sba business plan

Developing an SBA Loan Business Plan

Embarking on the journey to secure a Small Business Administration (SBA) loan can be a transformative step for any entrepreneur. Crafting a well-thought-out business plan is not just a requirement for most SBA loans but also a fundamental blueprint that steers your business toward success.

In this comprehensive guide, we will walk you through the essential steps of creating an effective SBA loan business plan. We’ll provide a business plan roadmap, share example templates, and offer insights to help with writing a business plan that not only meets stringent SBA criteria but also lays a robust foundation for your business’s future.

The Importance of a Business Plan for SBA Loans

Before diving into the mechanics of writing a business plan, it’s crucial to understand its significance. A business plan is a detailed document that outlines your business’s core objectives, strategies, market, financial forecasts, and operational structure. For SBA loans , this plan acts as a demonstration of your commitment and your business’s viability. It reassures lenders that you have a clear pathway to profitability and a strategy for repaying the loan.

Step-by-Step Guide on How to Write A Business Plan for A Loan

Executive Summary: Your Business at a Glance

Start with an executive summary that encapsulates the essence of your business in a concise manner. This section should include your business name, location, the nature of your business, your mission statement, and a brief description of your products or services. Highlight key financial information and what you intend to do with the SBA loan. The goal is to excite and engage the reader about your business prospects.

Company Description: Who You Are and What You Plan to Achieve

The company description provides more detail about your business. Discuss the problems that your business solves, your target market, and what sets your business apart from competitors (your unique selling proposition). This section should also outline your business’s legal structure, history, and the nature of your industry.

Market Analysis: Demonstrating Your Competitive Advantage

A thorough market analysis validates the demand for your product or service. It involves detailing your target market demographics, size, location, and economic attributes. Assess your competitors—what they do well and how you can do it better or differently. This part of your SBA business plan should convincingly show why your business will be able to succeed where others might not.

Organization and Management: Your Business’s Backbone

This section should outline your business’s organizational structure. Include bios and professional backgrounds of your management team, their roles, and how their experience will contribute to the success of your business. If available, include an organizational chart that explains the hierarchy and relationship between management roles.

Service or Product Line: What You’re Selling

Describe what you are selling or the service you are providing. Detail the benefits of your products or services to the consumer. If applicable, discuss the product life cycle, intellectual property status, and any research and development activities that could influence your business.

Marketing and Sales Strategy: How You Will Attract and Retain Customers

Explain your approach to attracting and retaining customers. This should include detailed strategies for promotion, advertising, sales methodologies, and customer engagement. Highlight how these strategies will be adapted to your target market’s preferences and behaviors.

Funding Request: Specify What You Need

If the purpose of your business plan is to secure funding, specify the amount you are requesting, how you plan to use the funds, and the type of SBA loan you are seeking. Detail your funding request by years, and discuss future financial strategies.

Financial Projections: Showcasing Your Financial Savvy

Follow a detailed financial projections to back up your funding request. This section should include forecasted income statements, balance sheets, cash flow statements, and capital expenditure budgets for the next three to five years. Utilize an SBA financial projections template to ensure that all the required elements are thoroughly and accurately presented.

Appendix: Supporting Documents

Include any additional information that can help establish the credibility of your business plan for sba loan, such as market studies, legal agreements, product pictures, marketing materials, and more.

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How to Improve Your Chances of Being Approved for an SBA Loan

Securing an SBA loan can be competitive, but there are several strategies to enhance your approval odds:

• Strong Business Plan: Emphasize your thorough market research, realistic financial projections, and a clear explanation of how the loan will contribute to your business goals.
• Credit History: Ensure your business and personal credit histories are in good standing. Resolve any discrepancies before applying.
• Equity Investment: Show your commitment by investing personal equity into the business, which proves to lenders that you have skin in the game.
• Sufficient Collateral: Offer assets to secure the loan, reducing the risk for the lender.
• Preparation and Professionalism: Be well-prepared when meeting with lenders. Have all necessary documents organized and ready to present.

Should I Write a Traditional or Lean Business Plan?

When preparing a business plan for an SBA loan, one crucial decision you’ll face is whether to opt for a traditional business plan or a lean startup plan. Both formats have their merits and can be effective, depending on your business type, industry, and specific needs. Below, we explore both types of plans and provide a comparison to help you decide which is most suitable for your SBA loan application.

Traditional Business Plan

A traditional business plan is comprehensive, detailed, and extensively outlines every aspect of the business. It is particularly beneficial for businesses that require significant funding, are entering a highly competitive market, or have complex operational structures. This type of plan typically includes a thorough market analysis, detailed financial projections, and an exhaustive description of the business’s operational and management structures.

Lean Business Plan

An SBA lean business plan is a modern, streamlined version of the business plan, which focuses on summarizing the key elements of the business using concise bullet points and brief explanations. It is ideal for business es that can describe their value proposition, infrastructure, customers, and finances succinctly. This format is often preferred by entrepreneurs who need to adapt quickly to changes and iterate on their business model.

Comparison Table: Traditional vs. Lean Business Plan

Deciding Which Plan to Use

Choosing between a traditional and a lean business plan for your SBA loan application depends on the specific requirements of your lender, the complexity of your business, and your industry’s demands. If your business operates in a traditional sector or you’re seeking funding from conventional sources, a traditional business plan might be more appropriate. However, if you are in a fast-paced industry or require the flexibility to pivot, a lean business plan could be more advantageous.

Consider your business’s needs, your industry standards, and your lender’s expectations when deciding which type of business plan to create. Both types of plans have their place in the business world, and choosing the right one can significantly impact the effectiveness of your loan application.

Example Templates and Tool

Creating a business plan can be streamlined using specialized templates and tools designed to guide you through the process efficiently and effectively. Utilizing an SBA business plan outline and understanding how to write a business plan for SBA loan are crucial steps in ensuring that your plan adheres to industry standards and meets the expectations of lenders and investors. Here’s a closer look at how these tools can assist you and where you can find them.

Online Templates and Resources

SCORE Business Plan Template

SCORE, a nonprofit association dedicated to helping small businesses get off the ground, offers a variety of free SBA business plan templates that are ideal for startups and established businesses alike. These templates cover various business planning elements and are easily adaptable to your specific needs, making them a perfect choice if you are looking for a business plan template for a small business. 

Whether you need help with your financial projections, marketing strategy, or overall business description, SCORE provides detailed guidance and examples, effectively serving as an SBA business plan guide for small business owners.

You will find a free SBA business plan template that includes:

• A standard business plan outline that can be used for an SBA loan application.
• Financial projection worksheets designed to help you create comprehensive financial statements.
• Marketing plan templates that focus on identifying target markets and strategies.

U.S. Small Business Administration Business Plan Tools

The U.S. Small Business Administration itself is another excellent resource for potential loan applicants. The SBA offers a business plan tool that provides a step-by-step guide on how to create a business plan for a loan directly on their website. This interactive tool allows you to save your work and come back to it at your convenience, making the planning process flexible and adaptable to your schedule.

The SBA business plan tool is particularly useful for:

• Structuring your business plan according to SBA standards.
• Ensuring all required sections are comprehensive and well-detailed.
• Providing tips and prompts that help you think critically about each segment of your business.

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Software Tools

Apart from a free SBA template, there are several software tools available that can help in drafting a detailed business plan. Software like LivePlan and Bizplan not only offer templates but also provide interactive, step-by-step guidance through the planning process. These tools come with features like financial calculators, chart generators, and performance trackers, which can be invaluable for maintaining accurate records and projections.

Key features of such software include:

• Step-by-step guidance through each section of the business plan.
• Financial tools that automatically generate profit and loss statements, cash flow statements, and more based on your data.
• Collaboration features that allow team members to contribute and edit various parts of the business plan in real time.

Customized Consultant Services

While templates and software can provide a solid starting point, customized consultant services can also be instrumental, especially for unique business models or complex financial needs. Business consultants, particularly SBA business plan writers, are experts in tailoring business plans to meet the specific requirements of banks and SBA lenders. These professionals can offer valuable insights and feedback that elevate the quality of your business plan.

In summary, leveraging these templates and tools can dramatically enhance your ability to create a compelling and thorough business plan for your SBA loan application. By combining these resources with a clear understanding of your business goals and financial strategies, you will significantly increase your chances of success with lenders. 

Developing a detailed business plan for your SBA loan application is a crucial and rewarding task. This process not only enhances your application’s attractiveness to lenders but also clarifies your strategic direction, enabling you to envision a more defined path to business success. By taking this step, you set a solid groundwork that can support sustainable growth and operational effectiveness.

Maximize Your SBA Loan Potential with BSBCON’s Strategic Assistance

Crafting a comprehensive business plan is just the beginning. To refine your strategy and significantly boost your chances of securing a loan, expert guidance is invaluable. 

At BSBCON , we are dedicated to assisting enterprises like yours in managing the complexities of SBA loan applications. We specialize in optimizing SBA business plans and simplifying the application process to equip you with the tools necessary for success. Reach out to us today to discover how we can help you meet your business objectives and secure the funding you need.

By adhering to the guidelines in this guide and leveraging the appropriate resources, you are laying a robust foundation for success in your business ventures and your pursuit of an SBA loan . Let us help you turn your business aspirations into achievements with precision and confidence.

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How to Write a Business Plan for a Small Business

Noah Parsons

24 min. read

Updated September 2, 2024

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

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

• The basics of writing a business plan

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

You understand that writing a business plan helps you: 

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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• What to include in your business plan

Executive summary

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

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

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

Your executive summary should include:

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

Dig Deeper: How to write an effective executive summary

Products and services description

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

This is usually called a problem and solution statement .

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

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

Market analysis

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

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

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

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

Related: Target market examples

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

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

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

Dig Deeper: Learn how to write a market analysis

Competitive analysis

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

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

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

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

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

Marketing and sales plan

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Business operations

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Key milestones and metrics

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

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

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

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

Possible milestones might be:

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

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

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

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

Dig Deeper: How to use milestones in your business plan

Organization and management team

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

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

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

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

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

• Sole proprietor
• Partnership

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

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

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

Financial plan

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

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

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

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

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

Dig Deeper: How to create financial forecasts and budgets

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

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

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

Dig Deeper : What to include in your business plan appendix

Optional: Business plan cover page

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

Your cover page should be simple and include:

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

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

Dig Deeper: How to create a business plan cover page

How to use AI to help write your business plan

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

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

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

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

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

• Writing tips and strategies

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

Determine why you are writing a business plan

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

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

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

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

Keep things concise

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

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

Have someone review your business plan

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Common pitfalls and how to avoid them

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Use your business plan to manage your business

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Learn More: How to run a regular plan review

How to write a business plan FAQ

What is a business plan?

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

What are the benefits of writing a business plan?

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

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

What are the 7 steps of writing a business plan?

The seven steps to writing a business plan include:

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

What are the 5 most common business plan mistakes?

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

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

What questions should be answered in a business plan?

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

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

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

How long should a business plan be?

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

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

What are the different types of business plans?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Table of Contents

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

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SBA Business Plan Template: Full Guide [2024]

• August 7, 2024

In 2020, SBA’s flagship 7(a) loan program approved more than 42,000 loans totalling $22 billion . Yet, SBA loans are notoriously difficult to obtain for small businesses: less than 15% of SBA loan applications were granted by big banks. If you’re applying for a SBA loan , you will need a solid business plan template for your loan application.

In this article we go through, step-by-step, all the different sections you need in your business plan to build a complete, clear and solid business plan lenders will approve. Read on!

Why do you need a business plan for your SBA loan application?

Other than your basic eligibility requirements, the primary element that lenders would review is your business plan. Having a good business plan determines if your business is a lucrative opportunity for SBA lenders.

Also, a solid business plan makes it easier to get your loans approved because banks would be confident that your business would be successful and you would be able to repay your loan.

However, business plans tend to differ depending on the nature and status of your business. If you’re running an independent business or launching a startup for example, your business plan will be reviewed more thoroughly.

1. Executive summary

The executive summary is the most important page of your SBA business plan template . We can’t make this clearer. This is the first section that the lenders will have a look at.

Before we go into specifics, keep in mind the executive summary actually is a summary. Keep it brief: your executive summary should never be more than 2 pages maximum .

Your executive summary should consists of 5 parts:

• The “mission statement “: what problem(s) is your business solving?
• Product and service : what is it that you sell? to whom? where?
• People : who are the founders / management? What about their experience? How many people / teams do you employ?
• Key financials and projections : what are your key metrics and financials today (revenues, customers, etc.)? What do you expect these to be in 3/5 years from now?
• Funding ask : what (how much) are you asking as part of this loan? Where will you spend it? For what?

2. Company description

The company description is where we go into more details about your business, and which problem(s) it actually solves.

You should explain here clearly:

What is the problem at stake?

You should list here the 2/3 friction points you aim to tackle.

Remember: even if your business isn’t necessarily innovative, your business is potentially solving a problem, as obvious as it may be, for many people out there. The more obvious the problem is, the more people it affects, the better

What is your solution?

Your business is commercialising a product and/or a service which solves the problem mentioned above. Here, you should explain 2 things: how your product / service works, and what benefits it brings to your customers.

Ideally, you should compare the pain points explained earlier (the problem) to the benefits your solution brings to your customers. That way, it is crystal clear to lenders and investors your solution really adds value to potential customers .

When explaining your business’ solution, you should explain clearly who is your customer persona . In other words, who are your customers (or who do you think they will be)? Which gender, age range, social background, interests, etc?

Where are you going?

The third section of the company description should explain what your strategy is in the short to long term. Are you expecting to launch new products? To expand regionally, internationally? Etc.

3. Market plan and analysis

The market plan and analysis section tell investors and lenders that you have extensively studied the market and reveal your competitive plan.

Your market plan and analysis section should include the following:

Industry overview and outlook

Here you need to clearly identify 2 very important metrics:

• Market size : how big is your market?
• Market growth: how fast does your market grow?

If you are operating in a niche market, chances are that you will face some challenges: the information might not be publicly available. In any case, you should be able to make a high-level estimation of your market. Read our article on market sizing and how to estimate TAM, SAM and SOM for your startup .

When looking for these metrics, you have multiple sources of information: public reports, specialised press, etc. Even public companies publish press releases and annual reports including some of their proprietary market estimates so be sure to look there too.

Competitive landscape

Here we must answer 2 key questions:

How fragmented is your market?

Are there 3 big players sharing 90% market share or thousands of small players? Here, refer to public market reports and your own understanding of the competitive landscape .

A few questions you could ask yourself, among others:

• Who are your competitors?
• Are they local, regional, national or global?
• Are there any product alternatives to your product?
• What about their IP / technological advantage?

Where do you position yourself vs. competition?

Is your solution a game changer other competitors don’t have (yet)? Do you have competitors with similar products/services?

Ideally, you would create a small table with, for each type of competitors and their main characteristics.

For instance, do they all a global presence? Do they cover all the products you offer? What is their relative price positioning (expensive vs. accessible)?

4. Organization and management

The amount of details you need to include here varies depending on the size of your company.

No matter how many leadership roles there are, an organizational chart effectively shows lenders and investors how the management system is structured.

If you plan on running your business alone indefinitely, you can write a short paragraph explaining your qualifications and previous professional experiences.

The first thing you should include in this section is a list of each management position. This list includes who will fill the role and the qualifications of these people. These people are the heart of your company, and their skills and experience are vital in ensuring your company’s success.

Next, provide any additional information about how the management team will contribute to the business’s success. Be sure to give as many details as possible since lenders need to be comfortable and confident that you have a good team running your business.

Lastly, include information about the Board of Directors (and/or any other advisors to your business).

5. Service or product line

The level of detail and the content of this section changes depending on the type of business you have. A number of questions you need to answer are shown below (but not limited to):

• Are you selling products or services (or both)?
• How many products do you sell?
• What are they?
• What is their pricing?
• How do they work?
• Are your products protected by any kind of intellectual property (copyright, patent, etc.)?
• If you do not manufacture all of your product(s): who are they suppliers? Where do they fit in the value chain ? etc.

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6. Marketing and sales

Your SBA business plan template should include a marketing and sales plan where you describe your strategy for acquiring potential clients.

Here, you should give details about your marketing plan. A few questions you should answer are:

• How you plan to build and support your sales strategy ?
• What channel(s) are you using (online vs. offline)?
• How it makes sense for your target audience (the customer persona mentioned above)?

What about your metrics?

Sales and marketing goals and KPIs are also provided in this section. Don’t forget to include a detailed report about budgets for both sales and marketing.

Include metrics such as conversion rate, customer acquisition cost (CAC) , the efficiency of your sales team, etc.

It’s ok if you don’t know them already (if you are about to launch you new venture for example), yet you should have at least targets for them. How many website visitors do you expect to generate next year? What is your target conversion rate? Etc.

This particular report would be of great interest to lenders since they will glimpse how you handle your budget. Indeed, if you expect to spend in average $100 Customer Acquisition Cost, lenders will tie the number into your financial projections later on (more on that below).

Proving lenders you are able to link your financial projections with your actual business metrics (customers, sales volume, etc.) is a big plus . Indeed, that way you will show lenders you understand very clearly your business and how it ties into your financials (more on that in our article on why you should build a solid financial projections ).

7. Funding request

The funding request is the section of your SBA business plan template where you communicate to your investors how much you need.

This report also includes how you plan on repaying your loan. It’s also essential to explain how you plan to spend the funding you’ll receive for your business.

Will you spend the loan in working capital , in equipment, in inventory, salaries or marketing costs? The more specific you are, the better.

If you haven’t done so, we really recommend you read our article on how to determine how much you should raise for you business . While raising too little creates obvious problems, raising too much isn’t necessarily better.

On top of the amount, a good practice is to include a pie chart of where you will spend that money over a given period (your runway). Will you spend the bulk of it in product development to build your MVP? Or will you use a large portion in sales & marketing to commercialise your product and find product-market fit?

Our financial model templates include a cash burn dashboard where you can easily assess how much you should raise, and where you will spend your money. We also included charts ready to be included in your pitch deck. See how to use our cash burn dashboard here .

The funding request usually includes an overview of the business. You also have to outline how much funding you need for the next five years.  The standard timeframe for repaying your loan is usually ten years, so lenders expect to see some success in your business by that time. Mention a  detailed explanation of how the funds will be used and strategic financial plans for the future here.  Include financial information for current operations if applicable.

8. Financial projections

The financial projections section of your SBA business plan is one of the most important one.

Why? Lenders will have a thorough review of your expected financials over the next 3 to 5 years and judge whether your financial projections:

Are realistic (and use verifiable assumptions)

We are all by nature optimistic, especially when we are running businesses. It’s good to be optimistic, yet it is another one to be unrealistic.

Also, when presenting your financial projections, make sure to make it clear what are your assumptions. The more sources you can find to back up your forecasts, the better.

If you need help building realistic projections for your business, we have lots of free content. Make sure to check out our guides below:

• The 5 Mistakes To Avoid For Your Startup Financial Plan
• How To Build Realistic Revenue Projections For Your Startup?

Allow you to repay the SBA loan in the future

It’s great if you have built rock-solid and realistic financial projections for your business plan. Yet, if your plan doesn’t allow you to meet your debt obligations (the SBA loan and any other debt your business might have), lenders will not grant you any loan.

When assessing whether your financial plan allows you to repay the debt, you should check if the positive cash flows your business generates are enough to cover your debt repayment (and interests).

What financials should you include?

In short, you should present 3 different set of financials:

• Profit-and-loss
• Balance sheet
• Cash flow statement

If you don’t know them already, these are the financial statements every business need to prepare at least annually (with the help of an accountant). For more information on what they are and how to prepare them, read our articles below:

• 4 Key Financial Statements For Your Startup Business Plan
• SBA Loan Application: 6 Steps To Build Solid Financial Projections

9. Appendix

This section is the best place to add supporting documents like charts, graphs, and data.

For example, a complete list of documents like licenses, contracts, maps, etc. makes you more attractive to lenders as it gives them more content to review. If you do so, make sure to reference the documents in appendix and link them to pages in earlier sections. Avoid using the appendix as a dump section: it should be well organised and structured (else no one will bother looking at it).

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How to Write an SBA Business Plan

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Applying for a loan through the Small Business Administration (SBA)? Here’s how to write an SBA business plan for your application. 

We’ll walk you through the process and explain:

• Why you need an SBA business plan
• How to write a business plan when applying for an SBA loan
• The elements of an SBA business plan template
• How to prepare your plan for a successful SBA loan application

Why You Need a Small Business Administration Business Plan

The SBA works with a network of approved lenders to support a variety of loan programs designed to help small businesses succeed. To make these loans affordable, the SBA guarantees the loans, reducing risk to lenders and enabling them to charge lower rates. Approved lenders must not exceed rate caps set by the SBA. This makes these loans one of the most affordable forms of financing for small businesses .

When deciding which loan applications to approve, one of the most important factors lenders consider is your company’s ability to repay your loan. Because of this, one of the best ways to improve your odds of getting a loan is to present lenders with a well-written business plan.

How to Write a Business Plan for an SBA Loan

A typical sample business plan for an SBA loan typically includes 9 key components, according to the SBA :

• Executive summary
• Company description
• Market analysis
• Organization and management
• Service or product line
• Marketing and sales
• Funding request
• Financial projections

Use this SBA loan business plan sample outline to organize the structure of your plan. Then use the detailed explanation of each section below to flesh in your outline.

To fill in the details of your outline, you may find it convenient to first assemble some preliminary information you’ll need, including:

• A brief statement summarizing your company mission
• Business incorporation papers
• Market research summaries and resources
• Your company organizational chart
• Resumes of key staff members
• Marketing and sales strategy planning
• Financial statements projecting your business performance over the next few years, including a profit and loss statement (income statement), balance sheet and cash flow statement

Having this information available will make it easier to write your plan.

Filling in Your SBA Business Plan Template

Now we’ll explain what belongs in each section of your business plan. The items included below illustrate what typically goes in each section, but depending on the nature of your business, you may choose to omit certain items or include others. Adjust these guidelines to your individual needs.

1. Executive Summary

Your executive summary presents a short overview of the highlights of your business plan. It’s designed as a short overview of your plan for busy lenders who have to read many SBA loan applications are trying to decide whether it’s worthwhile to continue reading the rest of your plan. If a summary doesn’t grab their attention and convince them you’ve got a solid business plan, they may not read the rest of your plan.

With that in mind, it’s crucial to focus your summary on the main points of your plan and to keep it short. A couple of pages is a good target length.

Your executive summary should briefly cover:

• Your company’s mission statement
• A description of your company’s product or service
• Essential information about your leadership, employees and location
• Your company’s finances
• Your funding request

You may find it easier to outline your executive summary briefly and then write the rest of your business plan. You can then condense the detailed information from your plan into your executive summary to flesh it out.

2. Company Description

Your company description discusses:

• Your company’s mission
• What you do for your customers
• Who your target market is
• How you stand out from your competitors

You may find it easier to write this section after you’ve done your market research and developed a marketing and sales strategy.

3. Market Analysis

Your market analysis summarizes the results of your market research, covering items such as:

• The size and growth trends of your target market
• The composition and needs of your target demographic
• What your top competitors are doing
• How your company can gain a competitive advantage

Doing your homework when writing this section can help you persuade lenders that your business plan is viable. It can also help you make realistic revenue projections for developing your financial statements .

This section is a good place to include visual aids such as graphs and charts that illustrate the size of your market.

4. Organization and Management

This section covers information such as:

• The legal structure of your business ( sole proprietorship , partnership, LLC, S-corporation, or C-corporation)
• The organizational structure of your staff, which can include an organizational chart
• The backgrounds of your key personnel, which can include curriculum vitae or resumes
• Your operational plan, describing how you will run your business

5. Service or Product Line

This section addresses items such as:

• What products or services your company sells
• How your product or service benefits your customers
• Your product or service’s lifecycle (how your company will launch your product or service and grow market share)
• Intellectual property issues associated with your product (patents, copyrights)
• Research and development your company is doing related to your product or service

6. Marketing and Sales

Your marketing-and-sales section should convince lenders you have a viable plan to promote and sell your products or services. It covers topics such as:

• Your unique selling proposition (how you will position your brand to convince customers they should buy from you instead of a rival brand)
• What marketing channels you will use to promote your brand
• Your sales process

Writing this section can also help you estimate sales projections, which can be useful when creating your financial projections.

7. Funding Request

Your funding request formalizes what you’re asking for from prospective lenders, detailing key items such as:

• How much funding you need
• What type of funding you’re requesting (different business loan options , a line of credit or merchant cash advance)
• Your desired terms
• The amount of time your request covers
• What the funding will be used for
• How you intend to repay what you borrow

8. Financial Projections

This section gives lenders a picture of your company’s financial shape by summarizing items such as:

• Your company’s annual revenue, expenses and profits
• Your company’s balance of assets and liabilities
• Your company’s cash flow
• Your analysis of how long it will take your company to break even
• Relevant highlights of your personal finances, such as your net worth and credit score
• Collateral you could use to put up for a loan

Your company’s financials should be fleshed out in spreadsheets covering your key financial statements:

• Profit and loss (income) statement
• Balance sheet
• Cash flow statement

These statements and others you choose to use can be summarized in your business plan, with full details in attached spreadsheets.

9. Appendix

Your appendix includes any supporting documents that can help you make the case for your loan request, such as:

• Financial statements
• Credit histories
• Market research articles or links
• Marketing graphs and charts that go beyond the highlights included in your marketing section

Feel free to include any additional items that you think will impress lenders.

Preparing Your Plan for a Successful SBA Loan Application

Before using your business plan to apply for an SBA loan, you may find it helpful to have an expert review your plan and make suggestions on how to improve it. The SBA provides works in partnership with organizations such as SCORE to provide entrepreneurs with access to business mentors who can advise you on developing your business plan and applying for a loan. The SBA’s website includes an online tool to help you find local assistance from SCORE and other partner organizations in the agency’s network.

When you submit your plan with your loan application, lenders will typically check your personal credit score to evaluate your creditworthiness. You can improve the odds of your business plan succeeding by taking steps to improve your credit score before applying for a loan. A good place to start is by requesting a free copy of your credit report from AnnualCreditReport.com.

Using Your SBA Business Plan to Secure a Loan

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SBA Business Plan Template: A Step-by-Step Guide

Welcome to the world of business planning! If you’re ready to take your entrepreneurial dreams to the next level, you’ve come to the right place. In this step-by-step guide, we’ll walk you through the ins and outs of creating an effective business plan using the SBA Business Plan Template. Ready? Let’s dive in!

Crafting a solid business plan is like building a roadmap for success. With the SBA Business Plan Template, you’ll have a user-friendly tool that breaks down the process into manageable steps. No need to feel overwhelmed – we’re here to support you every step of the way.

Whether you’re starting a brand-new venture or looking to grow your existing business, a well-crafted business plan is essential. It helps you clarify your goals, outline your strategies, and secure financing if needed. So, grab a pen, gather your thoughts, and get ready to turn your dreams into a well-structured plan that sets you up for success.

So, are you ready to embark on this exciting journey of business planning? Let’s get started with the SBA Business Plan Template and unlock the potential of your entrepreneurial vision.

1. Understanding the Importance of a Business Plan

A business plan is not just a document for securing funding; it’s a roadmap that outlines the vision, mission, and strategic direction for your business. It helps you clarify your goals, identify your target market, and develop a thorough understanding of your industry. A well-crafted business plan also serves as a tool for internal decision-making, guiding your day-to-day operations and long-term growth.

When it comes to lenders and investors, a comprehensive business plan demonstrates your commitment, professionalism, and ability to mitigate risks. It instills confidence and provides the necessary information to make informed investment decisions. Moreover, a business plan is essential for attracting potential partners, employees, and customers, as it showcases your strategic thinking and sets you apart from competitors.

By using the SBA Business Plan Template, you can streamline the process and ensure that you cover all the critical components. This comprehensive template will guide you through each section, prompting you to articulate your business model, marketing strategy, financial projections, and more.

2. Navigating the SBA Business Plan Template

The SBA Business Plan Template is divided into several sections, ensuring that you consider all the crucial aspects of your business. It starts with an executive summary, where you provide an overview of your business and highlight its unique selling proposition. This section acts as a snapshot of your entire business plan, so it’s important to craft a compelling and concise summary that grabs the reader’s attention.

The template then guides you through sections such as company description, market analysis, organization and management, product line or services, marketing and sales strategy, funding request, and financial projections . Each section provides specific prompts and suggestions to help you structure and articulate your ideas effectively. It’s crucial to take your time and thoroughly research each area to ensure accuracy and a comprehensive understanding of your business.

Throughout the template, you’ll find helpful tips, examples, and resources to assist you in completing each section. Remember that the SBA Business Plan Template is a flexible tool, so feel free to tailor it to your unique business needs and industry. The goal is to create a document that not only meets the SBA’s requirements but also effectively communicates your business vision and potential to stakeholders.

3. Benefits of Using the SBA Business Plan Template

The SBA Business Plan Template offers several advantages for entrepreneurs and business owners:

• Guidance: The template provides a structured framework to ensure you consider all the essential aspects of your business, helping you create a comprehensive and well-rounded plan.
• Time-saving: By using the template, you don’t have to start from scratch. It provides prompts, examples, and resources that streamline the process.
• Access to funding: Banks, lenders, and investors are familiar with the SBA Business Plan Template. By using it, you increase your chances of securing funding, as it meets industry standards and expectations.
• Professionalism: A well-crafted business plan demonstrates your commitment and professionalism, setting a positive impression with stakeholders, partners, and potential customers.
• Clarity and focus: The template helps you articulate your ideas and refine your business strategy, ensuring clarity and focus in your decision-making.
• Research and analysis: The template encourages thorough research and analysis of your target market, competition, and industry, providing valuable insights that inform your business strategy.

SBA Business Plan Template: Key Components

Now that we’ve explored the importance and benefits of the SBA Business Plan Template, let’s delve into the key components you’ll need to address to create a comprehensive and compelling business plan.

1. Executive Summary: Setting the Stage for Success

The executive summary is the first section of your business plan, but it should be written last since it summarizes the entire document. This section is crucial for capturing the reader’s attention and providing an overview of your business, including its mission, vision, unique selling proposition, target market, and financial highlights. While you want to make it compelling, keep it concise and focused, aiming for no more than two pages.

In your executive summary, highlight the strengths and competitive advantages of your business, emphasizing the value proposition and market demand. Mention your key milestones and achievements, such as team members with relevant expertise or successful prototypes, to showcase your progress and potential. Remember, the goal of the executive summary is to pique the reader’s interest and entice them to explore the rest of your business plan.

When crafting the executive summary, pay close attention to clarity, coherence, and persuasive language. Keep in mind that busy investors and lenders often skim through business plans, so make sure the key points are easily identifiable. However, avoid overselling or exaggerating the potential of your business, as credibility is paramount.

2. Company Description: Painting a Clear Picture

The company description section provides an overview of your business, its history, and its structure. Here, you should explain your mission, vision, and values, highlighting what makes your business unique and appealing to customers. It’s important to provide a clear and concise description that captures the essence of your business and its potential.

Include details such as the legal structure of your business (e.g., sole proprietorship, partnership, corporation), the industry in which you operate, and your target market. Describe the products or services you offer and outline your competitive advantage. What sets you apart from competitors? How do you plan on positioning your business in the market?

Additionally, if your business has already achieved notable milestones, such as partnerships, awards, or a strong customer base, mention them here. It will help establish your credibility and showcase the potential for growth and success.

3. Market Analysis: Know Your Customers and Competitors

An in-depth market analysis is crucial for understanding your target market, assessing customer needs and preferences, and identifying your competitors. This section requires thorough research and analysis to gather accurate and up-to-date information about your industry and market trends.

Start by defining your target market and creating buyer personas—a representation of your ideal customers. Identify their demographics, psychographics, and purchasing behavior. Explore their pain points and needs and align your products or services with these insights. Understanding your customers’ motivations and desires will enable you to tailor your marketing and sales strategies to effectively reach and engage them.

Next, assess the competitive landscape. Research your direct and indirect competitors, analyzing their strengths, weaknesses, and market share. Identify your unique selling proposition and determine how you can stand out in the market. What competitive advantages do you have? Are there any gaps or untapped opportunities in the market that you can exploit?

Use reliable sources such as industry reports, market research studies, surveys, and interviews to gather data and support your analysis. Ensure that your market analysis is comprehensive, realistic, and accurate, as it forms the basis for your business strategy and marketing efforts.

4. Organization and Management: Building a Strong Team

The organization and management section provides insight into the structure of your business, the key team members, and their roles and responsibilities. Investors and lenders are interested in the expertise and experience of your management team, as it directly impacts the success and growth of your business.

Introduce the founders and key executives, outlining their backgrounds, qualifications, and relevant achievements. Highlight their expertise and how it aligns with the needs of your business. Additionally, mention any advisors or board members who bring valuable industry knowledge and connections.

Describe the organizational structure of your business, specifying the different departments or functional areas and their roles. If your business is in the early stages, clarify how the team will be expanded as your operations grow. This section provides reassurance that you have a strong team in place to execute your business strategy and navigate challenges.

Key Takeaways: SBA Business Plan Template: A Step-by-Step Guide

• A business plan is an essential tool for any business, and the SBA provides a helpful template to guide you through the process.
• Using the SBA business plan template can save you time and effort, as it outlines the necessary sections and information you need to include.
• Step-by-step instructions in the template help you organize and present your business idea effectively, allowing investors to understand your vision and potential.
• Writing a business plan might seem overwhelming, but with the SBA template, you can break it down into manageable sections, making it easier to complete.
• By following the SBA business plan template, you can create a comprehensive and professional document that showcases your business goals and strategies.

Frequently Asked Questions

Looking for guidance on using the SBA Business Plan Template? We’ve got you covered! Check out these commonly asked questions to help you make the most of this step-by-step guide.

1. What is the SBA Business Plan Template, and why should I use it?

The SBA Business Plan Template is a free, downloadable resource provided by the Small Business Administration. It serves as a guide to help entrepreneurs outline, organize, and create a comprehensive business plan. Using this template can greatly benefit your business endeavors by ensuring you cover crucial aspects, such as market analysis, financial projections, and competitive strategies. It provides a structured format that helps you present your ideas effectively to potential investors, lenders, and partners.

By using the SBA Business Plan Template, you can save time and effort in creating a professional and well-structured plan. It prompts you to consider essential factors that you might otherwise overlook, resulting in a more thorough and persuasive document that increases your chances of success.

2. Is the SBA Business Plan Template suitable for all types of businesses?

Yes, the SBA Business Plan Template is designed to be adaptable to various types of businesses, whether you’re launching a startup, seeking funding for an existing business, or even expanding your operations. The template provides sections and prompts that can be customized according to your specific industry and business model.

While the template serves as a valuable starting point, it’s essential to add your unique insights, strategies, and research to make the plan relevant to your specific business goals. Customizing the template ensures that it accurately reflects your vision and showcases the strengths of your business.

3. Can I use the SBA Business Plan Template if I already have a business plan?

Yes, even if you already have a business plan for your company, the SBA Business Plan Template can still be a useful resource. It allows you to evaluate your existing plan, identify any gaps or areas for improvement, and incorporate new ideas and strategies. By using the template, you can refine and enhance your existing plan, making it more compelling and comprehensive.

Additionally, if you’re seeking funding or presenting your business to potential partners or investors, using the SBA Business Plan Template can provide a standardized format that is familiar to those in the industry, facilitating better understanding and evaluation of your business.

4. What other resources can help me complete my business plan alongside the SBA Business Plan Template?

While the SBA Business Plan Template is an excellent tool, additional resources can complement and enhance your business plan creation process. Here are a few suggestions:

– Market research: Conduct thorough market research to gather data on industry trends, target audience, competitors, and potential market opportunities.

– Financial resources: Utilize financial software or consult with an accountant to create accurate financial statements and projections.

– Professional guidance: Consider seeking advice from business mentors, SCORE mentors , or industry experts who can provide valuable insights and feedback on your plan.

– Business planning courses or workshops: Participating in classes or workshops can help you develop a deeper understanding of business planning principles and improve the quality of your plan.

5. Can I update or modify the SBA Business Plan Template after completing it?

Absolutely! The SBA Business Plan Template is designed to be flexible, allowing you to update or modify it as needed. Remember, your business plan is a dynamic document that should reflect changes in your business, market conditions, and goals over time.

If you need to make modifications, simply revise the relevant sections or add new information. It’s essential to keep your business plan up to date to align with your evolving strategies and to provide accurate insights to stakeholders. Regularly reviewing and updating your plan ensures that it remains a valuable tool for guiding your business’s growth and success.

Creating a business plan is important for starting and growing a small business. The SBA Business Plan Template provides a step-by-step guide to help you organize your ideas.

First, you need to understand your business concept and target market. Then, you should outline your marketing and sales strategies. Additionally, you must detail your operations and management structure.

Second, you need to develop a financial plan that includes revenue projections and funding requirements. Finally, you should review and revise your business plan regularly to adapt to changes and stay on track.

By using the SBA Business Plan Template, you can ensure that your business plan is comprehensive and well-structured, setting you up for success in the long run. So, get started and turn your business idea into a reality!

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• Business plans

SBA Business Plan Template

Used 4,872 times

Use our free and fully customizable SBA business plan template to get started when writing a successful proposal for an SBA loan.

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Created by:

​ [Sender.FirstName] [Sender.LastName] ​

​ [Sender.Company] ​

Prepared for:

​ [Recipient.FirstName] [Recipient.LastName]

​ [Recipient.Company] ​

​ [Sender.Company] – SBA Business Plan

(company.tagline).

​ [Sender.Email] ​

​ [Sender.Phone] ​

(Company.Website)

​ [Sender.StreetAddress] [Sender.City] [Sender.State] [Sender.PostalCode] ​

Executive Summary

​ [Sender.PostalCode] is a new business focusing on providing (Product.Service) to residents located in the surrounding areas of (Location). The target market is (Target.Market), with the demographics of the target audience within (Number) miles of (Location) as follows:

(Number) residents

Average income of $(Income)

(Percentage)% married

(Percentage)% in professional/Mgt. Occupations

Median Age: (Number) years

The significant figures part of this start-up are (Owner.Name), the company owner, and (Shareholder.Name), (Shareholder.Name), and (Shareholder.Name) as shareholders of the company.

This business plan aims to reach the following goals:

(Goal) – (Basic.Description)

The requested SBA capital is $(Amount), while the income, expenses, and revenue predicted for this plan are as follows:

Projected annual income: $(Amount)

Projected annual expenses: $(Amount)

Projected annual revenue: $(Amount)

The predicted benefits of establishing this business in the area are:

(Benefit.One)

(Benefit.Two)

(Benefit.Three)

(Benefit.Four)

Company Description

​ [Sender.Company] is located at [Sender.StreetAddress] [Sender.City] [Sender.State] [Sender.PostalCode] and is an (Company.Type) (such as LLC, sole proprietorship, etc.). After in-depth research into the (Product.Type) market, we have identified several areas that could be improved:

(Market.Gaps) – (Description)

In response to these problems, we have created several solutions as part of our company aims:

(Solution.One) – (Description)

(Solution.Two) – (Description)

(Solution.Three) – (Description)

We are also planning to grow the company, eventually expanding into (Location), (Location), and (Location), where we have identified similar market gaps.

Management Organization

The following persons of interest fill these positions in [Sender.Company] ​

Hiring Plan

(Owner.Name) will serve as the overall manager for hiring new employees. We will fill the following positions during the start-up operations:

(Number) (Job.Positio)

Market Plan and Analysis

Industry analysis.

The following industry statistics and size facts show that the business will do well in (Location).

Market Size: (Size)

Market Growth: (Growth.Speed)

Market Trends

We have identified the following market trends and how they will impact our business plan positively:

(Market.Trend) – (Impact)

Competitive Landscape

Market reports show the following competitive landscape:

(Competition.Chart)

Our biggest competitor currently is (Primary.Competitor), which has (Strengths), but also critical weaknesses like (Weaknesses). Our business has the following strengths, enabling us to overcome the competition and gain an edge in the market.

​ [Sender.Company] will serve residents within (Number) miles of (Location). The following location demographics are present in the surrounding area:

Our primary focus groups are:

(Primary.FocusGroup) – (Reason)

(Secondary.FocusGroup) – (Reason)

(Tertiary.FocusGroup) – (Reason)

Goals, Objectives, and Operations

The goals of [Sender.Company] with this business are:

The objectives of [Sender.Company] with this business are:

Products and Services

​ [Sender.Company] focuses on selling (Products.Services) to the general public (Or retailers, fill this section with a broad idea of your primary target market). These products/services include:

(Description of products/services)

Marketing and Sales

The [Sender.Company] will focus on its unique value proposition, offering (Selling.Point) in a convenient location for customers. Besides excelling in customer service and building a trusted reputation in the community, we will reach out to the community via the following methods:

Email Campaign

We will blanket the surrounding neighborhoods with direct emails. This email campaign will share information on [Sender.Company] and give inducements to convince residents to try out the business.

Public Relations

​ [Sender.Company] will contact the community and local news outlets to explain our unique offering.

Advertising

We will advertise in the local area and newspapers to gain awareness among the community.

Social Media

Social media accounts will ensure we can gain a following in the market. The pamphlets, emails, and website will have direct links to these platforms to grow the interest in the brand.

Pre-Opening Events

​ [Sender.Company] will organize pre-opening events to attract prospective customers. We will invite press contacts and local merchants to these events to place attention on the brand.

Customer Communication

Continuous customer communications will be available through a website and monthly newsletter to tell the community about our deals, products, and services.

Financial Data and Forecast

Total funding required: $(Amoun)

Lease and renovation of retail store: $(Amount)

Working capital until break-even: $(Amount)

Funding received to date: $(Amount)

Budget still required: $(Amount)

Funding Request

The total funding [Sender.Company] ​ required to start up this business is $(Amount). We will use this funding as follows:

Capital Request and Repayment

We request $(Funding.Amount) to start up this business, and plan to repay it over the following period:

Appendix Documentation

Business licenses

Permits and certifications

Reference letters

Product photos

Business owner resumes

Contractual agreements pertaining to this business

Legal documents related to this business

​ [Recipient.FirstName] [Recipient.LastName] ​

Care to rate this template?

Your rating will help others.

Thanks for your rate!

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Simple Business Plan Template (2024)

Updated: May 4, 2024, 4:37pm

Table of Contents

Why business plans are vital, get your free simple business plan template, how to write an effective business plan in 6 steps, frequently asked questions.

While taking many forms and serving many purposes, they all have one thing in common: business plans help you establish your goals and define the means for achieving them. Our simple business plan template covers everything you need to consider when launching a side gig, solo operation or small business. By following this step-by-step process, you might even uncover a few alternate routes to success.

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Whether you’re a first-time solopreneur or a seasoned business owner, the planning process challenges you to examine the costs and tasks involved in bringing a product or service to market. The process can also help you spot new income opportunities and hone in on the most profitable business models.

Though vital, business planning doesn’t have to be a chore. Business plans for lean startups and solopreneurs can simply outline the business concept, sales proposition, target customers and sketch out a plan of action to bring the product or service to market. However, if you’re seeking startup funding or partnership opportunities, you’ll need a write a business plan that details market research, operating costs and revenue forecasting. Whichever startup category you fall into, if you’re at square one, our simple business plan template will point you down the right path.

Copy our free simple business plan template so you can fill in the blanks as we explore each element of your business plan. Need help getting your ideas flowing? You’ll also find several startup scenario examples below.

Download free template as .docx

Whether you need a quick-launch overview or an in-depth plan for investors, any business plan should cover the six key elements outlined in our free template and explained below. The main difference in starting a small business versus an investor-funded business is the market research and operational and financial details needed to support the concept.

1. Your Mission or Vision

Start by declaring a “dream statement” for your business. You can call this your executive summary, vision statement or mission. Whatever the name, the first part of your business plan summarizes your idea by answering five questions. Keep it brief, such as an elevator pitch. You’ll expand these answers in the following sections of the simple business plan template.

• What does your business do? Are you selling products, services, information or a combination?
• Where does this happen? Will you conduct business online, in-store, via mobile means or in a specific location or environment?
• Who does your business benefit? Who is your target market and ideal customer for your concept?
• Why would potential customers care? What would make your ideal customers take notice of your business?
• How do your products and/or services outshine the competition? What would make your ideal customers choose you over a competitor?

These answers come easily if you have a solid concept for your business, but don’t worry if you get stuck. Use the rest of your plan template to brainstorm ideas and tactics. You’ll quickly find these answers and possibly new directions as you explore your ideas and options.

2. Offer and Value Proposition

This is where you detail your offer, such as selling products, providing services or both, and why anyone would care. That’s the value proposition. Specifically, you’ll expand on your answers to the first and fourth bullets from your mission/vision.

As you complete this section, you might find that exploring value propositions uncovers marketable business opportunities that you hadn’t yet considered. So spend some time brainstorming the possibilities in this section.

For example, a cottage baker startup specializing in gluten-free or keto-friendly products might be a value proposition that certain audiences care deeply about. Plus, you could expand on that value proposition by offering wedding and other special-occasion cakes that incorporate gluten-free, keto-friendly and traditional cake elements that all guests can enjoy.

3. Audience and Ideal Customer

Here is where you explore bullet point number three, who your business will benefit. Identifying your ideal customer and exploring a broader audience for your goods or services is essential in defining your sales and marketing strategies, plus it helps fine-tune what you offer.

There are many ways to research potential audiences, but a shortcut is to simply identify a problem that people have that your product or service can solve. If you start from the position of being a problem solver, it’s easy to define your audience and describe the wants and needs of your ideal customer for marketing efforts.

Using the cottage baker startup example, a problem people might have is finding fresh-baked gluten-free or keto-friendly sweets. Examining the wants and needs of these people might reveal a target audience that is health-conscious or possibly dealing with health issues and willing to spend more for hard-to-find items.

However, it’s essential to have a customer base that can support your business. You can be too specialized. For example, our baker startup can attract a broader audience and boost revenue by offering a wider selection of traditional baked goods alongside its gluten-free and keto-focused specialties.

4. Revenue Streams, Sales Channels and Marketing

Thanks to our internet-driven economy, startups have many revenue opportunities and can connect with target audiences through various channels. Revenue streams and sales channels also serve as marketing vehicles, so you can cover all three in this section.

Revenue Streams

Revenue streams are the many ways you can make money in your business. In your plan template, list how you’ll make money upon launch, plus include ideas for future expansion. The income possibilities just might surprise you.

For example, our cottage baker startup might consider these revenue streams:

• Product sales : Online, pop-up shops , wholesale and (future) in-store sales
• Affiliate income : Monetize blog and social media posts with affiliate links
• Advertising income : Reserve website space for advertising
• E-book sales : (future) Publish recipe e-books targeting gluten-free and keto-friendly dessert niches
• Video income : (future) Monetize a YouTube channel featuring how-to videos for the gluten-free and keto-friendly dessert niches
• Webinars and online classes : (future) Monetize coaching-style webinars and online classes covering specialty baking tips and techniques
• Members-only content : (future) Monetize a members-only section of the website for specialty content to complement webinars and online classes
• Franchise : (future) Monetize a specialty cottage bakery concept and sell to franchise entrepreneurs

Sales Channels

Sales channels put your revenue streams into action. This section also answers the “where will this happen” question in the second bullet of your vision.

The product sales channels for our cottage bakery example can include:

• Mobile point-of-sale (POS) : A mobile platform such as Shopify or Square POS for managing in-person sales at local farmers’ markets, fairs and festivals
• E-commerce platform : An online store such as Shopify, Square or WooCommerce for online retail sales and wholesale sales orders
• Social media channels : Facebook, Instagram and Pinterest shoppable posts and pins for online sales via social media channels
• Brick-and-mortar location : For in-store sales , once the business has grown to a point that it can support a physical location

Channels that support other income streams might include:

• Affiliate income : Blog section on the e-commerce website and affiliate partner accounts
• Advertising income : Reserved advertising spaces on the e-commerce website
• E-book sales : Amazon e-book sales via Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing
• Video income : YouTube channel with ad monetization
• Webinars and online classes : Online class and webinar platforms that support member accounts, recordings and playback
• Members-only content : Password-protected website content using membership apps such as MemberPress

Nowadays, the line between marketing and sales channels is blurred. Social media outlets, e-books, websites, blogs and videos serve as both marketing tools and income opportunities. Since most are free and those with advertising options are extremely economical, these are ideal marketing outlets for lean startups.

However, many businesses still find value in traditional advertising such as local radio, television, direct mail, newspapers and magazines. You can include these advertising costs in your simple business plan template to help build a marketing plan and budget.

5. Structure, Suppliers and Operations

This section of your simple business plan template explores how to structure and operate your business. Details include the type of business organization your startup will take, roles and responsibilities, supplier logistics and day-to-day operations. Also, include any certifications or permits needed to launch your enterprise in this section.

Our cottage baker example might use a structure and startup plan such as this:

• Business structure : Sole proprietorship with a “doing business as” (DBA) .
• Permits and certifications : County-issued food handling permit and state cottage food certification for home-based food production. Option, check into certified commercial kitchen rentals.
• Roles and responsibilities : Solopreneur, all roles and responsibilities with the owner.
• Supply chain : Bulk ingredients and food packaging via Sam’s Club, Costco, Amazon Prime with annual membership costs. Uline for shipping supplies; no membership needed.
• Day-to-day operations : Source ingredients and bake three days per week to fulfill local and online orders. Reserve time for specialty sales, wholesale partner orders and market events as needed. Ship online orders on alternating days. Update website and create marketing and affiliate blog posts on non-shipping days.

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6. Financial Forecasts

Your final task is to list forecasted business startup and ongoing costs and profit projections in your simple business plan template. Thanks to free business tools such as Square and free marketing on social media, lean startups can launch with few upfront costs. In many cases, cost of goods, shipping and packaging, business permits and printing for business cards are your only out-of-pocket expenses.

Cost Forecast

Our cottage baker’s forecasted lean startup costs might include:

Gross Profit Projections

This helps you determine the retail prices and sales volume required to keep your business running and, hopefully, earn income for yourself. Use product research to spot target retail prices for your goods, then subtract your cost of goods, such as hourly rate, raw goods and supplier costs. The total amount is your gross profit per item or service.

Here are some examples of projected gross profits for our cottage baker:

Bottom Line

Putting careful thought and detail in a business plan is always beneficial, but don’t get so bogged down in planning that you never hit the start button to launch your business . Also, remember that business plans aren’t set in stone. Markets, audiences and technologies change, and so will your goals and means of achieving them. Think of your business plan as a living document and regularly revisit, expand and restructure it as market opportunities and business growth demand.

Is there a template for a business plan?

You can copy our free business plan template and fill in the blanks or customize it in Google Docs, Microsoft Word or another word processing app. This free business plan template includes the six key elements that any entrepreneur needs to consider when launching a new business.

What does a simple business plan include?

A simple business plan is a one- to two-page overview covering six key elements that any budding entrepreneur needs to consider when launching a startup. These include your vision or mission, product or service offering, target audience, revenue streams and sales channels, structure and operations, and financial forecasts.

How can I create a free business plan template?

Start with our free business plan template that covers the six essential elements of a startup. Once downloaded, you can edit this document in Google Docs or another word processing app and add new sections or subsections to your plan template to meet your specific business plan needs.

What basic items should be included in a business plan?

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

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Krista Fabregas is a seasoned eCommerce and online content pro sharing more than 20 years of hands-on know-how with those looking to launch and grow tech-forward businesses. Her expertise includes eCommerce startups and growth, SMB operations and logistics, website platforms, payment systems, side-gig and affiliate income, and multichannel marketing. Krista holds a bachelor's degree in English from The University of Texas at Austin and held senior positions at NASA, a Fortune 100 company, and several online startups.

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How To Write SBA Business Plan With Free Template

A business plan is a vital document for any entrepreneur who wants to start or grow a small business. It outlines your vision, goals, strategies, market analysis, financial projections, and more. It helps you to organize your thoughts, identify potential challenges and opportunities, and communicate your vision to others. A well-written business plan can also help you secure funding from the Small Business Administration (SBA), which offers loans and grants to eligible small businesses. The SBA has specific requirements and standards for business plans, and you need to follow them carefully if you want to increase your chances of getting approved.

In this blog post, we will guide you through the steps of writing a SBA business plan with an example. We will cover the following topics:

SBA – what is it? & What is the purpose of the SBA business plan?

What are the main components of a SBA business plan?

How to write each section of a sba business plan with an example.

How to format and present your SBA business plan?

SBA Business Plan Template

Creating a business plan that meets the standards of the Small Business Administration (SBA) can be challenging, but not with our SBA Business Plan Template. This template is based on the best practices and guidelines of the SBA, and it will walk you through the key sections of a business plan, such as the executive summary, market analysis, competitive advantage, financial projections, and more. You can easily adapt the template to your specific industry, niche, and goals, and save yourself time and hassle in the process. Our SBA Business Plan Template is not just a document – it’s a tool that will help you secure funding, attract customers, and grow your business successfully. We have years of experience in helping small businesses achieve their dreams, and we are confident that our template will help you too.

SBA - what is it? and what is the purpose of the SBA business plan?

What is sba.

SBA stands for  Small Business Administration . It is an independent agency of the United States government that provides support to entrepreneurs and small businesses. The SBA is a valuable resource for small businesses. If you are starting or running a small business, the SBA can help you get the financing, counseling, and training you need to succeed.

The SBA offers a variety of programs and services, including:

Loans: The SBA guarantees loans made by banks and other lenders to small businesses. This can help small businesses get the financing they need to start or grow their business. Surety Bonds: The SBA provides surety bonds to small businesses that need them to bid on government contracts. This can help small businesses compete for government contracts that they might not otherwise be able to get. Consulting: The SBA offers counseling and training to small businesses on a variety of topics, such as business planning , marketing, and financial management. Government Contracting: The SBA helps small businesses get government contracts. The SBA has a set-aside program that reserves a certain percentage of government contracts for small businesses. Advocacy: The SBA advocates on behalf of small businesses in Washington, D.C. The SBA works to ensure that small businesses have a voice in the federal government.

Here are some of the benefits of SBA loans:

Low interest rates:   SBA loans  typically have lower interest rates than conventional loans. This can save you money on your monthly payments. Longer repayment terms: SBA loans typically have longer repayment terms than conventional loans. This can give you more time to pay back your loan. Guarantee: The SBA guarantees 75% of SBA loans. This means that the lender is only at risk for 25% of the loan amount. This makes it easier for small businesses to get approved for loans.

Learn how to write a  business plan for loan in just 7 simple steps

Purpose of sba business plan.

The purpose of an SBA business plan is to provide a roadmap for your business. It should outline your goals, strategies, and financial projections. The SBA business plan is a requirement for many SBA loans, but it can also be a valuable tool for any small business owner. If you are thinking about starting or running a small business, an SBA business plan is a valuable tool. It can help you to secure funding, guide your business, attract investors, improve your management skills, and track your progress.

Here are some of the specific purposes of an SBA business plan:

• To secure funding:  The SBA business plan is a key document that lenders will review when considering your loan application. It will help them to understand your business and its potential for success.
• To guide your business:  The SBA business plan can help you to stay focused on your goals and make informed decisions about your business. It can also help you to identify potential problems and develop solutions.
• To attract investors:  If you are looking to attract investors, an SBA business plan can be a valuable tool. It will help you to communicate your vision for your business and convince investors  that your business is a good investment.
• To improve your management skills:  The process of writing an SBA business plan can help you to improve your management skills. It will force you to think critically about your business and develop a plan for its success.
• To track your progress:  The SBA business plan can be used to track your progress and make adjustments as needed. It can also help you to identify areas where your business is doing well and areas where it needs improvement.

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The main components of an SBA business plan are:

• Executive summary:  This is a brief overview of your business, including its products or services, target market, and competitive advantages.
• Company description:  This section provides more detailed information about your business, such as its history, legal structure, and management team.
• Products and services:  This section describes the products or services that your business offers.
• Market analysis:  This section analyzes your target market, including its size, growth potential, and competitive landscape.
• Marketing plan:  This section outlines your strategies for reaching and acquiring customers.
• Operations plan:  This section describes how your business will be run on a day-to-day basis.
• Management team:  This section introduces your management team and their qualifications.
• Financial projections:  This section provides estimates of your business’s revenue, expenses, and cash flow.
• Appendix:  This section includes supporting documents, such as financial statements, marketing materials, and product samples.

The SBA does not have a set format for business plans, so you can tailor your plan to the specific requirements of the lender you are applying to. However, the SBA does recommend that all business plans include the following elements:

• A clear and concise overview of your business
• A realistic assessment of your market and competition
• A well-defined marketing plan
• A sound financial plan
• A strong management team

If you are applying for an SBA loan , it is important to carefully prepare your business plan. The SBA will review your plan carefully to assess the viability of your business and your chances of success.

Here are some additional tips for writing an SBA business plan:

• Be clear and concise. The SBA reviewers are busy people, so they don’t have time to read through long, rambling business plans.
• Be realistic. Don’t make unrealistic projections about your revenue or growth.
• Be specific. Don’t just say that you’re going to “market your product.” Explain exactly how you’re going to do it.
• Be persuasive. The goal of your business plan is to convince the SBA to lend you money. So make sure your plan is well-written and persuasive.

Access our 14 free sample business plans now!

A business plan is a document that describes your business idea, goals, strategies, and operations. It helps you communicate your vision to potential investors, lenders, partners, and customers. It also helps you plan and manage your business effectively.

The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) provides a standard business plan template that you can use to write your own plan. The template consists of eight major sections that cover the essential aspects of your business. Here is a brief overview of each section and an example of how to write it.

• Exective Summary
• Company Description
• Market Analysis
• Organization and Management
• Product or Service Description
• Marketing and Sales
• Funding Request
• Financial Projections

1. Exective Summary

This section summarizes the main points of your business plan in one or two pages. It should capture the reader’s attention and interest, and highlight your unique value proposition, target market, competitive advantage, financial projections, and funding needs. You should write this section last, after completing the rest of your plan.

XYZ Inc. is a software company that develops and sells cloud-based solutions for small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs). Our products help SMBs manage their accounting, invoicing, payroll, inventory, and customer relationship management (CRM) processes more efficiently and securely.

We have a proven track record of delivering high-quality software solutions to over 1,000 customers across various industries. We have a strong team of experienced developers, marketers, and customer support specialists who are passionate about solving our customers’ problems and providing them with exceptional service.

We are seeking $500,000 in debt financing from the SBA to expand our product portfolio, increase our marketing efforts, and hire more staff. We expect to generate $2 million in revenue and $500,000 in net income in the first year of operation, and grow at an annual rate of 25% for the next five years.

2. Company Description

This section provides detailed information about your company’s history, mission, vision, values, goals, objectives, legal structure, ownership, location, and facilities. It should also describe the problems your business solves, the customers you serve, and the competitive advantages that make your business stand out.

XYZ Inc. was founded in 2019 by John Smith and Jane Doe, two software engineers who saw a gap in the market for affordable and easy-to-use cloud-based solutions for SMBs. They started developing their first product, XYZ Accounting, in their garage, and launched it in 2020 after securing their first customer.

Our mission is to empower SMBs with innovative and reliable software solutions that help them streamline their business processes and grow their revenue. Our vision is to become the leading provider of cloud-based solutions for SMBs in the U.S. and beyond. Our values are excellence, innovation, customer satisfaction, integrity, and teamwork.

We are a Delaware corporation with 10% ownership by John Smith, 10% ownership by Jane Doe, and 80% ownership by XYZ Holdings LLC, a holding company owned by John Smith and Jane Doe. We operate from our headquarters in San Francisco, California, where we have a 5,000 square foot office space that accommodates our development, marketing, and customer support teams. How to write each section of a SBA business plan with an example?

3. Market Analysis

This section analyzes the industry, market, and competition for your business. It should provide data and evidence to support your market opportunity, customer needs, demand, trends, growth potential, and competitive landscape. It should also explain how you plan to enter, position, and differentiate your business in the market.

The cloud-based software market for SMBs is expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 15% from 2020 to 2025, reaching $50 billion in revenue by 2025, according to a report by Market Research Inc. The main drivers of this growth are the increasing adoption of cloud computing, the need for cost-effective and scalable solutions, and the demand for remote work and collaboration tools.

Our target market is SMBs in the U.S. that have between 10 and 500 employees and operate in various industries such as retail, manufacturing, healthcare, education, and professional services. We estimate that there are over 5 million SMBs in the U.S. that fit this criteria, and that they spend an average of $10,000 per year on software solutions.

Our main competitors are ABC Inc., DEF Inc., and GHI Inc., which offer similar cloud-based solutions for SMBs. However, we have several competitive advantages that set us apart from them:

– We offer a more comprehensive and integrated suite of products that cover all the essential business functions of SMBs. – We offer a more affordable and flexible pricing model that allows SMBs to pay only for what they use and scale up or down as needed. – We offer a more user-friendly and intuitive interface that makes our products easy to learn and use. – We offer a more personalized and responsive customer service that provides 24/7 support and training.

We plan to enter the market by leveraging our existing customer base, referrals, testimonials, and online reviews. We also plan to position our business as a one-stop shop for SMBs that need cloud-based solutions to run their businesses efficiently and securely. We also plan to differentiate our business by offering superior quality, value, innovation, and customer satisfaction.

4. Organization and Management

This section describes the organizational structure, management team, roles and responsibilities, qualifications, and compensation of your business. It should also include any advisors, consultants, board members, or key employees that are involved in your business. It should demonstrate how your team has the skills, experience, and expertise to execute your business plan successfully.

XYZ Inc. has a simple and flat organizational structure that consists of three main departments: development, marketing, and customer support. Each department is led by a manager who reports directly to the CEO. The CEO is also the co-founder and majority owner of the business.

Our management team consists of:

– John Smith: CEO and co-founder. John has over 10 years of experience in software development and management. He is responsible for overseeing the overall strategy, vision, and direction of the business.

– Jane Doe: CTO and co-founder. Jane has over 10 years of experience in software engineering and design. She is responsible for leading the development team and ensuring the quality and functionality of our products.

– Mark Lee: Marketing manager. Mark has over 5 years of experience in digital marketing and sales. He is responsible for leading the marketing team and executing the marketing strategy and campaigns.

– Lisa Kim: Customer support manager. Lisa has over 5 years of experience in customer service and training. She is responsible for leading the customer support team and providing excellent service and support to our customers.

We also have a board of advisors that consists of:

– Bob Jones: A seasoned entrepreneur and investor who has founded and sold several successful software companies.

– Mary Smith: A former SBA loan officer who has extensive knowledge and experience in financing small businesses.

– Tom Lee: A professor of computer science at Stanford University who is an expert in cloud computing and artificial intelligence.

Our key employees consist of:

– 10 software developers who are skilled in various programming languages, frameworks, and tools.

– 5 marketing specialists who are proficient in various digital marketing channels, techniques, and platforms.

– 5 customer support representatives who are trained in various software products, features, and issues. We compensate our employees with competitive salaries, bonuses, stock options, and benefits such as health insurance, retirement plans, and paid leave.

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5. product or services description.

This section describes the products or services that your business offers, and how they benefit your customers. It should also explain the features, functions, quality, design, development, production, delivery, installation, maintenance, and support of your products or services. It should also address any intellectual property rights, patents, trademarks, or licenses that your business owns or needs.

XYZ Inc. offers a suite of cloud-based software solutions for SMBs that help them manage their accounting, invoicing, payroll, inventory, and CRM processes more efficiently and securely. Our products are:

– XYZ Accounting: A software solution that helps SMBs track their income and expenses, create and send invoices, manage their taxes, and generate financial reports. – XYZ Payroll: A software solution that helps SMBs calculate and pay their employees’ salaries, wages, taxes, and benefits. – XYZ Inventory: A software solution that helps SMBs monitor and control their inventory levels, costs, and movements. – XYZ CRM: A software solution that helps SMBs manage their customer relationships, interactions, sales pipeline, and loyalty programs.

Our products have the following benefits for our customers:

– They save time and money by automating and streamlining their business processes. – They improve accuracy and compliance by reducing errors and risks. – They enhance security and reliability by protecting their data and ensuring their availability. – They increase productivity and profitability by optimizing their performance and growth.

Our products have the following features and functions:

– They are cloud-based, which means they can be accessed from any device, anywhere, and anytime. – They are integrated, which means they can share data and communicate with each other seamlessly. – They are customizable, which means they can be tailored to fit the specific needs and preferences of each customer. – They are scalable, which means they can handle any volume of transactions and users without compromising speed or quality.

Our products have the following quality standards:

– They are developed using the latest technologies and best practices in software engineering and design. – They are tested rigorously and regularly to ensure their functionality and compatibility. – They are updated frequently to incorporate new features and improvements.

Our products have the following development, production, delivery, Installation, maintenance, and support processes:

– We use an agile methodology to develop our products in short iterations based on customer feedback and market research. – We use a cloud service provider to host our products on secure servers that have high availability and performance. – We use a subscription-based model to deliver our products to our customers via the internet. – We provide online tutorials and manuals to help our customers install and use our products easily. – We provide 24/7 technical support via phone, email, chat, and social media to help our customers resolve any issues or questions they may have.

We own the intellectual property rights to our products, including the source code, design, logo, name, and domain. We have registered our trademark with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) and obtained a patent for our unique algorithm that powers our products. We also have licenses from various third-party providers that we use to enhance our products’ functionality and security.

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6. marketing and sales.

This section outlines the marketing strategy and sales plan for your business. It should describe how you plan to reach, attract, and retain your target customers, and how you plan to promote, price, distribute, and sell your products or services. It should also include your sales forecasts, goals, and metrics.

Our marketing strategy is based on four main elements: segmentation, targeting, positioning, and differentiation. We segment our market based on the size, industry, location, and needs of our potential customers. We target SMBs in the U.S. that have between 10 and 500 employees and operate in various industries such as retail, manufacturing, healthcare, education, and professional services.

 We position our business as a one-stop shop for SMBs that need cloud-based solutions to run their businesses efficiently and securely. We differentiate our business by offering superior quality, value, innovation, and customer satisfaction. Our marketing mix consists of four main components: product, price, place, and promotion. 

Our product is a suite of cloud-based software solutions for SMBs that help them manage their accounting, invoicing, payroll, inventory, and CRM processes more efficiently and securely. Our price is based on a subscription-based model that allows SMBs to pay only for what they use and scale up or down as needed. Our place is online via our website where we showcase our products features, benefits, testimonials, and reviews. 

Our promotion consists of various digital marketing channels such as email marketing social media marketing search engine optimization (SEO) search engine marketing (SEM) content marketing influencer marketing referral marketing

Our sales plan consists of three main stages: lead generation lead conversion customer retention We generate leads by using various online platforms such as Google Ads Facebook Ads LinkedIn.

7. Funding Request

This section should describe how much funding you need and how you plan to use it. It should also include information about your current financial situation, such as your  cash flow  and balance sheet. You should also explain why you need the funding and how it will help your business grow. For example, if you’re looking to expand your product line or hire more staff, you might need additional funding to cover those costs.

We are seeking $500,000 in debt financing from the SBA to expand our product portfolio, increase our marketing efforts, and hire more staff.

8. Financial Projections

• This section should include financial statements such as income statements, balance sheets, and cash flow statements. It should also include a break-even analysis and a description of how you plan to finance your business. You should provide detailed projections for the next three to five years, including revenue, expenses, and profits. For example, if you’re seeking funding from investors or lenders, they will want to see your financial projections to determine the potential return on investment.

We expect to generate $2 million in revenue and $500,000 in net income in the first year of operation, and grow at an annual rate of 25% for the next five years. We will finance our business through a combination of debt financing and equity financing from investors.

How To Format And Present Your SBA Business Plan?

If you are planning to apply for a Small Business Administration (SBA) loan, you will need to prepare a business plan that meets the SBA’s requirements. A business plan is a document that describes your business’s goals, strategies, market, financial projections, and management team. It also shows how you will use the loan funds and how you will repay them.

A well-written business plan can help you convince lenders and investors that your business is viable and worth supporting. However, writing a business plan can be challenging, especially if you are not familiar with the format and content that the SBA expects. Here are some tips on how to format and present your SBA business plan:

– Follow the SBA’s recommended outline. The SBA provides a detailed outline of the sections and sub-sections that your business plan should include. You can find the outline on the SBA website or download a template from various online sources. The outline covers the following topics: executive summary, company description, market analysis, organization and management, service or product line, marketing and sales, funding request, financial projections, and appendix. – Use clear and concise language. Your business plan should be easy to read and understand by anyone who reviews it. Avoid using jargon, technical terms, or acronyms that may confuse your readers. Use simple sentences and paragraphs, and use bullet points, tables, charts, and graphs to illustrate your points. Use headings and sub-headings to organize your information and make it easy to scan. – Provide evidence and support for your claims. Your business plan should not be based on assumptions or guesses. You should provide factual data and analysis to back up your statements about your market, competitors, customers, industry trends, financial projections, and so on. You can use primary sources (such as surveys, interviews, or testimonials) or secondary sources (such as reports, articles, or statistics) to support your claims. Make sure to cite your sources properly and include them in the appendix. – Be realistic and honest. Your business plan should reflect the true state of your business and its potential. Do not exaggerate or overestimate your strengths, opportunities, or prospects. Do not underestimate or ignore your weaknesses, threats, or risks. Be honest about the challenges you face and how you plan to overcome them. Be realistic about the amount of money you need and how you will use it. Do not make promises or guarantees that you cannot keep. – Proofread and edit your business plan. Before you submit your business plan to the SBA or any other lender or investor, make sure to check it for errors and inconsistencies. Use a spell-checker and a grammar-checker tool to catch any typos or mistakes. Ask someone else to read your business plan and give you feedback. Make sure your business plan is complete, accurate, coherent, and professional.

Recommended: How To Write A Business Plan In Just 7 Simple Steps

Other SBA Business Plan Templates That Can Help You Prove a Loan With Your SBA Business Plan

• Coffee Shop Business Plan Template
• Snack Bar Business Plan Template
• Food Hall Business Plan Template
• Printing Shop Business Plan Template

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SBA Business Plan Template Essentials: The Complete Guide

Free Business Plan Template

• August 23, 2024

10 Min Read

Loans by the US Small Business Administration (SBA) have turned the dreams of thousands of aspiring entrepreneurs into reality.

Good news? You too can achieve your business goals with the support of an SBA loan.

One of the key requirements for securing such a loan is submitting a comprehensive business plan—a document offering an in-depth overview of your business idea and its sustainability.

Don’t worry.

Writing an SBA plan is quite easy. With this blog post, we will guide you through the process and offer a free SBA business plan template to make it even easier.

But before that…

What is an SBA Business Plan?

An SBA plan is a professional document outlining your business objectives and strategies along with a detailed action plan to execute them. This plan is specifically used by small business owners to apply for SBA loans and grants.

Like a traditional plan, an SBA plan offers a detailed overview of your entire business. It includes sections about the target market, competition, products and services, operations, marketing strategy, management team, and finances.

While there’s no fixed format, using an SBA business plan template to write your SBA plan is recommended.

Importance of an SBA business plan

Writing a business plan is helpful for organizations to get a clear understanding of their business idea and its viability. However, that’s not it.

Here are a few reasons that make your SBA plan extremely important:

• Helps secure SBA loans and even funding from investors.
• Establishes clear goals and milestones to help you stay focused.
• Offers a clear business vision and a strategic roadmap to achieve your goals.
• Solidifies your business idea by compelling you to address missing gaps.
• Establishes credibility amongst lenders and fosters growth amongst stakeholders.
• Instills clarity amongst team members bringing them all on the same page.

All in all, a well-detailed SBA plan builds the foundation for you to launch and build a successful business.

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How to write an SBA business plan

As with traditional plans, an SBA business plan also follows a similar format. The SBA business plan template contains nine major sections, including:

1. Executive summary

An executive summary is a concise summary of your SBA business plan.

It highlights high-value points of your plan to help the readers get a quick gist of your business and its strategies.

The executive summary of your plan can touch on the following aspects:

• Business introduction: Start your executive summary by briefly introducing your business to your readers.
• Description of business opportunity: Describe the business opportunity by highlighting the problem you’re solving for your target customers.
• Target market: Mention your target customers to whom you’ll sell your product or service.
• The solution you offer: Explain how your product or service is the ideal solution for the problem your target customer is facing.
• Market competition: Identify your potential competitors and mention them.
• Marketing and sales strategy: Describe how you will market your product and mention your sales channels.
• Financial projections: This is essentially a forecast of future expenses and revenues.
• Execution of your plan: Explain how you will implement your plan and strategize all your objectives.

2. Company description

In this company overview section of your SBA business plan, you will describe what your company does and every detail about your company. It includes your target customers, your business partners, your competitors, and more.

Below are the major key points to include in the company description section:

• Identity and objective: Mention your company’s identity and what your company does. You may also include your company’s ethics and values.
• Company’s offerings: Define in detail what your company offers. Explain the product or service that you’re selling.
• The problem you solve: Specify the problem you chose to solve to cater to the needs of your customers.
• Target customers: State which section of the people you have targeted. You should also mention your customers’ priorities and values.
• Your strengths: Outline your competitive advantage over other players in the market. You can also list your competitors and mention how you’re different from them.
• Partners: Introduce your business partners and offer details such as the partnership period, their contribution, etc.

3. Market analysis

In this section, you write a detailed analysis of the market in which your business operates. The following are the market research data you should include in your SBA business plan:

• Briefly explain what other companies in your industries are doing
• Outline the strengths and advantages of your competition
• Specify the market trends occurring in your market
• Examine what makes the companies in your industry successful.
• Demonstrate your competitive advantages to outrun your competition
• Research strategic advantages of competitors like the ideal location, cheap procurement of raw materials, etc.

4. Organization and management

In this section, you will define the business structure. This includes the legal and organizational structure of your business along with the management practices you follow.

Legal structure

Here, you describe the legal structure of your business .

Is it going to be a sole proprietorship, limited partnership, limited liability company(LLC), or C or S corporation? Explain in complete detail how you’ll structure your business legally and how it’ll impact your business operations.

Organizational chart

Attach an organizational chart outlining the internal structure and hierarchy of your business. Also explain the roles, responsibilities, and relationships between individuals in the company.

5. Service or product

In this section, you give a complete description of the product or service you’re selling to your customers. The following are the key aspects that this section of your SBA business plan should have:

• Describe in detail the product or service you’re providing to your targeted customer base.
• Explain the pricing of your product. You should also mention all the costs that have contributed to the final price of the product.
• List down all the possible uses of your product and how your customers will benefit from it.
• Discuss the product life-cycle of your product. Explain in detail the four stages of a product life-cycle: Introduction, growth, maturity, and decline.
• Include a plan mentioning how you will handle the intellectual properties, copyright, and patent filings.
• Mention all or any research and developments you have regarding your business.

6. Marketing and sales

In this sales and marketing section, outline your marketing strategies , sales channels, and the budget for both. Ensure that you include the following important points in this section:

• Write a detailed plan of how you’ll market your product to draw your customers
• Provide the details of the sales process and mention the sales channels you’re choosing.
• Mention the details of your budget regarding marketing and sales of the product
• Discuss the goals of your marketing and sales strategies
• Review and address your pricing strategy as it affects your marketing and sales.

7. Funding request

The most prominent reason why entrepreneurs create an SBA business plan is to make lenders believe that they are a viable and reliable business venture. This section is simply for putting forward your funding requests .

The following should be included in this section:

• Specify how much funding you’ll require to run your business for the next five years
• Explain briefly how you’ll use the provided funding
• Mention what type of funding you’re looking for
• Add a detailed description of your future financial plans. This includes debt repayment plans, cash flow management, budgeting expenses, etc.

8. Financial Projection

The purpose of financial projection is to help the readers assess your company’s financial stability. This section includes the current financial reports of your business and future projections.

It’s focused on convincing potential funders that your company is financially stable and solvent. The below information should be included in your SBA business plan:

• Income statements for the past three to five years
• Balance sheets of the past three to five years
• Cash flow statements for the past three to five years
• Business collaterals
• Projected income statements
• Projected balance sheets
• Projected cash flow statements
• Budgeted capital expenditures

The ideal way to represent future projections is by using monthly or quarterly projections in the first year and annual projections for the years afterward.

Explain how the projections and the information represented are relevant to your funding request. Consider the SBA loan rates and the guarantee fee while projecting your new payment amounts.

9. Appendix

The Appendix is the last section of your SBA business plan. It contains all the additional and supporting documents, important to explain a specific aspect of your business.

It could also include documents that are exclusive to a particular lender that may not fit into the predefined outline of a business plan .

Usually, the common information in an appendix includes:

• Credit history
• Product photos
• Letters of reference
• Licenses and permits
• Legal documents

That’s it. Those were all the sections that an SBA business plan should include.

Resources for writing an SBA business plan

Here are a few additional resources to help you write your SBA business plan efficiently.

U. S. Small Business Administration

The SBA business planning tool offers step-by-step guidance and tips to write a fully detailed business plan. Entrepreneurs can also take online lessons on the SBA learning platform to enhance their understanding of business planning.

Apart from these, there’s an SBA’s business guide that helps with business planning, launch, and funding.

SCORE is a non-profit resource partner with SBA. It has the largest network of mentors for small businesses in the US.

Business owners can request mentorship on this platform to get advice on financial and business planning. These mentors can also assist with valuable knowledge on writing a solid business plan.

One can also choose to attend workshops and online webinars hosted by these industry veterans to strengthen their understanding of business.

Local Small Business Development Centers (SBDC)

SBDC offers training and advice to small businesses for free or extremely low fees. The experts at SBDC can help with business planning and financial management. Most SBDCs host regular sessions on writing a business plan. Some of these experts can also review your business plan and offer valuable feedback.

Women’s Business Centers (WBC)

WBC is again a resource partner at SBA offering low-cost business counseling and training to women wanting to launch, grow, or plan their business. Their one-on-one counseling and group sessions also offer help for writing a business plan.

These resources make it easier for entrepreneurs to write their business plans even with no prior experience.

Download the SBA Business Plan Template

Need help writing your SBA business plan from scratch? Here you go— download this SBA business plan template and get started.

This template is designed specifically for businesses planning to apply for SBA loans. The step-by-step guide, examples, and tips in this template will help you prepare an actionable plan that meets all the essential guidelines.

Writing a perfect business plan can be tricky, especially when you have to present it to lenders. However, once you understand what the lenders look for in a business plan, the process gets quite easier.

Fortunately, Upmetrics can simplify this process of business and financial planning with its AI-powered app. It offers step-by-step guidance, 400+ fully customizable templates, and AI assistance to help you write a solid business plan in minutes.

So why wait? Build your SBA business plan today!

Build your Business Plan Faster

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Frequently Asked Questions

Are there specific guidelines from the sba for business plans.

There are no specific guidelines from SBA about how the business plans should be. As long as the business plan meets your needs, any structure is acceptable.

However, SBA does offer resources to help you structure and write your business plan effectively. Following that structure will help you cover all the information essential for securing the loan.

Can I use the same plan to apply for different types of funding?

Yes, you can use the same plan for different funding applications. However, it’s important to ensure that your business plan meets the criteria laid out by that specific financial organization.

Ideally, you should customize the sections of your plan depending on where you apply to increase your chances of securing funds.

How does a business plan help you get an SBA loan?

One of the criteria for acquiring an SBA loan is to attach a fully detailed business plan along with the application. A business plan builds credibility and shows that you have put in essential efforts to understand all the aspects of your business thoroughly.

How detailed does an SBA loan business plan need to be?

An SBA plan should be comprehensive enough to offer a detailed overview of your business objectives, strategies, and finances. It should contain sections like a traditional business plan and these sections should be detailed to guide your business operations.

How long should the SBA business plan be?

An SBA business plan for investors can be anywhere between 15-40 pages long. However, your business plan can be shorter or longer depending on the scope and nature of your business. As long as your business plan contains relevant information, length doesn’t matter.

About the Author

Upmetrics Team

Upmetrics is the #1 business planning software that helps entrepreneurs and business owners create investment-ready business plans using AI. We regularly share business planning insights on our blog. Check out the Upmetrics blog for such interesting reads. Read more

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

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

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

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

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

Let’s get started.

What Do You Need A Business Plan For?

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

1. Secure Funds

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

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

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

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

2. Monitor Business Growth

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

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

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

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

3. Measure Business Success

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

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

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

4. Document Your Marketing Strategies

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

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

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

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

How to Write a Business Plan Step-by-Step

1. create your executive summary.

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

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

A good executive summary should do the following:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

2. Add Your Company Overview

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

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

Your company overview should contain the following:

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

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

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

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

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

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

• Mission Statement

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

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

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

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

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

Business Objectives

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Market Analysis

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

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

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

• Market Research

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

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

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

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

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

How to Quantify Your Target Market

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

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

What Does a Good Market Analysis Entail?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Competitive Analysis

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Direct vs Indirect Competition

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

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

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

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

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

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

Factors that Differentiate Your Business from the Competition

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

1. Cost Leadership

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

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

2. Product Differentiation

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

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

3. Market Segmentation

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

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

4. Define Your Business and Management Structure

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

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

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

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

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

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

Management Team

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

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

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

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

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

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

Key Questions to Answer When Structuring Your Management Team

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

Additional Tips for Writing the Management Structure Section

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

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

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

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

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

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

Organizational Chart

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

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

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

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

5. Describe Your Product and Service Offering

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

1. Avoid Technical Descriptions and Industry Buzzwords

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

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

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

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

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

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

3. Long or Short Products or Services Section

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

4. Describe Your Relationships with Vendors or Suppliers

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

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

5. Your Primary Goal Is to Convince Your Readers

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

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

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

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

Key Questions to Answer When Writing your Products and Services Section

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

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

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

6. Show and Explain Your Marketing and Sales Plan

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

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

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

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

Outline Your Business’ Unique Selling Proposition (USP)

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

Target Market and Target Audience

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

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

Creating a Smart Marketing and Sales Plan

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

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

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

Your Positioning Statement

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Basic Rules to Follow When Pricing Your Offering

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

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

Pricing Strategy

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

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

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

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

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

Advertising

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

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

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

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

Public Relations

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

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

Content Marketing

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Social Media

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

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

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

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

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

Strategic Alliances

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

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

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

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

Steps Involved in Creating a Marketing and Sales Plan

1. Focus on Your Target Market

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

2. Evaluate Your Competition

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

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

These questions can help you know your competition.

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

3. Consider Your Brand

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

4. Focus on Benefits

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

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

5. Focus on Differentiation

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

Key Questions to Answer When Writing Your Marketing and Sales Plan

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

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

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

7. Clearly Show Your Funding Request

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

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

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

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

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

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

Funding Request: Debt or Equity?

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

Case for Equity

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

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

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

Case for Debt

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

8. Detail Your Financial Plan, Metrics, and Projections

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Use Graphs and Charts

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

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

Address the Risk Factors and Show Realistic Financial Projections

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

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

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

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

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

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

1. Sales Forecast

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

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

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

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

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

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

2. Personnel Plan

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

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

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

3. Income Statement

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

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

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

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

4. Cash Flow Statement

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

5. Balance Sheet

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

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

6. Exit Strategy

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

9. Add an Appendix to Your Business Plan

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Tips and Strategies for Writing a Convincing Business Plan

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

1. Know Your Audience

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

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

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

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

2. Get Inspiration from People

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

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

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

3. Avoid Being Over Optimistic

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

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

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

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

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

4. Keep it Simple and Short

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

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

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

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

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

5. Make an Outline and Follow Through

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

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

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

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

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

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

6. Ask a Professional to Proofread

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

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

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

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

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

1. hubspot's one-page business plan.

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

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

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

2. Bplan’s Free Business Plan Template

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

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

3. HubSpot's Downloadable Business Plan Template

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

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

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

4. Business Plan by My Own Business Institute

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

The comprehensive template consists of a whopping 15 sections.

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

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

5. Score's Business Plan Template for Startups

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

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

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

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

6. Minimalist Architecture Business Plan Template by Venngage

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

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

7. Small Business Administration Free Business Plan Template

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

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

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

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

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

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

9. PandaDoc’s Free Business Plan Template

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Alternatives to the Traditional Business Plan

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

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

Business Model Canvas (BMC)

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

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

Segments of the Business Model Canvas

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

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

Lean Canvas

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

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

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

Startup Pitch Deck

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Business Plan FAQ

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

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

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

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

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

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

Exlore Further

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

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Martin luenendonk.

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

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

How to create a continuity plan for your small business

• Develop a continuity plan to maintain operations during unexpected challenges.
• Prioritize essential tasks and organize emergency contact info for quick access.
• You can safeguard your small business with insurance that fits your needs to help protect you from the unexpected.

Running a small business can be full of surprises — some positive, like winning a new customer unexpectedly, and others challenging, like storms , tech problems, illness, or loss of a key employee. These disruptions can impact your operations, but a well-crafted continuity plan can help you weather the storm.  

A continuity plan is an essential tool designed to keep your small business operations humming even when there is a sudden emergency. In fact, research by the Fed shows that nine out of 10 small businesses reported experiencing a financial or operational challenge in 2023. 

To help ensure operations can continue during and after a disruption, here are the key steps to creating a business continuity plan. 

1. Develop your plan

Clear communication is the key to staying in business during challenging times. Knowing exactly how to get in touch with your team can save you valuable time and keep you organized, no matter what's happening around you. 

Gather your team's contact information in one place : Create a spreadsheet that includes the contact details of all key employees, especially phone numbers and personal addresses.   

As a backup, it's also wise to request emergency contacts, such as a spouse or close family member. Store this information digitally and keep a hard copy in a secure location, so it's easily accessible when you're in the middle of a crisis. If your business depends heavily on suppliers or vendors, make sure you document their contact info as well. 

For instance, if you run a bakery, you could have a list of suppliers for critical ingredients like flour and butter. Although you might have this information stored in your phone, your team members need to be able to access it, too, in case you're unavailable. 

Put someone in charge: Designate someone on your team to lead emergency communications, as well as an alternate. If your small business has several locations, consider selecting a coordinator and backup person for each site. 

Establish backup communication channels: If you face a natural disaster , weather-related emergency, or technology incident, you may not be able to communicate using phone, video conferencing platforms, or email. Ask your IT team or outside managed services provider to come up with a plan for staying in touch with your team if the electricity is out, or your internet or phone service goes down. 

Some key questions to consider include whether you need an electrical generator, if you should invest in backup internet solutions like hotspots, and whether your leadership team needs laptops to work remotely. 

It's much easier to tackle these tasks ahead of time than in the middle of a disaster or emergency.

2. Identify critical business functions

Documenting your critical business functions will help prioritize tasks during an emergency. If some of your employees are unable to work or key resources become inaccessible, you may need to focus on the bare essentials. 

Prioritize key activities: Critical business functions are activities your internal staff must perform to deliver the products or services your customers rely on. Let's say you run a hair salon for children where cutting hair is a critical business function. In an emergency that prevents you from operating at your usual location, you'll need to arrange an alternative venue — perhaps a salon across town that is willing to share space — to continue serving your clients safely and efficiently. 

Create a list of important accounts: It will be hard to fulfill critical business functions if you don't have access to your financial accounts. You'll need to access your bank account, payroll provider, and rent and utility accounts to keep your operations running. Make sure that you document these and other important financial account numbers and discuss with your advisors whether you should grant anyone else on your team access to these accounts. 

Make time for succession planning: Most small business owners want their business to continue even if they can no longer run it. Doing succession planning with a team of professionals such as your attorney and business advisors — and updating your succession plan regularly — can help ensure that you have some say in how your business is run if you can't lead it.

3. Create recovery strategies 

Making sure your business is insured is helpful when recovering from any major disruption. State Farm ® offers small business insurance options — such as a Business Owners Policy (BOP) , which offers a combination of coverages to help protect your unique business. Your State Farm agent can help you protect your small business, so you can focus on growing your business.

Learn more insurance and financial tips from State Farm for your small business.  

This post was created by Insider Studios with State Farm.  

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Last Updated: September 25, 2024 | Read Time: 7 min

One Minute Takeaway

• A profit-sharing plan is a type of retirement plan that allows businesses to contribute a portion of their annual profits to an employee fund.
• Employers must adhere to an annual contribution cap but are not required to make contributions every year.
• Profit-sharing plans can increase employee engagement, productivity, and loyalty.

In today’s competitive job market, businesses are looking for new ways to attract, retain, and engage top talent. One current trend is the profit-sharing plan. This benefit fosters company culture, encouraging emotional buy-in from the whole team. With the right support from HR, profit-sharing plans can work wonders for productivity. 

What Is a Profit-Sharing Plan?

A profit-sharing plan is a type of retirement plan allowing businesses to share a portion of their profits with employees. Unlike other models, profit-sharing ties these rewards to the company’s financial performance.

How Does a Profit-Sharing Plan Work?

Legally, profit-sharing plans offer a lot of flexibility. Employers can set them up with a wide variety of rules, depending on what works best for the company. However, it’s very important to have specific guidelines before implementing this benefit . When designing the plan, HR should keep a few details in mind:

• Businesses of any size can offer profit-sharing alone or in addition to other retirement plans.
• To stay compliant, you’ll need to file IRS Form 5500 every year.
• Only employers can contribute to profit-sharing accounts.
• If your profit-sharing plan includes salary deferral , it becomes a 401(k) plan.
• Contributions are discretionary. In other words, employers are not required to contribute every year.
• You can contribute whether or not your business makes a profit in that year.
• Employers must adhere to profit-sharing contributions limits. At most, you can contribute the lesser of these amounts per employee: 100% of employee salary, or $69,000 in 2024. The maximum dollar amount is subject to cost-of-living adjustments each year.

Deciding on Your Contribution Amount

As you’re designing your plan, be specific about the criteria for employee eligibility. For some businesses, this could be a compliance issue. For small businesses, for example, employees must complete at least 1,000 hours of work in the year preceding their plan entry date. Make sure your stated criteria are fair and transparent, and don’t discriminate against anyone on your team.

There are several ways to calculate your contribution amount for each employee. While the exact amount you contribute can change from year to year – and sometimes drop to $0 – the guidelines should remain the same. One common method to calculate contributions is the “comp-to-comp” model. Here’s how that works:

Profit-Sharing Plans vs. 401(k)s

Both profit-sharing and 401(k) plans are attractive retirement benefits, but they have some key differences:

Many companies offer both profit-sharing plans and 401(k)s.

Pros and Cons of Profit-Sharing Plans

Profit-sharing plans can provide a major boost to employee motivation. When they have a personal stake in the success of your business, employees may be more productive, engaged, and loyal to the company. And when your company does well, profit-sharing plans will also increase morale.

However, this emotional investment is a double-edged sword. In lean years, employee morale might go down, which could increase voluntary turnover . Profit-sharing plans are also a significant administrative burden. Make sure your HR team has the tools they need to design and implement your plan correctly, or you’ll risk running into compliance issues.

How Paycor Helps

Paycor’s Benefits Administration software empowers leaders to offer a comprehensive benefits package. Our tools help you navigate open enrollment, communicate with employees, and stay compliant every step of the way. If you’re considering a profit-sharing plan, our broker partners can help you understand how it would fit in with the other benefits you offer. Connect with a representative today and learn how Paycor can support your long-term business goals.

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'I am a capitalist': Harris promises 'pragmatic' economic approach

WASHINGTON — After pledging if elected president to crack down on companies that prey on consumers, Kamala Harris set out to prove on Wednesday that she's a capitalist whose policies would be a boon for businesses that play by the rules.

Harris told business leaders in Pittsburgh that she believes most companies do seek to do right by their workers and customers. The Democratic nominee, who has spent her entire career in government and wants to increase taxes on corporations, said she would actively pursue relationships between her administration and the business community.

"I've always been and will always be a strong supporter of workers and unions," Harris said to applause. "I also believe we need to engage those who create most of the jobs in America. Look, I am a capitalist. I believe in free and fair markets. I believe in consistent and transparent rules of the road to create a stable business environment."

Harris' first major economic proposal of the 2024 race was a pledge to sic government attorneys on companies suspected of charging too much for food and groceries and direct them to scrutinize potential mergers between top food companies.

She has also proposed lowering housing costs by barring Wall Street investors from buying homes in bulk, a practice that Democrats say is soaking up inventory and driving up costs for American families. Harris says she will put a $35 a month cap on insulin and limit out-of-pocket costs for prescription drugs to $2,000 a year.

Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump has claimed that Harris is a "Marxist" — she says she's a capitalist — and given her the nickname "Comrade Kamala" over her campaign plans, which include a proposed federal ban on price gouging in the food and grocery industries as a way to ease inflation. It is one of the few proposals that Harris has put forward that is not a continuation or expansion of Biden administration priorities.

Harris has also proposed tax incentives to get builders to construct properties that are meant for first-time homebuyers and said she'll expand a deduction for entrepreneurs from $5,000 to as much as $50,000 to fuel small business creation.

The Democratic nominee says she will pay for her proposals by increasing the corporate tax rate to 28% from the 21%, a rate cut that Republicans in Congress pushed through when Trump was in office. Trump has said that if he is reelected, he'll lower the rate to 15% for companies that make their products in the U.S.

"With the vision I’m outlining today, not only will we stop our businesses from leaving for foreign lands, but under my leadership, we’re going to take other country’s jobs," Trump said in a Tuesday speech on the economy in Georgia.

Harris lays out economic 'philosophy' in Pittsburgh

In her Wednesday speech, Harris said she would encourage partnerships between government and private businesses as way to expand the middle class.

Harris leaned into her middle-class upbringing to underscore that she would take a practical approach to economic policy that balances the needs of business and families that are trying to stay afloat.

"As president I will be grounded in my fundamental values. of fairness, dignity and opportunity. And I promise you, I will be pragmatic in my approach," Harris said at the Economic Club of Pittsburgh.

Borrowing a phrase from former President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, Harris said she would pursue "bold, persistent, experimentation" that is not "constrained by ideology" and seeks "practical solutions" to problems that applies metrics and facts and stays focused on crises and long-term goals for the country.

Among the proposals that Harris touted: a $6,000 child tax credit for families with newborns and $25,000 in down payment assistance for first-time homebuyers.

"I don't want you to have to worry about making your monthly rent if your car beaks down, I want you to be able to save up for your child's education, to take a nice vacation from time to time. I want you to be able to buy Christmas presents for your loved ones without feeling anxious when you're looking at your bank statement," Harris said. "I want you to be able to build some wealth."

Harris said she would cut taxes for middle-class Americans and provide every American access to paid leave that can be used for caregiving of children and elder parents.

She invoked her late mother , a cancer researcher at a federally-funded laboratory, who she said she had to take care of when she was diagnosed with the illness, and contrasted her vision for a "strong middle class" to Trump’s agenda.

"He has no intention to grow our middle class. He's only interested in making life better for himself and people like himself —the wealthiest of Americans. You can see it spelled out in his economic agenda," Harris said in Pittsburgh.

Heartburn over Harris, Trump economic policies

Harris and Trump have been light on details of how their plans would bring down costs.

Trump has said he will go around Congress to impose across-the-board tariffs of up to 20% or more on foreign imports. Harris and some economists have equated the Republican's proposal to a sales tax that could hurt consumers and U.S. companies alike.

To enact most of her proposals, Harris would to work with the legislative branch. For example, a price gouging ban and the tax deductions for businesses and consumers that she's proposing would require congressional approval.

Economic agendas in focus

Harris' choice to make her economic case to the business community in Pittsburgh is a sign of how her campaign is viewing the race six weeks out from the election. It's a major industrial city that she has visited repeatedly in the roughly two months since she became the Democratic nominee, including during her preparations for her one and only debate against Trump.

Trump had an almost six-point edge over Harris when it came to the economy in a USA TODAY/Suffolk University poll released earlier this month. The national survey gave Harris a four-point lead in the race overall. A separate survey of Pennsylvania found Harris narrowly ahead of Trump in Pennsylvania. The result was in the margin of error.

Her campaign this week touted a letter from more than 400 economists endorsing her over Trump. The letter said Trump's policies could fuel inflation, hurt GDP growth and increase unemployment.

Contributing: Swapna Venugopal Ramaswamy