3 month business plan

Step-by-Step Guide to Writing a Simple Business Plan

By Joe Weller | October 11, 2021

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A business plan is the cornerstone of any successful company, regardless of size or industry. This step-by-step guide provides information on writing a business plan for organizations at any stage, complete with free templates and expert advice. 

Included on this page, you’ll find a step-by-step guide to writing a business plan and a chart to identify which type of business plan you should write . Plus, find information on how a business plan can help grow a business and expert tips on writing one .

What Is a Business Plan?

A business plan is a document that communicates a company’s goals and ambitions, along with the timeline, finances, and methods needed to achieve them. Additionally, it may include a mission statement and details about the specific products or services offered.

A business plan can highlight varying time periods, depending on the stage of your company and its goals. That said, a typical business plan will include the following benchmarks:

• Product goals and deadlines for each month
• Monthly financials for the first two years
• Profit and loss statements for the first three to five years
• Balance sheet projections for the first three to five years

Startups, entrepreneurs, and small businesses all create business plans to use as a guide as their new company progresses. Larger organizations may also create (and update) a business plan to keep high-level goals, financials, and timelines in check.

While you certainly need to have a formalized outline of your business’s goals and finances, creating a business plan can also help you determine a company’s viability, its profitability (including when it will first turn a profit), and how much money you will need from investors. In turn, a business plan has functional value as well: Not only does outlining goals help keep you accountable on a timeline, it can also attract investors in and of itself and, therefore, act as an effective strategy for growth.

For more information, visit our comprehensive guide to writing a strategic plan or download free strategic plan templates . This page focuses on for-profit business plans, but you can read our article with nonprofit business plan templates .

Business Plan Steps

The specific information in your business plan will vary, depending on the needs and goals of your venture, but a typical plan includes the following ordered elements:

• Executive summary
• Description of business
• Market analysis
• Competitive analysis
• Description of organizational management
• Description of product or services
• Marketing plan
• Sales strategy
• Funding details (or request for funding)
• Financial projections

If your plan is particularly long or complicated, consider adding a table of contents or an appendix for reference. For an in-depth description of each step listed above, read “ How to Write a Business Plan Step by Step ” below.

Broadly speaking, your audience includes anyone with a vested interest in your organization. They can include potential and existing investors, as well as customers, internal team members, suppliers, and vendors.

Do I Need a Simple or Detailed Plan?

Your business’s stage and intended audience dictates the level of detail your plan needs. Corporations require a thorough business plan — up to 100 pages. Small businesses or startups should have a concise plan focusing on financials and strategy.

How to Choose the Right Plan for Your Business

In order to identify which type of business plan you need to create, ask: “What do we want the plan to do?” Identify function first, and form will follow.

Use the chart below as a guide for what type of business plan to create:

Is the Order of Your Business Plan Important?

There is no set order for a business plan, with the exception of the executive summary, which should always come first. Beyond that, simply ensure that you organize the plan in a way that makes sense and flows naturally.

The Difference Between Traditional and Lean Business Plans

A traditional business plan follows the standard structure — because these plans encourage detail, they tend to require more work upfront and can run dozens of pages. A Lean business plan is less common and focuses on summarizing critical points for each section. These plans take much less work and typically run one page in length.

In general, you should use a traditional model for a legacy company, a large company, or any business that does not adhere to Lean (or another Agile method ). Use Lean if you expect the company to pivot quickly or if you already employ a Lean strategy with other business operations. Additionally, a Lean business plan can suffice if the document is for internal use only. Stick to a traditional version for investors, as they may be more sensitive to sudden changes or a high degree of built-in flexibility in the plan.

How to Write a Business Plan Step by Step

Writing a strong business plan requires research and attention to detail for each section. Below, you’ll find a 10-step guide to researching and defining each element in the plan.

Step 1: Executive Summary

The executive summary will always be the first section of your business plan. The goal is to answer the following questions:

• What is the vision and mission of the company?
• What are the company’s short- and long-term goals?

See our  roundup of executive summary examples and templates for samples. Read our executive summary guide to learn more about writing one.

Step 2: Description of Business

The goal of this section is to define the realm, scope, and intent of your venture. To do so, answer the following questions as clearly and concisely as possible:

• What business are we in?
• What does our business do?

Step 3: Market Analysis

In this section, provide evidence that you have surveyed and understand the current marketplace, and that your product or service satisfies a niche in the market. To do so, answer these questions:

• Who is our customer? 
• What does that customer value?

Step 4: Competitive Analysis

In many cases, a business plan proposes not a brand-new (or even market-disrupting) venture, but a more competitive version — whether via features, pricing, integrations, etc. — than what is currently available. In this section, answer the following questions to show that your product or service stands to outpace competitors:

• Who is the competition? 
• What do they do best? 
• What is our unique value proposition?

Step 5: Description of Organizational Management

In this section, write an overview of the team members and other key personnel who are integral to success. List roles and responsibilities, and if possible, note the hierarchy or team structure.

Step 6: Description of Products or Services

In this section, clearly define your product or service, as well as all the effort and resources that go into producing it. The strength of your product largely defines the success of your business, so it’s imperative that you take time to test and refine the product before launching into marketing, sales, or funding details.

Questions to answer in this section are as follows:

• What is the product or service?
• How do we produce it, and what resources are necessary for production?

Step 7: Marketing Plan

In this section, define the marketing strategy for your product or service. This doesn’t need to be as fleshed out as a full marketing plan , but it should answer basic questions, such as the following:

• Who is the target market (if different from existing customer base)?
• What channels will you use to reach your target market?
• What resources does your marketing strategy require, and do you have access to them?
• If possible, do you have a rough estimate of timeline and budget?
• How will you measure success?

Step 8: Sales Plan

Write an overview of the sales strategy, including the priorities of each cycle, steps to achieve these goals, and metrics for success. For the purposes of a business plan, this section does not need to be a comprehensive, in-depth sales plan , but can simply outline the high-level objectives and strategies of your sales efforts. 

Start by answering the following questions:

• What is the sales strategy?
• What are the tools and tactics you will use to achieve your goals?
• What are the potential obstacles, and how will you overcome them?
• What is the timeline for sales and turning a profit?
• What are the metrics of success?

Step 9: Funding Details (or Request for Funding)

This section is one of the most critical parts of your business plan, particularly if you are sharing it with investors. You do not need to provide a full financial plan, but you should be able to answer the following questions:

• How much capital do you currently have? How much capital do you need?
• How will you grow the team (onboarding, team structure, training and development)?
• What are your physical needs and constraints (space, equipment, etc.)?

Step 10: Financial Projections

Apart from the fundraising analysis, investors like to see thought-out financial projections for the future. As discussed earlier, depending on the scope and stage of your business, this could be anywhere from one to five years. 

While these projections won’t be exact — and will need to be somewhat flexible — you should be able to gauge the following:

• How and when will the company first generate a profit?
• How will the company maintain profit thereafter?

Business Plan Template

Download Business Plan Template

Microsoft Excel | Smartsheet

This basic business plan template has space for all the traditional elements: an executive summary, product or service details, target audience, marketing and sales strategies, etc. In the finances sections, input your baseline numbers, and the template will automatically calculate projections for sales forecasting, financial statements, and more.

For templates tailored to more specific needs, visit this business plan template roundup or download a fill-in-the-blank business plan template to make things easy. 

If you are looking for a particular template by file type, visit our pages dedicated exclusively to Microsoft Excel , Microsoft Word , and Adobe PDF business plan templates.

How to Write a Simple Business Plan

A simple business plan is a streamlined, lightweight version of the large, traditional model. As opposed to a one-page business plan , which communicates high-level information for quick overviews (such as a stakeholder presentation), a simple business plan can exceed one page.

Below are the steps for creating a generic simple business plan, which are reflected in the template below .

• Write the Executive Summary This section is the same as in the traditional business plan — simply offer an overview of what’s in the business plan, the prospect or core offering, and the short- and long-term goals of the company. 
• Add a Company Overview Document the larger company mission and vision. 
• Provide the Problem and Solution In straightforward terms, define the problem you are attempting to solve with your product or service and how your company will attempt to do it. Think of this section as the gap in the market you are attempting to close.
• Identify the Target Market Who is your company (and its products or services) attempting to reach? If possible, briefly define your buyer personas .
• Write About the Competition In this section, demonstrate your knowledge of the market by listing the current competitors and outlining your competitive advantage.
• Describe Your Product or Service Offerings Get down to brass tacks and define your product or service. What exactly are you selling?
• Outline Your Marketing Tactics Without getting into too much detail, describe your planned marketing initiatives.
• Add a Timeline and the Metrics You Will Use to Measure Success Offer a rough timeline, including milestones and key performance indicators (KPIs) that you will use to measure your progress.
• Include Your Financial Forecasts Write an overview of your financial plan that demonstrates you have done your research and adequate modeling. You can also list key assumptions that go into this forecasting. 
• Identify Your Financing Needs This section is where you will make your funding request. Based on everything in the business plan, list your proposed sources of funding, as well as how you will use it.

Simple Business Plan Template

Download Simple Business Plan Template

Microsoft Excel |  Microsoft Word | Adobe PDF  | Smartsheet

Use this simple business plan template to outline each aspect of your organization, including information about financing and opportunities to seek out further funding. This template is completely customizable to fit the needs of any business, whether it’s a startup or large company.

Read our article offering free simple business plan templates or free 30-60-90-day business plan templates to find more tailored options. You can also explore our collection of one page business templates . 

How to Write a Business Plan for a Lean Startup

A Lean startup business plan is a more Agile approach to a traditional version. The plan focuses more on activities, processes, and relationships (and maintains flexibility in all aspects), rather than on concrete deliverables and timelines.

While there is some overlap between a traditional and a Lean business plan, you can write a Lean plan by following the steps below:

• Add Your Value Proposition Take a streamlined approach to describing your product or service. What is the unique value your startup aims to deliver to customers? Make sure the team is aligned on the core offering and that you can state it in clear, simple language.
• List Your Key Partners List any other businesses you will work with to realize your vision, including external vendors, suppliers, and partners. This section demonstrates that you have thoughtfully considered the resources you can provide internally, identified areas for external assistance, and conducted research to find alternatives.
• Note the Key Activities Describe the key activities of your business, including sourcing, production, marketing, distribution channels, and customer relationships.
• Include Your Key Resources List the critical resources — including personnel, equipment, space, and intellectual property — that will enable you to deliver your unique value.
• Identify Your Customer Relationships and Channels In this section, document how you will reach and build relationships with customers. Provide a high-level map of the customer experience from start to finish, including the spaces in which you will interact with the customer (online, retail, etc.). 
• Detail Your Marketing Channels Describe the marketing methods and communication platforms you will use to identify and nurture your relationships with customers. These could be email, advertising, social media, etc.
• Explain the Cost Structure This section is especially necessary in the early stages of a business. Will you prioritize maximizing value or keeping costs low? List the foundational startup costs and how you will move toward profit over time.
• Share Your Revenue Streams Over time, how will the company make money? Include both the direct product or service purchase, as well as secondary sources of revenue, such as subscriptions, selling advertising space, fundraising, etc.

Lean Business Plan Template for Startups

Download Lean Business Plan Template for Startups

Microsoft Word | Adobe PDF

Startup leaders can use this Lean business plan template to relay the most critical information from a traditional plan. You’ll find all the sections listed above, including spaces for industry and product overviews, cost structure and sources of revenue, and key metrics, and a timeline. The template is completely customizable, so you can edit it to suit the objectives of your Lean startups.

See our wide variety of  startup business plan templates for more options.

How to Write a Business Plan for a Loan

A business plan for a loan, often called a loan proposal , includes many of the same aspects of a traditional business plan, as well as additional financial documents, such as a credit history, a loan request, and a loan repayment plan.

In addition, you may be asked to include personal and business financial statements, a form of collateral, and equity investment information.

Download free financial templates to support your business plan.

Tips for Writing a Business Plan

Outside of including all the key details in your business plan, you have several options to elevate the document for the highest chance of winning funding and other resources. Follow these tips from experts:.

• Keep It Simple: Avner Brodsky , the Co-Founder and CEO of Lezgo Limited, an online marketing company, uses the acronym KISS (keep it short and simple) as a variation on this idea. “The business plan is not a college thesis,” he says. “Just focus on providing the essential information.”
• Do Adequate Research: Michael Dean, the Co-Founder of Pool Research , encourages business leaders to “invest time in research, both internal and external (market, finance, legal etc.). Avoid being overly ambitious or presumptive. Instead, keep everything objective, balanced, and accurate.” Your plan needs to stand on its own, and you must have the data to back up any claims or forecasting you make. As Brodsky explains, “Your business needs to be grounded on the realities of the market in your chosen location. Get the most recent data from authoritative sources so that the figures are vetted by experts and are reliable.”
• Set Clear Goals: Make sure your plan includes clear, time-based goals. “Short-term goals are key to momentum growth and are especially important to identify for new businesses,” advises Dean.
• Know (and Address) Your Weaknesses: “This awareness sets you up to overcome your weak points much quicker than waiting for them to arise,” shares Dean. Brodsky recommends performing a full SWOT analysis to identify your weaknesses, too. “Your business will fare better with self-knowledge, which will help you better define the mission of your business, as well as the strategies you will choose to achieve your objectives,” he adds.
• Seek Peer or Mentor Review: “Ask for feedback on your drafts and for areas to improve,” advises Brodsky. “When your mind is filled with dreams for your business, sometimes it is an outsider who can tell you what you’re missing and will save your business from being a product of whimsy.”

Outside of these more practical tips, the language you use is also important and may make or break your business plan.

Shaun Heng, VP of Operations at Coin Market Cap , gives the following advice on the writing, “Your business plan is your sales pitch to an investor. And as with any sales pitch, you need to strike the right tone and hit a few emotional chords. This is a little tricky in a business plan, because you also need to be formal and matter-of-fact. But you can still impress by weaving in descriptive language and saying things in a more elegant way.

“A great way to do this is by expanding your vocabulary, avoiding word repetition, and using business language. Instead of saying that something ‘will bring in as many customers as possible,’ try saying ‘will garner the largest possible market segment.’ Elevate your writing with precise descriptive words and you'll impress even the busiest investor.”

Additionally, Dean recommends that you “stay consistent and concise by keeping your tone and style steady throughout, and your language clear and precise. Include only what is 100 percent necessary.”

Resources for Writing a Business Plan

While a template provides a great outline of what to include in a business plan, a live document or more robust program can provide additional functionality, visibility, and real-time updates. The U.S. Small Business Association also curates resources for writing a business plan.

Additionally, you can use business plan software to house data, attach documentation, and share information with stakeholders. Popular options include LivePlan, Enloop, BizPlanner, PlanGuru, and iPlanner.

How a Business Plan Helps to Grow Your Business

A business plan — both the exercise of creating one and the document — can grow your business by helping you to refine your product, target audience, sales plan, identify opportunities, secure funding, and build new partnerships. 

Outside of these immediate returns, writing a business plan is a useful exercise in that it forces you to research the market, which prompts you to forge your unique value proposition and identify ways to beat the competition. Doing so will also help you build (and keep you accountable to) attainable financial and product milestones. And down the line, it will serve as a welcome guide as hurdles inevitably arise.

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How To Craft A 5-Step Business Plan For Next 3 Months

Planning your business growth for the next 3 months will help you make progress much faster than taking things on a day-to-day ad-hoc basis. In this podcast, I'm going to walk through a simple 3 months business planning exercise you give you better clarity on your next action steps.

If this podcast inspired you, please drop a 5-star review on Apple or Spotify .

What you will learn in this podcast?

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Sidz is a college drop-out, "musician turned digital geek", a spiritually grounded minimalist, father of 2, and husband of a loving wife. He founded the Internet Lifestyle Hub in 2018 to fix the education and employment system for good. Currently, he is helping over 20,000+ coaches, teachers, and experts digitize their knowledge. He’s an international best-selling author of the book You Can Coach and is on a mission to help 1,000,000 people live a lifestyle of freedom!

72 replies to "How To Craft A 5-Step Business Plan For Next 3 Months"

Thanks Sidz for sharing this.

My learning’s 1. Revenue goal- How much income you need and allocate expenses for home, recurring expense etc 2. Monthly theme – One month focus on content , one month for creating courses, tribe building, list out top 3 themes for next 3 months. 3. Define what are the top 5 actions you need to take for those themes. Total 15 actions. 4. Get clear on your weekly focus. ( For each month) Total 12 slots for actions 5. Get to work- Remove all distractions . Remove social media apps. Say no to other projects , say no to the people who are not aligned. Put your phone on airplane mode and work on the task for 90 min

Thanks Sushil!

Got New Quarter’s New Clarity for the Mission Crore Club

Awesome, more power to you!

Thankyou so Much sir for Imparting such a wonderful knowledge in a simple way.

You’re welcome Khem!

“How To Craft A 5-Step Business Plan For Next 3 Months”

1). Have to Clear Revenue Goal for next 3 Months – Have a practical numbers for revenue goal for the next 3 months, also have a rough calculation of expenses for 3 months.

2). Need to be Clear on Monthly Theme – Like one month you can focus on Systems, Next month on Teams, Third Month on Content. Similarly you can divide your months on creating courses, improving sales process, automating the systems, Tribe Building, Launching New Ad Campaign, Launching New Ad Traffic Source, etc.

3). Define Top 5 Actions you have to take for each of the Themes (Important Step) – Define top 5 actions for each of your themes for which you have decided to focus on every month. For 3 Months you need to have 15 Actions (5 Actions per Themes for 3 Months).

4). Divide Top 5 Actions in week – Like Month 1, Week 1 – You have to do X Action, Month 1, Week 2 – Y Action, etc. Make a plan the same way for next 3 Months.

5). Get to Work, Remove All Distractions – a. Remove all Social Media Apps from your phone, b. Say “No” to all other Projects which are not aligned to your Goals, c. Say “No” to all the People who are not aligned to your Goals d. Stay Away from the People who suck your Energy and you don’t feel good to be with (Bottom Feeders) e. Start Working in Chunks of 90 Minutes Everyday (If you have to do some task, put your phone in Aeroplane Mode, Block out 90 Minutes, Get Stuff Done)

#ilhdeeplearner #ilhfamily

Thanks for these detailed Notes.

Super stuff Neeraj!

🔥🔥🔥how to plan 5 step new business for next quarter 🔥🔥🔥

Its all about the simplicity …and planning what’s more important things right now ….

1⃣Get clear on your revenue goal from your business …. And be clear about money alocation….. Clear in flow the outflow …. For me its 300000 in three months (I have to earn this 300000 for getting into diamond membership and .paying back education loan)

2⃣Decide monthly theme….. Focus on content …. Tribe building … Launching new ads … Write down top three theme for next three month …. For me it next 5 days for mindmap… Live video content … 5 day or 11 days WhatsApp class… Webinar ….

3⃣ Action focus . write down top 5 action for each theme …. Some action are .. Exploring xmind mindmap software already made my first mindmap…. Setting up basic hardware … Practicing doing class in laptop with pentab… Learn to Create reels and long form content …. Learning paid ads art … Learning to wakeup early😃😃 ….

4⃣ Weekly Action Focus …. Weekly action … For this 5 days create at least 15 more mindmap …..

5⃣ Get to work ….. Remove all distraction …. Say no to all those people who are not align to your goal …. Get stuff done within 90 minutes…..

SIDZ ACTUALLY I AM REMOVING MY DISTARCTION BY CHOOSING TO LISTEN TO YOUR AUDIO … AND CHOOSE TO IMPLEMENT NEW THINGS EVERYDAY …. AS I CREATED MY FIRST CALENDLY LINK TODAY AND INTEGRATED IT WITH ZOOM ….

THESE ARE MY SMALL WINS…

m grateful …

#ilhdeeplearner #ilhfamily #youcancoach

Nice one Meenu. Btw how do you insert those “numbers in the block” inside the comment section?

As I do type comments from my phone …. These are available in emoji section …. You know lots of section are there starting from smile …before flag section you can find these number … Connect with me over mighty network I will show you ….

Thanks, Meenu. I got it.

Thanks Meenu!

Plan a 3 month expense/income

Run a theme for the business for each month, which is a focus area for your business.

Think what are the top 5 todo for each monthly theme

Slot your action for each week of the 5 todo’s

How does it help? You gain clarity for the quarter.

Avoid bottom feeders and time eating activities during this time.

Work in 90 min chunks.

Super! I hope you’ve got all your numbers in place!

Thank you so much Siddharth, I am really bow down infront of you .It gives me a pure idea of how to Structure the business in coming next Quarter -July, August, September 2022 As mentioned as being an Entrepreneur everyday I am doing lots of struggling and juggling with Clients tantrums.

The Plan of my business at Next Quarter-

Simplicity and Clarity. 5 Steps which I crafted after listening your podcast

1.Clear of Revenue Goal How much Income I will generate within the coming 3 months- Expenses – Outflow and Inflow

Income – Rs 3 lakhs per months Expense – Rs 1.5 Lakhs per month

2. Monthly Theme System 1st Month- Focus on Creating Curriculum, Building Team,Creating Videos , Doing lots of R and D.

2nd Month- Creating Web Page , Creating Landing Page , Focus on Email Marketing, Launching New page or Traffic Source to Generate Organic Leads , Start collecting 100 Questions and take a Challenge to complete 50 Videos and 10 Podcasts, Rand D is must must for my growth.

3rd Month- Webselling , Content remodeling if anything require upload in Teachable and Automate the Business. R and D is always there for my Upgrade.

3. Regular Activities-

– 5 Types of Actions

Month 1 – focus on Curriculum – Taking lots of notes 📝 from ILH School – Implementing on my Curriculum – I will work on technical aspects like the Tools too – Focus on Budget of the business to grow

2nd Month – Focus on learning to build Web Page – Focus on learning to building Landing Page -Focus on Creating Groups in Social Media – focus to learn how to create FB Ads ,and Ads in other Social media. – Will work on Instagram Reels to promote the business – Focus on preparing budget as well.

3rd Month- – Focus on Budget – Focus to become more Technical – To upload my Course in Teachable – learn to do Automation – Focus on Business Growth of Enterprenuers by conducting Webinars .

4 . Weekly Focus

1 month – 1- Week Rand D 2- Implement on Curriculum 3- Week Focus on Curriculum Building 4- Curriculum and Rand D and will work on Technical Tools as well

2nd Month – 1 st Week – will work on Building Teams ; Website Building and Landing Page. 2nd Week – Making Videos and will start collecting 100 questions 3rd Week and 4th Week – Will practice providing Webinar to close groups – Collecting Testimonials and Feedback and any changes require will work on it.

3rd Month – 1st Week and 2nd week – Trial – Delegating some technical work to the Professionals.Any changes RAnd D Learning will be there 3rd and 4th Week – – Upload the Course in Teachable and will focus on Automation of the Whole System, Business Meet and focus on reaching Hall of Fame .

5.Get to work – Avoiding Distraction , keeping myself away from people who add no values to my Curriculum. 90 mins daily I will focus on my Studies and Upgrading my goals

#ilhdeeplearner

very detailed notes. This helps a lot to many. Thanks for this.

Excellent Debasmita!

Thank you Siddharth. This Podcast really help me to have a clarity towards achieving goal. It is really an honor to share with everyone. Thanks Samir as well for the encouragement. MPTY.

5 step Business Plan for next 3 months -Plan in advance and focus -Set quarterly goals -Get Inflow and outflow clarity for next 3 months -Define top 5 actions for those 3 themes. -Deside weekly actions for a month. -Form 12 different weekly slots -Clarity gives you power. – Move all distractions. Say no to ideas, people who don’t align with your goals. – start working on your plan.

To the point notes. keep doing.

Step 1: Clear on Your Income Goal. It should be practical and realistic.

Set Income Goal for 3 months Work on Expense for 3 months

Step 2: Clear on Your Monthly Theme. Systematically focus on content, marketing (Ads on Social Media), sales webinars for specific months for that particular quarter.

Step 3: Top actions to be taken for above 2 steps. Top 5 actions.

Work on more webinars… Create and Launch L3 Course for up-selling

Step 4: Weekly Focus.

Month 1 W1, W2 W3, W4

Month 2 W1, W2 W3, W4

Month 3 W1, W2 W3, W4

Step 5: Declutter Yourself with all distraction. Work in 90 mins chunk.

Keep your action and income goals in mind and be realistic to attain the target you set for this quarter from July to Sept.’22.

Awesome Sidz. Amazingly fantastic and crisp knowledge bullet. Very informative and practical. Kudos to your teaching methodology.

Very good Dr.Vishwas!

#ilhdeeplearner #ilhfamily Crafting a 5_step business plan for next 3 months Simplicity n clarity_what’s next ? With this i hv built a multi_ million dollar business with only 3 employees and no office 1. Clear on revenue goal for next 3_months Also clear with expenses for nxt 3 mnths 2.clear on monthly themes 1 mnth_systems 1mnth_teams n processes 1mnth__content 3.most important_top 5 actions for these themes 4.get clear on your weekly focus Mnth 1 _ wk 1 , wk 2 ,wk 3 , wk 4 Clarity gives you power and conviction to move forward Step 5 _ get to work Delete all social media apps Say no to all things and negative people not aligned with your goal Work in chunk of 90 mts Upgrade to Diamond membership Real action happening there !

Nice one Vikram.

Very good Vikram!

Loved doing the 5 steps. Even a 10-minute podcast is filled with lots of action-taking. Love that.

#ILHDeeplerner: Plan your business in 5 steps for 3 month. simplicity and clarity is the main aspect. step-1 Revenue goal _As how much income do you need in 3month like July~Sept’22. Monthly theme _ In knowledge business, your monthly theme for next three month.Q2. step 3 _what are the top 5 theme for next 3 month. step4_ get clear in your weekly theme split action plane if you have done above next quarte is going to be superb. Step 5_ last step get to work. delete all the social media files .say no to every thing and focus on your goal and task. above is power of steps

Excellent Praful!

how to plan 5 step new business for next quarter

Its all about the simplicity and planning

1. Get clear on your revenue goal for next 3 months

2. Monthly theme – – Focus on contents – Improving sales process – Tribe building – Focus on System – Tweaking the team and processes – Creating new courses – Launching new ad campaign – Launching new traffic source Choose top 3 themes for major focus

3. Top 5 actions to for each of these themes

* contents – Research, read & write contents on verious social media channels * Improving sales process – study on organic & inorganic leads creation, visibility, and customer engagement * Tribe building – New Collaboration and Customer engagement, one to one, webinars

4. Time Slot weekly – M1W1 – Research, read & write contents, customer engagement M1W2 – Research, read & write contents, customer engagement M1W3 – Research, read & write contents, customer engagement M1W4 – Research, read & write contents, customer engagement

M2W1 – write contents, study on organic & inorganic leads creation, visibility, and customer engagement M2W2 – write contents, study on organic & inorganic leads creation, visibility, and customer engagement M2W3 – write contents, Leads generation, visibility, and customer engagement M2W4 – write contents, Leads generation, visibility, and customer engagement

M3W1 – write contents, Leads generation, visibility, and customer engagement M3W2 – write contents, Leads generation, visibility, and customer engagement M3W3 – New Collaboration and Customer engagement, one to one, webinars M3W4- New Collaboration and Customer engagement, one to one, webinars

5. Get to work, remove all distractions – say no to projects, peoples not aligned to goal Start working chunks of 90 min everyday complete one task and move to the next task

Many Thanks.

Great Notes and super valuable for reference. Keep posting Vinod. Thanks

I love my mentor and super mentor. I want to surround myself with them. That is a burning desire, and I want their plain action plan for all time to come. And when I spend time with them, I want their meditative best. And today is one such day. But of course I love when they elaborate with lot of insights. Here is my financial goal for -July, August, September 2022

Rs. 1.5 lac per month. this means I shall be HOF by the September 2022 or before. I love the synchronicity of dates, my intention and the amount. I am already spending on tools.

1. My intention right now – to serve and serve and serve my customers with the pain.

I love my clients. They want something very specific, and something they usually not finding solution to. No example, no youtube, no amount of mindset building is solving their problem. The problem of growth. So that is my golden opportunity. I intuitively know how they can reach from point a to point B..

And they will be my repeat customers.

So I need to have fewer customers with the result so that the next stream of customers will be automatic.

2. Already paying for the tools. And as soon as I have 30 customers, I can run FB Ads. Start with Rs. 5000- 10000 per month. That will create 100-200 extra leads. at 10% success rate, 10 people will buy my Rs.5999 /- deal. That makes it Rs. 59,990/- about 5X of Revenue.

July – 10 sales of Rs. 5999/- offer

3. Monthly Theme System 1st Month- Offer package for Rs.5999/- conceptual, Rs. 9999/- for Resume, 5 cover letters,PPT and pictch-deck for them update the time management ebook

Complete 1 Mindset challenge, Landing page design 25 videos- 25 podcasts 20 Insta reels Recreate the mindset ebook

2nd Month- Message planning for 1-1 call (Taking help of the 100 questions) Career growth path. Zeroing down for the desired career Rs. 19,999/- 1000 competency stories – completing the 1000 slides. upload in teachable. Rs.1.5 lac for helping them with the stories. 25 videos-25 podcasts 20 insta reels/posts 1 customer 1.5 lac. 20 customers for Rs. 5999/-

3rd Month- Rigorous marketing. 3 customer/month for $2000. 20 customers for Rs. 5999/-

– 5 Types of Actions Regular sales Rs.199 – 50 25 videos-25 podcasts 20 insta reels/posts More frameworks with smaller offers Regular challenges ( 3 mindset challenges in 3 months)

4 . Weekly Focus Videos – Thumbnails , & podcast LinkedIn Articles Reels 1-1 calls Offer creation

5.Get to work – No distraction. Attending hackathons, Coach calls, regular reading, updating content

Very detailed notes, Sangeeta. Thanks for sharing this. This is helpful to be used as a reference.

Excellent Sangeeta!! truly an honour to have you in our community! MPTY

— How to Craft a 5 step Business plan for next 3 months —

#ILHDEEPLEARNER

Be Clear with your revenue goal How much income do you need to achive for your business (In Flow) Your expenses (Out Flow) List down the regular activities for the next three months that you are going to focus (Monthly theme) Define what are the top 5 actions that you are going to take for each of these themes Get clear on your weekly focus for each month Get to work Remove all distractions Remove all spcial media apps from your phone Say no to all other projects that are do not allign with your goal Say no to all the people who are not allign with your goal Start working in a chunk of 90 minutes

Very good Samir! Thanks for contributing to this thread daily!

Thanks, Siddharth for such valuable topics every day which makes me addicted to listening and grabbing the knowledge from every single topic.

— How to Craft a 5 step Business plan for the next 3 months —

– Be Clear with your revenue goal –How much income do you need to achieve for your business (In Flow) –Your expenses (Out Flow) -List down the regular activities for the next three months that you are going to focus on (Monthly theme) -Define what are the top 5 actions that you are going to take for each of these themes -Get clear on your weekly focus for each month -Get to work –Remove all distractions –Remove all special media apps from your phone –Say no to all other projects that are do not align with your goal –Say no to all the people who are not align with your goal –Start working in a chunk of 90 minutes

My Deep Learnings from the podcast – How to craft a 5 step business plan for next 3 Months ?

#ILHDEEPLEARNING #ILHFAMILY

I am really grateful to Sidz for giving this clear cut point shooter style information.These are like golden nugets for me.Here is what I learnt deeply 👇

Only Focus on the important things.

Step-1 clear on your revenue goal get clear on your expenses how much money want to earn in next 3 month. Total revenue goal -1,50,000 rupees Total expenses -75,000 rupees

Step-2 Get clear on your monthly theme month-1 theme -content marketing month-2 theme-self-free webinars & community building month -3theme -Course creation &sales.

Step-3 Define what are the top five actions you got to take.

1.English speaking practice 2.one speech every single day 3.work on YouTube videos 4.work.on your webinars.structuring 5.Work on your community building

Step-4 Get clear on your weekly focus

each month has four weeks like month 1 week(1,2,3,4)

Like my month number 1 and theme number 1 is content marketing so in the first month there are 4 weeks and each week I have to work on my content marketing skill and so on for the other months and themes.

Clarity gives you the power it’s you the conviction to move forward most entrepreneurs their struggling because they don’t know what to do. They just like everyday they wake up and think about what to do for today I have no plan

And the final step is here

Step-5 Remove all distractions delete all social media apps. Say no to all the projects that do not aligned with my revenue goals. say no to all these people who are not aligning with my goals.

There are some people with whom I don’t feel good .They just suck out my energy .I have to stay away from them for atleast next 3 months. I will block out 90 minutes and put my phone aeroplane mode and get one task done then move to the next.

That’s how I can hit my revenue goals with much more clarity.btw i am a silver member aspiring to be Diamond.

Thank you so much Sidz for giving me unbelievable clarity in my life.Thank you so much.

#ILHDEEPLEARNER #ILHFAMILY

I AM A DEEP LEARNER. MAHESH PRADHAN

Amazing Mahesh!

5 steps business plans for next 3 months. 1)Clear on revenue goal- Clear on inflow and outflow of expenses. Fix the figures of income and expenses for next 3 months. 2) Monthly Theme – Focus on different activities what you have to do in each month. Eg. FOCUS ON System, Creating new courses, Content,Teaching team new processes, Tribe building, creating new ad campaigns, New YouTube ads. 3)Define what top 5 action to be taken. PPT, New platform for the team to be launched, Design team to do the designing work, etc to take action. 4) Slot down in the weekly basis- Top 5 action you slot down. One month -1 week,2nd month 1week, 3rd month 1 week and so on divide action into 12 weeks. 5) Get to work – Say no to all you are not align with the goal. Start working 90 min chunk then move to the next plan. Upgrade yourself. Thank you Sir.

Excellent Trupti!

Thank you Sidz Sir for your wonderful podcast, “5-Steps Business Plan for Next Three Months” which you have summarized in a beautiful manner as under :

1. Clear on your revenue and expenses for the next three months

2. Clear on your monthly themes, one month on systems, one month on team development and next month for content development .

3. Define the five steps one need to take for each of the above themes, 5 actions per themes for 3 months

4. Divide your action in weeks M-1 , W-1, W-2 , W-3, and W-4 M-2, W-1, W-2, W-3, and W-4 M-3 , W-1 W-2 , W-3 and W-4

5. Focus on work and and be away from all destructions like ; removing all social media apps from your system, say no to all other projects and focus on your theme , say no to people who are not aligned to your goals , stay away from people who such away all your energy . Start working every day for at least 90 minutes . Really it is a great challenge to follow these five steps . If followed properly may bring desired fruits in time to come.

Perfect Ramesh! More power to you…

Simple 5 steps to build business for the next months.. Simplicity and clarification for the business Step 1 need to clear revenue Goals ( July, August and September)

Plan for How much Income do you need from business Inflow and outflow of the cash.. Plan for the next 3months income and expenses.. Step2: Theme for the months Step 3: Define what are the top 5 actions that you got to take on the theme.. Step :4 put the actions into week Plan as Month1 week1 action Month 1 week 2 action Month1 week3 action Month1 week3 action …and so till August schedule the months..(12weeks)

Step5 Get to work and remove all distractions.. Say no to people Say no to what is irrelevant Start working in chunks 90mins everyday

Work on planned weeks and execute it.. I have done designing and planning as guided by you Sir

pause and plan

This is really worth planning to execute the plannings and working on it with complete mindset ..

Wants to upgrade for the Diamond membership…..

Thank you Cheers Shanthi Mangilal #ilhdeeplearner

Thanks for sharing Shanti!!

How To Craft A 5-Step Business Plan For Next 3 Months Prioritize things on a monthly and weekly basis What are the essential elements that you need 1) Get clear on revenue goals Total Income-3 Months Total Expense-3 Months 2) Get Clear on the Monthly theme 1st Monthly Theme-Focus on Content Creation 2nd Monthly Theme- Focus on System 3rd Monthly Theme- Focus on Sales and Process automating 3)Define the Top 5 Action 1st Month Theme-Focus on Content Creation- 5 Action 2nd Month Theme-Focus on System- 5 Action 3rd Month Theme- Focus on Sales and Process automating-5 Action 4) Get Clear on Weekly Focus 1st Month Week 1 2nd Month Week 1 3rd Month Week 1 Week 2 Week 2 Week 2 Week 3 Week 3 Week 3 Week 4 Week 4 Week 4 5)Get to work Remove all distraction Delete all social media app on phone Say no to all other projects that do not align with your goals with the revenue goals Say no to a;; those people who do not align with goals Start working in 90 min Everday if you have to complete one task jsut block out 90min put your phone on aeroplane mode and just get stuff done in 90min. Work on the plan. Thank you 🙏Siddharth these day to day adhoc podcast are giving me so much clarity and focus. #ILHDeeplerner

Superb notes taken Vijay!

Wow Sidz!!! Super podcast. As a beginner in your course, its just the dose needed. It has brought super clarity for the next three months.

My notes for today:

Step 1: Estimating Your Income and Expenses for Next 3 Months Income for Three Months | Expenses of Three Months

Step 2 : Top Three Themes per month 1. Course Building 2. Systems Building 3. Ad Campaigns

Step 3 : Top 5 Actions that You need to Take for these themes Month 1: (Course Building) 1) Deciding the Courses 2) Naming the Course 3) Categorizing them into Level 1, Level 2 and Level 3 4) Recording the Courses 5) Finalizing the pricing

Month 2: (Systems Setup) 1) Finalizing the Website 2) LMS 3) Setting up the Community 4) Email Marketing System 5) Managing Traffic System

Month 3: (Ad Campaigns) 1. Creating Ads for different platforms[YouTube, LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram] 2. Setting up the funnels on each of these platforms 3. Setting Ads Budgets 4. Rehearsing Webinars 5. Launching Webinar Selling

Step 4: Weekly Targets Month 1: Week 1: Point 1 to 3 Week 2 to 4 : Point 4 Week 4 : Point 5

Month 2: Week 1 & 2: Finalizing the Website Week 2 & 3 : Point 2 and 3 Week 4: Point 4 and Point 5

Month 3: Week 1: Point 1 to 3 Week 2 & 3: Point 4 Week 5 : Point 5

Points to Remember: 1) Delete all social media apps from your phone 2) Disconnect with all activities that don’t align with your goal 3) Disconnect with all those people who don’t align with your goal 4) Start working in chunks of 90 minutes

Excellent Kapeel! I love your commitment towards the learning here…

5 Step Business Plan

“Tell me and I forget, teach me and I may remember, involve me and I learn.” Benjamin Franklin

Revenue Goal – Quarter (July, August, September)

1. Income – Rs 500000/- 2. Expenses – Rs200000/-

Monthly Theme – Activities

July – Content (Blog, Video, Podcast) | Facebook Live | Outcome – FB Group 500 Members

August – Webinar | Conversions | Email List | Email Nurturing | Outcome – Email List 5000 Subscribers, 12 Conversions per week

September – Inner Circle – 80-100 Members | Understanding Audience | 121 Calls | Outcome – 60 to 100 – 121Calls

Top 5 Actions to be taken for the themes 1. Create Content (Blog, Video & Podcast) 2. Promote Content 3. Go Facebook Live 4. Get few Participants for a 30 day challenge 5. Get Testimonials 6. Running Facebook Ads, Using Google Ads for Traffic to Website 7. Start Doing Webinars – 12 conversions per webinar (12 x 4999 = 59988) x 8 webinars = 8 x 59988 = 479904 Revenue 8. Grow Email List 9. 4 week Email Course for Nurturing 10. Sending One Email per week – VVP 11. Showing up with guests on Facebook Live 12. Getting on to 121 calls 13. Understanding the audience 14. Improving the Course Curriculum 15. Get questions from Inner Circle

Get Clear on Weekly Focus

M1W1 – Content M1W2 – FB Live M1W3 – 30 Day Challenge M1W4 – FB Ads M2W1 – Webinar M2W2 – Conversions M2W3 – Email Course M2W4 – Testimonials M3W1 – 121 Calls M3W2 – Conversions M3W3 – Conversions M3W4 – Testimonials

Get to Work

This exercise is Crazy, Simple, and Mind-Blowing

#ilhfamily #ilhdeeplearner

Superb Santosh!! I’m sure you will break through and achieve these goals!

#ilh deeplearner

1)revenue goal (income, expense and inflow and outflow) 2)monthly theme (top theme for each month, here atleast for 3) 3)define top actions for each of these themes (15 action plan (5*3)) 4) get clear on weekly focus (4 weeks in a month) 5) get to work (say no to all projects, people not aligned with your goal and work in chunks that is 90 minute then move to next step(

Thanks Reema. Keep coming back for more…

Hi Reema, perfect! the key is to keep learning through the journey, these are great insights 🙂

💥 How to Craft a 5 Step Business Plan for Next 3 Months

👉 Plan Income & Expense flow for next three months

(Marketing, Operation, General etc)

👉 Plan Theme for the next three months beside regular activity

Go deep for a Month on one Topic each Month & shuffle for next three Months

(Systems, Team Building, Creating Content, Creating new Course, Improve Sales Process, Automation, Launch New Ads, Tribe building, New Traffic Source)

👉 Curate Top 5 specific actions to complete each monthly theme task (15 task make list)

👉 Get Clear on weekly Focus Split all above 5 task in small result oriented activities

👉 Remove all distraction & get to work

⚡️Say no to all who are not align to this goal No to people ❌ No to projects ❌

💡Create a chunk of 90 Minutes & Complete 1 major task of the day. During this put your phone on Aeroplane mode⚡️

Thanks Sidz for giving us this plan. Here is my take aways with my plan.

5 steps business plan Next 3 months 1) Clarity on Revenue – Income n Expenses Income 100K/month Expense 30K/month 2) Monthly themes July – FB Ads August – One on One Consultation September – Community 3) Top 5 actions for each theme ▫️FB Ads 1) Create Audiences 2) Catchy one min. video Ad 3) Post knowledge base videos on BPA on my FB Community Group 4) Check performance of my ads 5) Take feedback on ads from new joinees

▫️One on One Consultation 1) Collect background info of prospects 2) Prepare questionnaire 3) Do BPA Assessment 4) Provide solution through email 5) Take follow up

4) Weekly focus July W1 – FB Ad contents W2 – FB Ad videos W3 – BPA Knowledge base videos W4 – BPA Knowledge base videos August W1 – Consultation pitch W2 – BPA Consultation video W3 – BPA Assessment W4 – Send reports with solutions

September W1 – Free Master Class for community W2 – Create challenge for community W3 – Rewards to achievers W4 – Approach for 2nd level

5) Get on work – 90 mins. with no Destraction

Thanks Sir for showering your precious knowledge with us.

My Learnings From This Podcast-

Steps 1- Get Clear On Your Revenue Goal- In the next 3 months how much income do you need to bring in your business. Have your inflow and outflow clear.

Step 2- Get Clear On Your Monthly Theme- Decide on what is the theme of the month for example creating new courses, improving the sales process, automating your systems, tribe building etc. List down top 3 themes for each month for the next 3 months.

Step 3- Define what are the top 5 actions that you got to take for each of those months.

Step 4- Get clear on your weekly focus (For each month). Total 12 slots for actions.

Step 5- Get to work, remove all distractions, delete all social media apps from your phones and say no to all other projects and people that do not align with your goals. Start working in chunks of 90 minutes.

This five plan for next three is more of practical approach which will definately give track to travel smoothly. Now implementation is driving point and i will drive through. Thank for insights.

“How To Craft A 5-Step Business Plan For Next 3 Months”

1). Have to Clear Revenue Goal for next 3 Months – Have a practical numbers for revenue goal for the next 3 months, also have a rough calculation of expenses for 3 months.

2). Need to be Clear on Monthly Theme – Like one month you can focus on Systems, Next month on Teams, Third Month on Content. Similarly you can divide your months on creating courses, improving sales process, automating the systems, Tribe Building, Launching New Ad Campaign, Launching New Ad Traffic Source, etc.

3). Define Top 5 Actions you have to take for each of the Themes (Important Step) – Define top 5 actions for each of your themes for which you have decided to focus on every month. For 3 Months you need to have 15 Actions (5 Actions per Themes for 3 Months).

4). Divide Top 5 Actions in week – Like Month 1, Week 1 – You have to do X Action, Month 1, Week 2 – Y Action, etc. Make a plan the same way for next 3 Months.

5). Get to Work, Remove All Distractions – a. Remove all Social Media Apps from your phone, b. Say “No” to all other Projects which are not aligned to your Goals, c. Say “No” to all the People who are not aligned to your Goals d. Stay Away from the People who suck your Energy and you don’t feel good to be with (Bottom Feeders) e. Start Working in Chunks of 90 Minutes Everyday (If you have to do some task, put your phone in Aeroplane Mode, Block out 90 Minutes, Get Stuff Done)

Good takeaways!

Pure clarity from your end regarding the 3 months Action plan, Implimentaion is from my end. Thank you sid.

will have to write my revenue goals again & look at them everyday. And yes planning everyday with high productive tasks is important. Distractions are to be minimized specially social media.

1month : 5 actions -) – Do reels – Create contents – do research of target market – post regularly – take review 2month – launch pdf – create leads – start selling – landing page – growth of self 3month – do 121 session – start podcasting – make YouTube videos – collabs – automate tools

Good points!

That was a great time management tool. 1. Have started spending on tools. 2. Following Sid’s hackathon to the T. Want to be the freedom finisher. 3. Building all my pages, website, , funnels, courses, etc which is going to be a massive task for me . 4. Implementing, developing connections, setup, 5. Dividing the focus week wise so that I don’t get overwhelmed. Thank you sid 🤗

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How to Create a Business Plan Timeline

Below you will learn what a business plan timeline is and where it belongs in your business plan.  

What is a Business Plan Timeline?

A business plan timeline lays out the key milestones you hope to achieve in your business and when you plan to accomplish them.   

The Importance of a Timeline

In running a business, it is very easy to get caught up in day-to-day activities and putting out fires. When you do this, unfortunately, it’s hard to grow your business. Having a timeline that lists your key goals forces you to spend time each day, week, and month to work on key growth initiatives.

Also, if you are seeking funding, investors and lenders need to understand these milestones and your projected dates for accomplishing them. This helps give them confidence that you will successfully execute your plan. 

Also, having a timeline helps you better prioritize your time and hire the right people at the right time.

    Finish Your Business Plan Today!

Where does the timeline go in the business plan.

The timeline belongs primarily in the Operations Plan of your business plan, however, you may include some highlights within the Executive Summary as well. 

Using the established key milestones you have created, you will now assign a timeframe to those milestones to show when you expect to reach each milestone. Remember, use historical data and be realistic in your timeline so that you can meet these goals.  

What Should Be Included in the Timeline?

Your business is currently at point A. Where you want to go is to point B. Now getting from point A to point B requires you to complete milestones.

And the most important ones are what I call “risk-mitigating milestones.” These are the milestones that help eliminate the risk of your company failing.

Some examples of “risk mitigating milestones” may include:

• Finding a location for your business, store, warehouse, etc.
• Getting the permits and licenses
• Building the facility/store
• Hiring and training staff
• New products and services introductions
• Store opening date
• Key employee hires
• Revenue milestones (date when sales exceed $X, when sales exceed $Y, etc.)
• Key partnerships executed
• Key customer contracts secured
• Key financial events (future funding rounds, IPO, etc.)

As an entrepreneur or small business owner, it is your job to identify your risk-mitigating milestones and prioritize them so that you can take steps each day toward the larger business goals.  

How to Create & Prioritize Your Milestone List

Create your detailed risk-mitigating milestone list first. The goal should be to list approximately six major milestones in the next year, five milestones in the following year, and so on for up to five years (so include two in year 5). 

You can use this as a “To Do” list and ensure you achieve your goals each day, week, and month, further developing your business strategy.

Next to each milestone, include the expected timeframe, due date, and the budget you will need to attain them. For example, you may want to launch a billboard marketing campaign over a 6-month period (Expected Due Date: 6/30/2022), and the expected cost is $18,000.

After you create your milestone list, you need to prioritize them. Decide on which milestones you should achieve with the initial funding if needed. Ideally, these will get you to the point where you are generating revenues or profits. This is because the ability to generate revenues significantly reduces the risk of your venture; as it proves to lenders and investors that customers want the products and/or services you are offering.

By setting up your milestones, you will figure out what you can accomplish for less money. And the fact is, the less money you need to raise, the easier it generally is to raise it (mainly because the easiest to raise money sources offer lower dollar amounts).  

How to Develop a Timeline For Your Business Plan

You’ve already completed the hard part. 

Now, it’s time to schedule your milestone list and convert it into a timeline format to give you a quick visual reference. Be sure that your timeline includes all the milestones that you’ve deemed a priority.

There are many businesses that prefer to develop Gantt charts, while others may prefer a calendar, Excel sheet, or another preferred format. Choose the format that works best for you.

There are several format options and platforms to choose from if you do a quick search for “ create a timeline online .” However, keep in mind that it’s not how pretty the timeline is, it’s about functionality and the ease of use to track the progress of all the tasks completed. 

Here are a couple of options:

Source: SlideTeam

This one-page timeline is a downloadable template that is clean and easy to read and follow. While it doesn’t have all the details on this one page, it has enough information to help business leaders understand if the team is on track.

Source: Office Timeline

This is a PowerPoint Presentation add-in that allows you to create a custom Gantt chart with your Microsoft Office account. While the chart above says a 5-year plan, note that they did not include the parts of the milestones beyond Year 1. This may be to reduce clutter and keep focused on the near-future goals. 

Source: GanttPro

This Gantt chart online platform offers another alternative allowing you to assign tasks to others on your team and monitor their progress all in one place. It also tracks the time to complete each task so that you can better schedule in the future for similar projects.

These are only a few of the platforms available online to create an amazing timeline for your business plan. In the beginning, it may be a lot of work to set up, but once you obtain the funding you are seeking, it’ll be well worth the time and effort.

By creating a timeline as early as possible in the business planning process, you can begin to establish realistic goals that can help improve day-to-day decision-making and boost confidence among current and potential stakeholders.

Other Helpful Business Plan Articles & Templates

The Best Free Business Plan Template For Individual Sales Reps

Published: August 14, 2023

Working in sales is challenging at times, and after a while, you may begin to feel fatigued or experience low motivation. Drafting a strategy using a sales business plan template can be just the thing to help refocus your goals.

As a sales rep or account executive , a business plan requires you to think about your efforts from a high level. Who are you targeting? What are your performance goals? How do you plan to achieve them? Not only will a high-level view of your audience and goals help you meet and exceed them, but it might even help you climb the sales career ladder .

Next, I'll share the key elements of a sales business plan as well as provide templates to help get you started.

Sales Business Plan Layout

Free business plan template, the sales plan.

• Individual Business Plan Examples
• High-Level Review
• Tactics and Actions
• Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)
• Sales and Marketing Alignment
• Obstacles to Success
• Personal and Professional Development

Fill out this form to access your template.

Before writing your plan, doing a bit of work prior to getting started with a template will help you better organize the information you'll need to include. Here's a roadmap to help you brainstorm:

The essential document for starting a business -- custom built for your needs.

• Outline your idea.
• Pitch to investors.
• Secure funding.
• Get to work!

You're all set!

Click this link to access this resource at any time.

I’ve found it easiest to start with the end in mind and work backward from there. Naturally, your goals will include your company’s expectations (i.e., quota), but why not go even further?

Be more specific. What do you want to achieve?

A promotion? A certain level of income? A certain number of conversions per month? X number of new clients acquired over the year? How about increasing your average deal size? Whatever it is, put it down in writing and build a plan to get yourself there.

It’s powerful to write down our goals. One year, I decided to write five goals on the whiteboard in my office. At year-end, I had hit four of them, including finally buying the classic car I have had my eye on for 30 years.

2. High-Level Review

Got your goals on hand? Great. Now take a few minutes to ponder the strategies you pursued previously. Which ones worked well and made sense to incorporate again this year? And which didn’t work at all and either need to be adjusted or scrapped altogether?

This review will be your guidepost as you create a strategy and action plan. Be honest with yourself during this reflection. Consider asking for feedback from managers, peers, and clients. You might even seek feedback from prospects who didn’t end up buying from you. What can you do better? Was there anything about your sales tactics that put them off ? Why did they choose a competitor over you?

If this all sounds vague, take a numbers approach to this review. Instead of reviewing your sales strategies , review how your numbers fared throughout the year — revenue generated, number of meetings, number of proposals, number of demos, close rate, and so on. (Your review will be even more telling and powerful if you combine that qualitative review with a quantitative one.)

3. A Strategy

Once you have articulated what you want to achieve, here are the next logical questions to ask:

• How will you do better to reach your goals?
• What new markets will you approach?
• Which customers and prospects will you target?
• How will you frame the sales conversation or sharpen your sales story?
• What new things will you try on the phone, online, or face-to-face?

See that review that we did in that last step? This is where it’ll come in handy. Having a clear idea of what worked and what didn’t will tell you what you should keep or remove from your new strategy. For example, if last year you sent follow-up emails three days after a demo, you could try sending follow-up emails two days this time. This is one of the tactics you could use.

That brings me to my next point. After creating a strategy, it’s time to come up with some tactics and take action.

4. Tactics and Actions

This section is critical because sales is a verb (it may not be in the dictionary, but in my book, it is).

The most well-intentioned goals and the soundest strategies mean nothing if you don’t know what steps to take to achieve them. So for this section of your plan, ask yourself, "What activities am I going to commit to?"

For example, you’ll have X number of face-to-face conversations per month or make Y prospecting calls per week. Whatever the activities are, they should drive what ends up on your calendar on a daily or weekly basis.

Let's say your goal is to make more sales in a shorter time. Include the resources and tools you'll use to achieve that goal in your business plan. In this case, one option would be to use a CRM database to help you keep track of your prospects and eliminate manual data entry (e.g., logging emails and calls), ultimately increasing your efficiency.

5. Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)

Action is action, but if there’s no way to measure its success, you won’t know what worked and what didn’t. You’ll therefore want to put metrics in place to monitor your progress. I recommend setting target numbers for the following KPIs:

• Raw number of deals closed
• Close ratio
• Revenue per account
• Customer retention rate
• Calls and emails
• Quotes or proposals

Remember, set a target number for each of these metrics. That way, you have something to reach toward. You can manually keep track of this information or use dedicated sales software . Or you can ask your manager to give you the performance data.

6. Sales and Marketing Alignment

You know what you want to do, how you’re going to do it, and which metrics you want to track. As you carry out your strategy, be sure to align your efforts with the efforts of your company’s marketing team.

Aligning your sales plan with a whole other department may sound over-the-top, but hear me out: sales teams depend on marketing teams to deliver leads. Even when you’re prospecting, marketing has likely identified the types of companies — and the best job titles — you should use for outreach.

When those leads get to your desk, it’s time to sell to them in a way that continues the nurturing process that marketing started. Say the lead was acquired when they downloaded an ebook on how to improve their productivity. When that lead gets assigned to you, propose your company’s product as a solution. Don’t try to sell it as if you don’t know the person and why they’re there.

It’s helpful to have a CRM that keeps track of your leads’ marketing-related activity. That way, you know which pages they’ve visited, what they’ve downloaded, and whether they’ve reached out to your company before. When carrying out your sales strategy, do so in a way that can fulfill the promises extended by marketing. Take a look at the content on your website, your company’s slogan, and your buyer personas . Use this information to create the perfect pitch.

After, connect with the marketing team to let them know whether that was a good lead or whether the buyer personas and the content on the website need adjustment. If your team does not meet regularly with marketing, bring the issue to your manager. Marketing and sales alignment is critical for your plan’s success.

But there are other obstacles to look out for, too — and you must have them.

7. Obstacles to Success

This is a unique addition I haven’t seen in many plans, but I think it’s an important component. This is where you lay out what could prevent you from reaching your goals and highlight areas where you might need some help. The truth is that you likely know what will get in the way of your success. So instead of using these obstacles as excuses later, point them out at the beginning.

Think carefully: What obstacles will keep you from succeeding?

Do you need new tools or different technology? More flexibility? Better internal support? Put it down in writing now. That way, when you present your plan to your manager (and I strongly encourage you to present your plan to your manager and maybe even a few peers), you give them a chance to support you.

They can either remove the obstacle or tell you it can't be removed in the short term. Either way, it’s in your best interest to declare these potential pitfalls now so that they’re not excuses down the road.

8. Personal and Professional Development

This is another important aspect of the business plan that's often overlooked. I regularly see salespeople fail because they’ve stopped learning and growing.

Many have become stale. Others are bored and ineffective from deploying the same techniques year after year. You wouldn’t go to a doctor that didn’t read medical journals and was treating patients with the same protocol he used twenty years ago, would you?

So commit to growing as a sales professional this year. What are you going to do to grow in your career?

What conferences are you going to attend? Which books are you going to read? Which sales blogs will you follow?

Now, once you have the layout for your sales business plan solidified, you must do two things:

• Get it down on paper - You’re more likely to achieve goals if you write them down. Just trust me on that.
• Get more specific - Using an actual business plan template can prompt you to think deeper about your motivation and action plan.

Below is a free business plan template you can use to get started.

Start building your business plan with this free template.

Featured Resource: Free Business Plan Template

Click Here to Download the Template

Your goal is to think like a business. I’ll teach you how to adapt each section of this general business plan to fit your role as a sales representative.

Business Plan Sections Explained

1. the business opportunity.

The business opportunity is an overview of why you’re doing what you’re doing, who you’re doing it for, and what you hope to achieve. Include your mission statement as a sales representative and why you’re working with the leads and accounts you chose.

In a typical business plan, this section is called an executive summary and highlights the most crucial information for readers. This means you can get creative and inspirational with it, summarizing the information that will motivate you most.

2. Company Description

The company description can refer to the organization(s) you sell for, or you can consider yourself the business being described. Because this is a personal document, choose the format that will most benefit you.

Keep in mind that there are a few elements to include in this section:

3. Company Purpose

This is a short description of the business, providing a high-level overview of who they are, what they offer, and who they offer it to. You might consider creating multiple purposes if you sell on behalf of more than one organization or outlining your purpose as a salesperson.

4. Mission Statement

A mission statement is a formal summary of the aims and values of an organization. If you’re making multiple company descriptions, include one for each organization. You can also include a personal mission statement for why you’ve chosen this organization and how you plan to support their success.

For example, say I’m a sales rep for an editorial company. My mission statement might be “to reach out to writers suffering from imposter syndrome and encourage them to consider editorial help so they can publish with confidence … and inspire future writers who dream of doing the same.”

5. Core Values

Use the core values for the organization(s) you work for, why you chose them, and how they will manifest in your interactions with prospects. For example, HubSpot’s values are humility, empathy, adaptability, remarkableness, and transparency.

If your organization doesn’t have clear core values defined, feel free to come up with your own that will serve as your modus operandi. Three to five values are what you want to have.

6. Product & Service Lines

This section will include:

• Product or service offerings - What are the lines you’re trying to sell, and what functionality does each have?
• Pricing model - How much does each product or service cost prospects, how much commission do you make for each sale, and what parameters do you have for discounts or special deals?

Outline this information in an easy-to-scan table.

In a typical business plan, this would manifest as an overview of the company and all the key leadership roles. However, the most relevant information could be key contacts at your company or companies you sell to, including your sales and marketing contacts (if applicable). If you’re filling out the template to create your sales plan, you’d simply include yourself.

8. Industry Analysis

In this section, you’ll take a look at the state of the industry, including your company’s competitors and your prospect’s competitors. You’ll ask:

• Is the market in growth or decline?
• Who are your competitors?
• What edge do they have over your product?
• How can you get your prospects to buy into the product you’re selling instead?

Your sales manager might already have answers for you or relay new information as it becomes available.

If you’re filling out a business plan to understand your prospects, you’ll want to answer similar questions:

• Who are their competitors?
• What challenges are they looking to solve?
• Is their industry in decline, and if so, can your product help them grow during this decline?

9. Target Market

This will manifest in your business plan as an overview or outline of whom you’re targeting, including general demographics and psychographics. You might want to include:

• Business title
• Location and language
• Pains or problems they're looking to solve

Consider consolidating this information and creating dedicated buyer personas .

10. Buyer Personas

Buyer personas are fictional representations of individuals within your target market. The best practice is to create a buyer persona for each “type” of customer you serve. You can do so using HubSpot’s Make My Persona tool and exporting the information into your business plan.

If you’re filling out the template for a prospect, come up with a buyer persona for the target audience they serve.

11. Location Analysis

Where is the geographic location of your target market? Explain why you’ve chosen the location and the benefits of it. Do the same for your prospects and customers if you’re using the template for them.

Here’s a template you can use:

[Organization name] serves [Location] because [reason]. We found that one of the key drivers of a successful acquisition is [key element], which means our target buyers tend to be in [more specific location descriptor]. We plan to tap into this market by [method].

This might manifest as something like:

“Editorial Company serves authors throughout the United States because editorial work can be done online with virtual meetings and file sharing. We found that one of the key drivers of a successful acquisition is participation in online writing groups, which means our target buyers tend to be active in social media circles. We plan to tap into this market with inbound marketing.”

12. Implementation Timeline

In this section, a business typically specifies how long it will take for its operation to be up and running. They take logistics, partnerships, and other operational elements into account. For your sales plan, you might specify an implementation timeline for various checkpoints, including software adoption, sales-marketing meetings, and more.

Say you told your sales manager you need sales software to keep track of the KPIs you identified earlier. You should take into account the time it will take for that CRM to be purchased and distributed to your team.

If you’re filling out the template to understand a prospect, consider laying out a timeline that specifies when they’ll buy the product, when you’re to follow up with them, and so on.

13. Marketing Plan

If your organization is an inbound sales organization with a marketing department, you might include your marketing and sales service-level agreement (SLA) in this section.

On the other hand, if you’re responsible for cold outreach and prospecting, this section might be helpful to complete on your own. The elements you’ll need to consider are:

Positioning Strategy

• How is this product or service unique and unbeatable compared to its competitors?
• Why are potential buyers going to be interested in the product or service?
• How will you address the buyer persona’s biggest challenges and goals?

Acquisition Channels

• What are your main lead acquisition channels (e.g., search engine marketing, event marketing, blogging, paid advertising, etc.)?
• What do you plan to prioritize this year for lead acquisition?

Tools and Technology

• What tools or systems are you equipped with (e.g., CMS , marketing automation software , etc.)?

14. Financial Considerations and Funding Required

This section is likely more suited for sales reps who are commission-only. You’ll want to consider how much financial collateral will be your responsibility as you sell for the organization. You’ll want to outline:

• Startup costs
• Sales forecasts
• When you'll break even
• Profit and loss projections

These things can be estimated and calculated in Excel and then imported into the template. There’s also a section on the funding required, but you won’t need to fill it out as an individual sales representative. And since your prospects have already secured funding or are established firms, you won’t need to fill this out to understand their business.

Now, finally, we’ve reached the sales plan. This will be done in a separate worksheet — a Google Doc or Word document that you can continue to edit as you evolve in your sales role. You will likely be able to draw on your experience to outline the following:

Sales Methodology

• How will you reach and engage with new leads?
• Are you pursuing an inbound or outbound sales strategy?
• Why does your prospecting strategy make sense for your business?

Sales Organization Structure

• Who do you report to within the organization?
• Is there a marketing department and existing SLA between the departments?
• How are leads qualified?

Sales Channels

• What are your main customer acquisition channels (e.g., online purchasing, through a rep, on location, via email, etc.)?
• What tools or systems are you equipped with (e.g., CMS, live chat , etc.)?

We've covered the different parts of a sales reps' business plan, but what does one of these plans actually look like? Here are five amazing examples of individual business plans for sales reps.

Individual Business Plan Examples for Sales Reps

1. individual development plan.

Image Source

An individual development plan (IDP) is a document that you would make to identify your goals and objectives to your employer. After identifying your goals, ensure that your objectives follow the SMART (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, Time-bound) goal framework. Lastly, for each action, assign a target date. While it does not need to be a specific day of the year, set your timeline by quarters of the year — as seen in the above example.

In addition to the long-term and short-term goals that the above example from Simplicable demonstrates, the resources required section is another useful component of the individual development plan. It directly informs your employer that you require support to achieve the goals and objectives that will ultimately benefit the entire company.

2. Medical Sales Business Plan

Automotive sales business plans are slightly more challenging than other business plans because there are a lot of factors to consider. When building your plan, you need to start with an analysis. It includes an analysis of your company, industry, customers, and competitors.

Once you have included in-depth analysis, focus on demonstrating your ideas with the four Ps of marketing . The four Ps of marketing are product, price, place, and promotion.

First, outline your focus products. Second, discuss price. You can include current pricing and any proposed changes. Further analysis would include how these prices stack up against competitors and how they affect your customers.

Third, concentrate on your location. This information should detail how your location either adds or decreases traffic and propose solutions for the latter. Lastly, recommend promotions. In the automotive industry, customers are always looking for the best deal.

You also have to be very visible with your marketing. Possibly one of the most important sections of your automotive sales business template, include a detailed course of action for promotional ideas and plans.

4. Territory Business Plan

A territory business plan should cover your sales territory. Historically, sales territory is the division of geographical regions for assignments to sales representatives. These representatives are responsible for all customers or clients within that area. This template from Slide Team is for convenience stores, but it can be adapted to suit your business type.

Now, industry, sales potential, and customer type affect territory business planning. An example of customer type is focusing your territory planning on individuals with the same median income. Instead of using geography, this alternative can lead to more strategic success.

When creating a territory business plan, you want to start by analyzing your business goals and objectives. As you build your plan, include an analysis of your prospects and a SWOT analysis . It’s a planning technique that identifies strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. This information will allow you to propose strategies for sales territories and devise an action plan.

5. Quarterly Business Plan

Creating a business plan for an entire year can be too complex. By separating the year into quarters, you can make your business strategy more actionable. Quarterly business planning is when you set goals and objectives and measure performance after each quarter. Typically, the year segments into Quarter 1 (January 1 to March 31), Quarter 2 (April 1 to June 30), Quarter 3 (July 1 to September 30), and Quarter 4 (October 1 to December 31).

Quarterly business planning focuses on short-term goals that ultimately help fulfill any long-term goals. Your quarterly business plan should include your focus areas, metrics for determining success, and your action plan.

Crush Your Sales Goals with a Business and Sales Plan

With the plan I’ve shared, you'll be prepared to take on any goal or challenge in your career. Consider it a gift to yourself that keeps on giving. Use your plan like a living document, review it weekly, and make tweaks as necessary along the way. Let it dictate what makes it onto your calendar. At year-end, you will be amazed at what you accomplished and thankful you invested the time to do this now.

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

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3-Month Business Plan Timeline

Three months of daily activities can be tracked with this timeline for new start-up companies.

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Building a Monthly Business Plan

While it’s important to create a 10-year business model, your real focus should be on your business plan for three years, two years and one year. Once that’s set, reverse engineer it to the quarter and then down to the month.

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Look at everything from a quantitative standpoint:

• Remember that every single thing you do, positive or negative, compounds consistently over time. So, execution is number one.
• What are the top three specific and measurable things you must do every single day?
• Set your calendar in blocks of 15, 20 and 30 minutes.
• Determine your top three metrics – calls, meetings, proposals – for the activities you get paid for and the ones you don’t. Focus on the things you get paid for; that’s what drives the key metrics of your plan for the month.
• What are your top three personal goals? It’s essential to have a little balance in your life.
• Write out your top five values. You need to be connected to not only your company values, but your personal values.
• Write down what you’re grateful for and what you’re thankful for.
• What is your marketing plan? What top three things are you going to do for it?
• Understand what your purpose is and what drives you. It’s really important to understand your purpose. That is what gives you the energy to wake up every morning and do what you need to do.
• Make sure you have a top 30 client list that includes top 10 current, top 10 prospects, and top 10 centers or spheres of influence. What is your game plan for each?
• What is the one thing you will stop, the one thing you will start, and the one new habit that you will build over the next 30 days?
• Have a mentor and an accountability plan.  It’s easy to build out a plan, but it’s really difficult to stick to it. That’s why I encourage everybody to have a mentor or an accountability partner, someone who is going to push you out of your comfort zone and who will call you out on your excuses.
• Finally, commit to consistent daily execution. Look your plan every morning, every night and throughout the day so you can adjust on the fly as the market determines. Remember, this is a  living business plan. And living your plan is the key to thinking big.

Originally published Jan. 25, 2021.

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3 months business plan timeline

Every organization is unique and each one has to face different challenges to achieve their target so they can use 3 Months Business Plan Timeline presentation template to plan something to overcome the challenges. The business planning timeline helps in pointing to the strength and weakness of any business project. You can discuss different business activities which offer different problems and opportunities as well. You can tell your team about the different business systems and skills that required to accomplish business objectives by using business planning skill slide. The business strategy plan template helps in focusing on short-term and long-term plans which accelerate the business sale. You can discuss the benchmarks and guidelines of the project with the help of 90 days business timeline template. Business plan structure PPT slide help in discussing the promotion strategies to promote the product and services offered by an organization. The organization performance can get improved when you prepare a business plan strategy presentation and you can share this template with your team. Settle disputes with our 3 Months Business Plan Timeline. They will even out the debate.

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Presenting 3 Months Business Plan Timeline PPT slide. The monthly business strategy presentation template designed by the professionals of SlideTeam. This timeline template is editable in PowerPoint and is compatible with Google Slides. You can easily modify the font size and type, colors and shapes of the figure. You can insert the text related to business challenge strategies because the text box is editable. You can use unique design icon in your presentation which helps in grabbing the audience attention.

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See Long- and Short-term Results with a 3-6-12-24 Plan

Published: February 26, 2010 by Marc Thys

One of the major dilemmas companies face today is the pressure to deliver short-term improvements and benefits while still contributing to longer-term breakthrough objectives. The 3-6-12-24 planning tool helps practitioners find a way out of this predicament by presenting a coherent picture of the balance that must be achieved between short- and long-term objectives. An additional benefit: The Belts who run the improvement projects will see these not as stand-alone achievements, but as contributing to a bigger picture.

The 3-6-12-24 planning tool presented here is based on the same concepts and principles as multi-generation project planning (MGPP), an approach used to manage complex programs.

Clearing Up Communication

Two distinct audiences can benefit from this tool: the process owners that want to achieve their breakthrough objectives and the Belts that will execute the projects. Ultimately, the tool is a communication vehicle between these two parties.

Process owners typically want to have a clear picture of what results can be delivered by when, and how these results will contribute to the longer-term objectives. They also want to track the progress of these results and objectives. Moreover, they want to understand what resources will be needed.

Belts usually participate in the dialogue to develop the improvement plan. Based on their understanding of the challenges and uncertainties involved, they propose timelines, projects and resources to achieve the objectives and deliver the results. The process owners challenge them on these proposals in order to get the best return on investment in the shortest possible time frame.

Timing Is Everything

The numbers in the name of the 3-6-12-24 planning tool refer to months. For each of these milestones, targets should be set for key performance indicators of the business, and appropriate projects and work streams identified. The 24-month timeframe should help process owners to break out of fiscal year constraints that often restrict their thinking. Breakthrough objectives are seldom achieved within one fiscal year, so the time horizons have to be set accordingly.

The short-term horizons of three and six months will focus the Belts on concrete results. This should help overcome the syndrome whereby only large, complex DMAIC (Define, Measure, Analyze, Improve, Control) projects are defined and selected, designed to deliver within six months, but often dragging on for 10 months or longer. At the same time, the Belts are encouraged to come up with smaller, Kaizen-type projects. Not only does this type of project deliver results more quickly, but the projects often act as enablers for larger DMAIC projects that can be executed in parallel. The Kaizen projects also can be used as a vehicle to deliver quick wins that are often identified in the early stages of a DMAIC project.

Creating a Roadmap

The 3-6-12-24 planning tool can be best used for a rolling wave type of planning and review. This means that not only will the original plan be used to track progress and results every three months, but it will also be reviewed and adapted with that frequency. At the first review after three months, the original six-month target becomes the three-month target, and a new six-month target is set based on what now appears to be an achievable target on the road to the original 12-month target. Practitioners should revise the 12- and 24-month targets every six months, based on the insight gained over the previous six months. The 3-6-12-24 plan then becomes a living document to map out the road to the breakthrough objectives.

In the spirit of multigeneration planning, practitioners should ask the questions in Table 1 to determine the data and knowledge that must be gained in the first generation and is required to be able to execute the successive generations.

Typically, there should be a plan for each major component or objective of the breakthrough vision. For example, one business might have these three major objectives:

• Reduce defects
• Improve productivity
• Reduce lead time

Table 2 shows a sample 3-6-12-24 plan for reducing defects.

Taking On Project Responsibility

Introducing this tool also can be a major motivator for the Belts that are going to work on these projects. One or two Black Belts should be assigned to each of the areas and should be given two-year goals. From there, they should be allowed to develop the rest of the plan – including the projects that they are going to work on in the next six months in order to achieve these goals. This way Belts do not have to wait for DMAIC projects to be assigned to them and can avoid projects that are poorly defined, not clearly scoped and not part of a coherent set – let alone aligned to achieve a clear mid- to long-term goal. Furthermore, the Belts will have work beyond long-winded DMAIC projects because the plan encourages them to include shorter Kaizen events and even “just do it” type projects in their set.

The tool and approach also help the sponsors and process owners to fulfill their roles because they become fully accountable for the results of the plan, rather than having a vague role to “remove roadblocks” for the Belts.

Demonstrating Value

After the initial launch of this tool at a test business, practitioners achieved their performance objectives for the first half of the year several months sooner than expected, allowing them to set more aggressive targets for the second half of the year. The achievement helped bring about a major turnaround for the entire Lean Six Sigma program, which had been on the brink of failure due to a lack of understanding and leadership and an overemphasis on short-term financial results. The problems had led to very low levels of morale with the Belts, who were actually blamed for the lack of success with the program. Now they had an effective tool to focus the improvement efforts of the business, and it became easy to demonstrate the program’s alignment with the strategy and its value to the business.

With the 3-6-12-24 planning tool, practitioners stopped measuring the individual benefits of projects and concentrated on the collective impact of the projects on the business objectives. It turned out to be a win-win situation for all parties involved: the business, sponsors, process owners and Belts.

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30-60-90 day plan for new hires (template and examples)

A 30-60-90 day plan outlines the first 90 days of a new team member’s employment and familiarizes them with company policies, teamwork, and goals. This action plan helps your team members check off essential items as they adjust to their new work environment. In this piece, we’ll outline the key components of a 30-60-90 day plan and explain why having one is beneficial.

It’s universally acknowledged that the first 90 days at any company can be intimidating. This isn’t any one person's or program’s fault, either. There’s a lot for your new team members to learn—including using different tools, navigating team norms, and adjusting their own expectations. But when you provide new hires with guidance and expectations, you empower them to hit the ground running from day one.

What is a 30-60-90 day plan?

A 30-60-90 day plan is an outline of a new hire’s first 90 days on your team. It lays out exactly what your new employee should accomplish, from their first week to the end of their third month in a new job. The goal of a 30-60-90 day plan is to give team members a concrete plan for getting up to speed and accomplishing their learning goals. It helps ensure every new hire feels welcomed into the company and understands the responsibilities of their role.

30-60-90 day plans often include the following milestones for each month of onboarding: 

1–30 days: The first month involves intensive training for the employee’s new position. This is when the new hire learns as much as possible about company policies, your company’s products, team structure, and job responsibilities. 

31–60 days: The second month of employment is the new hire’s opportunity to put what they’ve learned into practice by taking on new tasks. This is a key learning period, so it’s ok if your direct reports make mistakes as they get familiar with how things are done. 

61–90 days: The third month of employment is when the new hire starts mastering the skills of their job. This means your employee can now fully meet job expectations and start achieving long-term performance goals .

A 30-60-90 day plan may have similar sections for all new hires, such as company policies and resources. That said, you should also tailor many parts of the plan to fit each individual’s specific role and responsibilities .

Benefits of a 30-60-90 day plan

Creating a 30-60-90 day plan helps improve your onboarding process and set new employees up for success. Onboarding can make or break someone’s experience at a new company, so it’s worth investing in. In fact, research shows that a strong onboarding process can improve employee retention by 82% and productivity by over 70%.

With a 30-60-90 day plan, you can: 

Set goals and create clear expectations for an employee’s first three months on the job.

Space out training sessions and introductions so new hires don’t feel overwhelmed. 

Ensure new team members have the knowledge, resources, and skills they need to be successful in their new role. 

Take time to communicate your core company values . 

Build trust with effective feedback throughout the onboarding process. 

Proactively creating a 30-60-90 day plan can also benefit your hiring process and interview process. Candidates often want to know what their first few months on the job will look like. Having a plan already in place helps hiring managers and recruiters paint a concrete picture for applicants during job interviews. 

What should new hires accomplish in their first 90 days?

Your new hire’s focus in the first 90 days should be to integrate into company culture and master their job description. While there’s time during this initial period for new hires to help with tasks outside of onboarding, your new team members’ initial objectives should revolve around basic acclimation.

Some accomplishments you may ask your new hire to achieve in their first 90 days include:

Learn the company’s mission

Know the organizational structure , including management roles and fellow team members

Understand the responsibilities outlined in the job description

Understand the project roadmap from start to finish

Set short-term objectives toward long-term goals

You should hold a performance review at the end of a new hire’s first 90 days to assess their progress. During this time, you can offer constructive feedback about what they’ve accomplished and how they can continue to improve in their role.

How to write a 30-60-90 day plan

Typically, you’ll write a 30-60-90 day plan before your new hire's onboarding or immediately after they begin their job. As a result, you probably don’t know a lot about your new hire’s personality or strengths. Instead of making your 30-60-90 day plan personal to the team member’s abilities, use your expectations for what you want them to become in their new role to customize each plan.

Step 1: Ask questions

Once you’ve hired someone new, start your 30-60-90 day plan by looking at the big picture and assessing how your new hire fits into that picture. Ask yourself any questions that come to mind about the job role, the onboarding process, and the team. Some questions to begin brainstorming include:

What need do you hope this person will fill? 

What specific problem are you bringing this person in to solve?

What should this person know in order to be successful?

What will the new hire’s daily responsibilities be?

How will the new hire take part in project development?

Ultimately, your 30-60-90 day plan will give your new hire a clear idea of what the first three months will look like. Answering these questions early sets them up for success and helps them build their skills for the role.

Step 2: Set realistic goals

Your 30-60-90 day plan isn’t a day-to-day list of activities your new hire will be working on. Rather, your goal is to give your new hire an overview of their purpose within the company. 

You should also keep in mind when you create your 30-60-90 day plan that a new team member can only do and learn so much in their first few months of employment. While you may have some dire needs to address, try not to throw too much on your new hire’s plate too fast. 

Consider what a reasonable workload should be and minimize that workload for at least the first 30 days. Expect there to be a learning curve. Then, if you find that the team member catches up quickly, you can add work to their plate as appropriate.

Step 3: Create SMART goals

According to a 2014 study by BambooHR, the average company loses one-sixth of their new hires each month for the first three months. Setting concrete goals during onboarding can boost retention, especially if those goals are SMART—specific, measurable, attainable, realistic, and time-bound. SMART goals help clarify expectations and give team members clear stepping stones to follow. That way, new hires are less likely to feel overwhelmed or unengaged. 

The specific goal and success metrics you set for your new hire will depend on their particular role and level within the company. Check out some examples of 90-day SMART goals for different employee positions:

Writer: Successfully publish three articles for one of our clients, which includes taking each article through the entire publishing process from QA to internal edits, client edits, and final edits. 

Customer support: Work with team members to close 30 tickets, which includes learning the internal computer system and solving an array of unexpected tech issues. 

Agency: Collaborate with stakeholders to write one promotional piece. Then promote the piece to bloggers and successfully get it published on at least three websites relevant to the client.

While the new hire’s first 90 days should focus on helping them get comfortable in their new role, adding measurable goals to their action plan can give them a project to work on so they don’t feel like their only purpose is to shadow others. 

Step 4: Give them a mentor

A 30-60-90 day plan isn’t a document you’ll hand over to your new hire and then simply send them on their way to complete their duties. This document should be a reference for your new hire while they collaborate with you and other team members to accomplish tasks. 

When writing your plan, assign the new hire a mentor to give them any advice or guidance they might need. This person will be their go-to guide during the first few weeks for any questions. A good mentor can help orient your new hire so they don’t feel overwhelmed by their new work environment.

Make sure to set your new hire up with a mentor who isn’t their manager. That way, they have someone they can turn to with questions about team synergy and team norms . As their manager, you can focus on providing bigger picture guidance about long-term goals and team collaboration best practices.

Step 5: Set up regular check-ins

An important thing to remember when creating a 30-60-90 day plan is to stay flexible. Even if you feel like your plan outlines exactly what you hope for your new hire to accomplish, there’s no guarantee that the first 90 days will go as expected. 

For example, another team may need help from your new hire a week into their employment, which can derail the SMART goals you initially set for them. It’s also possible that your new hire will learn at a slower or faster pace than you expected. When you understand that the plan is an outline and not a schedule, you’ll feel better about the work you’ve put into it.

Elements of a 30-60-90 day plan

The elements of a 30-60-90 day plan are unique to the team member joining your organization, but the framework of the plan should look similar.

The essential components of a 30-60-90 day plan include:

Company mission: Briefly state your company’s mission at the top of the 30-60-90 day plan to give your new hire an idea of what your company stands for. 

Guiding points: Guiding points may include information about your company culture and elaborate on your business’ core values . For example, these points may include things like: “Ask questions… Value relationships… Have a team mindset… Put your health first…”

Meet the team: In this section, include pictures and blurbs of the people your new hire will work with closely. This can be a good reference for the new hire as they try to learn names and team roles. 

First day overview: The first day overview is the only section of the 30-60-90 day plan that lists out a detailed schedule for the new hire. While this schedule may change, do your best to let your new hire know what to expect on their first day of work , including log-in information or how to set up their email and phone voicemail. That way, they don’t come in feeling lost and unsure about what to do or where to go. 

Top priorities: In the top priorities section of the plan, include an overview of the new hire’s job responsibilities and any needs you hope for them to fill in their new role. 

SMART goals: As mentioned above, the SMART goals you list in the 30-60-90 day plan should be measurable, job-related goals you hope the new hire will achieve within their first 90 days. 

Resources: In the resources section, list links to the company handbook, job description, team directory, and other relevant resources. You can add any resources to this section that you think the team member will find useful as they familiarize themselves with the company and the job.

30-60-90 day plan example

Your new hire will use their 30-60-90 day plan as a roadmap for success as they navigate the challenges in their first months of onboarding. Break down SMART goals and objectives into manageable chunks and include a mix of personal goals and company goals to help new team members settle in.

You should further develop these objectives by including success metrics and KPIs when applicable. This will help people stay motivated and track progress effectively.

Here’s a 30-60-90 day plan example to get you started.

Goal 1: Complete all required onboarding and compliance training modules.

Metric: Completion of all training modules confirmed by human resources.

Example: A new manager at a tech company uses the first 30 days to complete all human resource-led compliance training sessions to ensure they understand the legal and ethical standards required by their new role.

Goal 2: Build relationships with at least 10 new colleagues across different teams and departments.

Metric: Number of introductory meetings or coffee chats held.

Example: A new contributor in a marketing department sets up coffee chats to connect and make a positive first impression with peers in other departments, such as sales and product development.

Goal 3: Develop a solid understanding of the company's products, services, and key processes.

KPI: Score at least 85% on a knowledge assessment test to measure understanding of key information.

Example: A sales manager spends their first month attending product demonstrations and shadowing senior sales calls to observe the nuances of the company's offerings and sales techniques.

Goal 4: Establish a consistent morning routine to improve punctuality and productivity.

Metric: Days arriving at least 15 minutes early tracked over the first month.

Example: A new hire decides to start each day by reading industry news for 15 minutes to stay informed and arrive early to prepare for the day ahead.

Goal 5: Identify and document at least three areas for process improvement or inefficiencies.

KPI: Submission of a detailed report with actionable recommendations for optimization.

Example: A new project manager uses workflow analysis tools to track the time spent on various project stages, identify bottlenecks, and propose solutions to improve efficiency.

Goal 6: Join company-sponsored clubs, sports teams, or volunteer initiatives.

Metric: Participation in at least two different company-sponsored activities.

Example: A new sales manager joins the company's soccer team and the volunteer committee, which allows them to build relationships outside of formal work settings and demonstrate team spirit.

Goal 7: Complete an online course or certification relevant to your role or industry.

KPI: Acquisition of a new certification within the 60-day period.

Example: A new contributor in data analytics enrolls in a certified online course on advanced data visualization techniques to improve their skill set and contribute more effectively to ongoing and new projects.

Goal 8: Establish a healthy work-life balance by scheduling regular exercise or self-care activities.

Metric: Number of weeks adhering to the twice-weekly exercise or self-care schedule.

Example: A human resources manager starts attending yoga classes three times a week after work and using a wellness app to schedule and track sessions.

Goal 9: Propose and implement at least one process improvement or cost-saving measure.

KPI: Documented percentage improvement in efficiency or reduction in costs.

Example: After reviewing existing procurement processes, a new manager proposes a new vendor management system that reduces order times and costs by 15%. They then highlight the direct impact of their initiative on the company's bottom line.

Goal 10: Seek out a mentor within the company who can provide guidance and support.

Metric: Successful identification and commencement of mentorship sessions.

Example: An e-commerce contributor uses LinkedIn to identify and approach a senior leader within the company known for their expertise in developing sales plans and sets up bi-monthly mentorship sessions.

Goal 11: Deliver a training session or knowledge transfer to team members on a specific topic.

KPI: Percentage of attendees who can successfully pass a follow-up knowledge test.

Example: A new manager organizes a workshop on effective sales techniques, using real-world examples from recent successful deals to boost the team's skills and confidence.

Goal 12: Identify and pursue a professional development opportunity outside of work.

Metric: Registration for a relevant professional development activity.

Example: A new hire attends a regional conference on digital marketing trends to network with industry leaders and bring back valuable insights to inform the company's new online marketing strategies.

Not sure where to start? Check out our example 30-60-90 day plan template below for inspiration on how to optimize your onboarding process.

Use this 30-60-90 day outline as a framework to build and customize a plan that works for each new hire that you onboard.

Streamline the onboarding process with work management tools

Printouts and documents quickly become out of date. Keep your onboarding process flexible by creating your 30-60-90 day plan with project management software . Once you share the plan, you can easily monitor your new hire’s progress—plus assign day-to-day action items to keep things on track.

FAQ: 30-60-90 day plan

Why have a 30-60-90 day plan?

Having a 30-60-90 day plan sets clear objectives and benchmarks for personal and professional development over a 90-day period. This type of plan helps individuals organize their priorities, measure their progress, and establish a structured approach to achieving their goals. Whether you're starting a new position, launching a project, or trying to implement a change, having a 30-60-90 day plan can ensure you are focused and hit the ground running.

When should I use a 30-60-90 day plan?

A 30-60-90 day plan is particularly useful when starting a new job, taking on a significant project, or undergoing a transition in a professional role. It helps hiring managers integrate new team members more effectively by facilitating quick acclimatization and productivity. These plans also work well for promoting internal changes or strategies within an organization by acting as a roadmap to align measurable objectives with practical action steps.

What should be included in a 30-60-90 day plan?

A well-crafted 30-60-90 day plan should include specific, measurable goals for each of the three periods. 

The first 30 days are typically focused on learning and integration, where you should include objectives related to understanding company goals, procedures, and tools. 

The next 30 days (the 60-day mark) often shift towards more active involvement, which can include starting new projects and building relationships. 

By the final 30 days, the plan should focus on implementing changes and taking on more significant responsibilities, such as long-term goal setting.

How can a 30-60-90 day plan help you succeed in a new job?

A 30-60-90 day plan can help your success in a new job by providing a clear outline of what to accomplish and when. This strategic plan encourages a proactive approach to learning, relationship-building, and skill development. 

Initially, it helps you quickly absorb the necessary information and company culture. As the plan progresses, it assists in demonstrating your value through early contributions while establishing your presence and impact within the team.

Related resources

How to accomplish big things with long-term goals

Fix these common onboarding challenges to boost productivity

15 types of employee performance reviews

What is self-management? (7 skills to improve it)

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How to create a budget for your business

January 16, 2024 | 7 minute read

If you want to increase the odds of having a successful small business, start by creating a budget. A budget is a powerful tool. It helps you understand how much money you have and what you’ve spent where — and provides clues about how much money you’ll need in the short and long term. It can also help shape key business decisions like whether to add staff and equipment or where to cut expenses to avoid cash flow issues .

A budget is critical, particularly at a time when companies are coping with rising costs. Seventy-nine percent of small business owners polled in Bank of America’s 2023 Small Business Owner Report said they are concerned about inflation and 68% said they are worried about commodity prices. Here’s how to create a budget and use it to make the best decisions today, tomorrow and in the future.

What is a business budget?

Simply put, a budget is a spending plan based on your business’ income and expenses. It shows your available capital, estimates spending and assists in predicting revenue. The information in your budget can help you plan your company’s next moves. A budget looks at activities for a specified time. Think of it as a tool to help you allocate resources toward the strategic priorities in your business plan.

What are the benefits of creating a business budget?

Budgeting enables you to allocate financial resources more effectively, track variances and make changes to your spending plan as needed. A budget provides a much-needed assist in maintaining daily operations, giving you the intel to deploy your cash more strategically so you don’t face a cash flow crunch. It can identify when you need to raise financing. Debt is a fact of life in many businesses. A budget can help you manage debts with controlled and planned financial activities.

A budget can also help you stay ready for the unexpected. Staying within your budget and creating a safety net for emergencies will give you a firmer financial foundation.

Types of business budgets

When it comes to business budgets, it’s not one and done. There are several types that may be helpful in your business.

Master budget

This type of budget uses inputs from financial statements, your cash forecast and your financial plan to create a single document you can use to keep your finger on the pulse of your business. Your management team can use it to plan the activities needed to reach business goals. Typically, small businesses use spreadsheets to create their master budgets or consider using budgeting software too, as it may help minimize mistakes.

Operating budget

This budget shows your projected revenue and expenses for a given period. Think of it as a profit and loss report , but for the future. The operating budget includes fixed and variable costs, as well as non-operating expenses. Capital expenditures are usually excluded from an operating budget. Each line item should be backed up with key details.

Fixed costs occur monthly.

Variable costs, like utilities , change depending on factors like usage.

Capital costs are one-time expenses, such as the purchase of a building.

The operating budget gives you a reality check on whether you’re spending according to plan. While this budget is often prepared at the start of each year, don’t set it and forget it. Update it throughout the year, be it monthly or quarterly, so you always know where your business stands.

Capital budget

Companies sometimes create a capital budget when they are looking to make a large purchase, such as a large piece of factory equipment or a new technology system that will require a substantial investment. This allows the finance team to determine the impact on cash flow and plan accordingly.

Cash budget or cash flow budget

This document will give you an estimate of how money comes in and goes out during a certain time horizon. You create a cash budget using the conclusions you draw from sales forecasts and production, and by estimating payables and receivables.

Labor budget

If you will hire employees , this type of budget is helpful in planning for the money you’ll need to meet payroll, not only for regular employees, but also for any temporary and seasonal staff.

Budgeting methods you can use

There’s more than one way to budget. Here are some common methods:

An incremental budget

This takes the current period’s budget or actual performance, uses it as a base and then adjusts it in incremental amounts to account for any increases in costs. Typically, when you put together an incremental budget, you use the rate of inflation as a guide for fine-tuning the amounts. One plus of budgeting this way is that it is relatively easy to do.

Zero-based budgeting

Here, you’re budgeting from scratch. You must scrutinize every expense or potential expense before deciding to add it to your budget. This helps you align your business goals with your expenses. Unlike other types of budgeting, it doesn’t focus on historical results. A zero-based budget is ideal when you’re looking to reduce expenses.

Activity-based budgeting

Actions speak louder than words. This type of budgeting looks at the inputs required to reach the targets or outputs set by the company. Say your business wants to achieve $5 million in revenue. First, you need to figure out the activities that need to happen to make that revenue a reality and then determine the costs of carrying out those activities.

Participative budgeting

There are more cooks in the kitchen with participative budgeting, which is often used by larger small businesses. Both middle management and lower levels of management share in the responsibility of putting together the budget. The budget begins with lower management then moves to middle managers before top management weighs in and signs off. An upside of this type of budgeting is that information is shared, and when management and staff are on the same page in terms of goals, they’re more likely to achieve those goals.

How to create a business budget

Creating a business budget takes several steps:

• Calculate your revenue . Include all your revenue streams, preferably over at least the last 12 months, to determine your monthly income. If your business is new, you can research what’s typical in your industry and use that as a guide to come up with estimates.
• Add up your fixed costs . Fixed costs are things like rent, payroll and debt repayment.
• Determine variable costs . In addition to utilities, these may include billable labor, materials, transaction fees and commissions.

Using a budget to make better decisions

If you make your budget a regular resource, you’ll be rewarded for your budgeting efforts. As you make spending decisions, consult your budget frequently and use it as a reality check. If you have budgeted for X amount and go beyond it, you’ll have some explaining to do, even if you’re only answering to yourself. Being disciplined can be challenging, but ultimately it will position your business for growth , both today and in the future.

Explore more

How to create a sales forecast

Understanding free cash flow

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Guide to the Best Cheap Cell Phone Plans in 2024

Many or all of the products featured here are from our partners who compensate us. This influences which products we write about and where and how the product appears on a page. However, this does not influence our evaluations. Our opinions are our own. Here is a list of our partners and here's how we make money .

The cheapest cell phone plans are typically prepaid, which means you only commit to the month(s) of service you pay for upfront. There’s usually no credit check to sign up and you have many choices.

What’s more is that these cheaper cell phone plan providers typically run on one or more of the three nationwide networks (those from Verizon, T-Mobile and AT&T). 

Cheaper plan, same nationwide coverage, what’s the catch?

Prepaid plans tend to come with fewer perks (e.g., that Disney+ or Netflix subscription you probably don’t need), can have less access to live customer service, and sometimes the fine print suggests network speeds may be slowed in favor of postpaid plan customers. Plus, an overwhelming number of options can make it challenging to choose a cheap plan in 2024. 

We’re here to help you map out the cheap cell phone plan landscape. We evaluated plans offered by popular cell phone service providers, considering brand ownership, nationwide network affiliation and monthly plan prices before taxes and fees.

When choosing a plan, lots of catchy marketing and fine print make it a windy road. But if you explore the options, you’ll likely save money with a prepaid plan.

Note: Most prices in the lists below are before taxes and fees.

Cheap(er) cell phone plans from Verizon, T-Mobile and AT&T

If you want to buy cell phone service directly from one of the big three wireless companies — Verizon, T-Mobile or AT&T — try one of their prepaid plans to save over a single-line postpaid plan.

Big three prepaid plans

Each offers a set of prepaid plans with unlimited talk and text and varying levels of data. Plans with a set amount of data run the lowest.

AT&T prepaid: Unlimited talk and text, 5GB of data for $30 per month. Notable: If you order online, you avoid a $15 activation fee. Some plans are eligible for automatic payment discounts, which vary by plan and may be higher with limited-time promotion deals.

T-Mobile prepaid: Unlimited talk and text, 10GB of data for $40 per month. Notable: T-Mobile prepaid plans don’t come with autopay discounts, but they do include other benefits like scam-blocking features and deals for discounts on food, gas and entertainment.

Verizon prepaid: Unlimited talk and text, 15GB of data for $35 per month (with an autopay discount). Notable: Verizon prepaid customers get a $5 per month loyalty discount after three months of service on eligible monthly plans. The discount grows to $10 per month after nine months of service.

You may have to hunt around for the “prepaid” section of these cell phone companies’ websites to bypass the flagship plans and get to cheaper stuff.

Cheap cell phone plans from brands owned by the big three

Each of the big three carriers has introduced or acquired competing sub-brands in the prepaid wireless space. Confusion aside, more competition means more opportunities for you, the consumer, to lower your cell phone bill .

Consider these popular options that are owned by the big three national carriers. 

But wait, there’s more 

Total by Verizon and Connect by T-Mobile are two lesser-known wireless spinoffs that may be worth a look. The latter boasts a $10-a-month plan that includes 1,000 minutes of talk time, 1,000 texts and 1GB of data.

Cheap cell phone plans from brands that resell network service

Wireless service brands not acquired or started by Verizon, AT&T or T-Mobile typically purchase and resell service on one or more of the big three’s nationwide networks.

Consider these options.

*Mint Mobile won’t be on its own much longer: In 2023, T-Mobile announced plans to acquire the budget carrier. Mint Mobile says the option for a $ 15-a-month plan will remain.

But wait, there’s more

There are too many more to list, actually. A few other cheap cell phone plan options that might be worth a look: Ting and Tello, as well as Ultra Mobile (which also will be acquired by T-Mobile, along with Mint, and makes a similar promise to retain its pricing). As well, you can explore whether you're eligible for the federal Lifeline program, which provides discounted phone service for low-income households .

Things to consider

With so many choices available, how do you decide which plan is right for you?

While the best plan is one that will fit into your budget , consider other factors, too. For instance, how much data do you use each month and how many lines will you need? Are there times when you’d like to use your phone outside the U.S.?

Assessing your data and usage goals, along with your budget, will help you narrow the many choices into a few that will work best for you.

How to switch plans and keep your number

Perhaps the most daunting factor in jumping to a new plan is the fear of losing your original phone number. But the Federal Communications Commission notes that consumers staying in the same geographic area can take their number to a new service provider, and sets rules on charges and speed of service.

Many providers are making this easy now. For example, Mint Mobile offers detailed instructions for how to switch from all the major carriers while keeping your number intact. Likewise, Consumer Cellular also states that it is easy to bring your number with you, though you’ll need to wait to cancel your existing plan until the transfer process is complete.

The bottom line: Read the fine print from your existing provider and the one you’re switching to before taking any action. The odds are good that you’ll be able to carry your phone number over, but you’ll need to follow each provider’s instructions.

Methodology

DIVE EVEN DEEPER IN PERSONAL FINANCE

How to Lower Your Bills: 43 Ways to Save

Discretionary expenses: the extras, not essentials, personal finance defined: the guide to maximizing your money.

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Compare work management offerings

Microsoft planner.

Originally starting from Included now starting from Included

Included Included

in Microsoft 365

Planner in Microsoft 365 includes:

Real-time collaboration, commenting, and sharing using the Planner app in Microsoft Teams or the Planner web app

Creation and management of content-rich tasks with features including files, checklists, and labels

Tasks organized by My Day, My Tasks, and Assigned to me

Basic plan templates

Ability to view reports and dashboards

List, Grid, and Board views

Ability to view task dependencies

Security, compliance, data privacy, accessibility, and Microsoft 365 customer support

Planner Plan 1

Originally starting from $10.00 now starting from $10.00

$10.00 $10.00

(Annual subscription auto-renews) *

Includes everything in Planner in Microsoft 365, plus:

Project goals

Backlogs and sprints

Premium plan templates

Timeline (Gantt) view

Task dependencies

Customization and integration

Project Plan 3

Originally starting from $30.00 now starting from $30.00

$30.00 $30.00

Includes everything in Planner Plan 1, plus:

Copilot in Planner (preview) 3

Task history

Baselines and critical path

Resources request capabilities

Program management

Project financials, budgeting, and costing

• Advanced dependencies with lead and lag

Project Online desktop client

Project Online

Project Plan 5

Originally starting from $55.00 now starting from $55.00

$55.00 $55.00

Includes everything in Project Plan 3, plus:

Portfolio management

Enterprise resource management and allocation

Project Standard 2021

Originally starting from $679.99 now starting from $679.99

$679.99 $679.99

(one-time purchase)

On-premises project management for those who do not need collaboration tools and other advanced features. 11

Project Professional 2021

Originally starting from $1,129.99 now starting from $1,129.99

$1,129.99 $1,129.99

A comprehensive on-premises project management solution. 11

Project Server

A flexible, scalable on-premises solution for project portfolio management and everyday project and work management.

Explore Planner resources

Discover more about the new planner, access support and learning resources, see upcoming features for planner, get the latest news about planner.

• [1] After your one-month free trial, you’ll be charged the applicable subscription fee. A credit card is required. Cancel any time to stop future charges.
• [2] Requires a Power BI subscription.
• [3] While final pricing for Copilot in Planner has not been announced, users with a Project Plan 3 or Project Plan 5 license will be able to preview Copilot in Planner capabilities once it is rolled out to their organization.
• [4] Requires a Microsoft 365 subscription to use Microsoft Teams​.
• [5] Requires a Viva Goals subscription.
• [6] Requires a Power Automate subscription.
• [7] See detailed information about Project .
• [8] See detailed information about Project for the web .
• [9] See detailed information about Project Online .
• [10] See detailed information about the Project Online desktop client .
• [11] Both Project Standard 2021 and Project Professional 2021 support Long-Term Servicing Channel (LTSC).
• [*] Subscription prices shown are per month. If you’re a global or billing administrator, an annual commitment is required to purchase online. You can choose to pay monthly or annually. Within the Microsoft 365 admin center, global and billing administrators can choose either annual or monthly commitment plans. All others may purchase a monthly subscription online.​

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Former NBA player Glen 'Big Baby' Davis sentenced to 40 months for defrauding league insurance plan

Associated Press

NEW YORK – Former Boston Celtics player Glen “Big Baby” Davis was sentenced Thursday to 40 months in a federal prison for his participation in a scheme New York prosecutors said defrauded an insurance plan for NBA players and their families of more than $5 million.

More than 20 people were convicted in the case, many of them onetime NBA players who submitted fictitious dental and medical claims to the NBA Players’ Health and Benefit Welfare Plan. A jury found Davis and former Detroit Pistons guard Will Bynum guilty in November.

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Davis will have three years of supervised release after he serves his term, and he has been ordered to pay $80,000 in restitution. Davis’ attorney, Sabrina Shroff, declined to comment. Bynum was sentenced last month to 18 months in prison and three years of supervised release and also must pay $182,224 in restitution.

Prosecutors said doctors and dentists working with the players created fraudulent invoices that were submitted to the supplemental insurance plan for reimbursement.

Davis was found guilty of health care fraud, wire fraud, conspiracy to make false statements and conspiracy to commit health care and wire fraud.

Davis was the Southeastern Conference player of the year while leading LSU to the 2006 NCAA championship game. He played for three teams over eight NBA seasons and was a member of the Celtics’ 2008 title team.

AP NBA: https://apnews.com/hub/nba

Copyright 2024 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.

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Federal Reserve keeps interest rates at current levels as inflation holds its grip

The Federal Reserve left its key interest rate unchanged at between 5.25% and 5.5% — the highest level in more than a decade — as annual inflation rates continued to stall.

In its statement announcing the hold, the central bank said that in recent months, there had been "a lack of further progress" toward its 2% percent inflation goal.

"Economic activity has continued to expand at a solid pace," it said. "Job gains have remained strong, and the unemployment rate has remained low. Inflation has eased over the past year but remains elevated."

Last month, the consumer price index came in at 3.5% on an annual basis, driven by rising housing costs and insurance rates, especially auto insurance.

"We're just a mile a way from the finish line," said Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody's, referring to the economy reaching 2% inflation. "We're very close, but still not there. I do think that inflation will continue to moderate."

The Fed has sought to slow inflation by keeping interest rates elevated. By making it more expensive for businesses and consumers to borrow money, including through credit cards, the Fed hopes to reduce demand for goods and services, thereby reducing price growth.

So far, the results of doing this have been mixed. After a period of rapid interest rate hikes, the pace of inflation fell from more than 9% in the summer of 2022 to its current levels of between 3% and 4%.

But the decline has since stalled.

There are complex reasons for the lack of progress and many elements may actually be out of the Federal Reserve's control. Home and auto insurance companies continue to pass on higher costs to consumers . Meanwhile, even as many consumers struggle, post-pandemic wealth gains have left others — especially older consumers — with plenty of money to spend, despite higher prices.

Whatever the case, the wait for slower inflation has left the average consumer in an increasingly dour mood. On Tuesday, the Conference Board’s monthly Consumer Confidence Index came in at its lowest level since July 2022. Consumers expressed more concern about the current labor market situation, future business conditions, job availability and income, the group said.

Still, most analysts say the odds of a recession are remote. In the most recent GDP report, spending on services, which includes everything from restaurants to airfare to professional services, came in at 4% year-on-year, the fastest rate since 2021.

“Don’t underestimate this economy,” economists with Wells Fargo said in a report following the release.

Consumers thus appear to be sensing that the most crucial part of the economy — the jobs market — is slowing, even while prices remain elevated.

Fed Chair Jerome Powell acknowledged this complex economic environment in remarks in early March.

"The outlook is still quite uncertain," Powell said. The central bank must balance its campaign against elevated inflation with ensuring the economy does not slip into a recession.

Economists like Zandi aren't expecting the Fed to raise interest rates, either.

Instead, the Fed will likely continue to keep rates elevated — perhaps even until after the November general election so that it does not appear to favor one candidate or another.

"[Powell's] message is clear: We can’t cut rates and we’re not there yet," Zandi said. "We've still got a ways to go."

Rob Wile is a breaking business news reporter for NBC News Digital.

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Jio bundles Netflix with 14 apps into broadband plan for Rs 888 monthly

Netflix access was earlier available for customers having jiofiber of rs 1,499 plan, while there was no access of entertainment apps for customers with entry-level 30 megabit per second broadband plan.

According to a company source, the plan will provide access to premium content of all over-the-top (OTT) apps bundled with the plan including Sony Liv, Zee5, Lionsgate, Discovery Plus, and AltBalaji, among others.

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(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)

9 Indian movies, shows in Netflix's top 1,000 watched between Jan-Jun 2023

Netflix adds gta trilogy to games catalogue: how-to play it on ios, android, netflix to bring grand theft auto trilogy on its mobile app this december, animal on netflix: ranbir's movie sets record with 20.8 mn viewing hours, netflix q1cy24: best results since 2020; 9.3 mn new subscribers acquired, air india, vistara ceos to address staff about proposed merger on may 13, lic's premium collection in april at rs 12,384 crore, highest since 2014, port talbot restructuring: wales' first minister meets tata steel top brass, becoming mother natural phenomenon; employer has to be considerate: hc, pluckk closes fy24 with a significant milestone, clocks aar of rs 100 crore.

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First Published: May 10 2024 | 10:16 PM IST

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