10 KEY ELEMENTS OF A BUSINESS PLAN

Your business plan is a critical document in determining the success of your business.

Its primary mission is to convince the reader to get involved in and/or fund your business.

Business plans also serve as the framework for your company and provide benchmarks

to see if you’re reaching your goals.

An excellent business plan has 10 key components. The first five provide an overview of the business and the market research to support it, while the second set focuses on strategy-marketing, operational, financial and management strategies that you will employ.

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Executive Summary

Your Executive Summary should sum up your entire business plan and includes:1. An overview of what your company does and why it will be

successful2. A brief synopsis of all the other sections of the plan3. MUST answer why you business is unique

Company AnalysisYour Company Analysis section gives readers an overview

of your company. Include details such as:

Value proposition

Company background informationProduct & service

offeringLocationBusiness

model

Industry Analysis01.

Provide an overview of your specific industry

02. Include market sizing and growth projections

03.04.

Outline key trends and drivers

Outline the industry’s product & service segmentation

Customer Analysis

1. Detail your key customer segment(s)

2. Provide details including demographics (e.g., age, income, or industry and function (if B2B)

3. Include psychographics (e.g., what websites do they frequent)

Competitive Analysis1. Profile your top 3-5 direct and indirect competitors

including product & service offering and pricing2. Outline their strengths and weaknesses3. Compare online and social media presence

Marketing Plan

4. Outline your promotions strategy for attracting new customers

1. Detail the products and services you offer

2. Discuss your pricing strategy

3. Define you channel strategy

Operations Plan1. Detail your short-term and

long-term growth strategy and processes

2. Define the day-to-day processes that will ensure your business runs smoothly

1. Include your biography and biographies of other team members, ideally showing why your team is uniquely qualified to succeed

2. Document open positions and the characteristics of people you would like to hire for them

Management Team

Financial Plan

1. Include an overview of your Income Statement, Balance Sheet and Cash Flow Statement

2. Include financing requirements, if applicable, and how you will use the funds

3. Show the financial growth of your business and capital needs

Appendix1. Put any supporting information in the Appendix2. Include full financial projections (Income Statement, Balance Sheet and

Cash Flow Statement) 3. Key information such as patents, letters from customers, important

contracts, etc.

BusinessPlanTemplate helps entrepreneurs, business owners and

executives to create plans to grow their organizations.

Learn more about our business plan template at

www.businessplantemplate.com