how to make a long term business plan

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Constructing a plan for long-term business success.

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Nouriel Gino Yazdinian is the CEO of  NY Elizabeth , a luxury online auction house with offices in the United States and United Kingdom.

The consistent, long-term success of a company hedges on a number of components that factor into the success or failure of a startup looking to reach the next level. Above everything else, the most underrated form of capital that you will ever possess is your mind and sheer willpower.

As the CEO of NY Elizabeth, I have been able to be methodic and apply laser focus in order to realize the success that we have achieved today. But initially, I was armed only with a dream and a few wishful goals that were designed to take me five years into the future. Every step of the way, I found I had to reconfigure expectations and execute in unforeseen ways in order to properly set the direction of the business and utilize short-term objectives to achieve long-term goals. To get to where I am today, I had to have a goal in mind, and I used some methods that can also help others succeed long term.

Your primary focus should be on clients.

Offering customers the best solutions that are tailored to their specific needs is one of the best ways to ensure growth. Satisfied customers are more likely to remain loyal and bring a business repeat business as well as invaluable word-of-mouth marketing that generates revenue in the long term. My primary objective is to always provide quality customer support and utilize effective data that breaks down exactly what our customers need and pinpoint areas where we can improve the services we extend to our clients. In my experience, placing customers first impacts every area of the business and creates an environment that is inviting and easier to lay a foundation to build upon in the future.

Never be afraid to expand into new opportunities.

The plan I initially had in mind served as a blueprint for the future, and by using the economic resources available to me as well as the advice of those that came before me, I was able to quickly ascend to the next level by staying true to my vision while also keeping an eye on future trends that have impacted the art world. As one of their primary missions, an entrepreneur should always be broadening the scope and scale of their products and services over time in ways that play to the core strengths of the company.

Be willing to take the plunge toward a new demographic.

What you offer your clients today may not be what they want in the future, and who your clients are today may not be the best type of client for your company in the future. Any business that wishes to succeed long term must recognize this and act accordingly in order to alleviate any problems as the business ages. For example, the art industry has traditionally been regarded as a place for only the rich and older generations, but at NY Elizabeth, we tapped into younger generations that want to invest in art, presenting them with the opportunity in an industry that has by and large been denied to them. A firm marketing plan that researched their desires enabled us access to this growing market in ways that will benefit us in the future as the world moves toward a more digitized business model.

Put a winning team in place.

No successful business ever makes it on the strength of just one person. A bonafide team that can meet the demands of the industry is what it takes to make a long-term run that reaps the rewards of diligence. It is crucial to assemble a team capable of handling the influx of business at the level expected for true growth and expansion. Depending on the nature of the company, a specialized development and employee onboarding program may be necessary in order to fulfill the needs of consumers.

Never fear the advent of new technology.

With my previous career in tech, I have always been a huge proponent of advocating for the incorporation of whatever programs that can enhance and expand my business and take it to the next level. Businesses that lack the proper technology are doomed before they even really get started, and in the best-case scenario, their capacity to reach the intended audience is limited. There is no reason in the current era to settle for diminished returns with so much useful technology at your fingertips.

Maintain or increase profit margins steadily over time.

Of course, every business wants to be successful and report increases in revenue, and it is crucial that the profit margin of your business remain stable or increase incrementally in order to be deemed a success. The long-term goal of an entity should be maintaining the margin with profit goals as a part of intricate financial planning. Incremental increases allow businesses to ramp up productivity along with motivating the entire team to strive for bigger and better goals to reach.

There is no shame in starting small.

The adage "go big or go home" is not one that business owners should necessarily ascribe to as it is not always as simple as that for many companies. No matter what your particular goals may be or their magnitude, the fact is that starting up any initiative is empowering, and the right ingredients in place can lead to success.

Ask yourself some key questions.

Imagine and plan now for the future success of your business and be prepared to ask yourself the questions that will enable you to achieve what you envision.

• Where would you like to see yourself in five years? Ten years?

• What policies are you setting in place to realize your vision?

• How are you creating solutions for tomorrow's issues facing your industry?

• What steps are being executed to stay connected to your client base?

• How do you feel about the future of your business, both personally and professionally?

Ultimately, your long-term goals now are the early building blocks to creating a successful plan that yields the results you desire.

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

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

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

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

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

What Is a Business Plan?

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

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

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

Get a Business Idea

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

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

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

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

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

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

Conduct Market Analysis

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

Product and Service Demand

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

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

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

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

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

Identify Demographics of Target Market

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

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

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

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

How to Write a Business Plan

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

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

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

SWOT Analysis

• Competitor Data
• Competitive Analysis
• Marketing Expenses Strategy 

Pricing Strategy

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Mike told us,

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

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

It consists of three basic parts:

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

Example of an informal executive summary 

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

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

What should I include in an executive summary for investors?

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

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

Successful business plan examples

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

Here’s the interview with the owner of Urbanity:

When to write an executive summary?

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

What mistakes do people make when writing an executive summary?

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

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

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

How to Write a Business Plan Step 4. Company Description

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

• Mission statement
• Philosophy and vision
• Company goals

Target market

• Legal structure

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

Mission Statement

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

Company Philosophy and Vision

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

What makes your company different?

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

Examples of core values

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

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

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

What is a vision statement?

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

Example vision statements

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

A world without Alzheimer’s Disease and other dementia.

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

Business Goals

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

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

How far in advance should a business plan?

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

Example of great business goals

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

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

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

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

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

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

Industry resources

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

• Trade Associations
• Federal Reserve
• Bureau of Labor Statistics

Legal Structure

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

• Sole proprietorships
• Limited Liability Companies (LLC)

Partnerships

Corporations.

• Franchises.

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

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

Sole Proprietorship

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

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

Limited Liability Company (LLC)

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Questions to answer about your products and services

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

SWOT Examples

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

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

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

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

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

Include Competitor Data in Your Business Plan

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

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

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

Marketing Strategy

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

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

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

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

Advertising Strategy

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

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

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

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

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

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

Some common pricing strategies are:

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

HubSpot has a great calculator and blog on pricing strategies.

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

Distribution Plan

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

Supply Chain Examples

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

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

Examples of Supply Chains

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Quality Control

• Legal environment

Let’s look at each for some insight.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Legal Environment

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

How to Write a Business Plan Step 8. Financial Statements 

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

Provide All Financial Income from an Existing Business

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

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

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

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

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

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

Financial Projections For A Startup Business Plan

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

Mike gave the following advice in his interview:

Financial Forecasting Mistakes

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Ways to get funding for a small business

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

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

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

How funding will be used

When asking for business financing make sure to include:

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

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

How to Write a Business Plan Resources

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

• Sample plan

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

By Joe Weller | October 11, 2021

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

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

What Is a Business Plan?

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

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

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

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

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

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

Business Plan Steps

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

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

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

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

Do I Need a Simple or Detailed Plan?

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

How to Choose the Right Plan for Your Business

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

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

Is the Order of Your Business Plan Important?

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

The Difference Between Traditional and Lean Business Plans

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

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

How to Write a Business Plan Step by Step

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

Step 1: Executive Summary

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

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

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

Step 2: Description of Business

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

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

Step 3: Market Analysis

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

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

Step 4: Competitive Analysis

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

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

Step 5: Description of Organizational Management

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

Step 6: Description of Products or Services

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

Questions to answer in this section are as follows:

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

Step 7: Marketing Plan

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

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

Step 8: Sales Plan

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

Start by answering the following questions:

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

Step 9: Funding Details (or Request for Funding)

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

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

Step 10: Financial Projections

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

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

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

Business Plan Template

Download Business Plan Template

Microsoft Excel | Smartsheet

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

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

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

How to Write a Simple Business Plan

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

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

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

Simple Business Plan Template

Download Simple Business Plan Template

Microsoft Excel |  Microsoft Word | Adobe PDF  | Smartsheet

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

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

How to Write a Business Plan for a Lean Startup

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

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

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

Lean Business Plan Template for Startups

Download Lean Business Plan Template for Startups

Microsoft Word | Adobe PDF

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

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

How to Write a Business Plan for a Loan

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

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

Download free financial templates to support your business plan.

Tips for Writing a Business Plan

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

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

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

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

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

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

Resources for Writing a Business Plan

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

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

How a Business Plan Helps to Grow Your Business

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

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

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When teams have clarity into the work getting done, there’s no telling how much more they can accomplish in the same amount of time.  Try Smartsheet for free, today.

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How To Write a Business Plan

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Starting a business is a wild ride, and a solid business plan can be the key to keeping you on track. A business plan is essentially a roadmap for your business — outlining your goals, strategies, market analysis and financial projections. Not only will it guide your decision-making, a business plan can help you secure funding with a loan or from investors .

Writing a business plan can seem like a huge task, but taking it one step at a time can break the plan down into manageable milestones. Here is our step-by-step guide on how to write a business plan.

Table of contents

• Write your executive summary
• Do your market research homework
• Set your business goals and objectives
• Plan your business strategy
• Describe your product or service
• Crunch the numbers
• Finalize your business plan

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Step 1: Write your executive summary

Though this will be the first page of your business plan , we recommend you actually write the executive summary last. That’s because an executive summary highlights what’s to come in the business plan but in a more condensed fashion.

An executive summary gives stakeholders who are reading your business plan the key points quickly without having to comb through pages and pages. Be sure to cover each successive point in a concise manner, and include as much data as necessary to support your claims.

You’ll cover other things too, but answer these basic questions in your executive summary:

• Idea: What’s your business concept? What problem does your business solve? What are your business goals?
• Product: What’s your product/service and how is it different?
• Market: Who’s your audience? How will you reach customers?
• Finance: How much will your idea cost? And if you’re seeking funding, how much money do you need? How much do you expect to earn? If you’ve already started, where is your revenue at now?

Step 2: Do your market research homework

The next step in writing a business plan is to conduct market research . This involves gathering information about your target market (or customer persona), your competition, and the industry as a whole. You can use a variety of research methods such as surveys, focus groups, and online research to gather this information. Your method may be formal or more casual, just make sure that you’re getting good data back.

This research will help you to understand the needs of your target market and the potential demand for your product or service—essential aspects of starting and growing a successful business.

Step 3: Set your business goals and objectives

Once you’ve completed your market research, you can begin to define your business goals and objectives. What is the problem you want to solve? What’s your vision for the future? Where do you want to be in a year from now?

Use this step to decide what you want to achieve with your business, both in the short and long term. Try to set SMART goals—specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound benchmarks—that will help you to stay focused and motivated as you build your business.

Step 4: Plan your business strategy

Your business strategy is how you plan to reach your goals and objectives. This includes details on positioning your product or service, marketing and sales strategies, operational plans, and the organizational structure of your small business.

Make sure to include key roles and responsibilities for each team member if you’re in a business entity with multiple people.

Step 5: Describe your product or service

In this section, get into the nitty-gritty of your product or service. Go into depth regarding the features, benefits, target market, and any patents or proprietary tech you have. Make sure to paint a clear picture of what sets your product apart from the competition—and don’t forget to highlight any customer benefits.

Step 6: Crunch the numbers

Financial analysis is an essential part of your business plan. If you’re already in business that includes your profit and loss statement , cash flow statement and balance sheet .

These financial projections will give investors and lenders an understanding of the financial health of your business and the potential return on investment.

You may want to work with a financial professional to ensure your financial projections are realistic and accurate.

Step 7: Finalize your business plan

Once you’ve completed everything, it's time to finalize your business plan. This involves reviewing and editing your plan to ensure that it is clear, concise, and easy to understand.

You should also have someone else review your plan to get a fresh perspective and identify any areas that may need improvement. You could even work with a free SCORE mentor on your business plan or use a SCORE business plan template for more detailed guidance.

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The takeaway

Writing a business plan is an essential process for any forward-thinking entrepreneur or business owner. A business plan requires a lot of up-front research, planning, and attention to detail, but it’s worthwhile. Creating a comprehensive business plan can help you achieve your business goals and secure the funding you need.

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• 5 Best Business Plan Software and Tools in 2023 for Your Small Business
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Strategic Plans for Long-Term Growth: Examples and Strategies

Small to midsize businesses (SMBs) make up the vast majority of businesses in the US, according to the US Chamber of Commerce, and they are widely considered to be engines of innovation in the overall economy. But for many founders of these organizations, creating and maintaining strategic plans to keep those ships sailing smoothly five, ten, or even twenty years into the future can be immensely difficult. Don’t worry, though: We’ve got you covered. In this article, we’ll guide you through strategic planning examples and approaches for small to midsize companies in all types of industries. With a little foresight, you can ensure the strategic planning process is an effective means of building a company you’ll love forever .

If you want to:

• Move your organization in the direction you intend for long-term success.
• Implement your plan smoothly for greater growth.
• Use a better platform for developing a truly effective strategic plan.

… then you’ll love this guide. Let’s get started.

What’s Covered in This Guide

Click on each to jump to that section.

What Is Strategic Planning?

How many types of business plans are there, what is the goal of strategic planning.

• How Do I Become a Strategic Leader?

4 Examples of Strategic Planning Strategies

The strategic planning process in 11 steps, what does strategic planning involve, how to implement your strategic plan, examples of strategic plans, get your strategic planning done on ninety.

Strategic planning is the process you use to:

• Establish and document a clear direction for your organization.
• Identify business goals and set priorities that create growth for your company.
• Formulate a long-term plan of action designed to achieve these objectives.
• Determine an internal system tracking and evaluating performance.

When organizations want to, they use a strategic plan to:

• Strengthen their operation.
• Focus on collective energy and resources.
• Enable leaders, teams, and other stakeholders to work toward common goals.
• Make agreements around desired results.
• Refresh direction and prevail over a changing or challenging environment.

Thinking strategically helps companies take the right action for more success and better outcomes. Some even call it an art.

Strategic plans are one of three essential business plans used to pursue important objectives for your company. When tackling challenges and determining action plans, you can think strategically, tactically, or operationally. These three thought processes often work in concert to help you create a framework that achieves your desired objectives.

• Strategic plans are designed for multilevel involvement throughout the entire organization. Leaders will look ahead to where they want to be in three, five, and ten years and develop a mission.
• Tactical plans support strategic plans. They outline the specific responsibilities and functionalities at the department level so team members know how to do their part to make the strategic plan successful.
• Operational plans focus on the highly detailed procedures, processes , and routine tasks that frontline team members must accomplish to achieve desired outcomes.

The goal of your strategic plan is to determine:

• Where your company stands in relation to the current business environment. Understand how your business operates, how you create value , and how you differentiate from your competitors.
• Where you want to take the business based on Focus Filters such as your company’s Vision, culture, Core Values, and goals . Envision how you see the company 5–10 years from now.
• What you need to do to get there. You come away from your planning sessions with a road map that helps deliver on your strategic objectives. Determine better ways to enable and implement change, schedule deadlines, and structure goals so they’re achievable .

The main purpose of your strategic plan is to create clearly defined goals for achieving the growth and success your organization needs. These goals are connected to your organization’s Vision .

How Do I Become a Strategic Leader? 

Strategic leadership, also known as strategy execution, is how you create, implement, and sustain your strategic plan so your organization moves in the direction you intend for long-term success. This usually involves establishing ongoing practices and benchmarks, allocating resources, and providing leadership that supports your Vision.

Strategic leadership can employ two different approaches:

• A prescriptive approach is analytical and focuses on how strategies are created to account for risks and opportunities.
• A descriptive approach is principle-driven and focuses on how strategies are implemented to account for risks and opportunities.

Most people agree that a strategic plan is only as good as the company’s ability to research, create, implement, evaluate, and adjust when needed. The benefits can be great when:

• Your entire organization supports the plan.
• Your business is set up to succeed.
• Your team members are more likely to stay on track without being distracted or derailed.
• You make better decisions based on metrics that facilitate course correction.
• Everyone in your company is involved and invested in better outcomes.
• Departments and teams are aligned across your company.
• People are committed to learning, leading, and coaching .
• Productivity increases, and performance improves.
• Creativity is encouraged and rewarded.

What are the four main points of strategic planning? You engage in strategic thinking so you can create effective company goals that are:

1. Purpose-driven

Align your strategic plan with the Vision as you understand it.

2. Actionable

Actionable strategic goals are worth spending your time and resources on to reach organizational objectives.

3. Measurable

It’s critical for you to track your strategy's progress and success, enabling your teams to take action and meet the goals more effectively.

4. Focused Long-term

A long-term focus distinguishes a strategic plan from operational goals, which involve daily activities and milestones required for success. When planning strategically, you’re looking ahead to the company’s future.

A strategic plan isn’t written in a day: Critical thinking evolves over several months. Those involved in the strategic planning are usually a Senior Leadership Team and team members from your company and possibly other stakeholders.

When should strategic planning be done?

You should plan strategically for startups and newer organizations from the start. But even if your company is a more established small or midsize business, it’s not too late to start working on strategy.

Flexible timing that’s tailored to the needs of your organization is smart. Although the frequency of strategy sessions is up to you, many leaders use these milestones as a guide:

• When the economy, your market, and industry trends change, or a global event occurs (like the onset of a pandemic)
• Following a change in senior leadership
• Before a product launch or when a new division is added to your business
• After your company merges with another organization
• During a convenient time frame such as a quarterly and annual review

Many organizations opt to schedule regular strategic reviews either quarterly or annually. Especially when crafting a plan, your strategic planning team should meet regularly. They will often follow predetermined steps in the development of your long-term plan.

What are the 11 steps of strategic planning?

1. identify your company’s strategic position in the marketplace..

Gather market data and research information from both internal and external sources. You may want to conduct a comprehensive SWOT analysis . Your strengths and weaknesses are directly related to your current competitive advantage within your industry. They're what you use to balance challenges to your success. They also influence the likelihood of increased market share in the future.

2. Define your unique Vision.

What would success look like for you in three years? Five years? Ten years? Articulate that in your Vision. Formulating purpose-driven strategic goals articulates why your company does what it does. Your organizational values inform your Vision and connect them to specific objectives.

3. Determine your company’s value.

Many companies use financial forecasting for this purpose. A forecast can assign anticipated measurable results, return on investment, or profits and cost of investment.

4. Set your organizational direction.

Defining the impact you want to have and the time frame for achieving it helps focus a too-broad or over-ambitious first draft. This way, your plan will have objectives that will have the most impact. 

5. Create specific strategic objectives.

Your strategic objectives identify the conditions for your success. For instance, they may cover:

• Value: Increasing revenue and shareholder value, budgeting cost, allocating resources aligned with the strategic plan, forecasting profitability, and ensuring financial stability. 
• Customer Experience: Identifying target audiences, solution-based products and services, value for the cost, better service, and increased market share.
• Operational Efficiency: Streamlining internal processes, investing in research and development, total quality and performance priorities, reducing cost, and improving workplace safety.
• Learning and Growth: Training leaders and teams to address change and sustain growth, improving employee productivity and retention, and building high-performing teams.

6. Set specific strategic initiatives.

Strategic initiatives are your company's actions to reach your strategic objectives, such as raising brand awareness, a commitment to product development, purpose-driven employee training, and more.

7. Develop cascading goals.

Cascading goals are like cascading messages : They filter your strategy throughout the company from top to bottom. The highest-level goals align with both mid-level goals and the individual goals team members must accomplish to achieve overall outcomes. This helps everyone see how their performance will influence overall success, which improves engagement and productivity.

8. Create alignment across the entire company.

The success of your strategy is directly impacted by your commitment to inform and engage your entire workforce in strategy implementation. This involves ensuring everyone is connected and working together to achieve your goals. Overall decision-making becomes easier and more aligned.

9. Consider strategy mapping.

A strategy map is an easy-to-understand diagram, graphic, or illustration that shows the logical, cause-and-effect relationship among various strategic objectives. They are used to quickly communicate how your organization creates value. It will help you communicate the details of your strategic plan better to people by tapping into their visual learning abilities.

10. Use metrics to measure performance.

When your strategy informs the creation of SMART organizational goals , benchmarks can be established and metrics can be assigned to evaluate performance within specific time frames. Key performance indicators align performance and productivity with long-term strategic objectives. 

11. Evaluate the performance of your plan regularly.

You write a strategic plan to improve your company’s overall performance. Evaluating your progress at regular intervals will tell you whether you’re on your way to achieving your objectives or whether your plan needs an adjustment.

Effective strategic planning involves creating a company culture of good communication and accountability. It involves creating and embracing the opportunity for positive change.

Consider these statistics:

• In many companies, only 42% of leaders and 27% of employees have access to a strategic plan.
• Even if they have access, 95% of employees do not understand their organization's strategy.
• 5.2% of a strategy’s potential is lost to poor communication.
• What leaders care about makes up at least 80% of the content of their communications. But those messages do not tap into around 80% of their employees’ primary motivators for putting extra energy into a change program.
• 28% of leaders say one of the main reasons strategic initiatives succeed is the ability to attract skilled personnel; 25% say it’s good communication; 25% say it’s the ability to manage organizational change.

Here’s what you can do to embrace a culture of good communication and accountability:

Make your strategic plan visible. Talk about what's working and what isn't. People want to know where and how they fit into the organization and why their contribution is valuable — even if they don't understand every element of the plan.

Build accountability. If you've agreed on a plan with clear objectives and priorities, your leaders have to take responsibility for what's in it. They must own the objectives and activities in your plan.

Create an environment for change. It’s much more difficult to implement a strategy if you think there will be no support or collaboration from your team members. Addressing their concerns will help build a culture that understands how to champion change.

• 98% of leaders think strategy implementation takes more time than strategy formulation.
• 61% of leaders acknowledge that their organizations often struggle to bridge the gap between strategy formulation and its day-to-day implementation.
• 45% of leaders say ensuring team members take different actions or demonstrate different behaviors is the toughest implementation challenge; 37% of leaders say it’s gaining support across the whole organization.
• 39% of leaders say one of the main reasons strategic plans succeed is skilled implementation.

The reality for so many is that it’s harder to implement a strategic plan than to craft one. Great strategic ideas and a clear direction are key to success, no matter what. But so is:

• Turning strategic ideas into an easy-to-implement framework that enables meaningful managing, tracking, and adapting
• Getting everyone in the organization on the same strategic page, from creation to execution

When your plan is structured to support implementation, you're more likely to get it done.

What are examples of good strategic planning? If you prefer a more traditional approach, there's lots of templates out there to help you create a plan document with pen and paper whether you're a for-profit or nonprofit entity .

But Ninety has a better way.

The Vision planner is essentially a strategic planning template on Ninety’s cloud-based platform that allows you to:

• Set goals, establish how you will meet them, and share them with those who need to know.
• Gain visibility around your company's Core Values .
• Create Core Values, a niche, and long-term goals that are accessible to everyone in your company.
• Create a Vision that lets you know what needs to happen now.
• Easily update and track changes.
• Bring alignment to your entire organization.

And you can do all this with only two digitized pages.

In your Vision tool inside Ninety, you can easily access all the things that make strategic plans effective by either using our default categories or making custom ones that meet your company’s specific needs. While you can include information about your Vision, goals, SWOT analysis, and key performance indicators from the start, here are some examples of custom options you could add to help more effectively implement your strategic plan: 

• Executive Summary
• Elevator Pitch
• Compelling Why
• Industry Analysis
• Marketing Strategy
• Operations Plan
• Financial Projections

Your Vision and goals are also completely integrated with all other features on Ninety, such as Scorecards, Rocks, To-Dos, Issues, Org Chart , Meetings, 1-on-1s, and more:

• Create a clear game plan for each team.
• Determine one- and three-year goals.
• Reference past versions in a Vision archive.
• Share your Vision with all teams, or keep it private if it's still in progress.

Now that you’ve learned how to grow your company using strategic planning, it’s time to put your knowledge into practice:

Build your strategic plan on Ninety now .

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How to set up and achieve long term goals for a business

What are long-term goals for business?

Long-term goals for business are the high-level goals of your strategy that you aim to achieve in the next 3-5 years or even longer. They are the objectives that, once reached, bring you closer to your vision.

They are the milestones for your vision.

They tend to be resilient to environmental changes like technological, political and others. Long-term goals determine the direction of your company and solidify your strategy regarding your position in the market and the industry. In other words, they outline the high-level objectives you choose to accomplish to bring your vision to life.

Why it’s important to set long-term goals

They provide clarity ..

A business with weak or non-existent long-term goals is like a leaf in the wind.

It moves in no particular direction and is subject to every and any change in the environment. It jumps from trend to trend without understanding what causes them, trying to get as much benefit out of them as possible. Sometimes it succeeds, others not so much. As a result, its performance is a roller coaster and its future unpredictable and uncertain. These kinds of businesses move fast towards nowhere.

A business with no long-term goals is in reactive mode .

On the other hand , organizations with long-term goals deriving from their vision have a more steady course. They have clarity on what they wish to become in the next 3-5 years, which guides their decisions. It’s easier for them to spot meaningful trends and take advantage of them in the short term to succeed in the longer term.

Clarity in the organization’s future state, when combined with a concise view of its current state , is a powerful tool. It enables an accurate gap analysis and the grounding of the strategy in reality.

A business with solid and aligned long-term goals is in proactive mode .

How short-term and long-term goals differ

Long-term goals differ from short-term goals in four key traits:

• Short-term goals are malleable .
• Short-term goals are specific .
• Short-term goals are measurable .
• Short-term goals are sacrificable .

Short-term goals change often. As they should. They correlate to the tactics you choose to pursue your strategic objectives. And your tactics change when the environmental circumstances change, e.g., your competitors launched a new product, a global pandemic came out of nowhere, your country leaves a state union , or a new tech disrupts your industry. All of these changes force you to adapt your short-term expectations and tactics. Your long-term goals are more resilient to these changes.

Short-term goals love specificity. This is goal setting 101. Remove ambiguity and make sure that everybody interprets the goals the same way. Make your language simple and your description longer if you have to. Clarity in goals informs decisions. Of course, long-term goals should be clear, as well, but they don’t have to be so specific. 

Short-term goals have numbers in them. They are not metrics or KPIs because they’re lagging indicators of your progress. But they are indicators nonetheless. They inform you whether you and your people did a good job to achieve them. Long-term goals don’t need numbers if they don’t make sense. For example, “Dominate our category” could be accompanied by a number like “Own 70% of the market”, but that doesn’t exactly sum up what “dominating a category” really is.

Short-term goals are sacrificed for the company’s greater good. We’re past the time where quarterly numbers are the holy grail of strategy. Leadership with a clear vision recognizes that sometimes you have to make short-term sacrifices to achieve long-term success. It’s how you build sustainable and stable growth. The reverse is what creates soaring short-term results but destroys the culture and leads to ethical fading.

How long are short-term and long-term goals

The scale is relative.

A colossus like Amazon can’t really keep up and survive with a strategy shorter than 3 years . The bigger the organization (and its market cap), the longer the span of its long-term goals. Planning for so long ahead allows the company to manage its resources efficiently and direct its effort towards the most promising big move.

In his book “Invent & Wander: The Collected Writings of Jeff Bezos,” Jeff Bezos says that each quarter is baked three years earlier .  Not three months. Not three quarters. Three years. Which means that the numbers of the latest quarter indicate the quality of the company’s 3- year-old strategy. And it makes sense. It’s impossible to coordinate over a million employees if you change the company's direction with every small trend you spot.

Of course, that doesn’t mean the strategy doesn’t adapt to environmental changes.

Complacency is the enterprise killer . Large organizations might be more resilient to threats, but they can become irrelevant very fast, remember Blockbuster and Kodak. However, with size comes one huge advantage. Data. Large organizations have access to huge amounts of data that can generate market insights, spot trends and almost “predict the future.”

Short-term and medium-term goals are decided based on those findings. Due to their dependence on environmental conditions, short-term goals can’t be yearly . Even longer than quarterly is stretching them. In a time of a crisis, short-term goals could be as short as daily and in more peaceful circumstances as long as quarterly.

Long-term goals examples

The further you look into the future, the more uncertain it becomes. The closer your milestones are to your vision, the less specific they become.

Let’s take, for example, The Walt Disney Company . Disney’s vision statement is:

“To be one of the world’s leading producers and providers of entertainment and information.” When Bob Iger took over as Disney’s CEO, his strategy was summed up in three priorities, 3 long-term goals :

• Create content of the highest quality
• Adopt cutting-edge technology to create content & connect with the customers
• Expand globally

These goals are specific enough to guide the decisions of everyone inside the company and are vague enough for everyone to interpret them differently. In other words, they are contextualizing the content of the rest of the strategy.

Other long-term goals examples are:

• Dominate our category
• Create a community-like culture
• Lead the sustainability transformation in our industry
• Create the most comfortable/cheapest/easiest to use [product]
• Digitize our processes

Short-term goals examples

Short-term goals are very specific.

Each department, team and individual has its own short-term goals to meet. What’s important is to have all of them aligned, some shared between teams and people and none isolated. Choosing short-term goals is the last step of your strategy’s implementation and should derive naturally from your strategic priorities.

Here is a list of short-term goals:

• Increase our revenue by 15% by the end of Q1 owned by Jane Doe.
• Reduce safety incidents by 70% by the end of Q1 owned by John Doe.
• Increase customer retention by 30% by the end of Q2 owned by John Doe.
• Hire 5 new salespeople by the end of the month owned by Jane Doe.
• Increase ad conversion by 10% by the end of the next month owned by Jane Doe.

How to set long-term goals

Long-term goals have 3 important components:

• Duration (NOT deadline)
• Specificity to dictate choices
• They are memorable

They don’t have a specific deadline. They have an estimated duration. You don’t “Dominate your category” by Dec 31, 2025. You “Dominate your category” in the next 3 years. If in 3 years you haven’t achieved your goal, then something went wrong. That’s how you should think of your long-term deadline, not as a hard date but as an estimated duration.

They dictate choices. Long-term goals outline the company’s strategy and inform every employee’s decision-making process. Ideally, when a team leader needs to make a decision, crucial or not, they can easily align it with the company’s strategy simply by visiting the long-term goals. That’s why they can’t be overly specific because they will only inform certain types of decisions and be useful to only a limited part of the organization. Thus, creating a big risk of internal misalignment.

They are easy to remember. If your people need to check the company’s long-term priorities every time they make a decision, they won’t. Make sure everyone understands and is on board with your priorities by simply making them memorable. In the end, you want the priorities to provide context, not represent all of your strategy’s details.

Benchmark the duration of your goals externally

Take as much guessing as possible out of the process. Have a hard look at your industry’s history and how long it took certain players to achieve their long-term aspirations. Find out what were their strengths, weaknesses and mistakes . Contrast them to yours and then make an educated estimation of your goal’s duration.

Do better than “best”

Shy away from generic goals like “be the best/first/most innovative.” Nobody perceives these the same way. For example, specify your ideal customer so your people know who NOT to target. Specify your product’s niche , e.g., “perfect scale models” instead of “just toys.” In essence, provide a context to decisions that will dictate a clear set of choices on every organizational level.

Write them for 5-year-olds

If a young child can’t understand your long-term goals, chances are your people will have a hard time remembering them. Simplify the language, avoid jargon, use verbs and be specific in your adjectives . Go beyond 3 goals and you risk giving your people contradicting priorities. Clarity unifies collective effort towards one direction .

How to achieve long-term goals in business

With shorter-term goals.

When you write your strategic plan , start from the end and work your way backward from your vision towards your current state. Here’s how to think about your plan:

• Your vision is your destination.
• Your long-term goals are your milestones.
• Your shorter-term goals are your odometer.

Your strategic plan also contains your Focus Areas and your strategic objectives . They break down your direction even further. 

Starting with the end in mind gives your shorter-term goals a predictive power

So basically, your strategic plan works like a roadmap towards your long-term goals. Here’s how to think about tracking your progress: if you complete all of your strategic objectives, will you have achieved your long-term goals? If you haven’t achieved at least an 80% progress towards them, your tracking is off. You need to revisit your strategic objectives.

This tracking process cascades from the top of the strategic plan to the bottom. Check out how Cascade brings this strategic model to life and aligns your people’s day-to-day work with your company’s vision as a goal management software .

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The Ultimate Guide to Successful Long-Term Planning

Long-term planning is a crucial aspect of any successful business or organization. It involves creating a roadmap for the future, setting goals and objectives, and implementing strategies to achieve them. In this article, we will explore the importance of long-term planning, define what it entails, and discuss the benefits it can bring.

What is Long-Term Planning?

Long-term planning refers to the process of setting goals and objectives that extend beyond the immediate future. It involves analyzing current market trends, identifying key milestones, and developing strategies to achieve sustainable growth over an extended period. This type of planning takes into account various factors such as market dynamics, customer needs , and internal capabilities.

The Importance of Long-Term Planning Strategies

Long-term planning is essential because it provides direction and purpose for an organization. It allows businesses to anticipate challenges, identify opportunities, and make informed decisions aligning with their vision. By taking a proactive approach to the future, organizations can stay ahead of the competition and adapt to changing market conditions.

Benefits of Successful Long-Term Planning

Successful long-term planning offers numerous benefits for businesses. Firstly, it provides a sense of direction and purpose that guides decision-making at all levels of the organization. Secondly, it helps align resources effectively by identifying priorities and allocating them accordingly. Additionally, long-term planning enables businesses to build resilience by anticipating risks and developing contingency plans.

Long-term planning strategies are crucial in ensuring an organization's success in today's dynamic business environment. By adopting these strategies, businesses can navigate uncertainties while capitalizing on emerging opportunities.

Remember: Successful long-term planning starts with understanding its importance and what it entails.

Understanding Long-Term Planning

Long-term planning is a crucial aspect of business success, as it allows organizations to set clear goals and objectives for the future. By understanding the fundamentals of long-term planning, companies can develop effective strategies to navigate the ever-changing market landscape and achieve sustainable growth.

Defining Long-Term Goals and Objectives

Defining long-term goals and objectives is the foundation of any successful long-term plan. These goals provide a clear direction for the organization and serve as a roadmap for decision-making. Long-term goals should be specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound (SMART). They should align with the company's vision and values while considering external factors such as market trends and customer demands.

Identifying Key Milestones and Benchmarks

To track progress towards long-term goals, it is essential to identify key milestones and benchmarks along the way. Milestones are significant achievements that mark important stages in the plan's execution. Benchmarks, on the other hand, are measurable indicators used to assess performance against predetermined targets. By regularly monitoring these milestones and benchmarks, businesses can ensure they stay on track towards their long-term objectives.

Assessing the Current Market Landscape

Understanding the current market landscape is critical for effective long-term planning. This involves conducting thorough research and analysis of industry trends, competitor strategies, customer preferences, technological advancements, and regulatory changes. By gaining insights into these factors, organizations can identify potential opportunities or threats that may impact their long-term plan. This assessment helps businesses make informed decisions about resource allocation, product development, marketing strategies, and more.

By defining long-term goals and objectives, identifying key milestones and benchmarks along the way, as well as assessing the current market landscape, businesses can lay a strong foundation for their long-term planning strategies. This comprehensive understanding sets the stage for developing an effective long-term plan that aligns with organizational aspirations and maximizes opportunities for success.

Developing a Long-Term Plan

Developing a long-term plan is crucial for the success and sustainability of any organization. It provides a roadmap for achieving goals and objectives over an extended period of time. In this section, we will explore the key steps involved in developing a comprehensive long-term plan.

Creating a Vision Statement

A vision statement serves as the foundation for a long-term plan. It outlines the organization's desired future state and clarifies its purpose and direction. A well-crafted vision statement inspires and motivates employees, stakeholders, and customers alike.

To create an effective vision statement, it is important to consider the organization's values, mission, and unique selling proposition. It should be concise, memorable, and reflective of the organization's aspirations. By clearly articulating where the organization wants to be in the long run, a vision statement sets the stage for strategic decision-making.

Setting SMART Goals

Setting SMART (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, Time-bound) goals is essential in long-term planning. These goals provide clear targets that can be tracked and evaluated over time.

Specific goals outline precisely what needs to be achieved, while measurable goals allow progress to be quantified objectively. Achievable goals ensure that they are within reach considering available resources and capabilities. Relevant goals align with the overall objectives of the organization.

Time-bound goals establish deadlines or milestones to keep progress on track. By setting SMART goals during long-term planning, organizations can effectively allocate resources and prioritize initiatives that contribute to their desired future state.

Conducting a SWOT Analysis

A SWOT analysis is an important tool in developing a long-term plan as it helps identify internal strengths and weaknesses as well as external opportunities and threats facing an organization.

By thoroughly assessing these factors, organizations gain valuable insights into their current position in relation to market conditions and competition. This analysis enables them to capitalize on their strengths, address weaknesses, seize opportunities, and mitigate potential threats.

A SWOT analysis provides a holistic view of the organization's internal and external environment, which is essential for making informed decisions and formulating effective strategies in the long term.

Strategies for Successful Long-Term Planning

Building a Strong Team

To ensure the success of long-term planning, it is crucial to build a strong team aligned with the company's vision. This team should consist of individuals with diverse skills and expertise, allowing for comprehensive analysis and decision-making. Different perspectives can be considered by fostering collaboration and open communication within the team, leading to well-rounded long-term strategies.

Utilizing Data and Analytics

Data and analytics play a pivotal role in effective long-term planning. Organizations can gain valuable insights into their target market's needs and preferences by leveraging data from various sources, such as market research, customer insights, and industry trends. Analyzing this data enables businesses to make informed decisions about resource allocation, product development, and marketing strategies. By utilizing data-driven approaches in long-term planning, companies can increase their chances of achieving their goals.

Adapting to Changing Market Conditions

In today's dynamic business landscape, market conditions are constantly evolving. Successful long-term planning requires organizations to stay agile and adaptable. It is essential to continuously monitor market trends and competitor activities to identify potential threats or opportunities that may arise. By proactively adapting their strategies based on changing market conditions, businesses can position themselves for long-term success.

By incorporating these strategies into the long-term plan, businesses can enhance their chances of achieving sustained success in an ever-changing marketplace.

Implementing the Long-Term Plan

Implementing the long-term plan is a crucial step in ensuring its success. It effectively allocates resources, establishes clear roles and responsibilities, and monitors and evaluates progress.

Allocating Resources Effectively

Allocating resources effectively is essential for the successful execution of a long-term plan. This involves carefully determining how to distribute resources such as finances, manpower, and technology to achieve the desired goals. Organizations can optimize their efficiency and productivity by strategically allocating resources based on priority and need.

Establishing Clear Roles and Responsibilities

Establishing clear roles and responsibilities is key to avoiding confusion and ensuring everyone understands their part in executing the long-term plan. By clearly defining who is responsible for what tasks, teams can work collaboratively toward achieving common objectives. Effective communication of roles helps streamline processes, minimizes duplication of efforts, and fosters accountability among team members.

Monitoring and Evaluating Progress

Monitoring and evaluating progress is vital to track the implementation of the long-term plan and make necessary adjustments along the way. Regularly measuring key performance indicators (KPIs) allows organizations to assess whether they are on track toward achieving their goals or if any modifications are required. By analyzing progress, organizations can identify areas of improvement or potential challenges that need addressing.

Implementing a long-term plan requires effective resource allocation, clear role establishment, and continuous progress monitoring. By following these strategies diligently, organizations can enhance their chances of successfully executing their long-term plans while maximizing their growth potential.

Overcoming Challenges in Long-Term Planning

Dealing with Uncertainty and Risk. In long-term planning, one of the major challenges is dealing with uncertainty and risk. The future is unpredictable; factors can always derail even the most well-thought-out plans. However, instead of being overwhelmed by uncertainty, successful long-term planners embrace it as an opportunity for growth and innovation. They develop contingency plans to mitigate risks and adapt their strategies based on changing circumstances. By acknowledging and addressing uncertainty head-on, they are better equipped to navigate the unknown and achieve long-term goals.

Managing Stakeholder Expectations. Another challenge in long-term planning is managing stakeholder expectations. Stakeholders may have varying priorities, timelines, and expectations for the plan's outcome. It is crucial to engage all stakeholders early on in the planning process to ensure alignment and avoid conflicts. Effective communication plays a vital role in managing stakeholder expectations throughout the implementation of the long-term plan. Planners can build trust and maintain support from all parties involved by informing stakeholders about progress, proactively addressing concerns, and seeking feedback regularly.

Maintaining Flexibility in the Plan. Flexibility is key when it comes to long-term planning strategies. As circumstances change over time, it is essential to remain adaptable and open to adjustments in the plan. A rigid plan that does not account for unexpected events or new opportunities can quickly become obsolete or ineffective. Successful long-term planners regularly review their strategies and reassess their goals based on market conditions, technology advancements, or other relevant factors. Maintaining flexibility within their plan allows them to seize emerging opportunities or pivot when necessary without compromising their overall vision.

Long-term planning is crucial for organizations to achieve sustained success. Planners can navigate these obstacles by understanding the challenges that may arise, such as dealing with uncertainty and risk, managing stakeholder expectations, and maintaining flexibility in the plan. Organizations can overcome hurdles and achieve long-term goals by carefully considering these challenges and implementing appropriate strategies. Let's embrace the power of long-term thinking and take action for a successful future.

Long-term planning is a crucial aspect of achieving success in any endeavor. By carefully considering the future and developing a comprehensive long-term plan, individuals and organizations can set themselves up for sustainable growth and prosperity.

Strikingly and Your Long-Term Planning Strategy

Strikingly is a website builder that can be used to create a professional website for your business. It offers a variety of features that can be helpful for long-term planning, such as:

• Analytics. Strikingly provides detailed analytics about your website traffic so you can track your progress over time and make necessary adjustments to your long-term plan.
• Goal tracking . You can set goals for your website, such as increasing traffic or generating leads, and Strikingly will help you track your progress toward those goals.

Image taken from Strikingly

• Reporting. Strikingly provides reports that you can use to analyze your website traffic and performance. This information can help you make decisions about your long-term plan.
• Integrations. Strikingly integrates with various other tools, such as email marketing platforms and CRM software. This can help you automate tasks and streamline your long-term planning process.

In addition to these features, Strikingly can also help you with long-term planning by providing you with a platform to:

• Create a strong online presence. Your website is your online storefront, and ensuring it's well-designed and informative is important. Strikingly can help you create a website to impress your customers and help you grow your business .

Image taken from Strikingly  

• Reach a wider audience. Strikingly makes it easy to promote your website through social media, email marketing, and other channels. This can help you reach a wider audience and grow your business .
• Stay ahead of the competition. The business landscape is constantly changing, and staying ahead of the competition is important. Strikingly can help you track your competitors' websites and make sure yours is always up-to-date.

Overall, Strikingly can be a valuable tool for businesses that are looking to create a long-term plan. The platform's features and integrations can help you track your progress, set goals, and make informed decisions about your future.

Here are some specific ways that Strikingly can be used for long-term planning for businesses:

• Set goals. You can use Strikingly's goal-tracking features to set specific goals for your website, such as increasing traffic or generating leads. This will help you stay focused and motivated as you work towards your long-term plan.

• Track progress. Strikingly's analytics features can help you track your website traffic and performance over time. This information can be used to measure your progress toward your goals and make necessary adjustments to your long-term plan.
• Identify opportunities. Strikingly's reporting features can help you identify opportunities to improve your website and grow your business. For example, you could use the reports to see which pages on your website are most popular or which keywords drive traffic.

If you're looking for a website builder that can help you with long-term planning for your business, Strikingly is a good option to consider. The platform's features and integrations can help you track your progress, set goals, and make informed decisions about your future.

The Power of Long-Term Thinking

Long-term thinking allows individuals and organizations to see beyond the immediate challenges and focus on the bigger picture. It enables them to anticipate future trends , identify potential obstacles, and make informed decisions that will benefit them in the long run.

While planning is essential, taking action on those plans is equally important. Implementation is key to turning dreams into reality. By executing their long-term plans effectively and adapting as needed, individuals and organizations can pave the way for a successful future.

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How to Create a Long-Term Small Business Plan

If you’re starting a small business, you need a solid plan. Nearly 50% of new businesses fail, and experts agree bad business plans are one of the main reasons why . A long-term business plan is a blueprint for success. It identifies specific goals and delineates actionable ways to achieve them. It can also be used to pitch your business to private investors and secure funding.

Writing a business plan involves several key components, which should all work in harmony to ensure your business stays focused, yet adaptable. From identifying goals and risks to creating a financial plan, here’s our step-by-step guide.

1. Develop a Mission and Vision

Building a business that stands the test of time requires a clear understanding of your purpose and motivations. Thoughtful mission and vision statements set the stage for your future endeavors and establish a core identity for your business:

• Vision statement: Describe the long-term objectives of your business.
• Mission statement: Define the purpose and core values of your business.

Essentially, a vision statement identifies your goals and aspirations, and a mission statement outlines how you plan to achieve them. Sit down with company leadership to discuss your hopes, goals, and dreams for the future. What do you want your core message to be? What do you hope to accomplish in the next ten years? How can your business make a meaningful impact?

2. Perform a SWOT Analysis

A SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats) analysis is a straightforward tool to help you in the early stages of planning, giving you a framework to identify four key aspects of your business:

• Strengths: What’s your competitive advantage? What skills, benefits, and competencies does your business bring to the table?
• Weaknesses: What’s currently preventing your small business from reaching its full potential? How can these weaknesses be addressed?
• Opportunities: What external factors can be utilized to improve your operations and expand your reach? Examples include new software opportunities, investment potential, or rising demand from customers.
• Threats: What external factors might present obstacles for your business? These may include competition in your industry, laws and regulations, or economic downturns.

3. Develop Short-Term, Achievable Goals

Once you’ve identified your long-term vision and analyzed the business landscape, it’s time to set specific goals. Short-term goals should focus on the things you want to achieve in the next two to three years.

Try to ensure your goals are “S.M.A.R.T.” (specific, measurable, actionable, reasonable, and timely). Examples of S.M.A.R.T. goals could include “increase unit sales by three percent within 12 months” or “recruit two new account managers by the close of the second quarter.”

4. Outline Strategies

Each goal you set for yourself should be accompanied by a specific strategy to achieve it. For example, if your objective is to hire two new account managers by the end of the second quarter, strategy items might include:

• Meet with leadership to determine salary budgets and job requirements.
• Create job listings and share them on job boards and social media.
• Review applications.
• Conduct phone and in-person interviews with prospective hires.
• Meet with leadership to review applicants.
• Conduct background and reference checks.
• Offer jobs to candidates.

5. Create a Financial Plan

Many new business owners find that financial planning is the most challenging part of creating a business plan. But it’s also among the most important. A financial plan delineates a business’s current finances as well as goals and projections.

A strong financial plan should: 

• Be useful for business owners and investors alike
• Include three essential financial statements: an income statement, a balance sheet, and a cash flow statement
• Offer realistic projections and include strategies for progress tracking
• Address risks and contingencies
• Outline a strategic approach for long-term financial success

In many cases, it’s beneficial to seek the help of a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™️ professional to develop your strategy and ensure you achieve your objectives.

6. Develop a Marketing Approach  

Marketing is key to any small, consumer-focused business. But not all marketing strategies are created equal, and your approach should be tailored to your business’s unique needs and goals.

Here are some basic steps to creating an overall marketing approach: 

• Determine your target market. Do your services appeal to a general or niche population?
• Conduct thorough data analysis to identify customer needs, demographics, and behaviors.
• Identify ideal marketing vehicles; social media, direct email initiatives, local TV spots, billboards and fliers, print ads, etc.
• Establish a marketing budget.
• Develop implementation strategies.

7. Prepare for Risks and Roadblocks

No business is immune to pitfalls and setbacks. From economic downturns, to internal dysfunction, to regulatory issues, you need to ensure you have a reliable structure in place to prevent and address problems down the road.

Here are some potential risk preparations for small businesses:

• Human resources to address internal disputes
• Software to organize and protect company data
• Insurance for financial loss due to a natural disaster or property crime
• A business continuity plan to address issues and remain calm in a crisis
• Investment in team relationships and trust

8. Review and Modify the Plan Regularly

Even the most comprehensive business plan will need to be evaluated and fine-tuned on a regular basis. After all, adaptability is an essential element of any business approach. 

Consider scheduling quarterly or semi-annual business plan reviews to stay up to date with changing markets, pinpoint unforeseen weaknesses, and ensure things are running smoothly. This will give you the opportunity to make adjustments to your business plan as needed and ensure your small business continues to thrive for years to come. 

Build Your Business and Secure Its Financial Future

Finances are an essential part of developing any effective business plan. Financial planning for your business needs to be a key consideration at every level and stage of your small business.

Chatterton & Associates offers comprehensive business services including tax planning , financial planning , bookkeeping , and profitability and efficiency coaching . Our CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™️ professionals can help you develop a successful financial plan for your small business.

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How to Develop a Successful Long-Term Business Strategy in 9 Simple Steps

After a successful business launch, it's time to really get to work, for long-term success and sustainability..

The biggest challenge these days doesn't seem to be in starting a new business, but sustaining it against the onslaught of market changes and new competitors that emerge every day.

Yet, as an angel investor , I still see too many new business owners who are convinced that their biggest challenge is to get money to start, and once launched with some initial success, they can relax.

In my other role of business advisor, I see examples often of startups that may have taken success for granted too early. A recent high-profile one, Theranos , the blood-testing company, had no trouble getting customers, but promised more than their technology could deliver, Another, Shyp , an early on-demand delivery platform, blamed their demise on premature scaling.

The keys to sustainable success require you to retain that sense of urgency, focus, and vigilance after the launch that you felt during the development and early funding stages.

That starts with initially building a solid business strategy, including a strong support system for scalability, long-term leadership, and adaptability. In my view, this strategy must include the following elements:

1. Define and communicate a purpose and destination.

Your constituents can't plot a journey if they aren't sure where they are going or why. For a successful launch and scalable growth, they need to establish many checkpoints, with metrics to assess their progress and alignment with the vision.

Don't let that communication fade post-launch.

2. Build and nurture a team culture of trust and leadership.

You and your business won't be able to sustain a position of leadership without everyone on the customer-facing team being willing and able to emulate your lead. That requires trust and respect from all, as well as constant coaching and development to keep them committed to following you.

​3. Demand continuous innovation to keep up with change.

Change is the only constant in a successful business, to keep up with new competitors and new customer demands. Innovation must be applied to your business model, your processes, as well as your product offering. Aim to obsolete your own products with new, before competitors do it.

4. Make sustainability a key design objective for every step.

You may start with prototype products, but you need rock-solid processes for successful growth and agility. Seek out the best practices in the industry, and improve them for your business. Recognize that every successful journey is long and hard, so don't cut corners now.

5. Hire the best people and continually upgrade your team.

A big mistake often made in the rush to scale is to shortcut the hiring and training processes, to get out there fast, assuming that the team can learn on the job.

Look for team players who can collaborate with others, and make sure everyone has the training and tools to do the job.

6. Seek out strategic partnerships and collaboration.

When you finally get that funding for scaling, it may be tempting to do everything yourself, to keep control and do it faster.

The problem is that you may not have the experience or connections to jump into new customer segments, manufacturing, and distribution. Capitalize on what already exists.  

7. Focus on existing customer retention and repeat business.

For sustainable growth, don't forget that, according to data from the field , it is five times as expensive to gain a new customer than retain an existing one, and a returning customer purchases 30 percent more items and brings in three to seven times more revenue per transaction.

8. Build your brand equity and relationships with customers.

As a startup, you have no brand recognition, but long-term sustainability requires a powerful brand.

These days, brand equity means relationships with more customers, and a more memorable overall experience. Your brand-loyal customer advocates can be your exponential marketing.

9. Never stop hunting for new opportunities and new markets.

Initial success breeds complacency. While a laser focus is necessary to get your startup off the ground, long-term success requires a broad and ever-changing product line, target audience, and geographic focus. Don't be a "one-trick pony" that fades into oblivion as time passes.

Congratulations are definitely appropriate for a successful new business launch, but it's not the time to relax or take your eye off the ball. A sustainable business, with long-term success, is a different and never-ending challenge, requiring additional strategies as outlined here.

Don't wait for a business crisis to get started. As many have found out, recoveries are not always possible.

A refreshed look at leadership from the desk of CEO and chief content officer Stephanie Mehta

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• How to accomplish big things with long- ...

How to accomplish big things with long-term goals

Long-term goals are objectives you want to achieve months or years down the road. Setting this type of goal gives your work purpose, helps you make better decisions, and offers a hefty dose of daily motivation. In this article, we explain how you can use long-term goals to accomplish big things over time, with examples.

When you think of an ideal future for your work, what do you see? Perhaps you envision yourself launching a new global product, hitting record sales numbers, or recruiting the best talent in your field. But while it’s easy to imagine those dream scenarios, actually getting there is another story. That’s where long-term goals can help. 

Setting long-term goals helps turn your daydreams into concrete objectives that you can work towards with intention. Aside from helping you achieve difficult things, they’re also a useful tool to prioritize your work and decide what success looks like for you. 

What are long-term goals?

Long-term goals vs. short-term goals.

Long-term goals give your work direction and purpose. They’re usually made up of smaller, short-term goals , which are the stepping stones that help you accomplish your larger goals. While long-term goals are your north star, short-term goals make the work feel less daunting by breaking it up into actionable steps. 

For example, if your long-term goal is to double sales revenue in two years, a related short-term goal might be to hire three new sales reps this quarter. 

Benefits of long-term goals

Setting long-term goals can help you tackle big objectives at work and in your personal life. Here’s how. 

Improving focus and clarity

According to a 2020 report , some 86% of leaders say defining a purpose is essential to a successful growth strategy. Long-term goals help with that clarity because setting them encourages you to intentionally decide what kind of future you're striving for.

Creating a sense of purpose

When you set a long-term goal, you're deciding what success looks like to you. For example, if you set a vague intention to "increase sales revenue," it's difficult to measure progress and success. By clarifying your long-term goal to hit 2 million dollars in sales revenue in the next five years, you give your team a clear vision of success to aim for. 

Betters decision making

While many decisions aren't as simple as left or right, a long-term goal can be your compass. When you're faced with a choice, you can evaluate how each option might help you reach your goal.

Staying motivated

Long-term goals are also a powerful motivational tool. Specifically, long-term goals help with intrinsic motivation —the drive to succeed that comes from within yourself, rather than external factors like praise or compensation.

How to set long-term goals

The best long-term goals take a bit of planning. Here’s how to create goals and stick with them for the long haul. 

1. Visualize your ideal future

Before you create your goals, you have to decide what you want to achieve. Keep in mind that long-term goals are a big commitment. To create goals you can stick with, make sure they really matter to you and align with your values. This helps you stay motivated and avoid burnout . 

If you’re setting long-term objectives for your business , this means consulting with your mission , vision statement , and company values . If you’re setting personal work goals, try to identify your values first. Ask yourself what’s most important to you and what has fulfilled you most in the past—for example, you might value creativity, customer interaction, or organization.  

2. Write SMART goals

Goals should be clearly defined and falsifiable, so you have a concrete path to success. Luckily, the SMART goal framework makes it easy to create clear and measurable goals. SMART is an acronym that stands for: 

Here’s an example of a SMART goal: “This year, the engineering team will launch a mobile-first company website optimized for iOS and Android devices.” It specifies the type of website and what qualities it should possess, allows you to measure success based on whether or not the website has launched, is attainable (assuming you have sufficient engineering resources), and can realistically be achieved within the specified time frame.

3. Prioritize your goals

Now that you’ve set goals, it’s time to prioritize them . It can be tempting to try to tackle all your objectives at once, but that’s usually not realistic. You have to take into account what resources are available , including your own personal bandwidth. 

To prioritize, start by listing out all your long-term goals. Highlight which ones are most important to you. Make a note of when you want to achieve each goal and estimate how long it will take. Based on those factors, decide which goals you want to focus on right away and which ones you’ll put on hold until more bandwidth opens up.

4. Break long-term goals into short-term goals

Long-term goals take hard work to achieve, so it’s normal for them to feel a bit daunting at first. That’s where short-term goals come into play. These smaller stepping stones break the work down into bite-sized tasks you can tackle within a shorter time frame, such as a day, week, or month. 

To set short-term goals, write down all the tasks you need to accomplish in order to reach your long-term goal. Think of them as dependencies —hitting these goals unblocks your ultimate, long-term goal. Then, turn each of those dependencies into its own SMART goal. 

Example: Microsoft famously had a long-term goal in the early 1980s to put "a computer on every desk and in every home." They then broke this down into shorter-term goals around developing affordable hardware, creating a user-friendly operating system, and partnering with manufacturers to get their software preinstalled on new PCs. These incremental goals paved the way for Microsoft to become the PC market leader.

5. Make a plan to track your progress

In order for long-term goals to be effective, they should be connected to your day-to-day work. That means instead of setting and forgetting your goals, make a plan to regularly check in and update your progress—for example, at the end of each day or week. And with the short-term goals you’ve set, it will be easier to gauge your progress and determine if you’re on track for your long-term goals. 

Using a project management tool can help streamline this process. For example, when you create a long-term goal in Asana, you can set a due date and create automated reminders to update your goal's progress. And within each long-term goal, you can create short-term goals to break work down into manageable chunks—each with its own timeframe and scheduled reminders.

6. Be flexible

Keep in mind that your long-term goals aren't set in stone. Rather, they're a living document that you can adjust over time. Staying flexible with your goals can also help when unexpected opportunities arise. For example, imagine your company has set a long-term goal to enter a new international market, but a competitor gets there first. Instead of pursuing that same goal, you might consider adjusting your objective to focus on differentiating your product from the competition in order to target a different audience within that international market.

Common pitfalls to avoid when setting long-term goals 

While long-term goals can be incredibly powerful, there are some common mistakes to watch out for:

1. Setting unrealistic goals: It's important to dream big, but make sure you’re prioritizing SMART goals. Setting goals that are too far out of reach can be demotivating.

2. Failing to break big goals down: Long-term goals can feel overwhelming if you don't break them down into smaller chunks. Always split your bigger goals into actionable steps.

3. Not tracking progress: If you don't regularly check in on your milestones and goals, it's easy to lose sight of them. Make goal tracking a habit and celebrate your hard work along the way.

4. Giving up after setbacks: Bumps in the road are inevitable. Don't let them derail you from your ultimate goal. Learn from setbacks and adjust your approach as needed.

How to stay motivated with long-term goals

Pursuing long-term goals is rarely a smooth journey, whether they are personal goals or professional goals. It's common to encounter challenges along the way, like losing motivation, getting sidetracked by other priorities, or facing unexpected setbacks. Here are some strategies to stay focused, resilient, and motivated while pursuing long-term goals.

Remember your "why." Reconnect with the underlying reason and motivation behind your goal. Reflect on how achieving it will improve your work or life and contribute to your personal growth and self-improvement.

Break your goals down into measurable milestones , like waypoints on a roadmap, and celebrate each time you reach one. Rewarding progress, not just outcomes, reinforces your accomplishments and keeps you energized for the work still ahead.

Share your wins , both big and small, with trusted colleagues, mentors, friends, or family members who can offer encouragement, recognition, and advice. Acknowledging others multiplies motivation and helps you stay accountable for your own goals.

Reframe failures as learning opportunities. If you experience a setback, try to extract lessons that will help you improve your approach moving forward and refine your long-term vision.

Prioritize self-care and prevent burnout , which are key to staying on course toward long-term goals. Make time for activities that help you relax, recharge, and maintain a healthy work-life balance.

Treat yourself when you make notable strides. Celebrate your progress to create a sense of momentum and keep your energy high as you work towards your ultimate goal.

40 examples of long-term goals

Long-term goals can help in every area of your life—including your professional life and personal development. Take a look at 40 different types of goals , with examples. 

Long-term business goals

Long-term business goals can come in many forms, including strategic goals and big hairy audacious goals (BHAGs) . Your long-term business goals might focus on these areas: 

1. Increase revenue

2. Become or stay profitable

3. Improve the function of a specific department, like customer service

4. Grow your customer base

5. Launch a new product or service

6. Expand to a new country or region

7. Improve hiring practices

8. Rebrand your company

9. Improve operating efficiency

10. Increase employee satisfaction

Example: Warby Parker set a long-term goal to disrupt the traditional eyewear industry by creating an e-commerce model to sell affordable, stylish glasses online. This guided their efforts to vertically integrate design and manufacturing, offer free home try-ons, and partner with nonprofits to distribute glasses to people in need. Their innovative approach and clear long-term vision have made them a leader in the eyewear industry.

Long-term team goals

Long-term goals can also help shape your team culture, increase productivity, and encourage collaboration. For example, you could set long-term team goals to: 

11. Hire skilled new team members

12. Develop a process for cross-functional collaboration

13. Reach a specific revenue or sales target within your team

14. Organize regular offsites to promote team building

15. Document and share important team processes

16. Establish a regular feedback cycle for direct reports

17. Start a mentorship or buddy program for new hires

18. Develop a post-mortem process for completed projects

19. Create new areas of responsibility within your team

20. Identify new professional development opportunities for direct reports

Long-term career goals

There’s a reason one of the most common job interview questions is: “ Where do you see yourself in five years?” Long-term professional development goals help shape and grow your career. In that vein, here are some examples of career goals to consider: 

21. Find your dream job or career

22. Start your own business

23. Become a team manager

24. Learn a difficult new skill, like a new programming language

25. Find a fulfilling side-hustle

26. Pursue a new professional certification or master’s degree

27. Improve your work-life balance

28. Grow your professional network

29. Assume a leadership position within my department

30. Pitch and manage a new project 

Example: Reshma Saujani had a long-term goal to close the gender gap in technology. She started Girls Who Code, a nonprofit that runs coding camps and clubs for girls in elementary through high school. Her work has sparked a movement to make coding education accessible to girls around the world, positioning her as a thought leader in the field.

Long-term personal and financial goals

Long-term goals are just as valuable for your personal life. Here are some examples of how long-term goals can help improve your health, finances, skills, and more: 

31. Learn a foreign language

32. Learn to play an instrument

33. Expand your social network

34. Compete in a difficult event, like a marathon

35. Learn to play a sport 

36. Have or adopt a child

37. Find a partner

38. Save for an emergency fund

39. Improve your credit score

40. Buy your first home

Grow more with long-term goals

The power of long-term goal setting is undeniable. By using visualization to create a vivid picture of your ideal future, breaking it down into smaller goals, and consistently working towards it, you can achieve things that once seemed impossible. Whether you're aiming to transform your career path, personal life, or financial well-being, long-term goals give you a roadmap to turn dreams into reality.

So, what are you waiting for? Armed with these strategies and examples, it's time to stop dreaming and start achieving. Set your sights on the future, create a career plan, and take action, because with long-term goals, anything is possible.

Remember, tracking your progress is key to staying motivated and on course. When you can see how your daily efforts are adding up to big wins, you'll be unstoppable. Try using a tool like Asana to visualize your goals, break them down into milestones, and celebrate every victory along the way.

FAQ: Long-term goals

What is an example of a long-term goal?  

An example of a long-term goal is starting your own business within the next five years. This goal requires planning, saving money, researching your industry, and potentially pursuing further education or professional certifications. Other examples include buying a house, achieving a leadership position at work, or learning a new language.

How can long-term goals provide a sense of purpose and direction in life?  

Long-term goals provide a sense of purpose and direction in life by:

Giving you a clear target to work towards

Helping you prioritize your time and resources

Providing motivation and inspiration during challenging times

Allowing you to measure your progress and celebrate your achievements

Contributing to your overall personal growth and self-improvement

What is a 10-year goal plan?  

A 10-year goal plan is a roadmap for prioritizing your long-term objectives over the next decade. It involves setting specific, measurable goals for different areas of your life, such as career, finances, health, and personal growth. A 10-year plan should be broken down into smaller, yearly milestones to help you stay on track and make consistent progress towards your ultimate goals.

How do you create a strategic plan for long-term goals? To create a strategic plan for your long-term goals, follow these steps:

Visualize your ideal future and set clear, specific goals

Break big goals down into smaller, actionable steps

Prioritize your goals based on importance and urgency

Create a timeline for achieving each goal, with milestones and deadlines

Identify potential obstacles and develop strategies to overcome them

Regularly review and adjust your plan as needed

Stay motivated by tracking your progress and celebrating your successes

By setting long-term goals and creating a strategic plan to achieve them, you can bring your vision for the future to life and realize your full potential.

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How to Create a Long-Term Business Strategy in 7 Steps

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goal setting , plan execution , Strategic Planning , strategy execution

Navigating the dynamic B2B landscape requires a clear vision and a well-defined roadmap. Building a long-term business strategy is the cornerstone of sustainable growth, guiding your organization toward its ultimate goals. This guide explores a 7-step framework to help you chart a course for long-term B2B success.

Step 1: Articulate Your Vision – Crafting a Compelling Vision Statement

A robust vision statement serves as the guiding star for your organization. It encapsulates your aspirations, core values, and the impact you aim to make within the B2B ecosystem. Consider these prompts to ignite your vision crafting:

• What specific problem are you addressing within the B2B landscape?
• Who are your ideal clients, and how do you empower their success?
• What unique value proposition sets you apart from competitors?
• What lasting legacy do you aspire to leave on the B2B world?

An effective vision statement is clear, concise, and inspiring, resonates with your team and stakeholders, and propels them toward a shared future.

Step 2: Conduct a SWOT Analysis – Gaining Strategic Self-Awareness

Before embarking on your journey, a thorough SWOT analysis is essential. This exercise provides a realistic assessment of your organization’s strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats (SWOT) within the B2B market.

• Strengths : Identify your organization’s unique skills, resources, or competitive advantages that position you for success.
• Weaknesses : Acknowledge internal limitations that hinder your growth and areas requiring improvement.
• Opportunities : Explore external trends, emerging market gaps, or potential partnerships that can be leveraged for your benefit.
• Threats : Analyze potential obstacles, competitive pressures, or economic factors that could pose risks to your organization.

By honestly evaluating the state of your business, you gain valuable insights to capitalize on strengths, address weaknesses, seize opportunities, and mitigate potential threats.

Step 3: Setting SMART Goals – Transforming Vision into Actionable Objectives

Your vision provides the ultimate destination, but achieving it requires a defined roadmap. SMART goals – Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-bound – bridge the gap between your vision and actionable steps. These goals translate your long-term aspirations into tangible objectives for different departments and timeframes.

For instance, instead of aiming for “increased brand awareness,” a SMART goal for your B2B marketing team could be: “Enhance website traffic by 20% within the next quarter through targeted LinkedIn advertising campaigns.”  This goal is specific, measurable (20% increase in website traffic), achievable within a realistic timeframe (next quarter), relevant to the department’s responsibilities, and time-bound.

To create effective SMART goals, start by clearly defining the objective. What do you want to achieve? Then, consider how you will measure success. Is it through increased sales? Website traffic? Customer satisfaction ratings? Next, assess if the goal is achievable within a certain timeframe and whether it aligns with your overall vision and objectives. Be realistic about what can specifically contribute to the goal and set a specific deadline.

By setting SMART goals, you provide your team with clear direction and focus. It also allows for tracking progress and celebrating accomplishments along the way. Additionally, it helps identify potential roadblocks or areas that may need additional attention.

Step 4: Develop Strategic Initiatives – Translating Goals into Action

Now, let’s move into the execution phase. Based on your SWOT analysis and SMART goals, brainstorm strategic initiatives that act as the building blocks for achieving your desired outcomes. These initiatives should be specific actions or projects undertaken by various departments to drive progress toward your goals.

Consider these questions to guide your brainstorming:

• What resources are required to execute each initiative effectively?
• Who will be responsible for leading and implementing these initiatives?
• How will you measure the success of each initiative using relevant KPIs?

Remember, strategic initiatives should be aligned with your overall vision and goals, have a clear timeline, and possess the necessary resources for successful execution.

Once you have identified your strategic initiatives, it’s time to assign roles and responsibilities. This step is crucial in ensuring that each initiative has a designated leader who will drive its progress and hold team members accountable. Consider the skills and strengths of your team members when assigning roles, as well as their availability and workload.

With roles assigned, it’s important to create a detailed action plan for each strategic initiative. This should include specific tasks, timelines, and deadlines for completion. Be sure to involve all relevant departments or team members in the planning process to ensure alignment and collaboration.

As you begin executing your strategic initiatives, make sure to regularly track and measure progress using key performance indicators (KPIs). These metrics will help you assess the effectiveness of your initiatives and make any necessary adjustments to ensure their success.

Step 5: Foster a Winning Team – Aligning and Empowering Your People

The success of your long-term strategy hinges on the capabilities and dedication of your team. Effective communication and team alignment are crucial for seamless implementation. Ensure everyone understands the company’s vision, goals, and their individual roles in achieving them.

• Organize regular team meetings to discuss progress, address challenges, and celebrate successes.
• Invest in training and development opportunities to equip your team with the necessary skills and knowledge to excel in their roles.
• Cultivate a culture of open communication and encourage feedback to ensure everyone feels valued and heard.

A motivated and empowered team is the driving force behind any successful long-term B2B strategy.

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Step 6: Embrace Continuous Improvement – Monitoring, Adapting, and Evolving

The B2B landscape is inherently dynamic. Therefore, your strategy shouldn’t be static. Regularly monitor your progress, analyze results, and be prepared to adapt as needed. This continuous improvement mindset will ensure your strategy remains relevant and effective in the ever-changing business landscape.

One way to monitor your progress is by setting measurable goals and tracking key performance indicators (KPIs). These could include metrics such as lead generation, sales conversion rates, customer satisfaction, and revenue growth. By regularly reviewing these KPIs, you can identify areas that need improvement and make necessary changes to your strategy.

In addition to monitoring progress, it’s also important to stay up-to-date with industry trends and advancements. This will allow you to identify new opportunities or potential challenges that may impact your B2B strategy. Stay informed through industry publications, attending conferences and networking events, and keeping an eye on what your competitors are doing.

• Track your KPIs and assess the effectiveness of your strategic initiatives.
• Conduct periodic reviews to evaluate overall progress towards your vision and goals.
• Remain receptive to feedback and be willing to adjust your approach based on market shifts or unforeseen circumstances.

Also read: You Shouldn’t Spend More Than a Few Days on Your Strategic Reporting

Agility and adaptability are key to ensuring your long-term strategy remains effective and relevant in the ever-changing B2B landscape. Embrace continuous improvement to stay ahead of the curve and maintain a competitive edge.

Step 7: Celebrate Milestones and Sustain the Momentum

Building a successful B2B organization is a marathon, not a sprint. Take time to acknowledge and celebrate milestones along the way. Recognizing achievements boosts morale, reinforces team spirit, and maintains the momentum required to achieve your long-term goals.

Additionally, it’s important to sustain the momentum once you’ve reached a milestone. Use these moments as opportunities to reflect on what has worked well and where there is room for improvement. Keep communication channels open with both your team and clients to continue building strong relationships and ensure continued success. By fostering a culture of recognition and appreciation, you can sustain the motivation and commitment necessary to navigate the long-term journey toward B2B success.

Remember, this 7-step framework is a starting point. The specific details of your long-term business strategy will depend on your unique industry, company goals, and market dynamics. But by following these core principles and adapting them to your specific context, you can chart a course for sustainable growth and long-term achievement.

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Meet the Author   Chelsea Damon

Chelsea Damon is the Content Strategist at AchieveIt. When she's not publishing content about strategy execution, you'll likely find her outside or baking bread.

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Starting a business is an exciting journey, filled with aspirations and ambitions, yet crafting a solid business plan can sometimes feel like navigating through a dense fog. The AI-Powered Business Plan Generator shines a light on this path, offering a straightforward way to outline your vision, strategies, and financial forecasts. By providing customized, coherent business plans, this tool assists in laying down the foundation of your entrepreneurial dream, ensuring every aspect is addressed. It simplifies the planning process, enabling you to focus on bringing your business idea to life with confidence and clarity.

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Writing a business plan can often feel like navigating through a dense forest without a map. You know your destination—securing investment, defining your business strategy, or setting clear objectives—but the path isn't always clear. Enter the AI-powered business plan generator, a tool designed to illuminate the way forward. This guide will walk you through the essentials of crafting a comprehensive business plan, touching upon the traditional elements that captivate stakeholders. In the final stretch, we'll introduce how an AI-powered business plan generator can streamline this process, making it more accessible and less time-consuming.

How to create a Business Plan

Now that you're familiar with the executive summary, let's tackle how you can create the rest of your business plan.

You can start manually by outlining your plan's structure and filling in the details step by step, or opt for a business plan generator to streamline the process.

Either method requires careful consideration of each section to ensure your plan is thorough and compelling.

Manual Methods for creating a Business Plan

You'll start with the Executive Summary, distilling your business idea into a compelling snapshot that captures attention.

Next, you'll outline your Company Overview, providing a clear picture of who you are and what you stand for.

Then, lay out your Business Objectives, Products and Services, and your Market Analysis Approach to build a solid foundation for your plan.

Executive Summary Essentials

Although it's often crafted last, the Executive Summary stands as the crucial opener of your business plan. It distills key aspects such as your mission, product highlights, and financial ambitions for quick investor insight. It encapsulates your company's essence for investors and maps out the business plan development milestones.

Ensure it crisply outlines your executive summary, underscoring the company's financial goals. This will help capture investors' attention right off the bat.

Company Overview

Begin your company overview by detailing your business's foundational elements, including its name, location, and the team driving its operations.

Here's what to include:

• A clear description of your business structure and ownership.
• The mission statement that defines your business's purpose.
• An outline of the products or services you offer.
• Background information that paints a picture of your company's history and objectives.

Business Objectives

To set your business on the path to success, start by defining clear and measurable objectives that reflect both your immediate and long-term aspirations.

Align your business objectives with strategic objectives to meet financial goals.

Conduct market research to fine-tune your target market strategies .

Ensure company goals are realistic and adaptable, setting a course for growth and market competitiveness.

Regular updates keep your plan relevant.

Products and Services

After setting clear business objectives, focus on articulating the core of your offering by detailing the products and services your business provides. Your description should also include:

• Unique features and benefits of each product or service.
• Specific products' competitive advantages.
• Your strategy for sales, distribution, and supply chain.
• Trademarks and market placement for your products and services.

Market Analysis Approach

A thorough market analysis is crucial for your business plan as it reveals the dynamics within your target market and guides your competitive strategy .

You'll identify potential customers, understand established market trends, and analyze how competitors differentiate themselves.

This knowledge shapes your sales plan and informs your marketing and sales efforts, highlighting opportunities in an otherwise crowded marketplace and showcasing your grasp of the competitive landscape.

Marketing and Sales Strategies

Crafting a marketing and sales strategy requires precise identification of your target customers to ensure your message resonates and spurs action. Here's how to proceed:

• Define your target market for the new product.
• Develop a pricing and sales channel approach.
• Design a marketing plan with promotional tactics.
• Analyze market trends to refine your strategy.

Stay focused on meeting customer needs and differentiating from competitors.

Financial Analysis and Projections

Diving into the financials, you'll need to gather historical data and conduct a thorough analysis of revenue streams , costs, and profit margins to inform your projections for the next three to five years.

Your financial plan hinges on these insights.

Operations Plan

To ensure your business runs like a well-oiled machine, start by mapping out your key operational processes and procedures. Your operations plan is a vital section of your business plan. Here's what to include:

• Outline technology's role in business operations.
• Develop a comprehensive staffing plan.
• Establish a robust inventory management system.
• Implement quality control measures to provide additional assurance of product or service excellence.

Funding Requirements

Having established the operational foundations of your business, let's now focus on determining the capital necessary to fuel your growth and operational needs.

Outline your funding requirements by presenting clear financial data, including projected income, balance sheets, and cash flows.

You'll need this to secure funding from venture capital firms or potential investors, ensuring they grasp how their capital will propel your business towards its targets.

Appendices and Exhibits

When crafting your business plan, don't overlook the appendices and exhibits; these sections provide the substantiating details that reinforce your proposal's integrity. Include:

Documents that outline key personnel qualifications and experience.

Details on intellectual property, such as patents.

Additional information for financial institutions, like credit histories.

Contracts, leases, or other legal documents relevant to your business.

Using a Business Plan Generator

You might wonder why you'd use a Business Plan Generator—these tools streamline the planning process, making it easier for you to focus on the core aspects of your strategy.

To get started, you'll follow a series of steps that help structure your executive summary, goals, and market analysis within a proven framework.

The benefits are clear: using a generator can save you time and provide you with a professional, investor-ready plan.

Steps to use the Business Plan Generator

To create a business plan using a generator, start by selecting a template that aligns with your industry and business type.

Here are the steps to use a business plan generator:

• Identify Your Business Details : Start by providing the name of your business and the industry it operates in. This foundational step sets the stage for the tailored guidance the generator can offer.
• Describe Your Offerings : Clearly articulate what products or services your business sells or offers. This will help the generator understand the value proposition of your business.
• Define Your Target Audience : Specify who your ideal customers are, including demographic information. Understanding your target audience is crucial for creating a focused and effective business plan.
• Outline Your Marketing Plan : Detail your strategies for promoting your business. This includes how you plan to reach your target audience and differentiate yourself from competitors.
• Detail Your Operational Strategy : Explain how your business will operate on a day-to-day basis. Include information on your supply chain, logistics, and any other operational details.
• Provide Financial Information : Input how much money you need to start your business and project how much revenue it will generate. This financial planning is critical for assessing the feasibility of your business idea.
• Set Business Objectives : List what you aim to achieve with your business in the short term and the long term. These goals will guide the direction of your business strategy.
• Click on Generate : After entering all the necessary information, click the "generate" button to create your personalised business plan. This plan will be tailored to the specifics of your business, providing a roadmap for success.

Benefits of using a Business Plan Generator

Harnessing a business plan generator can significantly streamline the process, saving you both time and effort as you craft a detailed blueprint for your venture.

Here are the benefits:

• Provides a structured framework to write a business plan efficiently.
• Helps identify opportunities in new markets.
• Enhances financial literacy through budgeting and forecasting tools.
• Clarifies business objectives, aiding in communication with stakeholders.

Tips for Creating a Business Plan

When crafting your business plan these tips collectively form a comprehensive business plan, providing a roadmap for your business and presenting a compelling case to investors and lenders.

Here are the tips for creating a business plan:

• Articulate your mission and vision succinctly.
• Outline your offerings and financial ambitions.
• Provide a snapshot of your business's financial health and market potential.
• Clarify the business structure ( sole proprietorship , partnership, corporation).
• Highlight ownership details.
• Showcase key employees, emphasizing their expertise.
• Define short- and long-term goals for your business.
• Align goals with your strategic direction.
• Establish a direct link between financing needs and future growth.
• Describe your offerings and emphasize how they meet market needs.
• Support claims with market research.
• Demonstrate a thorough understanding of your competition.

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18 of My Favorite Sample Business Plans & Examples For Your Inspiration

Updated: July 01, 2024

Published: November 08, 2018

I believe that reading sample business plans is essential when writing your own.

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As you explore business plan examples from real companies and brands, it’s easier for you to learn how to write a good one.

So what does a good business plan look like? And how do you write one that’s both viable and convincing? I’ll walk you through the ideal business plan format along with some examples to help you get started.

Table of Contents

Business Plan Types

Business plan format, sample business plan: section by section, sample business plan templates, top business plan examples.

Ultimately, the format of your business plan will vary based on your goals for that plan. I’ve added this quick review of different business plan types that achieve differing goals.

For a more detailed exploration of business plan types, you can check out this post .

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1. Startups

Startup business plans are for proposing new business ideas. If you’re planning to start a small business, preparing a business plan is crucial. The plan should include all the major factors of your business.

You can check out this guide for more detailed business plan inspiration .

2. Feasibility Studies

Feasibility business plans focus on that business's product or service. Feasibility plans are sometimes added to startup business plans. They can also be a new business plan for an already thriving organization.

3. Internal Use

You can use internal business plans to share goals, strategies, or performance updates with stakeholders. In my opinion, internal business plans are useful for alignment and building support for ambitious goals.

4. Strategic Initiatives

A strategic business plan is another business plan that's often shared internally. This plan covers long-term business objectives that might not have been included in the startup business plan.

5. Business Acquisition or Repositioning

When a business is moving forward with an acquisition or repositioning, it may need extra structure and support. These types of business plans expand on a company's acquisition or repositioning strategy.

Growth sometimes just happens as a business continues operations. But more often, a business needs to create a structure with specific targets to meet set goals for expansion. This business plan type can help a business focus on short-term growth goals and align resources with those goals.

I’m going to focus on a startup business plan that needs to be detailed and research-backed as well as compelling enough to convince investors to offer funding. In my experience, the most comprehensive and convincing business plans contain the following sections.

Executive Summary

This all-important introduction to your business plan sets the tone and includes the company description as well as what you will be exchanging for money — whether that’s product lines, services, or product-service hybrids.

Market Opportunity

Information about gaps in your industry’s market and how you plan to fill them, focused on demand and potential for growth.

Competitive Landscape Analysis

An overview of your competitors that includes consideration of their strengths and how you’ll manage them, their weaknesses and how you’ll capitalize on them, and how you can differentiate your offerings in the industry.

Target Audience

Descriptions of your ideal customers, their various problems that you can solve, and your customer acquisition strategy.

Marketing Strategy

This section details how you will market your brand to achieve specific goals, the channels and tactics you’ll utilize to reach those goals, and the metrics you’ll be using to measure your progress.

Key Features and Benefits

This is where you’ll use plain language to emphasize the value of your product/service, how it solves the problems of your target audiences, and how you’ll scale up over time.

Pricing and Revenue

This section describes your pricing strategy and plans for building revenue streams that fit your audiences while achieving your business goals.

This is the final section, communicating with investors that your business idea is worth investing in via profit/loss statements, cash flow statements, and balance sheets to prove viability.

Okay, so now that we have a format established, I’ll give you more specific details about each section along with examples. Truthfully, I wish I’d had this resource to help me flesh out those first business plans long ago.

1. Executive Summary

I’d say the executive summary is the most important section of the entire business plan. It is essentially an overview of and introduction to your entire project.

Write this in such a way that it grabs your readers' attention and guides them through the rest of the business plan. This is important because a business plan can be dozens or hundreds of pages long.

There are two main elements I’d recommend including in your executive summary: your company description and your products and services.

Company Description

This is the perfect space to highlight your company’s mission statement and goals, a brief overview of your history and leadership, and your top accomplishments as a business.

Tell potential investors who you are and why what you do matters. Naturally, they’re going to want to know who they’re getting into business with up front. This is a great opportunity to showcase your impact.

Need some extra help firming up your business goals? I’d recommend HubSpot Academy’s free course to help you set meaningful goals that matter most for your business.

Products and Services

Here, you will incorporate an overview of your offerings. This doesn’t have to be extensive, as it is just a chance to introduce your industry and overall purpose as a business. I recommend including snippets of information about your financial projections and competitive advantage here as well.

Keep in mind that you'll cover many of these topics in more detail later on in the business plan. The executive summary should be clear and brief, only including the most important takeaways.

Executive Summary Business Plan Examples

This example was created with HubSpot’s business plan template . What makes this executive summary good is that it tells potential investors a short story while still covering all of the most important details.

Our Mission

Maria’s Gluten Free Bagels offers gluten-free bagels, along with various toppings, other gluten-free breakfast sandwich items, and coffee. The facility is entirely gluten free. Our team expects to catch the interest of gluten-free, celiac, or health-conscious community members who are seeking an enjoyable cafe to socialize. Due to a lack of gluten-free bagel products in the food industry currently, we expect mild competition and are confident we will be able to build a strong market position.

The Company and Management

Maria’s Gluten Free Bagels was founded in 2010 by Maria Jones, who first began selling her gluten-free bagels online from her home, using social media to spread the word. In 2012 she bought a retail location in Hamilton, MA, which now employs four full-time employees and six part-time employees. Prior to her bagel shop, Maria was a chef in New York and has extensive experience in the food industry.

Along with Maria Jones, Gluten Free Bagel Shop has a board of advisors. The advisors are:

• Jeni King, partner at Winding Communications, Ltd.
• Henry Wilson, president of Blue Robin, LLP.

Our Product

We offer gluten-free products ranging from bagels and cream cheese to blueberry muffins, coffee, and pastries. Our customers are health-conscious, community-oriented people who enjoy gluten-free products. We will create a welcoming, warm environment with opportunities for open mic nights, poetry readings, and other community functions. We will focus on creating an environment in which someone feels comfortable meeting a friend for lunch, or working remotely.

Our Competitive Advantages

While there are other coffee shops and cafes in the North Shore region, there are none that offer purely gluten-free options. This restricts those suffering from gluten-free illnesses or simply those with a gluten-free preference. This will be our primary selling point. Additionally, our market research [see Section 3] has shown a demand for a community-oriented coffee and bagel shop in the town of Hamilton, MA.

Financial Considerations

Our sales projections for the first year are $400,000. We project a 15% growth rate over the next two years. By year three, we project 61% gross margins.

We will have four full-time employees. The salary for each employee will be $50,000.

Start-up Financing Requirements

We are seeking to raise $125,000 in startup to finance year one. The owner has invested $50,000 to meet working capital requirements, and will use a loan of $100,000 to supplement the rest.

Example 2 :

Marianne and Keith Bean have been involved with the food industry for several years. They opened their first restaurant in Antlers, Oklahoma in 1981, and their second in Hugo in 1988. Although praised for the quality of many of the items on their menu, they have attained a special notoriety for their desserts. After years of requests for their flavored whipped cream toppings, they have decided to pursue marketing these products separately from the restaurants.

Marianne and Keith Bean have developed several recipes for flavored whipped cream topping. They include chocolate, raspberry, cinnamon almond, and strawberry. These flavored dessert toppings have been used in the setting of their two restaurants over the past 18 years, and have been produced in large quantities. The estimated shelf life of the product is 21 days at refrigeration temperatures and up to six months when frozen. The Beans intend to market this product in its frozen state in 8 and 12-ounce plastic tubs. They also intend to have the products available in six ounce pressurized cans. Special attention has been given to developing an attractive label that will stress the gourmet/specialty nature of the products.

Distribution of Fancy's Foods Whipped Dream product will begin in the local southeastern Oklahoma area. The Beans have an established name and reputation in this area, and product introduction should encounter little resistance.

Financial analyses show that the company will have both a positive cash flow and profit in the first year. The expected return on equity in the first year is 10.88%

Tips for Writing Your Executive Summary

• Start with a strong introduction of your company that showcases your mission and impact, then outline the products and services you provide.
• Clearly define a problem, explain how your product solves that problem, and show why the market needs your business.
• Be sure to highlight your value proposition, market opportunity, and growth potential.
• Keep it concise and support ideas with data.
• Customize your summary to your audience. For example, you might emphasize finances and return on investment for venture capitalists, whereas you might emphasize community benefits and minimal environmental impact for progressive nonprofits.

For more guidance, check out our tips for writing an effective executive summary .

2. Market Opportunity

This is where you'll detail the opportunity in the market. Ask and answer: Where is the gap in the current industry, and how will my product fill that gap?

To get a thorough understanding of the market opportunity, you'll want to conduct a TAM, SAM, SOM analysis , a SWOT analysis , and perform market research on your industry to get some insights for this section. More specifically, here’s what I’d include.

• The size of the market
• Current or potential market share
• Trends in the industry and consumer behavior
• Where the gap is
• What caused the gap
• How you intend to fill it

Market Opportunity Business Plan Example

I like this example because it uses critical data to underline the size of the potential market and what part of that market this service hopes to capture.

Example: The market for Doggie Pause is all of the dog owners in the metropolitan area and surrounding areas of the city. We believe that this is going to be 2/3 of the population, and we have a goal of gaining a 50% market share. We have a target of a 20% yearly profit increase as the business continues.

Tips for Writing Your Market Opportunity Section

• Focus on demand and potential for growth.
• Use market research, surveys, and industry trend data to support your market forecast and projections.
• Add a review of regulation shifts, tech advances, and consumer behavior changes.
• Refer to reliable sources.
• Showcase how your business can make the most of this opportunity.

3. Competitive Landscape Analysis

Since we’re already speaking of market share, you‘ll also need to create a section that shares details on who the top competitors are. After all, your customers likely have more than one brand to choose from, and you’ll want to understand exactly why they might choose one over another.

My favorite part of performing a competitive analysis is that it can help you uncover the following:

• Industry trends that other brands may not be utilizing.
• Strengths in your competition that may be obstacles to handle.
• Weaknesses in your competition that may help you develop selling points.
• The unique proposition you bring to the market that may resonate with customers.

Competitive Landscape Business Plan Example

I like how the competitive landscape section of this business plan shows a clear outline of who the top competitors are. It also highlights specific industry knowledge and the importance of location. This demonstrates useful experience in the industry, helping to build trust in your ability to execute your business plan.

Competitive Environment

Currently, there are four primary competitors in the Greater Omaha Area: Pinot’s Palette Lakeside (franchise partner), Village Canvas and Cabernet, The Corky Canvas, and Twisted Vine Collective. The first three competitors are in Omaha and the fourth is located in Papillion.

Despite the competition, all locations have both public and private events. Each location has a few sold-out painting events each month. The Omaha locations are in new, popular retail locations, while the existing Papillion location is in a downtown business district.

There is an opportunity to take advantage of the environment and open a studio in a well-traveled or growing area. Pinot’s Palette La Vista will differentiate itself from its competitors by offering a premium experience in a high-growth, influential location.

Tips for Writing Your Competitive Landscape

• Complete in-depth research, then emphasize your most important findings.
• Compare your unique selling proposition (USP) to your direct and indirect competitors.
• Show a clear and realistic plan for product and brand differentiation.
• Look for specific advantages and barriers in the competitive landscape. Then, highlight how that information could impact your business.
• Outline growth opportunities from a competitive perspective.
• Add customer feedback and insights to support your competitive analysis.

4. Target Audience

Use this section to describe who your customer segments are in detail. What is the demographic and psychographic information of your audience? I’d recommend building a buyer persona to get in the mindset of your ideal customers and be clear about why you're targeting them. Here are some questions I’d ask myself:

• What demographics will most likely need/buy your product or service?
• What are the psychographics of this audience? (Desires, triggering events, etc.)
• Why are your offerings valuable to them?

Target Audience Business Plan Example

I like the example below because it uses in-depth research to draw conclusions about audience priorities. It also analyzes how to create the right content for this audience.

The Audience

Recognize that audiences are often already aware of important issues. Outreach materials should:

• Emphasize a pollution-prevention practice
• Tell audience a little about how to prevent pollution
• Tell audience where they can obtain information about prevention.

Message Content

• Focus the content for outreach materials on cost savings, such as when and where pollution prevention is as cheap as or cheaper than traditional techniques. Include facts and figures.
• Emphasize how easy it is to do the right thing and the impacts of not engaging in pollution prevention.
• Stress benefits such as efficiency or better relations with government, for businesses not primarily concerned with public image.

Tips for Writing Your Target Audience Section

• Include details on the size and growth potential of your target audience.
• Figure out and refine the pain points for your target audience , then show why your product is a useful solution.
• Describe your targeted customer acquisition strategy in detail.
• Share anticipated challenges your business may face in acquiring customers and how you plan to address them.
• Add case studies, testimonials, and other data to support your target audience ideas.
• Remember to consider niche audiences and segments of your target audience in your business plan.

5. Marketing Strategy

Here, you‘ll discuss how you’ll acquire new customers with your marketing strategy. I think it’s helpful to have a marketing plan built out in advance to make this part of your business plan easier. I’d suggest including these details:

• Your brand positioning vision and how you'll cultivate it.
• The goal targets you aim to achieve.
• The metrics you'll use to measure success.
• The channels and distribution tactics you'll use.

Marketing Strategy Business Plan Example

This business plan example includes the marketing strategy for the town of Gawler. In my opinion, it works because it offers a comprehensive picture of how they plan to use digital marketing to promote the community.

You’ll also learn the financial benefits investors can reap from putting money into your venture rather than trying to sell them on how great your product or service is.

This business plan guide focuses less on the individual parts of a business plan, and more on the overarching goal of writing one. For that reason, it’s one of my favorites to supplement any template you choose to use. Harvard Business Review’s guide is instrumental for both new and seasoned business owners.

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How to Do Strategic Planning Like a Futurist

You don’t need a time line; you need a time cone.

Chief strategy officers and those responsible for shaping the direction of their organizations are often asked to facilitate “visioning” meetings. This helps teams brainstorm ideas, but it isn’t a substitute for critical thinking about the future. Neither are the one-, three-, or five-year strategic plans that have become a staple within most organizations, though they are useful for addressing short-term operational goals. Futurists think about time differently, and company strategists could learn from their approach. For any given uncertainty about the future — whether that’s risk, opportunity, or growth — we tend to think in the short- and long-term simultaneously. To do this, consider using a framework that doesn’t rely on linear timelines or simply mark the passage of time as quarters or years. Instead, use a time cone that measures certainty and charts actions.

I recently helped a large industrial manufacturing company with its strategic planning process. With so much uncertainty surrounding autonomous vehicles, 5G, robotics, global trade, and the oil markets, the company’s senior leaders needed a set of guiding objectives and strategies linking the company’s future to the present day. Before our work began in earnest, executives had already decided on a title for the initiative: Strategy 2030.

• Amy Webb is a quantitative futurist, CEO of Future Today Institute, and professor of strategic foresight at the New York University Stern School of Business. She is the author of The Signals Are Talking: Why Today’s Fringe Is Tomorrow’s Mainstream ,  The Big Nine: How the Tech Titans and Their Thinking Machines Could Warp Humanity , and The Genesis Machine: Our Quest to Rewrite Life in the Age of Synthetic Biology .

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Speaker 1: So now we're going to talk about scenario planning as part of the strategic planning process. Scenario planning can help you create multiple scenarios for the future, in which case you predict the future and create multiple different environments or realities in which the future is going to occur, and that will help you mitigate risk in the future and create plans at different points to help guide your decision making. So by now you would have looked at some of the threats and opportunities as part of your SWOT, you would have also done some trend analysis as part of your environmental scan, and you may have identified some risks and roadblocks as part of your plan, and now we're going to create some scenarios in which the future of your organization will be determined and so that you can create decision points in the future. So it all starts with key uncertainties about the future, and I've highlighted some behind me, so we'll go through them and I'll walk you through the full process. So when we talk about key uncertainties, there are things that you don't know about. Some of the examples that I've put up here, and again they're different for every organization and your organization, but some uncertainties might be commodity price. We don't know where the commodity price is going to be in the future. We don't know what government stability is going to look like. That might mean in your own region, so either your city, state, province, country, or even another country that you do business in. Consumer trends. You may not know what consumers care about or value in the future. Technology adoption. At the pace that technology is right now, we have no idea where it's going to be in the future. Savings level. Depending on your type of industry, savings level might be a key indicator and a key factor into people's decision making. Population growth. We can say it's going up, but we don't exactly know what that looks like, and it could be going down depending on where you are. Customer adoption. That could mean the adoption of your product, the adoption of your service, the adoption of a certain technology. Renewable energy availability. I just put that in because renewable energy, a lot of people are talking about it right now, and again it's one of those things we don't know exactly where it's going. Traffic density. For example, if you're talking about a city or a retail store, traffic density might be a factor to your decision making. And then overall economic growth. Again, these are just some examples. The important part is to think of uncertainties that exist in your business and in your industry, and then to map them out and identify them. Don't worry about anything else other than just identifying things that you don't know where they're going to be in the future. So the next step is charting these uncertainties and doing a bit of brainstorming as to what that might look like. So one way you could look at it, you could look at it, okay, what are these uncertainties going to look like one year in the future? And you could do it 10 years in the future. Now, you should do this in a process. So start looking, what are the commodity prices going to be in a year? What is the savings level going to be in a year? What is the traffic density going to be like in a year? And those are probably pretty certain. Still uncertain because you don't control them, but because the timeframe is so close, you will have a pretty good idea of what that looks like. You know, get the ball rolling as to guesstimations as to how to concretely measure that and figure out what that's like. The longer timeframe, however, 10 years, or you could go 25 years depending on your planning cycle, will take a little bit more creative thinking and it'll take a lot more brain work to say, okay, well, in 10 years, commodity prices might be double what they are, technology adoption, flying cars might be all over the place, and everything will be a self-driving car and such and such. Economic growth, again, they're guesses, but this is where we start the art and the math of putting together long-range planning. It's not exact science, but it will help you create mitigation plans for the future. So, again, look at that 10-year timeframe and try to guess what that might look like. And then compromising in the middle of somewhere like a five-year timeframe. So, it's not so far that you're guessing, but it's still uncertain in the sense that it's still five years away and a lot of things can affect it. So, next we're going to move into putting these uncertainties into the scenario planning matrix. So, you would have gone through this process with your team and looked at the uncertainties that affect your organization, and now is the time to pick two uncertainties that are going to have the biggest effect on your business and then create different scenarios or different realities in which they exist. So, you can take any one of these and put them together. They should ideally make sense. But one that we can look at right now is, let's say, economic growth and savings level.

Speaker 2: So, we come over here and say, let's take economic growth and then we'll put savings over here.

Speaker 1: So, we have economic growth on this axis and savings on this axis. So, in this area, we have high economic growth and high savings. So, depending on your industry or if this is the scenario that you came up with, there will be, you can name it, and say this is, we'll just say, oh yeah, everybody's making money. So, we'll just call it money. And what does the world look like? What are some things that are happening around us? Because there is a high growth rate and a high savings rate. Conversely, you can say that there's low economic growth but high savings rate. And then we can call that hoarding. Because people know the economy is not going well and so they're keeping their money just in case. They don't want another recession or they don't want to have another subprime mortgage crisis or what have you. And it's going to affect things like spending. Consumer spending may go down because of low growth but high savings. In fact, it's almost certainly going to do that. So, you have to look at those things and say, okay, well, what are the things that are going to happen as a result of this scenario in the future? Five years in the future, 10 years in the future, 25 years in the future. We have high economic growth but low savings. So, that means that we're going to say spending, spending fast. So, you can call them whatever you want. It's just a way for you to guide the understanding within your organization. So, everybody is spending fast, which means that new cars are going off a lot, which means manufacturing is high, which means people have a lot of jobs, which means unemployment is low. What does that mean to your organization? How is that going to affect how you do business and how you operate on a day-to-day basis? Again, so we go here. So, low economic growth and low savings rate. So, we're just going to call it doom. It's probably not that bad. But low growth, low savings, what's going to happen? People, there might be higher EI. There might be less pensions. I mean, retirement might go longer. It means that there isn't enough good talent for your workforce, so on and so forth. And it might mean that people start outsourcing to third world countries or what have you. But all of these things in the future are going to affect your business. So, you can see up in the corner here. So, we have now. This is where we are right now. Okay. And then the future is where we've built out these scenarios from. The future is, you see there's multiple points up there. This is a possible future. This is a possible future. This is a possible future. And this is a possible future. We don't know what it's going to be. And we don't know what we're going to do if those things happen. So, what we look at now. And then in the future, between this time and where we are now, you're going to be faced with decisions. You're going to have to say, okay, we're looking at this. And one of these or two of these is becoming more and more likely. So, now we're going to pick a strategy to address it. So, when we talk about risk identification and mitigation. This is part of risk identification and mitigation. You're looking at what might be happening in the future, where you are now. And the decision that you need to make that are going to steer you closer to one or many of these realities. Now, the reason we do strategic planning and the reason we do risk identification is so that you can have the time. And you can mobilize the resources that you need to make effective decisions, both in the near term and in the long term. So, just to recap, for scenario planning, you list the key uncertainties in your business. Now, again, they have to be uncertainties. They can't be things that you're pretty certain of. Uncertainties. So, you identify all the uncertainties in your organization. And then you pick the two most effective ones. The ones that are going to affect your organization the most. And then you put them in the scenario planning matrix from high to low. You take your uncertainties on the X and Y axis and put them in here on either a 10 year or 5 year time frame, for example. And then for each, you name the scenarios as to what those scenarios are going to look like. And then you describe them as if you were transported there in the future. So, this high economic growth, high savings. This is what's happening. This is what people are doing. This is how organizations are reacting. This is how businesses are acting. This is where investment is being. This is what people are doing. This is what people care about. These are the things that are in the news. And then you make scenarios as part of your strategic plan. Saying, okay, if this happens, we're going to do this. If this happens, we're going to do this. Obviously, these being so long term, you won't make a plan, a mitigation plan for each. However, you've identified that in the future, you're going to need to make a decision. And since you've taken the time to identify this, these alternate realities, then you can be more prepared, which means you're going to spend less money reacting to things. It means you're going to be ahead of trends in the marketplace, and you're going to be ahead of competitors when it comes to decision making and planning. And that means you're going to get an advantage, and you're going to be more successful long term. So I hope this helped you understand a bit about scenario planning. And please do check back to the documents for a written explanation of how to do scenario planning and why it's useful for your organization. So I look forward to sharing with you in the next video, and we'll talk to you soon. Take care.

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5 fall outfit formulas you can sew right now, it’s easy to get dressed if you sew these patterns—perfect for layering, comfort, and effortless style all season long., posted in: style & wardrobe , patterns • september 25, 2024.

There is so much beautiful stuff you can sew in fall.

But personally, I tend to get overwhelmed by all the ideas. So today, we’re going to simplify things.

I’m sharing five outfit formulas that you can sew to create a wardrobe that truly reflects your personal style. These are formulas you can take and make your own, and I’ll show you how.

Outfit formulas are a great way to simplify what you sew and wear.

Once you figure out a few combinations of different types of garments that you feel great in, you can sew endless varieties of that formula and know that you’ll feel like yourself.

I’m going to share 5 different formulas I’m loving this year, the inspiration behind them, and the patterns and fabrics you can use to create your own version of each look.

Ok, got your pumpkin spice latte ready? Let’s get cozy.

Cozy Layered Look: Knit Top + Statement Jeans + Car Coat

One look that I absolutely love for fall is a pair of statement-making jeans with a comfortable knit top and a loose jacket on top.

A pair of statement jeans can have a unique silhouette, color, or fabric. It doesn’t need to be denim! Think colored twill, corduroy, or even wool. You could also use dark denim, which is a little dressier, or even black or white.

Here are some Seamwork patterns.

Flared jeans are great for fall, since they look nice with boots. I recommend the Chelsea jeans , they’re one of my favorites. I made a pair in corduroy you can see here .

Sew a classic pair of straight-leg jeans for a timeless cut, and make a statement with your fabric choice . The Tessa jeans have that classic denim look that is really trend-resistent.

If you sew the Nolan pants in denim, you’ll get more of a utilitarian look. This can be a fun way to dress down a really feminine blouse.

I love the idea of using a striped knit for this outfit formula. Stripes are great for fall and they tend to be trend-resistent.

I like a fitted tee, but something loose and cozy also works.

You can shorten the Lenny dress into a chic turtleneck top. It looks great with jeans.

The Goldie tee has a fun, retro sweetheart neckline. I’ve made a few, including this one in a floral rib knit .

For your jacket layer, you can play with the length, but a longer jacket is nice to have for fall in case it gets a little chilly or it rains.

The Lou jacket has a hood and was developed for waterproof fabric. If you want to follow a tutorial, read this article: How to Sew a Rain Jacket .

The Francis coat has a really sleek, timeless cut. We made a sample with a sherpa collar that would be so cute for fall if you want a 70s-inspired look.

Chic Midi Skirt Combo: Flowy Skirt + Cardigan

The next formula is a flowy skirt paired with a cardigan.

For this look, you can create fun tension by mixing up your fabrics. For example, I love to pair chunky knits with soft, silky fabrics. So if you choose a chunky knit for the cardigan, use a silky fabric for the skirt.

The Seamwork Dezi skirt is cut on the bias, and since it hugs and drapes on your body perfectly, it looks great with long and short cardigans.

The Darcy skirt hits just below the knee. It features three radiating pleats at a lined tie closure for a soft drape. This would look best with a cropped cardigan to show off the tie.

The Kenzie skirt is a beautiful pleated version. This would look gorgeous with the belted cardigan look.

For the cardigan, you can go long or short depending on your skirt.

Lisa is the ideal fall cardigan. And it’s FREE this season if you sign up for my Snippets newsletter here .

Lisa has a relaxed, roomy fit that’s ideal for layering, and it’s shorter so you can still show off your skirt.

Oslo is a great pattern if you want a little more length.

The Sable cardigan makes a statement on its own. It has three tie closures along the center front.

All-in-one Outfit: An Effortless Jumpsuit

Sometimes you just need an all-in-one outfit to throw on with no fuss. Sew a relaxed-fit jumpsuit in a neutral or autumnal color and you’re all set.

I love to layer a jumpsuit. You can put a long sleeve knit top with a crewneck or a turtleneck underneath, like the Alice or Lenny. You can also layer a blazer on top.

The Mercer flightsuit will give you a workwear look. It has so many pockets.

Michelle has a surplice bodice at the back. It doesn’t have sleeves, but if you need an extra layer, wear a lightweight turtleneck underneath for extra warmth.

Banks has long dolman sleeves, which are nice for fall. It also has dramatic wide legs, which can make it a dressier option.

Classic Button-up + Trousers + Chic Outerwear

Here’s an outfit formula that’s a great base for adding as many layers as you need: wear a classic button-up, a pair of trousers, and some chic outerwear.

The Roan tunic has an oversized fit that would look nice with tapered or slim-fit trousers.

The Bud shacket is technically a shacket so it’s between a button-up shirt and jacket. It looks great in flannel for fall.

Wear your button-up tucked in with high-waisted trousers for a polished look.

The Erin trousers are great for this, because they have a tapered leg.

The Ani trousers are a total wardrobe staple, with a tapered fit and pleats at the front.

If you want something a little more comfy that also can be dressed up, sew the Dexter pants . They’re designed for knits, but they have a fitted cut, darts, pintucks, a side zipper, and waist facing.

Since this is such a classic outfit formula, you can have fun with your outerwear to complete your look.

The Keaton blazer is a casual blazer with more of an oversized fit, and it looks great with trousers.

The Chip jacket is a moto style jacket which could add some edge to your look.

The Bay coat is a total classic and it would look lovely in a fall tweed.

The Larkin bomber would give you a modern look.

Cozy Dress and a Long Coat

A cozy dress and a long coat are such an easy outfit formula.

You can sew either of these pieces in a fall color like burgundy, mustard, or forest green or fall-themed prints like florals, tweeds, and plaids.

Knit dresses are a great option for fall, and the Devon dress is perfect. It has a turtleneck and cocoon shape, which is really fun.

For a sleeveless look, the Aaronica dress totally works for fall. You can layer it over a long-sleeved tee or wear it with boots if you need more warmth.

If you want to sew a woven dress, I really recommend the Frankie pattern . It has a fitted waist yoke and 6-gore gathered skirt. I sewed mine in a floral and it’s so pretty and fun to wear.

The Denise coat is gorgeous worn over a dress. It’s lined and has princess seams and it looks great with dresses that are flowy or more fitted.

The Jill coatigan is really fun to make in cozy fabrics.

The Baz coat is great for fall, because it’s unlined and you can wear it wrapped and belted or open.

Tip: Create a Seasonal Formula Plan

One thing I like to do each season is pick out a few outfit formulas, create a color palette, and then sketch out the variations that I can make and wear. I especially like to use this to find ways to remix some of the pieces I’ve made in past seasons.

If you’re interested in seeing more outfit formulas from past seasons, read this article from last fall. Haley and I deconstruct even more fall outfit formulas you can make yourself.

Do you have a go-to outfit formula for fall weather? Or an outerwear piece you wear almost every day? Comment and share!

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