business plan proposed title

3. State the problem or need.

This is where you share a summary of the issue impacting the potential client. This is your opportunity to show them you understand their needs and the problem they need help solving.

In the example above, I included several signals to showcase my expertise – that I've been in the photography biz for 10 years, that I've worked with over 500 clients, and that I've been featured a number of publications. 

As you approach this section, focus on presenting yourself as an authority. Consider leveraging tools like:

• Case studies
• Client testimonials
• Relevant awards
• Industry accreditations

6. Include pricing options.

Pricing is where things can get a bit tricky, as you don't want to under or over-price your product.

The pricing section of your proposal could include:

• A detailed pricing breakdown, including packages, tiers, and add-ons or optional services
• How product features and benefits align with pricing choices
• Pricing for different needs and budgets
• How your pricing compares with competitors
• An FAQ section to respond to anticipated objections and explain your pricing strategy

7. Summarize with a conclusion.

After sharing the above information, simplify it all into one final section.

• First, briefly summarize the proposal. Be sure to share your qualifications and why you’d serve as the best choice.
• Then, to prompt further conversation, confirm your availability to go over the next steps.
• At the end of the proposal, the goal is to have the client ready to work with you. So, be sure to offer your contact information for easy follow-up.

In need of some inspiration before you begin writing? Here are example business proposal templates from popular business proposal software companies you can use to help create your proposal.

1. HubSpot's Free Business Plan Templates

Download these Templates

We know how crucial a great business proposal is to your and your client’s success. That's why we've compiled 2 Free Business Proposal Templates for you to use and customize for any of your projects.

You'll gain access to a concise, one-page template (pictured above), as well as a longer template for you to refine your plan and proposal.

Download the templates now to get started on building your proposal.

What We Like

The one-page template is clear, straightforward, and easy to read — without skipping on the key elements of a business proposal. This format is especially useful for busy clients who appreciate brevity and clarity.

2. Web Design Proposal

With advertising on social networks projected to reach $82.23 billion dollars in 2025 , it's in your business's best interest to have a plan for growing your client's social media presence.

To help you in that effort, the information in this social media marketing proposal includes an executive summary to help introduce your high-level ideas, an assessment of the client’s company to show your diligence, and a breakdown of billing to show how your company charges for posting, content creation, and analytics.

This template includes all the bells and whistles of a social media proposal packaged in a fun yet professional design. It also includes helpful writing instructions under each section.

8. Content Marketing Proposal

Business proposal templates are helpful places to get started, but what should your business proposal look like when it's complete? This template should inspire you.

When pitching your content marketing services to clients, this template can help you organize your ideas. While it walks you through initial objectives and how to communicate your prospected results, one of the most helpful parts of this template is the pricing ideas it gives you when charging for your services.

In the business template example below, Social Portal Consulting (SPC) pitches a marketing proposal to Graphic Bean. At first sight, this proposal appeals to the creative. I recommend going a step forward and designing the layout in your or your client’s brand colors.

Besides the design, the social media icons quickly tell the prospect what platforms Social Portal is pitching. Because we see Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Pinterest icons, the client instantly knows that this proposal doesn’t include LinkedIn, YouTube, or other platforms.

While maintaining its design, this example outlines Social Portal Consulting’s plans efficiently. It begins by providing insight into Graphic Bean and its goals before elaborating on how SPC can leverage its expertise to help them achieve them.

This business proposal template includes an easy-to-follow timeframe for goals and objectives while keeping the client abreast of how payment will happen across the project.

Overall, this is an excellent example of how to combine the elements of social media marketing into a creative and concise business proposal. Finally, we'll leave you with some business proposal ideas to get you started on your own.

• Start with an outline.
• Keep it simple.
• Stay on brand.
• Quality control.
• Include data and visuals.
• Add social proof.
• Use a call-to-action.
• Create a sense of urgency.
• Make the decision for them.
• Incorporate video into your proposal.
• Include up-sell and add-on opportunities.
• Clarify your terms and conditions.
• Include a space for signatures to document agreement.
• Create a table of contents.

1. Start with an outline.

If you want to produce a thoughtful, effective business proposal, you need to have some idea of what you're hoping to achieve with it.

Before I dive into writing a proposal, I always outline the major sections of the proposal that I want to include. That way, I can stay focused and make sure my message stays intact as I write.

Use these free business proposal templates to make sure that your outline includes everything you need.

2. Keep it simple.

Ultimately, there's no definitive blueprint for how long a business proposal has to be. Yours should be however long it takes to convey the information you want to get across.

That said, I'm a firm believer in quality over quantity, especially when it comes to business proposals. Keep your sentences short and simple, and avoid including too much business jargon.

You want anyone who picks up your proposal to make sense of it. So, be straightforward and don't get too fancy. Aim for substance over flash.

3. Stay on brand.

Don't be afraid to let your company's personality shine through in your proposal. Stay true to your brand and show the client what sets you apart from your competitors.

4. Quality control.

I've made it a habit to add an editing/QA step in my writing process. During this step, I do a quick spelling and grammar check before hitting send.

So, as you draft your proposal, and after checking for the basics, keep scanning this document until it's just right.

Check to make sure your proposal:

• Meets client needs and expectations
• Highlights your value proposition
• Is well-structured and easy to read or skim
• Complies with legal, ethical, and regulatory requirements
• Looks professional and engaging

5. Include data and visuals.

You want your business proposal to capture your prospect's attention and help set you apart from any other ones they might have received. One of the best ways to do that is to include hard, quantitative data that helps stress the value of your business.

Use relevant, compelling figures that highlight what you have to offer. This can establish authority and make your proposal more convincing. It also helps to include visuals such as charts and graphs to enhance your proposal.

6. Add social proof.

From my experience, you can only be so convincing when you're personally talking up how great your business is — which is why adding social proof is key to establishing credibility.

At the end of the day, prospects are skeptical. They may not take you at your word. But they'll likely trust peers and fellow customers. That's why including elements like customer quotes and testimonials can go a long way.

7. Use a call-to-action.

I've learned that the best proposal in the world can only take you so far if you don't clearly define the next steps. That's why you have to make sure the reader knows what to do after reading your proposal.

A clear call-to-action is the best way to get there.

Define and highlight exactly what they should do to act on the interest your proposal has generated. Without that guidance, you might leave your reader in limbo.

HubSpot customers : Use this CTA builder to create powerful customized CTAs.

8. Create a sense of urgency.

No one wants to feel as if they missed out on a great opportunity. From my experience, prospect tend to drag their feet and put off making a decision if there isn't a sense of urgency.

So, as you create your business proposal, your goal should be to add a degree of urgency. When prospective clients read your business proposal they should feel that the best time to sign up for your service is now .

One way I accomplish this is by stating short and long-term goals for their business. They'll have to wait for the long-term goals, but I make the short-term goals so enticing that they'll be ready to begin a collaboration.

9. Make the decision for them.

Craft your copy in a way that seems like saying "no" to the proposal would be stepping over dollars to pick up pennies. Your offer should go above and beyond their expectations. Do everything in your power to remove friction and objections along the way.

10. Incorporate video into your proposal.

If you're creating an online proposal using document file formats like PDF, add multimedia elements. This will enhance the proposal experience, make your document richer, and keep them engaged.

Try adding a video at the beginning as an intro to your proposal. Or, put a video in the project breakdown to verbally discuss some of the more confusing parts.

Extras like this can make an impression. This tip works especially well with prospects who are visual or auditory communicators.

Pro tip : HubSpot Video makes it easy to record and embed video into a website or email for a big proposal boost.

11. Include up-sell and add-on opportunities.

They say you won't receive unless you ask. And readers won't explore the upper tiers of your solutions if you don't give them the opportunity.

So, share some upsells and add-ons about your business that they can act on. Call out a specific pain point and how this extra can add value.

With this step, balance is important. Show them everything your business has to offer without overwhelming your recipient.

12. Clarify your terms and conditions.

Your business proposal should include details on your project timeline and payment schedule. This summary is basically what you and the client agree to if they accept your proposal.

Don't forget to share this post!

Related articles.

Amazon Affiliate Program: How to Become an Amazon Associate to Boost Income

A Complete Guide to Successful Brand Positioning

70 Small Business Ideas for Anyone Who Wants to Run Their Own Business

How to Start a Business: A Startup Guide for Entrepreneurs [Template]

Door-to-Door Sales: The Complete Guide

Product Differentiation and What it Means for Your Brand

The 25 Best PayPal Alternatives of 2023

The First-Mover Advantage, Explained

Intrapreneurship vs. Entrepreneurship: What's the Difference?

What Are Current Assets? Definition + Examples

Propose your business as the ideal solution using this free template.

Powerful and easy-to-use sales software that drives productivity, enables customer connection, and supports growing sales orgs

How to Write a Business Proposal

Briana Morgaine

8 min. read

Updated March 18, 2024

A business proposal can make or break your chances of securing a new client. Write a great one, and you’ll likely snag their business.

Write a poor one, and you might lose out—even if you’re offering the best service out there. So, how do you write a business proposal? What is the proper format? What do you need to include?

While it all depends on your industry, and whether or not you’re offering a product or service, writing a business proposal is pretty straightforward. We’ll answer all those questions and more throughout the course of this guide. 

• What to expect with this business proposal guide

Whether you’re starting fresh or need to look at a specific section, here’s what we’ll be covering in this guide. 

• What a business proposal is
• The differences between a business proposal and a business plan
• The format of a business proposal
• How long to make your business proposal
• How to write a business proposal

You can download a  free business proposal template here  to start writing up your own proposal as you work through this article. By the end, you’ll be prepared to develop a well-written business proposal that can explain your business clearly and win more clients. Let’s get started.

• What is a business proposal?

A business proposal is a document you’d send to a prospective client, outlining the service you’re offering, and explaining why you’re the best person for the job. 

It’s a  pitch by a business or individual  to complete a specific job or project, to supply a service, or, in some instances, to be the vendor of a certain product.

What are the different types of business proposals?

A business proposal can be either solicited or unsolicited. With a solicited proposal, the prospective client will put out a request for proposals; with an unsolicited business proposal, you are approaching a client in hopes of attracting their business, even though they did not explicitly request a proposal.  

While both are commonplace, a solicited proposal is an easier sell, as your prospective client has already decided that they want to make a purchase or use a service, and they’re evaluating possible vendors or businesses.

With a solicited proposal, your prospective client might have issued an RFP, or “request for proposal.” This is exactly what it sounds like—they want you to send over a business proposal so they can take a look at it.

Brought to you by

Create a professional business plan

Using ai and step-by-step instructions.

Secure funding

Validate ideas

Build a strategy

• Differences between a business proposal and a business plan

A business proposal is not the same as a  business plan . This is the most common misconception, but while there are areas of overlap (like your  executive summary ) the two are different.

That being said, you can certainly pull information from your business plan while writing your business proposal—in fact, that’s a great way to start.

But don’t confuse the two; they are distinct and separate. In short, a business plan represents the cohesive strategy of how your business operates and makes money. A business proposal is an official pitch to clients selling your products or services. 

A business proposal outlines a particular product or service offered by an established business to a prospective client.

You’re trying to sell your prospective client on your product or service, not on your business itself. You’re not after funding, as you are with a business plan, you’re trying to make a sale.

A business proposal is also not an estimate; although you’ll likely touch on costs and pricing in your business proposal, an estimate is much more informal and just a quick look at the costs, not the whole picture.

• What goes into a business proposal?

Your business proposal should address the three Ps:

• Problem statement: What your customer’s current problem is
• Proposed solution: How your business solves that problem better than other solutions
• Pricing: How much that solution costs compared to alternatives

If you’re stuck on how to start, maybe try brainstorming first; start with these three points, and you’ll have a rough, bare-bones version of your business proposal.

Once you’ve done that if you’re ready to go more in-depth, here is a step-by-step look at how to format your business proposal.

Your business proposal should start with a title page, which should include your name, the name of your company, the name of the person to whom you’re submitting your proposal, and the date submitted.

Table of contents

Depending on how long your business proposal is, a table of contents is a nice touch. Include it after your title page, and before you launch into any details. If you’re delivering it as a PDF, including anchor links down to each section, so it’s easy to get to specific areas. 

Executive summary

Introduce your proposal with a great executive summary, one that really sells your business and the products or services you provide—it’s about why you’re the right company for the job. You can draw from your business plan’s executive summary here, too.

Statement of problem, issue, or job at hand

Following your executive summary, go on to discuss the problem that the client is currently facing. Think of “problem” or “issue” loosely; after all, their main problem may just be finding the right person to complete their project. But be sure you understand why they want the product or service they’re seeking. If the proposal is for developing a brand new website, make sure you understand what they want to get out of the site—better sales, more content management flexibility. 

This is the place to show your new client that you  understand their needs , and fully grasp the issue they are trying to solve. Take this opportunity to restate the issue they are facing in your own words so that they know you understand what they are looking for.

Approach and methodology

This section shows how you plan to tackle your potential client’s problem, and the steps you’ll take to carry out your plan.

This is where you’ll get into the nitty-gritty of how you actually plan to fulfill your client’s needs. While earlier sections might have been a bit surface-level, this section of the business proposal is where you’ll go into detail about what steps you’ll take to solve their problem.

Be careful of going into  too  much detail, though—keep the jargon to a minimum. Your client should be able to follow along and get a clear sense of your plan, but you don’t want to drown them in minutiae.

Qualifications

Go ahead, brag a little—this is the section of your business proposal where you get to convince your potential client why you are the most qualified person to take on the job.

You can mention any relevant education, industry-specific training, or certifications you have, your past successful projects of a similar nature, years of experience, and so on.

Schedule and benchmarks

Be clear with your potential client: How long will your proposed project take?

Making sure you and your prospective client are on the same page from the outset will help make sure that the relationship stays positive for both of you, and that you don’t set your client up with unrealistic expectations.

While you might be tempted to underestimate how long it will take you to complete the project, don’t. Don’t promise what you can’t deliver!

If you’re offering a product, this section might not be applicable to you, so feel free to omit it. The business proposal format is flexible, so tailor it to suit your business and industry.

Cost, payment, and any legal matters

Here is where you get down to brass tacks and state the cost, and payment schedule if necessary.

How you structure this section will largely depend on the particular project or service you are offering. A section entitled “Fee Summary” may be sufficient if one-time payment is required; otherwise, a “Fee Schedule” list or pricing table might be more appropriate. Always refer back to the client’s RFP whenever possible, to make sure you’re supplying them with all the information they need to help make their decision.

If there are any legal issues to attend to, such as permits or licensing, include this information here. Feel free to add a section entirely devoted to handling the legal side of the project if need be.

This is your final sell—don’t be afraid to detail for your prospective client all they have to gain by choosing you to complete the project.

Impress upon your clients why you are the best choice, and all the ways in which their business will benefit from choosing you and your business as their solution.

• How long should a business proposal be?

When it comes to the format of a business proposal, this is the million-dollar question without an answer. Remember in school, when you’d ask your teacher how long an essay should be, and they’d reply, “as long as it takes to answer the question.”

The same applies to your business proposal. It ultimately depends on your industry, the scope of the project, and the client’s specifications in terms of detail and elements included.

That being said, the tighter your initial proposal can be and the more directly you can make your point, the easier it will be to pitch it to clients. Start by following the business proposal format above as a guide, and you’ll be well on your way to creating a winning business proposal—and securing new clients.

Bri Morgaine is a seasoned content marketing leader with a decade of experience in copy editing, social media operations, and content strategy— having honed her skills at industry giants like Palo Alto Software and Andreessen Horowitz.

Table of Contents

Related Articles

5 Min. Read

How to Implement a Zero Waste Strategy for Your Business

4 Min. Read

Signs That It’s Time to Pivot Your Business and How to Do It

6 Min. Read

7 Steps to Successful Project Planning

Strategy Is Useless Without Execution

The Bplans Newsletter

The Bplans Weekly

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

We care about your privacy. See our privacy policy .

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

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

No thanks, I prefer writing 40-page documents.

Discover the world’s #1 plan building software

Proposal Title Pages: Title, Subtitle, & Design

Table of Contents

An informative and intriguing title.

• A supportive subtitle

Proposal cover page

Proposal title page design, keep the proposal title page persuasive.

First impressions matter. To put your best foot forward, you need to make sure your proposal has a killer cover page. Title pages can often be overlooked because it becomes as an afterthought once all the hard work of proposal writing has been completed. Yet, this page should be as engaging as the rest of the document.

While each proposal is unique, there are key elements and considerations that apply to all title pages. This article will share the key title page components with examples to help you put the finishing touches on your persuasive proposal. 

Allow me to present the worst proposal title:

Business Proposal to ABC Company

It’s surprisingly common but terrible nonetheless. This title is the business equivalent of labeling a book, “Book.”

Instead, your title should be both informative and intriguing. Imagine the reader sifting through a tall stack of proposals (or an inbox filled with proposal emails). Your title should catch their eye and want them to turn the page. 

Win More Proposals

Learn how to write better proposals in less time that win more business.

An informative title summarizes the entire document in one phrase. It’s a big job, but a vital one. The reader should understand, at a high level, the actual benefit the proposal offers once they read it.  

An intriguing title pulls the reader in. This brief summary must also appeal to the audience. Take the time to consider your audience. Contextualizing the reader will help you draft a title that would appeal to their interests. The title should ultimately answer the question: “Why should I care?”. 

Proposal title examples:

Instead of: “Social Media Proposal” Try: “Brand Awareness Strategy to Support North-Eastern Sales”

Instead of: “Safety Program Offer” Try: “Employee-centric Workplace Injury Reduction Training”

Instead of “IT Services Proposal” Consider: “Safeguarding Your Customer’s Data with Cloud Services”

A supportive subtitle  

The title must do a lot of heavy lifting for your proposal. It can be supported by its sidekick: the subtitle. Like any good sidekick, the subtitle should be clever and creative. This additional line allows you to expand on the relevance of the proposal while also adding specificity. 

Proposal subtitle examples:

Pair title: Brand Awareness Strategy to Support North-Eastern Sales With subtitle: Engaging Top Demographics with Targeted Instagram and Facebook Campaigns

Pair title: Employee-centric Workplace Injury Reduction Training With subtitle: Implementing a Factory Floor Hazard Identification System

Pair title: Safeguarding Your Customer’s Information with Cloud Services With subtitle: A Six-Month Transition Plan for Data Security

The proposal cover page also must play its role in informing the reader of background information. All proposals should have some core details, which can be referred to as ‘housekeeping’ information. The details allow the reader to have context and allow follow-up. Cover pages should include the client’s name, your company’s full name, and the submission date.

Additional details may be required based on the type of proposal. Certain corporations or government agencies require the request for the proposal number to be specified. Certain proposals require the summary or abstract to be placed on the title page. Double-check the client communication or request for proposal documents to verify that your title page ticks all the boxes.

An appealing title page design can set your proposal apart in a sea of competitors. You can be as creative as you’d like with your proposal cover page as long as it is professional and industry-appropriate. The design should be appealing to the audience, while also being functional by building on the proposal’s theme. 

To ensure your title page is attractive, follow general design principles and proposal formatting rules. Use lots of white space to draw attention to the key information of the title and housekeeping information. Some proposal tools come with templated designs. The text on the page should always be easy to find and easy to read. Use color schemes that are attractive but not distracting, looking to the industry or the client for preferred color choices. Ensure your design follows your organization’s branding.

When your title page is complete, print a physical copy to see if the design translates well off the screen. Your cover page should look great in digital and hard copy. A print version can also be helpful in the ever-important proofreading process . 

The title page is how you acquaint your client with the valuable business opportunity inside your proposal. This space offers an often-missed opportunity to kick off the proposal with a persuasive introduction. A strong title page allows your proposal to stand out, while also highlighting your attention to detail and strength in communication. Integrate these tips into your proposal title page and it will become a competitive advantage. Learn more about writing an excellent business proposal through our dedicated course.

Related Articles

11 best proposal creation software tools, two days’ time or two days time (inanimate possessives), business writing style top tip: positive language, get notified of new articles.

• Business Writing Skills (57)
• Business Grammar (52)
• Technical Writing (33)
• Business Writing Resources (26)
• Business Email Writing (17)
• Business Writing Training (12)
• Business Proposals (10)
• Business Report Writing (7)
• Business Proofreading (4)
• Sales Writing (3)
• Executive Summary Writing (2)
• Customer Support Writing (1)
• Bailey Lang (1)
• Elisabeth O'Quinn (14)
• Grace Cuddy (6)
• Haley Larsen (4)
• Kara Latz (10)
• Katie Almeida Spencer (31)
• Malcolm Stiefel (1)
• Mary Cullen (134)
• Samantha Taylor (6)
• Terrance Collins (1)
• Tom DuPuis (10)

Top 125 Project Proposal Title Ideas [Updated]

In the realm of project proposals, the title serves as the first impression. It’s the gateway to grabbing the attention of stakeholders, funders, and decision-makers. Think of it as the cover of a book – it needs to be engaging, descriptive, and enticing. In this blog, we’ll delve into the art of crafting project proposal title ideas that resonate and captivate.

Elements of a Good Project Proposal Title

Table of Contents

• Clarity and Specificity: Your title should convey the essence of your project succinctly. Avoid vague language and opt for clarity. For instance, instead of “Environmental Conservation Initiative,” consider “Reviving Our Ecosystems: A Community-Led Conservation Project.”
• Relevance to Project Content: Ensure that your title accurately reflects the core objectives and outcomes of your project. Misleading titles can lead to confusion and disinterest among your audience. Make it a reflection of what your project truly stands for.
• Engaging and Memorable: A memorable title can leave a lasting impact. Employ techniques such as alliteration, puns, or intriguing phrases to make your title stand out. Remember, you want it to stick in the minds of your audience long after they’ve read it.

How Do You Title A Project Proposal?

Titling a project proposal involves crafting a concise, descriptive, and engaging title that accurately represents the content and objectives of the proposed project. Here’s a step-by-step guide on how to title a project proposal effectively:

• Understand the Project: Begin by thoroughly understanding the goals, objectives, and key components of your project. Consider the target audience, the problem you aim to solve, and the unique aspects of your proposed solution.
• Identify Keywords: Identify keywords and phrases that are central to your project. These could include specific themes, objectives, target demographics, or desired outcomes. These keywords will form the foundation of your title.
• Be Clear and Specific: Ensure that your title clearly communicates the essence of your project. Avoid vague or ambiguous language and strive for clarity. A clear title helps readers quickly understand what the project is about.
• Consider Audience Perspective: Put yourself in the shoes of your audience – whether they’re potential funders, stakeholders, or decision-makers. What would resonate with them? Tailor your title to their interests, priorities, and concerns.
• Highlight Benefits or Impact: If possible, incorporate elements that highlight the potential benefits or impact of your project. This could involve showcasing how your project addresses a specific need, solves a problem, or contributes to positive change.
• Be Concise and Memorable: Keep your title concise while ensuring it captures the essence of your project. Aim for brevity without sacrificing clarity. Additionally, consider making your title memorable by using techniques such as alliteration, wordplay, or evocative language.
• Review and Refine: Once you’ve drafted a title, take the time to review and refine it. Ask for feedback from colleagues, mentors, or peers to ensure that the title effectively represents your project and resonates with the intended audience.
• Test for Effectiveness: If possible, test different title options to gauge their effectiveness. You can do this by conducting informal surveys, gathering feedback from focus groups, or analyzing engagement metrics if the proposal is being shared online.
• Finalize and Implement: Once you’re satisfied with your title, finalize it and incorporate it into your project proposal. Ensure consistency by using the same title throughout the proposal document and any accompanying materials.

By following these steps, you can create a compelling and impactful title for your project proposal that grabs attention, communicates effectively, and sets the stage for success.

Top 121 Project Proposal Title Ideas: Category Wise

Environment and sustainability.

• “Greening Our Communities: Sustainable Solutions for a Greener Future”
• “Clean Water Initiatives: Ensuring Access for All”
• “Renewable Energy Revolution: Powering Tomorrow with Sustainable Solutions”
• “Preserving Biodiversity: Protecting Our Natural Heritage”
• “Urban Farming for Sustainable Living: Cultivating Greener Cities”
• “Waste Management Innovations: Turning Trash into Treasure”
• “Eco-Friendly Transportation: Paving the Way for Cleaner Commutes”
• “Climate Change Resilience: Adapting to a Changing World”
• “Ocean Conservation: Safeguarding Our Marine Ecosystems”
• “Reforestation for a Greener Planet: Planting Trees, Preserving Life”

Education and Youth Development

• “Empowering Youth Through Education: Building Tomorrow’s Leaders”
• “Digital Literacy for All: Bridging the Digital Divide”
• “STEM Education Initiatives: Inspiring the Next Generation of Innovators”
• “Girls’ Education Empowerment: Unlocking Potential, Creating Opportunities”
• “Community Learning Centers: Providing Accessible Education for All”
• “Career Readiness Programs: Preparing Youth for the Future of Work”
• “Arts and Culture Education: Nurturing Creativity, Celebrating Diversity”
• “Youth Mental Health Awareness: Breaking the Stigma, Building Resilience”
• “Inclusive Education for Children with Disabilities: Fostering Equality in Learning”
• “Environmental Education Initiatives: Fostering Stewardship for the Planet”

Health and Well-being

• “Promoting Mental Health Wellness: Supporting Resilience, Preventing Crisis”
• “Healthy Communities, Healthy Lives: Promoting Wellness for All”
• “Access to Healthcare for Underserved Populations: Bridging the Gap”
• “Nutrition Education and Food Security: Nourishing Bodies, Enriching Lives”
• “Preventive Healthcare Initiatives: Empowering Individuals to Take Control of Their Health”
• “Substance Abuse Prevention and Treatment: Breaking the Cycle of Addiction”
• “Maternal and Child Health Care: Ensuring Safe and Healthy Beginnings”
• “Elderly Care and Aging-in-Place Programs: Supporting Dignity, Independence”
• “Community Health Worker Programs: Strengthening Healthcare Delivery Systems”
• “Health Equity Initiatives: Addressing Disparities, Advancing Justice”

Technology and Innovation

• “Digital Inclusion Initiatives: Connecting Communities, Closing the Gap”
• “Smart Cities, Smart Solutions: Harnessing Technology for Urban Development”
• “Innovations in Renewable Energy: Pioneering Solutions for a Sustainable Future”
• “Blockchain for Social Good: Transforming Lives, Empowering Communities”
• “Artificial Intelligence for Social Impact: Leveraging AI for Positive Change”
• “Open Data Initiatives: Promoting Transparency, Empowering Citizens”
• “Virtual Reality in Education: Enhancing Learning Experiences, Expanding Horizons”
• “Telemedicine Programs: Bringing Healthcare to Remote Areas”
• “Tech for Good Hackathons: Collaborating for Positive Change”
• “Digital Skills Training for Employment: Building Tomorrow’s Workforce”

Community Development

• “Community Gardens: Cultivating Connections, Nourishing Communities”
• “Affordable Housing Initiatives: Building Homes, Building Hope”
• “Small Business Incubators: Fostering Entrepreneurship, Fueling Growth”
• “Community-Based Tourism: Showcasing Local Culture, Empowering Residents”
• “Social Enterprise Accelerators: Supporting Businesses with Purpose”
• “Community Health Clinics: Providing Quality Care, Promoting Wellness”
• “Civic Engagement Programs: Empowering Citizens, Strengthening Democracy”
• “Disaster Preparedness and Response: Building Resilient Communities”
• “Arts and Culture Festivals: Celebrating Diversity, Fostering Unity”
• “Community Libraries: Promoting Literacy, Enriching Lives”

Economic Development

• “Microfinance Initiatives: Empowering Entrepreneurs, Alleviating Poverty”
• “Skills Training for Employment: Unlocking Potential, Creating Opportunities”
• “Rural Development Projects: Revitalizing Communities, Sustaining Livelihoods”
• “Tourism Development Strategies: Driving Growth, Preserving Heritage”
• “Green Jobs for Sustainable Development: Fostering Employment, Protecting the Planet”
• “Supporting Women-Owned Businesses: Promoting Equality, Fueling Growth”
• “Financial Literacy Programs: Empowering Individuals, Building Stability”
• “Investing in Infrastructure: Connecting Communities, Driving Progress”
• “Youth Entrepreneurship Programs: Cultivating Innovation, Igniting Ambition”
• “Social Impact Investing: Generating Returns, Creating Change”

Arts and Culture

• “Public Art Installations: Transforming Spaces, Inspiring Communities”
• “Cultural Exchange Programs: Celebrating Diversity, Fostering Understanding”
• “Music and Performing Arts Education: Nurturing Talent, Enriching Lives”
• “Heritage Preservation Projects: Protecting the Past, Enriching the Future”
• “Community Theater Initiatives: Empowering Voices, Creating Connections”
• “Literacy through Storytelling: Promoting Reading, Building Bonds”
• “Art Therapy Programs: Healing Through Creativity, Restoring Hope”
• “Film Festivals for Social Change: Sparking Dialogue, Inspiring Action”
• “Street Art Murals: Beautifying Neighborhoods, Spreading Messages of Hope”
• “Cultural Heritage Tourism: Showcasing Tradition, Supporting Communities”

Human Rights and Social Justice

• “Gender Equality Initiatives: Empowering Women, Advancing Rights”
• “Access to Justice Programs: Ensuring Equality, Upholding Rights”
• “Anti-Discrimination Campaigns: Promoting Inclusion, Fighting Prejudice”
• “Child Protection and Advocacy: Safeguarding Childhood, Securing Futures”
• “Refugee Integration Programs: Building Bridges, Offering Hope”
• “Racial Equity Initiatives: Dismantling Barriers, Promoting Justice”
• “LGBTQ+ Rights Advocacy: Championing Equality, Celebrating Diversity”
• “Community Policing Partnerships: Fostering Trust, Enhancing Safety”
• “Humanitarian Aid Projects: Providing Relief, Restoring Dignity”
• “Prisoner Rehabilitation Programs: Supporting Reentry, Promoting Rehabilitation”

Disaster Response and Relief

• “Emergency Shelter Solutions: Providing Refuge, Restoring Stability”
• “Disaster Risk Reduction Strategies: Building Resilience, Saving Lives”
• “Food Security in Crisis Zones: Providing Sustenance, Offering Hope”
• “Medical Relief Missions: Delivering Care, Alleviating Suffering”
• “Psychosocial Support for Survivors: Healing Hearts, Rebuilding Lives”
• “Water and Sanitation Interventions: Ensuring Hygiene, Preventing Disease”
• “Search and Rescue Operations: Saving Lives, Offering Hope”
• “Disaster Preparedness Training: Equipping Communities, Saving Lives”
• “Post-Disaster Reconstruction Projects: Rebuilding Communities, Restoring Hope”
• “Technology for Disaster Response: Innovating Solutions, Improving Outcomes”

Food Security and Agriculture

• “Sustainable Agriculture Initiatives: Cultivating Resilience, Nourishing Communities”
• “Food Waste Reduction Strategies: Saving Resources, Feeding the Hungry”
• “Community Gardens for Food Security: Growing Together, Eating Well”
• “Livestock Management Programs: Supporting Farmers, Ensuring Sustainability”
• “Climate-Resilient Crop Development: Adapting to Change, Ensuring Stability”
• “Aquaponics and Hydroponics Projects: Growing Food, Conserving Resources”
• “Access to Markets for Smallholder Farmers: Empowering Producers, Enhancing Livelihoods”
• “Nutrition Education for Healthy Families: Fostering Wellness, Preventing Malnutrition”
• “Seed Banks for Biodiversity Conservation: Preserving Heritage, Ensuring Future”
• “Agroforestry for Sustainable Land Use: Balancing Ecology, Economics”

Wildlife Conservation

• “Protecting Endangered Species: Safeguarding Biodiversity, Ensuring Survival”
• “Anti-Poaching Initiatives: Combating Illegal Wildlife Trade, Preserving Ecosystems”
• “Habitat Restoration Projects: Restoring Balance, Reviving Ecosystems”
• “Community-Based Conservation Programs: Engaging Locals, Sustaining Wildlife”
• “Wildlife Corridor Protection: Connecting Habitats, Preventing Fragmentation”
• “Ecotourism for Conservation: Promoting Sustainability, Supporting Wildlife”
• “Marine Protected Areas: Saving Our Seas, Preserving Marine Life”
• “Conservation Education and Awareness Campaigns: Inspiring Action, Empowering Change”
• “Innovations in Wildlife Tracking and Monitoring: Enhancing Conservation Efforts”
• “Rewilding Initiatives: Restoring Nature’s Balance, Securing Futures”

Clean Energy and Climate Change

• “Solar Energy Access for All: Harnessing the Power of the Sun, Lighting the Way Forward”
• “Wind Power Revolution: Blowing Away Fossil Fuels, Embracing Renewables”
• “Energy Efficiency Initiatives: Saving Power, Saving the Planet”
• “Carbon Capture and Storage Solutions: Mitigating Climate Change, Preserving Our Future”
• “Green Transportation Innovations: Driving Towards a Sustainable Future”
• “Community-Based Climate Action Plans: Local Solutions, Global Impact”
• “Renewable Energy Microgrids: Powering Resilience, Empowering Communities”
• “Climate-Resilient Infrastructure Development: Building for Tomorrow, Today”
• “Sustainable Agriculture Practices for Climate Adaptation: Cultivating Resilience, Ensuring Food Security”
• “Climate Justice Advocacy: Fighting for Equity, Demanding Change”

Mental Health and Well-being

• “ Mental Health Awareness Campaigns : Breaking the Stigma, Building Support”
• “Mindfulness Programs for Stress Reduction: Finding Calm, Nurturing Resilience”
• “Peer Support Networks for Mental Health: Connecting Hearts, Healing Minds”
• “Therapeutic Art and Music Programs: Healing Through Creativity, Nurturing Wellness”
• “Mental Health First Aid Training: Equipping Communities, Saving Lives”

Tips for Generating Project Proposal Title Ideas

• Brainstorming Techniques: Engage in brainstorming sessions where you jot down any words, phrases, or ideas related to your project. Mind mapping, word association, and free writing can help stimulate creativity and uncover hidden gems for your title.
• Utilizing Keywords and Phrases: Identify key terms and phrases relevant to your project’s theme and incorporate them into your title. This not only enhances searchability but also reinforces the focus of your proposal.
• Considering Target Audience and Stakeholders: Understand your audience and tailor your title to resonate with their interests and priorities. Speak their language and address their concerns to establish a connection from the outset.
• Researching Existing Titles for Inspiration: Explore existing project proposals, articles, or publications within your field for inspiration. Analyze what works well and adapt elements that align with your project’s vision.

Common Mistakes to Avoid

• Being Too Generic: Generic titles fail to capture attention or convey the uniqueness of your project. Avoid clichés and opt for specificity.
• Using Jargon or Complex Language: Keep your title accessible to a broad audience by avoiding technical jargon or convoluted language. Aim for clarity and simplicity.
• Lack of Clarity or Ambiguity: Ambiguous titles leave room for interpretation, which can lead to confusion or misunderstanding. Ensure that your title leaves no room for doubt regarding the nature and purpose of your project.

Crafting an effective project proposal title is an art form that requires careful consideration and creativity. By incorporating elements of clarity, relevance, and engagement, you can create a title that not only grabs attention but also sets the stage for the success of your project.

Remember, your title is more than just a few words – it’s the first step towards making a meaningful impact. So, dare to be bold, be memorable, and let your title (from different project proposal title ideas) speak volumes about the essence of your project.

Related Posts

Step by Step Guide on The Best Way to Finance Car

The Best Way on How to Get Fund For Business to Grow it Efficiently

• Design for Business
• Most Recent
• Presentations
• Infographics
• Data Visualizations
• Forms and Surveys
• Video & Animation
• Case Studies
• Digital Marketing
• Design Inspiration
• Visual Thinking
• Product Updates
• Visme Webinars
• Artificial Intelligence

How to Write a Business Proposal – 28 Examples | Visme

Written by: Olujinmi Oluwatoni

Writing a business proposal that wins clients over is tough work. It gets even tougher when you're competing against multiple vendors for the same contract. According to a recent report by Loopio , teams on average win only 44% of their Request for Proposals (RFPs)

Here’s the silver lining. You can increase your win rate with a standout business proposal that not only grabs the client's attention but properly articulates your value proposition, unique strengths and capabilities.

However, creating a professional business proposal from scratch can be challenging, especially if you lack the necessary skills and tools.

To assist you, we’ve put together 28 business proposal templates to help you write one and increase your chances of success.

Here’s a short selection of 8 easy-to-edit business proposal templates you can edit, share, and download with Visme. View more templates below:

Table of Contents

• What is a Business Proposal?

28 Business Proposal Templates to Impress Clients

• A business proposal is a document crafted to convince potential clients, investors, or partners to take a particular action, such as purchasing a product or service, investing in a project or forming a partnership.
• Visme's template library offers a diverse selection of templates covering service, product, investment, partnership, consulting, project and bid proposals. These proposal templates are easily customizable with Visme’s user-friendly drag-and-drop editor.
• Visme also offers an array of features for creating impressive and unique business proposals, including team collaboration, online sharing, AI-powered image and text tools, custom branding, analytics, data visualizations, animation and interactivity.
• With Visme’s intuitive editor, you can seamlessly customize these templates. Tap into built-in features like hundreds of free fonts, millions of free images, vector icons, data tools, animations and more to whip up the perfect proposal design in minutes.

What Is a Business Proposal?

A business proposal is a document designed to persuade a prospective client, investor, or partner to take a specific action—whether it is buying a product or service, investing in a project, or entering into a partnership.

To craft a compelling proposal, you need to grasp the client's needs, present your solution, outline your strategy and demonstrate why you or your team are the best choice to address the problem.

Visme’s extensive array of proposal templates, combined with an intuitive editor and advanced tools, streamlines the process of creating a professional business proposal.

Hear what one of our customers has to say about Visme:

“Visme is something that I would highly recommend. It made us look a lot better in our clients’ eyes because it's something that's visually effective as a marketing tool.”

"With Visme, instead of days, a page would take us anywhere from 4-8 hours on a duplicate or templated process and even up to 72 hours for projects with unique needs and with immense input and back and forth on the design process.”

Brad Wills, Sourcing Executive at IBM's Recruitment Processing Outsourcing (RPO)! Read the full case study .

Check out these 28 business proposals professionally designed for almost every kind of business.

Service Proposal Templates

Product proposal templates, partnership proposal templates, investment proposal templates, consulting proposal templates, project proposal templates, bid proposal templates, 1. it service one-pager proposal template.

Looking for a quick and concise way to communicate the value and specifics of your IT service offering to potential clients or stakeholders? This service proposal template is your sure bet.

The minimalist design gives the plan a modern look and creates a powerful visual impact. Leverage the space to detail your executive summary , description of services, scope of work and lots more.

And if you’re tight on time, you can rely on Visme's AI document generator for instant proposal creation. Simply input your prompt, provide context, choose your preferred design and witness the tool swiftly generate your initial draft within seconds.

Check out how the AI document generator tool works here.

2. Marketing Agency Proposal Template

This comprehensive template is your ultimate tool to pitch your marketing agency's services and secure deals effortlessly.

Its sleek design, captivating visuals and icons ensure an attractive presentation. You can easily spotlight the problems you’ll address, solutions, project roadmap, services, the team, client testimonials and more.

Your brand identity conveys professionalism and makes your proposal more memorable to potential clients. To showcase your brand identity, ensure your proposal is branded using Visme's brand wizard . Simply input your web URL to automatically incorporate design elements from your website and access personalized, branded templates.

3. Clinical Laboratory Services

This template offers a framework to showcase your clinical services expertise and present your unique value proposition with clarity. The template offers dedicated sections for services, product breakdowns, certifications, locations and more.

Against a white backdrop, various shades of blue harmoniously blend to symbolize the beauty of healthcare and increase your proposal’s aesthetic appeal. The template also features captivating visuals, icons and an engaging layout.

Convert your product proposal into an engaging page-turner using Visme's flipbook effect . This allows your audience to virtually flip through pages, mimicking a real document experience.

4. Online Grocery Delivery Proposal Template

Seeking investment or partnerships for your groundbreaking online grocery delivery service? This online delivery service proposal template is your silver bullet.

The striking blend of lemon, blue and white gives it a great visual appeal. Each page also boasts engaging culinary visuals, icons and a refined layout that complements the content.

With detailed market analysis, innovative strategies and detailed financial projections, this template helps you present a compelling case. The best part is that the template design is fully customizable to suit any product or brand.

With our interactive features like hover effects or clickable pop-ups, you can provide more information, such as technical details or testimonials, without overwhelming the reader.

5. Consumer Product One Pager Proposal

Utilize this concise yet impactful one pager proposal to secure funding for your consumer product venture. This template allows you to distill your product's essence, market potential and competitive edge into a compelling one-page format.

It features captivating visuals, icons and harmonious color combinations, delivering a compelling presentation.

Personalize the template with your text, images, brand elements and more. You can streamline editing using Visme's dynamic fields , which eliminate the need to manually enter key information when customizing it for other clients.

Just create custom fields like company name, address, contact details and other information and automatically fill in the relevant fields with a single click.

6. Mobile Game Development Proposal Template

Looking for a way to capture potential clients' attention and secure software development projects? Start with this mobile game development proposal template. Its vibrant purple, orange and white scheme, complemented by compelling visuals and bold icons ensures your proposal stands out.

The template features sections to emphasize critical elements like introductions, overviews, goals, why to choose your services, action plans and more.

You can add more pages and customize the visuals, icons and layout to suit your brand’s needs.

7. 3D Modeling Software Proposal Template

Make a bold impression on your prospective software clients with this innovative proposal template.

The proposal boasts a captivating cover page, vibrant colors and stunning 3D visuals. It's structured with sections covering company overview, problem analysis, proposed solutions, delivery timelines and more.

Struggling with what to write in different sections? Leverage Visme’s AI writer for your initial draft. Simply provide instructions and the tool will generate well-written content matching your desired style and tone. Additionally, you can use this AI to refine, summarize, or edit your content effortlessly.

8. Jet Skis Proposal Template

Present your physical products to potential clients or investors effortlessly with this stylish proposal template.

This template comes with high-resolution stock photos, appealing vector icons and data widgets. It includes sections highlighting the advantages of your service, an overview of available models, pricing options and testimonials from satisfied customers.

Although this template was designed for water sports products, it can be customized for any brand or product.

If you want to change the visuals, explore Visme's extensive library of premium stock photos to find what suits your needs.

Learn more about how to create a product proposal in this complete guide .

9. Finance Consultancy Partnership Proposal Template

If you’re in search of a finance consultancy partnership proposal template that's straightforward and professional, then this proposal fits the bill. It features a clean, authoritative design using a white and green color palette.

All sections are neatly organized to present your firm's background, partnership model, client benefits, partner responsibilities and more. Leverage Visme analytics to track how your proposal is performing. You can easily monitor engagement metrics such as unique visits, average viewing time, duration, IP addresses and other analytics.

10. Lifestyle Brand Collaboration Proposal

Create impactful collaborations to elevate your lifestyle brand with this exquisite proposal. Its vibrant colors, dynamic layout and striking visuals make it iconic. The template provides a clear structure to showcase your brand's mission, project scope, responsibilities, terms and more.

Utilize Visme's intuitive editor to effortlessly customize colors, fonts and other elements of this template to fit your brand identity.

11. Payment App Brand Collaboration

Attract potential partners to your software brand using this well-structured collaboration proposal template. Each page employs a logical hierarchy in typefaces, fonts and elements to ensure an engaging reading experience.

You can highlight crucial aspects such as project objectives, payment app features, statistics and more with meticulous detail.

Visme’s data visualization tool will provide a clear and detailed presentation of statistics and figures in this proposal. You can access an extensive array of charts, graphs, maps, widgets and more from Visme’s library.

12. Non-profit Brand Collaboration

If you’re eager to team up with impactful organizations and expand your brand's reach while making a difference, this template is your blueprint.

With a sleek and modern design, a soothing color palette and exciting visuals, it’s sure to attract the reader's attention.

This template encompasses all essential sections to showcase your offerings, including a summary, project overview, plan, co-branding prospects, benefits, terms and beyond.

To get feedback about your proposal from coworkers quickly, you can invite them to your Visme project using Visme’s collaborative features . The workflow management tool also allows you to assign roles, establish deadlines and streamline approval processes effortlessly—all in one place.

Read this guide to learn more about how to create an effective partnership proposal.

13. Restaurant Investment Proposal

Attract prospective investors and secure funding for your culinary venture using this sophisticated investment proposal template.

Its combination of vibrant color schemes, icons and captivating images creates an impression of a refined restaurant.

Utilize its various sections to highlight your executive summary, target audience, competitive edge, business model, financial projections, SWOT analysis and other crucial details.

The template also incorporates charts to depict your target audience and financial projections. Visme enables you to seamlessly link real-time data from 3rd-party apps like Excel or Google Sheets and import tables, charts and graphs into your projects.

14. Project Investment Proposal

Showcase your project's potential to investors with this sleek investment template. Its elegant design incorporates a striking blend of black and yellow, exuding professionalism.

The template includes sections such as executive summary, project goal, target community, use of funds, assessments and more.

Customize this template by using images or videos to showcase your prior projects. This visual showcase will offer investors a glimpse of your work, significantly increasing your chances of winning.

15. Prime Real Estate Investment Proposal

Position your company as a trusted business for real estate investments with this stunning template. The layout, colors and captivating real estate imagery create a compelling visual narrative.

The template captures everything you need to show investors that you’ve done your homework. It includes an executive summary, overview, gallery, risk assessment, investment rationale and more. You can also include video testimonials of prior clients to gain potential investors’ confidence.

Each page of this document can be easily customized using Visme's user-friendly drag-and-drop editor.

16. Startup Investment Proposal

Starting a business? Utilize this startup investment proposal to highlight your idea's potential and leave a lasting impact on investors. The distinctive color scheme of yellow, white and navy blue blends to evoke a sense of innovation.

It includes clear sections to highlight your executive summary, market analysis, competitive advantage, business model and more.

In addition to your proposal, you can use Visme’s presenter studio to record your elevator pitch and share it with potential investors. This adds a personal touch and helps you engage busy executives.

17. Business Consulting Proposal

Win client's trust to hire your consulting services with this cutting-edge template proposal.

This design boasts a sleek color scheme of grays and blacks contrasted with a pristine white background, ensuring an attention-grabbing visual. It encompasses all crucial aspects, from an executive summary to project timelines, pricing models and compelling testimonials, to effectively showcase your expertise to potential clients.

You can link the icons, objects or text to a website or document for seamless navigation and engagement using interactive links.

18. IT Consulting Proposal

Craft a compelling pitch for your IT consulting service with this detailed consulting proposal template. It provides a structured framework to articulate your goals, expertise, services, recommendations and project details effectively.

Packed with captivating visuals, refined fonts, modern design elements and versatile layouts, this template ensures your proposal shines among competitors.

Personalize it to match your company's processes by incorporating text, applying your branding and expanding or adapting sections as needed.

19. Social Media Consulting Proposal

Whether you're an established social media agency or a freelancer looking to land your next big client, use this template to confidently pitch your social media consulting services.

With its sophisticated mix of blue and white hues, complemented by well-organized layouts and interactive icons, this template adds a touch of elegance to your presentation.

It covers crucial areas such as market analysis, personalized strategies, content planning and measurable objectives to craft a persuasive argument.

Make this template yours by swapping out the placeholder text and adjusting the visual elements until you're satisfied with the look and feel.

20. Marketing Consulting Proposal

Secure lucrative marketing projects confidently with this modern consultant proposal template. Its contemporary layout, crisp imagery and fusion of vibrant color themes project a high level of professionalism.

This template provides comprehensive coverage for essential aspects like the executive summary, "why choose us" section, project scope, deliverables, timeline, budget and more.

Lacking visuals for your projects? Utilize Visme's AI image generator to create relevant, high-quality, original images that breathe life into your design. Simply type in your prompts to generate professional-grade photos, paintings, pencil drawings, 3D graphics, icons, abstract art and more in seconds.

21. Web Development Proposal Template

You’ll require a standout proposal to win clients in a highly competitive web development industry. This sleek proposal can be your game-changer.

With an exquisite design layout, vector icons and a vibrant color scheme blending yellow, blue and white, this proposal immediately captures attention. The sections within cover the project overview, portfolio, website structure, timeline, budget breakdowns and more.

If you need to enhance your existing images and give them a professional look, you can utilize our AI Image Edit Tools within the Visme editor. The wizard allows you to remove backgrounds, unblur, or enlarge small images for optimal presentation.

22. Roofing Proposal

Whether you're a seasoned roofing contractor or a startup, this template will equip you to stand out and secure your roofing projects effectively.

The template utilizes a minimalist design with well-organized sections, ensuring your proposal looks both professional and visually appealing. Key sections such as project scope, materials, timelines, safety protocols and cost breakdowns lets you showcase your expertise and reliability.

Personalize the template by substituting the placeholder text and fine-tuning the visual elements until it suits your needs.

23. Construction Proposal

Utilize this refined template to leave a lasting impact and win your upcoming construction or renovation projects. Its blue, yellow and white color scheme radiates professionalism, while its captivating visuals and elegant layout effortlessly highlight your content.

The template features sections such as project scope, timeline, materials, costs and service specifics which underscore your expertise and dedication to top-notch work.

Share and download this proposal in various formats—PDF, PNG, JPG and GIF—or generate a link to share it with the client.

24. Architectural Proposal

Seal prestigious architectural deals confidently with this sleek architectural proposal template.

The template boasts high-resolution graphics, smart design elements, and engaging fonts. It includes sections for project goals, milestones, budgets and ample architectural images that add visual appeal.

Customize this template using Visme's built-in design assets or upload your own. You can use the shortcut feature for quick access to design elements on Visme. Simply type '/' to search and locate what you need in seconds.

25. Bid Proposal

If you would like to craft a winning bid proposal and enhance your business opportunities, this professional proposal template is perfect.

This template stands out with its captivating design layout, refined color scheme, and an impressive selection of fonts, icons, and images. It features a formal letter, budget breakdown and project commencement and completion terms.

What sets this template apart is its adaptability to suit any industry. Every aspect of this template is also customizable, allowing you to modify content, colors, fonts, shapes and logos to align perfectly with your brand identity.

26. Lawn Care Proposal

Communicate your expertise and dedication to impeccable lawn care with this stunning lawn care bid proposal.

This expertly crafted template boasts a captivating cover page and is filled with captivating fonts, high-definition images of lush greenery and dynamic vector icons.

You can customize every aspect of this template effortlessly. If you want to switch up the images, Visme offers an extensive array of top-notch images and design elements, from 3D icons and shapes to animated graphics, ensuring your proposal stands out vibrantly.

27. Fintech Agency Bid Proposal

Whether your agency specializes in digital banking, blockchain, payments, or other fintech solutions, this template equips you to stand out in competitive bids.

With a striking color palette of black, lemon and white, this template achieves a great balance—bold enough to captivate attention yet professional enough to exude credibility.

You can leverage the sections to highlight your firm's background, methodologies, budget and delivery aspects. The project timeline page is also particularly beneficial to provide clients with a clear glimpse of the project's completion date.

You can seamlessly integrate videos of client testimonials, your services, or a compelling brand narrative, enhancing your proposal's impact.

28. Marketing Campaign Bid Proposal Template

Looking to create a captivating bid proposal for marketing services? This template fits the bill.

The template boasts a lively color palette blending violet and white, setting the stage for a professional presentation.

It includes a succinct summary of your response to the RFP, featuring the challenge and proposed solutions, a compelling "why choose us" section and the estimated budget.

To further elevate engagement, Visme’s interactive features allow for linking specific sections to pricing pages, product page or terms and conditions. You can also employ hover effects or popups to reveal supplementary company information, enhancing the viewer's experience.

Read this article to discover professional bid proposal templates to win new clients.

Business Proposal FAQs

Q. what is the difference between a business proposal and a business plan.

A business proposal is a document crafted to persuade a prospective client to choose a company for a particular task or project. It outlines the specific project or service, pricing, deliverables and the value the company can provide.

On the other hand, a business plan is a comprehensive document that serves as a roadmap for an organization's future, guiding decision-making and operations. It outlines the company's objectives, strategies, market analysis, financial projections and operational details.

Unlike a business plan, which is internally focused, a business proposal is tailored externally to win a specific opportunity or contract.

Q. How Many Pages Should a Business Proposal Be?

Generally, a business proposal can range from 1 to 20 pages. However, there's no strict rule on length. The length of a business proposal can vary based on the specific requirements of the project or the expectations of the recipient.

Shorter proposals (one to five pages) are suitable for simpler projects or when the recipient specifies a brief document. More complex projects might require longer proposals with detailed sections on various aspects like methodology, timelines, pricing and terms.

Q. What Is the Basic Format for a Business Proposal?

A typical business proposal usually follows this basic format:

• Cover Page: This page includes your proposal title, company name, submission date and contact information.
• Executive Summary: Your executive summary section gives a brief overview of the proposal, highlighting the key points, objectives and why the proposal should be considered.
• Introduction: This section introduces the company and its background.
• Problem Statement or Needs Assessment: This section describes the client's issue or need that the proposal aims to address. This section clarifies the problem and its significance.
• Proposed Solution or Methodology: Utilize this section to highlight the company's approach to solving the client's problem. You can detail the services, products, or methodologies offered.
• Timeline or Work Plan: Your timeline section should present a schedule or timeline of how the proposed solution will be implemented, including milestones and deadlines.
• Budget or Cost Proposal: Provide a breakdown of the costs associated with the proposed solution, including fees, expenses and payment terms in this section.
• Company Expertise, Experience and Accolades: Give a compelling overview of the company's expertise, experience, relevant projects and qualifications that make it suitable for the project in this section.
• Conclusion/Next Steps: Summarize the key points and reinforce the benefits of choosing your company. Then end with a clear call to action.

Q. What Are the 3Cs of a Business Proposal?

The 3 C's of a business proposal are clarity, compelling and competitiveness. Let's take a brief look at each component:

Your business proposal should be clear and easy to understand. It should articulate the problem, proposed solution, methodology and terms in a straightforward manner. You should also avoid buzzwords and stick to languages and examples that resonate with the client.

Your proposal should be engaging, well-structured and crafted in a way that maintains interest throughout. It should incorporate visuals like images, icons, graphs or charts to complement the text and make the proposal visually appealing. You can also use storytelling techniques to illustrate the problem, the solution and the positive impact your proposal will have.

Competitive

Your proposal needs to be persuasive. It should convince the recipient that your company's solution is the best fit for their needs. This involves showcasing expertise, providing evidence of past successes and demonstrating the unique value your company brings.

Q. How Do I Write My Business Proposal?

Here are some steps to help you write an effective business proposal:

• Understand who your audience is and what their needs are
• Design a compelling cover page, title page and table of contents
• Write your executive summary
• Clearly define the client's problem or needs.
• Propose a solution (product, features and benefits)
• Showcase your company's background, team expertise, experience and qualifications.
• List deliverables, milestones, and timelines
• Provide a detailed budget and payment structure
• Include quotes from satisfied clients or references and evidence of your track record
• Write a conclusion and appendix

Visme's proposal templates come with pre-made sections to make the proposal creation process easier and more efficient. With our intuitive editor, you can customize these sections, add or remove sections as needed to fit your specific needs.

Q. What Are 5 Things All Proposals Should Include?

The five key elements every proposal should include are:

• Project background and objectives
• Problem statement
• Project scope and plan
• Timeline and budget
• Conclusion and next steps

Q. What Are the Do’s and Don'ts of Proposal Writing?

When it comes to proposal writing, there are some do’s and don'ts to keep in mind to ensure that your proposal stands out and increases your chances of success.

• Understand the client's needs and tailor your proposal accordingly. Start with a catchy and attention-grabbing introduction.
• Clearly articulate your value proposition, unique strengths and capabilities.
• Use visuals and graphics to make your proposal more engaging and memorable.
• Include testimonials or case studies to demonstrate your track record.
• Provide a detailed and realistic project plan, timeline, and budget.
• Proofread and edit your proposal thoroughly before submitting it.
• Don't use a generic proposal template without customizing it to the client's needs.
• Don't overpromise or exaggerate your capabilities.
• Don't use jargon or technical terms that may confuse the client.
• Don't submit a proposal that is too long or too short.
• Don't forget to follow up with the client after submitting the proposal.

Q. Which Phrases Are Best Avoided in a Proposal?

• "I think," "I'm not sure," "I believe," and similar phrases can seem hesitant and unconfident. Instead, state your ideas and arguments with conviction.
• "The best," "the greatest," or "the top-ranked"—empty"superlatives like this can come across as exaggerated and lacking credibility.
• "This might be a stupid question, but..."—never apologize for asking a question or suggesting an idea. It's important to demonstrate confidence in your abilities and ideas.
• Jargon or technical language that the client may not understand; keep in mind that the proposal may be read by individuals who are not familiar with your industry or field. Use plain language and avoid technical terms that may be confusing.
• "Trust me"—this phrase can sound condescending and unprofessional. Instead, provide evidence and data to support your arguments and proposals.
• "Our competitors are terrible." Avoid speaking negatively about your competitors. Rather, focus on highlighting your own strengths and unique selling points.

Create Professionally Engaging Proposals & More with Visme

An engaging and professionally crafted proposal increases your likelihood of closing deals or securing business partnerships.

With Visme’s proposal maker , creating an impactful proposal can be a walk in the park. It offers professional templates and robust editing tools designed for various proposal needs.

Moreover, Visme provides features like real-time collaboration, interactive data visualizations, online sharing, AI tools, analytics and graphics, elevating your proposal to new heights.

Sign up for Visme today to start creating winning proposals.

Create winning business proposals faster using Visme

Trusted by leading brands

Recommended content for you:

Create Stunning Content!

Design visual brand experiences for your business whether you are a seasoned designer or a total novice.

About the Author

Olujinmi is a Content writer for Visme who creates human-first SEO content. She loves helping businesses smash their ROI goals with strategic content development and optimization. When she’s not writing, you’ll find her composing songs.

• Sources of Business Finance
• Small Business Loans
• Small Business Grants
• Crowdfunding Sites
• How to Get a Business Loan
• Small Business Insurance Providers
• Best Factoring Companies
• Types of Bank Accounts
• Best Banks for Small Business
• Best Business Bank Accounts
• Open a Business Bank Account
• Bank Accounts for Small Businesses
• Free Business Checking Accounts
• Best Business Credit Cards
• Get a Business Credit Card
• Business Credit Cards for Bad Credit
• Build Business Credit Fast
• Business Loan Eligibility Criteria
• Small-Business Bookkeeping Basics
• How to Set Financial Goals
• Business Loan Calculators
• How to Calculate ROI
• Calculate Net Income
• Calculate Working Capital
• Calculate Operating Income
• Calculate Net Present Value (NPV)
• Calculate Payroll Tax

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)

Was This Article Helpful?

Martin luenendonk.

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

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

How To Write A Business Plan (2024 Guide)

Updated: Apr 17, 2024, 11:59am

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.

Featured Partners

ZenBusiness

$0 + State Fees

Varies By State & Package

On ZenBusiness' Website

On LegalZoom's Website

Northwest Registered Agent

$39 + State Fees

On Northwest Registered Agent's Website

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.

• Best VPN Services
• Best Project Management Software
• Best Web Hosting Services
• Best Antivirus Software
• Best LLC Services
• Best POS Systems
• Best Business VOIP Services
• Best Credit Card Processing Companies
• Best CRM Software for Small Business
• Best Fleet Management Software
• Best Business Credit Cards
• Best Business Loans
• Best Business Software
• Best Business Apps
• Best Free Software For Business
• How to Start a Business
• How To Make A Small Business Website
• How To Trademark A Name
• What Is An LLC?
• How To Set Up An LLC In 7 Steps
• What is Project Management?

How To Start A Print On Demand Business In 2024

HR For Small Businesses: The Ultimate Guide

How One Company Is Using AI To Transform Manufacturing

Not-For-Profit Vs. Nonprofit: What’s The Difference?

How To Develop an SEO Strategy in 2024

How To Make Money On Social Media in 2024

Julia is a writer in New York and started covering tech and business during the pandemic. She also covers books and the publishing industry.

Kelly Main is a Marketing Editor and Writer specializing in digital marketing, online advertising and web design and development. Before joining the team, she was a Content Producer at Fit Small Business where she served as an editor and strategist covering small business marketing content. She is a former Google Tech Entrepreneur and she holds an MSc in International Marketing from Edinburgh Napier University. Additionally, she is a Columnist at Inc. Magazine.

• AI Content Shield
• AI KW Research
• AI Assistant
• SEO Optimizer
• AI KW Clustering
• Customer reviews
• The NLO Revolution
• Press Center
• Help Center
• Content Resources
• Facebook Group

Great and Effective Examples of Proposal Titles

Table of Contents

Writing an effective proposal title is essential in getting your project or research off to the right start. To help you create compelling titles, this article provides excellent examples of proposal titles and some practical tips that will get people’s attention.

What Is a Proposal Title?

A proposal title is a concise summary of the purpose and main points of a proposal . It should be brief yet clear, with enough information to give readers an understanding of what they can expect from the document.

The title serves as a first impression to potential stakeholders or funders. It helps them quickly determine whether the content is relevant to their interests.

Why Are Proposal Titles so Important?

A good proposal title can help grab the attention of funders, stakeholders, and others interested in the project. It should clearly outline the goals of the proposal and indicate how it will benefit the reader or community.

Proposal titles are essential for two main reasons:

• Communicate the subject matter of your project
• Entice readers to take a closer look at what you’re proposing

Including specific keywords in the title can also make it easier for potential readers to find your work when searching online.

Tips to Write a Winning Proposal Title

When it comes to writing winning proposal titles, you should consider some important tips. This will draw the readers’ attention and help them quickly know what your proposal is about.

1. Make It Brief but Descriptive

A proposal title should accurately describe the content of your proposal in just a few words. It must convey to the reader what they can expect if they choose to read on.

2. Use Catchy Language

Incorporate interesting words and phrases that catch readers’ attention and draw them into reading your proposal.

3. Keep It Short and Sweet

Proposal titles should be no more than 10 words long so as not to lose their impact or confuse the reader.

4. Connect With Your Audience

Frame the title of your proposal from the point of view of those who will benefit from its contents.

5. Focus on the Main Idea

The proposal title should highlight the most important concept within the document. It must ensure all readers have a good understanding of what follows without being too vague or broad.

6. Test Out Different Variations

Craft several versions of the same title using different wording to test which one resonates best with your target audience.

Effective Examples of Proposal Titles

Here are some great examples of proposal titles that convey relevant information while being catchy:

• Maximizing Lead Generation Through Targeted Social Media Strategies
• Economizing Ad Expenditures With Elevated Organic Search Visibility
• Crafting Engaging Content to Attract Prospects and Retain Clients
• Leveraging User Interactions to Generate Brand Awareness
• Tailoring Messaging to Match Target Audience Profiles
• Refining Brand Identity Through Cross-Platform Advertising
• Increasing Employee Productivity with Automated Task Scheduling
• Streamlining Business Processes Using Cloud Infrastructure Solutions
• Crafting Engaging Content Strategies to Encourage Social Media Sharing
• Harnessing Digitalization to Optimize Brand Communications
• Initiating Employee Well-being Strategies to Cut Down on Workplace Accidents
• Maximizing ROI Through Improved Content Marketing Strategies

A proposal title is an important part of any successful proposal. It should be brief, descriptive, and catchy to capture your audience’s attention. It should also connect with them on a personal level, so they can understand what you are proposing.

By following these tips and looking at the examples, you can write a winning proposal title to get the results you need.

Abir Ghenaiet

Abir is a data analyst and researcher. Among her interests are artificial intelligence, machine learning, and natural language processing. As a humanitarian and educator, she actively supports women in tech and promotes diversity.

Explore All Proposal Generator Articles

Creative terms and conditions agreement in business proposal.

In business, proposals are essential for securing contracts and agreements with clients. However, a proposal is only complete with terms…

• Proposal Generator

Free guide to a statement of proposal sample

A statement of proposal is a document that outlines a proposed project or initiative in detail. It is typically used…

Free Proposal Letter for Training and Development for a Head Start

Training and development are essential to improve employees’ skills, knowledge, and productivity. A well-crafted training proposal can help an organization…

Detailed Guide to Free HR Consulting Proposal

HR consulting is an essential service for businesses of all sizes. HR consultants provide expert guidance to organizations on various…

Key Guide to Better Remote Work Proposal

The rise of remote work has been a significant trend in the business world over the last few years. With…

Guide to Free E-Commerce Proposal Template

E-commerce has become one of the most popular ways of doing business recently. With the increasing number of people using…

Business Plan Example and Template

Over 1.8 million professionals use CFI to learn accounting, financial analysis, modeling and more. Start with a free account to explore 20+ always-free courses and hundreds of finance templates and cheat sheets. Start Free

What is a Business Plan?

A business plan is a document that contains the operational and financial plan of a business, and details how its objectives will be achieved. It serves as a road map for the business and can be used when pitching investors or financial institutions for debt or equity financing .

A business plan should follow a standard format and contain all the important business plan elements. Typically, it should present whatever information an investor or financial institution expects to see before providing financing to a business.

Contents of a Business Plan

A business plan should be structured in a way that it contains all the important information that investors are looking for. Here are the main sections of a business plan:

1. Title Page

The title page captures the legal information of the business, which includes the registered business name, physical address, phone number, email address, date, and the company logo.

2. Executive Summary

The executive summary is the most important section because it is the first section that investors and bankers see when they open the business plan. It provides a summary of the entire business plan. It should be written last to ensure that you don’t leave any details out. It must be short and to the point, and it should capture the reader’s attention. The executive summary should not exceed two pages.

3. Industry Overview

The industry overview section provides information about the specific industry that the business operates in. Some of the information provided in this section includes major competitors, industry trends, and estimated revenues. It also shows the company’s position in the industry and how it will compete in the market against other major players.

4. Market Analysis and Competition

The market analysis section details the target market for the company’s product offerings. This section confirms that the company understands the market and that it has already analyzed the existing market to determine that there is adequate demand to support its proposed business model.

Market analysis includes information about the target market’s demographics , geographical location, consumer behavior, and market needs. The company can present numbers and sources to give an overview of the target market size.

A business can choose to consolidate the market analysis and competition analysis into one section or present them as two separate sections.

5. Sales and Marketing Plan

The sales and marketing plan details how the company plans to sell its products to the target market. It attempts to present the business’s unique selling proposition and the channels it will use to sell its goods and services. It details the company’s advertising and promotion activities, pricing strategy, sales and distribution methods, and after-sales support.

6. Management Plan

The management plan provides an outline of the company’s legal structure, its management team, and internal and external human resource requirements. It should list the number of employees that will be needed and the remuneration to be paid to each of the employees.

Any external professionals, such as lawyers, valuers, architects, and consultants, that the company will need should also be included. If the company intends to use the business plan to source funding from investors, it should list the members of the executive team, as well as the members of the advisory board.

7. Operating Plan

The operating plan provides an overview of the company’s physical requirements, such as office space, machinery, labor, supplies, and inventory . For a business that requires custom warehouses and specialized equipment, the operating plan will be more detailed, as compared to, say, a home-based consulting business. If the business plan is for a manufacturing company, it will include information on raw material requirements and the supply chain.

8. Financial Plan

The financial plan is an important section that will often determine whether the business will obtain required financing from financial institutions, investors, or venture capitalists. It should demonstrate that the proposed business is viable and will return enough revenues to be able to meet its financial obligations. Some of the information contained in the financial plan includes a projected income statement , balance sheet, and cash flow.

9. Appendices and Exhibits

The appendices and exhibits part is the last section of a business plan. It includes any additional information that banks and investors may be interested in or that adds credibility to the business. Some of the information that may be included in the appendices section includes office/building plans, detailed market research , products/services offering information, marketing brochures, and credit histories of the promoters.

Business Plan Template

Here is a basic template that any business can use when developing its business plan:

Section 1: Executive Summary

• Present the company’s mission.
• Describe the company’s product and/or service offerings.
• Give a summary of the target market and its demographics.
• Summarize the industry competition and how the company will capture a share of the available market.
• Give a summary of the operational plan, such as inventory, office and labor, and equipment requirements.

Section 2: Industry Overview

• Describe the company’s position in the industry.
• Describe the existing competition and the major players in the industry.
• Provide information about the industry that the business will operate in, estimated revenues, industry trends, government influences, as well as the demographics of the target market.

Section 3: Market Analysis and Competition

• Define your target market, their needs, and their geographical location.
• Describe the size of the market, the units of the company’s products that potential customers may buy, and the market changes that may occur due to overall economic changes.
• Give an overview of the estimated sales volume vis-à-vis what competitors sell.
• Give a plan on how the company plans to combat the existing competition to gain and retain market share.

Section 4: Sales and Marketing Plan

• Describe the products that the company will offer for sale and its unique selling proposition.
• List the different advertising platforms that the business will use to get its message to customers.
• Describe how the business plans to price its products in a way that allows it to make a profit.
• Give details on how the company’s products will be distributed to the target market and the shipping method.

Section 5: Management Plan

• Describe the organizational structure of the company.
• List the owners of the company and their ownership percentages.
• List the key executives, their roles, and remuneration.
• List any internal and external professionals that the company plans to hire, and how they will be compensated.
• Include a list of the members of the advisory board, if available.

Section 6: Operating Plan

• Describe the location of the business, including office and warehouse requirements.
• Describe the labor requirement of the company. Outline the number of staff that the company needs, their roles, skills training needed, and employee tenures (full-time or part-time).
• Describe the manufacturing process, and the time it will take to produce one unit of a product.
• Describe the equipment and machinery requirements, and if the company will lease or purchase equipment and machinery, and the related costs that the company estimates it will incur.
• Provide a list of raw material requirements, how they will be sourced, and the main suppliers that will supply the required inputs.

Section 7: Financial Plan

• Describe the financial projections of the company, by including the projected income statement, projected cash flow statement, and the balance sheet projection.

Section 8: Appendices and Exhibits

• Quotes of building and machinery leases
• Proposed office and warehouse plan
• Market research and a summary of the target market
• Credit information of the owners
• List of product and/or services

Related Readings

Thank you for reading CFI’s guide to Business Plans. To keep learning and advancing your career, the following CFI resources will be helpful:

• Corporate Structure
• Three Financial Statements
• Business Model Canvas Examples
• See all management & strategy resources
• Share this article

Create a free account to unlock this Template

Access and download collection of free Templates to help power your productivity and performance.

Already have an account? Log in

Supercharge your skills with Premium Templates

Take your learning and productivity to the next level with our Premium Templates.

Upgrading to a paid membership gives you access to our extensive collection of plug-and-play Templates designed to power your performance—as well as CFI's full course catalog and accredited Certification Programs.

Already have a Self-Study or Full-Immersion membership? Log in

Access Exclusive Templates

Gain unlimited access to more than 250 productivity Templates, CFI's full course catalog and accredited Certification Programs, hundreds of resources, expert reviews and support, the chance to work with real-world finance and research tools, and more.

Already have a Full-Immersion membership? Log in

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

May 24, 2021

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

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

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

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

What Is a Business Plan?

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

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

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

Get a Business Idea

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

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

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

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

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

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

Conduct Market Analysis

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

Product and Service Demand

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

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

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

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

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

Identify Demographics of Target Market

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

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

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

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

How to Write a Business Plan

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

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

• Business Plan Cover Page
• Table of Contents
• Executive Summary
• Company Description
• Description of Products and Services

SWOT Analysis

• Competitor Data
• Competitive Analysis
• Marketing Expenses Strategy 

Pricing Strategy

• Distribution Channel Assessment
• Operational Plan
• Management and Organizational Strategy
• Financial Statements and/or Financial Projections

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Mike told us,

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

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

It consists of three basic parts:

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

Example of an informal executive summary 

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

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

What should I include in an executive summary for investors?

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

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

Successful business plan examples

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

Here’s the interview with the owner of Urbanity:

When to write an executive summary?

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

What mistakes do people make when writing an executive summary?

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

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

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

How to Write a Business Plan Step 4. Company Description

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

• Mission statement
• Philosophy and vision
• Company goals

Target market

• Legal structure

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

Mission Statement

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

Company Philosophy and Vision

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

What makes your company different?

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

Examples of core values

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

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

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

What is a vision statement?

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

Example vision statements

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

A world without Alzheimer’s Disease and other dementia.

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

Business Goals

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

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

How far in advance should a business plan?

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

Example of great business goals

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

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

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

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

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

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

Industry resources

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

• Trade Associations
• Federal Reserve
• Bureau of Labor Statistics

Legal Structure

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

• Sole proprietorships
• Limited Liability Companies (LLC)

Partnerships

Corporations.

• Franchises.

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

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

• Sole Proprietorship

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

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

Limited Liability Company (LLC)

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Questions to answer about your products and services

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

SWOT Examples

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

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

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

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

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

Include Competitor Data in Your Business Plan

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

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

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

Marketing Strategy

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

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

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

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

Advertising Strategy

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

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

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

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

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

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

Some common pricing strategies are:

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

HubSpot has a great calculator and blog on pricing strategies.

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

Distribution Plan

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

Supply Chain Examples

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

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

Examples of Supply Chains

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Quality Control

• Legal environment

Let’s look at each for some insight.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Legal Environment

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

How to Write a Business Plan Step 8. Financial Statements 

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

Provide All Financial Income from an Existing Business

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

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

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

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

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

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

Financial Projections For A Startup Business Plan

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

Mike gave the following advice in his interview:

Financial Forecasting Mistakes

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Ways to get funding for a small business

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

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

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

How funding will be used

When asking for business financing make sure to include:

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

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

How to Write a Business Plan Resources

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

• Sample plan

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Brandon Boushy

Related articles

Starting a Cleaning Business Checklists (2024)

Every Great Cleaning Business Starts with a Plan 

Name your cleaning business checklist.

•  Make the name easy to spell
•  Purchase a domain
•  Register and pay the DBA fee (if not included with the business structure)
•  Trademark the business name and logo

Form the Cleaning Business Structure Checklist

• Limited Liability Company
• Corporation
• Partnership
• Get a DBA if you will operate under a different name.
• Apply for an EIN on the IRS website.
• Get county and city licenses.
• Apply for the required insurance.
• Get a seller’s permit (state tax ID).

Get the Financial Tools to Run Your Cleaning  Business Checklist

• Set up a business bank account.
• Apply for a business credit card.
• Consider getting business loans.
• Find a payroll solutions provider.
• Get a payment processor.
• Choose and set up accounting software.
• Decide whether you want to set up a 401K.

Cleaning Business Insurance Checklist

Cleaning business equipment checklist.

• Company vehicle
• Laptop or PC
• Business phone number 
• Point-of-Sale machine or credit card reader

Get the Software to Run Your Cleaning Services Checklist

• Payroll solutions
• Payment processor
• Accounting solutions
• Scheduling software
• Professional website (domain from GoDaddy and hosting)
• Online booking software
• Marketing tools (We have a complete list for them.)

Marketing for a Cleaning Service Checklist

• Business cards
• Signs on location (if you run a dry cleaner or another cleaning shop)
• Signs on vehicles (for a mobile business model)
• Click Funnels
• Google My Business
• Google Local Ads
• Siri and Apple Maps
• Yelp for Business

Cleaning Supplies Checklist

• Home Cleaning

Mobile Laundry Cleaning Services, Laundromat, Clothes Cleaning Business, Dry cleaning

Decluttering services or organizer, green cleaning services.

• Airbnb, Vrbo  
• Home or Commercial Construction Cleaning
• Move-In, Move-Out Cleaning

Office Cleaning

Duct cleaning.

• Carpet Cleaning
• Window Washers
• I.T. Cleaning
• Property Cleaning,  Pressure Washing
• Hazardous Waste Removal

Boat Cleaning

Home cleaning supplies checklist.

• Glass cleaner (Windex or similar)
• Vacuum cleaner
• Wet floor signs
• Microfiber mop (optional if you are just starting)
• Regular mop
• Toilet bowl brush
• Bags for dirty rags
• Bags to carry clean rags
• Neutral floor cleaner (Bona or similar)
• Disinfectant cleaner
• Cleaning bucket
• Mini grout brush

• Rolling baskets
• Laundry soap
• Cleaning chemicals for dry cleaning
• Dryer sheets
• Clothing racks
• Washing machines
• Garment covers
• Spot cleaner
• Information tags
• Clothing conveyor
• Cleaning materials
• Storage bins of various sizes
• 3D modeling software to model spaces
• Carpentry tools for creating more storage space
• Shelving units
• Organic glass cleaner 
• Aprons (from recycled materials)
• Microfiber mop
• Eco-friendly gloves
• Reusable bags for dirty rags
• Reusable bags to carry clean rags
• Gas mileage-friendly, hybrid, or electric car
• Natural floor cleaner
• Natural disinfectant 

What do I need to start a cleaning business for Airbnb properties?

• Microfiber mop (Optional)
• Booties for shoes
• Spare sheets
• A deal with a local laundromat
• Conditioner

New Home Construction Cleaner or New Commercial Construction Cleaning

• Indoor, outdoor vacuum
• Neutral floor cleaner

Move-In and Move-Out Cleaning, Apartment Cleaning

• Putty to help fill holes
• Putty application tool

• All-purpose stain and spot remover
• Baking soda
• Toilet paper
• Broom and dustpan
• Clorox disinfecting wipes 
• Facial tissue
• Feather duster 
• Floor cleaning solution or vinegar
• Cleaner for glass and mirrors
• Bulk supply of hand soap to refill dispenser
• Disinfecting spray
• Micro-fiber cleaning cloths 
• Paper towels
• Sponge mop and/or dry mop
• Toilet cleaner
• Trash bags 
• Industrial mop bucket
• Wood polish 
• Floor polishing machine
• Extension cords

Specialty Cleaning

• Caution signs
• Air compressor
• HEPA vacuum
• Duct restoration products
• Parts for maintenance of equipment
• HEPA filters and bags
• Indoor air quality testing equipment
• Safety goggles
• Latex gloves
• Electric shock prevention gloves
• Masks to protect against dust in lungs (or chemicals in some industrial facilities)
• Lockout, tagout system (a lock with a tag that specifies who locked the breaker)

Carpet Cleaning Business, Rug Cleaning

• Carpet shampooer
• Air scrubber
• Carpet cleaning wand
• Rubber gloves
• Corner guards
• Defoaming agent
• Crevice tools
• Carpet rake
• furniture protectors 
• Window Cleaning Business
• Two 18” squeegees
• Window cleaner with silicon (keeps dust from sticking to windows)
• Rags to catch excess liquids
• Replacement s-channels (the rubber part of a squeegee)
• Sleeves (goes over squeegee to wash the window)
• Hard hat (primarily for use on scaffold)
• Safety harness (use with scaffold)
• Scaffold (for larger windows)

IT Cleaning Business

• Vacuums: Two Options
• Preferred : ULPA (Ultra Low Particulate Air) filter with 99.999% efficiency at 0.12 microns
• OK : HEPA (High-Efficiency Particulate Air) filter with 99.97% efficiency at 0.3 microns
• Tools, Attachments, and Supplies: Requirements
• Non-conductive 
• Low-lint materials
• Packaging specifies that it is designed to be used in cleanroom environments
• Cleaning Chemicals
• Floor surfaces
• Non-ammoniated
• Designated as safe for data center environments
• Intended for HPL floor tiles
• Equipment Surfaces
• Anti-static cleaner 
• Designed to be used in a data center environment

Property Cleaning Services, Power Washer Business

• Trash picker
• White and yellow paint (maintain the parking lot lines)
• Graffiti removal kit
• Pressure washer
• Towing hitch (if tank won’t fit in vehicle)

Hazardous Waste Removal, Mold Remediation

• Portable air scrubbers
• Negative air machines
• Mobile containment tent
• Meters to measure levels
• Asbestos testing kit
• Dehumidifiers
• Disinfectants 
• Kneeling mats
• Ventilators
• Hazmat suits (for some materials)
• Special licensing based on type of removal
• Rust remover 
• Metal polish
• Wood varnish
• Fabric cleaner
• Rubber cleaner

Hopefully, You Found the Cleaning Company Checklist You Need

How to Start a $125K/Month Cleaning Business

Did you know that it costs less than $5K to start a cleaning business, but with the right strategies you can make more than $1.5M per year?

Join us as we discuss how to start a cleaning business from scratch. We’ll explore Cristobal Mondragon’s remarkable journey from starting Queen Bee Cleaning Services in 2015 to becoming a featured speaker at cleaning conventions.

We’ll share his story, the strategies and lessons Chris learned from starting a cleaning business from home, general information about the cleaning industry, and how you can start one of your own. Chris told us:

[su_quote] This is the best time to start a cleaning business. [/su_quote]

[su_note note_color="#dbeafc"] Get ready to learn how to open a cleaning business. Click on any link below to jump to that portion of the article, or just read on.

Case Study: Queen Bee Cleaning Services

Cleaning industry outlook, consider cleaning certifications, learn to run a new cleaning company successfully, step #1. choose your target market, step #2. choose the type of cleaning business to start, step #3. create a cleaning business plan, step #4. get funding, step #5. register the cleaning business, step #6. price your services, step #7. get cleaning clients, step #8. invest in advertising, step #9. hire a cleaning crew.

• Ready to Start Your Own Cleaning Business? [/su_note]

This guide will show you exactly how to start a cleaning service. Let's start by discussing the Queen Bee Cleaning Services:

Cristobal Mondragon and his wife started Queen Bee Cleaning Services in 2015. Today, he makes over $1.5M annually and has opened a second location. He’s been recognized by industry organizations for his excellence, and he’s used his success to expand into courses, customer relationship management, and coaching.

But it hasn’t been without challenges. Chris made the costly mistake of misclassifying employees as subcontractors, leading to a hefty fine.

That might stop many business owners, but he overcame the $10K hit and is passing his knowledge on to you.

Check out our interview with him below.

Now, let's look at what you need to know about the industry before starting a cleaning business.

According to IBIS World , the contract cleaning industry made over $90B in revenue in 2022 and will grow to nearly $100B by 2027.

There are 1,163,718 cleaning companies in the U.S., so considering the revenue figure above, that means they average $77,122.63 in annual revenue each. With wages being approximately 38.4% of revenue, that means it's pretty easy for cleaners who want to start their own business to take home around $45K after expenses.

Chris provided a spreadsheet of his accounts, which I modified to make his accounting match IBIS World's database for an easy comparison. His strategies help him earn nearly double the after-tax profit and nearly four times the take-home pay of the average cleaning business owner.

[su_table responsive="yes" alternate="no" fixed="yes"]

[/su_table]

Get ready to find out the answers to these frequently asked cleaning company questions. We’ll answer questions like:

• How much can a cleaning company owner make?
• How much money do I need to start a cleaning company?
• What is the easiest cleaning company to start?

How profitable is starting a cleaning business?

According to The BBQ Cleaner , cleaning services can earn between $20K and $100K in annual profit. A solopreneur cleaning business normally makes around $50K per year.

The Janitorial Store estimates the average profit margin for commercial cleaning businesses is between 10% and 15%. Profitability will vary based on your location, target market, pricing strategy, and the size of your business.

The factors below could make your cleaning business profitable:

• High Demand: Most wealthy families and businesses need cleaning professionals.
• Growth Potential: Cleaning businesses can grow from a one-person operation to cleaning business dynasties with locations across the country or world.
• Low Overhead: Cleaning businesses have low startup costs and are commonly run from home.

How Much Does It Cost to Start a Cleaning Business?

Chris started Queen Bee with less than a $5K budget. He estimates you can start for less than $2.8K if you have a car. You can expect around 50% of earnings to go to payroll, including your wages. Another 30% of revenue will be spent on bookkeeping, advertising, overhead, and taxes.

Udemy offers inexpensive courses on budgeting that are worth checking out. Many cleaning companies love using Jobber as their cleaning business software to help lower costs.

What is the best type of cleaning business to start?

Residential cleaning is the easiest type of cleaning business to start because it requires less initial investment than business cleaning services or specialized cleaning services.

You might also consider starting the following:

• Commercial Cleaning Company: Cleaning services for offices, manufacturing spaces, and commercial spaces make higher profits but have higher startup costs.
• Specialized Cleaning: Upholstery cleaning, vehicle detailing, closet organization, mattress cleaning, and clothing cleaning services require additional knowledge to provide proper cleaning techniques, but they have less competition and a narrower target market.
• Other cleaning services: Carpet cleaning, chimney cleaning, window cleaning, and crime scene cleaning are all high demand cleaning solutions in local markets.

Completing International Sanitary Supply Association (ISSA) certifications will land you on their database of certified professional cleaners. That's a high-authority link to your website!

Queen Bee has a certification from the Association of Residential Cleaning Services International (ARCSI) as well as the Institute of Inspection and Restoration Certification (IIRC). He told us:

[su_quote] ARCSI certification teaches you how to use chemicals properly and avoid creating toxic fumes. It basically comes down to teaching you the chemistry behind each product and how to clean each [surface] … and avoid damaging them. [An] IIRC certification is similar to the ARCSI certificate but focuses on carpet cleaning and tile cleaning. [/su_quote]

Find out about more than 45 cleaning certifications .

Get FREE training for building your cleaning business with Chris Mondragon's webinar, “How to Start a $125K Per Month Cleaning Business From Scratch.” During this FREE training, Chris will share his proven secrets for starting your own 7-figure cleaning business in just one week. You don't want to miss this rare opportunity to learn from this multi-million-dollar cleaning business entrepreneur for free!

How to Start a Cleaning Business

Starting a cleaning service company doesn’t have to be hard. We've outlined the process for starting a successful cleaning business in nine steps:

• Choose a target market.
• Choose your specialty.
• Create a cleaning business plan.
• Fund your business.
• Register your business.
• Price your services.
• Find clients.
• Invest in advertising.
• Hire a cleaning crew.

Let's start by discussing what cleaning company customers to serve.

You need to understand who your target clients are to run the business successfully. Do some market research to find out where they are located.

A house cleaning business will normally do cleaning jobs for more affluent homeowners, while an office cleaning company will be looking for new business owners. Both groups can benefit from finding prospective clients who are unhappy with their current provider.

Take some time to do market research about how to align your brand and company values with the target market. Then choose a cleaning business name .

Next, you’ll learn what cleaning company services to provide.

Research different types of cleaners and establish what is right for you. Specialized services tend to do particularly well. We created a list of cleaning company types and what they offer. Consider starting some of these cleaning businesses:

• Airbnb Cleaning Business
• Home Cleaning Business
• Carpet Cleaning Business
• Pressure Washing Business
• Laundromats

Offering a variety of services can help you reach more clients. Queen Bee Cleaning Services provides house cleaning (including Airbnb and move-out cleaning), janitorial services, carpet cleaning, and hospital-grade disinfectant services. Chris told us:

[su_quote] Recurring house cleaning is our bread and butter. Move-in and move-out services can have some surprises. Airbnb can be really profitable when you get it right. [/su_quote]

Next, you’ll learn what goes into a business and marketing plan for a local cleaning company.

You need a business plan to help guide your decision-making. It keeps you focused. The plan will help define your vision, target market, objectives, startup costs, and strategy to get potential clients.

A business plan is a living document that will help you secure financing and help you manage logistics better than other small business owners. Make sure you write one!

Try out our business plan templates and resources below as you learn how to start a cleaning business.

Establish a Location

Most cleaning businesses operate from home for the following reasons:

• Home-based businesses have lower startup costs.
• Equipment and supplies can be stored at home.
• A room in the home can be converted into an office.
• Work is performed on an external job site.

Chris runs his small business from home, and when we interviewed him two years ago, his business expenses for rent and utilities were only $750 per month. He even told us most of those expenses actually helped the business from an accounting standpoint.

However you plan to do your bookkeeping, don't forget to check the Municode Library to find the local ordinances about starting a home-based cleaning business.

Keep in mind that running a cleaning business where children and pets live can be dangerous. Cleaning materials can be toxic, and some are explosive if combined. The EPA offers guidance on handling household hazardous waste.

Templates and Resources

These business plan templates and resources will help you prepare to get residential and commercial cleaning jobs. Want to know the best part? They're all free!

• UpFlip: Business Plan Template
• Fit Small Business: One-Page Business Plan
• U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA): Business Guide
• UpFlip: How to Write a Business Plan
• SBA: How to Write a Business Plan
• UpFlip: Our cleaning business checklist is an easy way to make sure you do everything you need for any business.

Also, check out our interview with Mike regarding business plans. Mike offers lawn care services, but his advice applies to commercial cleaning services. Plus, his small business is one of the fastest-growing franchises in the country.

Create Standard Workflows

Chris has tons of resources to help you start your own cleaning business. Check them out in his free training course .

He emphasizes the importance of getting every facet of your process documented to create workflows. His clients appreciate the transparency he provides with his pricing. You can be confident in your endeavors if you seek to model your business after Queen Bee.

Get Cleaning Supplies and Equipment

Your cleaning supplies depend on the services you provide, but you can start by purchasing equipment like a vacuum cleaner, window cleaner, and a few microfiber towels.

For more information about what cleaning equipment you'll need for a maid service, check out our guide . It's effectively a cleaning business starter kit!

Chris even offers a hospital-grade disinfecting service , which requires specific supplies. He told us:

[su_quote] We use an electrostatic sprayer to apply the disinfectant. The sprayer ‘loads’ the mist with a positive charge, making the disinfectant stick to all surfaces, killing 99% of the pathogens. Our hospital-grade disinfectant is an EPA-certified product safe to use around children and pets and safe on all surfaces. [/su_quote]

Next, we’ll discuss whether you need a business loan when you start your local cleaning company.

Ever wonder why so many people get into the cleaning business? It has a low barrier to entry. The initial investment to start a home cleaning business can be one shopping trip to a home improvement store.

Funds to start your cleaning service can come from:

• Personal funds: People commonly pull from their savings and paychecks.
• Loan from family or friends: Sometimes friends and family are willing to help people start a business. At the very least, they might hire you to clean their homes.
• Business partners: It's easier to get twice as much done if you have a business partner. They can be an active or a silent investor.
• Government programs: Some people will qualify for Small Business Administration loans or other government grants.
• Crowdfunding: If your business idea is something that can be scaled to sell all over the country, crowdfunding is an option.
• Credit cards: Your business may need credit cards to pay for expenses. Each business purchase could earn some cash back and help build business credit. Like personal credit scores, business credit scores impact loan rates.
• Home equity loan: Refinancing your home loan is a great way to get startup cash.
• Rollover for business startups (ROBS): If you start an S-Corp or C-Corp, you can move your 401(k) from your employer to your new corporation and buy the company stock with the 401(k), giving your business an influx of cash. During operations, you can reinvest dividends into the 401(k) to increase the funds in it.

Check out our article about business funding . We cover 17 ways of funding a business to help you decide which practices are best for you.

Alternatively, the SBA offers free courses on financing options and funding programs . The Hartford published the pros and cons of using personal funds to start a business.

Don't forget to check out our lending partners .

Once you’ve got the money, it’s time to register your business and get your cleaning business license.

Once you have a business plan, you'll want to come up with a memorable name. Considering each of these aspects will help you beat out your competition:

• Does it state what you do? If you wash windows, does the name or logo indicate you perform window washing? Don't be too specific, though, because businesses evolve.
• Is it easy to remember? Potential customers will need to search your business name.
• Does it indicate the location you serve? Major cities can be too big to serve in their entirety. Using local terms can narrow the audience and improve ranks on Google.
• Does it communicate the brand message? Queen Bee Cleaning Services’ company logo is a picture of a bee along with the name of the company. Simple, right?

Queen Bee does a great job as a brand because it is the hive leader (best of the local residential cleaning businesses), but it doesn't clarify for potential customers where the service is, widening its potential customers.

Register a Dot Com

Once you have a name idea, run it by your friends and family. Test it on Google Trends. Our business name generator connects you directly to NameCheap when you click on one of the business names. There, you can buy the domain name and other services.

Pro Tip: Aid your brainstorming even more with our ultimate list of cleaning business names .

Establish a Legal Structure and Register With the State

When you have your name, you'll want to choose a legal structure. Legal structures include sole proprietorships, limited liability companies, and corporations.

To establish a legal business structure, work with an attorney, accountant, tax specialist, or government official for the best results. Then you can register your business with the necessary state and local agencies.

Next, you'll want to get your business licenses.

Licenses, Permits, and Tax Forms

Regardless of the business structure, determine if your cleaning company requires a business license, permit, or a specific set of tax forms to operate legally. We researched each state to create our guide to cleaning business licenses . Alternatively, you can use the SBA tool to find out which business licenses you need.

Get Cleaning Services Insurance

A local business owner should purchase general liability insurance, especially if they serve commercial clients, which require it. General liability insurance covers property damage and bodily injury.

Check out our blog about how to get business insurance for more information. We recommend using Simply Business to find the best business insurance rates.

How to Start a Cleaning Business Franchise

A franchise consists of a franchisor company and a franchisee in a joint venture to sell the franchisor's products and services. In essence, a franchise enables you to enter the market with a ready-made cleaning company.

Many franchise opportunities exist in the cleaning industry. Well-known franchises are The Maids, ChemDry, and PuroClean. Learn more about buying a franchise .

At this point, you know how to set up proper licensing, but a successful business needs to provide consistent services and pricing.

A small business owner will need to establish how much to charge for cleaning services. Research reasonable prices to stay competitive while still making a profit.

There are three typical ways house cleaning prices are calculated by a house cleaner:

• Hourly: $25 to $90 per hour, per cleaner
• Flat fee : $100 to $800 weekly or biweekly for standard cleaning of a single-family home
• Room rate: $100 for 1 bed/1 bath + $10 to $20 for each additional bedroom and bathroom
• Per square foot: $0.05 to $0.10 per square foot

Learn more in our house cleaning pricing guide .

Next we’ll discuss how to get commercial cleaning contracts.

Building customer relationships is crucial for starting a cleaning business. Some of the best digital and traditional marketing techniques when you start a cleaning business include:

• Market your business: Identify your target audience and the cleaning services they need. Then use social media, flyers, and local associations to promote your brand. You’ll also want a website to show potential customers the services you offer.
• Get reviews: Client testimonials on social media or Google Business Profile help attract new customers. Make sure to ask for them and make them easy to provide.
• Build a network: Local business and trade associations are great places for business networking and referral groups.
• Use online marketplaces: Let people know about your services on marketplaces to help get low-cost leads.
• Get referrals: Ask clients to refer their friends. Starting a cleaning company is easier when satisfied customers, friends, and family recommend your business to other people.
• Offer discounts: First-time customer discounts often attract new clients. You can also provide subscription-based discounts for routine cleaning.
• Optimize your website: Make sure your website directly answers customer searches.

Learn more about how to get clients for your cleaning business .

Chris reveals all these incredible tactics, plus his pricing structure, in his 7-Figure Cleaning Business Blueprint course. You get to see how Chris executes all the most important techniques from the course live.

It’s time to implement your marketing plan next.

Advertising and promotion marketing are important for starting any business, especially a cleaning service. In fact, marketing is one of Chris’s biggest expenses in his budget.

His marketing budget is an average of $4,212.50 per month. He spends primarily on Google Local Ads , but he also spends a portion on Yelp, Craigslist, and Facebook. He told us:

[su_quote] Craigslist ads are low-cost and have done really well. You should definitely include them [in the list of places you run ads]. [/su_quote]

Chris has become highly ranked on Google, Yelp, Nextdoor, Houzz, Thumbtack, HomeAdvisor, and Porch. Focusing on building your business presence on highly ranked websites helps increase your site's authority.

He shares his Facebook ad strategy in our master course . It's surprisingly simple but gets a return on ad spend of 16-41X.

You'll want to use a combination of:

• Digital marketing: This includes email newsletters, social media, and search engine optimization. Neil Patel is a renowned authority in this area. Check out his website .
• Printed materials: This includes business cards, flyers, brochures, T-shirts, and even car magnets. Canva is an excellent tool for designing your own business cards. And here's our guide for getting them cheap .
• SMS marketing: Sending text messages is a highly successful digital marketing strategy.
• Branding: Uniforms, vehicles, and customer service are all crucial aspects of marketing for residential cleaning businesses.

One of Chris's marketing strategies is putting door hangers on three houses in each direction after each cleaning. These fliers give first-time customers discounts. Many customers who took advantage of this sale were so impressed with the service they happily joined his subscription plans.

Pro Tip: Check out our article on how to get cleaning contracts .

As a business owner, you might have a goal for your house cleaning services to create jobs and make more profit. If you do, check out this next section.

Imagine what it would be like to have so many referrals and so much business that you can't handle it all yourself!

While many cleaning businesses are one-person operations, owners often find that it helps to have employees for practical and profit-based reasons. After all, you might want to take a vacation!

Before you hire employees, you must address the following:

• Employer Identification Number (EIN): Get your business an EIN from the IRS. Apply for one online or call 800-829-4933.
• Tax Filing and Withholding: The IRS publishes a handy guide for employers that is available here
• Unemployment Insurance Tax: You will need to pay Unemployment Insurance Tax through the UI Program under the Social Security Tax for employers.
• Federal Employment and Labor Laws: All employers must display workplace posters that are downloadable on the U.S. Department of Labor website.

Other requirements include:

• Employment Eligibility Verification (Form I-9)
• Reporting to your state's new hire program
• Worker's compensation insurance
• Disability insurance, as required by some states
• Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) training

Compensating employees is probably going to be your most significant expense. It is for Chris. You can either pay employees an hourly rate or per task. Chris pays an hourly rate of about $19, but local businesses can choose which works best.

If you're a busy house cleaning company with lots of customers near each other, both you and the employees can benefit from performance-based pay.

Ready to Start Your Own Cleaning Business?

Now you have the tools and knowledge to embark on your path to success in the cleaning industry.

Remember, it's crucial to understand your target audience, choose the right type of cleaning services, and create a solid business plan. Proper funding, registration, and pricing strategies will lay a strong foundation for your business.

Once your business formation is complete, build a loyal client base through effective marketing and excellent service. Don’t forget to ask for reviews to ensure long-term success.

As your business grows, don't forget the importance of hiring and managing a reliable cleaning crew.

Whether you're dreaming of starting a small residential cleaning service or building a multi-million-dollar empire like Queen Bee Cleaning Services, the journey begins with a single step. Take the knowledge and insights gained from this guide and start your journey to entrepreneurial success in the cleaning industry today.

What's stopping you from starting a cleaning business?

The 15 Best HR Outsourcing Companies (2024)

Which HR Tasks Can Be Outsourced?

• HR Consulting
• Benefits Administration
• Time Tracking
• Insurance Services
• Performance Management
• Payroll Administration
• Bookkeeping
• Client Management
• Policy Compliance Management
• Unemployment Claims
• Policy Development
• Staff Training and Coaching
• Labor Law Compliance
• Employee Termination
• Audit and Wage-Claim Assistance
• Talent Management

SaaS Providers

Business process outsourcing, single source outsourcing, shared services, professional employer organizations.

• BambooHR - Primarily concerned with hiring, compensation, and analyzing performance. Includes payroll as an additional service.
• Deputy - Scheduling, time tracking, and labor law compliance. Has a free edition.
• Gusto - Gusto was PC Mag's 2021 Best HR software payroll selection, but they have software to help with other processes as well.

What are the benefits of HR Outsourcing For Small Businesses?

• Better compliance with federal, state, and local regulations.

Increased growth of the business

• Potentially reduced cost of administrative services
• Ability to offer better benefits.

Outsourced HR helps small businesses comply with regulations

Outsourced hr reduces the cost of administrative services.

• Hire internal HR staff
• Outsourced human resources

Ability to offer better benefits

The cons of HR outsourcing

Hr services do things their way, you might pay for hr tasks you don't need..

• Outsourcing staff gives you less control of the hiring process

HR companies have consistently poor communication reviews

Questions to ask when talking to hr service companies.

• Does your payroll service include time tracking apps to help collect employees' hours and reimbursable expenses?
• Does your HR technology easily integrate with my current HR systems?
• Is workers' compensation included in your full-service HR package?
• What will I need to do to make sure your HR systems and HR department can handle my payroll in the future without me being actively involved?
• If I have HR-related compliance requests, what process do we have to go through?

Outsourcing HR staff gives you less control of the hiring process

Reviewing hr outsourcing services.

• Gathered a list of the 16 companies that have been reviewed by top-ranking blogs.
• Reviewed each company's website and compared it to the 15 services typically offered by HR outsourcing companies (If they offer the service, they get a 100. If unsure, or no, they get a 0).
• Compared the number of plans they offered with a maximum of 10, then multiplied by 10 get scores ranging from 10-100.
• As long as the website did not have a major issue, they got an extra 100 points for their website. CPE HR (given a zero for broken links) and G&A Partners (80 because there wasn't additional information where I wanted it) were the only ones penalized.
• Then I compared reviews on Capterra and Trust Pilot and took whichever had more reviews. I used the calculation, (# of reviews* stars given)/100=Score from 0-100. This step is for purpose of giving extra weight to ones with more reviews.
• Multiplied average stars by 20 to get a score from zero to 100. This step was to reward the strength of reviews.
• Added all scores up and divided by 19 to create a score that will range between 0 and 100.

The Best Small Business HR Outsourcing Companies & Services

ADP is the top-ranked company

Hr tasks adp offers:, what makes adp the best hr outsourcing organization:, what is adp the best at.

ADP Features, Pricing, and Reviews:

Paychex comes in at number 2, hr tasks paychex offers:, what makes paychex one of the best hr outsourcing organizations, what is paychex the best at.

Paychex Features, Pricing, and Reviews:

The third best hr outsourcing service is gusto, hr tasks gusto offers:, what makes gusto one of the best hr outsourcing organizations:, what is gusto the best at.

Gusto Features, Pricing, and Reviews:

Insperity takes 4th place, hr services insperity offers:, what is insperity the best at.

Insperity Features, Pricing, and Reviews:

Zenefits rounds out the top 5 hr service businesses, hr services zenefits offers:, what is zenefits the best at.

Zenefit Features, Pricing, and Reviews:

• Essentials: $10/mo/employee
• Growth: $18/mo/employee
• Zen: $27/mo/employee

The rest of the list

• G&A Partners - With a score of 88.4, G&A Partners offers all the services as a PEO or mix and match. Lack of reviews on common review sites harmed their rating. If you work in construction or other safety fields they might be best. They also carry the liability for HR decisions, which is great for risk management.
• CoAdvantage PEO - With a score of 88.4, CoAdvantage is another PEO that appears to offer all the services, but some were hinted at more than specifically covered. They also didn't have any ratings, but a nice referral program.
• TriNet - TriNet Scored an 85 due to an average of 2.7 stars on 97 ratings, poor disclosure of whether they offer services separately, and only offering some types of insurance. One of the things I liked about TriNet is they claim that when the SSI cap is reached, you pay less. They don't charge more when wages go up though.
• Oasis Advantage - At a score of 84.7, Oasis Advantage has the 8th best outsourcing services. They are a subsidiary of Paychex so I would just go with Paychex. Once again, ratings were missing and you have to request a quote.-
• Engage PEO - At a score of 84.7, Engage is another PEO without ratings on common sites. They were middle of the pack when it comes to their options as they primarily offer PEO services with 6 optional benefit plans.
• Workday - Workday scored an 80.3 with demerits due to lack of insurance, lack of clarity on whether they consult, and numerous reviews saying that people will not work for companies that use Workday. They came in 9th cause their overall ratings are a 4.5, but you have to take care of your employees. Trust Pilot Capterra
• BambooHR - Bamboo is primarily focused on the hiring process and payments. That's why it received a score of 73.5. It has great reviews though.
• Bambee - Bambee is a consultant to make sure you follow legal procedures. At $99/mo it is a reasonable price and has great reviews, but you can get this included in other packages. Best if you just want someone to consult with you so you can expand your skills. Their total score was 73.2
• CPEhr - I honestly don't even want to give you their link because they annoyed me. They have no reviews, they have broken links, and places where there isn't a link that there should be. They scored a 68.4
• Accenture HR - I feel like Accenture HR scored way lower than it should (36.1), but that's because it is specialized in analytics. If you want better data to manage your HR, use them. You'll need your team or another service though.

Upwork Freelancers

HR tasks they will take:

What makes hr freelancers great:, what are hr freelancers the best at, features, pricing, and reviews:.

nice work https://binarychemist.com/

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

Become a business owner in less than 90 days

Start your 10-day free trial of the UpFlip Academy and learn how to start your own business from scratch.

Get business advice straight to your   Inbox 

• Integrations
• Learning Center

MoSCoW Prioritization

What is moscow prioritization.

MoSCoW prioritization, also known as the MoSCoW method or MoSCoW analysis, is a popular prioritization technique for managing requirements. 

  The acronym MoSCoW represents four categories of initiatives: must-have, should-have, could-have, and won’t-have, or will not have right now. Some companies also use the “W” in MoSCoW to mean “wish.”

What is the History of the MoSCoW Method?

Software development expert Dai Clegg created the MoSCoW method while working at Oracle. He designed the framework to help his team prioritize tasks during development work on product releases.

You can find a detailed account of using MoSCoW prioritization in the Dynamic System Development Method (DSDM) handbook . But because MoSCoW can prioritize tasks within any time-boxed project, teams have adapted the method for a broad range of uses.

How Does MoSCoW Prioritization Work?

Before running a MoSCoW analysis, a few things need to happen. First, key stakeholders and the product team need to get aligned on objectives and prioritization factors. Then, all participants must agree on which initiatives to prioritize.

At this point, your team should also discuss how they will settle any disagreements in prioritization. If you can establish how to resolve disputes before they come up, you can help prevent those disagreements from holding up progress.

Finally, you’ll also want to reach a consensus on what percentage of resources you’d like to allocate to each category.

With the groundwork complete, you may begin determining which category is most appropriate for each initiative. But, first, let’s further break down each category in the MoSCoW method.

Start prioritizing your roadmap

Moscow prioritization categories.

1. Must-have initiatives

As the name suggests, this category consists of initiatives that are “musts” for your team. They represent non-negotiable needs for the project, product, or release in question. For example, if you’re releasing a healthcare application, a must-have initiative may be security functionalities that help maintain compliance.

The “must-have” category requires the team to complete a mandatory task. If you’re unsure about whether something belongs in this category, ask yourself the following.

If the product won’t work without an initiative, or the release becomes useless without it, the initiative is most likely a “must-have.”

2. Should-have initiatives

Should-have initiatives are just a step below must-haves. They are essential to the product, project, or release, but they are not vital. If left out, the product or project still functions. However, the initiatives may add significant value.

“Should-have” initiatives are different from “must-have” initiatives in that they can get scheduled for a future release without impacting the current one. For example, performance improvements, minor bug fixes, or new functionality may be “should-have” initiatives. Without them, the product still works.

3. Could-have initiatives

Another way of describing “could-have” initiatives is nice-to-haves. “Could-have” initiatives are not necessary to the core function of the product. However, compared with “should-have” initiatives, they have a much smaller impact on the outcome if left out.

So, initiatives placed in the “could-have” category are often the first to be deprioritized if a project in the “should-have” or “must-have” category ends up larger than expected.

4. Will not have (this time)

One benefit of the MoSCoW method is that it places several initiatives in the “will-not-have” category. The category can manage expectations about what the team will not include in a specific release (or another timeframe you’re prioritizing).

Placing initiatives in the “will-not-have” category is one way to help prevent scope creep . If initiatives are in this category, the team knows they are not a priority for this specific time frame. 

Some initiatives in the “will-not-have” group will be prioritized in the future, while others are not likely to happen. Some teams decide to differentiate between those by creating a subcategory within this group.

How Can Development Teams Use MoSCoW?

  Although Dai Clegg developed the approach to help prioritize tasks around his team’s limited time, the MoSCoW method also works when a development team faces limitations other than time. For example: 

Prioritize based on budgetary constraints.

What if a development team’s limiting factor is not a deadline but a tight budget imposed by the company? Working with the product managers, the team can use MoSCoW first to decide on the initiatives that represent must-haves and the should-haves. Then, using the development department’s budget as the guide, the team can figure out which items they can complete. 

Prioritize based on the team’s skillsets.

A cross-functional product team might also find itself constrained by the experience and expertise of its developers. If the product roadmap calls for functionality the team does not have the skills to build, this limiting factor will play into scoring those items in their MoSCoW analysis.

Prioritize based on competing needs at the company.

Cross-functional teams can also find themselves constrained by other company priorities. The team wants to make progress on a new product release, but the executive staff has created tight deadlines for further releases in the same timeframe. In this case, the team can use MoSCoW to determine which aspects of their desired release represent must-haves and temporarily backlog everything else.

What Are the Drawbacks of MoSCoW Prioritization?

  Although many product and development teams have prioritized MoSCoW, the approach has potential pitfalls. Here are a few examples.

1. An inconsistent scoring process can lead to tasks placed in the wrong categories.

  One common criticism against MoSCoW is that it does not include an objective methodology for ranking initiatives against each other. Your team will need to bring this methodology to your analysis. The MoSCoW approach works only to ensure that your team applies a consistent scoring system for all initiatives.

Pro tip: One proven method is weighted scoring, where your team measures each initiative on your backlog against a standard set of cost and benefit criteria. You can use the weighted scoring approach in ProductPlan’s roadmap app .

2. Not including all relevant stakeholders can lead to items placed in the wrong categories.

To know which of your team’s initiatives represent must-haves for your product and which are merely should-haves, you will need as much context as possible.

For example, you might need someone from your sales team to let you know how important (or unimportant) prospective buyers view a proposed new feature.

One pitfall of the MoSCoW method is that you could make poor decisions about where to slot each initiative unless your team receives input from all relevant stakeholders. 

3. Team bias for (or against) initiatives can undermine MoSCoW’s effectiveness.

Because MoSCoW does not include an objective scoring method, your team members can fall victim to their own opinions about certain initiatives. 

One risk of using MoSCoW prioritization is that a team can mistakenly think MoSCoW itself represents an objective way of measuring the items on their list. They discuss an initiative, agree that it is a “should have,” and move on to the next.

But your team will also need an objective and consistent framework for ranking all initiatives. That is the only way to minimize your team’s biases in favor of items or against them.

When Do You Use the MoSCoW Method for Prioritization?

MoSCoW prioritization is effective for teams that want to include representatives from the whole organization in their process. You can capture a broader perspective by involving participants from various functional departments.

Another reason you may want to use MoSCoW prioritization is it allows your team to determine how much effort goes into each category. Therefore, you can ensure you’re delivering a good variety of initiatives in each release.

What Are Best Practices for Using MoSCoW Prioritization?

If you’re considering giving MoSCoW prioritization a try, here are a few steps to keep in mind. Incorporating these into your process will help your team gain more value from the MoSCoW method.

1. Choose an objective ranking or scoring system.

Remember, MoSCoW helps your team group items into the appropriate buckets—from must-have items down to your longer-term wish list. But MoSCoW itself doesn’t help you determine which item belongs in which category.

You will need a separate ranking methodology. You can choose from many, such as:

• Weighted scoring
• Value vs. complexity
• Buy-a-feature
• Opportunity scoring

For help finding the best scoring methodology for your team, check out ProductPlan’s article: 7 strategies to choose the best features for your product .

2. Seek input from all key stakeholders.

To make sure you’re placing each initiative into the right bucket—must-have, should-have, could-have, or won’t-have—your team needs context. 

At the beginning of your MoSCoW method, your team should consider which stakeholders can provide valuable context and insights. Sales? Customer success? The executive staff? Product managers in another area of your business? Include them in your initiative scoring process if you think they can help you see opportunities or threats your team might miss. 

3. Share your MoSCoW process across your organization.

MoSCoW gives your team a tangible way to show your organization prioritizing initiatives for your products or projects. 

The method can help you build company-wide consensus for your work, or at least help you show stakeholders why you made the decisions you did.

Communicating your team’s prioritization strategy also helps you set expectations across the business. When they see your methodology for choosing one initiative over another, stakeholders in other departments will understand that your team has thought through and weighed all decisions you’ve made. 

If any stakeholders have an issue with one of your decisions, they will understand that they can’t simply complain—they’ll need to present you with evidence to alter your course of action.  

Related Terms

2×2 prioritization matrix / Eisenhower matrix / DACI decision-making framework / ICE scoring model / RICE scoring model

Prioritizing your roadmap using our guide

Try productplan free for 14 days, share on mastodon.

• Environment
• Science & Technology
• Business & Industry
• Health & Public Welfare
• Topics (CFR Indexing Terms)
• Public Inspection
• Presidential Documents
• Document Search
• Advanced Document Search
• Public Inspection Search
• Reader Aids Home
• Office of the Federal Register Announcements
• Using FederalRegister.Gov
• Understanding the Federal Register
• Recent Site Updates
• Federal Register & CFR Statistics
• Videos & Tutorials
• Developer Resources
• Government Policy and OFR Procedures
• Congressional Review
• My Clipboard
• My Comments
• My Subscriptions
• Sign In / Sign Up
• Site Feedback
• Search the Federal Register

The Federal Register

Public inspection :: tomorrow's documents, today.

• Legal Status

This site displays a prototype of a “Web 2.0” version of the daily Federal Register. It is not an official legal edition of the Federal Register, and does not replace the official print version or the official electronic version on GPO’s govinfo.gov.

The documents posted on this site are XML renditions of published Federal Register documents. Each document posted on the site includes a link to the corresponding official PDF file on govinfo.gov. This prototype edition of the daily Federal Register on FederalRegister.gov will remain an unofficial informational resource until the Administrative Committee of the Federal Register (ACFR) issues a regulation granting it official legal status. For complete information about, and access to, our official publications and services, go to About the Federal Register on NARA's archives.gov.

The OFR/GPO partnership is committed to presenting accurate and reliable regulatory information on FederalRegister.gov with the objective of establishing the XML-based Federal Register as an ACFR-sanctioned publication in the future. While every effort has been made to ensure that the material on FederalRegister.gov is accurately displayed, consistent with the official SGML-based PDF version on govinfo.gov, those relying on it for legal research should verify their results against an official edition of the Federal Register. Until the ACFR grants it official status, the XML rendition of the daily Federal Register on FederalRegister.gov does not provide legal notice to the public or judicial notice to the courts.

06/07/2024 Public Inspection Issue

Special filing, regular filing.

• 4 Proposed Rules

The following documents are on file at the Office of the Federal Register (OFR) and will be published in the Federal Register on the dates listed.

Regular Filing documents are routinely placed on file at 8:45 a.m. Eastern Time, for publication in the next day’s Federal Register.

Special Filing documents are filed at other times and/or dates prior to publication.

See About Public Inspection for more information.

Although we make a concerted effort to reproduce the original document in full on our Public Inspection pages, in some cases graphics may not be displayed, and non-substantive markup language may appear alongside substantive text. If you are using public inspection listings for legal research, you should verify the contents of documents against a final, official edition of the Federal Register. Only official editions of the Federal Register provide legal notice of publication to the public and judicial notice to the courts under 44 U.S.C. 1503 & 1507 .

Please note that most of the original documents filed with the Office of the Federal Register contain calculated effective dates, comment dates, and other applicable dates. We calculate and insert those dates after the documents go on file. You can consult the Table of Effective Dates & Time Periods to determine the calendar date of a calculated date contained in a Public Inspection document.

Go to a specific date

Special Filing Table of Contents

Public Inspection documents are unpublished documents. Click here to learn more about Public Inspection.

Special Filing documents are filed at various times and/or dates prior to publication.

Special Filing updated at 11:15 AM on Friday, June 7, 2024

Civil rights commission, meetings; sunshine act, commodity futures trading commission, federal emergency management agency, public assistance program and policy guide.

Editorial Note: An agency letter requesting withdrawal of this document was received after placement on public inspection. The document will remain on public inspection through close of business June 10, 2024. A copy of the agency's withdrawal letter is available for inspection at the Office of the Federal Register.

Homeland Security Department

• See Federal Emergency Management Agency 1

Justice Department

• See Parole Commission 1

Nuclear Regulatory Commission

Parole commission, personnel management office, certifying the use of a merit personnel system as required by the intergovernmental personnel act, postal service, securities and exchange commission, special filing agencies.

Additional information about this Public Inspection document.

• Civil Rights Commission 1
• Commodity Futures Trading Commission 1
• Federal Emergency Management Agency 1
• Homeland Security Department 1
• Justice Department 1
• Nuclear Regulatory Commission 1
• Parole Commission 1
• Personnel Management Office 1
• Postal Service 1
• Securities and Exchange Commission 1

Regular Filing Table of Contents

Regular Filing documents are routinely placed on file at 8:45 a.m. Eastern Time, for publication in the next day’s Federal Register .

Regular Filing updated at 8:45 AM on Friday, June 7, 2024

Agricultural marketing service, proposed rules, poultry grower payment systems and capital improvement systems, agriculture department.

• See Agricultural Marketing Service 1
• See Forest Service 4
• See Rural Housing Service 1

Bureau of the Fiscal Service

Surety companies doing business with the united states, centers for disease control and prevention, sole source cooperative agreement:, mali ministry of health, centers for medicare & medicaid services, agency information collection activities; proposals, submissions, and approvals, hearings, meetings, proceedings, etc.:, district of columbia advisory committee, coast guard, safety zone:, chesapeake bay, approaches to baltimore harbor, md, narragansett bay, newport, ri, washington channel, upper potomac river, washington, dc, commerce department.

• See International Trade Administration 7
• See Under-Secretary for Economic Affairs 1

Event Contracts

Defense department.

• See Navy Department 1

Environmental Protection Agency

Science advisory board scientific and technological achievement awards panel, pesticide registration:, revised procedures for citing data to support pesticide registrations, federal aviation administration, agency information collection activities; proposals, submissions, and approvals:, general operating and flight rules, operation of small unmanned aircraft systems over people, petition for exemption; summary:, university of alaska anchorage, federal communications commission, hearings, meetings, proceedings, etc., communications security, reliability, and interoperability council, national advisory council, federal maritime commission, demurrage and detention billing requirements, federal railroad administration, final general conformity determination:, california high-speed rail system, palmdale to burbank project section, request for amendment:, massachusetts bay transportation authority; positive train control safety plan and positive train control system, federal transit administration, transit advisory committee for safety, public transportation on indian reservations program, tribal transit program, fish and wildlife service, permits; applications, issuances, etc.:, foreign endangered species, incidental take for the desert tortoise; draft habitat conservation plan and draft environmental assessment, desert breeze solar energy project, san bernardino, ca, foreign assets control office, global terrorism sanctions regulations and foreign terrorist organization sanctions regulations web general licenses 9, 10, 11, 12, and 13, global terrorism sanctions regulations web general license 28, publication of russian harmful foreign activities sanctions regulations web general licenses 8i, 13i, and 94, russian harmful foreign activities sanctions regulations web general licenses 95, 96, and 97, forest service, directive publication, helena-lewis and clark resource advisory committee, northeast oregon forests resource advisory committee, northwest forest plan area advisory committee, health and human services department.

• See Centers for Disease Control and Prevention 1
• See Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services 3
• See National Institutes of Health 4
• See Coast Guard 6
• See U.S. Customs and Border Protection 2

Housing and Urban Development Department

Enhancing and streamlining the implementation of section 3 requirements for creating opportunities for low- and very-low income persons and eligible businesses, multifamily housing service coordinator program, reporting on section 3 activities, section 3 utilization tools, tenant education and outreach program notice of funding opportunity, interior department.

• See Fish and Wildlife Service 2
• See National Park Service 1

International Trade Administration

Antidumping or countervailing duty investigations, orders, or reviews:, 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid from the people's republic of china and india, certain aluminum foil from the republic of turkiye, forged steel fluid end blocks from india, narrow woven ribbons with woven selvedge from the people's republic of china, welded stainless pressure pipe from india, sales at less than fair value; determinations, investigations, etc.:, certain paper shopping bags from cambodia; withdrawal, proposed consent decree:, clean water act, oil pollution act, management and budget office, privacy act and freedom of information act, national aeronautics and space administration, licenses; exemptions, applications, amendments, etc.:, exclusive, co-exclusive or partially exclusive patent license, national credit union administration, national institutes of health, center for scientific review, national institute of allergy and infectious diseases, national institute on aging, national park service, rights of way, navy department, naval academy board of visitors, new mailing standards for domestic mailing services products, public buildings reform board, rural housing service, funding availability:, rural community development initiative for fiscal year 2024, self-regulatory organizations; proposed rule changes:, investors exchange llc, nyse american llc, nyse arca, inc., small business administration, transportation department.

• See Federal Aviation Administration 3
• See Federal Railroad Administration 2
• See Federal Transit Administration 2
• See Transportation Statistics Bureau 1

Charter Amendments, Establishments, Renewals and Terminations:

Advisory committee on transportation equity, privacy act; systems of records, transportation statistics bureau, reporting required for international civil aviation organization, treasury department.

• See Bureau of the Fiscal Service 1
• See Foreign Assets Control Office 4

U.S. Customs and Border Protection

Determination:, trimble gnss r12i receiver, commercial customs operations advisory committee, under-secretary for economic affairs, concrete masonry products research, education, and promotion voter registration and ballot forms; correction, veterans affairs department, application for conversion, homeless providers grant and per diem program, time record (work study program), regular filing agencies.

• Agricultural Marketing Service 1
• Agriculture Department 6
• Bureau of the Fiscal Service 1
• Centers for Disease Control and Prevention 1
• Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services 3
• Coast Guard 6
• Commerce Department 8
• Defense Department 1
• Environmental Protection Agency 2
• Federal Aviation Administration 3
• Federal Communications Commission 4
• Federal Maritime Commission 1
• Federal Railroad Administration 2
• Federal Transit Administration 2
• Fish and Wildlife Service 2
• Foreign Assets Control Office 4
• Forest Service 4
• Health and Human Services Department 8
• Homeland Security Department 9
• Housing and Urban Development Department 5
• Interior Department 3
• International Trade Administration 7
• Justice Department 2
• Management and Budget Office 1
• National Aeronautics and Space Administration 1
• National Credit Union Administration 1
• National Institutes of Health 4
• National Park Service 1
• Navy Department 1
• Public Buildings Reform Board 1
• Rural Housing Service 1
• Securities and Exchange Commission 3
• Small Business Administration 1
• Transportation Department 10
• Transportation Statistics Bureau 1
• Treasury Department 5
• U.S. Customs and Border Protection 2
• Under-Secretary for Economic Affairs 1
• Veterans Affairs Department 3
• Executive Orders

Reader Aids

Information.

• About This Site
• Accessibility
• No Fear Act
• Continuity Information

Advertisement

Supported by

What to Know About Claudia Sheinbaum, Mexico’s Newly Elected President

Here are five key insights into Mexico’s new president as people wonder whether she will diverge from Andrés Manuel López Obrador’s policies or focus on cementing his legacy.

• Share full article

By Natalie Kitroeff

Reporting from Mexico City

Claudia Sheinbaum’s list of accolades is long: She has a Ph.D in energy engineering, participated in a United Nations panel of climate scientists awarded a Nobel Peace Prize and governed the capital, one of the largest cities in the hemisphere.

On Sunday, she added another achievement to her résumé: becoming the first woman elected president of Mexico.

Ms. Sheinbaum, 61, captured at least 58 percent of the vote in a landmark election on Sunday that featured two women competing for the nation’s highest office — a groundbreaking contest in a country long known for a culture of machismo and rampant violence against women.

Mexico Election Results: Sheinbaum Wins

See results and maps for Mexico’s 2024 presidential election.

“For the first time in 200 years of the republic, I will become the first female president of Mexico,” she said. “And as I have said on other occasions, I do not arrive alone. We all arrived, with our heroines who gave us our homeland, with our ancestors, our mothers, our daughters and our granddaughters.”

Now that she has clinched the presidency, Ms. Sheinbaum’s next hurdle will be stepping out of the shadow of her predecessor and longtime mentor, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, the outgoing president.

We are having trouble retrieving the article content.

Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.

Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and  log into  your Times account, or  subscribe  for all of The Times.

Thank you for your patience while we verify access.

Already a subscriber?  Log in .

Want all of The Times?  Subscribe .

NCAA lawsuit settlement agreement allowing revenue sharing with athletes faces unresolved questions

The proposed settlement of three antitrust cases concerning the compensation of college athletes that now has been approved by the NCAA, the Power Five conferences and lawyers for the plaintiffs brings some clarity to the future of college sports.

Subject to the agreement’s approval by a federal judge, schools would be able to directly pay their athletes, an extraordinary change for an association and member schools and conferences that had spent years and tens of millions of dollars in legal and lobbying costs fighting the idea.

Under the settlement plan, there would be a damages of about $2.8 billion - most of which is to be paid to compensate current and former athletes who, for years, had been prohibited from getting paid for a variety of activities and accomplishments that now can result in significant cash.

Within – and beyond – that, there are still many questions. Here is a look at some of those questions and where things stand with them. At least for now.

What are the specifics of NCAA revenue plan with athletes?

At its most basic level, the plan presumably set to being in 2025-26 academic year initially will guided by a cap of 22% of the combined total of certain revenues of Power Five conference schools. Among the revenues being counted for this are those from media rights deals, ticket sales and sponsorships. NCAA representatives said Thursday night the dollar amount for the cap is set to increase annually and would be re-set further, depending on whether the applicable revenues increase substantially (think, new or renegotiated TV contracts).

It will be up to the schools to determine how they want to spread this money among their athletes. NCAA representatives said Thursday night the idea is to provide schools with flexibility. And school athletics officials already have been considering how to proceed.

Asked recently whether his department has been planning internally for how it would adjust to revenue sharing, Tennessee athletics director Danny White said: “We’ve been spending a lot of time thinking about it. We have this really special thing called college athletics in this country, and we have an enormous responsibility to make sure we fix a structure that’s been proven to be not legally defendable, not financially sustainable. It’s really important that we take our role seriously.”

What seems clear is that schools will have to take into consideration Title IX, the federal gender-equity law. In multiple public appearances, veteran Title IX lawyer Arthur Bryant — who has represented, and continues to represent, female athletes in numerous lawsuits against schools — has said that if money is coming from schools, the law applies.

Bryant also has argued that because of the increasing connections between athletics departments and collectives, there is a case to be made about Title IX’s applicability to those deals. And he is leading a legal team trying to make such a case in a lawsuit against the University of Oregon that includes allegation related to collectives that Oregon says it does not control.

How will the proposed damages payments be made to affected athletes?

This gets complicated.

The proposed settlement seeks to address lawsuits that were filed at different times and cover different issues. That means money will be paid out from a variety of pools.

For example, there will be a pool based on TV broadcast money that allegedly would have gone to athletes if the NCAA’s limits on pay had not existed. That pool is likely to cover athletes primarily in football, men’s basketball and women’s basketball and will cover athletes from as far back as 2016, because the applicable lawsuit was filed in 2020. Another pool will be based on academic achievement awards that athletes now can get, but previously could not. That pool is likely to cover all current and former athletes who competed on a Division I team on, or after, April 1, 2019, because the applicable suit was filed in April 2023.

Each of the pools likely will apply to different groups of athletes covering different time frames, although it’s likely some athletes will be eligible for payments from multiple pools.

The amount of a payment to an athlete from a given pool almost certainly will be based on factors such as what sport they played, and the number of years they were on a team. Steve Berman, one of the plaintiffs’ lead attorneys, said Thursday night that football and men's basketball players eligible to receive money from the damages fund each are likely to receive tens of thousands of dollars, if not more.

On Friday, Berman said by email that because the damages settlement would be funded by the NCAA over a 10-year period, payments to athletes also would be made over a 10-year period.

Fees and costs award for the plaintiffs’ lawyers will be part of the settlement agreement that will be sent to U.S. District Judge Claudia Wilken. In 2017, when the damages part of another lawsuit Berman’s firm led against the NCAA was settled for $208.7 million , Wilken’s approved the agreement and the plaintiffs’ lawyers’ request for $41.7 million in fees and $3.2 million in expenses. Those allocations came from the settlement fund.

How do schools cover the cost of athletes' revenue sharing?

The proposed $2.8 billion in damages money will come from the NCAA. Association representatives said Thursday night said 41% will come from the central office from new revenue, cost savings and reserve funds.

NCAA representatives said the rest will come from reductions in distributions to Division I member schools and conferences. They said the breakdown of that is:

• 24% from Power Five/Four members.
• 10% from Group of Five members.
• 13% from Football Championship Subdivision members
• 12% from members that don’t participate in football.

As for schools that would be sharing with their athletes, expect to hear a lot of comments like this one from Georgia athletics director Josh Brooks on Thursday at a meeting of the University of Georgia Athletic Association’s board of directors:

“You’ve got to pull every lever, right?” Brooks said. “We’re going to try to find ways to grow revenue whether it’s through our multimedia rights partner, whether it’s through future revenue gains through TV contracts with the (College Football Playoff). Looking at ticket prices is a way, but also we’ve got to be good stewards of our money, right? We’ve got to find efficiencies and operate in the most efficient manner possible.”

Georgia is exploring raising football and baseball ticket prices. Other schools might do what Texas A&M did in late April, when it laid off staffers , according to the The Bryan-College Station Eagle. Or, what Missouri did when it hired Laird Veatch as athletics director: Include a contract provision that says if “changes to the financial model for collegiate athletics” occurs because of pending litigation or legislation and it creates “a serious financial exigency” for the department, the parties agree to renegotiate his pay.

Other athletics officials mentioned the prospects of conferences replacing a non-conference football game with a conference game in the hope of boosting TV and/or ticket revenue, or schools adding corporate patches on jerseys if their outfitting agreements allow.

Amid all of the commercialism now in college sports, there are experts who believe that college sports is under-leveraged commercially. Among those is Jeff Nelson, the president of Navigate, a firm that specializes in college and professional sports rights valuations.

Nelson said that, in addition to ticket prices, schools could look at selling naming rights for stadiums and arenas, expanding signage opportunities inside those venues.

He also mentioned “more exotic” ideas like schools attempting to develop real estate around their venues into entertainment districts or conferences exploring with their schools the idea of pooling their apparel arrangements to take advantage of their collective reach. “There’s a reason all 32 NFL teams don’t have different apparel contracts,” Nelson said.

"Some of these things will ruffle feathers,” Nelson said. “But this a time for blue-sky thinking, a time for creativity, a time to get more aggressive.”

Is there other impact to the NCAA beyond the damages payment and revenue sharing?

Yes. The proposed settlement would include changes to NCAA rules, including a shift from scholarship limits on sports to roster limits. The details of those plans are still unclear. So are details of an effort to have the proposed settlement create a way for the NCAA to better enforce rules against pay to athletes for use of their name, image and likeness (NIL) being de facto pay-for-play arrangements rather than true NIL deals. That is likely to involve trying to develop a reporting structure for NIL deals and a way to assess the fair market value of deals.

Is this new NCAA structure open to potential legal challenge?

Yes. The proposed settlement is subject to court approval, and there will be an opportunity for parties with appropriate standing to object. Lawyers for the plaintiffs in a separate athlete-compensation suit against the NCAA and the conferences that has been allowed to proceed in Colorado seem likely to object. The inclusion of a cap on revenue sharing could be an issue. And there are hard feelings among some within the NCAA membership outside the current Power Five conferences about the damages settlement and how it’s being funded.

"All 32 conferences wanted a settlement,” Big Sky Conference commissioner Tom Wistrcill said in an interview Friday, “but it’s unfortunate” the way the proposed agreement turned out. “We’re not giving up hope” about being able to alter the terms either now or in the future.

He also said: “From a Big Sky perspective, we’ve been talking to U.S. senators, governors, legal experts (and) exploring our options – that’s ongoing.”

Asked if that meant filing an objection to the settlement or taking another action, Wistrcill said: “Everything is on the table right now.”

However, Berman and the NCAA representatives said Thursday night they are confident he proposed settlement will gain legal approval.

“Very confident,” Berman said.

Contributing: Adam Sparks, Knoxville News-Sentinel; Marc Weiszer, Athens Banner-Herald

• Newsletters
• Environment
• 2024 Voter Guide
• Digital Democracy
• Daily Newsletter
• Data & Trackers
• California Divide
• CalMatters for Learning
• College Journalism Network
• What’s Working
• Youth Journalism
• Manage donation
• News and Awards
• Sponsorship
• Inside the Newsroom
• CalMatters en Español

Newsom unveils plan that would hasten insurance-rate reviews — and increases

Share this:

• Click to share on X (Opens in new window)
• Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
• Click to share on WhatsApp (Opens in new window)

A proposal to fix California’s insurance crisis would require the insurance department to process requests from insurers more quickly. But that could end with a lot of rate increases for consumers.

Gov. Gavin Newsom has proposed legislation to speed up insurance premium rate reviews as he and the Insurance Department try to fix the state’s battered insurance market. 

Last fall, Newsom issued an executive order tasking Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara with fixing home and fire insurance availability and affordability as insurers — citing rising wildfire risk and pandemic-induced inflation, and complaining about having to wait too long to get their requests for rate increases approved by the state — were canceling homeowner policies and halting the writing of new ones in California.

Homeowners continue to have trouble obtaining or hanging onto affordable insurance. From September through March, more than 45,000 of them have had to turn to the FAIR Plan , which is supposed to be an insurer of last resort for fire insurance. The plan provides limited coverage at high prices, so some homeowners have chosen to forgo fire insurance because they can’t afford their premiums, which in some cases have tripled or more.

Lara has been rolling out a plan to address the insurance market problems, which is expected to take effect by the end of the year. But Newsom said at a press conference earlier this month that “We’ve got to move it. We’ve just got to do more.”

Hence the bill he released Tuesday night, which is tied to the state budget and may not get as much scrutiny as other bills this late in the legislative session, needs only a simple majority vote in the state Legislature and would take effect immediately after the governor signs it. 

It builds on the part of Lara’s plan that makes changes to the process of approving insurance rate increases. The bill would add language to the insurance code that tightens the timeline of the review process, giving the Insurance Department up to 120 days — an initial 60 days, with options for two 30-day extensions — to respond to insurer rate-review requests with a newly required estimated rate. At that point, unless there is an objection by a consumer or consumer representative, the insurance companies can accept the estimated rate and apply it. 

Currently the law says the Insurance Department must act on rate filings within 60 days without a hearing or 180 days with a hearing. But Michael Soller, spokesperson for the department, said that as of February, the average time for homeowner filings was 196 days. 

“By enacting this important part of our strategy in statute, the Legislature can help us meet the urgency of the moment,” Lara said in a statement after the governor released the text of the bill. 

“This proposal requires the Department of Insurance to modernize and streamline its rate application process to get back to the expedited timelines outlined in Prop. 103,” said Alex Stack, a spokesperson for the governor.

Carmen Balber, executive director of the advocacy group Consumer Watchdog, said the tightened timeline for the state to respond with a rate estimate “seriously hamstrings oversight by the (insurance) department overall” as well as the role of intervenors such as her group. She said because the bill requires the Insurance Department to provide an estimated rate within 120 days, insurance companies could essentially be guaranteed rate increases three times a year — of less than 7% each time without triggering the risk of a hearing under Proposition 103, California’s insurance law that requires the state to approve rates — regardless of whether they can justify them.

The strict timeline “severely limits the information the department and intervenors can obtain” from insurers, Balber said, adding that she hopes lawmakers will “fix it.”

The chair of the Senate’s insurance committee, Sen. Susan Rubio, on Wednesday said she supports the bill. “I could not be more pleased with (the governor’s) proposal to help reduce unnecessary red tape,” the Los Angeles Democrat wrote in an emailed statement.

State lawmakers have been under pressure from their constituents to do something about the insurance market, with some of them proposing legislation to try to ensure individual and community efforts to help prevent wildfires count toward insurance affordability. The office of Assemblymember Lisa Calderon, chair of the Assembly’s insurance committee and another Los Angeles Democrat, did not respond to a request for comment on the governor’s proposal in time for publication.

California insurance market ‘in chaos,’ says former insurance chief. Can this chief fix it?

The insurance industry is optimistic that the bill will speed things up. 

Rex Frazier, president of the Personal Insurance Federation of California, said insurance companies that submit rate increase requests typically don’t hear back from the Insurance Department for four or five months. “At least now, they have to show their work by 60 days,” Frazier said. “The proposal provides more clarity and accountability to all parties involved in the process.”

Denni Ritter, vice president for state government relations for another industry group, the American Property Casualty Insurance Association, said the group was still evaluating the text of the bill. “Streamlining the rate review process will help increase consumer access to coverage by ensuring rates adequately reflect risk and consumer claims,” she said.

Lara’s overall plan, which he has dubbed the Sustainable Insurance Strategy, also includes allowing insurance companies to use catastrophe modeling; letting insurers incorporate reinsurance costs in their rates; and improving the FAIR Plan, including by requiring increased insurance coverage.

more on insurance crisis

Californians are protecting themselves from wildfire. Why is there still an insurance crisis?

California insurance chief, Farmers CEO  ‘look outside’ for answers to insurance crisis

We want to hear from you

Want to submit a guest commentary or reaction to an article we wrote? You can find our submission guidelines here . Please contact CalMatters with any commentary questions: [email protected]

Levi Sumagaysay Economy Reporter

Levi Sumagaysay covers the California economy for CalMatters with an eye on accountability and equity. She reports on the insurance market, taxes and anything that affects the state’s residents, labor... More by Levi Sumagaysay