people may not be regularly immersed in the strategic plan. Conducting a periodic review brings it back into focus for everyone, hopefully stimulating a renewed sense of purpose.
• It reinforces organizational alignment. Bringing everyone together to clarify mutual goals promotes collaboration and teamwork. Employees are also reminded how their daily activities contribute to the bigger picture.
• It also promotes camaraderie among team members, leading to a positive, high-performance culture. Strategy review sessions offer leaders the opportunity to shape culture by rewarding actions that align with organizational values, and fostering inclusion among team members.
• Last but not least, it offers the chance to identify new growth opportunities that could benefit you financially. Assessing current market conditions and evaluating internal performance might lead you to make a major change in your strategy, such as creating a new objective or redirecting resources, that will help you be more successful.

When and How Often Should You Do a Strategy Review?

Most organizations do a strategy review once a year, typically at the end of their annual cycle. So if you are on the calendar year, then your review would take place in January or February; otherwise it would happen at the beginning of your fiscal year.

Conducting this review annually allows you to review the previous year’s results and home in on elements that might need to be changed for the new year. However, if your organization experiences a big change—like hiring a new CEO, for instance—it makes sense to conduct an ad hoc session at that time to realign your priorities.

How To Revise A Strategic Plan: 4 Steps

Below are four steps that will help you identify and approach strategic changes in a productive way, to ensure everyone in your organization is working toward the same goal.

Step 1: Review The “Big Picture”

The first thing you need to do during your strategy review process is step back and look at each element of your strategic plan. We always suggest asking the question, “Is our big-picture strategy still valid?” This is important—and frankly, it’s often overlooked. If where your organization stands has changed over the last year (or over the last several years), that will dramatically impact all of the elements that make up your strategic plan—from your mission, vision, and values, all the way down to your objectives, measures, and initiatives.

Therefore, we suggest you take the time to look at your strategic landscape to see if there has been a disruption (as it pertains to technology, politics, the environment, etc.). You could find, for example, that a new competitor has entered your industry and is changing the pricing model for the entire market.

Step 2: Review Details Of The Plan Itself

Strategic plan details include your objectives, measures, and initiatives. Here’s how to review each:

Objectives are your high-level organizational goals. During your strategy review process, you’ll need to ask, “Are our objectives still relevant? Do they relate back to our mission, vision, and values?” Your answer needs to be made with actual data , not your gut feelings.

Claim your FREE Strategic Plan Review eBook for better organizational direction here

Measures are sometimes referred to as key performance indicators ( KPIs ) or metrics. Each of your objectives should have measures associated with it—and for each of these measures you need to set a realistic target. Any changes to your measures should come from your department heads or others in a leadership position—so we recommend holding a strategy retreat or half-day meeting to discuss any measures that need to be changed.

Initiatives aren’t one-off tasks; they’re big picture or long-term projects your organization is tracking for strategic success. You’re more likely to shift, remove, or add new initiatives during your strategy review process than you are to change your measures or initiatives. Therefore, be sure to discuss budget, start and end dates, and tie-ins to your measures and objectives before making these decisions.

Step 3: Improve Your Reports

Reports are imperative to communicating performance on your overall strategic plan. If you simply ignore your reports during your strategy review process, the strategy you’ve worked so hard to build may simply become ineffective. Therefore, you’ll want to ask the following:

• Are we meeting at the right frequency? Quarterly and monthly meetings have different purposes, and you’ll want to be sure each meeting you hold is productive. ( This guide to meeting management can help! )
• Are our reports formatted correctly? In other words, do your reports show the information everyone needs to see in order to understand your performance? Keep in mind that each report will highlight different information; a measure report might show the owner, the frequency at which it’s being tracked, and series status, while an initiative report might show the start date, end date, budget, and milestones.

Step 4: Communicate Changes To Your Organization

When you conduct a review of your strategy, it’s extremely important to consider how you’ll communicate updates to or changes within your plan throughout your organization. Otherwise, you won’t create organization-wide buy-in, which will make it far more difficult for you to attain strategic success.

One organization—the United Nations Federal Credit Union (UNFCU)—achieved buy-in by making their strategic plan as visible as possible internally. They used videos, progress reports, brochures, posters, and even a strategy map cake to keep the organization’s printed strategy in front of employees and consistently on their minds. You can read more about how they used this strategy to their advantage in this case study.

4 Tips For Conducting An Effective Strategic Review

To make sure your strategy review is as productive as possible, consider the following:

• Include members from across the organization. By increasing inclusion and flattening hierarchies, you’ll foster the emergence of new ideas. Encourage management to participate rather than lead, and all levels of staff to engage on equal footing.
• Make use of an outside facilitator. Both the management team and employees may have difficulty seeing “outside the box.” It often helps to invite an experienced outsider who can see things through an objective lens and guide conversations around tough subjects that need to be tackled.
• Modify your strategy as needed; don’t overhaul it. Strategic decisions are long-term in nature and involve big commitments, so in most cases, the basic direction of your strategy shouldn’t change every year. A strategy review may prompt adaptations, but the bigger picture should stay relatively consistent.
• Learn from your annual reviews. During each review, you will find that certain exercises worked or didn’t work with your organization. Continue to iterate on your review process so you can improve it over time.

Want to Ensure That Your Strategy Review Process Is Successful?

We have witnessed firsthand how many organizations (including many of our own clients!) had an incredibly difficult time conducting strategy reviews. And that is why we created our in-depth, step-by-step strategy review template.

Claim your FREE Strategic Plan Review eBook for better organizational direction

It goes into far more detail about each of the four steps above, provides additional details about how to manage your previous-year and future-year strategic plans, and gives information on what you should do if you’re abandoning your current strategic framework entirely. If you work through each step methodically and cross off each part of the checklists included, you will have a successful strategy review—period.

Simplify Your Strategy Reviews With ClearPoint Strategy Software

Following through on your strategy over the course of three to five years requires a great deal of work and focus. Strategy software like ClearPoint simplifies strategy-related tasks (like data-gathering and reporting) and helps to ensure that you continually focus your efforts on activities that will actually contribute to accomplishing your objectives.

As the central hub for your strategy information, ClearPoint is an invaluable tool for annual reviews. It supports your strategic discussions by serving as a quick reference for:

• Your big-picture strategy map.
• Organizational and departmental objectives, measures, and initiatives, and how they interconnect.
• Performance data on KPIs that roll up into strategic objectives .

You can easily review these items and make changes on the fly, as one of our customers did during a recent strategic review. ClearPoint played an integral role in the day’s activities. As a local government, this customer had just created new city-wide objectives. During the meeting, its administrators broke into focus groups, with each group assigned to a specific objective.

The groups used ClearPoint to link existing departmental measures and initiatives to the new organizational objectives. When they came back together, they used ClearPoint to view and discuss the strategy, and noticed that some of the objectives were not currently supported. As a result, they discussed the need for additional measures and initiatives that would help them accomplish all their goals.

This was emblematic of what the software can do: You identify needs, evaluate your options, make decisions, and follow through—all with the help of ClearPoint. Interested in seeing it live? Pick a time for a DEMO and we’ll show you!

How do you review strategy?

To review strategy:

- Assess Objectives: Evaluate whether the strategic objectives are being met and if they remain relevant. - Analyze Performance Data: Review key performance indicators (KPIs) and other metrics to assess progress. - Gather Feedback: Collect feedback from stakeholders, including employees, customers, and partners. - Identify Gaps: Identify any gaps between expected and actual performance. - Review External Factors: Consider external factors such as market trends, competition, and economic conditions. - Adjust and Adapt: Make necessary adjustments to the strategy to address identified issues and capitalize on new opportunities.

What is a strategy review?

A strategy review is a formal process of evaluating and assessing an organization's strategic plan to ensure that it remains aligned with the organization’s goals and the external environment. It involves analyzing performance data, gathering feedback, and making adjustments to the strategy as needed to improve effectiveness and achieve desired outcomes.

What is strategy review evaluation and control?

Strategy review evaluation and control involves:

- Evaluation: Systematically assessing the effectiveness of the current strategy by reviewing performance metrics, KPIs, and other relevant data. - Control: Implementing corrective actions to address deviations from the strategic plan, ensuring that the organization remains on track to achieve its goals. This process includes setting performance standards, measuring actual performance, comparing it with standards, and taking necessary corrective actions.

What are the steps involved in the strategy review process?

The steps involved in the strategy review process are:

- Preparation: Define the scope, objectives, and timeline for the strategy review. - Data Collection: Gather data on performance metrics, KPIs, and feedback from stakeholders. - Analysis: Analyze the collected data to assess the effectiveness of the current strategy. - Gap Identification: Identify gaps between the strategic plan and actual performance. - Review External Environment: Assess external factors that may impact the strategy, such as market trends and competitive landscape. - Feedback Integration: Incorporate feedback from stakeholders into the review process. - Adjustments and Recommendations: Develop recommendations for adjustments to the strategy based on the analysis. - Implementation: Implement the recommended changes to the strategy. - Monitoring: Continuously monitor the updated strategy to ensure its effectiveness and make further adjustments as needed.

What are the different types of strategy reviews?

Different types of strategy reviews include:

- Periodic Reviews: Conducted at regular intervals (e.g., quarterly or annually) to assess overall strategic performance. - Milestone Reviews: Focus on evaluating progress at specific milestones or stages of a strategic plan. - Ad-hoc Reviews: Conducted in response to unexpected changes or challenges in the internal or external environment. - Comprehensive Reviews: In-depth evaluations of the entire strategic plan, often involving extensive data analysis and stakeholder engagement. - Performance Reviews: Focused on assessing specific performance metrics and KPIs to determine if strategic objectives are being met.

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Business Model vs. Business Plan: Key Differences Explained

Written by Vinay Kevadiya

Published Sep. 24 2024 · 6 Min Read

“Failing to plan is planning to fail," as the old saying goes. This sentiment rings especially true in the modern business world.

For entrepreneurs, effective business planning can be the difference between a dream and a reality. And this reality hinges on two important blueprints: business models and business plans.

But what differentiates them, and when should you focus on each?

In this article, we will explore the key differences in the business model vs business plan debate and help you clarify these concepts.

What is a business model?

A business model is a plan that shows how a company creates, delivers, and captures value. It explains how a business operates, spends money, and makes money in a way that leads to profit.

A good business model answers key questions like:

• What problem are you solving?
• What is your target market?
• How much money do you need?
• What will you sell, and how will you make money?

Pricing and costs are the key factors that affect profitability.

Beyond the financials, some business models consider the broader social or cultural impact a company will have. Think of it as the exchange of value beyond just money–it's about the difference you'll make in your community or industry.

Here are some basic types of business models:

• Advertising: Show ads from other companies to specific groups of people. Think of platforms like LinkedIn and YouTube.
• Affiliate: Get a small commission for promoting other people's products. You've probably seen this on Amazon or through programs like ClickBank or Share-a-Sale.
• Franchise: Take a successful business model and let others open their own branches. You get a share of their profits. McDonald's and The UPS Store are prime examples.
• Bundling: Packaging multiple products or services together at a discounted price. (Common in telecoms.)
• Fee-for-service: Selling skills or expertise at an hourly rate or project-based fee. Consulting firms like McKinsey & Company and even freelance writers fall into this category.
• Freemium: Gives a basic version of something away for free, but you pay for the better version with more features. LinkedIn and Slack are the most common examples.
• Manufacturer: Takes raw materials and turns them into products people can buy. This is how we get cars, furniture, and even our phones.
• Pay-as-you-go: You only pay for what you use. Internet phone plans are the perfect example, where you buy internet data.

What is a Business Plan?

A business plan is your detailed guide, outlining everything from launching products and setting milestones to even planning your exit. It clearly defines what your company does, its long-term vision, and the strategies to achieve success.

In short, a business plan is your roadmap to growth.

Business plans typically come in two main styles: traditional and lean startup. The U.S. Small Business Administration notes that traditional business plans are the more commonly used format.

• Traditional business plans are like a detailed document for your business. They cover everything from your marketing strategy to your financial projections .
• Lean startup plans are more like a sketch–focusing on the core essentials. They highlight the key elements, like the problem you're solving, your target customers, and your unique value proposition.

Components of a business plan vs. business model

The components of your business model are the foundation of your business. They define your business operations and strategy for company success.

Here are some of the key ones you'll want to include when creating your business model:

• Customer segment
• Value proposition
• Revenue streams
• Customer relationships
• Key activities
• Key resources
• Key partners
• Cost structure

While a clear business model explains how your business works, a business plan is like your company's resume.

It’s a detailed document often shared with investors, lenders, and other stakeholders to give them a clear view of the company's potential for success.

Because of this, business plans tend to include more detailed sections, such as:

• Executive summary
• Company description
• Products and services
• Market analysis
• Customer analysis
• Competitor analysis
• Marketing and sales plan
• Operations plan
• Financial plan

Business model vs. business plan: what’s the difference?

Both business model and business plan are important for your business. However, they play unique roles at various stages of your business journey.

Let's break down those key differences:

When to use a business model vs. a business plan

A business model is best for early-stage startups or entrepreneurs who want to check or improve their ideas. It's a flexible organizational structure for outlining how your company will create and capture value for customers.

You can use a business model when you're:

• Testing the viability of a new business idea.
• Pitching the business concept to investors or partners.
• Evaluating revenue streams and cost structures.
• Making adjustments to an existing business or pivoting strategies.

A business plan is commonly used once a business idea has been approved or for businesses that are looking to grow or secure funding. It includes more detailed steps and formal strategies.

When to use a business plan:

• Seeking investment or loans.
• Managing long-term growth and scaling.
• Setting clear objectives and milestones for internal teams.
• Presenting a comprehensive roadmap to stakeholders.

For the best results, we recommend using both the business model and business plan together. Start with the business model to sketch out the essentials of your business and quickly test your ideas.

Once those ideas are approved, create a business plan to prep your execution strategy. This ensures that your detailed plan is rooted in a solid, tested foundation.

There's no single right way to choose between a business plan and a business model–it all depends on your specific goals.

Remember, planning is a continuous process. You can't just make a plan once and expect it to work forever!

To keep your business model and plan up-to-date, try a tool like Bizplanr. It uses AI to help you quickly create professional business plans, including essential financial projections, and makes it easier to move from idea to execution.

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Answer a few questions, and AI will generate a detailed business plan.

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Frequently Asked Questions

Do I need both a business model and a business plan?

Yes, having both is ideal. The business model will lay out your revenue streams and how your business delivers value. On the other hand, a business plan will have strategies and steps to grow and manage the business. Together, they give a complete picture of how to operate and scale effectively.

Can a business plan include a business model?

Yes, a business model is usually part of the business plan. It forms the basis for understanding how you’ll generate income. The rest of the plan sheds more light on operational details like marketing and finances.

What is a better starting point, a business model or a business plan?

It’s generally advisable to start with a business model as it will give you a clear idea of how your business will create and capture value. Once that concept is clear, you can then create a detailed business plan to fill out the details like market research and strategies for execution.

How does a business model impact financial projections in a business plan?

It impacts because the business model defines revenue streams, cost structures, and pricing strategy. These details shape how you project your profits, losses, and cash flow in the business plan.

Is a business model canvas the same as a business plan?

No, they’re different tools. A business model canvas is a one-page snapshot that has key components like value propositions and customer segments. A good business plan is much more detailed. As it covers everything from market strategies to financial forecasts. The canvas helps with clarity, while the plan helps with execution.

As the founder and CEO of Upmetrics, Vinay Kevadiya has over 12 years of experience in business planning. He provides valuable insights to help entrepreneurs build and manage successful business plans.

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Table of Contents

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

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

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Drafting the Summary

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

Ask for Help

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

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

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

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

Numbers-based Goals

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

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

Intangible Goals

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

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

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

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

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

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

Business Operations Costs

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

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

Other Costs

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

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

How do I write a simple business plan?

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

What are some common mistakes in a business plan?

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

What basic items should be included in a business plan?

When writing out a business plan, you want to make sure that you cover everything related to your concept for the business,  an analysis of the industry―including potential customers and an overview of the market for your goods or services―how you plan to execute your vision for the business, how you plan to grow the business if it becomes successful and all financial data around the business, including current cash on hand, potential investors and budget plans for the next few years.

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How to Conduct a Monthly Business Plan Review Meeting

• Vinay Kevadia
• September 25, 2024

When you and your team are on the everyday grind, it’s highly possible to lose track of progress. Sometimes you may even experience stagnation.

That’s when you need a savior, we call a monthly business plan review meeting.

A monthly business plan shows you the actual picture of where you stand and what needs to be done to fix the issues. Reviewing it monthly keeps you up to speed and ready to take on the competitive world month after month!

But the question is: How to conduct a monthly business review meeting?

Don’t worry, in this blog, we’ll tell you why you need such a meeting, how to conduct it, and share a free template so you can get a head start.

Let’s begin.

What is a monthly business plan review meeting?

A monthly business review is a meeting, conducted once a month, where your team gathers to review your current performance against your ideal performance or strategic plan.

The idea behind the meeting? Everyone should evaluate a month’s worth of journey and see if they’re still on track to achieve the strategic targets. If not, they can take necessary measures to keep up.

Why is it important to conduct a monthly plan review?

Here are three crucial benefits of conducting a monthly business plan review meeting:

1. Improves communication. Encourages reflection

In this meeting, all attendees dish out their progress and struggle openly. This does two things:

One, it improves communication, enabling transparency. As a result, your team can learn about the different challenges each one has faced and everyone can butt heads to find solutions.

Two, with everyone sharing their progress and backlogs, it creates the perfect space to reflect on business tasks and performances. In this process, your team can adjust

and re-prioritize anything and everything required to get back on the right track to meet the set business objectives.

2. Promotes accountability

With transparency and reflection comes a sense of accountability for all. The open discussions help employees feel responsible for every activity that brings the business closer to the ideal performance or stick to the strategic plan.

3. Enhances decision-making

By regularly reviewing your business plan, you get a front-row seat to insights that help you avoid costly mistakes or errors that can cause delays. But most importantly, you can identify what works and what doesn’t to make informed choices.

Regular meetings also give you the flexibility to pivot quickly as and when needed.

That said, let’s move on to…

How to conduct a monthly business plan review meeting

Here are some simple steps to follow to conduct a successful monthly business plan review:

1. Prepare meeting guidelines

There can’t be a meeting without knowing when and where it’ll happen, who will attend it, and what will be discussed. That’s why you need to start by preparing meeting guidelines.

Here’s everything you can include in your guidelines:

• Create calendar invites and send it out to participants
• Prepare an agenda so the meeting can start and end at the decided time and no items are undiscussed
• Asking team members to be ready with the numbers and questions (basically come prepared)
• Lay down the rules as to how and when people can share their inputs

2. Actions and outcomes from the previous meeting

This step comes in once the meeting begins. Unless it’s your first monthly business review ever, you have to go back in time and discuss the actions you took in the previous meeting or the results you obtained.

It could be that you had to analyze customer feedback to improve your product or that you introduced a similar feature as your competitor but did it better with a feature launch strategy.

The idea here is to ensure you’ve met all the goals intended for the previous month so you can focus on newer goals.

Once done, you can move on to…

3. Review of business performance

What’s a business review meeting without some business performance review? You can divide the performance based on two broad categories:

a) Reviewing your financial statements

Since it’s a monthly meeting you want to review monthly financial statements such as the income statement, balance sheet, and cash flow statement.

These statements will help you spot any financial anomalies and answer questions like:

• How did you do last month compared to your forecast?
• How did you do compared to the same month last year?
• What is the cash position and cash flow like?
• What does our cash flow forecast look like for the next few months?

You can even compare the actual performance against budgeted targets like revenue, expenses, and profit margins. As a result, you’ll gain insights into where:

• You need to pour in more funds
• There’s a loss
• There’s overspending

The bottom line: reviewing financial performances together will help you spot issues that you may not on your own.

b) Reviewing sales and marketing performance

Yes, it’s all about the money, but it’s also about what makes the money. So start by examining your sales and marketing performance.

Discuss how your actual sales numbers compare with the targets you had set for the month. Doing so should give you insight as to whether your sales funnel is benefiting you. For example how many leads have turned into customers? What stages are deals getting stuck in, and how can you address this?

All this data will tell your team where you stand and the strategies you must adopt to improve your sales game.

Coming to marketing, analyze your marketing campaigns’ effectiveness—meaning, check if the efforts translate into real business value. You can do so by discussing:

ROI (Return on Investment)

Calculate how much you spent for each campaign versus the revenue it generated. You want a high ROI (efficient marketing), rather than a low ROI which signals the need for improvement.

Customer acquisition costs (CAC)

Calculate how much it costs to acquire a single customer via different campaigns and channels—that’s CAC for you. Your aim should be to attain a low CAC to gain a good profit. See if you’ve met this criteria.

Lead quality and conversion rates

Are the leads generated by your campaigns converting into paying customers? If not, you must discuss how to rethink the campaign.

4. Progress on goals and milestones

Next, you want to review the progress toward achieving short-term and long-term strategic goals.

You can do so by identifying any gaps or delays and analyzing their root causes—whether it’s due to resource constraints, market shifts, or operational issues.

Once done, discuss if certain goals need adjustments or if strategies should need refining to ensure alignment with business priorities. This proactive evaluation helps to prevent future roadblocks and keeps the team focused on achievable outcomes.

In short: This step helps check if everyone is on track to meet the set goals so that the business stays aligned with its strategic objectives.

5. Business operational review

In the business operational review, assess any challenges that impacted efficiency over the past month, such as:

• Bottlenecks in production
• Delivery delays
• Staffing issues
• Technological issues
• Workflow process issues
• Supply chain issues

Discuss with your team how these were resolved the last time they occurred and collaborate to propose strategies to address them. You can do so by delegating tasks to fix issues and encouraging cross-departmental input.

This enables smoother operations to achieve business objectives.

6. Open discussion for any inputs or company issues

Lastly, you want to open the floor for anything and everything your team may want to discuss regarding your company. This can be regarding the work, operations, company issues, and obstacles employees are facing that prevent them from achieving set objectives.

That’s about it. You’ve successfully learned how to conduct a monthly business plan review meeting.

Monthly plan review meeting agenda (free template)

Are you ready to create your monthly business plan review agenda but need some guidance? We’ve got you covered! Download our free monthly business plan review plan template PDF and begin your journey now.

This template offers clear instructions and examples, helping you to build a strong and effective business plan meeting agenda. Plus, it’s customizable to suit your unique requirements.

Now that you know how to conduct a monthly business plan review meeting, your business won’t have to face many unforeseen, damaging, or delay-causing circumstances.

Just make sure you have a template in place so you don’t have to structure it every month. Instead, you can focus on the more important task, business review! And if you don’t already have a business plan in place. Don’t worry. Try business planning software like Upmetrics to create one in a jiffy.

Build your Business Plan Faster

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Frequently Asked Questions

What is the purpose of a monthly business plan review meeting.

The purpose of a monthly business plan review meeting is to help you and your team identify areas that need improving or adjusting to make informed decisions. This is how teams can stay on track to achieve monthly targets.

Who should be invited to a business plan review meeting?

Invite the senior management, various department heads, project leads, and relevant team members directly involved in executing the plan. Any external advisors like accountants or lawyers who might have crucial insights into the plan’s feasibility.

How do you prepare for a business plan review meeting?

To prepare for a business plan review meeting:

• Create an acceptable agenda to follow
• Put the meeting on the calendar and create invites
• Prepare meeting guidelines
• Keep data (financial, statistical, etc.) ready

What should be included in the agenda for the monthly review meeting?

Your monthly business review meeting agenda should include:

• Dissecting parts of your business strategies
• Reviewing your finances and cash flow
• Making adjustments based on overall performance

What should be done after the business review meeting?

After a monthly business review meeting, here’s everything you can do to ensure that the discussion translates into actionable results:

• Summarize key takeaways and share them with all attendees and relevant stakeholders to ensure alignment.
• Assign action items to team members along with deadlines and track task progress.
• Follow up on previous actions and address any roadblocks that might hinder progress.
• Update metrics and KPIs, and communicate the same with your teams.
• Plan for the next meeting.
• Reflect and improve depending on what worked well and what didn’t.

About the Author

Vinay Kevadiya

Vinay Kevadiya is the founder and CEO of Upmetrics, the #1 business planning software. His ultimate goal with Upmetrics is to revolutionize how entrepreneurs create, manage, and execute their business plans. He enjoys sharing his insights on business planning and other relevant topics through his articles and blog posts. Read more

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What Is a Business Plan?

Understanding business plans, how to write a business plan, common elements of a business plan, the bottom line, business plan: what it is, what's included, and how to write one.

Adam Hayes, Ph.D., CFA, is a financial writer with 15+ years Wall Street experience as a derivatives trader. Besides his extensive derivative trading expertise, Adam is an expert in economics and behavioral finance. Adam received his master's in economics from The New School for Social Research and his Ph.D. from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in sociology. He is a CFA charterholder as well as holding FINRA Series 7, 55 & 63 licenses. He currently researches and teaches economic sociology and the social studies of finance at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem.

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A business plan is a document that outlines a company's goals and the strategies to achieve them. It's valuable for both startups and established companies. For startups, a well-crafted business plan is crucial for attracting potential lenders and investors. Established businesses use business plans to stay on track and aligned with their growth objectives. This article will explain the key components of an effective business plan and guidance on how to write one.

Key Takeaways

• A business plan is a document detailing a company's business activities and strategies for achieving its goals.
• Startup companies use business plans to launch their venture and to attract outside investors.
• For established companies, a business plan helps keep the executive team focused on short- and long-term objectives.
• There's no single required format for a business plan, but certain key elements are essential for most companies.

Investopedia / Ryan Oakley

Any new business should have a business plan in place before beginning operations. Banks and venture capital firms often want to see a business plan before considering making a loan or providing capital to new businesses.

Even if a company doesn't need additional funding, having a business plan helps it stay focused on its goals. Research from the University of Oregon shows that businesses with a plan are significantly more likely to secure funding than those without one. Moreover, companies with a business plan grow 30% faster than those that don't plan. According to a Harvard Business Review article, entrepreneurs who write formal plans are 16% more likely to achieve viability than those who don't.

A business plan should ideally be reviewed and updated periodically to reflect achieved goals or changes in direction. An established business moving in a new direction might even create an entirely new plan.

There are numerous benefits to creating (and sticking to) a well-conceived business plan. It allows for careful consideration of ideas before significant investment, highlights potential obstacles to success, and provides a tool for seeking objective feedback from trusted outsiders. A business plan may also help ensure that a company’s executive team remains aligned on strategic action items and priorities.

While business plans vary widely, even among competitors in the same industry, they often share basic elements detailed below.

A well-crafted business plan is essential for attracting investors and guiding a company's strategic growth. It should address market needs and investor requirements and provide clear financial projections.

While there are any number of templates that you can use to write a business plan, it's best to try to avoid producing a generic-looking one. Let your plan reflect the unique personality of your business.

Many business plans use some combination of the sections below, with varying levels of detail, depending on the company.

The length of a business plan can vary greatly from business to business. Regardless, gathering the basic information into a 15- to 25-page document is best. Any additional crucial elements, such as patent applications, can be referenced in the main document and included as appendices.

Common elements in many business plans include:

• Executive summary : This section introduces the company and includes its mission statement along with relevant information about the company's leadership, employees, operations, and locations.
• Products and services : Describe the products and services the company offers or plans to introduce. Include details on pricing, product lifespan, and unique consumer benefits. Mention production and manufacturing processes, relevant patents , proprietary technology , and research and development (R&D) information.
• Market analysis : Explain the current state of the industry and the competition. Detail where the company fits in, the types of customers it plans to target, and how it plans to capture market share from competitors.
• Marketing strategy : Outline the company's plans to attract and retain customers, including anticipated advertising and marketing campaigns. Describe the distribution channels that will be used to deliver products or services to consumers.
• Financial plans and projections : Established businesses should include financial statements, balance sheets, and other relevant financial information. New businesses should provide financial targets and estimates for the first few years. This section may also include any funding requests.

Investors want to see a clear exit strategy, expected returns, and a timeline for cashing out. It's likely a good idea to provide five-year profitability forecasts and realistic financial estimates.

2 Types of Business Plans

Business plans can vary in format, often categorized into traditional and lean startup plans. According to the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) , the traditional business plan is the more common of the two.

• Traditional business plans : These are detailed and lengthy, requiring more effort to create but offering comprehensive information that can be persuasive to potential investors.
• Lean startup business plans : These are concise, sometimes just one page, and focus on key elements. While they save time, companies should be ready to provide additional details if requested by investors or lenders.

Why Do Business Plans Fail?

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

How Often Should a Business Plan Be Updated?

How frequently a business plan needs to be revised will depend on its nature. Updating your business plan is crucial due to changes in external factors (market trends, competition, and regulations) and internal developments (like employee growth and new products). While a well-established business might want to review its plan once a year and make changes if necessary, a new or fast-growing business in a fiercely competitive market might want to revise it more often, such as quarterly.

What Does a Lean Startup Business Plan Include?

The lean startup business plan is ideal for quickly explaining a business, especially for new companies that don't have much information yet. Key sections may include a value proposition , major activities and advantages, resources (staff, intellectual property, and capital), partnerships, customer segments, and revenue sources.

A well-crafted business plan is crucial for any company, whether it's a startup looking for investment or an established business wanting to stay on course. It outlines goals and strategies, boosting a company's chances of securing funding and achieving growth.

As your business and the market change, update your business plan regularly. This keeps it relevant and aligned with your current goals and conditions. Think of your business plan as a living document that evolves with your company, not something carved in stone.

University of Oregon Department of Economics. " Evaluation of the Effectiveness of Business Planning Using Palo Alto's Business Plan Pro ." Eason Ding & Tim Hursey.

Bplans. " Do You Need a Business Plan? Scientific Research Says Yes ."

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

Harvard Business Review. " How to Write a Winning Business Plan ."

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

SCORE. " When and Why Should You Review Your Business Plan? "

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How To Create Business Problem Statements

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Mastering Business Problem Statements: Unlocking Clarity, Creativity, and Purpose for Your Team

We’ve all been there. You’re in a meeting, half-listening, half-wondering if you’re out of snacks, and someone hits you with the dreaded question: “Why are we doing this again?” Cue the blank stares and nervous shuffling of papers. It’s like being caught on stage with no script.

In the dynamic landscape of business, identifying and addressing issues promptly is crucial for sustained success. One of the most effective tools for achieving this is the Business Problem statement.

What Is A Business Problem Statement?

A business problem statement is a concise description of an issue that negatively impacts an organisation. They reframe our work as a problem to solve rather than as a solution such as a feature(s) to build.

This eventually led to an Outcome Over Output mindset.

Business Problem Statement helps build an Outcome Over Output mindset.

Key Elements of A Good Business Problem Statement

I have worked with a number of product development efforts and have learnt that a good Business Problem Statement should have 4 Key elements.

The Why (Goals): What’s Messing Up the Party?

The first step is to understand why this problem exists and the goals it disrupts. By aligning the problem with business objectives, teams gain clarity on the “why” behind their work, ensuring a clear purpose.

Example: Imagine an online marketplace is seeing higher-than-usual customer churn. The business’s goal is to maintain trust between buyers and sellers. Without a clear business problem statement, the team might jump to implementing a new loyalty program instead of addressing the root issue — trust.

The What (Observations): Real Data, Real Problems

Don’t guess, gather. This is where you validate the problem with real observations, feedback or data. Otherwise, you’re just playing darts in the dark.

Example: Customer feedback shows the churn is due to concerns about fraud, not a lack of coupons. Suddenly, that loyalty program idea looks a lot like putting lipstick on a pig.

The Who (Users/Stakeholders): Who’s Actually Affected?

If the solution isn’t tailored to the right people, it’s like giving a cat a dog toy. You’ve gotta know who’s feeling the pain.

Example: Buyers are bailing because of fraudulent listings, and sellers are losing sales because, well, no buyers! So the solution has to build trust for both groups, not just one.

The What (Impact): So, What Happens if We Ignore This?

If you don’t fix the problem, what’s the worst that could happen? (Hint: it’s not good.) And if you do solve it, what awesome things will come of it?

Example: If fraud keeps spreading, trust tanks, sales dip, and poof — revenue is gone! Fix it, and suddenly, you’ve got loyal customers, happy sellers, and a business that isn’t sinking.

Let’s take some real-life example s

Example 1: e-commerce company.

Last year, I was working as a Product Consultant in an E-Commerce company. We came up with the below Business Problem Statement.

Business Problem Statement: Our in-store shopping experience was designed to achieve quick and convenient purchases for our customers. We have observed that customers are experiencing slow and complicated checkout processes, which is causing a 10% drop in sales conversion rates and an annual revenue loss of approximately £1.2 million.

Example 2: Healthcare Provider

Business Problem Statement: Our appointment scheduling system was designed to ensure timely and convenient access to healthcare services. We have observed that patients are experiencing long wait times for appointments, with an average wait time of 30 days for non-urgent consultations, which is causing a 20% decrease in patient satisfaction scores and a 10% decline in patient retention, resulting in an estimated annual loss of £500,000.

Example 3: Publishing House

Business Problem Statement: Our digital publishing platform was designed to provide readers with seamless access to a wide range of high-quality content and to facilitate efficient content management for our authors and editors.

We have observed through user feedback and analytics that the platform is experiencing significant downtime and slow load times.

The product isn’t meeting these goals, which is causing frustration among our users, leading to a decline in user engagement and satisfaction, and ultimately resulting in a decrease in our readership and potential loss of revenue.

Key Benefits of Problem-First Thinking

When work is just presented as “solutions to implement,” it’s easy for teams to lose track of the actual problem. It’s like trying to put out a fire with a garden hose because, hey, water is water, right? But no — what you really need is to stop the sparks. A Business Problem Statement refocuses everyone on the real issue, so you’re not just slapping band-aids on things.

Here are a few benefits:

Empathy : Teams gain a deeper understanding of business/users’ pain points, resulting in solutions that better meet actual needs.

Ownership : Framing work as a problem to solve allows more team members to take ownership of creating fit-for-purpose solutions.

Creativity : A well-defined problem opens up space for creative problem-solving and prevents teams from locking into a pre-set solution.

Engagement : Solving real problems fosters higher engagement from team members, as their work becomes directly connected to business and user outcomes

Few Tips Regarding Business Problem Statements

Here are a few recommendations that I have learnt while working in tranches

Use the Whole Team : Don’t involve only a selected few. Involve the entire team in crafting problem statements. This ensures diverse perspectives and shared understanding across departments.

Focus on the ‘Why’ : Always ask why this problem is worth solving. Define the purpose behind the business challenge to ensure the problem is meaningful and relevant.

Avoid Jumping to Solutions : Do not specify solutions in the problem statement. This can limit creativity and lock the team into predefined ideas, reducing their ability to think outside the box.

Select the Right Level : Define problems that your team can realistically solve. Avoid high-level issues that are beyond the team’s influence or authority.

Continuous Refinement : Treat problem statements as living documents. As new data, feedback, and insights emerge, refine the statement to bring more clarity and focus.

Next time someone asks, “Why are we doing this?” , don’t let panic set in — channel your inner Simon Sinek and start with why . A well-defined Business Problem Statement is your secret weapon for keeping teams focused on solving the real issues. It aligns the team with clear goals, avoids jumping to premature solutions, and fosters creativity and ownership. So, whether you’re tackling customer churn, appointment scheduling issues, or platform performance, having a solid problem statement will always lead you to the right solution — and trust me, that’s far more rewarding than just guessing and hoping for the best!

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How to Write a Business Plan in 9 Steps (+ Template and Examples)

Every successful business has one thing in common, a good and well-executed business plan. A business plan is more than a document, it is a complete guide that outlines the goals your business wants to achieve, including its financial goals . It helps you analyze results, make strategic decisions, show your business operations and growth.

If you want to start a business or already have one and need to pitch it to investors for funding, writing a good business plan improves your chances of attracting financiers. As a startup, if you want to secure loans from financial institutions, part of the requirements involve submitting your business plan.

Writing a business plan does not have to be a complicated or time-consuming process. In this article, you will learn the step-by-step process for writing a successful business plan.

You will also learn what you need a business plan for, tips and strategies for writing a convincing business plan, business plan examples and templates that will save you tons of time, and the alternatives to the traditional business plan.

Let’s get started.

What Do You Need A Business Plan For?

Businesses create business plans for different purposes such as to secure funds, monitor business growth, measure your marketing strategies, and measure your business success.

1. Secure Funds

One of the primary reasons for writing a business plan is to secure funds, either from financial institutions/agencies or investors.

For you to effectively acquire funds, your business plan must contain the key elements of your business plan . For example, your business plan should include your growth plans, goals you want to achieve, and milestones you have recorded.

A business plan can also attract new business partners that are willing to contribute financially and intellectually. If you are writing a business plan to a bank, your project must show your traction , that is, the proof that you can pay back any loan borrowed.

Also, if you are writing to an investor, your plan must contain evidence that you can effectively utilize the funds you want them to invest in your business. Here, you are using your business plan to persuade a group or an individual that your business is a source of a good investment.

2. Monitor Business Growth

A business plan can help you track cash flows in your business. It steers your business to greater heights. A business plan capable of tracking business growth should contain:

• The business goals
• Methods to achieve the goals
• Time-frame for attaining those goals

A good business plan should guide you through every step in achieving your goals. It can also track the allocation of assets to every aspect of the business. You can tell when you are spending more than you should on a project.

You can compare a business plan to a written GPS. It helps you manage your business and hints at the right time to expand your business.

3. Measure Business Success

A business plan can help you measure your business success rate. Some small-scale businesses are thriving better than more prominent companies because of their track record of success.

Right from the onset of your business operation, set goals and work towards them. Write a plan to guide you through your procedures. Use your plan to measure how much you have achieved and how much is left to attain.

You can also weigh your success by monitoring the position of your brand relative to competitors. On the other hand, a business plan can also show you why you have not achieved a goal. It can tell if you have elapsed the time frame you set to attain a goal.

4. Document Your Marketing Strategies

You can use a business plan to document your marketing plans. Every business should have an effective marketing plan.

Competition mandates every business owner to go the extraordinary mile to remain relevant in the market. Your business plan should contain your marketing strategies that work. You can measure the success rate of your marketing plans.

In your business plan, your marketing strategy must answer the questions:

• How do you want to reach your target audience?
• How do you plan to retain your customers?
• What is/are your pricing plans?
• What is your budget for marketing?

How to Write a Business Plan Step-by-Step

1. create your executive summary.

The executive summary is a snapshot of your business or a high-level overview of your business purposes and plans . Although the executive summary is the first section in your business plan, most people write it last. The length of the executive summary is not more than two pages.

Generally, there are nine sections in a business plan, the executive summary should condense essential ideas from the other eight sections.

A good executive summary should do the following:

• A Snapshot of Growth Potential. Briefly inform the reader about your company and why it will be successful)
• Contain your Mission Statement which explains what the main objective or focus of your business is.
• Product Description and Differentiation. Brief description of your products or services and why it is different from other solutions in the market.
• The Team. Basic information about your company’s leadership team and employees
• Business Concept. A solid description of what your business does.
• Target Market. The customers you plan to sell to.
• Marketing Strategy. Your plans on reaching and selling to your customers
• Current Financial State. Brief information about what revenue your business currently generates.
• Projected Financial State. Brief information about what you foresee your business revenue to be in the future.

The executive summary is the make-or-break section of your business plan. If your summary cannot in less than two pages cannot clearly describe how your business will solve a particular problem of your target audience and make a profit, your business plan is set on a faulty foundation.

Avoid using the executive summary to hype your business, instead, focus on helping the reader understand the what and how of your plan.

View the executive summary as an opportunity to introduce your vision for your company. You know your executive summary is powerful when it can answer these key questions:

• Who is your target audience?
• What sector or industry are you in?
• What are your products and services?
• What is the future of your industry?
• Is your company scaleable?
• Who are the owners and leaders of your company? What are their backgrounds and experience levels?
• What is the motivation for starting your company?
• What are the next steps?

Writing the executive summary last although it is the most important section of your business plan is an excellent idea. The reason why is because it is a high-level overview of your business plan. It is the section that determines whether potential investors and lenders will read further or not.

The executive summary can be a stand-alone document that covers everything in your business plan. It is not uncommon for investors to request only the executive summary when evaluating your business. If the information in the executive summary impresses them, they will ask for the complete business plan.

If you are writing your business plan for your planning purposes, you do not need to write the executive summary.

2. Add Your Company Overview

The company overview or description is the next section in your business plan after the executive summary. It describes what your business does.

Adding your company overview can be tricky especially when your business is still in the planning stages. Existing businesses can easily summarize their current operations but may encounter difficulties trying to explain what they plan to become.

Your company overview should contain the following:

• What products and services you will provide
• Geographical markets and locations your company have a presence
• What you need to run your business
• Who your target audience or customers are
• Who will service your customers
• Your company’s purpose, mission, and vision
• Information about your company’s founders
• Who the founders are
• Notable achievements of your company so far

When creating a company overview, you have to focus on three basics: identifying your industry, identifying your customer, and explaining the problem you solve.

If you are stuck when creating your company overview, try to answer some of these questions that pertain to you.

• Who are you targeting? (The answer is not everyone)
• What pain point does your product or service solve for your customers that they will be willing to spend money on resolving?
• How does your product or service overcome that pain point?
• Where is the location of your business?
• What products, equipment, and services do you need to run your business?
• How is your company’s product or service different from your competition in the eyes of your customers?
• How many employees do you need and what skills do you require them to have?

After answering some or all of these questions, you will get more than enough information you need to write your company overview or description section. When writing this section, describe what your company does for your customers.

The company description or overview section contains three elements: mission statement, history, and objectives.

• Mission Statement

The mission statement refers to the reason why your business or company is existing. It goes beyond what you do or sell, it is about the ‘why’. A good mission statement should be emotional and inspirational.

Your mission statement should follow the KISS rule (Keep It Simple, Stupid). For example, Shopify’s mission statement is “Make commerce better for everyone.”

When describing your company’s history, make it simple and avoid the temptation of tying it to a defensive narrative. Write it in the manner you would a profile. Your company’s history should include the following information:

• Founding Date
• Major Milestones
• Location(s)
• Flagship Products or Services
• Number of Employees
• Executive Leadership Roles

When you fill in this information, you use it to write one or two paragraphs about your company’s history.

Business Objectives

Your business objective must be SMART (specific, measurable, achievable, realistic, and time-bound.) Failure to clearly identify your business objectives does not inspire confidence and makes it hard for your team members to work towards a common purpose.

3. Perform Market and Competitive Analyses to Proof a Big Enough Business Opportunity

The third step in writing a business plan is the market and competitive analysis section. Every business, no matter the size, needs to perform comprehensive market and competitive analyses before it enters into a market.

Performing market and competitive analyses are critical for the success of your business. It helps you avoid entering the right market with the wrong product, or vice versa. Anyone reading your business plans, especially financiers and financial institutions will want to see proof that there is a big enough business opportunity you are targeting.

This section is where you describe the market and industry you want to operate in and show the big opportunities in the market that your business can leverage to make a profit. If you noticed any unique trends when doing your research, show them in this section.

Market analysis alone is not enough, you have to add competitive analysis to strengthen this section. There are already businesses in the industry or market, how do you plan to take a share of the market from them?

You have to clearly illustrate the competitive landscape in your business plan. Are there areas your competitors are doing well? Are there areas where they are not doing so well? Show it.

Make it clear in this section why you are moving into the industry and what weaknesses are present there that you plan to explain. How are your competitors going to react to your market entry? How do you plan to get customers? Do you plan on taking your competitors' competitors, tap into other sources for customers, or both?

Illustrate the competitive landscape as well. What are your competitors doing well and not so well?

Answering these questions and thoughts will aid your market and competitive analysis of the opportunities in your space. Depending on how sophisticated your industry is, or the expectations of your financiers, you may need to carry out a more comprehensive market and competitive analysis to prove that big business opportunity.

Instead of looking at the market and competitive analyses as one entity, separating them will make the research even more comprehensive.

Market Analysis

Market analysis, boarding speaking, refers to research a business carried out on its industry, market, and competitors. It helps businesses gain a good understanding of their target market and the outlook of their industry. Before starting a company, it is vital to carry out market research to find out if the market is viable.

The market analysis section is a key part of the business plan. It is the section where you identify who your best clients or customers are. You cannot omit this section, without it your business plan is incomplete.

A good market analysis will tell your readers how you fit into the existing market and what makes you stand out. This section requires in-depth research, it will probably be the most time-consuming part of the business plan to write.

• Market Research

To create a compelling market analysis that will win over investors and financial institutions, you have to carry out thorough market research . Your market research should be targeted at your primary target market for your products or services. Here is what you want to find out about your target market.

• Your target market’s needs or pain points
• The existing solutions for their pain points
• Geographic Location
• Demographics

The purpose of carrying out a marketing analysis is to get all the information you need to show that you have a solid and thorough understanding of your target audience.

Only after you have fully understood the people you plan to sell your products or services to, can you evaluate correctly if your target market will be interested in your products or services.

You can easily convince interested parties to invest in your business if you can show them you thoroughly understand the market and show them that there is a market for your products or services.

How to Quantify Your Target Market

One of the goals of your marketing research is to understand who your ideal customers are and their purchasing power. To quantify your target market, you have to determine the following:

• Your Potential Customers: They are the people you plan to target. For example, if you sell accounting software for small businesses , then anyone who runs an enterprise or large business is unlikely to be your customers. Also, individuals who do not have a business will most likely not be interested in your product.
• Total Households: If you are selling household products such as heating and air conditioning systems, determining the number of total households is more important than finding out the total population in the area you want to sell to. The logic is simple, people buy the product but it is the household that uses it.
• Median Income: You need to know the median income of your target market. If you target a market that cannot afford to buy your products and services, your business will not last long.
• Income by Demographics: If your potential customers belong to a certain age group or gender, determining income levels by demographics is necessary. For example, if you sell men's clothes, your target audience is men.

What Does a Good Market Analysis Entail?

Your business does not exist on its own, it can only flourish within an industry and alongside competitors. Market analysis takes into consideration your industry, target market, and competitors. Understanding these three entities will drastically improve your company’s chances of success.

You can view your market analysis as an examination of the market you want to break into and an education on the emerging trends and themes in that market. Good market analyses include the following:

• Industry Description. You find out about the history of your industry, the current and future market size, and who the largest players/companies are in your industry.
• Overview of Target Market. You research your target market and its characteristics. Who are you targeting? Note, it cannot be everyone, it has to be a specific group. You also have to find out all information possible about your customers that can help you understand how and why they make buying decisions.
• Size of Target Market: You need to know the size of your target market, how frequently they buy, and the expected quantity they buy so you do not risk overproducing and having lots of bad inventory. Researching the size of your target market will help you determine if it is big enough for sustained business or not.
• Growth Potential: Before picking a target market, you want to be sure there are lots of potential for future growth. You want to avoid going for an industry that is declining slowly or rapidly with almost zero growth potential.
• Market Share Potential: Does your business stand a good chance of taking a good share of the market?
• Market Pricing and Promotional Strategies: Your market analysis should give you an idea of the price point you can expect to charge for your products and services. Researching your target market will also give you ideas of pricing strategies you can implement to break into the market or to enjoy maximum profits.
• Potential Barriers to Entry: One of the biggest benefits of conducting market analysis is that it shows you every potential barrier to entry your business will likely encounter. It is a good idea to discuss potential barriers to entry such as changing technology. It informs readers of your business plan that you understand the market.
• Research on Competitors: You need to know the strengths and weaknesses of your competitors and how you can exploit them for the benefit of your business. Find patterns and trends among your competitors that make them successful, discover what works and what doesn’t, and see what you can do better.

The market analysis section is not just for talking about your target market, industry, and competitors. You also have to explain how your company can fill the hole you have identified in the market.

Here are some questions you can answer that can help you position your product or service in a positive light to your readers.

• Is your product or service of superior quality?
• What additional features do you offer that your competitors do not offer?
• Are you targeting a ‘new’ market?

Basically, your market analysis should include an analysis of what already exists in the market and an explanation of how your company fits into the market.

Competitive Analysis

In the competitive analysis section, y ou have to understand who your direct and indirect competitions are, and how successful they are in the marketplace. It is the section where you assess the strengths and weaknesses of your competitors, the advantage(s) they possess in the market and show the unique features or qualities that make you different from your competitors.

Many businesses do market analysis and competitive analysis together. However, to fully understand what the competitive analysis entails, it is essential to separate it from the market analysis.

Competitive analysis for your business can also include analysis on how to overcome barriers to entry in your target market.

The primary goal of conducting a competitive analysis is to distinguish your business from your competitors. A strong competitive analysis is essential if you want to convince potential funding sources to invest in your business. You have to show potential investors and lenders that your business has what it takes to compete in the marketplace successfully.

Competitive analysis will s how you what the strengths of your competition are and what they are doing to maintain that advantage.

When doing your competitive research, you first have to identify your competitor and then get all the information you can about them. The idea of spending time to identify your competitor and learn everything about them may seem daunting but it is well worth it.

Find answers to the following questions after you have identified who your competitors are.

• What are your successful competitors doing?
• Why is what they are doing working?
• Can your business do it better?
• What are the weaknesses of your successful competitors?
• What are they not doing well?
• Can your business turn its weaknesses into strengths?
• How good is your competitors’ customer service?
• Where do your competitors invest in advertising?
• What sales and pricing strategies are they using?
• What marketing strategies are they using?
• What kind of press coverage do they get?
• What are their customers saying about your competitors (both the positive and negative)?

If your competitors have a website, it is a good idea to visit their websites for more competitors’ research. Check their “About Us” page for more information.

If you are presenting your business plan to investors, you need to clearly distinguish yourself from your competitors. Investors can easily tell when you have not properly researched your competitors.

Take time to think about what unique qualities or features set you apart from your competitors. If you do not have any direct competition offering your product to the market, it does not mean you leave out the competitor analysis section blank. Instead research on other companies that are providing a similar product, or whose product is solving the problem your product solves.

The next step is to create a table listing the top competitors you want to include in your business plan. Ensure you list your business as the last and on the right. What you just created is known as the competitor analysis table.

Direct vs Indirect Competition

You cannot know if your product or service will be a fit for your target market if you have not understood your business and the competitive landscape.

There is no market you want to target where you will not encounter competition, even if your product is innovative. Including competitive analysis in your business plan is essential.

If you are entering an established market, you need to explain how you plan to differentiate your products from the available options in the market. Also, include a list of few companies that you view as your direct competitors The competition you face in an established market is your direct competition.

In situations where you are entering a market with no direct competition, it does not mean there is no competition there. Consider your indirect competition that offers substitutes for the products or services you offer.

For example, if you sell an innovative SaaS product, let us say a project management software , a company offering time management software is your indirect competition.

There is an easy way to find out who your indirect competitors are in the absence of no direct competitors. You simply have to research how your potential customers are solving the problems that your product or service seeks to solve. That is your direct competition.

Factors that Differentiate Your Business from the Competition

There are three main factors that any business can use to differentiate itself from its competition. They are cost leadership, product differentiation, and market segmentation.

1. Cost Leadership

A strategy you can impose to maximize your profits and gain an edge over your competitors. It involves offering lower prices than what the majority of your competitors are offering.

A common practice among businesses looking to enter into a market where there are dominant players is to use free trials or pricing to attract as many customers as possible to their offer.

2. Product Differentiation

Your product or service should have a unique selling proposition (USP) that your competitors do not have or do not stress in their marketing.

Part of the marketing strategy should involve making your products unique and different from your competitors. It does not have to be different from your competitors, it can be the addition to a feature or benefit that your competitors do not currently have.

3. Market Segmentation

As a new business seeking to break into an industry, you will gain more success from focusing on a specific niche or target market, and not the whole industry.

If your competitors are focused on a general need or target market, you can differentiate yourself from them by having a small and hyper-targeted audience. For example, if your competitors are selling men’s clothes in their online stores , you can sell hoodies for men.

4. Define Your Business and Management Structure

The next step in your business plan is your business and management structure. It is the section where you describe the legal structure of your business and the team running it.

Your business is only as good as the management team that runs it, while the management team can only strive when there is a proper business and management structure in place.

If your company is a sole proprietor or a limited liability company (LLC), a general or limited partnership, or a C or an S corporation, state it clearly in this section.

Use an organizational chart to show the management structure in your business. Clearly show who is in charge of what area in your company. It is where you show how each key manager or team leader’s unique experience can contribute immensely to the success of your company. You can also opt to add the resumes and CVs of the key players in your company.

The business and management structure section should show who the owner is, and other owners of the businesses (if the business has other owners). For businesses or companies with multiple owners, include the percent ownership of the various owners and clearly show the extent of each others’ involvement in the company.

Investors want to know who is behind the company and the team running it to determine if it has the right management to achieve its set goals.

Management Team

The management team section is where you show that you have the right team in place to successfully execute the business operations and ideas. Take time to create the management structure for your business. Think about all the important roles and responsibilities that you need managers for to grow your business.

Include brief bios of each key team member and ensure you highlight only the relevant information that is needed. If your team members have background industry experience or have held top positions for other companies and achieved success while filling that role, highlight it in this section.

A common mistake that many startups make is assigning C-level titles such as (CMO and CEO) to everyone on their team. It is unrealistic for a small business to have those titles. While it may look good on paper for the ego of your team members, it can prevent investors from investing in your business.

Instead of building an unrealistic management structure that does not fit your business reality, it is best to allow business titles to grow as the business grows. Starting everyone at the top leaves no room for future change or growth, which is bad for productivity.

Your management team does not have to be complete before you start writing your business plan. You can have a complete business plan even when there are managerial positions that are empty and need filling.

If you have management gaps in your team, simply show the gaps and indicate you are searching for the right candidates for the role(s). Investors do not expect you to have a full management team when you are just starting your business.

Key Questions to Answer When Structuring Your Management Team

• Who are the key leaders?
• What experiences, skills, and educational backgrounds do you expect your key leaders to have?
• Do your key leaders have industry experience?
• What positions will they fill and what duties will they perform in those positions?
• What level of authority do the key leaders have and what are their responsibilities?
• What is the salary for the various management positions that will attract the ideal candidates?

Additional Tips for Writing the Management Structure Section

1. Avoid Adding ‘Ghost’ Names to Your Management Team

There is always that temptation to include a ‘ghost’ name to your management team to attract and influence investors to invest in your business. Although the presence of these celebrity management team members may attract the attention of investors, it can cause your business to lose any credibility if you get found out.

Seasoned investors will investigate further the members of your management team before committing fully to your business If they find out that the celebrity name used does not play any actual role in your business, they will not invest and may write you off as dishonest.

2. Focus on Credentials But Pay Extra Attention to the Roles

Investors want to know the experience that your key team members have to determine if they can successfully reach the company’s growth and financial goals.

While it is an excellent boost for your key management team to have the right credentials, you also want to pay extra attention to the roles they will play in your company.

Organizational Chart

Adding an organizational chart in this section of your business plan is not necessary, you can do it in your business plan’s appendix.

If you are exploring funding options, it is not uncommon to get asked for your organizational chart. The function of an organizational chart goes beyond raising money, you can also use it as a useful planning tool for your business.

An organizational chart can help you identify how best to structure your management team for maximum productivity and point you towards key roles you need to fill in the future.

You can use the organizational chart to show your company’s internal management structure such as the roles and responsibilities of your management team, and relationships that exist between them.

5. Describe Your Product and Service Offering

In your business plan, you have to describe what you sell or the service you plan to offer. It is the next step after defining your business and management structure. The products and services section is where you sell the benefits of your business.

Here you have to explain how your product or service will benefit your customers and describe your product lifecycle. It is also the section where you write down your plans for intellectual property like patent filings and copyrighting.

The research and development that you are undertaking for your product or service need to be explained in detail in this section. However, do not get too technical, sell the general idea and its benefits.

If you have any diagrams or intricate designs of your product or service, do not include them in the products and services section. Instead, leave them for the addendum page. Also, if you are leaving out diagrams or designs for the addendum, ensure you add this phrase “For more detail, visit the addendum Page #.”

Your product and service section in your business plan should include the following:

• A detailed explanation that clearly shows how your product or service works.
• The pricing model for your product or service.
• Your business’ sales and distribution strategy.
• The ideal customers that want your product or service.
• The benefits of your products and services.
• Reason(s) why your product or service is a better alternative to what your competitors are currently offering in the market.
• Plans for filling the orders you receive
• If you have current or pending patents, copyrights, and trademarks for your product or service, you can also discuss them in this section.

What to Focus On When Describing the Benefits, Lifecycle, and Production Process of Your Products or Services

In the products and services section, you have to distill the benefits, lifecycle, and production process of your products and services.

When describing the benefits of your products or services, here are some key factors to focus on.

• Unique features
• Translating the unique features into benefits
• The emotional, psychological, and practical payoffs to attract customers
• Intellectual property rights or any patents

When describing the product life cycle of your products or services, here are some key factors to focus on.

• Upsells, cross-sells, and down-sells
• Time between purchases
• Plans for research and development.

When describing the production process for your products or services, you need to think about the following:

• The creation of new or existing products and services.
• The sources for the raw materials or components you need for production.
• Assembling the products
• Maintaining quality control
• Supply-chain logistics (receiving the raw materials and delivering the finished products)
• The day-to-day management of the production processes, bookkeeping, and inventory.

Tips for Writing the Products or Services Section of Your Business Plan

1. Avoid Technical Descriptions and Industry Buzzwords

The products and services section of your business plan should clearly describe the products and services that your company provides. However, it is not a section to include technical jargons that anyone outside your industry will not understand.

A good practice is to remove highly detailed or technical descriptions in favor of simple terms. Industry buzzwords are not necessary, if there are simpler terms you can use, then use them. If you plan to use your business plan to source funds, making the product or service section so technical will do you no favors.

2. Describe How Your Products or Services Differ from Your Competitors

When potential investors look at your business plan, they want to know how the products and services you are offering differ from that of your competition. Differentiating your products or services from your competition in a way that makes your solution more attractive is critical.

If you are going the innovative path and there is no market currently for your product or service, you need to describe in this section why the market needs your product or service.

For example, overnight delivery was a niche business that only a few companies were participating in. Federal Express (FedEx) had to show in its business plan that there was a large opportunity for that service and they justified why the market needed that service.

3. Long or Short Products or Services Section

Should your products or services section be short? Does the long products or services section attract more investors?

There are no straightforward answers to these questions. Whether your products or services section should be long or relatively short depends on the nature of your business.

If your business is product-focused, then automatically you need to use more space to describe the details of your products. However, if the product your business sells is a commodity item that relies on competitive pricing or other pricing strategies, you do not have to use up so much space to provide significant details about the product.

Likewise, if you are selling a commodity that is available in numerous outlets, then you do not have to spend time on writing a long products or services section.

The key to the success of your business is most likely the effectiveness of your marketing strategies compared to your competitors. Use more space to address that section.

If you are creating a new product or service that the market does not know about, your products or services section can be lengthy. The reason why is because you need to explain everything about the product or service such as the nature of the product, its use case, and values.

A short products or services section for an innovative product or service will not give the readers enough information to properly evaluate your business.

4. Describe Your Relationships with Vendors or Suppliers

Your business will rely on vendors or suppliers to supply raw materials or the components needed to make your products. In your products and services section, describe your relationships with your vendors and suppliers fully.

Avoid the mistake of relying on only one supplier or vendor. If that supplier or vendor fails to supply or goes out of business, you can easily face supply problems and struggle to meet your demands. Plan to set up multiple vendor or supplier relationships for better business stability.

5. Your Primary Goal Is to Convince Your Readers

The primary goal of your business plan is to convince your readers that your business is viable and to create a guide for your business to follow. It applies to the products and services section.

When drafting this section, think like the reader. See your reader as someone who has no idea about your products and services. You are using the products and services section to provide the needed information to help your reader understand your products and services. As a result, you have to be clear and to the point.

While you want to educate your readers about your products or services, you also do not want to bore them with lots of technical details. Show your products and services and not your fancy choice of words.

Your products and services section should provide the answer to the “what” question for your business. You and your management team may run the business, but it is your products and services that are the lifeblood of the business.

Key Questions to Answer When Writing your Products and Services Section

Answering these questions can help you write your products and services section quickly and in a way that will appeal to your readers.

• Are your products existing on the market or are they still in the development stage?
• What is your timeline for adding new products and services to the market?
• What are the positives that make your products and services different from your competitors?
• Do your products and services have any competitive advantage that your competitors’ products and services do not currently have?
• Do your products or services have any competitive disadvantages that you need to overcome to compete with your competitors? If your answer is yes, state how you plan to overcome them,
• How much does it cost to produce your products or services? How much do you plan to sell it for?
• What is the price for your products and services compared to your competitors? Is pricing an issue?
• What are your operating costs and will it be low enough for you to compete with your competitors and still take home a reasonable profit margin?
• What is your plan for acquiring your products? Are you involved in the production of your products or services?
• Are you the manufacturer and produce all the components you need to create your products? Do you assemble your products by using components supplied by other manufacturers? Do you purchase your products directly from suppliers or wholesalers?
• Do you have a steady supply of products that you need to start your business? (If your business is yet to kick-off)
• How do you plan to distribute your products or services to the market?

You can also hint at the marketing or promotion plans you have for your products or services such as how you plan to build awareness or retain customers. The next section is where you can go fully into details about your business’s marketing and sales plan.

6. Show and Explain Your Marketing and Sales Plan

Providing great products and services is wonderful, but it means nothing if you do not have a marketing and sales plan to inform your customers about them. Your marketing and sales plan is critical to the success of your business.

The sales and marketing section is where you show and offer a detailed explanation of your marketing and sales plan and how you plan to execute it. It covers your pricing plan, proposed advertising and promotion activities, activities and partnerships you need to make your business a success, and the benefits of your products and services.

There are several ways you can approach your marketing and sales strategy. Ideally, your marketing and sales strategy has to fit the unique needs of your business.

In this section, you describe how the plans your business has for attracting and retaining customers, and the exact process for making a sale happen. It is essential to thoroughly describe your complete marketing and sales plans because you are still going to reference this section when you are making financial projections for your business.

Outline Your Business’ Unique Selling Proposition (USP)

The sales and marketing section is where you outline your business’s unique selling proposition (USP). When you are developing your unique selling proposition, think about the strongest reasons why people should buy from you over your competition. That reason(s) is most likely a good fit to serve as your unique selling proposition (USP).

Target Market and Target Audience

Plans on how to get your products or services to your target market and how to get your target audience to buy them go into this section. You also highlight the strengths of your business here, particularly what sets them apart from your competition.

Before you start writing your marketing and sales plan, you need to have properly defined your target audience and fleshed out your buyer persona. If you do not first understand the individual you are marketing to, your marketing and sales plan will lack any substance and easily fall.

Creating a Smart Marketing and Sales Plan

Marketing your products and services is an investment that requires you to spend money. Like any other investment, you have to generate a good return on investment (ROI) to justify using that marketing and sales plan. Good marketing and sales plans bring in high sales and profits to your company.

Avoid spending money on unproductive marketing channels. Do your research and find out the best marketing and sales plan that works best for your company.

Your marketing and sales plan can be broken into different parts: your positioning statement, pricing, promotion, packaging, advertising, public relations, content marketing, social media, and strategic alliances.

Your Positioning Statement

Your positioning statement is the first part of your marketing and sales plan. It refers to the way you present your company to your customers.

Are you the premium solution, the low-price solution, or are you the intermediary between the two extremes in the market? What do you offer that your competitors do not that can give you leverage in the market?

Before you start writing your positioning statement, you need to spend some time evaluating the current market conditions. Here are some questions that can help you to evaluate the market

• What are the unique features or benefits that you offer that your competitors lack?
• What are your customers’ primary needs and wants?
• Why should a customer choose you over your competition? How do you plan to differentiate yourself from the competition?
• How does your company’s solution compare with other solutions in the market?

After answering these questions, then you can start writing your positioning statement. Your positioning statement does not have to be in-depth or too long.

All you need to explain with your positioning statement are two focus areas. The first is the position of your company within the competitive landscape. The other focus area is the core value proposition that sets your company apart from other alternatives that your ideal customer might consider.

Here is a simple template you can use to develop a positioning statement.

For [description of target market] who [need of target market], [product or service] [how it meets the need]. Unlike [top competition], it [most essential distinguishing feature].

For example, let’s create the positioning statement for fictional accounting software and QuickBooks alternative , TBooks.

“For small business owners who need accounting services, TBooks is an accounting software that helps small businesses handle their small business bookkeeping basics quickly and easily. Unlike Wave, TBooks gives small businesses access to live sessions with top accountants.”

You can edit this positioning statement sample and fill it with your business details.

After writing your positioning statement, the next step is the pricing of your offerings. The overall positioning strategy you set in your positioning statement will often determine how you price your products or services.

Pricing is a powerful tool that sends a strong message to your customers. Failure to get your pricing strategy right can make or mar your business. If you are targeting a low-income audience, setting a premium price can result in low sales.

You can use pricing to communicate your positioning to your customers. For example, if you are offering a product at a premium price, you are sending a message to your customers that the product belongs to the premium category.

Basic Rules to Follow When Pricing Your Offering

Setting a price for your offering involves more than just putting a price tag on it. Deciding on the right pricing for your offering requires following some basic rules. They include covering your costs, primary and secondary profit center pricing, and matching the market rate.

• Covering Your Costs: The price you set for your products or service should be more than it costs you to produce and deliver them. Every business has the same goal, to make a profit. Depending on the strategy you want to use, there are exceptions to this rule. However, the vast majority of businesses follow this rule.
• Primary and Secondary Profit Center Pricing: When a company sets its price above the cost of production, it is making that product its primary profit center. A company can also decide not to make its initial price its primary profit center by selling below or at even with its production cost. It rather depends on the support product or even maintenance that is associated with the initial purchase to make its profit. The initial price thus became its secondary profit center.
• Matching the Market Rate: A good rule to follow when pricing your products or services is to match your pricing with consumer demand and expectations. If you price your products or services beyond the price your customer perceives as the ideal price range, you may end up with no customers. Pricing your products too low below what your customer perceives as the ideal price range may lead to them undervaluing your offering.

Pricing Strategy

Your pricing strategy influences the price of your offering. There are several pricing strategies available for you to choose from when examining the right pricing strategy for your business. They include cost-plus pricing, market-based pricing, value pricing, and more.

• Cost-plus Pricing: This strategy is one of the simplest and oldest pricing strategies. Here you consider the cost of producing a unit of your product and then add a profit to it to arrive at your market price. It is an effective pricing strategy for manufacturers because it helps them cover their initial costs. Another name for the cost-plus pricing strategy is the markup pricing strategy.
• Market-based Pricing: This pricing strategy analyses the market including competitors’ pricing and then sets a price based on what the market is expecting. With this pricing strategy, you can either set your price at the low-end or high-end of the market.
• Value Pricing: This pricing strategy involves setting a price based on the value you are providing to your customer. When adopting a value-based pricing strategy, you have to set a price that your customers are willing to pay. Service-based businesses such as small business insurance providers , luxury goods sellers, and the fashion industry use this pricing strategy.

After carefully sorting out your positioning statement and pricing, the next item to look at is your promotional strategy. Your promotional strategy explains how you plan on communicating with your customers and prospects.

As a business, you must measure all your costs, including the cost of your promotions. You also want to measure how much sales your promotions bring for your business to determine its usefulness. Promotional strategies or programs that do not lead to profit need to be removed.

There are different types of promotional strategies you can adopt for your business, they include advertising, public relations, and content marketing.

Advertising

Your business plan should include your advertising plan which can be found in the marketing and sales plan section. You need to include an overview of your advertising plans such as the areas you plan to spend money on to advertise your business and offers.

Ensure that you make it clear in this section if your business will be advertising online or using the more traditional offline media, or the combination of both online and offline media. You can also include the advertising medium you want to use to raise awareness about your business and offers.

Some common online advertising mediums you can use include social media ads, landing pages, sales pages, SEO, Pay-Per-Click, emails, Google Ads, and others. Some common traditional and offline advertising mediums include word of mouth, radios, direct mail, televisions, flyers, billboards, posters, and others.

A key component of your advertising strategy is how you plan to measure the effectiveness and success of your advertising campaign. There is no point in sticking with an advertising plan or medium that does not produce results for your business in the long run.

Public Relations

A great way to reach your customers is to get the media to cover your business or product. Publicity, especially good ones, should be a part of your marketing and sales plan. In this section, show your plans for getting prominent reviews of your product from reputable publications and sources.

Your business needs that exposure to grow. If public relations is a crucial part of your promotional strategy, provide details about your public relations plan here.

Content Marketing

Content marketing is a popular promotional strategy used by businesses to inform and attract their customers. It is about teaching and educating your prospects on various topics of interest in your niche, it does not just involve informing them about the benefits and features of the products and services you have,

Businesses publish content usually for free where they provide useful information, tips, and advice so that their target market can be made aware of the importance of their products and services. Content marketing strategies seek to nurture prospects into buyers over time by simply providing value.

Your company can create a blog where it will be publishing content for its target market. You will need to use the best website builder such as Wix and Squarespace and the best web hosting services such as Bluehost, Hostinger, and other Bluehost alternatives to create a functional blog or website.

If content marketing is a crucial part of your promotional strategy (as it should be), detail your plans under promotions.

Including high-quality images of the packaging of your product in your business plan is a lovely idea. You can add the images of the packaging of that product in the marketing and sales plan section. If you are not selling a product, then you do not need to include any worry about the physical packaging of your product.

When organizing the packaging section of your business plan, you can answer the following questions to make maximum use of this section.

• Is your choice of packaging consistent with your positioning strategy?
• What key value proposition does your packaging communicate? (It should reflect the key value proposition of your business)
• How does your packaging compare to that of your competitors?

Social Media

Your 21st-century business needs to have a good social media presence. Not having one is leaving out opportunities for growth and reaching out to your prospect.

You do not have to join the thousands of social media platforms out there. What you need to do is join the ones that your customers are active on and be active there.

Businesses use social media to provide information about their products such as promotions, discounts, the benefits of their products, and content on their blogs.

Social media is also a platform for engaging with your customers and getting feedback about your products or services. Make no mistake, more and more of your prospects are using social media channels to find more information about companies.

You need to consider the social media channels you want to prioritize your business (prioritize the ones your customers are active in) and your branding plans in this section.

Strategic Alliances

If your company plans to work closely with other companies as part of your sales and marketing plan, include it in this section. Prove details about those partnerships in your business plan if you have already established them.

Strategic alliances can be beneficial for all parties involved including your company. Working closely with another company in the form of a partnership can provide access to a different target market segment for your company.

The company you are partnering with may also gain access to your target market or simply offer a new product or service (that of your company) to its customers.

Mutually beneficial partnerships can cover the weaknesses of one company with the strength of another. You should consider strategic alliances with companies that sell complimentary products to yours. For example, if you provide printers, you can partner with a company that produces ink since the customers that buy printers from you will also need inks for printing.

Steps Involved in Creating a Marketing and Sales Plan

1. Focus on Your Target Market

Identify who your customers are, the market you want to target. Then determine the best ways to get your products or services to your potential customers.

2. Evaluate Your Competition

One of the goals of having a marketing plan is to distinguish yourself from your competition. You cannot stand out from them without first knowing them in and out.

You can know your competitors by gathering information about their products, pricing, service, and advertising campaigns.

These questions can help you know your competition.

• What makes your competition successful?
• What are their weaknesses?
• What are customers saying about your competition?

3. Consider Your Brand

Customers' perception of your brand has a strong impact on your sales. Your marketing and sales plan should seek to bolster the image of your brand. Before you start marketing your business, think about the message you want to pass across about your business and your products and services.

4. Focus on Benefits

The majority of your customers do not view your product in terms of features, what they want to know is the benefits and solutions your product offers. Think about the problems your product solves and the benefits it delivers, and use it to create the right sales and marketing message.

Your marketing plan should focus on what you want your customer to get instead of what you provide. Identify those benefits in your marketing and sales plan.

5. Focus on Differentiation

Your marketing and sales plan should look for a unique angle they can take that differentiates your business from the competition, even if the products offered are similar. Some good areas of differentiation you can use are your benefits, pricing, and features.

Key Questions to Answer When Writing Your Marketing and Sales Plan

• What is your company’s budget for sales and marketing campaigns?
• What key metrics will you use to determine if your marketing plans are successful?
• What are your alternatives if your initial marketing efforts do not succeed?
• Who are the sales representatives you need to promote your products or services?
• What are the marketing and sales channels you plan to use? How do you plan to get your products in front of your ideal customers?
• Where will you sell your products?

You may want to include samples of marketing materials you plan to use such as print ads, website descriptions, and social media ads. While it is not compulsory to include these samples, it can help you better communicate your marketing and sales plan and objectives.

The purpose of the marketing and sales section is to answer this question “How will you reach your customers?” If you cannot convincingly provide an answer to this question, you need to rework your marketing and sales section.

7. Clearly Show Your Funding Request

If you are writing your business plan to ask for funding from investors or financial institutions, the funding request section is where you will outline your funding requirements. The funding request section should answer the question ‘How much money will your business need in the near future (3 to 5 years)?’

A good funding request section will clearly outline and explain the amount of funding your business needs over the next five years. You need to know the amount of money your business needs to make an accurate funding request.

Also, when writing your funding request, provide details of how the funds will be used over the period. Specify if you want to use the funds to buy raw materials or machinery, pay salaries, pay for advertisements, and cover specific bills such as rent and electricity.

In addition to explaining what you want to use the funds requested for, you need to clearly state the projected return on investment (ROI) . Investors and creditors want to know if your business can generate profit for them if they put funds into it.

Ensure you do not inflate the figures and stay as realistic as possible. Investors and financial institutions you are seeking funds from will do their research before investing money in your business.

If you are not sure of an exact number to request from, you can use some range of numbers as rough estimates. Add a best-case scenario and a work-case scenario to your funding request. Also, include a description of your strategic future financial plans such as selling your business or paying off debts.

Funding Request: Debt or Equity?

When making your funding request, specify the type of funding you want. Do you want debt or equity? Draw out the terms that will be applicable for the funding, and the length of time the funding request will cover.

Case for Equity

If your new business has not yet started generating profits, you are most likely preparing to sell equity in your business to raise capital at the early stage. Equity here refers to ownership. In this case, you are selling a portion of your company to raise capital.

Although this method of raising capital for your business does not put your business in debt, keep in mind that an equity owner may expect to play a key role in company decisions even if he does not hold a major stake in the company.

Most equity sales for startups are usually private transactions . If you are making a funding request by offering equity in exchange for funding, let the investor know that they will be paid a dividend (a share of the company’s profit). Also, let the investor know the process for selling their equity in your business.

Case for Debt

You may decide not to offer equity in exchange for funds, instead, you make a funding request with the promise to pay back the money borrowed at the agreed time frame.

When making a funding request with an agreement to pay back, note that you will have to repay your creditors both the principal amount borrowed and the interest on it. Financial institutions offer this type of funding for businesses.

Large companies combine both equity and debt in their capital structure. When drafting your business plan, decide if you want to offer both or one over the other.

Before you sell equity in exchange for funding in your business, consider if you are willing to accept not being in total control of your business. Also, before you seek loans in your funding request section, ensure that the terms of repayment are favorable.

You should set a clear timeline in your funding request so that potential investors and creditors can know what you are expecting. Some investors and creditors may agree to your funding request and then delay payment for longer than 30 days, meanwhile, your business needs an immediate cash injection to operate efficiently.

Additional Tips for Writing the Funding Request Section of your Business Plan

The funding request section is not necessary for every business, it is only needed by businesses who plan to use their business plan to secure funding.

If you are adding the funding request section to your business plan, provide an itemized summary of how you plan to use the funds requested. Hiring a lawyer, accountant, or other professionals may be necessary for the proper development of this section.

You should also gather and use financial statements that add credibility and support to your funding requests. Ensure that the financial statements you use should include your projected financial data such as projected cash flows, forecast statements, and expenditure budgets.

If you are an existing business, include all historical financial statements such as cash flow statements, balance sheets and income statements .

Provide monthly and quarterly financial statements for a year. If your business has records that date back beyond the one-year mark, add the yearly statements of those years. These documents are for the appendix section of your business plan.

8. Detail Your Financial Plan, Metrics, and Projections

If you used the funding request section in your business plan, supplement it with a financial plan, metrics, and projections. This section paints a picture of the past performance of your business and then goes ahead to make an informed projection about its future.

The goal of this section is to convince readers that your business is going to be a financial success. It outlines your business plan to generate enough profit to repay the loan (with interest if applicable) and to generate a decent return on investment for investors.

If you have an existing business already in operation, use this section to demonstrate stability through finance. This section should include your cash flow statements, balance sheets, and income statements covering the last three to five years. If your business has some acceptable collateral that you can use to acquire loans, list it in the financial plan, metrics, and projection section.

Apart from current financial statements, this section should also contain a prospective financial outlook that spans the next five years. Include forecasted income statements, cash flow statements, balance sheets, and capital expenditure budget.

If your business is new and is not yet generating profit, use clear and realistic projections to show the potentials of your business.

When drafting this section, research industry norms and the performance of comparable businesses. Your financial projections should cover at least five years. State the logic behind your financial projections. Remember you can always make adjustments to this section as the variables change.

The financial plan, metrics, and projection section create a baseline which your business can either exceed or fail to reach. If your business fails to reach your projections in this section, you need to understand why it failed.

Investors and loan managers spend a lot of time going through the financial plan, metrics, and projection section compared to other parts of the business plan. Ensure you spend time creating credible financial analyses for your business in this section.

Many entrepreneurs find this section daunting to write. You do not need a business degree to create a solid financial forecast for your business. Business finances, especially for startups, are not as complicated as they seem. There are several online tools and templates that make writing this section so much easier.

Use Graphs and Charts

The financial plan, metrics, and projection section is a great place to use graphs and charts to tell the financial story of your business. Charts and images make it easier to communicate your finances.

Accuracy in this section is key, ensure you carefully analyze your past financial statements properly before making financial projects.

Address the Risk Factors and Show Realistic Financial Projections

Keep your financial plan, metrics, and projection realistic. It is okay to be optimistic in your financial projection, however, you have to justify it.

You should also address the various risk factors associated with your business in this section. Investors want to know the potential risks involved, show them. You should also show your plans for mitigating those risks.

What You Should In The Financial Plan, Metrics, and Projection Section of Your Business Plan

The financial plan, metrics, and projection section of your business plan should have monthly sales and revenue forecasts for the first year. It should also include annual projections that cover 3 to 5 years.

A three-year projection is a basic requirement to have in your business plan. However, some investors may request a five-year forecast.

Your business plan should include the following financial statements: sales forecast, personnel plan, income statement, income statement, cash flow statement, balance sheet, and an exit strategy.

1. Sales Forecast

Sales forecast refers to your projections about the number of sales your business is going to record over the next few years. It is typically broken into several rows, with each row assigned to a core product or service that your business is offering.

One common mistake people make in their business plan is to break down the sales forecast section into long details. A sales forecast should forecast the high-level details.

For example, if you are forecasting sales for a payroll software provider, you could break down your forecast into target market segments or subscription categories.

Your sales forecast section should also have a corresponding row for each sales row to cover the direct cost or Cost of Goods Sold (COGS). The objective of these rows is to show the expenses that your business incurs in making and delivering your product or service.

Note that your Cost of Goods Sold (COGS) should only cover those direct costs incurred when making your products. Other indirect expenses such as insurance, salaries, payroll tax, and rent should not be included.

For example, the Cost of Goods Sold (COGS) for a restaurant is the cost of ingredients while for a consulting company it will be the cost of paper and other presentation materials.

2. Personnel Plan

The personnel plan section is where you provide details about the payment plan for your employees. For a small business, you can easily list every position in your company and how much you plan to pay in the personnel plan.

However, for larger businesses, you have to break the personnel plan into functional groups such as sales and marketing.

The personnel plan will also include the cost of an employee beyond salary, commonly referred to as the employee burden. These costs include insurance, payroll taxes , and other essential costs incurred monthly as a result of having employees on your payroll.

3. Income Statement

The income statement section shows if your business is making a profit or taking a loss. Another name for the income statement is the profit and loss (P&L). It takes data from your sales forecast and personnel plan and adds other ongoing expenses you incur while running your business.

Every business plan should have an income statement. It subtracts your business expenses from its earnings to show if your business is generating profit or incurring losses.

The income statement has the following items: sales, Cost of Goods Sold (COGS), gross margin, operating expenses, total operating expenses, operating income , total expenses, and net profit.

• Sales refer to the revenue your business generates from selling its products or services. Other names for sales are income or revenue.
• Cost of Goods Sold (COGS) refers to the total cost of selling your products. Other names for COGS are direct costs or cost of sales. Manufacturing businesses use the Costs of Goods Manufactured (COGM) .
• Gross Margin is the figure you get when you subtract your COGS from your sales. In your income statement, you can express it as a percentage of total sales (Gross margin / Sales = Gross Margin Percent).
• Operating Expenses refer to all the expenses you incur from running your business. It exempts the COGS because it stands alone as a core part of your income statement. You also have to exclude taxes, depreciation, and amortization. Your operating expenses include salaries, marketing expenses, research and development (R&D) expenses, and other expenses.
• Total Operating Expenses refers to the sum of all your operating expenses including those exemptions named above under operating expenses.
• Operating Income refers to earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization. It is simply known as the acronym EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization). Calculating your operating income is simple, all you need to do is to subtract your COGS and total operating expenses from your sales.
• Total Expenses refer to the sum of your operating expenses and your business’ interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization.
• Net profit shows whether your business has made a profit or taken a loss during a given timeframe.

4. Cash Flow Statement

The cash flow statement tracks the money you have in the bank at any given point. It is often confused with the income statement or the profit and loss statement. They are both different types of financial statements. The income statement calculates your profits and losses while the cash flow statement shows you how much you have in the bank.

5. Balance Sheet

The balance sheet is a financial statement that provides an overview of the financial health of your business. It contains information about the assets and liabilities of your company, and owner’s or shareholders’ equity.

You can get the net worth of your company by subtracting your company’s liabilities from its assets.

6. Exit Strategy

The exit strategy refers to a probable plan for selling your business either to the public in an IPO or to another company. It is the last thing you include in the financial plan, metrics, and projection section.

You can choose to omit the exit strategy from your business plan if you plan to maintain full ownership of your business and do not plan on seeking angel investment or virtual capitalist (VC) funding.

Investors may want to know what your exit plan is. They invest in your business to get a good return on investment.

Your exit strategy does not have to include long and boring details. Ensure you identify some interested parties who may be interested in buying the company if it becomes a success.

Key Questions to Answer with Your Financial Plan, Metrics, and Projection

Your financial plan, metrics, and projection section helps investors, creditors, or your internal managers to understand what your expenses are, the amount of cash you need, and what it takes to make your company profitable. It also shows what you will be doing with any funding.

You do not need to show actual financial data if you do not have one. Adding forecasts and projections to your financial statements is added proof that your strategy is feasible and shows investors you have planned properly.

Here are some key questions to answer to help you develop this section.

• What is your sales forecast for the next year?
• When will your company achieve a positive cash flow?
• What are the core expenses you need to operate?
• How much money do you need upfront to operate or grow your company?
• How will you use the loans or investments?

9. Add an Appendix to Your Business Plan

Adding an appendix to your business plan is optional. It is a useful place to put any charts, tables, legal notes, definitions, permits, résumés, and other critical information that do not fit into other sections of your business plan.

The appendix section is where you would want to include details of a patent or patent-pending if you have one. You can always add illustrations or images of your products here. It is the last section of your business plan.

When writing your business plan, there are details you cut short or remove to prevent the entire section from becoming too lengthy. There are also details you want to include in the business plan but are not a good fit for any of the previous sections. You can add that additional information to the appendix section.

Businesses also use the appendix section to include supporting documents or other materials specially requested by investors or lenders.

You can include just about any information that supports the assumptions and statements you made in the business plan under the appendix. It is the one place in the business plan where unrelated data and information can coexist amicably.

If your appendix section is lengthy, try organizing it by adding a table of contents at the beginning of the appendix section. It is also advisable to group similar information to make it easier for the reader to access them.

A well-organized appendix section makes it easier to share your information clearly and concisely. Add footnotes throughout the rest of the business plan or make references in the plan to the documents in the appendix.

The appendix section is usually only necessary if you are seeking funding from investors or lenders, or hoping to attract partners.

People reading business plans do not want to spend time going through a heap of backup information, numbers, and charts. Keep these documents or information in the Appendix section in case the reader wants to dig deeper.

Common Items to Include in the Appendix Section of Your Business Plan

The appendix section includes documents that supplement or support the information or claims given in other sections of the business plans. Common items you can include in the appendix section include:

• Additional data about the process of manufacturing or creation
• Additional description of products or services such as product schematics
• Additional financial documents or projections
• Articles of incorporation and status
• Backup for market research or competitive analysis
• Bank statements
• Business registries
• Client testimonials (if your business is already running)
• Copies of insurances
• Credit histories (personal or/and business)
• Deeds and permits
• Equipment leases
• Examples of marketing and advertising collateral
• Industry associations and memberships
• Images of product
• Intellectual property
• Key customer contracts
• Legal documents and other contracts
• Letters of reference
• Links to references
• Market research data
• Organizational charts
• Photographs of potential facilities
• Professional licenses pertaining to your legal structure or type of business
• Purchase orders
• Resumes of the founder(s) and key managers
• State and federal identification numbers or codes
• Trademarks or patents’ registrations

Avoid using the appendix section as a place to dump any document or information you feel like adding. Only add documents or information that you support or increase the credibility of your business plan.

Tips and Strategies for Writing a Convincing Business Plan

To achieve a perfect business plan, you need to consider some key tips and strategies. These tips will raise the efficiency of your business plan above average.

1. Know Your Audience

When writing a business plan, you need to know your audience . Business owners write business plans for different reasons. Your business plan has to be specific. For example, you can write business plans to potential investors, banks, and even fellow board members of the company.

The audience you are writing to determines the structure of the business plan. As a business owner, you have to know your audience. Not everyone will be your audience. Knowing your audience will help you to narrow the scope of your business plan.

Consider what your audience wants to see in your projects, the likely questions they might ask, and what interests them.

• A business plan used to address a company's board members will center on its employment schemes, internal affairs, projects, stakeholders, etc.
• A business plan for financial institutions will talk about the size of your market and the chances for you to pay back any loans you demand.
• A business plan for investors will show proof that you can return the investment capital within a specific time. In addition, it discusses your financial projections, tractions, and market size.

2. Get Inspiration from People

Writing a business plan from scratch as an entrepreneur can be daunting. That is why you need the right inspiration to push you to write one. You can gain inspiration from the successful business plans of other businesses. Look at their business plans, the style they use, the structure of the project, etc.

To make your business plan easier to create, search companies related to your business to get an exact copy of what you need to create an effective business plan. You can also make references while citing examples in your business plans.

When drafting your business plan, get as much help from others as you possibly can. By getting inspiration from people, you can create something better than what they have.

3. Avoid Being Over Optimistic

Many business owners make use of strong adjectives to qualify their content. One of the big mistakes entrepreneurs make when preparing a business plan is promising too much.

The use of superlatives and over-optimistic claims can prepare the audience for more than you can offer. In the end, you disappoint the confidence they have in you.

In most cases, the best option is to be realistic with your claims and statistics. Most of the investors can sense a bit of incompetency from the overuse of superlatives. As a new entrepreneur, do not be tempted to over-promise to get the interests of investors.

The concept of entrepreneurship centers on risks, nothing is certain when you make future analyses. What separates the best is the ability to do careful research and work towards achieving that, not promising more than you can achieve.

To make an excellent first impression as an entrepreneur, replace superlatives with compelling data-driven content. In this way, you are more specific than someone promising a huge ROI from an investment.

4. Keep it Simple and Short

When writing business plans, ensure you keep them simple throughout. Irrespective of the purpose of the business plan, your goal is to convince the audience.

One way to achieve this goal is to make them understand your proposal. Therefore, it would be best if you avoid the use of complex grammar to express yourself. It would be a huge turn-off if the people you want to convince are not familiar with your use of words.

Another thing to note is the length of your business plan. It would be best if you made it as brief as possible.

You hardly see investors or agencies that read through an extremely long document. In that case, if your first few pages can’t convince them, then you have lost it. The more pages you write, the higher the chances of you derailing from the essential contents.

To ensure your business plan has a high conversion rate, you need to dispose of every unnecessary information. For example, if you have a strategy that you are not sure of, it would be best to leave it out of the plan.

5. Make an Outline and Follow Through

A perfect business plan must have touched every part needed to convince the audience. Business owners get easily tempted to concentrate more on their products than on other sections. Doing this can be detrimental to the efficiency of the business plan.

For example, imagine you talking about a product but omitting or providing very little information about the target audience. You will leave your clients confused.

To ensure that your business plan communicates your full business model to readers, you have to input all the necessary information in it. One of the best ways to achieve this is to design a structure and stick to it.

This structure is what guides you throughout the writing. To make your work easier, you can assign an estimated word count or page limit to every section to avoid making it too bulky for easy reading. As a guide, the necessary things your business plan must contain are:

• Table of contents
• Introduction
• Product or service description
• Target audience
• Market size
• Competition analysis
• Financial projections

Some specific businesses can include some other essential sections, but these are the key sections that must be in every business plan.

6. Ask a Professional to Proofread

When writing a business plan, you must tie all loose ends to get a perfect result. When you are done with writing, call a professional to go through the document for you. You are bound to make mistakes, and the way to correct them is to get external help.

You should get a professional in your field who can relate to every section of your business plan. It would be easier for the professional to notice the inner flaws in the document than an editor with no knowledge of your business.

In addition to getting a professional to proofread, get an editor to proofread and edit your document. The editor will help you identify grammatical errors, spelling mistakes, and inappropriate writing styles.

Writing a business plan can be daunting, but you can surmount that obstacle and get the best out of it with these tips.

Business Plan Examples and Templates That’ll Save You Tons of Time

1. hubspot's one-page business plan.

The one-page business plan template by HubSpot is the perfect guide for businesses of any size, irrespective of their business strategy. Although the template is condensed into a page, your final business plan should not be a page long! The template is designed to ask helpful questions that can help you develop your business plan.

Hubspot’s one-page business plan template is divided into nine fields:

• Business opportunity
• Company description
• Industry analysis
• Target market
• Implementation timeline
• Marketing plan
• Financial summary
• Funding required

2. Bplan’s Free Business Plan Template

Bplans' free business plan template is investor-approved. It is a rich template used by prestigious educational institutions such as Babson College and Princeton University to teach entrepreneurs how to create a business plan.

The template has six sections: the executive summary, opportunity, execution, company, financial plan, and appendix. There is a step-by-step guide for writing every little detail in the business plan. Follow the instructions each step of the way and you will create a business plan that impresses investors or lenders easily.

3. HubSpot's Downloadable Business Plan Template

HubSpot’s downloadable business plan template is a more comprehensive option compared to the one-page business template by HubSpot. This free and downloadable business plan template is designed for entrepreneurs.

The template is a comprehensive guide and checklist for business owners just starting their businesses. It tells you everything you need to fill in each section of the business plan and how to do it.

There are nine sections in this business plan template: an executive summary, company and business description, product and services line, market analysis, marketing plan, sales plan, legal notes, financial considerations, and appendix.

4. Business Plan by My Own Business Institute

My Own Business Institute (MOBI) which is a part of Santa Clara University's Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship offers a free business plan template. You can either copy the free business template from the link provided above or download it as a Word document.

The comprehensive template consists of a whopping 15 sections.

• The Business Profile
• The Vision and the People
• Home-Based Business and Freelance Business Opportunities
• Organization
• Licenses and Permits
• Business Insurance
• Communication Tools
• Acquisitions
• Location and Leasing
• Accounting and Cash Flow
• Opening and Marketing
• Managing Employees
• Expanding and Handling Problems

There are lots of helpful tips on how to fill each section in the free business plan template by MOBI.

5. Score's Business Plan Template for Startups

Score is an American nonprofit organization that helps entrepreneurs build successful companies. This business plan template for startups by Score is available for free download. The business plan template asks a whooping 150 generic questions that help entrepreneurs from different fields to set up the perfect business plan.

The business plan template for startups contains clear instructions and worksheets, all you have to do is answer the questions and fill the worksheets.

There are nine sections in the business plan template: executive summary, company description, products and services, marketing plan, operational plan, management and organization, startup expenses and capitalization, financial plan, and appendices.

The ‘refining the plan’ resource contains instructions that help you modify your business plan to suit your specific needs, industry, and target audience. After you have completed Score’s business plan template, you can work with a SCORE mentor for expert advice in business planning.

6. Minimalist Architecture Business Plan Template by Venngage

The minimalist architecture business plan template is a simple template by Venngage that you can customize to suit your business needs .

There are five sections in the template: an executive summary, statement of problem, approach and methodology, qualifications, and schedule and benchmark. The business plan template has instructions that guide users on what to fill in each section.

7. Small Business Administration Free Business Plan Template

The Small Business Administration (SBA) offers two free business plan templates, filled with practical real-life examples that you can model to create your business plan. Both free business plan templates are written by fictional business owners: Rebecca who owns a consulting firm, and Andrew who owns a toy company.

There are five sections in the two SBA’s free business plan templates.

• Executive Summary
• Company Description
• Service Line
• Marketing and Sales

8. The $100 Startup's One-Page Business Plan

The one-page business plan by the $100 startup is a simple business plan template for entrepreneurs who do not want to create a long and complicated plan . You can include more details in the appendices for funders who want more information beyond what you can put in the one-page business plan.

There are five sections in the one-page business plan such as overview, ka-ching, hustling, success, and obstacles or challenges or open questions. You can answer all the questions using one or two sentences.

9. PandaDoc’s Free Business Plan Template

The free business plan template by PandaDoc is a comprehensive 15-page document that describes the information you should include in every section.

There are 11 sections in PandaDoc’s free business plan template.

• Executive summary
• Business description
• Products and services
• Operations plan
• Management organization
• Financial plan
• Conclusion / Call to action
• Confidentiality statement

You have to sign up for its 14-day free trial to access the template. You will find different business plan templates on PandaDoc once you sign up (including templates for general businesses and specific businesses such as bakeries, startups, restaurants, salons, hotels, and coffee shops)

PandaDoc allows you to customize its business plan templates to fit the needs of your business. After editing the template, you can send it to interested parties and track opens and views through PandaDoc.

10. Invoiceberry Templates for Word, Open Office, Excel, or PPT

InvoiceBerry is a U.K based online invoicing and tracking platform that offers free business plan templates in .docx, .odt, .xlsx, and .pptx formats for freelancers and small businesses.

Before you can download the free business plan template, it will ask you to give it your email address. After you complete the little task, it will send the download link to your inbox for you to download. It also provides a business plan checklist in .xlsx file format that ensures you add the right information to the business plan.

Alternatives to the Traditional Business Plan

A business plan is very important in mapping out how one expects their business to grow over a set number of years, particularly when they need external investment in their business. However, many investors do not have the time to watch you present your business plan. It is a long and boring read.

Luckily, there are three alternatives to the traditional business plan (the Business Model Canvas, Lean Canvas, and Startup Pitch Deck). These alternatives are less laborious and easier and quicker to present to investors.

Business Model Canvas (BMC)

The business model canvas is a business tool used to present all the important components of setting up a business, such as customers, route to market, value proposition, and finance in a single sheet. It provides a very focused blueprint that defines your business initially which you can later expand on if needed.

The sheet is divided mainly into company, industry, and consumer models that are interconnected in how they find problems and proffer solutions.

Segments of the Business Model Canvas

The business model canvas was developed by founder Alexander Osterwalder to answer important business questions. It contains nine segments.

• Key Partners: Who will be occupying important executive positions in your business? What do they bring to the table? Will there be a third party involved with the company?
• Key Activities: What important activities will production entail? What activities will be carried out to ensure the smooth running of the company?
• The Product’s Value Propositions: What does your product do? How will it be different from other products?
• Customer Segments: What demography of consumers are you targeting? What are the habits of these consumers? Who are the MVPs of your target consumers?
• Customer Relationships: How will the team support and work with its customer base? How do you intend to build and maintain trust with the customer?
• Key Resources: What type of personnel and tools will be needed? What size of the budget will they need access to?
• Channels: How do you plan to create awareness of your products? How do you intend to transport your product to the customer?
• Cost Structure: What is the estimated cost of production? How much will distribution cost?
• Revenue Streams: For what value are customers willing to pay? How do they prefer to pay for the product? Are there any external revenues attached apart from the main source? How do the revenue streams contribute to the overall revenue?

Lean Canvas

The lean canvas is a problem-oriented alternative to the standard business model canvas. It was proposed by Ash Maurya, creator of Lean Stack as a development of the business model generation. It uses a more problem-focused approach and it majorly targets entrepreneurs and startup businesses.

Lean Canvas uses the same 9 blocks concept as the business model canvas, however, they have been modified slightly to suit the needs and purpose of a small startup. The key partners, key activities, customer relationships, and key resources are replaced by new segments which are:

• Problem: Simple and straightforward number of problems you have identified, ideally three.
• Solution: The solutions to each problem.
• Unfair Advantage: Something you possess that can't be easily bought or replicated.
• Key Metrics: Important numbers that will tell how your business is doing.

Startup Pitch Deck

While the business model canvas compresses into a factual sheet, startup pitch decks expand flamboyantly.

Pitch decks, through slides, convey your business plan, often through graphs and images used to emphasize estimations and observations in your presentation. Entrepreneurs often use pitch decks to fully convince their target audience of their plans before discussing funding arrangements.

Considering the likelihood of it being used in a small time frame, a good startup pitch deck should ideally contain 20 slides or less to have enough time to answer questions from the audience.

Unlike the standard and lean business model canvases, a pitch deck doesn't have a set template on how to present your business plan but there are still important components to it. These components often mirror those of the business model canvas except that they are in slide form and contain more details.

Using Airbnb (one of the most successful start-ups in recent history) for reference, the important components of a good slide are listed below.

• Cover/Introduction Slide: Here, you should include your company's name and mission statement. Your mission statement should be a very catchy tagline. Also, include personal information and contact details to provide an easy link for potential investors.
• Problem Slide: This slide requires you to create a connection with the audience or the investor that you are pitching. For example in their pitch, Airbnb summarized the most important problems it would solve in three brief points – pricing of hotels, disconnection from city culture, and connection problems for local bookings.
• Solution Slide: This slide includes your core value proposition. List simple and direct solutions to the problems you have mentioned
• Customer Analysis: Here you will provide information on the customers you will be offering your service to. The identity of your customers plays an important part in fundraising as well as the long-run viability of the business.
• Market Validation: Use competitive analysis to show numbers that prove the presence of a market for your product, industry behavior in the present and the long run, as well as the percentage of the market you aim to attract. It shows that you understand your competitors and customers and convinces investors of the opportunities presented in the market.
• Business Model: Your business model is the hook of your presentation. It may vary in complexity but it should generally include a pricing system informed by your market analysis. The goal of the slide is to confirm your business model is easy to implement.
• Marketing Strategy: This slide should summarize a few customer acquisition methods that you plan to use to grow the business.
• Competitive Advantage: What this slide will do is provide information on what will set you apart and make you a more attractive option to customers. It could be the possession of technology that is not widely known in the market.
• Team Slide: Here you will give a brief description of your team. Include your key management personnel here and their specific roles in the company. Include their educational background, job history, and skillsets. Also, talk about their accomplishments in their careers so far to build investors' confidence in members of your team.
• Traction Slide: This validates the company’s business model by showing growth through early sales and support. The slide aims to reduce any lingering fears in potential investors by showing realistic periodic milestones and profit margins. It can include current sales, growth, valuable customers, pre-orders, or data from surveys outlining current consumer interest.
• Funding Slide: This slide is popularly referred to as ‘the ask'. Here you will include important details like how much is needed to get your business off the ground and how the funding will be spent to help the company reach its goals.
• Appendix Slides: Your pitch deck appendix should always be included alongside a standard pitch presentation. It consists of additional slides you could not show in the pitch deck but you need to complement your presentation.

It is important to support your calculations with pictorial renditions. Infographics, such as pie charts or bar graphs, will be more effective in presenting the information than just listing numbers. For example, a six-month graph that shows rising profit margins will easily look more impressive than merely writing it.

Lastly, since a pitch deck is primarily used to secure meetings and you may be sharing your pitch with several investors, it is advisable to keep a separate public version that doesn't include financials. Only disclose the one with projections once you have secured a link with an investor.

Advantages of the Business Model Canvas, Lean Canvas, and Startup Pitch Deck over the Traditional Business Plan

• Time-Saving: Writing a detailed traditional business plan could take weeks or months. On the other hand, all three alternatives can be done in a few days or even one night of brainstorming if you have a comprehensive understanding of your business.
• Easier to Understand: Since the information presented is almost entirely factual, it puts focus on what is most important in running the business. They cut away the excess pages of fillers in a traditional business plan and allow investors to see what is driving the business and what is getting in the way.
• Easy to Update: Businesses typically present their business plans to many potential investors before they secure funding. What this means is that you may regularly have to amend your presentation to update statistics or adjust to audience-specific needs. For a traditional business plan, this could mean rewriting a whole section of your plan. For the three alternatives, updating is much easier because they are not voluminous.
• Guide for a More In-depth Business Plan: All three alternatives have the added benefit of being able to double as a sketch of your business plan if the need to create one arises in the future.

Business Plan FAQ

Business plans are important for any entrepreneur who is looking for a framework to run their company over some time or seeking external support. Although they are essential for new businesses, every company should ideally have a business plan to track their growth from time to time.  They can be used by startups seeking investments or loans to convey their business ideas or an employee to convince his boss of the feasibility of starting a new project. They can also be used by companies seeking to recruit high-profile employee targets into key positions or trying to secure partnerships with other firms.

Business plans often vary depending on your target audience, the scope, and the goals for the plan. Startup plans are the most common among the different types of business plans.  A start-up plan is used by a new business to present all the necessary information to help get the business up and running. They are usually used by entrepreneurs who are seeking funding from investors or bank loans. The established company alternative to a start-up plan is a feasibility plan. A feasibility plan is often used by an established company looking for new business opportunities. They are used to show the upsides of creating a new product for a consumer base. Because the audience is usually company people, it requires less company analysis. The third type of business plan is the lean business plan. A lean business plan is a brief, straight-to-the-point breakdown of your ideas and analysis for your business. It does not contain details of your proposal and can be written on one page. Finally, you have the what-if plan. As it implies, a what-if plan is a preparation for the worst-case scenario. You must always be prepared for the possibility of your original plan being rejected. A good what-if plan will serve as a good plan B to the original.

A good business plan has 10 key components. They include an executive plan, product analysis, desired customer base, company analysis, industry analysis, marketing strategy, sales strategy, financial projection, funding, and appendix. Executive Plan Your business should begin with your executive plan. An executive plan will provide early insight into what you are planning to achieve with your business. It should include your mission statement and highlight some of the important points which you will explain later. Product Analysis The next component of your business plan is your product analysis. A key part of this section is explaining the type of item or service you are going to offer as well as the market problems your product will solve. Desired Consumer Base Your product analysis should be supplemented with a detailed breakdown of your desired consumer base. Investors are always interested in knowing the economic power of your market as well as potential MVP customers. Company Analysis The next component of your business plan is your company analysis. Here, you explain how you want to run your business. It will include your operational strategy, an insight into the workforce needed to keep the company running, and important executive positions. It will also provide a calculation of expected operational costs.  Industry Analysis A good business plan should also contain well laid out industry analysis. It is important to convince potential investors you know the companies you will be competing with, as well as your plans to gain an edge on the competition. Marketing Strategy Your business plan should also include your marketing strategy. This is how you intend to spread awareness of your product. It should include a detailed explanation of the company brand as well as your advertising methods. Sales Strategy Your sales strategy comes after the market strategy. Here you give an overview of your company's pricing strategy and how you aim to maximize profits. You can also explain how your prices will adapt to market behaviors. Financial Projection The financial projection is the next component of your business plan. It explains your company's expected running cost and revenue earned during the tenure of the business plan. Financial projection gives a clear idea of how your company will develop in the future. Funding The next component of your business plan is funding. You have to detail how much external investment you need to get your business idea off the ground here. Appendix The last component of your plan is the appendix. This is where you put licenses, graphs, or key information that does not fit in any of the other components.

The business model canvas is a business management tool used to quickly define your business idea and model. It is often used when investors need you to pitch your business idea during a brief window.

A pitch deck is similar to a business model canvas except that it makes use of slides in its presentation. A pitch is not primarily used to secure funding, rather its main purpose is to entice potential investors by selling a very optimistic outlook on the business.

Business plan competitions help you evaluate the strength of your business plan. By participating in business plan competitions, you are improving your experience. The experience provides you with a degree of validation while practicing important skills. The main motivation for entering into the competitions is often to secure funding by finishing in podium positions. There is also the chance that you may catch the eye of a casual observer outside of the competition. These competitions also provide good networking opportunities. You could meet mentors who will take a keen interest in guiding you in your business journey. You also have the opportunity to meet other entrepreneurs whose ideas can complement yours.

Exlore Further

• 12 Key Elements of a Business Plan (Top Components Explained)
• 13 Sources of Business Finance For Companies & Sole Traders
• 5 Common Types of Business Structures (+ Pros & Cons)
• How to Buy a Business in 8 Steps (+ Due Diligence Checklist)

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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.

Table of Contents

How to make a business plan

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

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

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

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

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

What is a business plan?

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

Products or services

Target market

Competitors

Marketing and sales strategies

Financial plan

Management team

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

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

Business plan vs. business model canvas

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

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

Key partnerships

Key activities

Key propositions

Customer relationships

Customer segments

Key resources

Cost structure

Revenue streams

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

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

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

Why is a business plan important?

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

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

Helps to define the business goals and objectives

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

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

Guides decision-making

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

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

Attracts investors and secures funding

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

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

Identifies potential challenges and risks

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

Is there enough demand for my product or service?

Will I have enough capital to start my business?

Is the market oversaturated with too many competitors?

What will happen if my marketing strategy is ineffective?

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

Provides a basis for measuring success

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

Are we where we want to be at this point?

Did we achieve our goals?

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

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

How to make a business plan step by step

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

1. Create an executive summary

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

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

2. Write your company description

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

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

3. Conduct a market analysis

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

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

What does the current market look like?

Who are your competitors?

What are they offering?

What will give you a competitive advantage?

Who is your target market?

What are they looking for and why?

How will your product or service satisfy a need?

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

4. Describe your products and services

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

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

5. Design a marketing and sales strategy

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

Pricing strategy

Advertising and promotional tactics

Sales channels

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

6. Determine budget and financial projections

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

Some details to include in this section are:

Startup costs

Revenue projections

Profit and loss statement

Funding you have received or plan to receive

Strategy for raising funds

7. Set the organization and management structure

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

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

8. Make an action plan

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

Types of business plans

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

Startup business plan

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

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

Strategic business plan

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

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

Operational business plan

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

Organizational structure

Staffing plan

Production plan

Quality control

Inventory management

Supply chain

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

Growth-business plan

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

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

One-page business plan

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

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

Best practices for how to make a good business plan

Here are some additional tips for creating a business plan:

Use a template

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

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

Be practical

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

Be specific

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

Be thorough with your research

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

Get input from others

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

Review and revise regularly

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

Create a winning business plan to chart your path to success

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

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

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

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Plans and pricing.

How to Write a Business Plan for a Small Business

Noah Parsons

24 min. read

Updated September 2, 2024

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

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

• The basics of writing a business plan

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

You understand that writing a business plan helps you: 

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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• What to include in your business plan

Executive summary

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

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

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

Your executive summary should include:

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

Dig Deeper: How to write an effective executive summary

Products and services description

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

This is usually called a problem and solution statement .

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

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

Market analysis

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

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

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

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

Related: Target market examples

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

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

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

Dig Deeper: Learn how to write a market analysis

Competitive analysis

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

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

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

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

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

Marketing and sales plan

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Business operations

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Key milestones and metrics

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

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

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

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

Possible milestones might be:

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

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

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

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

Dig Deeper: How to use milestones in your business plan

Organization and management team

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

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

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

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

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

• Sole proprietor
• Partnership

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

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

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

Financial plan

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

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

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

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

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

Dig Deeper: How to create financial forecasts and budgets

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

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

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

Dig Deeper : What to include in your business plan appendix

Optional: Business plan cover page

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

Your cover page should be simple and include:

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

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

Dig Deeper: How to create a business plan cover page

How to use AI to help write your business plan

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

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

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

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

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

• Writing tips and strategies

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

Determine why you are writing a business plan

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

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

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

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

Keep things concise

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

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

Have someone review your business plan

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Common pitfalls and how to avoid them

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Use your business plan to manage your business

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Learn More: How to run a regular plan review

How to write a business plan FAQ

What is a business plan?

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

What are the benefits of writing a business plan?

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

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

What are the 7 steps of writing a business plan?

The seven steps to writing a business plan include:

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

What are the 5 most common business plan mistakes?

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

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

What questions should be answered in a business plan?

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

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

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

How long should a business plan be?

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

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

What are the different types of business plans?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Table of Contents

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

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Judge Orders San Bernardino County To Redo Environmental Review of Bloomington Business Park

1,300 diesel truck trips per day in “diesel death zone” must undergo further scrutiny before development begins

(BLOOMINGTON, CA) September 24, 2024  – A Superior Court judge ruled in favor of community and environmental groups today, who sued San Bernardino County in 2022 for its approval of the Bloomington Business Park Specific Plan in violation of the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA). The ruling instructs San Bernardino County to set aside certification of its environmental impact report and related project approvals.

Construction of the Project must stop until the County complies with CEQA.

The decision was issued nearly three months after the groups, residents, and other community supporters gathered in front of the courthouse at the hearing, demonstrating their commitment to protect their community from the proposed 213-acre development. If constructed as planned, industrial operations would have brought additional pollution to a predominantly working class Latino community that is already overburdened by similar warehouse developments. As proposed, the project would displace over 100 households, and once constructed, the nearest residence would have been only 11 feet away from the project.

“Bloomington residents have been overburdened by air pollution, a lack of infrastructure support, and have been disregarded for years. The county alongside the developer did not thoroughly consider the overwhelming cumulative impacts and pollution this community already faces and would with the project,” said organizer Alondra Mateo with the People’s Collective for Environmental Justice . “This decision is just the beginning in a long fight for justice for Bloomington, the residents no longer with us, and our kids who shouldn’t have to be worried about their future here.”

“The court’s decision is crystal clear that the Bloomington community was wronged in the approval of this project. The County and the developer will need to fix the serious defects that underpinned the decision to stuff more warehouses so close to schools and residences. Bloomington has consistently been targeted by polluting, industrial projects, and this decision recognizes the community’s struggle for their health. Earthjustice will continue working with our community clients in this case to ensure that Bloomington does not get shortchanged by the County and entrenched developer interests,” said Candice Youngblood, Earthjustice attorney.

Joaquin Castillejos, a resident and organizing coordinator at Center for Community Action and Environmental Justice added, “Bloomington’s situation reflects a county that has long prioritized profit over people, ignoring community concerns for decades. This ruling is a significant victory, but only a small step toward a future where people’s voices truly shape their community.”

Mary Ann Ruiz, the San Gorgonio Chapter Chair of the Sierra Club reaffirmed the significance of this decision for residents. “San Bernardino County Supervisors have ignored the health and quality of life of Bloomington community members in favor of warehouse developers for too long.  This decision requires them to reconsider the impacts of this harmful project on the lives of residents.  This also serves as a reminder that county leaders are only held accountable when legal action is taken; otherwise residents and environmental protection agency comments are ignored.”  

“The court has decided to side with community members in a ruling that sends a clear message about warehouse pollution to Inland Empire decision makers. The era of favoring warehouses has got to stop. Bloomington residents did nothing to deserve more freight traffic spewing pollution past their schools and backyards,” said Frances Tinney, Center for Biological Diversity attorney .

“ We’re pleased that with the Court’s decision which acknowledges the real environmental harm caused to this community. While the County goes back to the drawing board to analyze the real environmental harms that will occur with the Project, the lawsuit will continue in the courts with regards to our discrimination and fair housing claims. The County continues to site warehouse projects, including this 213-acre project, without regard to its effect on this largely Latino community, and it must stop. We are confident that the Court will rule in our favor on these issues as well ,” said Katie McKeon, Staff Attorney for Western Center on Law & Poverty.

Earthjustice represented People’s Collective for Environmental Justice, Center for Community Action and Environmental Justice, and Center for Biological Diversity, in a suit joined by Sierra Club. They filed this lawsuit in December 2022 against the County of San Bernardino for its failure to comply with the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) and fair housing laws. The Bloomington Business Park would add nearly 1,300 diesel truck trips per day to an area already referred to as a “diesel death zone.” An influx of other massive warehouses in the region contribute to the new project area’s overall pollution burden that is 94% higher than the rest of California.

Local land use decisions, including those made by the County, have dramatically transformed the landscape in recent years, as the number of industrial warehouses in San Bernardino and Riverside counties has multiplied from 162 in 1975 to 4,299 in 2021. The result is a logistics hub so large that it is visible from outer space. The Inland Empire’s warehouse boom can be traced in part to the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, which are primary entryways for imported goods to enter the region. Over 40% of the nation’s goods come through the Inland Empire, fueling a logistics supply chain that is the largest driver of diesel pollution in southern California.

MEDIA CONTACTS

Miranda Fox, Earthjustice, (415) 283-2324, [email protected] Alicia Aguayo, People’s Collective for Environmental Justice, (909) 248-3885, [email protected] Ana Gonzalez, Center for Community Action and Environmental Justice, (909) 275-9812, [email protected] Wendy Leung, Center for Biological Diversity, (818) 625-3128, [email protected] Mary Ann Ruiz, Sierra Club, [email protected] , 909-815-9379 Maria Sundeen, Western Center on Law & Poverty, [email protected]

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Bad Reviews Can Destroy a Small Business. But If You Get One, Here's How to Bounce Back. A one-star review can hurt your ego — and your business. But it's possible to prevent (and remedy!) this scary scenario.

By Rachel Davies Sep 24, 2024

This story appears in the September 2024 issue of Entrepreneur . Subscribe »

Online reviews matter, especially for small businesses. They're a chance to get unbiased feedback on how your business can improve. But low ratings can also skew your average and threaten your ability to attract new customers. According to Kelly Kurlychek of BetterReputation, a company that helps businesses and individuals maintain their online reputations , upwards of 90% of prospective customers are searching for reviews before making a purchase. "Your prospects are Googling you. If you aren't showing up at all, or in any kind of negative or even mediocre light, you are losing business," says Kurlychek.

So how do you avoid bad reviews? And what do you do if they come your way?

Related: Here's Why You Shouldn't Worry About Your Business Getting Bad Reviews

Adam Levy is co-owner of the Huntington, New York, yoga studio Sound Body & Mind , and he deals with the prospect of bad reviews head-on. His business has a five-star rating on Google, but maintaining that rating wasn't as simple as giving good service and waiting for positive reviews to flow in. For the past five years, Levy has taken a proactive approach, which hinges on automated emails that customers receive after each class. These emails encourage users to leave positive reviews, yes, but also suggest that customers get in touch directly with any critical feedback. "I think playing defense against a poor review before it can happen is equally as valuable as receiving a five-star review itself," Levy says. This strategy has opened a line of communication with customers who might otherwise take their complaints directly to Google reviews or Yelp.

Even so, Levy has had to handle the worst of the worst: a one-star review. "It instantaneously ruined my day," Levy says about the dispute, which centered on a customer trying to use a class package that had been expired for years. In moments like this, your gut reaction might be to respond immediately, but Kurlychek says it's better to take a beat and compose yourself, so your emotions don't impact your response. "Never get defensive," Kurlychek says. "Responding with facts is okay, but remain polite, and remember the customer is always right." That's exactly what Levy did. He connected with the customer over the phone to make sure no one's tone was being misread. He didn't directly ask the customer to remove their review — but because he displayed such genuine interest in resolving the issue, they removed it on their own after the call.

Related: 3 Tips for Dealing With Negative Reviews Like a True Entrepreneur

Similarly, Brian Mosko of Cured & Whey , a specialty food shop in Las Vegas with a 4.9-star average rating, finds that leaning into bad reviews is the best way to minimize the damage. "Everybody takes five stars with a dose of skepticism, but [prospective customers] go look at your one-, two-, and three-star reviews, and see how the business handles it," Mosko says. "[Does the business owner] attack the person and blame them? Or is there a well-thought-out response that kind of explains the situation?"

Even if you don't receive the ideal outcome that Levy did, with the voluntary removal of a bad review, responding to critical reviews with a compassionate comment is a good habit to develop. "Keep in mind that anyone reading these reviews are likely to be potential customers," Kurlychek advises. "They will find it much easier to put themselves in the shoes of that unhappy customer than in the shoes of the business owner. Offer a resolution publicly. And put real effort into every response."

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BoB SDP versus mutual fund SIPs: Which investment plan offers higher returns? Here's a reckoner

Bob sdp is designed to make saving accessible to everyone, with monthly contributions starting at just rs 50 for rural and semi-urban areas and rs 100 for urban and metro regions..

• Updated Sep 25, 2024, 4:23 PM IST

Bank of Baroda (Bank) has designed the BoB SDP (Systematic Deposit Plan), a recurring deposit scheme, to offer competitive and assured returns, flexibility and financial security to individuals. The product reflects the Bank’s commitment to providing innovative and accessible savings solutions to customers with an opportunity to earn a higher rate of interest and build a sizeable corpus through regular savings every month.

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BoB SDP can help build a sizeable corpus to meet your financial goals and can be considered an integral part of one’s overall asset allocation, per the press release.

Unlike a regular Fixed Deposit, customers do not need to make a lump sum deposit. Contributions are made in monthly instalments and the depositor can choose from a range of tenures starting from 6 months to 10 years.

With monthly contributions starting at Rs 50 for rural and semi-urban areas and Rs 100 for urban and metro regions, the Bob SDP aims to make savings a habit for a wider population. Senior citizens receive an additional interest rate of up to 1% depending on the tenure of the SDP, thus further incentivizing regular savings and giving them a robust option to grow their post-retirement corpus.

What sets BoB SDP apart? One of the distinguishing characteristics of Bob SDP is that the rate of interest is locked for the entire tenure opted for by the customer, even though contributions are made monthly.  

To give an example, if a customer has opted for a 2-year SDP in September 2024, as per the current interest rates, the customer will earn an interest rate of 7% p.a. (7.50% p.a. for senior citizens) on all the 24 contributions, even though each successive outgo made by the customer is for a progressively shorter period of time, thereby giving customers the twin benefits of higher interest rate and liquidity at the same time. Hence, the last installment is made only for 1-month but continues to earn 7.00% p.a. (while the current ROI for a 15-45 days fixed deposit is 4.50% p.a. only). This is a significant advantage for bob SDP depositors, per the release.

In addition, what sets this plan apart is the value-additions it provides. Customers can take advantage of loan and overdraft facilities of up to 95% of the deposited amount, ensuring liquidity in times of need without sacrificing their savings.   Further, interest is compounded quarterly and credited on maturity, boosting the overall returns for depositors. Hence, depositors also benefit from compounding gains as quarterly interest payout leads to higher annualized yield at the end of the tenure.

BoB SDP offers customers a scheme that promotes a regular savings habit, with the potential to earn higher interest on deposits and the flexibility to choose one’s preferred monthly amount and tenure, per the release.   

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How to write an SEO-optimized blog post in 11 steps [Guide]

I hope you'll find this post useful.

If you're looking to sell digital products or services easily, we've created WPMarmite Pay to take the headache out of WooCommerce. Check the new plugin here . 😉

Would you like to know how to write an SEO-optimized blog post ? Then you’re probably standing at the entrance to a dark tunnel, inside which everything is a bit hazy. Suddenly, it lights up. You can see what’s waiting for you at the end.

Traffic to your blog . At last. A conversion rate to make your competitors green with envy. Rave reviews from readers who are happy because your content is useful to them.

Bam. The light’s gone. You’re back to square one. Back with your questions. Your doubts. But you’re still driven by the desire to move forward, to reach the end of the tunnel.

Finally, all you need is an instruction manual. An enlightened guide to show you the way . That’s what you’ll find in this guide.

After reading this post, you’ll know the 11 steps to writing a traffic-generating blog post from scratch.

You’ll see: we don’t just tell you to do this or that. We actually tell you how , with specific examples and sound advice.

Ready to see the light at the end of the tunnel? Let’s go: we’ll take you by the hand.

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WPMarmite recommends Bluehost: great performance, great support. All you need for a great start.

This article is sponsored and contains affiliate links to Semrush’s website . This means that WPMarmite will earn a commission if you decide to use this platform. At the same time, we’re offering a special deal with Semrush to enable you to test the Pro version of the tool free of charge for 14 days. Affiliate income enables WPMarmite to remunerate the research and writing work of the blog’s editors. However, we remain impartial. If a product isn’t worth it, we’ll say so (or we don’t tell you about it). Find out more about transparency in our publishing policy .

What makes a good blog post (and why it’s important for your business)?

How to write a good blog post: google’s criteria.

Before we get into the nuts and bolts of how to write an SEO-optimized blog post, let’s take a look at the big picture.

To write a polished article, it’s important to understand the components of quality content.

And for that, let’s turn to Google, the most widely used search engine in the United States ( 88% market share at the time of writing). It’s where the vast majority of people will turn when they begin an online search via a search engine.

According to Google , its automated ranking system is designed to highlight “helpful, reliable information that’s primarily created to benefit people, not to gain search engine rankings, in the top Search results.”

If you want to have a chance of ranking well on Google, your article must be high quality, original, and provide added value over and above what your competitors are already offering.

It needs to convey your expertise in order to win the trust of your target audience (by citing your sources, for example).

In addition, the Mountain View company insists on three major aspects:

• It indicates that it favors “people-first” content, i.e., content created “primarily for people, and not to manipulate search engine rankings.”
• It rewards content that “provides a good page experience.” Here, Google refers in particular to Core WebVitals, a set of metrics we present in detail in different post .
• The E-E-A-T score , which stands for “Experience,” “Expertise”, “Authoritativeness,” and “Trustworthiness.” The search engine uses these four factors in particular to prioritize the quality content it deems most useful.

Why are blog posts important for your online business?

Knowing how to write a blog post enables you to design excellent content that meets the guidelines of Google and friends.

As a result, you can boost your online visibility and ensure a lasting presence on search engines.

You’ll benefit in a number of ways:

• You reinforce your authority and position yourself as an “expert” in your field.
• You build trust with your readers thanks to useful, informative, and relevant content that focuses on helping them solve a specific problem.
• You generate more leads and new customers , and increase your sales. By using strategically positioned calls to action (we’ll come back to this later), you can encourage your visitors to perform specific actions (download a document, buy a product, fill in a form, etc.).
• You improve your search engine optimization (SEO) , thanks to articles optimized for specific keywords. The more traffic you generate, the greater your chances of improving conversions.
• With a blog, you have a base of content that you can reuse on your other communication media . Use key passages, for example, to design targeted publications on social networks (Instagram, Facebook, X, LinkedIn, etc.).

After this general overview, it’s time to get to the heart of the matter. Find out right away, and in detail, how to write an SEO-optimized blog post, step by step.

How to write a blog post: 11 steps broken down

Step 1: define your objective and audience, strategy and smart objectives.

The first step in your “How to write a brilliant blog post” mission is to define your objective and target audience.

Start by identifying what you want to achieve through your content. Here are a few examples of strategic objectives you can pursue:

• Strengthen your brand’s reputation and position it as a benchmark in your industry
• Educate and inform your readers to position yourself as an expert
• Increase traffic to generate leads
• Promote a product or service to increase sales
• Build customer loyalty to maintain an ongoing relationship
• Get your reader to perform a specific action : download a PDF, request an appointment or a quote, fill in a contact form, subscribe to a newsletter, etc.

When defining the main objective of your article, use the SMART method , which is based on Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic and Time-bound indicators. An example of a SMART objective might be: “Thanks to this blog article, I hope to obtain 10 qualified leads in the first quarter of 2025.”

How to write a blog post: The importance of personas

Once you’re clear on your main objective, make sure you know exactly whom you’re addressing. To do this, draw up personas : fictitious representations of your ideal customers.

A persona includes different types of information:

• Demographic characteristics: first name, last name, age, gender, income, education/occupation
• The persona’s objectives and challenges
• Hobbies and passions

Several free online tools make it easy to create your personas: Semrush Persona , Hubspot’s Make My Persona, Userforge, or UpClose and Persona.

If you already have an existing audience, you can retrieve valuable information from a number of places:

• From your Google Analytics account (or the analytics data tool of your choice, such as Matomo or Plausible)
• By analyzing feedback from your customer service department and your social networks
• Sharing surveys to get to know your audience better, using tools like Google Forms or SurveyMonkey

If you’re starting from scratch — you’ve got no traffic and no email list — and just launching your blog, don’t panic! You can also uncover valuable information in other ways:

• Analyze your competitors to understand who their customers are and what their needs are.
• Consult specialized reports and sector studies to better understand your target market.
• Join specialized groups and forums (e.g., on Facebook, LinkedIn, or Discord) to understand the needs, problems, and expectations of participants.
• Interview people you think are in your potential target group.
• Create online surveys and share them in the specialized groups you’ve identified and on social networks.

Once you have a good picture of your audience, burn it into your brain. Think of it every time you write. It’ll make your message all the more impactful.

Step 2: Come up with a topic idea

That’s all well and good, but you may have your first problem: what are you going to write about?

To help you, tell yourself that the overall subject of your blog should be related to your expertise. This will enable you to position yourself as an online authority. And remember, that’s crucial for Google!

But what does expertise mean? It could be:

• Your profession or occupation . For example, if you’re a plumber, you’ll write about plumbing-related topics.
• Your passion . If you’re an inveterate board game enthusiast, your blog will cover topics related to chess, backgammon, card games, and so on.

Is this making sense? Continue by applying these three methods to come up with a topic idea:

• Brainstorm . Write down what your target audience would like to read, starting with your main theme. For example, if you have a WooCommerce running store , potential topics to cover could be: training for running, different types of running shoes, nutrition and hydration for runners, or equipment to use (GPS watches, shorts, socks, hats, etc.).
• Analyze your competitors . Note the topics covered on their blogs and the themes addressed on their sites, for example in their menus.
• Scour social networks and specialized platforms . Visit forums and Facebook groups that specialize in your core business, relevant YouTube channels, podcast platforms, and so on.

To compile all your ideas, use a spreadsheet like Google Sheets , or even organization tools like Trello or Asana . You can then come back to these topics when searching for a keyword, which we discuss just below.

Complete your search using Semrush’s Topic Research tool. You can enter a theme or general keyword, for example, and you’ll find yourself with dozens and dozens of topic ideas and their monthly search volume. It’s a great way to get lots of content ideas.

Step 3: Identify a relevant keyword

How to write a blog post: the components of a good keyword.

If all goes well, you now have a nice little stash of topic ideas. Now it’s a question of refining all these ideas by connecting them with specific keywords, with a minimum of search volume.

Always target one main keyword per blog post, but include secondary keywords in the content.

A relevant keyword has several characteristics:

• It must be related to your business theme .
• It must be searched for , i.e., typed in by your target audience on the search engine they use.
• It must respond to a web surfer’s need .
• It must be precise and understandable .

After brainstorming and analyzing what your competitors are offering, it’s crucial to determine the monthly search volume for your keyword. If your keyword isn’t being typed by Internet users, it won’t bring you any traffic.

What tools can you use to assess search volume?

You can rely on free tools such as Google’s Keyword Planning Tool, or Ubersuggest.

However, you’ll quickly be limited in the number of searches you can carry out (with Ubersuggest), or you won’t have a precise view of the number of monthly searches for a keyword with the Google Keyword Planner (unless you use a Google Ads account).

For a more exhaustive and precise view, a premium tool such as Semrush , Ahrefs, or Mangools will be more suitable.

Semrush, for example, offers the “Keyword Magic Tool” for finding keywords relevant to your business .

After entering a generic expression in the search bar, you’ll get precise information on search volume, keyword difficulty (KD), search intent, and cost per click (CPC).

Semrush also offers other useful tools such as “Keyword Overview” and “Keyword Gap” (to discover strategic keywords on which your competitors are already positioned).

To find out how to use this information to your advantage, we recommend that you read our practical guide to Semrush , which explains everything you need to know.

When you start out, prioritize long-tail keywords. These are phrases made up of several terms (“nike air force one 39 sneakers”), as opposed to generic keywords (“nike sneakers”). Long-tail keywords are less sought-after (lower monthly volume), but they’re less competitive, which means you’re more likely to rank with them. They’ll also bring you more qualified traffic, who are more likely to take action. On Semrush, long-tail keywords will most often have an easy keyword difficulty (KD) (green dot).

Step 4: Create a detailed plan

Key elements of a detailed plan.

At this stage, you should have identified a main keyword on which you’re going to write your next blog post.

Determined, you’re probably ready to throw yourself into the writing . Just a minute — wait a little longer!

We recommend that you first create a detailed plan to structure your ideas, prioritize information, and make sure you don’t forget anything important in terms of SEO content.

Thanks to this roadmap, you’ll also be able to overcome the notorious “blank page” syndrome. All you have to do is fill in the key sections you’ve identified.

You can create this detailed plan using a word-processing tool like Google Docs . If you’re working as part of a team, you can collaborate on it by leaving your remarks and other comments.

Wondering which elements should be included in your article’s outline? Every writer has his or her own way of working and habits. Nevertheless, you can note:

• The main keyword you’re targeting , as well as your secondary keywords (the surrounding semantic field)
• The delivery and publication date of the article
• Your references
• Links to images and other visuals (remember to check that they are free of copyright)
• Any instructions given to an editor , if you’re subcontracting this part (tone, editorial line, length of content to be respected, etc.)

In addition, take the opportunity to structure your plan with headings at different levels (Heading 2 for h2, Heading 3 for h3, Heading 4 for h4). This will also facilitate integration with WordPress.

When you copy and paste your Google Docs text, the formatting will be preserved on the CMS.

For each part and sub-part, include bulleted lists in which you add the ideas to be developed, in the form of notes (no need to write full sentences).

How do I know which parts to include in my plan?

To create a solid plan, it’s crucial to understand the notion of search intent associated with a keyword.

This is the objective a web surfer wishes to achieve when typing a keyword into a search engine.

Traditionally, there are four types of search intent:

• Informational : The visitor is looking for information on a given subject.
• Navigational : The visitor wants to find a specific page of a company he or she already knows.
• Commercial : The visitor wants information before making a purchase.
• Transactional : The visitor wishes to carry out a specific action, such as purchasing a product or service.

Most of the time, a blog post responds to an informational research intention. To indicate if this is the case, Semrush flags keywords with a letter (I, N, C, or T) when you search for information on a keyword:

To find out exactly what Google expects in terms of search intent, type the keyword you’re targeting into its search bar . Then consult the results that appear to see what is highlighted (product sheets, tutorials, tests, videos, etc.).

If Google displays a majority of product sheets for the keyword you’re targeting, don’t create a blog post. You won’t meet search intent!

Let’s take the example of the keyword “ Thrive Leads ” (an email marketing plugin for WordPress). In this case, we can see that Google gives priority to content in the form of reviews.

Open the first 3–4 results, and analyze how each article is constructed . You’ll probably notice similar elements, titles, and sections.

Include these in your outline, and try to do better in order to overtake these competitors on the SERP. Offer even more useful, in-depth, and documented content, for example. In short, add value.

Step 5: How to write a blog post: The text-writing phase

How to write a blog post: body, conclusion, and cta.

You’ve now reached step 5 of this content, which explains how to write a blog post.

After all this preparatory work, it’s now official: you can start writing! To do this, start with the body text and expand on the notes covered in your bulleted lists.

Remember to cite your external sources to reinforce the credibility of your statements. Continue with the conclusion. This generally contains a summary of the ideas discussed throughout the content, as well as a CTA (call to action).

The latter should encourage your visitors to perform a specific action : buy a product, download an ebook, subscribe to a newsletter, fill in a contact form, or request a quote.

To help you, here are some of the characteristics of a persuasive CTA:

• Write it in the active voice with an action verb (“Download our PDF guide”).
• Make it stand out , for example with a specific color that contrasts with the rest of the text (without deviating too much from your style guide , mind you).
• Propose a clear benefit (“Receive a free guide”).
• Make sure your CTA is mobile-friendly (responsive) and easily clickable on small screen sizes.

Without going overboard, you can add CTAs in other places in your blog post, not just in the conclusion. For example, WPMarmite uses banners designed with the Elementor Blocks for Gutenberg plugin to highlight third-party tools we recommend, like Elementor itself.

Build your website with Elementor

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How to write a captivating introduction for your blog post

Then finish by writing your introduction (unless you feel you’re better off writing it first). It’s often easier to write an intro with an overview of the finished article.

A good introduction should introduce your main keyword no later than the first 100 words . It also needs to attract your reader, with a hook that makes them want to know more.

To captivate your reader, you can use:

• Storytelling , to tell a fictional story or a real event that happened to you
• A compelling quote
• An attention-grabbing figure or statistic
• Copywriting techniques such as the PAS model (Problem — Agitation — Solution). To put it simply: you start by detailing a problem (“Do you want to stop smoking?”), you make it worse (“If you don’t, you risk lung cancer”), then you give a solution (“Discover natural techniques to stop smoking in this article”).

Still stumped after building a detailed, tailor-made plan? Semrush’s ContentShake AI tool helps you create your text from scratch. Thanks to artificial intelligence, you can also reformulate, develop, or simplify your text.

Step 6: Find a catchy title

It’s impossible to explain how to write an SEO-optimized blog post without mentioning the importance of the title.

But we can overdo it on the title too. Yes, it’s important, but it’s not THE most important part of your content either, as I’ve been hearing people say.

More than your article’s h1 title (the one that appears at the top of your blog post when you read it), you must above all take care of your title tag.

Accompanied by the meta-description, it’s this title tag that will be the first thing your target audience sees on the Google search results page.

Like your hook, it must be sufficiently enticing to encourage clicks. Once readers have clicked on it, they’ll land on your article. Frankly, even if your h1 title isn’t mind-blowing, they’ll start reading your content if they think it’ll be useful.

But make no mistake. Don’t neglect your h1 title! Here are a few tips to make it effective:

• Be clear and concise . Try not to exceed 50 to 70 characters.
• Choose a unique title .
• Include your main keyword , preferably at the beginning of the title.
• Take inspiration from the titles used by the best-positioned articles on your query and adapt them to your own style.
• Use numbers (“12 tips to optimize your SEO”).
• Use the adverb “How” (“How to make a chocolate cookie”).
• Propose a concrete benefit (“Improve your site’s SEO in 3 months, even if you’re starting from scratch”).
• Include catchy adjectives like “ultimate,” “incredible,” or “essential” (“The ultimate guide to WordPress plugins for your site”).

Don’t hesitate to create several versions of your title, then select the one you find most engaging. You might ask an outside eye (such as a coworker or family member) to give you their opinion.

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Step 7: Integrate and format the article

Well done! Your “How to write a blog post” assignment is coming along nicely.

You’ve just completed your work on Google Docs. Now it’s time to integrate it into your WordPress CMS.

As you read above, simply copy and paste your article from Google Docs into the WordPress content editor.

The formatting will be preserved. You’ll see: your 2, 3, and 4 headings on Google Docs will normally be transformed into h2, h3, and h4 headings on WordPress. For SEO, this is perfect.

You should still check manually to make sure you haven’t skipped any chunks of text.

On the other hand, don’t copy and paste your images directly from Google Docs to WordPress. Do it manually, image by image. It’s a bit more tedious, but it’ll save you from having images that no longer display if you ever delete your Google Doc!

When integrating your text, make sure it’s readable:

• Frequently skip lines and create short paragraphs.
• Add bold to highlight certain key words or passages.
• Use bulleted and/or numbered lists to present your ideas.
• Integrate images and other illustrations (graphs, infographics, etc.) whenever you see that too many text blocks are forming.

Step 8: Optimize on-page SEO

Now that you’ve integrated your text, it’s time to work on your on-page SEO. This is the practice of optimizing your content for SEO by modifying various elements.

Speaking of which, here are a few best practices to follow:

• Integrate your main keyword naturally in strategic places : title and meta-description tags, h1 heading, introduction, body text, slug and hn headings. A plugin like Yoast SEO will tell you how dense your keyword is, and if it’s over-optimized.
• Optimize your images for SEO , in particular by filling in their alt tags, and compress their weight using a plugin like Imagify .
• Add internal links to complementary content , as well as external links to authoritative sources (Wikipedia, major news sites, etc.).
• Pay particular attention to loading speed and mobile ergonomics , in particular with our guide to speeding up your WordPress site without breaking the bank .
• Integrate YouTube videos to illustrate your points and increase the time spent on the page by your reader (this is a good signal sent to Google).
• Write optimized title and meta-description tags , containing your main keyword (preferably at the beginning for the title tag). Use your favorite SEO plugin or a free SERP simulator (e.g., Mangools or Ranktracker ) to check their length and display on the SERP.

That’s not bad, but it’s by no means an exhaustive list. To expand on the concepts mentioned above and discover other techniques to implement, read our guide dedicated to on-page SEO on WordPress .

To improve the on-page SEO of your posts and pages that are already online, turn to Semrush’s “On Page SEO Checker” tool. To get started, enter your site’s domain name and let Semrush do the work. The platform will identify areas for improvement in terms of on-page SEO, and suggest workarounds in a number of areas: strategic ideas, backlinks to seek out, new semantic and content ideas, technical problems to correct, improvements to the user experience, etc. Click on the point that interests you to benefit from a detailed analysis… and start solving any obstacles to your SEO!

Step 9: Reread, correct, and publish the article

Your blog post is almost ready for publication. Before you click on the “Publish” button, though, make the final checks by re-reading your text. In particular, look out for:

• Spelling and grammatical errors . There are a number of freemium and paid tools available for this purpose, including LanguageTool , QuillBot , and the classic Antidote . Most of them even offer free extensions so you can use them on your web browser.
• Reading difficulties . First in terms of style. Check that most of your sentences respect the SVO pattern: subject, verb, object. Make sure you’ve written short sentences and concise paragraphs. Check your sentence structure. Ideally, use the active rather than the passive voice. A plugin like Yoast SEO will also tell you how legible your text is, thanks to its famous traffic lights.
• Lack of illustrations . Though there’s no rule set in stone, add a visual element (photo, video, infographic, graphic, etc.) every 250 to 300 words or so.
• Social media sharing buttons . If you want your visitors to share your blog post on their accounts (and maximize the visibility of your content), add sharing buttons with a plugin like Social Warfare, Super Socializer, Social Media Share Buttons & Social Sharing Icons or MashShare .

If possible, leave your text to rest for at least 24 hours between the finishing the writing and starting the proofreading.

Mistakes and typos are easier to spot when your brain is rested and “fresh.” Consider asking a third party to proofread your article, too. If they’re not familiar with your subject, even better.

They’ll easily be able to tell you if any passages are hard to understand or too jargony.

When you’ve finished, it’s time to publish your article. To do this, click on the “Publish” button.

If you’d like to publish your content at a later date, WordPress lets you schedule it for the day and time of your choice. In the editor’s top toolbar, go to the “Post” tab. Then click on the “Immediately” link in the “Publish” section. Finish by choosing the publication date and time of your choice.

Step 10: Promote your content

Well, congratulations. Your article is online, ready to be devoured by many readers. In order to reach as many people as possible, though, you can’t just publish it and wait for traffic to pour in.

You risk waiting a long time… especially if your blog is brand new with few or no followers.

So it’s vital that you stand out from the crowd and get the word out about your prose. For the record, users of the WordPress.com platform publish 70 million new articles a month .

And that’s just on WordPress.com! If you don’t do anything to promote your article, it’s likely to end up drowned in a vast ocean of posts.

With that in mind, here are a few things you can do to make your article known to the world:

• Mention it in a dedicated newsletter sent to your email list (if you have one).
• Share it on your social network accounts (Facebook, X, Instagram, LinkedIn, etc.) and on forums and groups dedicated to your theme.
• Forward it, via a personalized email, to influential bloggers you’ve mentioned in your article. But be careful: don’t beg them to share your article with their community! If they think it’s relevant, they’ll do it themselves.
• Use paid advertising (e.g., Facebook Ads or Google Ads) to share your content with targeted users.

Step 11: Analyze article performance

You’ve reached the end of this marathon of how to write an SEO-optimized blog post.

There’s one last step to take: analyzing the performance of your content . This is an important step. It enables you to check that your actions are going in the right direction and to rectify any shortcomings.

Your favorite analytics tool (Google Analytics, Plausible, Matomo) will give you access to a number of key metrics to keep a close eye on:

• The total number of visits to your blog post (sessions)
• People who have visited your site one or more times (users)
• Bounce rate
• Average reading time
• Best-performing pages (those receiving the most traffic)
• Conversions

If you’d like to track your article’s position in the Google SERP, you can also use Semrush’s “Position Tracking” tool . With it, you can monitor the rankings of your articles and your competitors on a daily basis.

You can even set up personalized alerts to notify you of any changes in position.

Do you want to know how to write a #blog #post that’s optimized for #SEO? Check out our step-by-step guide to boost the traffic to your site. 🚀

How to write a blog post: The conclusion

At last, it’s all done! You now know how to write a powerful blog post .

From researching a topic, to identifying a relevant keyword, to on-page SEO optimization and promoting your content, you know all the steps you need to take to craft high-quality content that’s likely to bring you qualified traffic.

Now all you have to do is get to work! Take action as soon as possible. Try, test , and, above all, don’t be afraid to make mistakes . That’s how we learn and progress.

To find all the tools you need in a single dashboard, rely on Semrush, which is offering an exclusive 14-day free trial of the Pro version:

Finally, remember that SEO doesn’t produce immediate results. But if you’re persistent and committed, you’ll reap the rewards of your work in the medium-to-long term, after a few months.

So hang in there and don’t give up. Do you have any tips or tricks to add to make this article-writing process even better? Let us know by posting a comment!

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WPMarmite Team

WPMarmite helps beginners get the best out of WordPress with in-depth tutorials and honest reviews. Meet the founder, Alex, and his team right here .

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UAE, US review progress of $20b ship-to-rail corridor project

Project was launched at the g20 leaders' summit in new delhi last year.

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Published: Wed 25 Sep 2024, 6:20 PM

The futuristic $20 billion transcontinental India-Middle East Europe Economic Corridor (IMEC) plan, marking a "new era of international connectivity", received a consequential fillip with leaders of the UAE and the US reaffirming their commitment to the strategic initiative.

President Sheikh Mohamed discussed the progress of this landmark corridor and underscored its potential to usher in a "new era of international connectivity" during his just concluded meeting with US President Joe Biden on Tuesday.

Work on the India-UAE leg of the IMEC, envisaged as a counter to China’s intercontinental Belt and Road Initiative, is on track to start with the imminent launch of a digital platform to exchange information between ports of the two countries.

The ambitious project was launched at the G20 Leaders' Summit in New Delhi last year. When complete, it would connect India by ship-to-rail connections through the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Israel, and Europe through Greece.

At the meeting held at the White House on Monday, Sheikh Mohamed and Biden reaffirmed that the corridor will generate economic growth, increase efficiencies, lower greenhouse gas emissions, and enable the transformative integration of Asia, Europe, and the Middle East, according to a joint statement.

The two leaders underscored that the transformative partnership had the potential to usher in a "new era of international connectivity" to facilitate global trade and clean energy distribution, expand reliable access to electricity, and strengthen telecommunication. They emphasised the importance of joint initiatives to promote a circular economy and advance sustainable practices, underscoring their commitment to innovation for resource efficiency and environmentally responsible growth.

The IMEC, a proposed 4,800 km long route comprising a railroad, ship-to-rail networks, and road transport routes extending across two corridors, consists of two trade corridors: the East Corridor, which connects India to the Arabian Gulf, and the Northern Corridor, which connects the Gulf to Europe. IMEC aims to provide a cost-effective and reliable cross-border ship-to-rail transit network to bolster existing maritime shipping. It was announced in September 2023 in New Delhi on the sidelines of the G20 Summit. This followed a meeting between the leaders of India, the US, the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Italy, France, Germany, and the European Commission.

The ambitious project intends to increase efficiency, reduce costs, secure regional supply chains, increase trade accessibility, enhance economic cooperation, generate jobs, and lower greenhouse gas emissions, resulting in a transformative integration of Asia, Europe, and the Middle East.

Strategically, the IMEC is viewed as a counter to China’s BRI, although its scale and scope are relatively limited.

According to analysts, the strong economic ties between the UAE and the US are reflected in the substantial rise in non-oil foreign trade (excluding services), which surged to $39.5 billion in 2023 from $23.8 billion in 2022.

In 2023, UAE imports from the United States reached $25.9 billion, up from $21.3 billion in 2022. Meanwhile, UAE exports to the U.S. increased from $3.2 billion in 2022 to $3.9 billion in 2023. Additionally, UAE re-exports to the U.S. rose to $9.6 billion in 2023, compared to $8.2 billion the previous year.

Between 2018 and 2023, UAE investments in the U.S. totaled $3.7 billion, while U.S. investments in the UAE amounted to $9.5 billion. Key sectors for UAE investment in the U.S. include renewable energy, telecommunications, energy, real estate, software services, and information technology.

This year, several collaborative agreements in technology and artificial intelligence have been formed. In June, World Wide Technology (WWT), a prominent U.S. technology integration firm, partnered with NXT Global to establish the UAE’s first AI Integration Centre in Masdar City, Abu Dhabi, which is set to be one of the most sustainable urban developments globally.

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