Writing and Formatting a Successful Business Plan,Brainstorm an Executive Summary
WebAug 20, · Table of Contents Brainstorm an Executive Summary. An executive summary is an extremely important first step in your business. You have to Create a WebAug 9, · While the particulars of every business plan will be different, there are some aspects that should be common to all business plans: Be Concise: The writing in a WebJan 28, · 27 Best Freelance Business Plan Writers For Hire In February - Upwork™ Hire the best Business Plan writers Check out Business Plan writers with WebA business plan can be the most important tool a small business owner has, but it doesn't write itself. Learn how to turn your ideas into a solid plan that will give you a roadmap for ... read more
If you happen to have any competitive advantages, such as specific intellectual property or patents that protect your product—this chapter is a great place to talk about those things. Finally, review your milestones and metrics. This is an overview of the next steps that you need to accomplish to get your product or service ready to sell, with target dates. This section is where you will showcase all of the information about your potential customers. First, describe your target market. Your target market is the group of people that you plan on selling to. Try to be as specific as possible. With a solid target market, it will be easier to create a sales and marketing plan that will reach your customers. Next, provide any market analysis and market research that you have.
The marketing and sales plan section of your business plan details how you plan to reach your target market segments, how you plan on selling to those target markets, what your pricing plan is, and what types of activities and partnerships you need to make your business a success. Some businesses that distribute their products and reach their customers through stores like Amazon. com, Walmart, Target, grocery store chains, and other retail outlets 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 that the business may have to overcome. This is purely optional but can be a good way to explain how your products and services are positioned to deal with competitive threats and take advantage of opportunities.
Investors look for great teams in addition to great ideas. Use this chapter to describe your current team and who you need to hire. Include brief bios that highlight the relevant experiences of each key team member. Do they have the right industry experience and background? Have members of the team had entrepreneurial successes before? The most common business structures include:. Be sure to provide a review 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. Last, but certainly not least, is your financial plan chapter. 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.
That said, if you need additional help, there are plenty of tools and resources out there to help you build a solid financial plan. A monthly sales and revenue forecast for the first 12 months, and then annual projections for the remaining three to five years. Three-year projections are typically adequate, but some investors will request a five-year forecast. A cash flow statement. While the income statement calculates your profits and losses, the cash flow statement keeps track of how much cash money in the bank you have at any given point. A balance sheet lists the assets, liabilities, and equity in your company. In short, it provides an overview of the financial health of your business.
Investors will also want to see a short section on your exit strategy. An exit strategy is your plan for eventually selling your business, either to another company or to the public in an IPO. If you have investors, they will want to know your thoughts on this. For more information, read our guide on the different types of exit strategies. Finally, discuss any assumptions and important risks for your business. Knowing what your assumptions are as you start a business can make the difference between business success and business failure. When you recognize your assumptions, you can set out to prove that your assumptions are correct. The more that you can minimize your assumptions, the more likely it is that your business will succeed. However, it is a useful place to stick any charts, tables, definitions, legal notes, or other critical information that either felt too long or too out-of-place to include elsewhere in your business plan.
For more details, read about what to include in your business plan appendix. 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. 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 for use inside your own business, you can probably skip the section about your team and organizational structure. Probably the most important tip is to keep your business plan short and simple. There are no prizes for long business plans.
In fact, the longer your plan, the less likely it is to be read. So, focus on trimming things down to the essentials that your readers need to know. Skip the extended descriptions of your target market and instead focus on creating a plan that is easy to read. As you write, your thoughts begin to solidify into strategy, and a path forward starts to emerge. But a business plan is not only the realm of startups; established companies can also benefit from revisiting and rewriting theirs. In any case, the formal documentation can provide the clarity needed to motivate staff , woo investors, or inform future decisions.
No matter your industry or the size of your team, the task of writing a business plan—a document filled with so much detail and documentation—can feel daunting. A business plan is a formal document outlining the goals, direction, finances, team, and future planning of your business. It can be geared toward investors, in a bid to raise capital, or used as an internal document to align teams and provide direction. It typically includes extensive market research, competitor analysis, financial documentation, and an overview of your business and marketing strategy. When written effectively, a business plan can help prescribe action and keep business owners on track to meeting business goals.
For enterprise companies, a business plan should be a living, breathing document that guides decision-making and facilitates intentional growth. While there is no set format for writing a business plan, there are several elements that are typically included. No longer than half a page, the executive summary should briefly introduce your business and describe the purpose of the business plan. Are you writing the plan to attract capital? The executive summary should explain what your business does, and provide an introductory overview of your financial health and major achievements to date.
What is the financial worth of your market? Are there market trends that will affect the success of your company? What is the state of the industry and its future potential? Go on to describe your company and what it provides your customers. Are you a sole proprietor , LLC, partnership, or corporation? Are you an established company or a budding startup? What does your leadership team look like and how many employees do you have? This section should provide both historical and future context around your business, including its founding story, mission statement , and vision for the future.
This is typically one of the first pieces of the plan to be written. Research is key in completing a business plan and, ideally, more time should be spent on research and analysis than writing the plan itself. Understanding the size, growth, history, future potential, and current risks inherent to the wider market is essential for the success of your business, and these considerations should be described here. This might be in the form of fictional customer personas, or a broader overview of the income, location, age, gender, and buying habits of your existing and potential customers.
Though the research should be objective, the analysis in this section is a good place to reiterate your point of difference and the ways you plan to capture the market and surpass your competition. Bargain Business Plan writers take the time to get to know their clients, so that they can effectively develop a custom business plan which will meet their needs. This is the reason why they are always mentioned when it comes to leading business plan writing companies in the United States. Their team of dedicated business plan writers, consultants, and financial analysts all work together to ensure that their business plans are always up to standard. Cayenne has been around for a long time and is another good provider of business plan writing and consulting service in the United States.
They have a good senior management team that has a lot of case experience which can be helpful to startup and growth stage companies of all kinds. They also can prepare additional investment related materials such as private placements and more. Founder of the Cayenne Consulting, Akira Hirai, started the business in March , because venture capitalists kept telling him that the business plans and financial forecasts he had prepared for his own companies were among the best they had seen. In addition to business plan writing, the company also conducts strategy development, market research and analysis, competitor research and analysis, business plan preparation, financial analysis and forecasting, presentation materials, and developing a capital formation strategy.
This frees you up to focus on building something that investors might actually be interested in: a company in a large market with a compelling value proposition, strong competitive advantages, excellent growth potential, and a team that can make it happen. Their team is located across the nation and have industry expertise in many high-growth markets, including green technologies, life science, software, Internet, telecommunications, and financial services. Their services can range from a few thousand dollars to several tens of thousands of dollars. Newton Group Marketing specializes in writing powerful and compelling proposals and business plans to obtain needed financing from major banks and investment firms.
The company collaborates with highly specialized and reputable individuals to help create exceptional quality websites, proposals and other marketing pieces. Collectively, the Newton Group Marketing team brings decades of experience and specialized expertise in their respective fields, to bring remarkable quality and bottom-line results to clients. Although originally based in Vancouver, BC, the company teamed up with professional business plan writers in Toronto and throughout Canada, and offers marketing services sessions to multiple locations in the world. They work with most clients freelance through software such as Skype, email and phone consultation to maximize both time and efficiency for customers.
Their clients can choose from 3 different business plan packages to best meet their funding needs. All plans include Executive Summary, Complete Market Analysis, Competitive Analysis, Financials Income Statement, Cash Flow Statements, Balance Sheet , and they are usually between pages in length depending on plan type. Founded in , the company has helped more than 1, clients — including entrepreneurs, small businesses, middle-market companies, Fortune corporations and non-profit organizations — develop world-class business plans. Growthink does not have pre-set pricing tiers for their consulting work.
As a result of their in-depth consultative business planning process, Growthink consultants typically invest 4 to 6 weeks to fully develop and finalize a business plan. They conceived Growthink from their deep and abiding passion and curiosity for business. Growthink has worked with many companies and assist in not only business plans, but also business consulting in many aspects. They also provide many other services such as business analytics, banking, products, and other services geared towards helping business owners. Masterplans, based in Portland, Oregon, writes business plans for SBA loans, visa applications as well as for businesses seeking venture capital or angel investors.
In addition to business plan writing, Masterplans can also review your existing business plan and give you feedback and suggestions for improvement. The plans offered by this service are high quality, and rate well in terms of cost and turnaround times. Masterplans assigns a team of experts to help with your business plan, and a manager works to organize and update you on the project as it progresses. Each expert works individually on the market analysis, financial forecasts and business narrative. By dividing the plan up, Masterplans can complete your plan faster. It usually takes between seven to 10 days before you receive the first draft of your business plan. If you need your plan quickly, you can get a rush job for an additional fee.
Toggle navigation ZenBusinessPlans.
You might be using an unsupported or outdated browser. To get the best possible experience please use the latest version of Chrome, Firefox, Safari, or Microsoft Edge to view this website. Every business starts with a vision, which is distilled and communicated through a business plan. In addition to your high-level hopes and dreams, a strong business plan outlines short-term and long-term goals, budget and whatever else you might need to get started. An executive summary is an extremely important first step in your business. When drafting the executive summary, you should have a few different options. Enlist a few thought partners to review your executive summary possibilities to determine which one is best.
After you have the executive summary in place, you can work on the company description, which contains more specific information. The business description should also include the structure of your business, such as sole proprietorship , limited liability company LLC , partnership or corporation. This is the time to specify how much of an ownership stake everyone has in the company. Finally, include a section that outlines the history of the company and how it has evolved over time. Wherever you are on the business journey, you return to your goals and assess where you are in meeting your in-progress targets and setting new goals to work toward.
Goals can cover a variety of sections of your business. For example, you might want to hit a certain number of followers across social channels or raise your engagement rates. Goals unrelated to traceable numbers are important as well. These goals are important for the direction you take your business and the direction you want it to go in the future. This is the part where you can also describe how they fit in the current market or are providing something necessary or entirely new. If you have any patents or trademarks, this is where you can include those too. If you have any visual aids, they should be included here as well. This would also be a good place to include pricing strategy and explain your materials.
This is the part of the business plan where you can explain your expertise and different approach in greater depth. You can also situate your business in your industry and compare it to other ones and how you have a competitive advantage in the marketplace. Other than financial goals, you want to have a budget and set your planned weekly, monthly and annual spending. There are several different costs to consider, such as operational costs. Rent for your business is the first big cost to factor into your budget. If your business is remote, the cost that replaces rent will be the software that maintains your virtual operations. Marketing and sales costs should be next on your list.
Devoting money to making sure people know about your business is as important as making sure it functions. Business plans are important for businesses of all sizes so that you can define where your business is and where you want it to go. Growing your business requires a vision, and giving yourself a roadmap in the form of a business plan will set you up for success. A simple business plan still needs all of the parts included in this article, but you can be very clear and direct. The most common mistakes in a business plan are common writing issues like grammar errors or misspellings. Julia is a writer in New York and started covering tech and business during the pandemic.
She also covers books and the publishing industry. Kelly is an SMB Editor specializing in starting and marketing new ventures. Before joining the team, she was a Content Producer at Fit Small Business where she served as an editor and strategist covering small business marketing content. She is a former Google Tech Entrepreneur and she holds an MSc in International Marketing from Edinburgh Napier University. Additionally, she manages a column at Inc. Select Region. United States. United Kingdom. advisor Business Advertiser Disclosure. Julia Rittenberg, Kelly Main. Contributor, Editor. Reviewed By. editor Reviewed By. Editorial Note: We earn a commission from partner links on Forbes Advisor. Commissions do not affect our editors' opinions or evaluations.
Table of Contents Brainstorm an Executive Summary Create a Company Description Brainstorm Your Business Goals Describe Your Services or Products Conduct Market Research Create Financial Plans Bottom Line Frequently Asked Questions. Brainstorm an Executive Summary Drafting the Summary An executive summary is an extremely important first step in your business. Ask for Help When drafting the executive summary, you should have a few different options. Create a Company Description After you have the executive summary in place, you can work on the company description, which contains more specific information. Brainstorm Your Business Goals Wherever you are on the business journey, you return to your goals and assess where you are in meeting your in-progress targets and setting new goals to work toward.
Numbers-based Goals Goals can cover a variety of sections of your business. Intangible Goals Goals unrelated to traceable numbers are important as well. Conduct Market Research This is the part of the business plan where you can explain your expertise and different approach in greater depth. Create Financial Plans Other than financial goals, you want to have a budget and set your planned weekly, monthly and annual spending. Business Operations Costs Rent for your business is the first big cost to factor into your budget. Bottom Line Business plans are important for businesses of all sizes so that you can define where your business is and where you want it to go.
Frequently Asked Questions. Was this article helpful? Share your feedback. Send feedback to the editorial team. Rate this Article. Thank You for your feedback! Something went wrong. Please try again later. Buying Guides. More from. California Pay Data Reporting Requirements Guide By Belle Wong, J. What Is ERP? Enterprise Resource Planning By Monique Danao Contributor. Florida LLC Operating Agreement Guide By Belle Wong, J. Are Americans Keeping Their Passwords Safe In ? The Biggest Mistakes That Put You at Risk By Kimberlee Leonard Contributor. These Are The Best Employee Benefits In By Dana Miranda Contributor. How To Start A Business In Tennessee Guide By Dana Miranda Contributor. Information provided on Forbes Advisor is for educational purposes only.
Your financial situation is unique and the products and services we review may not be right for your circumstances. We do not offer financial advice, advisory or brokerage services, nor do we recommend or advise individuals or to buy or sell particular stocks or securities. Performance information may have changed since the time of publication. Past performance is not indicative of future results. Forbes Advisor adheres to strict editorial integrity standards. To the best of our knowledge, all content is accurate as of the date posted, though offers contained herein may no longer be available. Julia Rittenberg Contributor. Kelly Main Editor. The Forbes Advisor editorial team is independent and objective.
To help support our reporting work, and to continue our ability to provide this content for free to our readers, we receive compensation from the companies that advertise on the Forbes Advisor site. This compensation comes from two main sources. First , we provide paid placements to advertisers to present their offers. This site does not include all companies or products available within the market. The compensation we receive from advertisers does not influence the recommendations or advice our editorial team provides in our articles or otherwise impact any of the editorial content on Forbes Advisor. While we work hard to provide accurate and up to date information that we think you will find relevant, Forbes Advisor does not and cannot guarantee that any information provided is complete and makes no representations or warranties in connection thereto, nor to the accuracy or applicability thereof.
Here is a list of our partners who offer products that we have affiliate links for. Are you sure you want to rest your choices? cancel ok.
How to write a business plan in 7 steps,Breadcrumb
WebAug 9, · While the particulars of every business plan will be different, there are some aspects that should be common to all business plans: Be Concise: The writing in a WebJan 28, · 27 Best Freelance Business Plan Writers For Hire In February - Upwork™ Hire the best Business Plan writers Check out Business Plan writers with WebA business plan can be the most important tool a small business owner has, but it doesn't write itself. Learn how to turn your ideas into a solid plan that will give you a roadmap for WebAug 20, · Table of Contents Brainstorm an Executive Summary. An executive summary is an extremely important first step in your business. You have to Create a ... read more
That said, a typical business plan will include the following benchmarks:. How will you grow the team onboarding, team structure, training and development? Think of this section as the gap in the market you are attempting to close. Create Financial Plans Other than financial goals, you want to have a budget and set your planned weekly, monthly and annual spending. They conceived Growthink from their deep and abiding passion and curiosity for business. Manuel Bogharian.
Include brief bios that highlight the relevant experiences of each key team member. 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. Yasser Madi. There are several different costs to consider, such as operational costs. I had high expectations for the end product and what I received was way beyond what I hoped for. After doing my research on a help for business plan writing similar companies, I went with Go Business Plans and I could not be happier. Natalia Pęczkowska.
No comments:
Post a Comment