business plan guida e software

BUSINESS PLAN online COS'È A COSA SERVE COME FARLO

Guida 2024 alla creazione del business plan con esempi e software., il business plan.

La nuova guida completa 2024 per fare il business plan. Seguila e riuscirai a realizzare da solo il tuo piano industriale e realizzare la tua idea imprenditoriale. Un business plan comprende di base 10 elementi: la panoramica, il sommario esecutivo; descrizione generale dell'azienda; l'opportunità; industria e mercato; la tua strategia; Il gruppo; un piano di marketing; piano operativo; piano finanziario. Un piano aziendale non renderà automaticamente un successo la tua iniziativa, ma ti aiuterà a evitare alcune cause comuni di fallimento aziendale, tra cui la sottocapitalizzazione o la mancanza di un mercato adeguato.

> Come fare un Business Plan per Startup > Guida alle Startup Innovative

Tutte le risposte sul business plan:

• - Cos'è un Business Plan
• - A cosa serve il Business Plan
• - Perché fare un Business Plan
• - Quando fare un Business Plan
• - Cosa inserire nel Business Plan
• - Come fare un Business Plan
• - Esempi di Business Plan
• - Business Plan PDF
• - Software Business Plan Gratuito

Risparmia tempo

Nuovo software "business plan excel", compra e scaricalo subito: 90€ scopri il software "business plan excel", cos'è un business plan.

Il "business plan" è un documento che sintetizza i contenuti e le caratteristiche di un progetto imprenditoriale (business idea). Viene utilizzato sia per la pianificazione e gestione aziendale che per la comunicazione esterna, in particolare verso potenziali finanziatori o investitori. Da Wikipedia , l'enciclopedia libera. > Cos'è un Business Plan

A COSA SERVE IL BUSINESS PLAN

Il business plan è fondamentale per l'avvio di una nuova impresa, lo sviluppo di un business o la realizzazione di un nuovo progetto. Serve per valutare, sotto tutti gli aspetti aziendali (patrimoniali, economici, finanziari) la bontà dell'iniziativa e in particolare la capacità di generare utili per il sostentamento dell'azienda stessa.

PERCHÉ FARE UN BUSINESS PLAN

La principale ragione per realizzare un business plan è perché ci viene chiesto dall'esterno: per accedere a finanziamenti di terzi o entrate in c/capitale, per usufruire di un contributo statale. Tutti ottimi motivi! Non dimentichiamoci però che il business plan è utile e può fornire indicazioni lungo tutta la vita dell'azienda (a prescindere da nuovi assetti finanziari/patrimoniali).

QUANDO FARE IL BUSINESS PLAN

Il business plan è necessario per accedere a finanziamenti da parte di privati (banche) e contributi a fondo perduto (comunitari, statali, regionali, ...). Non solo: l'entrata di un nuovo socio può giustificare la realizzazione di un business plan.

COSA INSERIRE NEL BUSINESS PLAN

Il business plan è di fatto uno standard a livello internazionale ed è composto da 10 elementi base. In ogni sezione è opportuno inserire tutte le informazioni specifiche del progetto che si intende realizzare. Non esiste un business plan generico uguale per tutti, per il semplice motivo che ogni azienda è diversa da tutte le altre.

> Cosa inserire nel business plan - Guida 2024

I 10 elementi che compongono il business plan:

• - un sommario - executive summary
• - descrizione del progetto
• - presentazione generale dell'azienda
• - opportunità
• - industria e mercato
• - strategia
• - team aziendale
• - piano di marketing
• - piano operativo
• - piano finanziario

COME FARE UN BUSINESS PLAN

Il business plan è composto di fatto da una sezione descrittiva supportata da elementi numerici con le proiezioni di bilancio. Quindi è essenziale utilizzare un software per la parte numerica: Excel è un ottimo strumento per realizzare il business plan.

> Video come fare un Business Plan (YouTube) > Come fare un Business Plan

Video business plan

ESEMPI DI BUSINESS PLAN

In questo sito trovi molti esempi di business plan già compilati (per startup, aziende di produzione, aziende commerciali, servizi ,...) utili come riferimento per le tue iniziative imprenditoriali.

Guida al Business Plan in PDF Download PDF

Qui puoi consultare esempi di business plan già realizzati:

• - Business Plan Azienda Agricola
• - Esempio Business Plan settore Plastica
• - Business Plan per Ristorante
• - Business Plan per Finanziamenti Bancari
• - Business Plan per B&B e Affittacamere
• - Business Plan per Asili Nido
• - Business plan Azienda Vinicola
• - Business Plan per Aziende Agricole

FAQ BUSINESS PLAN

Tutte le Risposte alle Domande più Frequenti (FAQ) sul Business Plan per la realizzazione del tuo Piano Industriale.

> Leggi le FAQ sul Business Plan

Se stai iniziando a capire come fare il Business Plan, qui puoi trovare le risposte alle domande più frequenti:

• - business plan
• - bilancio di previsione
• - programmazione aziendale

SOFTWARE BUSINESS PLAN GRATUITO

Scarica la Versione FREE Gratuita

Business Plan Software Excel

Versione in Italiano. Semplice da utilizzare

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I MIGLIORI SOFTWARE BUSINESS PLAN PER IL 2023

• dicembre 20, 2022
• Redazione 1businessplan.it

COSA DEVE FARE UN SOFTWARE PER BUSINESS PLAN ITALIANO

Per scegliere il miglior software per business plan dobbiamo sapere con precisione cos’è, a cosa serve, quando, come e chi dovrà utilizzarlo.

Il business plan è un documento nel quale viene descritto il progetto di un’impresa, nuova o esistente, sotto l’aspetto organizzativo, di mercato, del piano di marketing includendo il piano economico e finanziario .

Per questo motivo il software per business plan dovrà essere in lingua italiana ed aiutarti a costruire sia il budget economico e finanziario (a tre o cinque anni) che il documento di business plan.

Visto che si tratta di un documento previsionale è necessario che il software abbia la funzione di creare scenari alternativi per valutare gli effetti sull’utile e sulla liquidità di tutti i possibili eventi futuri.

In seguito, vedremo anche perché il software deve calcolare gli indici di bancabilità , fare l’analisi di bilancio, l’analisi SWOT e consentire la stampa analitica in PDF del piano economico e finanziario.

È importante utilizzare un software business plan italiano che crei il bilancio CEE e calcoli le imposte secondo quanto previsto dalla normativa italiana .

Se il software è semplicemente tradotto dall’inglese non va bene perché avrà una struttura differente utilizzata in altri paese, incluso per alcuni importanti indici come quelli della crisi d’impresa.

QUANDO UTILIZZARE UN SOFTWARE PER FARE IL BUSINESS PLAN

Il business plan andrebbe sempre fatto per ogni nuovo progetto di impresa o per valutare nuovi investimenti o ampliamenti di imprese ed aziende già esistenti.

Al tempo stesso, va sempre utilizzato un software per fare il business plan perché si tratta di un’attività molto complessa ed è necessario uno strumento che semplifichi e velocizzi tutte le operazioni.

Inoltre, il software per fare il business plan, aiuterà il professionista o l’imprenditore anche nella redazione dei contenuti, nella classificazione delle diverse tipologie di costi e a non fare errori nel corso di tutto il lavoro.

I programmi per fare il business plan vengono utilizzati principalmente in tre occasioni :

SOFTWARE BUSINESS PLAN PER LA RICHIESTA DI UN FINANZIAMENTO

Viene solitamente richiesto dalla banca e, per poter mandare avanti velocemente la pratica, è necessario realizzarlo in tempi molto brevi.

Per questa esigenza sono perfetti i software business plan specifici di Bsness.com che sono personalizzati per tutte le principali attività economiche e includono un esempio completo già fatto e precaricato sia per la parte numerica che per quella descrittiva.

Sono molto facili da utilizzare perché si lavora direttamente sull’esempio e normalmente sono necessarie poche modifiche per adeguarli al proprio progetto.

Ad ogni modifica si aggiorna sempre tutto automaticamente e quindi, in ogni momento, si ha a disposizione il lavoro già completo e pronto da presentare alla banca .

SOFTWARE BUSINESS PLAN PER LA RICHIESTA DI AGEVOLAZIONI

In questo caso il business plan serve per ottenere il conto economico , lo schema fonti e impieghi e tutti gli altri valori richiesti nella domanda per la partecipazione ai vari bandi emanati dalle regioni, province e comuni oppure, a livello nazionale, da Invitalia o direttamente dal Ministero delle Imprese e del Made in Italy

Sotto questo aspetto sono molto interessanti i moduli specifici per i bandi di Invitalia creati da Bsness.com

Questi moduli riclassificano automaticamente i dati ottenuti con i loro software business plan negli schemi e tabelle richieste nelle domande e nei piani d’impresa di Invitalia come, ad esempio “ Fondo impresa donna ”, “ Resto al sud ”, “ Smart&Start ”, “ON nuove imprese a tasso zero”, “Fondo imprese creative” o “Selfiemployment”.

È importante che il software business plan utilizzato fornisca in modo dettagliato tutti i dati parziali delle varie tipologie di costi, ricavi, investimenti e flussi di cassa, dettagliati per mese, anno e prodotto.

In questo modo tali dati economici e finanziari potranno essere utilizzati per la compilazione di ogni differente bando per la richiesta di finanziamenti agevolati e contributi a fondo perduto.

A CHI SERVE IL SOFTWARE PER FARE IL BUSINESS PLAN

Un tempo erano solo consulenti e Dottori Commercialisti ad utilizzare i software per fare il business plan per i loro clienti a causa della loro complessità e dei costi molto elevati che li rendevano antieconomici per un utilizzo singolo.

Negli ultimi anni sono usciti software business plan per il mercato italiano molto più semplici ed intuitivi da utilizzare e molto più economici.

Oggi come oggi anche molti imprenditori realizzano da soli il business plan per un nuovo progetto o per la loro impresa già esistente e quindi possiamo individuare tre categorie di utilizzatori:

·         clienti privati che vogliono sviluppare un nuovo progetto d’impresa o professionale;

·         imprenditori che hanno in programma un ampliamento dell’azienda o la richiesta di finanziamenti e agevolazioni;

·         Commercialisti e consulenti che realizzano il business plan su richiesta dei loro clienti.

COME FUNZIONANO I SOFTWARE BUSINESS PLAN

Esistono due filosofie di funzionamento dei software per fare il business plan:

·         quella più antiquata e non conforme alle nuove linee guida EBA 2021 alle quali si attengono le banche per l’erogazione dei finanziamenti e cioè lo sviluppo nel futuro dei vecchi bilanci ;

·         quella moderna e conforme alle Linee guida EBA 2021 che, invece, sviluppa tutto il piano aziendale sulla base degli elementi del progetto d’impresa senza rifarsi ai vecchi bilanci.

I migliori software per fare il business plan che funzionano nel modo (a nostro parere) corretto, sono:

·         il software business plan 2022 di softwarebusinessplan.it ;

·         il software business plan turistico alberghiero di Bsness.com per le strutture ricettive;

·         i software base per il commercio, i servizi e le imprese manifatturiere di Bsness.com

Tutti questi software che abbiamo menzionato creano sia il budget economico e finanziario a 5 anni che il documento di business plan e sono conformi alle nuove linee guida EBA 2021 che è un elemento imprescindibile per la richiesta di un finanziamento.

I SOFTWARE BUSINESS PLAN IN EXCEL E WORD

Si tratta di software business plan che girano su excel e word e questo permette una grande semplicità di utilizzo dal momento che si tratta di piattaforme ben conosciute sia dai professionisti che dagli imprenditori.

Questo permette anche il facile trasferimento di dati già in possesso dell’utilizzatore del software business plan in excel e anche dei testi direttamente sul documento in word .

I VANTAGGI DI UTILIZZARE UN SOFTWARE PER FARE IL BUSINESS PLAN

Il grosso vantaggio di utilizzare un buon software per fare il business plan è che il piano economico e finanziario e il documento di business plan vengono costruiti automaticamente e senza errori sulla base delle informazioni fornite.

In termini pratici i vantaggi sono un grande risparmio di tempo , l’ottenimento di risultati professionali ed impensabili con un lavoro fatto manualmente.

Un buon programma ti permette di ottenere un risultato che altrimenti non potresti raggiungere nemmeno in settimane di lavoro.

Intervistando le varie software house produttrici dei software che abbiamo esaminato e testato abbiamo saputo che ci sono voluti anni di lavoro per lo sviluppo dei software e parliamo di professionisti preparati e altamente specializzati.

Utilizzando uno dei software per il business plan che abbiamo selezionato, qualunque consulente, anche che si dedichi ad altre materie, può proporsi come specialista in budget e business plan e soddisfare la propria clientela in tempi molto rapidi.

Allo stesso modo ogni imprenditore potrà risparmiare tantissimo tempo e denaro realizzando il business plan per il proprio progetto senza intermediazioni e trasferendo direttamente sul documento le proprie idee e conoscenze senza rischiare che possano venire utilizzate da terzi .

BUSINESS PLAN: I SOFTWARE MIGLIORI E COME SCEGLIERLI

Abbiamo testato tutti i principali software business plan sulla base delle caratteristiche più importanti per ottenere il miglior risultato possibile:

·         programma strutturato secondo gli schemi economici e fiscali previsti in Italia e sviluppati in lingua italiana con manuali e assistenza forniti in italiano da personale italiano;

·         conformità alle nuove linee guida EBA 2021 e quindi strutturati in un’ottica di forward looking e cioè guardando al futuro e non ai vecchi bilanci già chiusi;

·         facilità di utilizzo e tempo necessario per ottenere il risultato desiderato;

·         completezza del software e cioè capacità di creare sia il budget economico e finanziario che il documento di business plan, scenari alternativi, analisi di bilancio, indici di bancabilità, analisi SWOT e stampe complete ed analitiche;

·         economicità della licenza tenendo conto anche delle modalità di pagamento a canone mensili o per acquisto della licenza senza scadenza.

Il business plan non è un documento morto ma va aggiornato periodicamente per verificare ed eventualmente rivedere le previsioni fatte e anche per controllare la gestione ed orientare continuamente le scelte aziendali.

ECCO I MIGLIORI SOFTWARE PER FARE IL BUSINESS PLAN CHE ABBIAMO SELEZIONATO

Abbiamo valutato e confrontato il costo dei vari software su un periodo minimo di 6/12 mesi e, sulla base delle caratteristiche esposte, abbiamo individuato alcuni software che soddisfano a pieno tutti i requisiti con prezzi contenuti:

Software business plan 2022 di Softwarebusinessplan.it che offre la licenza completa a vita a soli 119 € con la possibilità di creare anche più progetti per ogni tipo d’impresa e di rivederli nel tempo

Business plan commercio 2023 , anche nelle versioni “Servizi”, “Turismo” e “Produzione” creati da Bsness.com.

Si tratta di quattro software completi e conformi alle linee guida EBA 2021 per l’erogazione dei finanziamenti bancari, specifici e personalizzati per le differenti tipologie d’impresa che vengono offerti a 87 € l’uno per la licenza a vita.

Business plan specifici di Bsness.com : si tratta di software specifici personalizzati per ogni singola attività economica con incluso un esempio completo sul quale direttamente lavorare e modificare sia nella parte numerica che in quella descrittiva con aggiornamento in tempo reale dell’intero lavoro.

Sono disponibili più di 200 di questi software specifici per tutte le principali attività con licenza a vita per 119 €

BUSINESS PLAN: SOFTWARE GRATUITO O A PAGAMENTO?

In rete si trova anche chi propone software per business plan gratuito in italiano , li abbiamo scaricati e provati ma si tratta di alcuni fogli di excel che semplicemente incrementano di una percentuale i vecchi bilanci da caricare.

Il costo dei software per fare il business plan può variare da un canone di circa 30/50 € da pagare ogni mese oppure da un costo per la licenza a vita che può andare da un minimo di 70/80 euro a cifre intorno agli 800/1000 euro.

Si tratta soprattutto di scelte di mercato, di marketing e dei canali di distribuzione scelti ma abbiamo verificato che non esiste una correlazione diretta tra la qualità ed i servizi offerti ed i prezzi di vendita.

Per cui è necessario analizzare a fondo tutte le caratteristiche viste sopra per valutare i singoli software senza invece affidarsi semplicemente al fattore prezzo.

Alcune software house infatti, soprattutto quelle che si rivolgono ai professionisti e consulenti, utilizzano reti vendite molto costose con agenti che illustrano personalmente le caratteristiche dei software e organizzano eventi per promuovere i loro prodotti.

Altre, come quelle che abbiamo selezionato, offrono invece un’altissima qualità e completezza del software fornendo tutte le informazioni esclusivamente online o tramite i propri canali youtube.

IL SOFTWARE BUSINESS PLAN GRATUITO (NON È MAI UN BUON AFFARE)

Se si vuole ottenere un buon risultato è meglio evitare chi promette software business plan gratuiti perché, ovviamente, alle spalle non può esserci un reale lavoro di sviluppo ed aggiornamento.

In alternativa si tratta di versioni gratuite del software ma con funzioni limitate, praticamente una demo per la quale è poi richiesto il pagamento per sbloccare le reali funzioni del programma.

Un elemento fondamentale per la valutazione del costo dei software è l’opzione di pagamento di un canone mensile o della licenza a vita .

Considerato che il business plan è un documento che:

·         deve accompagnare l’impresa nel tempo e deve essere periodicamente aggiornato con i dati a consuntivo per verificare l’attendibilità delle previsioni realizzate;

·         va aggiornato ogni volta che si chiede un nuovo finanziamento o un contributo a fondo perduto;

·         può e andrebbe utilizzato anche per il controllo di gestione ,

bisogna assolutamente optare per l’acquisto della licenza a vita perché il pagamento di un canone mensile porterebbe a sostenere nel tempo costi esorbitanti.

I 3 MIGLIORI SOFTWARE BUSINESS PLAN PER IL 2023

Per concludere riepiloghiamo quali sono i tre migliori software business plan per il 2023 :

1)      I software base di Bsness.com per le quattro categorie di imprese: Commercio, Servizi, Turismo, Produzione;

2)      Software Business plan 2022 di Softwarebusinessplan.it

3)      I software specifici di Bsness.com con un esempio completo per tutte le principali attività: il TOP per chi vuole ottenere un ottimo risultato con il massimo della semplicità e rapidità.

Articolo scritto il 20 dicembre 2022 dalla redazione di 1businessplan-it

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10 Best Business Plan Software and Tools for Better Productivity

Fast fact: 70% of businesses that survive for 5 years follow a strategic business plan. 

That makes having a comprehensive and compelling business plan a no-brainer for long-term business growth. It serves as a roadmap for your venture and demonstrates your vision, strategy, and potential to investors and stakeholders. 

However, drafting a business plan from scratch can take time and effort, especially for those with limited experience and resources. Fortunately, many excellent business plan software solutions are available to make the process easier.

This article covers the top 10 business plan software options available in 2024. Each offers unique features, pricing structures, and capabilities to cater to diverse business needs. 

Let’s get right in!

10 Best Business Plan Software for 2024

1. Upmetrics 2. LivePlan 3. Enloop 4. BizPlan 5. GoSmallBiz 6. Business Sorter 7. iPlanner 8. Cuttles 9. MAUS Master Plan Lean 10. Storydoc 11. Retable

1. Upmetrics

Upmetrics is a modern and AI-powered business plan generator that simplifies the complexities of creating a comprehensive business plan. With its intuitive business plan builder and built-in templates, Upmetrics allows users to customize their plans and forecasts according to their specific needs.

The newly launched AI assistant can help users create a business plan from scratch within 10-15 minutes. All you need to do is enter some information about your business and see your plan coming through.

Key Features:

• 400+ customizable business plan templates
• AI Pitch Deck Creator
• Strategic Planning Tools
• Financial forecasting capabilities

Pricing: Starter plan at $7/month, Premium plan at $14/month. (annual billing)

2. LivePlan

LivePlan is a comprehensive and user-friendly business plan software that serves to businesses of all sizes and industries. It offers a user-friendly interface and step-by-step guidance to make the process of crafting a professional business plan easier.

• Customizable templates and industry-specific examples
• Financial forecasting and budgeting tools
• Pitch deck and presentation mode
• Real-time collaboration and sharing capabilities
• Expert advice and educational resources

Pricing: Starts at $20/month for the basic plan, with more advanced options available.

Enloop is a cloud-based solution designed specifically for creating business plans for investors, banks, and lenders. Enloop’s writing and text synchronization features can help you streamline business plan creation for you. Let’s check out some of its best features.

• Free version for testing the solution
• Available in multiple languages
• Interactive PDF export
• Step-by-step guidance and templates

Pricing: Basic plan starts at $9/month, with more advanced plans ranging from $11 to $40/month.

BizPlan is a versatile business plan builder that connects to the Startups.com network, making it an ideal choice for startups seeking investment. With its step-by-step approach and the Progress Tracker tool, BizPlan helps users stay organized and on track.

• Connectivity to Findable for attracting financial investment
• Online educational programs for entrepreneurs
• Multiple owner access to a single account
• A lifetime access option is available

Pricing: Monthly plan at $29/month, annual plan at $249/year, or lifetime access for $349 (one-time fee).

5. GoSmallBiz

GoSmallBiz is an online support system specifically designed for small businesses and startups in the United States. In addition to business plan creation, GoSmallBiz offers valuable resources and educational materials to help to aspire entrepreneurs succeed.

• Access to up-to-date management information
• Unlimited access to online consultants
• Customer database for attracting and retaining customers

Pricing: Monthly fee of $39.

6. Business Sorter

Business Sorter is a cloud-based solution that simplifies the process of creating internal business plans. Featuring a user-friendly card system and pre-designed solutions tailored to different business needs, Business Sorter is perfect for entrepreneurs who aren’t looking for investor-focused presentations.

• 173 digital cards for comprehensive business planning
• Unlimited team member access and monitoring
• Multi-device accessibility
• Built-in help function and strong data protection

Pricing: Cost depends on the number of users, with a special offer for companies with an unlimited number of team members.

7. iPlanner

iPlanner is a multifunctional platform for business planning and project management. The tool provides a variety of business plan templates and financial forecasting tools , making it suitable for a broad spectrum of startups, from restaurants to large enterprises and venture capital initiatives.

• Step-by-step business plan creation wizard
• Integration with Microsoft Office and DropBox
• Training content library with practical recommendations
• Experienced mentor support

Pricing: Professional Plan at $55 (supports 1 project), Corporate Plan at $93 (supports 12 projects), and Corporate Plus (custom pricing).

Cuttles is a fully interactive business planning software with a focus on planning, budgeting, and financial forecasting. With its ready-made templates and multi-language support, Cuttles caters to a global audience of entrepreneurs.

• One-page business plan template for banks, investors, and lenders
• High-level security through cloud storage
• PDF export for business plans
• Online training courses and resource library

Pricing: Seed Plan at $8/year (1 startup, 1 user), Grow Plan at $16/year (1 startup, unlimited users), and Series Plan at $48/year (unlimited startups and users).

9. MAUS Master Plan Lean

MAUS Master Plan Lean is an Australian-based business plan creation software designed for strategic planning. With its comprehensive toolset, MAUS Master Plan Lean helps users create actionable plans, track tasks, and monitor performance.

• Strategic planning wizard
• Step-by-step action plan creation and task tracking
• Schedule creation and collaboration tools
• Real-time marketing reports and performance tracking

Pricing: Business Planning & HR Pack at $97/month, MasterPlan Learn at $299/year, and Business Planning Pack at $499/year.

10. Storydoc

Storydoc is a business plan creator designed to help entrepreneurs and businesses create outstanding and innovative business plans, as well as other types of presentations. With its intuitive interface and a wide range of features, Storydoc makes it easy to organize and present various aspects of your business plan.

• Ready-made interactive slide templates optimized for engagement
• Robust integrations with existing tech stack
• Ability to pull company branding directly from website
• Extensive analytics panel for tracking performance

Pricing: Starter plan at $40/month per user, Pro plan at $60/month per user, and custom Team plans (pricing available upon request).

11. Retable

Retable  is a versatile and intuitive project management and data management software designed to streamline operations of all sizes of business. With its easy-to-use interface and robust feature set, Retable makes managing data sets, tasks and projects simpler and more efficient.

• Customizable templates for various use cases
• Advanced data views like grid, kanban, list, card, calendar, chart, map and form
• Collaborative workspaces with real-time updates
• Organization, team and role management
• Integration with popular productivity apps
• Over +30 column types
• Custom branding

Pricing: Starts at $12/month for the team plan.

Why use business plan software?

Using business plan software offers several advantages over creating a business plan from scratch. These software solutions are designed to streamline the process, provide guidance, and ensure a professional and well-structured outcome. Here are some key reasons to consider using business plan software:

Time-saving: Business plan software automates many tasks, such as formatting, financial calculations, and data organization, saving you valuable time and effort.

Guided approach: Most business plan software provides step-by-step guidance, prompts, and templates to ensure you cover all essential components of a comprehensive business plan.

Professional presentation: These software solutions offer built-in tools to create visually appealing and professional-looking business plans, increasing the chances of impressing potential investors or stakeholders.

Financial forecasting: Advanced financial forecasting tools help you create accurate financial projections, a critical component of any successful business plan.

Collaboration and sharing: Many software options offer collaboration features, allowing multiple team members to contribute to and review the business plan, ensuring a cohesive vision.

By using the power of business plan software, you can simplify the process, improve efficiency, and create a compelling and comprehensive business plan that effectively communicates your vision and increases your chances of success.

How to Choose the Right Business Plan Software?

With so many business plan software options available, choosing the right one for your needs can take time and effort. Here are some key factors to consider when selecting the best business plan software:

Ease of use: Look for software with a intuitive navigation & user-friendly interface to ensure a smooth learning curve and efficient workflow.

Industry-specific templates : Consider software that offers customizable templates and industry-specific examples relevant to your business sector.

Financial forecasting capabilities : Evaluate the financial forecasting tools and their ability to create accurate projections based on your business data.

Collaboration and sharing features: If you plan to involve multiple team members or stakeholders, prioritize software with robust collaboration and sharing capabilities .

Educational resources and support: Software that provides educational resources, such as tutorials, expert advice, and customer support, can be invaluable, especially for first-time business plan creators.

Integration with existing tools: Consider software that easily integrates with your existing platforms and tools, such as accounting software or cloud storage solutions.

Pricing and scalability: Evaluate the pricing plans and ensure they align with your budget and long-term goals, considering the potential for business growth and scalability.

By carefully assessing your specific needs and prioritizing the features that matter most to your business, you can select the best business plan software that will streamline the process and maximize your chances of success.

Creating a well-crafted business plan is similar to preparing a business proposal , it should be neat & clean, to the point, and engaging enough to attract investors or partners. The top 10 business plan software options discussed offer a wide range of capabilities to cater to diverse needs.

From user-friendly interfaces to advanced financial forecasting tools, collaboration features, and industry-specific templates, tools like Upmetrics streamline the creation of a comprehensive and professional business plan.

Selecting the right software requires careful consideration of factors such as ease of use, financial forecasting capabilities, collaboration features , educational resources, and integration with existing tools.

By utilizing the power of business plan software, you can present your vision with clarity and professionalism, increasing your chances of attracting the resources and support needed for long-term success.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Which business plan software is the best?

The best business plan software depends on your specific needs, goals, and budget. Some top options include Upmetrics, LivePlan, Enloop, BizPlan, each offering unique features and pricing structures. Carefully evaluate the capabilities of each software against your requirements to make an informed choice.

How do I create my own business plan?

Start by choosing a business plan software that provides templates, guidance, and tools for different components like executive summaries, market analysis, and financial projections. Follow the step-by-step process outlined by the software, filling in the necessary information and customizing as needed. Leverage the software’s features to create a comprehensive and professional business plan.

What are the different types of business plans?

The main types include standard business plans for presenting to investors or banks, lean business plans without extensive background information, and one-page business plans or pitches. Additionally, there are operational, tactical, strategic, and contingency business plans tailored to different purposes and business stages.

Is business plan software secure?

Most reputable business plan software solutions prioritize security features like multi-factor authentication, intrusion detection, data encryption, and regular security updates. However, it’s crucial to evaluate the specific security measures of the software you’re considering to ensure the protection of your sensitive business data.

Is it necessary for small businesses to use business plan software?

While not strictly necessary, using business plan software can significantly benefit small businesses by streamlining the process, providing guidance, and ensuring a professional outcome. It can save time, improve efficiency, and increase the chances of impressing potential investors or stakeholders.

What are the benefits of using Business Plan Software?

Key benefits include time-saving through task automation, a guided approach with templates and prompts, professional presentation tools, advanced financial forecasting capabilities, and collaboration features for multiple team members. Overall, business plan software simplifies the process and improves the quality of your business plan.

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Home > Business > Business Startup

• 5 Best Business Plan Software and Tools in 2023 for Your Small Business

Data as of 3 /13/23 . Offers and availability may vary by location and are subject to change.

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A business plan can do a lot for your business. It can help you secure investors or other funding. It can give your company direction. It can keep your finances healthy. But, if we’re being honest, it can also be a pain to write.

Luckily, you don’t have to start from scratch or go it alone. Business plan software and services can help you craft a professional business plan, like our top choice LivePlan , which provides templates, guidance, and more.

You’ve got quite a few choices for business plan help, so we’re here to help you narrow things down. Let’s talk about the best business plan tools out there.

• LivePlan : Best overall
• BizPlanBuilder : Most user-friendly
• Wise Business Plans : Best professional service
• Business Sorter : Best for internal plans
• GoSmallBiz.com : Most extra features
• Honorable mentions

Business plan software 101

The takeaway, business plan software faq, compare the best business plan software.

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LivePlan: Best overall business plan software

Data as of 3 /13/23 . Offers and availability may vary by location and are subject to change. *With annual billing

LivePlan has been our favorite business plan software for a while now, despite the stiff competition.

There’s a lot to like about LivePlan. It has pretty much all the features you could want from your business plan software. LivePlan gives you step-by-step instructions for writing your plan, helps you create financial reports, lets you compare your business’s actual financials to your plan’s goals, and much more. And if you ever need inspiration, it includes hundreds of sample business plans that can guide your writing.

LivePlan software pricing

But the best part? You get all that (and more) at a very competitive price. (You can choose from annual, six-month, or monthly billing.) While LivePlan isn’t quite the cheapest business plan builder out there, it’s not too far off either. And if comes with a 60-day money back guarantee. So there’s no risk in trying LivePlan out for yourself.

With a great balance of features and cost, LivePlan offers the best business plan solution for most businesses.

BizPlanBuilder: Most user-friendly

Need something easy to use? BizPlanBuilder fits the bill.

BizPlanBuilder doesn’t have a flashy, modern user interface―but it does have a very clear, intuitive one. You’ll be able to see your plan’s overall structure at a glance, so you can quickly navigate from your title page to your market trend section to that paragraph on your core values. And as you write, you’ll use a text editor that looks a whole lot like the word processing programs you’re already familiar with.

BizPlanBuilder software pricing

Data effective 3/13/23. At publishing time, amounts, rates, and requirements are current but are subject to change. Offers may not be available in all areas.

BizPlanBuilder also offers lots of helpful guidance for actually writing your plan. It gives you pre-written text, in which you just have to fill in relevant details. It offers explanations for what information you need to include in each section of your plan and way. It even gives you helpful tips from experts, so you’ll have all the information you need to plan like a pro.

So if you want planning software with almost no learning curve, you’ll like BizPlanBuilder.

Wise Business Plans: Best professional service

• Custom quote

Unlike all the other companies on this list, Wise Business Plans doesn’t offer software. Instead, it offers professional business plan writing services―meaning someone does all the hard work for you.

Now, you might think that sounds expensive―and you’re probably right (you have to request a custom quote for your plan). But there’s a lot to be said for expertise, and Wise Business Plans has plenty of that. Your business plan will get written by an experienced writer (with an MBA, no less). They’ll get information from you, do their own research, and then write your plan. You get one free revision, and you can always pay for more.  

Wise Business Plans service pricing

Your end result will be a polished, entirely original business plan. (You can even get printed copies.) And best of all, you won’t have to spend your precious time working on the plan yourself. Wise Business Plans takes care of all the hard parts, and makes your business look good while doing it. Sounds like a service worth paying for, right?

Put simply, if you want the most professional business plan possible, we recommend using Wise Business Plans’s writing service.

Business Sorter: Best for internal plans

Many businesses need plans to show to people outside the company (to get financing, for example). But what if you just need a plan for internal use? In that case, we suggest Business Sorter.

Business Sorter uses a unique card-based method to help you craft the perfect business plan. (You can watch a demo video to see how it works.) You’ll plan some of the usual things, like finances and marketing. But Business Sorter also lets you make plans for specific teams and team members. It also emphasizes more internal matters, like operations, that might get overlooked in a business plan for outsiders.

Business Sorter software pricing

After you’ve made your business plan, Business Sorter also helps you stay accountable to it. You can create tasks, give them deadlines, and assign them to team members―giving you basic project management tools to make sure your business plans become business actions. (Oh, and did we mention that Business Sorter has the lowest starting prices of any software on this list?)

It all adds up to a business plan software that works great for internal planning.

GoSmallBiz: Most extra features

Want to get way more than just business planning software? Then you probably want GoSmallBiz.

See, GoSmallBiz offers business plan software as part of its service―but it’s just one part of a much bigger whole. You also get everything from discounts on legal services to a website builder to a CRM (customer relationship manager) to business document templates. And more. In other words, you get just about everything you need to get your startup off the ground.

GoSmallBiz software pricing

Don’t worry though―you still get all the business planning help you need. GoSmallBiz gives you business plan templates, step-by-step instructions, and the ability to create financial projections. And if you get stuck, GoSmallBiz will put you in touch with experts who can offer advice.

If you want business planning and much, much more, give GoSmallBiz a try.

• PlanGuru : Best financial forecasting
• EnLoop : Cheapest tool for startups

We recommend the software above for most business planning needs. Some businesses, though, might be interested in these more specialized planning software.

Honorable mention software pricing

PlanGuru: Best financial forecasting features

PlanGuru is pretty pricey compared to our other picks, but you might find its forecasting features worth paying for. It has more forecasting methods than other software (over 20) plus it lets you forecast up to 10 years.

EnLoop: Cheapest tool for startups

EnLoop doesn’t have our favorite features or interface, but it does have really, really low pricing plus a seven-day free trial. It's the most affordable software for startup business planning and still provides all the essential features like financial analysis, team collaboration, charting, and more.

Data as of 3 /13/23 . Offers and availability may vary by location and are subject to change. * With annual billing

Several of our previous favorite planning software, including BusinessPlanPro and StratPad, seem to have gone out of business.

A business plan is a written, living document that tells the story of your business and what you plan to do with it. It serves as the source of truth for you—the business owner—as well as potential partners, employees, and investors, but it also serves as a roadmap of what you want your business to be.

Why you need a business plan

While some small-business owners don’t see the point of creating a formal business plan, it can have some concrete benefits for your business. For example, one 2016 study found that business owners with written plans are more successful than those that don’t. 1

Still too vague? Then let’s get specific.

If you ever seek business funding (from, say, banks, angel investors , or venture capitalists ), you’ll have to prove that your business deserves the money you want. A formal business plan―complete with financial data and projections―gives you a professional document you can use to make your case. (In fact, most potential investors will expect you to have a business plan ready.)

Even if you’re not seeking funding right now, a business plan can help your business. A formal plan can guide your business’s direction and decision making. It can keep your business accountable (by, for example, seeing if your business meets the financial projections you included). And a formal plan offers a great way to make sure your team stays on the same page.

What to include in your business plan

Not all business plans are created equal. To make a really useful business plan, you’ll want to include a number of elements:

• Basic information about your business
• Your products/services
• Market and industry analysis
• What makes your business competitive
• Strategies and upcoming plans
• Your team (and your team’s background)
• Current financial status
• Financial and market projections
• Executive summary

Of course, you can include more or fewer elements―whatever makes sense for your business. Just make sure your business plan is comprehensive (but not overwhelming).

How business plan software can help

With so many elements to include, business plan creation can take a while. Business plan software tries to speed things up.

Most business plan software will include prompts for each section. In some cases, you can just fill in your business’s specific information, and the software will write the text for you. In other cases, the software will give you specific guidance and examples, helping you write the text yourself.

Plus, business plan software can help you stay organized. You’ll usually get intuitive menus that let you quickly flip through sections. So rather than endlessly scrolling through a long document in a word processor, you can quickly find your way around your plan. Some software even lets you drag and drop sections to reorganize your plan.

Sounds way easier than just staring at a blank page and trying to start from scratch, right?

Choosing business plan software

To find the right business plan builder for your business, you’ll want to compare features. For example, would you rather write your own text, getting prompts and advice from your software? Or would you rather go with a fill-in-the-blank method?

Likewise, think about the elements you need. If your plan will have a heavy focus on finances, you’ll want to choose business plan software with robust financial projection features. If you care more about market and competitor analysis, look for software that can help with that research.

You may also want to find business plan software that integrates with your business accounting software . Some plan builders will import data from Xero, QuickBooks, etc. to quickly generate your financial data and projections.

And of course, you’ll want to compare prices. After all, you always want to end up with software that fits your business budget.

The right business plan software can make your life easier. With LivePlan ’s wide breadth of features and online learning tools, you can’t go wrong. Plus, BizPlanBuilder 's one-time pricing makes it easy to invest while Business Sorter has a low starting cost. And if you're business is looking to grow, GoSmallBiz and Wise Business Plans will scale with you.

But of course, different companies have different needs. So shop around until you find the software that’s best for you and your business.

Now that you've got a business plan, take a look at our checklist for starting a small business.  It can help you make sure you have everything else you need to get your startup off to a good start!

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Creating a business plan can take anywhere from a couple hours to several weeks. Your timeline will depend on things like the elements you choose to include, whether you use software or hire a writing service, and how much research goes into your plan.

That said, much of the business plan software out there brags that it can help you create a fairly detailed plan in a few hours. So if you’re going the software route, that can help you set your expectations.

If you want to get the most out of your business plan, you should update it on a regular basis―at least annually. That way, you can continually refer to it to inform your company’s strategies and direction.  

At the very least, you should update your business plan before you start looking for a new round of funding (whether that’s with investors or lenders).

Thanks to business plan software, you can easily write your own business plan rather than pay someone to do it for you. And in most cases, software will cost you less than a professional business plan service.

There are some times you might want to go with a service though. If time is tight, you might find that it’s worth the cost of a service. Or if you’ve got big investor meetings on the horizon, you might want the expertise and polish that a professional service can offer.

Ultimately, you’ll have to decide for yourself whether business plan software or a business plan service will work better for your company.

Methodology

We ranked business plan software and tools based on features, pricing and plans, and connections to project management and other services. The value of each plan and service, along with what it offers, was a big consideration in our rankings, and we looked to see if what was offered was useful to small businesses or just extra. The final thing we looked at was the ease of use of the software to see if it's too complex for small businesses.

At Business.org, our research is meant to offer general product and service recommendations. We don't guarantee that our suggestions will work best for each individual or business, so consider your unique needs when choosing products and services.

Sources 1. Harvard Business Review, “ Research: Writing a Business Plan Makes Your Startup More Likely to Succeed .” Accessed March 13, 2023.

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Come redigere un Business Plan

Alla base di ogni storia di successo imprenditoriale vi è la pianificazione strategica e dunque la redazione di un business plan . Vediamo come fare un business plan completo e professionale. Se vuoi risparmiare tempo, ottenendo un prodotto già fatto, visita la nostra pagina dei business plan pronti .

Cos’è e a cosa serve un business plan

Qualsiasi sia il campo d’azione della tua impresa, il Business Plan rappresenta uno strumento di gestione essenziale, un vero e proprio documento di programmazione e analisi, in cui stabilire la tua strategia.

Il Business Plan incorpora in sé diverse finalità :

• Fornisce una guida strategica , quindi stabilisce la serie di passi da fare e gli obiettivi che ti aspetti di raggiungere in un determinato arco di tempo. Operare senza possedere una meta e senza aver scelto la strada migliore da percorrere non solo è controproducente, perché non ti permetterà mai di avvicinarti al tuo obiettivo di impresa, ma negli ultimi anni è divenuto anche piuttosto difficile, a causa della burrascosa situazione economica. Per questo è fondamentale stabilire con chiarezza e precisione degli obiettivi a breve, medio e lungo termine che possano condurti al risultato finale, percorrendo la via migliore. Per fare ciò, è fondamentale essere consapevole dei punti di forza e di debolezza della tua impresa e del tuo progetto, così da avere chiari fin da subito quali potrebbero essere i problemi e le difficoltà da affrontare e poter fin da subito porre in essere strategie alternative in grado di aggirare o valorizzare questi punti di debolezza. La valutazione delle caratteristiche della tua impresa, quindi dei suoi aspetti di forza e di criticità appena accennati, richiede necessariamente di stabilire dei benchmark , punti di riferimento, sui quali potrai basarti per analizzare le decisioni prese e da prendere e i risultati futuri. Questi benchmark non sono quindi che un’immaginaria asticella con la quale dovrai misurare il lavoro svolto dalla tua impresa.
• Fornisce le informazioni essenziali sulle quali basare la struttura finanziaria della tua impresa. Il Business Plan mette a disposizione informazioni precise che ti aiuteranno a stabilire il fabbisogno finanziario netto. Se conoscerai il fabbisogno finanziario della tua impresa, potrai conoscere anche quali sono le fonti di finanziamento più adatte a coprire questo fabbisogno e il Business Plan è in grado di aiutarti anche in questo lavoro. Se riuscirai a sfruttare questo documento strategico al massimo, sarai anche in grado di identificare quali sono le strategie finanziarie migliori per aumentare il valore economico del capitale aziendale.
• Permette di reperire finanziamenti sotto forma di crediti (prestiti, mutui, etc.) o di capitale di rischio (IPO, Private Equity o altri finanziamenti). Quando si avvia un’attività di impresa, avere a disposizione dei capitali è indispensabile per dare inizio al lavoro. Senza un adeguato Business Plan sarà difficile trovare dei potenziali finanziatori. Nessuno, infatti, investirebbe in un’impresa che non ha un progetto chiaro, programmato e preciso, in grado di esaltare il valore dell’impresa stessa.
• Promuove i rapporti con potenziali partner per joint venture e con clienti, fornitori e distributori. Proprio grazie alla sua completezza, il Business Plan è anche una sorta di presentazione dell’impresa stessa, un biglietto da visita che fa subito capire di che impresa si tratta, quali sono le sue caratteristiche e i suoi obiettivi.

Un Business Plan ben redatto rappresenta quindi non solo un documento di fondamentale importanza per qualsiasi tipologia di impresa, ma anche un processo da attuare per raggiungere gli obiettivi di lungo termine stabiliti, nel modo più efficace e senza sprechi di energie possibile.

Non esiste un modello unico e univoco di Business Plan, proprio perché, trattandosi di un documento utile a qualsiasi tipologia di attività, ogni impresa dovrà redigere il Business Plan che più si adatta alle sue caratteristiche (per approfondire vedi anche la pagina esempio di business plan ).

Il fatto che non esista un modello standard, non significa però che non vi siano delle caratteristiche fondamentali e delle parti imprescindibili da rispettare per la sua redazione, però.

Queste caratteristiche fanno del Business Plan un documento versatile e al tempo stesso strutturato in modo tale da poter essere di notevole supporto a qualsiasi tipologia di impresa.

Riuscire a comprendere a pieno come fare un Business Plan si trasforma quindi in una necessità per qualsiasi imprenditore voglia valorizzare il proprio lavoro all’interno della propria impresa.

Ecco una sintesi del business plan “perfetto” :

• Executive Summary
• Descrizione dell’impresa
• Descrizione dei prodotti/servizi
• Analisi di mercato (e dei competitor)
• Strategia di marketing
• La struttura organizzativa
• Piano economico-finanziario

Come redigere un business plan

Per essere redatto, un Business Plan richiede l’adempimento di alcune fasi e procedure. Si parte dallo stabilire una sorta di sommario in cui vengono raccolti e concentrati tutti gli obiettivi fondamentali. Una volta stabiliti questi, si procede con l’analisi dell’impresa e la sua descrizione.

Conoscere le caratteristiche della tua impresa ti permetterà di capire meglio come procedere nelle fasi successive. Oltre all’analisi dell’impresa sarà poi necessaria un’analisi del prodotto o servizio offerto, dalla quale si potranno fare già delle considerazioni.

Valutare il prodotto o servizio della tua impresa, senza valutare il mercato in cui questa opera non avrebbe senso, quindi si procederà ad un’analisi del settore in cui la tua impresa è inserita.

Una volta che sarai a conoscenza dei tuoi obiettivi, delle tue potenzialità e criticità, del settore e del mercato in cui operi , dovrai stabilire una strategia di marketing, tramite la quale raggiungere quegli obiettivi fissati all’inizio.

In fine verrà stabilita la struttura del management e il piano operativo, quindi tutta la serie di azioni concrete da attuare per raggiungere e realizzare il tuo progetto. In fine, attraverso l’ analisi finanziaria , potrai conoscere quali sono le migliori fonti di finanziamento per la tua attività e di che tipologia di capitali ha bisogno la tua impresa.

Prima di vedere nel dettaglio ogni singola fase appena descritta, è importante chiarire una caratteristica del Business Plan. Questo documento strategico non è statico, questo significa che una volta redatto non può essere accantonato e lasciato da parte.

Di solito, ogni impresa, nell’arco della sua vita, attraversa 3 fasi:

• la nascita (start-up);
• lo sviluppo;
• la maturità.

Il passaggio da una fase all’altra, in via generale, è stabilito dall’aumento dei ricavi e del numero dei dipendenti che lavorano per essa. A questi cambiamenti segue una maggiore delega dei compiti di gestione. Questi cambiamenti (auspicabili) richiedono inevitabilmente un aggiornamento del business plan.

Al più piccolo cambiamento dell’attività, deve seguire un adattamento e un aggiornamento della strategia . Per questo il Business Plan, se ben fatto, può essere definito un documento dinamico e un punto di riferimento per la gestione aziendale.

Al contrario di altri documenti, questo è un punto di riferimento anche se in continuo cambiamento, anzi, proprio perché in continuo cambiamento si rivela l’unico in grado di fornire una guida dettagliata ed efficace per il raggiungimento degli obiettivi che via via si aggiornano e modificano, al crescere dell’impresa.

Come fare un business plan nel dettaglio

Dopo aver visto sommariamente le fasi della scrittura del Business Plan, le analizziamo una a una per comprenderne meglio l’utilità e le modalità di redazione.

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Riuscire a redigere un eccellente Executive Summary è condizione indispensabile per poter fare un Business Plan efficace.

L’Executive Summary rappresenta infatti la parte più importante del Business Plan, rivestendo il ruolo di introduzione al documento stesso. Chi andrà a leggere il Business Plan della tua impresa, dall’Executive Summary dovrà essere in grado di capire il tuo progetto e farsi un’idea al riguardo.

Il suo valore risiede nel fatto che è la vetrina del tuo Business Plan, quindi il primo sguardo di un qualsiasi potenziale investitore ricadrà proprio su di lui.

L’Executive Summary può essere paragonato alla prefazione di un romanzo che, si sa, è la parte di un libro che ha il compito più difficile: riuscire a catturare l’attenzione del lettore, con l’intento di mantenere alta la curiosità e l’interesse nei confronti della storia.

Dalla prefazione dipende infatti la scelta del potenziale lettore di acquistare il libro o riporlo sullo scaffale. Allo stesso modo, un Executive Summary ben scritto può fare la differenza nella scelta di un potenziale investitore che, di fronte a un’introduzione mal strutturata, potrebbe decidere di investire i suoi soldi in un’altra attività. Presentarsi bene e presentare bene la propria impresa è di fondamentale importanza.

Illustrare nel migliore dei modi un lavoro non significa però mentire a riguardo, per far credere sia migliore di quello che è. La chiarezza è essenziale e chi legge vuole subito arrivare al dunque, senza inutili perdite di tempo.

Specificare fin da subito gli elementi più importanti del piano, gli obiettivi e i vantaggi è sicuramente la scelta migliore.

In poche pagine dovrà essere chiara l’unicità del progetto e la sua validità. Solo così otterrai un Executive Summary vincente, in grado di trasformare un potenziale investitore in un investitore convinto.

Per poter ottenere il massimo da un Executive Summary, questo dovrà:

• Comprendere le fondamenta del tuo progetto , quindi i prodotti e i servizi che hai intenzione di sviluppare e i mercati ai quali la tua impresa intende rivolgersi. La chiarezza in queste descrizioni è di fondamentale importanza, in quanto stabilisce chi è, cosa fa e in che settore lavora la tua impresa. L’ambiguità e la poca precisione rischiano di confondere e di non convincere. Inoltre, gli obiettivi stabiliti nel Business Plan dovrebbero essere concreti e raggiungibili. Prospettive utopistiche o troppo ottimiste faranno sicuramente perdere di credibilità al tuo progetto. Ad esempio, pensare di conquistare un mercato molto concorrenziale, in tempi veloci e con poche risorse è infatti sintomo di scarsa competenza e di certo non invoglierà potenziali investitori a scegliere la tua impresa.
• Fornire le spiegazioni delle variazioni dei trends (andamenti) di crescita. In particolar modo, se la tua impresa viene da mercati o periodi molto statici, in cui non ci sono state variazioni rilevanti in termini di crescita, dovrà spiegare e motivare questa situazione. Descrivere con precisione e chiarezza i cambiamenti del mercato e/o dell’azienda e illustrarne le motivazioni è molto importante.
• Evitare gli slogan . Il Business Plan può rappresentare un bglietto da visita della tua impresa, ma non è sicuramente una campagna pubblicitaria. Anche nel caso in cui pensassi che il tuo prodotto sia o possa essere il migliore del mercato, dovrai motivare questo pensiero, in maniera oggettiva e pragmatica, illustrandone le caratteristiche e i dettagli più rilevanti.
• Dare priorità alla qualità . Anche se il Business Plan può spaziare dalle 30 alle 50 cartelle (una cartella corrisponde a 30 righe di testo, per un totale che va dai 1800 ai 2000 caratteri spazi inclusi, e rappresenta un’unità di misura editoriale), l’Executive Summary non dovrebbe superare le 3 cartelle, in base alla complessità della tua impresa. Questo perchè è la prima impressione quella che conta, che da l’input maggiore per proseguire o no su una determinata strada. Non è quindi scrivendo un Executive Summary enciclopedico che otterrai l’attenzione e la fiducia del tuo potenziale investitore, piuttosto inserendo in maniera chiara, dettagliata e coincisa, tutto ciò di cui ha bisogno per sceglierti in mezzo a tanti altri competitor. Tutto ciò a cui dovrai fare attenzione nella redazione dell’Executive Summary sarà quindi di inserire affermazioni solo se supportate da dati, usare un linguaggio professionale e puntuale, controllare che i numeri presentati siano corretti e in grado di sciogliere ogni dubbio. Il testo dovrà essere redatto in maniera lineare, senza errori ortografici, grammaticali o di punteggiatura, per confermare la professionalità e la competenza della tua impresa.
• Essere redatto tenendo a mente che il potenziale investitore sa che “Non è oro tutto ciò che luccica” e che, spesso, Business Plan troppo perfetti e appariscenti vengono percepiti con diffidenza, perché potenzialmente futili e, di conseguenza, uno spreco di risorse finanziare.
• Citare fonti esterne . Per redigere il tuo Executive Summary, non dimenticarti di citare fonti attendibili e indipendenti, che vadano a rappresentare un’ulteriore conferma della validità delle affermazioni fatte nel tuo Business Plan. In particolar modo, le fonti si rivelano utili quando si fanno dichiarazioni sul proprio mercato target e sulla concorrenza, così da dare maggiore credibilità al tuo elaborato e alle previsioni che in esso riporti. In ogni caso, è da evitare un linguaggio ambiguo. Termini e frasi non chiari e netti, come “Può darsi”, “Probabilmente”, “Forse”, in campo economico e d’affari non hanno posto, sono sintomo di poca fiducia nel proprio lavoro, di poca competenza e di scarsa autorevolezza. Il potenziale investitore non sarà invogliato a scegliere la tua impresa, se non sarai in grado di proporre certezze, se non sarai tu il primo a dimostrare la validità del tuo progetto. Il tuo tono dovrà quindi sempre essere deciso e positivo.
• Essere redatto alla fine . Anche se l’Executive Summary verrà posto all’inizio del tuo Business Plan, come l’introduzione in un romanzo, se ne consiglia la stesura solo una volta ultimato tutto il documento, questo perchè solo alla fine potrai avere tutte le informazioni riguardanti il tuo progetto e una visione d’insieme più completa, concreta e consapevole. Redigere l’Executive Summary prima di aver terminato la stesura del Business Plan potrebbe portarti a scrivere informazioni incomplete o non utili. Solo alla fine potrai conoscere davvero quali sono i dettagli del tuo progetto e trascriverli nell’Executive Summary nel migliore dei modi possibili.

DESCRIZIONE DELL’IMPRESA

Se l’Executive Summary viene redatto come ultima sezione del tuo Business Plan, la descrizione dell’impresa diviene in automatico la prima parte da scrivere e riguarda proprio una spiegazione approfondita dell’attività della tua impresa.

Con questa sezione si apre la parte centrale del Business Plan, quella più corposa e concreta, che ha il fine di presentare in maniera chiara, univoca e precisa, la natura della tua impresa, il suo scopo e illustrarne le caratteristiche.

Si parte dalla mission (l’obiettivo ultimo della tua impresa, che non potrà mai essere soltanto “fare denaro”) e si passa per l’esposizione degli obiettivi (sia di lungo, medio che breve termine), dei punti di forza e di debolezza e dei fattori di successo, fino ad arrivare a informazioni più generiche, quali: la tipologia di impresa o la sua data di costituzione; i cambiamenti subiti e/o previsti della forma giuridica della società; gli attuali investitori; gli amministratori e l’intero organigramma, con tutte le figure che partecipano alla vita dell’impresa.

Questa sezione dovrà quindi spiegare la tipologia d’impresa (industriale, commerciale, al dettaglio o di servizi), il mercato di riferimento e la sua posizione all’interno di questo mercato, la sua offerta (se è locale o multinazionale) e il livello di sviluppo raggiunto ad oggi.

Inoltre, in questa sezione del Business Plan vengono spiegati gli obiettivi prefissati , che dovranno essere realistici e realizzabili, ma al tempo stesso interessanti tanto da attrare i potenziali investitori.

Per rendere più semplice la redazione di questo capitolo del Business Plan devono quindi essere presenti i seguenti punti:

• Settore in cui opera l’azienda . La descrizione dovrà includere un’introduzione generale e una parte più dettagliata in cui viene descritto in maniera più approfondita il settore d’attività. Lo stile di scrittura dovrebbe essere originale e in linea con il settore dell’impresa, così da rendere chiaro fin da subito l’ambito e l’ambiente in cui opera la tua attività.
• Obiettivi dell’impresa . Gli obiettivi dovrebbero essere specificati in maniera chiara e dovrebbero includere anche gli obiettivi finanziari e ogni tipo di dettaglio di tua conoscenza (come i ricavi, gli utili lordi e netti, il ROI -return on investment o ritorno sugli investimenti). In questo momento è essenziale specificare anche quali sono i cosiddetti KPI (key performance indicators) caratteristici della tua impresa e del settore in cui questa opera.
• I fattori critici di successo della tua impresa . Questi non rappresentano chiaramente i tuoi obiettivi in quanto imprenditore, bensì i fattori che ti permettono di raggiungerli. Questo punto dovrà includere le caratteristiche specifiche del management e dell’organizzazione aziendale, oltre che dei suoi prodotti che, nel corso del tempo, hanno contribuito o si prevede contribuiranno al successo della tua impresa.
• I successi già raggiunti e i punti di forza della tua impresa . In questa sezione spiegherai se è tuo intento continuare a capitalizzare e investire su quegli aspetti e punti di forza che in passato hanno portato successo alla tua impresa o se intendi dare il via a nuove iniziative, che siano esse complementari o alternative a quelle passate, magari basate su nuove competenze acquisite o su un utilizzo differente di quelle già possedute.
• Le difficoltà e i punti di debolezza della tua impresa . Elencare e spiegare quelli che sono le debolezze della tua attività non è mai semplice e richiede il giusto grado di oggettività e delicatezza. I punti di debolezza sono quelli che minacciano ogni giorno il successo della tua attività e per essere identificati hanno bisogno di essere monitorati costantemente, così da poter essere poi contenuti e/o eliminati. Sta all’intelligenza e all’intuito dell’imprenditore capire che non tutti i punti di debolezza possono essere eliminati, quindi dovrai essere in grado di capire quali sono le priorità per la tua impresa, quali debolezze sia meglio affrontare e superare e quali, invece, non sono altro che il risultato di un compromesso strategico che porterà a ottimi risultati. Comprendere se un obiettivo è vantaggioso, nonostante le debolezze, è possibile e di solito su utilizza il calcolo dei costi e dei benefici derivanti da una specifica scelta strategica.

DESCRIZIONE DEI PRODOTTI E DEI SERVIZI

Dopo aver effettuato una precisa e attenta disamina della tua impresa, non ti resta che elencare quelli che sono i prodotti o i servizi che offri sul mercato . In questa sezione non dovrai semplicemente descrivere i prodotti/servizi, ma dovrai anche specificare le loro caratteristiche e le prospettive per il futuro.

Indispensabile è chiarire fin da subito se questi prodotti/servizi sono già presenti sul mercato e quindi vengono commercializzati, se sono pronti per essere immessi sul mercato (in questo caso è bene indicare la data di lancio) o se sono ancora in fase di progettazione ed elaborazione (in questo caso è bene indicare il time to be market, quindi il lasso di tempo necessario affinché si possa ottenere il prodotto finito da commercializzare).

Una volta specificato questo, bisogna fare un elenco di ciò che differenzia il tuo prodotto/servizio da altri già presenti sul mercato o nella stessa categoria (ad esempio il marchio) e i vantaggio competitivi che questo prodotto è in grado di assicurare.

Per rendere più semplice la stesura di questo capitolo, è bene ricordare che la descrizione dei prodotti/servizi, per ciascuno di essi, dovrà includere:

• Le caratteristiche fisiche del prodotto (anche allegando eventuali opuscoli informativi, descrizioni più dettagliati che contengano disegni e/o fotografie di buona qualità);
• Le finalità del prodotto/servizio . Spiegare dettagliatamente come un determinato prodotto può essere impiegato renderà più semplice comprenderne l’utilità e il vero valore;
• Attrattive del prodotto/servizio , che distinguono il tuo prodotto da quello di altre imprese concorrenti;
• Evoluzione del prodotto/servizio . Raccontare tutta la storia del prodotto, i suoi step evolutivi passati e soprattutto quelli previsti in futuro renderà ancora più interessante il tuo Business Plan. In questa sezione, i dettagli rivestono un ruolo di fondamentale importanza e dovrai prendere in considerazione di rispondere ad alcune domande, in base a che il prodotto/servizio sia attuale o futuro. Se si tratta di un prodotto/servizio attuale: questo è già protetto da forme legali di difesa della proprietà intellettuale, quali brevetti, marchi registrati, etc.? In che modo si distingue dai prodotti delle imprese concorrenti? Quali sono i vantaggi che offre al cliente? Quali sono i vantaggi competitivi, i punti di debolezza, di forza e le caratteristiche del prodotto/servizio se confrontato a quelli di imprese concorrenti? Sono già prevedibili possibili obsolescenze o perdite di quote di mercato? Quali sono i dettagli di produzione ed il mix di vendita di ogni prodotto/servizio della tua impresa? Quali sono le politiche di prezzo previste, quindi quali sono i costi da sostenere per la produzione del prodotto/servizio e il margine di profitto? Come si compone il tuo attuale portafoglio clienti (sia gli utenti diretti che quelli finali)? Quali sono le componenti principali? Rispondendo a questa ultima domanda riuscirai a far capire la natura del tuo prodotto/servizio e l’eventuale collegamento con soggetti o risorse terze e possibili problemi attuali e/o futuri collegati alla fornitura di tali componenti. Il tuo prodotto potrebbe essere rivoluzionario, ma se per la sua produzione sono richieste componenti difficili da reperire è importante specificarlo all’interno del Business Plan. Quali sono inoltre i trends di vendita e di marginalità dei prodotti attualmente disponibili? Come si struttura la catena del valore della tua offerta? Rispondendo a tutte queste domande sarai in grado di fornire una visione il più possibile oggettiva e realistica dei tuoi prodotti/servizi attualmente presenti sul mercato.

Per quanto riguarda i prodotti/servizi futuri, invece, dovrai rispondere alle seguenti domande: Sono state programmate delle innovazioni? Se sì, quali sono i tempi stimati per realizzarle? E i listini? E come vengono stabilite le politiche di prezzo?

Quali sono i costi da sostenere ? Come cambierà il mix di vendita e la redditività globale? Tali innovazioni potranno cambiare in maniera sostanziale il posizionamento strategico e la catena del valore?

ANALISI DEL MERCATO (E DEI COMPETITORS)

Analizzare il mercato e il settore in cui la tua impresa intende operare non solo ti permetterà di capire come devono essere ripartite le risorse, ma ti consentirà anche di riprodurre l’ambiente all’interno del quale l’azienda deve operare.

Potrai così definirne i vantaggi competitivi, i fattori critici di successo e le minacce principali. Con una visione ampia del mercato potrai conoscere cosa ti riserva l’ambiente in cui la tua impresa opera.

Effettuare un’analisi del settore potrebbe non essere semplicissimo, per questo si consiglia la lettura del file pdf che si basa sul libro “L’analisi strategica per le decisioni aziendali”, di Grant, Il Mulino, 2011, Capitolo III “L’analisi di settore”, in quanto spiega in maniera semplice i passi da seguire, con una struttura schematica grazie al “Modello delle cinque forze competitive”, inventato dal celebre Michael Eugene Porter, professore all’università di Harvard, nella quale dirige l’Institute for Strategy and Competitiveness.

Una volta effettuata l’analisi di settore, potrai procedere con l’analisi di mercato vera e propria, che comprende l’acquisizione e l’elaborazione dei dati indispensabili per riprodurre l’ambiente in cui l’impresa opera.

L’analisi di mercato pone l’accento su quei nodi chiave quali i fattori decisionali che portano alla scelta d’acquisto di potenziali clienti e altri dettagli che si modificano in base al tempo e al budget disponibili.

La difficoltà maggiore nella stesura di un’analisi di mercato efficace, per un’impresa che si pone come obiettivo la redazione di un buon Business Plan, è accedere a dati precisi e univoci, in grado di descrivere in maniera profonda il mercato.

Per questo ti vengono in aiuto alcune guide e manuali , creati appositamente per guidarti nella conduzione e nella stesura di un’ottima analisi di mercato, quali: “La guida per la tua impresa e il tuo business plan”, “Come scrivere un’analisi di mercato per il tuo business plan”.

Per approfondire vedi anche: come fare un’analisi di mercato .

STRATEGIA DI MARKETING

Nella sezione della strategia di marketing , altro non dovrai fare che esporre tutte le linee guida che la tua impresa ha intenzione di seguire, nel medio-lungo periodo, per raggiungere gli obiettivi prefissati. Sarebbe impossibile redigere un Business Plan senza tenere in considerazione quelle che sono le linee guida da rispettare per ottenere quanto prefissato.

Per stabilire quelle che saranno le strategie necessarie al raggiungimento degli obiettivi della tua impresa, dovrai tenere in considerazione quanto scritto in precedenza, quindi le analisi di settore e di mercato (per questo è importante che siano redatte con precisione e affidarsi a delle guide utili e professionali).

Con questi dati a disposizione potrai quindi definire le leve del Marketing Mix, conosciute anche come le 4P (Product, Place, Price, Promotion, quindi il prodotto, il suo canale di vendita, il suo prezzo e le attività promozionali).

PRODOTTO : quando parlerai del prodotto/servizio, non dovrai farne semplicemente una descrizione fisica e concreta, ma dovrai includere anche i vantaggi immateriali che questo prodotto/servizio offre al cliente, inoltre dovrai specificare la linea di appartenenza, se è presente un servizio di assistenza post vendita, una garanzia, etc; PREZZO : per stabilire il prezzo al quale il tuo prodotto/servizio viene venduto, dovrai tenere in considerazione i costi aziendali (fissi e variabili), ma anche i prezzi praticati dai tuoi competitor, le politiche di prezzo, eventuali sconti, e in fine tempi e modalità in cui verrà effettuato il pagamento; PUNTO DI VENDITA/DISTRIBUZIONE : in questa sezione dovrai specificare le modalità in cui il tuo prodotto/servizio viene distribuito, se sono presenti punti vendita diretti, se invece sono previsti intermediari (ad esempio dei grossisti), se è possibile la distribuzione online e se questa è già presente. Se è già presente, attraverso quali canali avviene. PROMOZIONE : ogni prodotto ha bisogno della giusta dose di promozione per entrare in un mercato e diventarne protagonista, per questo è importante stabilire un’ottima strategia promozionale, che permetta al cliente di capire il reale valore del tuo prodotto e di sentirne il bisogno. In questa sezione dovranno quindi essere racchiuse tutte quelle attività di pubblicità, comunicazione e pubbliche relazioni che hanno come obiettivo quello di avvicinare il tuo prodotto/servizio al mercato, ma anche e soprattutto di far avvicinare il mercato al tuo prodotto.

Una volta stabilite e programmate le 4P del marketing mix sarà possibile fissare quali saranno le attività di marketing concrete sulle quali concentrare la tua impresa. Queste attività verranno poi raccolte in quello che viene definito Piano di Marketing.

Per approfondire vedi anche: piano marketing .

STRUTTURA ORGANIZZATIVA

Descrivere e impostare una struttura organizzativa efficiente è di fondamentale importanza se si vogliono ottenere dei buoni risultati dall’attività della propria impresa.

Non importa infatti il settore in cui operi, quanto questo sia grande, quanto grande sia la tua azienda, a fare la differenza sono sempre le persone che lavorano al suo interno.

Potresti avere la migliore idea di business e redigere un Business Plan perfetto, ma se l’attività non verrà amministrata da manager all’altezza non potrà che rivelarsi fallimentare.

Allo stesso modo, la presenza di un management preparato e ben organizzato è importante anche per dare un’immagine dell’azienda solida e di valore, in grado di invogliare i potenziali investitori a sceglierti. Spesso, infatti, questi valutano le proposte di prodotti e le idee innovative, ma la scelta definitiva viene presa tenendo in considerazione anche le qualità e le capacità del team preposto a svilupparle.

Un team in grado di garantire interrelazioni efficienti per il raggiungimento degli obiettivi prefissati dovrebbe possedere alcuni requisiti, quali:

• uno scopo comune e una visione unica all’obiettivo prefissato;
• il numero, la tipologia e le caratteristiche di ciascun membro devono essere adeguate, quindi funzionali all’obiettivo;
• i compiti e le competenze devono essere definiti in maniera chiara e precisa e i membri del management devono essere organizzati gerarchicamente e avere una norma chiave alla quale attenersi nei rapporti.

Proprio perché in questa sezione si tratta di qualità personali, è importante che venga scritta con attenzione. La stesura di questo capitolo può essere suddivisa in 3 fasi, che sono: l’identificazione delle funzioni dei membri della struttura organizzativa; l’identificazione delle caratteristiche e delle competenze di ogni singolo membro; la presentazione di ciascun membro.

Definire in maniera chiara l’organizzazione e la struttura del management permette di individuare le funzioni e le responsabilità dei vari collaboratori . Per questo quindi verranno inseriti tutti i membri della struttura organizzativa con i relativi CV, che permetteranno di individuare la persona giusta per ogni ruolo da ricoprire.

Identificare le funzioni aziendali, in base all’attività che vuoi svolgere, è il primo passo da compiere e prevede di prendere in considerazione diverse fasi, ad esempio:

La produzione : questa fase mira a individuare la tecnologia più adatta a produrre il prodotto/servizio scelto e a controllare che tutte le procedure da attuare durante i processi di lavorazione siano svolte nella maniera più efficiente;

L’approvvigionamento : in questo ambito si garantisce che le materie prime vengano acquistate in sicurezza, in modo da assicurare tutto il necessario alla produzione, costituendo scorte e stabilendo i tempi necessari all’acquisto;

Marketing : il marketing riassume le strategie che l’impresa attua e collega inevitabilmente il prodotto/servizio della tua impresa al mercato, rappresenta quindi il trait d’union tra la tua impresa e il mercato, individuando le opportunità che questo offre e studiando e applicando le azioni necessarie al raggiungimento del tuo obiettivo;

Vendita : questa fase non include semplicemente l’aspetto commerciale e di distribuzione, ma coinvolge anche tutta l’assistenza che l’impresa offre al cliente nella fase post-vendita. I servizi offerti in seguito all’acquisto del tuo prodotto/servizio al tuo cliente svolgono oggi un ruolo molto importante nella fidelizzazione dello stesso;

Ricerca e sviluppo : in questa area si vogliono svolgere quelle azioni di ricerca e studio necessarie a mantenere e aumentare il vantaggio competitivo della tua impresa, individuando periodicamente e in maniera continuativa nuovi processi di roduzione e nuovi prodotti.

Questa suddivisione in sezioni e ambiti può essere fatta per qualsiasi altra area della tua impresa e, anzi, dovrebbe essere fatta, proprio per non lasciare che alcuni aspetti della tua azienda restino disorganizzati.

La seconda fase prevede invece l’individuazione delle caratteristiche e delle competenze di ogni singola funzione, spiegandone il motivo e di conseguenza rendendo così chiari i criteri di selezione del management. Si può specificare la possibilità di un ampliamento dell’organico in futuro, chiarendone le motivazioni.

Nel caso in cui la struttura della tua impresa fosse molto complessa, potresti pensare di presentare un organigramma che chiarisca la sua organizzazione.

Non resta che la terza fase, quindi la presentazione delle persone. In questa sezione si rivela molto utile una presentazione dei curriculum dei componenti principali del management e della loro proprietà di titoli di studio, specializzazioni, esperienze (inclusi incarichi precedentemente ricoperti).

In questo capitolo è importante indicare quelli che sono i successi dei propri membri della struttura organizzativa, ancora di più se significativi per l’attività svolta dalla tua impresa. Dilungarsi in presentazioni dettagliate e precise a volte è necessario, ma si consiglia di inserirle in un’apposita appendice al Business Plan.

Il fine di questo capitolo resta comunque quello di risaltare le esperienze e le competenze utili a limitare il rischio che ogni attività d’impresa corre (soprattutto se la tua impresa è una start-up o comunque una società in rapido sviluppo) sacrificando magari parti di curriculum ugualmente prestigiose, ma non inerenti alla tua attività d’impresa o al ruolo che dovranno ricoprire all’interno della tua azienda.

IL PIANO OPERATIVO

Il piano operativo o piano di realizzazione è una sezione apposita del Business Plan, nella quale vengono espressi nel dettaglio sistemi e modalità per la realizzazione dei tuoi prodotti o la fornitura dei tuoi servizi.

Questo è il punto in cui definirai il modo in cui avviene il passaggio dalla teoria alla pratica, come la tua idea di impresa potrà concretizzarsi ed entrare a far parte del mercato a tutti gli effetti e in maniera proficua. In questa sezione, devi cogliere l’occasione di dimostrare le tue competenze da imprenditore di portare la tua idea e la tua vision alla loro realizzazione effettiva.

Il piano operativo considera tutti quei processi che si definiscono a breve termine (solitamente processi che si svolgono nell’arco di una giornata lavorativa) e quegli obiettivi generali, le “pietre miliari”, a cui punti nel medio e nel lungo periodo, che saranno impostate come benchmark (li abbiamo visti all’inizio, punti di riferimento), così da poter verificare a mano a mano il successo della tua idea di business e della sua realizzazione.

In questa sezione è fondamentale far capire di possedere le competenze necessarie ad affrontare tutti i problemi che potrebbero presentarsi nel corso della produzione, per questo è importante descrivere dettagliatamente tutte le difficoltà a cui puoi andare in contro con la tua attività di impresa e proporre soluzioni fattibili, utili a risolvere e superare queste criticità.

Questo lavoro solitamente viene fatto relativamente a:

• Organizzazione del lavoro
• Organizzazione del capitale investito nella produzione
• Organizzazione per gli approvigionamenti di materie prime
• Tecniche di produzione e di fornitura scelte
• Politiche poste in essere con la forza vendita
• Politiche poste in essere con i fornitori

Anche in questo capitolo dovrai essere il più chiaro possibile e dovrai rendere chiari quali sono i legami logici tra la tua idea e la sua realizzazione. Descrizioni accurate sono importanti, ma senza cadere troppo nei tecnicismi.

Il Business Plan è un documento di supporto alla strategia e alla gestione della tua impresa e non un manuale di produzione, questo va ricordato, soprattutto nell’ottica in cui il tuo Business Plan sarà letto da potenziali investitori, interessati al successo della tua impresa e non a tecnicismi vari.

Le informazioni di questa sezione, sopra elencate, possono essere ordinate ed esposte tenendo in considerazione 4 punti chiave :

• Lo sviluppo del prodotto , che includerà un riassunto esplicativo delle politiche di ricerca e di sviluppo;
• La produzione del prodotto , una sezione che si concentra sulle risorse e sui processi che permettono di ottenere il risultato finale, prodotto o servizio che sia;
• L’assistenza post-vendita , quindi tutta quella serie di azioni e servizi offerti per supportare l’acquisto e fidelizzare il cliente, ormai divenuta il vero discriminante della competitività in molti settori;
• I fattori di influenza esterni , che possono variare di molto da settore a settore. Nonostante questo, una stima dei fattori esterni in grado di influenzare e modificare la tua attività di produzione, di approvvigionamento o di promozione, risulta imprescindibile.

Per ognuno di questi punti sono previste delle informazioni essenziali, che vedremo nel dettaglio.

SVILUPPO DEL PRODOTTO

Descrivere lo sviluppo del prodotto è utile a spiegare il perché di alcune scelte strategiche. Le politiche di ricerca e sviluppo possono variare moltissimo in base al settore di appartenenza e alle caratteristiche della tua impresa.

Più questa sarà incentrata sullo sviluppo tecnologico , più si rivelerà necessario essere dettagliati nell’esposizione degli aspetti collegati alla ricerca e allo sviluppo.

Ci sono alcuni aspetti pratici da considerare nella redazione di questo capitolo del Business Plan, quali: il grado di fattibilità (bisogna verificare e ancora meglio misurare e documentare il gap, quindi la distanza concreta, che separa la tua idea dalla sua realizzazione pratica); i limiti di linguaggio (va ricordato che il Business Plan è un documento strategico, per questo è meglio inserire i prospetti, i progetti e le informazioni più tecniche in un’apposita appendice); i curriculum (può capitare che una descrizione ben fatta delle competenze dei ricercatori sia più importante della ricerca stessa.

Infatti, una struttura organizzativa di qualità è spesso sintomo di efficienza e capacità , che spesso sono più significativi di molte spiegazioni).

Per quanto riguarda la produzione , si devono tenere in considerazione alcune cose, per la stesura di una descrizione delle risorse in tuo possesso e dei processi che hai intenzione di attuare all’interno della tua attività produttiva:

• Previsioni dei flussi di cassa , (questa previsione dovrebbe essere il più precisa possibile, così da poter verificare fin da subito la capacità dell’impresa di pagare o meno le risorse di cui necessita ogni mese);
• Previsione di possibili ampliamenti (tale previsione permette di capire se sono possibili aumenti delle risorse finanziare e se è possibile scalare ed elevare il proprio modello di business).

ASSISTENZA POST-VENDITA

Nei mercati odierni, in qui la competitività cresce di giorno in giorno, il servizio che l’impresa offre al cliente, anche e soprattutto dopo la vendita del prodotto, riveste un ruolo di grande importanza, in grado di fare la differenza nella scelta di acquisto.

Dedicare quindi la giusta cura a questo servizio offerto potrebbe rivelarsi una decisione vincente in un’ottica di miglioramento dell’immagine aziendale.

Per quanto riguarda l’assistenza post-vendita è importante tenere in considerazione determinati aspetti:

• Scegliere se internalizzare o esternalizzare . Esternalizzare questa attività di assistenza potrebbe essere vantaggioso, ma la scelta va in ogni caso spiegata e giustificata. Potrebbe essere utile per una start-up che, in questo modo, potrebbe offrire un servizio a un prezzo competitivo e allo stesso tempo potrebbe beneficiare della fama, dell’immagine e della credibilità dell’azienda terza alla quale decide di affidarsi per l’assistenza al cliente.
• Fidelizzazione . Seguire il cliente anche dopo la vendita del prodotto/servizio rappresenta un punto chiave per creare una comunità di clienti fedeli che, di conseguenza, potrebbero divenire promotori essi stessi del tuo prodotto/servizio o brand. In questo modo il ritorno sarà quindi duplice.

FATTORI DI INFLUENZA ESTERNI

In questa sezione dovrai far luce sulle eventuali influenze derivanti dal mercato che possono portare a modifiche in diverse aree:

• Le risorse produttive, quindi i costi di materie prime e della manodopera;
• I clienti, per i cambiamenti delle abitudini di consumo o dei bisogni stessi del cliente;
• Le innovazioni tecnologiche, le novità informatiche possono influenzare molto la tua attività;
• La normativa vigente, anche questo aspetto ha forti ripercussioni sulla tua attività d’impresa.

Per ognuno di questi fattori dovrai indicare i rischi, le opportunità e gli effetti, oltre alle strategie da adottare in risposta a questi cambiamenti.

PIANO ECONOMICO FINANZIARIO

Il capitolo dedicato all’ analisi finanziaria è sicuramente uno dei punti più critici nella stesura di un Business Plan. Per rendere più semplice, quindi, la redazione di questa sezione, si può cercare di rispondere a una serie di domande:

Qual è il costo reale da sostenere per la realizzazione dell’impresa descritta nel Business Plan? Per sostenere questo costo mi auto-finanzio o cerco altre fonti di finanziamento?

In quanto tempo otterrò il finanziamento e in quanto tempo riuscirò a pagare i finanziatori? Come sono strutturati i piani di ammortamento dei beni immobili e dei macchinari? A quanto ammontano?

Come verranno pagati i fornitori dell’azienda e con quale modalità? I nostri clienti principali come pagheranno? Con quale tempistica?

Compilare questa parte del Business Plan richiede delle competenze particolari, perché anche se si tratta di domande semplici, le risposte a queste dovrebbero essere il più accurate possibile. Proprio per questo, spesso, ci si affida a dei consulenti specializzati.

Per approfondire vedi anche: il piano economico e finanziario .

Questo capitolo influirà molto, inoltre, sulla scelta del potenziale investitore, perché mette in mostra le tue reali capacità di far funzionare la tua idea e di raggiungere il tuo obiettivo.

L’analisi finanziaria però non ti aiuterà soltanto a trovare finanziatori , ma anche a farti comprendere se hai abbastanza risorse finanziare per coprire tutte le spese necessarie ad avviare la tua attività.

Una volta compreso come fare un Business Plan, non ti resta che metterti all’opera per redigere questo documento strategico di supporto per la tua attività di impresa.

Per fare ciò oggi sono disponibili anche degli specifici software, come il software Business Plan 2021 , che ti permettono di organizzare il tuo lavoro in modo professionale e semplice.

VUOI RISPARMIARE TEMPO PER IL TUO BUSINESS PLAN?

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Funding ready business plan, executive summary, company overview.

Problem Statement

Business Description

Mission Statement

Business Model

Products and Services

Additional Features

Revenue Model

Market Analysis

Target Market

Market Size and Segments

Unique Value Proposition

Risks and Mitigations

Identified Risks

Mitigation Strategies

Financial Overview

Income Statement

Marketing and Sales Plan

Focus On Your Vision

Language support.

Key Features & Benefits

Ai editing companion.

Modify and regenerate sections of your business plan using premade or custom prompts. Our AI will help you refine your plan to perfection.

Multi-User Collaboration

Invite team members with easy sharing to collaborate on your business plan in real-time. Communicate and make changes together. Collaborate with your partners in real-time as you perfect your plan.

Education Center

Immerse yourself in a rich library of articles, tools, templates, webinars and resources for continuous business and professional growth. Learn all about the key aspects of starting, running and growing a business.

Powered by Chat GPT

Our algorithms are powered the latest in AI technology to ensure the most accurate and relevant output. We use OpenAI's GPT 4 and 3.5 engines for the perfect blend of accuracy and speed.

Business Resources

We recommend a variety of useful tools and resurces that help sustain your growth. We only recommend the best in the business. Filter your needs and equip yourself with the best tools.

Your plan in your language. We offer a choice of over 150 worldwide languages to ensure the best fit for your business plan.

Financial Projections

Take an additional questionnaire about your financial trajectory and get a detailed financial projection + 3 year income statement for your business.

Tools and Templates

Plannit's comprehensive suite that accompany business planning. From pitch decks to financial models, we have you covered.

Plan Export

Download your business plan in an editable .docx format. Fully edit & share your plan with investors, partners, and stakeholders.

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PLANNIT BUSINESS ECOSYSTEM

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

• Initiate with Your Business Concept: Lay the Groundwork: Start by introducing your business idea into Plannit AI's Business Plan Generator. This first step is crucial, as it sets the tone for a tailored, insightful business plan that truly resonates with your vision. Capture the Essence: Our platform is designed to grasp the nuances of your concept, ensuring that the generated plan accurately reflects the core and potential of your business.
• Navigate Through the AI-Guided Questionnaire: Tailored Interactive Experience: Plannit AI’s AI-guided questionnaire is your interactive guide through the planning process. It meticulously gathers information about your business's objectives, strategies, and market positioning, ensuring a comprehensive and reflective plan. Intelligent Feedback and Suggestions: As you progress through the questionnaire, benefit from smart prompts and suggestions, ensuring that your plan is not just detailed but also strategically sound and aligned with industry standards.
• Generate Your Plan with Advanced AI: Intuitive Plan Creation: With the questionnaire complete, Plannit AI's advanced algorithms intelligently analyze your responses. They then craft a detailed, customizable, and strategically aligned business plan, providing you with a structured, coherent, and actionable format. Benefit from AI-Powered Insights: Plannit AI offers AI-driven insights and suggestions, ensuring your plan is not just a document but a strategic tool equipped with tailored AI prompts and an in-app plan editor. Get inspired by browsing through our sample business plans, a collection of successful strategies across various industries.
• Finalize Your Plan with Confidence: Dynamic Adaptation and Refinement: Plannit AI recognizes that a business plan is a living document. Our platform allows for continuous adaptation and refinement, ensuring your strategy remains agile, relevant, and aligned with your evolving business goals. Professional Presentation and Sharing: Once your plan meets your standards, utilize Plannit AI's export features to present your plan professionally. Choose between various formats for exporting your business plan, ready to impress stakeholders, attract investors, or guide your team. Review and Adapt: Ensure your business plan is a living document, ready to evolve with your growing business. Plannit AI's dynamic platform allows you to adapt your strategy as new opportunities or challenges arise.
• Roadmap for Success: At its core, a business plan acts as a strategic guide, providing detailed steps on how your business will achieve its objectives. It helps you navigate the startup phase, manage growth effectively, and tackle unforeseen challenges with a well-thought-out strategy.
• Securing Funding: For startups and businesses looking to expand, a business plan is crucial for securing loans or attracting investors. It demonstrates to potential financial backers that your business has a clear vision, a solid strategy for profitability, and a plan for delivering returns on their investment.
• Informed Decision-Making: A well-prepared business plan offers valuable insights into your market, competition, and potential challenges. This information is vital for making informed decisions, from day-to-day operations to long-term strategic shifts.
• Market Analysis and Strategy: It allows you to conduct an in-depth analysis of your target market, understand customer needs, and position your product or service effectively. The marketing strategy outlined in your business plan helps in identifying the best channels and tactics to reach your audience and achieve market penetration.
• Financial Planning: One of the most critical components of a business plan is the financial forecast. It outlines your funding requirements, expected revenue, profit margins, and cash flow projections. This section is essential for budgeting, financial management, and ensuring the financial viability of your business.
• Goal Setting and Performance Measurement: A business plan sets clear, measurable goals and objectives. It provides a framework for monitoring performance, measuring success, and making necessary adjustments to stay on track.
• Aspiring Entrepreneurs: If you're at the idea stage, looking to transform your vision into a viable business, Plannit AI offers the tools and guidance to bring your concept to life. Our platform helps you articulate your business idea, define your target market, and develop a solid plan to turn your dream into reality.
• Students and Educators: For students delving into the intricacies of business planning and educators teaching the fundamentals of entrepreneurship, Plannit AI serves as an invaluable resource. It provides a practical, hands-on tool for learning and teaching how to create detailed business plans, analyze markets, and understand financials in a real-world context.
• Startup Founders: In the dynamic startup environment, Plannit AI is the ideal partner for founders looking to pivot quickly, secure funding, or understand their competitive landscape. With our AI-driven insights and market analysis tools, startups can make informed decisions and adapt their strategies to thrive in competitive markets.
• Small Business Owners: For small business owners seeking to optimize their operations, expand their customer base, or explore new markets, Plannit AI offers targeted solutions. Our platform simplifies the planning process, enabling owners to focus on growth while managing the day-to-day challenges of running their business.
• Consultants and Freelancers: Consultants and freelancers specializing in business development, strategic planning, or financial advising will find Plannit AI a powerful addition to their toolkit. It allows them to provide clients with comprehensive, data-driven business plans and strategies, enhancing the value of their services.
• Non-Profit Organizations: Leaders of non-profit organizations can leverage Plannit AI to plan initiatives, secure funding, and manage resources more efficiently. Our platform helps non-profits articulate their mission, set achievable goals, and measure their impact, ensuring they can make a difference in their communities.
• Innovators and Inventors: Individuals looking to commercialize innovative products or technologies can use Plannit AI to navigate the complexities of bringing new ideas to market. From patent strategies to go-to-market plans, our platform covers all bases, ensuring innovators can focus on what they do best.
• Small Business Development Centers (SBDCs) and Government Agencies: Government and SBA backed entities can greatly benefit from integrating Plannit AI into their services, enhancing their ability to support a larger number of clients more efficiently. By facilitating quicker, more in-depth business plan development, these organizations can spend more time assisting with plan execution and less time on creation, ultimately serving their communities more effectively.
• Anyone with a Business Idea: Ultimately, Plannit AI is for anyone with a business idea, regardless of industry, experience, or stage of business development. Our mission is to democratize business planning, making it accessible, understandable, and actionable for everyone.
• Interactive Questionnaire and ChatGPT Integration: Plannit AI transforms the business planning process into an engaging conversation. Through our advanced ChatGPT integration, we offer a questionnaire that dynamically adapts to your responses, ensuring your plan is personalized, comprehensive, and aligned with your business goals.
• Dynamic Planning Environment: Unlike static templates provided by many, Plannit AI introduces a living platform that grows with your business. It features real-time updates, strategic insights, and a feedback mechanism that keeps your business plan current and actionable.
• Extensive Educational Resources: Our Education Center is packed with articles, guides, and sample plans to bolster your planning process. It's designed to arm you with the knowledge to navigate the complexities of your industry confidently.
• Enhanced Collaboration and Customization: Recognizing the collaborative essence of business planning, Plannit AI supports team efforts with multi-user editing, annotations, and feedback features, ensuring a comprehensive approach to your strategy.
• Customer Success Stories: Our users' achievements are a testament to Plannit AI's effectiveness. These success stories illustrate how diverse businesses have utilized our platform for strategic planning and growth.
• Tailored Business Plan Creation: Our platform stands out with its tailored approach, featuring customizable templates that directly cater to your business type and industry, making plan creation straightforward and relevant.
• Content Generation:: ChatGPT helps draft various sections of a business plan, from executive summaries to marketing strategies, by providing structured and coherent text based on the prompts given.
• Strategic Insights: It can offer suggestions on business strategies by analyzing trends and providing examples from a wide range of industries.
• Financial Planning: While it can't replace professional financial advice, ChatGPT can guide the structure of financial projections and statements, helping you consider important financial aspects of your plan.

Take The First Step Towards Success

Small Business Trends

How to create a business plan: examples & free template.

Whether you’re a seasoned entrepreneur or launching your very first startup, the guide will give you the insights, tools, and confidence you need to create a solid foundation for your business.

Table of Contents

How to Write a Business Plan

Executive summary.

It’s crucial to include a clear mission statement, a brief description of your primary products or services, an overview of your target market, and key financial projections or achievements.

Our target market includes environmentally conscious consumers and businesses seeking to reduce their carbon footprint. We project a 200% increase in revenue within the first three years of operation.

Overview and Business Objectives

Example: EcoTech’s primary objective is to become a market leader in sustainable technology products within the next five years. Our key objectives include:

Company Description

Example: EcoTech is committed to developing cutting-edge sustainable technology products that benefit both the environment and our customers. Our unique combination of innovative solutions and eco-friendly design sets us apart from the competition. We envision a future where technology and sustainability go hand in hand, leading to a greener planet.

Define Your Target Market

Market analysis.

The Market Analysis section requires thorough research and a keen understanding of the industry. It involves examining the current trends within your industry, understanding the needs and preferences of your customers, and analyzing the strengths and weaknesses of your competitors.

Our research indicates a gap in the market for high-quality, innovative eco-friendly technology products that cater to both individual and business clients.

SWOT Analysis

Including a SWOT analysis demonstrates to stakeholders that you have a balanced and realistic understanding of your business in its operational context.

Competitive Analysis

Organization and management team.

Provide an overview of your company’s organizational structure, including key roles and responsibilities. Introduce your management team, highlighting their expertise and experience to demonstrate that your team is capable of executing the business plan successfully.

Products and Services Offered

This section should emphasize the value you provide to customers, demonstrating that your business has a deep understanding of customer needs and is well-positioned to deliver innovative solutions that address those needs and set your company apart from competitors.

Marketing and Sales Strategy

Discuss how these marketing and sales efforts will work together to attract and retain customers, generate leads, and ultimately contribute to achieving your business’s revenue goals.

Logistics and Operations Plan

Inventory control is another crucial aspect, where you explain strategies for inventory management to ensure efficiency and reduce wastage. The section should also describe your production processes, emphasizing scalability and adaptability to meet changing market demands.

We also prioritize efficient distribution through various channels, including online platforms and retail partners, to deliver products to our customers in a timely manner.

Financial Projections Plan

This forward-looking financial plan is crucial for demonstrating that you have a firm grasp of the financial nuances of your business and are prepared to manage its financial health effectively.

Income Statement

Cash flow statement.

A cash flow statement is a crucial part of a financial business plan that shows the inflows and outflows of cash within your business. It helps you monitor your company’s liquidity, ensuring you have enough cash on hand to cover operating expenses, pay debts, and invest in growth opportunities.

Tips on Writing a Business Plan

4. Focus on your unique selling proposition (USP): Clearly articulate what sets your business apart from the competition. Emphasize your USP throughout your business plan to showcase your company’s value and potential for success.

FREE Business Plan Template

To help you get started on your business plan, we have created a template that includes all the essential components discussed in the “How to Write a Business Plan” section. This easy-to-use template will guide you through each step of the process, ensuring you don’t miss any critical details.

What is a Business Plan?

Why you should write a business plan.

Understanding the importance of a business plan in today’s competitive environment is crucial for entrepreneurs and business owners. Here are five compelling reasons to write a business plan:

What are the Different Types of Business Plans?

Using Business Plan Software

Upmetrics provides a simple and intuitive platform for creating a well-structured business plan. It features customizable templates, financial forecasting tools, and collaboration capabilities, allowing you to work with team members and advisors. Upmetrics also offers a library of resources to guide you through the business planning process.

Business Plan FAQs

What is a good business plan.

A good business plan is a well-researched, clear, and concise document that outlines a company’s goals, strategies, target market, competitive advantages, and financial projections. It should be adaptable to change and provide a roadmap for achieving success.

What are the 3 main purposes of a business plan?

Can i write a business plan by myself, is it possible to create a one-page business plan.

Yes, a one-page business plan is a condensed version that highlights the most essential elements, including the company’s mission, target market, unique selling proposition, and financial goals.

How long should a business plan be?

What is a business plan outline, what are the 5 most common business plan mistakes, what questions should be asked in a business plan.

A business plan should address questions such as: What problem does the business solve? Who is the specific target market ? What is the unique selling proposition? What are the company’s objectives? How will it achieve those objectives?

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

How is business planning for a nonprofit different.

COME FARE UN BUSINESS PLAN DA SOLI

da Stefano Ventura | Set 9, 2023 | 0 commenti

Sei un imprenditore alle prime armi o un veterano in cerca di una svolta? Hai un’idea di business brillante ma ti trovi bloccato di fronte alla realizzazione del tuo business plan ?

Bene, sei nel posto giusto. Questo articolo ti guiderà passo dopo passo su come fare un business plan da soli , eliminando la necessità di consulenti costosi e ore di ricerche infinite.

Condivideremo con te strumenti e strategie che possono semplificare enormemente il processo .

Inizieremo con la parte descrittiva del business plan, che è il tuo punto di partenza ideale e ti consiglieremo di utilizzare modelli specifici realizzati da professionisti del settore , come quelli offerti da Bsness.com .

Successivamente, affronteremo la sezione più tecnica e complessa: il piano economico e finanziario . Ti mostreremo come un software business plan dedicato può fare gran parte del lavoro pesante al posto tuo, consentendoti di concentrarti su ciò che conta veramente: la tua idea di business.

Che tu stia cercando finanziamenti , nuovi soci , o semplicemente pianificare la crescita della tua attività, un business plan solido è la tua carta vincente. Quindi, preparati a prendere appunti e inizia il viaggio verso la realizzazione del business dei tuoi sogni.

Se ti stai chiedendo “come fare un business plan da soli”, questa guida è la risposta che cercavi .

Continua a leggere per scoprire come portare la tua idea di business dal concept alla realtà.

Contenuti dell'articolo

PRIMO PASSO: FARE DA SOLI LA PARTE DESCRITTIVA DEL BUSINESS PLAN

Realizzare un business plan efficace e convincente è un’operazione cruciale per ogni imprenditore che voglia avere successo. Spesso si pensa che il cuore del business plan sia il piano economico e finanziario, ma in realtà, ogni business plan che si rispetti deve partire da una solida base descrittiva .

Questa parte è fondamentale per fornire un quadro completo dell’impresa, del mercato di riferimento, della strategia e dei fattori critici che incideranno sul successo dell’attività.

La parte descrittiva del business plan include vari elementi chiave:

• executive summary : una sintesi del progetto imprenditoriale , dei suoi punti di forza e delle prospettive economiche.
• analisi di mercato: un’analisi dettagliata del mercato di riferimento , dei concorrenti e dei potenziali clienti.
• piano di marketing : le strategie di marketing e vendita, compresi i canali di distribuzione e il posizionamento del prodotto o servizio.
• analisi delle risorse umane : un’analisi del team, delle competenze e delle risorse necessarie.
• analisi della concorrenza: una valutazione dei principali concorrenti e dei loro punti di forza e debolezza.
• prodotti e servizi: descrizione dettagliata dei prodotti o servizi offerti .
• piano operativo: un piano delle operazioni quotidiane dell’impresa.
• aspetti legali e ambientali: descrizione di eventuali vincoli normativi e dell’impatto ambientale dell’attività.

L’importanza di utilizzare modelli specifici

Per chi è alle prime armi o anche per chi ha esperienza ma vuole risparmiare tempo e ridurre gli errori, utilizzare un modello predefinito per la parte descrittiva del business plan è altamente consigliabile.

Modelli specifici realizzati da professionisti del settore, come quelli offerti da Bsness.com , offrono una struttura già collaudata e completa, che segue le normative e le esigenze del mercato italiano.

Ogni modello è stato creato per rispondere a necessità specifiche e presenta sezioni già predisposte come l’executive summary, il piano di marketing, l’analisi delle risorse umane e così via. Ciò consente di concentrarsi sul contenuto , più che sulla forma, e di poter lavorare con maggiore efficacia e precisione.

Passaggio alla parte numerica

Una volta completata la parte descrittiva, avrai una base solida per affrontare il più complesso piano economico e finanziario . Molte delle informazioni descrittive serviranno infatti a popolare le tabelle e i calcoli della parte numerica del tuo business plan.

Nel prossimo capitolo, ci concentreremo su come trasferire efficacemente queste informazioni nella sezione economica e finanziaria del business plan, garantendo coerenza e affidabilità ai dati presentati.

In conclusione, la parte descrittiva non è solo un’introduzione , ma il fondamento su cui costruire tutto il resto del tuo business plan. Prenditi il tempo per farla bene e, se possibile, utilizza strumenti professionali come i modelli offerti da bsness.com per garantire un lavoro di alta qualità fin dall’inizio.

CONSIGLI CHIAVE PER LA REDAZIONE DEL BUSINESS PLAN

Prima di immergersi nella complessa ma gratificante attività di redazione del business plan, è fondamentale avere chiare alcune linee guida. Ecco alcuni consigli chiave da tenere a mente durante il processo.

Definisci l’obiettivo del business plan

Prima di tutto, è fondamentale capire quale sia l’obiettivo principale per cui stai redigendo il business plan. Vuoi ottenere un finanziamento ? Stai cercando nuovi soci o investitori? Oppure vuoi avere una roadmap chiara per guidare il tuo business?

Ognuno di questi scenari richiederà un focus leggermente diverso.

Identifica i destinatari del business plan

Sapere a chi è destinato il business plan ti aiuterà a concentrarti sugli aspetti più rilevanti. Ad esempio, se il tuo obiettivo è ottenere un finanziamento, gli istituti di credito saranno particolarmente interessati al piano economico e finanziario e agli indici di bancabilità. Se, invece, stai cercando di attirare investitori , l’accento potrebbe essere posto sulla scalabilità del business e sulle prospettive di crescita.

Sii realistico ma ottimista

Il tuo business plan deve essere una rappresentazione realistica del mercato e del tuo business. Tuttavia, ciò non significa che non puoi essere ottimista. Il trucco sta nel trovare il giusto equilibrio tra un’analisi onesta dei potenziali rischi e una visione ottimistica delle opportunità.

Sii dettagliato ma conciso

Fornire dettagli è importante, ma un business plan non dovrebbe mai diventare un romanzo. L’obiettivo è comunicare le informazioni più importanti nel modo più efficace possibile. Ricorda, i destinatari del tuo business plan sono spesso persone con poco tempo a disposizione.

Utilizza strumenti professionali

Se vuoi fare un business plan da solo, l’uso di modelli professionali come quelli offerti da bsness.com può fare la differenza tra un business plan fatto in modo amatoriale e uno che impressiona per la sua completezza e precisione.

Rileggi, correggi e fai rileggere

Una volta completato il business plan, rileggilo più volte per assicurarti che sia privo di errori e che fluisca in modo logico. Fai anche in modo che persone di fiducia lo leggano per avere un feedback esterno .

Ricorda, la redazione del business plan è un processo iterativo. Non aver paura di fare revisioni e aggiustamenti lungo il percorso.

Con questi consigli in mente, sarai ben preparato per affrontare la redazione del tuo business plan, garantendo una base solida su cui costruire il tuo futuro imprenditoriale.

Nel prossimo capitolo, affronteremo il delicato tema del piano economico e finanziario, aiutandoti a navigare attraverso le sue complessità.

COME FARE DA SOLI IL PIANO ECONOMICO E FINANZIARIO

Il piano economico e finanziario è spesso visto come la parte più complessa di un business plan.

Richiede non solo una profonda comprensione del proprio business, ma anche competenze in contabilità, finanza e analisi di mercato.

Se l’idea di creare proiezioni finanziarie e calcolare indici ti sembra scoraggiante, non temere: la tecnologia viene in tuo aiuto.

Perché è necessario un software

Con la complessità e la precisione richieste, fare tutto manualmente potrebbe diventare un incubo. Ecco dove un software di business planning diventa indispensabile.

Un software professionale come quelli offerti da bsness.com svolge gran parte del lavoro tecnico al posto tuo, semplificando tutte le operazioni e rendendo il processo molto più maneggevole.

Funzioni chiave di un buon software

• inserimento dati facilitato: puoi semplicemente verificare e modificare i dati già immessi nei modelli, come prezzi di vendita, percentuali di ricarico, numero di dipendenti per mansione, investimenti iniziali e costi fissi.
• calcolo automatico: il software calcola automaticamente i volumi di acquisto e vendita, il fatturato, i costi e tutti i flussi di cassa su base mensile. Crea anche bilanci a 5 anni , rendiconti finanziari e analisi di bilancio con oltre 30 indici.
• forward looking: il software costruisce il piano seguendo le linee guida eba 2021 , focalizzandosi sul progetto futuro piuttosto che su dati storici.
• scenari alternativi: un buon software crea automaticamente scenari alternativi, permettendoti di valutare differenti strategie e livelli di rischio.

Conclusione

Creare un piano economico e finanziario da soli potrebbe sembrare un’impresa ardua, ma con gli strumenti giusti, diventa un processo molto più accessibile e preciso.

Utilizzare un software professionale non solo ti farà risparmiare tempo prezioso, ma ti fornirà anche la sicurezza di sapere che il tuo piano è basato su calcoli accurati e dati affidabili .

Articolo scritto il 9 settembre 2023

STEFANO VENTURA – Linkedin

È il fondatore di Bsness.com, software house operante in Italia e Spagna. Si è laureato in economia e commercio presso l’ Università di Bologna dove ha anche conseguito il titolo di Dottore Commercialista . Ha esercitato con successo la professione di Dottore Commercialista come esperto in budget e business plan per poi dedicarsi a tempo pieno alla crescita di Bsness.com.

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5 Best Business Plan Software in 2022

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When you’re starting a business, developing a strong business plan will be one of the first steps you take. Your business plan will cover everything from a detailed explanation of your products or services and pricing model to at least three years of financial projections—plus much more. Therefore, whether you’re not sure how to get started or you’re just looking to make the process easier, you may want to turn to business plan software for help.

In this guide, we'll break down five of the best business plan software options—discussing their pros, cons, features, pricing, and more—so you have all the information you need to decide which solution is right for your small business.

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Tell us where you're at in your business journey, and we'll direct you to the experience that fits.

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The 5 best business plan software options

The right business plan software will make the process of writing your business plan much simpler. Like many business software solutions, however, there are a number of different business plan software options out there—each of which has a unique set of features, user experience, and price.

This being said, if you're looking for a place to start your search for the best business plan software, you can explore the five top options below:

How much do you need?

with Fundera by NerdWallet

We’ll start with a brief questionnaire to better understand the unique needs of your business.

Once we uncover your personalized matches, our team will consult you on the process moving forward.

1. LivePlan

Best overall business plan software.

If you want template-rich, modern-feeling business plan software, then LivePlan may be the right pick for you. LivePlan excels with their user interface, which feels updated and slick, and also offers intuitive, easy-to-use features and options.

Their step-by-step instruction will help you kick things off from the beginning, and you can take advantage of their online learning center to continue to gain business skills.

Affordable plans, including pay-as-you-go option

No long-term contracts or cancellation fee; 60-day money-back guarantee

Modern, intuitive interface; cloud-based, can be used on Mac, PC, as well as tablets

Ability to create unlimited plans in one account; over 500 customizable templates

Variety of business resources including video tutorials, step-by-step instruction, and general customer support

Limited integration options

Challenging to enter your own financial modeling projections

Can be difficult to learn

Ability to create an unlimited number of business plans on one account

More than 500 business plan templates spanning various industries

Integration with Xero and QuickBooks Online

Real-time tracking of financial data with accounting integrations

Ability to export your business plan to Word or PDF

Expert advice and step-by-step instruction included

Performance dashboards for tracking against budgets and sales goals

Ability to create and export a one-page pitch executive summary

Annual plan: $15 per month, billed every 12 months

Six-month plan: $18 per month, billed every six months

Pay-as-you-go plan: $20 per month, billed once every month

2. GoSmallBiz

Best for multiple business management tools in one platform.

Next on our list of the best business plan software options is GoSmallBiz, which is much more than just a business plan software. With GoSmallBiz, you have access to business continuity planning software with features that cover creating a roadmap, working through business and legal forms, building a website, and more.

In this way, GoSmallBiz is great for startups or newer businesses looking to access multiple business management tools through one platform.

Unlimited business consultation and extensive library of online resources

Multiple business tools in one software

Website consultation analysis and business assessment

Industry-specific business plan templates with emphasis on financial projections and statements

Expensive monthly cost compared to alternatives

Limited business plan features

Entire business plan can only be exported to Microsoft Word

Outdated interface

Industry-specific business plan templates with step-by-step building wizard

Ability to create financial statements and projections

Free website hosting and website builder

Customer relationship manager with integration with MailChimp

Digital marketing dashboard with social media and Google Analytics integrations

HR document builder

Corporate minutes writer

Business documents library

Business courses library

Unlimited business consultation

$39 per month, no contracts, free cancellation

Best for simple, fast business plan creation.

If you're looking for free business plan software, Enloop will be one of your closest options—they offer an all-inclusive seven-day free trial, no credit card required. Additionally, unlike some of the other options on our list, Enloop is strictly dedicated to business plan creation, including automated text writing, financial forecast comparisons, and a real-time performance score that tracks your progress.

This being said, if you'd prefer the most straightforward, fast, and simple way to write your business plan, Enloop will be a platform worth considering.

Simple and straightforward software, solely dedicated to business plan creation

Seven-day free trial

Automatic text generation available to streamline the writing process

Affordable plans with annual discount option

Limited additional educational resources

Only one template option

No integration options

Ability to create three business plans with customizable text, images, tables, charts, and over 100 currency symbols and formats

Includes automatic text generation for each plan section that you can then customize

Automatically generated financial statements

Includes financial performance comparison analysis (using three ratios with Detailed plan and 16 with Performance plan)

Real-time performance score to track your progress

Ability to invite users to edit (two with Detailed plan, five with Performance plan)

Pass/fail report and certificate to help you identify issues with your plan

Free plan: Seven-day free trial with no credit card required

Detailed plan: $19.95 per month or $11 per month, paid annually

Performance plan: $39.95 per month, or $24 per month, paid annually

Best for startups looking to acquire funding or find investors.

Part of the Startups.com suite, Bizplan gets top marks for their user interface—it’s intuitive, easy to use, and modern. You’ll work with a step-by-step business plan builder to get exactly what you’d like from your business plan. It may remind you of a modern website builder, since it has drag-and-drop tools to build templates.

Moreover, for one subscription fee, you have access to all of the tools in the Startups.com network, including self-guided courses, how-to guides, masterclass videos, and more. All in all, with a direct connection to Fundable, Bizplan is a top business plan software option for startups looking to acquire funding and find investors.

Subscription gives you access to all Startups.com tools

Lifetime access subscription option

User-friendly drag-and-drop business plan builder

Excellent educational resources

Connection to Fundable great for businesses looking for capital

No free trial

No templates based on industry

No mobile access

Drag-and-drop templates for business plan building

Financial command center to track all business financials in one place

Unlimited account collaborators

Ability to share business plan online with investors

Online resources including self-guided courses, masterclass videos, how-to guides, mentorship access

Unlimited software use for Fundable, Launchrock, and Startups.com

Monthly plan: $29 per month

Annual plan: $20.75 per month, billed at $249 per year

Lifetime access: $349 one-time fee

5. PlanGuru

Best for financial planning and budgeting.

Finally, for some of the strongest financial features among business plan software options, including budgeting and forecasting, you might check out PlanGuru. Whereas the other solutions we've reviewed were first and foremost focused on writing a business plan, PlanGuru is dedicated to business financial planning —providing the tools you need to create budgets, financial forecasts, reports, and more.

Therefore, if you need a software solution that can streamline the financial piece of your business planning processes, PlanGuru will certainly have the most to offer.

Extensive financial tools and detailed forecasting, budgeting, and reporting capabilities

Substantial library of resources

Cloud-based and desktop options

14-day free trial and 30-day money-back guarantee

Expensive, especially for additional users

Only focuses on the financial aspect of business planning; no templates or tools for basic business plan writing

Difficult to use without prior financial knowledge

Cloud-based version of software, as well as locally installed Windows version (desktop version has a few more features)

Works with QuickBooks Online, Xero, and Excel

Budgeting and forecasting for up to 10 years

Over 20 standard forecasting methods

Formula builder to create custom methods

Ratios and KPIs

Dashboard and reporting tools

Help guides, video tutorials, knowledgebase, and live U.S.-based customer support

14-day free trial

$99 per month (additional users $29 per month)

$899 per year (additional users $299 per year)

What to look for in business plan software

Ultimately, it's up to you to decide, which, if any, of the best business plan software solutions on our list is right for your business.

So, if you're trying to figure out how to choose between the various options out there, it might be helpful to compare your top choices based on the following criteria:

Features: As we've seen different business plan software solutions offer different features. You'll want to look carefully at the feature list of any software and determine what features are most important for your business needs. Do you need an extensive library of templates with detailed customization? Would you prefer software that includes an online learning center for business skills? Are you looking for a solution that combines business plan writing with other tasks? It may be useful to list out your ideal feature set, so you can compare individual software plans to that list.

Price: Although you might be able to find some free business plan software options (or at the very least, free trials), in most cases, you'll need to pay a subscription fee to access the platform you choose. Therefore, you'll want to think about what your budget is for this business tool and what type of software is most cost-effective for your needs.

User experience: User experience can vary widely among different business plan software options. You’ll find some programs that are newer or have been recently updated. Others might have the kind of interfaces that felt new years ago but are now pretty out of date—and, subsequently, make them a little harder to use. The right user experience for your needs is genuinely a matter of opinion and comfort—nevertheless, it's worth testing thoroughly testing out a platform to ensure that it can truly work for you before investing in a monthly or annual subscription.

The bottom line

There's no doubt that properly crafting your business plan is important for the future growth and success of your small business. Luckily, the right business plan software should make the process much simpler.

This being said, whether you opt for one of the best business plan software options listed here, or another platform entirely, you'll want to take the time to compare multiple solutions and ensure you choose the one that's right for your business.

As we mentioned, it can be helpful to think about the features you're looking for, your budget, and your user-experience preferences ahead of time—that way, you'll have a set of criteria in mind as you explore different solutions.

Ultimately, perhaps the best thing you can do to find the right software is to actually test out the platforms themselves—either by using a free trial or a money-back guarantee.

This article originally appeared on JustBusiness, a subsidiary of NerdWallet.

On a similar note...

How to Write a Business Plan: Step-by-Step Guide + Examples

Noah Parsons

24 min. read

Updated July 29, 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 business planning

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

You understand that planning helps you: 

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

As you start to write your 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 completing your 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

This 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

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

Last, but certainly not least, is your financial plan chapter. 

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 for your 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 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.

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

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

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

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

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

Let’s get started.

What Do You Need A Business Plan For?

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

1. Secure Funds

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

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

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

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

2. Monitor Business Growth

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

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

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

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

3. Measure Business Success

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

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

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

4. Document Your Marketing Strategies

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

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

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

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

How to Write a Business Plan Step-by-Step

1. create your executive summary.

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

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

A good executive summary should do the following:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

2. Add Your Company Overview

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

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

Your company overview should contain the following:

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

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

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

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

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

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

• Mission Statement

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

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

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

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

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

Business Objectives

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Market Analysis

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

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

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

• Market Research

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

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

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

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

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

How to Quantify Your Target Market

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

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

What Does a Good Market Analysis Entail?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Competitive Analysis

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Direct vs Indirect Competition

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

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

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

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

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

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

Factors that Differentiate Your Business from the Competition

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

1. Cost Leadership

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

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

2. Product Differentiation

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

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

3. Market Segmentation

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

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

4. Define Your Business and Management Structure

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

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

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

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

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

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

Management Team

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

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

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

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

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

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

Key Questions to Answer When Structuring Your Management Team

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

Additional Tips for Writing the Management Structure Section

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

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

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

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

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

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

Organizational Chart

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

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

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

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

5. Describe Your Product and Service Offering

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

1. Avoid Technical Descriptions and Industry Buzzwords

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

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

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

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

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

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

3. Long or Short Products or Services Section

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

4. Describe Your Relationships with Vendors or Suppliers

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

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

5. Your Primary Goal Is to Convince Your Readers

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

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

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

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

Key Questions to Answer When Writing your Products and Services Section

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

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

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

6. Show and Explain Your Marketing and Sales Plan

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

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

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

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

Outline Your Business’ Unique Selling Proposition (USP)

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

Target Market and Target Audience

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

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

Creating a Smart Marketing and Sales Plan

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

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

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

Your Positioning Statement

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Basic Rules to Follow When Pricing Your Offering

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

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

Pricing Strategy

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

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

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

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

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

Advertising

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

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

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

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

Public Relations

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

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

Content Marketing

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Social Media

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

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

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

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

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

Strategic Alliances

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

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

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

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

Steps Involved in Creating a Marketing and Sales Plan

1. Focus on Your Target Market

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

2. Evaluate Your Competition

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

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

These questions can help you know your competition.

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

3. Consider Your Brand

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

4. Focus on Benefits

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

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

5. Focus on Differentiation

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

Key Questions to Answer When Writing Your Marketing and Sales Plan

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

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

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

7. Clearly Show Your Funding Request

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

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

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

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

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

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

Funding Request: Debt or Equity?

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

Case for Equity

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

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

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

Case for Debt

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

8. Detail Your Financial Plan, Metrics, and Projections

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Use Graphs and Charts

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

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

Address the Risk Factors and Show Realistic Financial Projections

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

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

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

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

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

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

1. Sales Forecast

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

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

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

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

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

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

2. Personnel Plan

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

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

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

3. Income Statement

The income statement section shows if your business is making a profit or taking a loss. Another name for the income statement is the profit and loss (P&L). It takes data from your sales forecast and personnel plan and adds other ongoing expenses you incur while running your business.

Every business plan should have an income statement. It subtracts your business expenses from its earnings to show if your business is generating profit or incurring losses.

The income statement has the following items: sales, Cost of Goods Sold (COGS), gross margin, operating expenses, total operating expenses, operating income , total expenses, and net profit.

• Sales refer to the revenue your business generates from selling its products or services. Other names for sales are income or revenue.
• Cost of Goods Sold (COGS) refers to the total cost of selling your products. Other names for COGS are direct costs or cost of sales. Manufacturing businesses use the Costs of Goods Manufactured (COGM) .
• Gross Margin is the figure you get when you subtract your COGS from your sales. In your income statement, you can express it as a percentage of total sales (Gross margin / Sales = Gross Margin Percent).
• Operating Expenses refer to all the expenses you incur from running your business. It exempts the COGS because it stands alone as a core part of your income statement. You also have to exclude taxes, depreciation, and amortization. Your operating expenses include salaries, marketing expenses, research and development (R&D) expenses, and other expenses.
• Total Operating Expenses refers to the sum of all your operating expenses including those exemptions named above under operating expenses.
• Operating Income refers to earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization. It is simply known as the acronym EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization). Calculating your operating income is simple, all you need to do is to subtract your COGS and total operating expenses from your sales.
• Total Expenses refer to the sum of your operating expenses and your business’ interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization.
• Net profit shows whether your business has made a profit or taken a loss during a given timeframe.

4. Cash Flow Statement

The cash flow statement tracks the money you have in the bank at any given point. It is often confused with the income statement or the profit and loss statement. They are both different types of financial statements. The income statement calculates your profits and losses while the cash flow statement shows you how much you have in the bank.

5. Balance Sheet

The balance sheet is a financial statement that provides an overview of the financial health of your business. It contains information about the assets and liabilities of your company, and owner’s or shareholders’ equity.

You can get the net worth of your company by subtracting your company’s liabilities from its assets.

6. Exit Strategy

The exit strategy refers to a probable plan for selling your business either to the public in an IPO or to another company. It is the last thing you include in the financial plan, metrics, and projection section.

You can choose to omit the exit strategy from your business plan if you plan to maintain full ownership of your business and do not plan on seeking angel investment or virtual capitalist (VC) funding.

Investors may want to know what your exit plan is. They invest in your business to get a good return on investment.

Your exit strategy does not have to include long and boring details. Ensure you identify some interested parties who may be interested in buying the company if it becomes a success.

Key Questions to Answer with Your Financial Plan, Metrics, and Projection

Your financial plan, metrics, and projection section helps investors, creditors, or your internal managers to understand what your expenses are, the amount of cash you need, and what it takes to make your company profitable. It also shows what you will be doing with any funding.

You do not need to show actual financial data if you do not have one. Adding forecasts and projections to your financial statements is added proof that your strategy is feasible and shows investors you have planned properly.

Here are some key questions to answer to help you develop this section.

• What is your sales forecast for the next year?
• When will your company achieve a positive cash flow?
• What are the core expenses you need to operate?
• How much money do you need upfront to operate or grow your company?
• How will you use the loans or investments?

9. Add an Appendix to Your Business Plan

Adding an appendix to your business plan is optional. It is a useful place to put any charts, tables, legal notes, definitions, permits, résumés, and other critical information that do not fit into other sections of your business plan.

The appendix section is where you would want to include details of a patent or patent-pending if you have one. You can always add illustrations or images of your products here. It is the last section of your business plan.

When writing your business plan, there are details you cut short or remove to prevent the entire section from becoming too lengthy. There are also details you want to include in the business plan but are not a good fit for any of the previous sections. You can add that additional information to the appendix section.

Businesses also use the appendix section to include supporting documents or other materials specially requested by investors or lenders.

You can include just about any information that supports the assumptions and statements you made in the business plan under the appendix. It is the one place in the business plan where unrelated data and information can coexist amicably.

If your appendix section is lengthy, try organizing it by adding a table of contents at the beginning of the appendix section. It is also advisable to group similar information to make it easier for the reader to access them.

A well-organized appendix section makes it easier to share your information clearly and concisely. Add footnotes throughout the rest of the business plan or make references in the plan to the documents in the appendix.

The appendix section is usually only necessary if you are seeking funding from investors or lenders, or hoping to attract partners.

People reading business plans do not want to spend time going through a heap of backup information, numbers, and charts. Keep these documents or information in the Appendix section in case the reader wants to dig deeper.

Common Items to Include in the Appendix Section of Your Business Plan

The appendix section includes documents that supplement or support the information or claims given in other sections of the business plans. Common items you can include in the appendix section include:

• Additional data about the process of manufacturing or creation
• Additional description of products or services such as product schematics
• Additional financial documents or projections
• Articles of incorporation and status
• Backup for market research or competitive analysis
• Bank statements
• Business registries
• Client testimonials (if your business is already running)
• Copies of insurances
• Credit histories (personal or/and business)
• Deeds and permits
• Equipment leases
• Examples of marketing and advertising collateral
• Industry associations and memberships
• Images of product
• Intellectual property
• Key customer contracts
• Legal documents and other contracts
• Letters of reference
• Links to references
• Market research data
• Organizational charts
• Photographs of potential facilities
• Professional licenses pertaining to your legal structure or type of business
• Purchase orders
• Resumes of the founder(s) and key managers
• State and federal identification numbers or codes
• Trademarks or patents’ registrations

Avoid using the appendix section as a place to dump any document or information you feel like adding. Only add documents or information that you support or increase the credibility of your business plan.

Tips and Strategies for Writing a Convincing Business Plan

To achieve a perfect business plan, you need to consider some key tips and strategies. These tips will raise the efficiency of your business plan above average.

1. Know Your Audience

When writing a business plan, you need to know your audience . Business owners write business plans for different reasons. Your business plan has to be specific. For example, you can write business plans to potential investors, banks, and even fellow board members of the company.

The audience you are writing to determines the structure of the business plan. As a business owner, you have to know your audience. Not everyone will be your audience. Knowing your audience will help you to narrow the scope of your business plan.

Consider what your audience wants to see in your projects, the likely questions they might ask, and what interests them.

• A business plan used to address a company's board members will center on its employment schemes, internal affairs, projects, stakeholders, etc.
• A business plan for financial institutions will talk about the size of your market and the chances for you to pay back any loans you demand.
• A business plan for investors will show proof that you can return the investment capital within a specific time. In addition, it discusses your financial projections, tractions, and market size.

2. Get Inspiration from People

Writing a business plan from scratch as an entrepreneur can be daunting. That is why you need the right inspiration to push you to write one. You can gain inspiration from the successful business plans of other businesses. Look at their business plans, the style they use, the structure of the project, etc.

To make your business plan easier to create, search companies related to your business to get an exact copy of what you need to create an effective business plan. You can also make references while citing examples in your business plans.

When drafting your business plan, get as much help from others as you possibly can. By getting inspiration from people, you can create something better than what they have.

3. Avoid Being Over Optimistic

Many business owners make use of strong adjectives to qualify their content. One of the big mistakes entrepreneurs make when preparing a business plan is promising too much.

The use of superlatives and over-optimistic claims can prepare the audience for more than you can offer. In the end, you disappoint the confidence they have in you.

In most cases, the best option is to be realistic with your claims and statistics. Most of the investors can sense a bit of incompetency from the overuse of superlatives. As a new entrepreneur, do not be tempted to over-promise to get the interests of investors.

The concept of entrepreneurship centers on risks, nothing is certain when you make future analyses. What separates the best is the ability to do careful research and work towards achieving that, not promising more than you can achieve.

To make an excellent first impression as an entrepreneur, replace superlatives with compelling data-driven content. In this way, you are more specific than someone promising a huge ROI from an investment.

4. Keep it Simple and Short

When writing business plans, ensure you keep them simple throughout. Irrespective of the purpose of the business plan, your goal is to convince the audience.

One way to achieve this goal is to make them understand your proposal. Therefore, it would be best if you avoid the use of complex grammar to express yourself. It would be a huge turn-off if the people you want to convince are not familiar with your use of words.

Another thing to note is the length of your business plan. It would be best if you made it as brief as possible.

You hardly see investors or agencies that read through an extremely long document. In that case, if your first few pages can’t convince them, then you have lost it. The more pages you write, the higher the chances of you derailing from the essential contents.

To ensure your business plan has a high conversion rate, you need to dispose of every unnecessary information. For example, if you have a strategy that you are not sure of, it would be best to leave it out of the plan.

5. Make an Outline and Follow Through

A perfect business plan must have touched every part needed to convince the audience. Business owners get easily tempted to concentrate more on their products than on other sections. Doing this can be detrimental to the efficiency of the business plan.

For example, imagine you talking about a product but omitting or providing very little information about the target audience. You will leave your clients confused.

To ensure that your business plan communicates your full business model to readers, you have to input all the necessary information in it. One of the best ways to achieve this is to design a structure and stick to it.

This structure is what guides you throughout the writing. To make your work easier, you can assign an estimated word count or page limit to every section to avoid making it too bulky for easy reading. As a guide, the necessary things your business plan must contain are:

• Table of contents
• Introduction
• Product or service description
• Target audience
• Market size
• Competition analysis
• Financial projections

Some specific businesses can include some other essential sections, but these are the key sections that must be in every business plan.

6. Ask a Professional to Proofread

When writing a business plan, you must tie all loose ends to get a perfect result. When you are done with writing, call a professional to go through the document for you. You are bound to make mistakes, and the way to correct them is to get external help.

You should get a professional in your field who can relate to every section of your business plan. It would be easier for the professional to notice the inner flaws in the document than an editor with no knowledge of your business.

In addition to getting a professional to proofread, get an editor to proofread and edit your document. The editor will help you identify grammatical errors, spelling mistakes, and inappropriate writing styles.

Writing a business plan can be daunting, but you can surmount that obstacle and get the best out of it with these tips.

Business Plan Examples and Templates That’ll Save You Tons of Time

1. hubspot's one-page business plan.

The one-page business plan template by HubSpot is the perfect guide for businesses of any size, irrespective of their business strategy. Although the template is condensed into a page, your final business plan should not be a page long! The template is designed to ask helpful questions that can help you develop your business plan.

Hubspot’s one-page business plan template is divided into nine fields:

• Business opportunity
• Company description
• Industry analysis
• Target market
• Implementation timeline
• Marketing plan
• Financial summary
• Funding required

2. Bplan’s Free Business Plan Template

Bplans' free business plan template is investor-approved. It is a rich template used by prestigious educational institutions such as Babson College and Princeton University to teach entrepreneurs how to create a business plan.

The template has six sections: the executive summary, opportunity, execution, company, financial plan, and appendix. There is a step-by-step guide for writing every little detail in the business plan. Follow the instructions each step of the way and you will create a business plan that impresses investors or lenders easily.

3. HubSpot's Downloadable Business Plan Template

HubSpot’s downloadable business plan template is a more comprehensive option compared to the one-page business template by HubSpot. This free and downloadable business plan template is designed for entrepreneurs.

The template is a comprehensive guide and checklist for business owners just starting their businesses. It tells you everything you need to fill in each section of the business plan and how to do it.

There are nine sections in this business plan template: an executive summary, company and business description, product and services line, market analysis, marketing plan, sales plan, legal notes, financial considerations, and appendix.

4. Business Plan by My Own Business Institute

My Own Business Institute (MOBI) which is a part of Santa Clara University's Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship offers a free business plan template. You can either copy the free business template from the link provided above or download it as a Word document.

The comprehensive template consists of a whopping 15 sections.

• The Business Profile
• The Vision and the People
• Home-Based Business and Freelance Business Opportunities
• Organization
• Licenses and Permits
• Business Insurance
• Communication Tools
• Acquisitions
• Location and Leasing
• Accounting and Cash Flow
• Opening and Marketing
• Managing Employees
• Expanding and Handling Problems

There are lots of helpful tips on how to fill each section in the free business plan template by MOBI.

5. Score's Business Plan Template for Startups

Score is an American nonprofit organization that helps entrepreneurs build successful companies. This business plan template for startups by Score is available for free download. The business plan template asks a whooping 150 generic questions that help entrepreneurs from different fields to set up the perfect business plan.

The business plan template for startups contains clear instructions and worksheets, all you have to do is answer the questions and fill the worksheets.

There are nine sections in the business plan template: executive summary, company description, products and services, marketing plan, operational plan, management and organization, startup expenses and capitalization, financial plan, and appendices.

The ‘refining the plan’ resource contains instructions that help you modify your business plan to suit your specific needs, industry, and target audience. After you have completed Score’s business plan template, you can work with a SCORE mentor for expert advice in business planning.

6. Minimalist Architecture Business Plan Template by Venngage

The minimalist architecture business plan template is a simple template by Venngage that you can customize to suit your business needs .

There are five sections in the template: an executive summary, statement of problem, approach and methodology, qualifications, and schedule and benchmark. The business plan template has instructions that guide users on what to fill in each section.

7. Small Business Administration Free Business Plan Template

The Small Business Administration (SBA) offers two free business plan templates, filled with practical real-life examples that you can model to create your business plan. Both free business plan templates are written by fictional business owners: Rebecca who owns a consulting firm, and Andrew who owns a toy company.

There are five sections in the two SBA’s free business plan templates.

• Executive Summary
• Company Description
• Service Line
• Marketing and Sales

8. The $100 Startup's One-Page Business Plan

The one-page business plan by the $100 startup is a simple business plan template for entrepreneurs who do not want to create a long and complicated plan . You can include more details in the appendices for funders who want more information beyond what you can put in the one-page business plan.

There are five sections in the one-page business plan such as overview, ka-ching, hustling, success, and obstacles or challenges or open questions. You can answer all the questions using one or two sentences.

9. PandaDoc’s Free Business Plan Template

The free business plan template by PandaDoc is a comprehensive 15-page document that describes the information you should include in every section.

There are 11 sections in PandaDoc’s free business plan template.

• Executive summary
• Business description
• Products and services
• Operations plan
• Management organization
• Financial plan
• Conclusion / Call to action
• Confidentiality statement

You have to sign up for its 14-day free trial to access the template. You will find different business plan templates on PandaDoc once you sign up (including templates for general businesses and specific businesses such as bakeries, startups, restaurants, salons, hotels, and coffee shops)

PandaDoc allows you to customize its business plan templates to fit the needs of your business. After editing the template, you can send it to interested parties and track opens and views through PandaDoc.

10. Invoiceberry Templates for Word, Open Office, Excel, or PPT

InvoiceBerry is a U.K based online invoicing and tracking platform that offers free business plan templates in .docx, .odt, .xlsx, and .pptx formats for freelancers and small businesses.

Before you can download the free business plan template, it will ask you to give it your email address. After you complete the little task, it will send the download link to your inbox for you to download. It also provides a business plan checklist in .xlsx file format that ensures you add the right information to the business plan.

Alternatives to the Traditional Business Plan

A business plan is very important in mapping out how one expects their business to grow over a set number of years, particularly when they need external investment in their business. However, many investors do not have the time to watch you present your business plan. It is a long and boring read.

Luckily, there are three alternatives to the traditional business plan (the Business Model Canvas, Lean Canvas, and Startup Pitch Deck). These alternatives are less laborious and easier and quicker to present to investors.

Business Model Canvas (BMC)

The business model canvas is a business tool used to present all the important components of setting up a business, such as customers, route to market, value proposition, and finance in a single sheet. It provides a very focused blueprint that defines your business initially which you can later expand on if needed.

The sheet is divided mainly into company, industry, and consumer models that are interconnected in how they find problems and proffer solutions.

Segments of the Business Model Canvas

The business model canvas was developed by founder Alexander Osterwalder to answer important business questions. It contains nine segments.

• Key Partners: Who will be occupying important executive positions in your business? What do they bring to the table? Will there be a third party involved with the company?
• Key Activities: What important activities will production entail? What activities will be carried out to ensure the smooth running of the company?
• The Product’s Value Propositions: What does your product do? How will it be different from other products?
• Customer Segments: What demography of consumers are you targeting? What are the habits of these consumers? Who are the MVPs of your target consumers?
• Customer Relationships: How will the team support and work with its customer base? How do you intend to build and maintain trust with the customer?
• Key Resources: What type of personnel and tools will be needed? What size of the budget will they need access to?
• Channels: How do you plan to create awareness of your products? How do you intend to transport your product to the customer?
• Cost Structure: What is the estimated cost of production? How much will distribution cost?
• Revenue Streams: For what value are customers willing to pay? How do they prefer to pay for the product? Are there any external revenues attached apart from the main source? How do the revenue streams contribute to the overall revenue?

Lean Canvas

The lean canvas is a problem-oriented alternative to the standard business model canvas. It was proposed by Ash Maurya, creator of Lean Stack as a development of the business model generation. It uses a more problem-focused approach and it majorly targets entrepreneurs and startup businesses.

Lean Canvas uses the same 9 blocks concept as the business model canvas, however, they have been modified slightly to suit the needs and purpose of a small startup. The key partners, key activities, customer relationships, and key resources are replaced by new segments which are:

• Problem: Simple and straightforward number of problems you have identified, ideally three.
• Solution: The solutions to each problem.
• Unfair Advantage: Something you possess that can't be easily bought or replicated.
• Key Metrics: Important numbers that will tell how your business is doing.

Startup Pitch Deck

While the business model canvas compresses into a factual sheet, startup pitch decks expand flamboyantly.

Pitch decks, through slides, convey your business plan, often through graphs and images used to emphasize estimations and observations in your presentation. Entrepreneurs often use pitch decks to fully convince their target audience of their plans before discussing funding arrangements.

Considering the likelihood of it being used in a small time frame, a good startup pitch deck should ideally contain 20 slides or less to have enough time to answer questions from the audience.

Unlike the standard and lean business model canvases, a pitch deck doesn't have a set template on how to present your business plan but there are still important components to it. These components often mirror those of the business model canvas except that they are in slide form and contain more details.

Using Airbnb (one of the most successful start-ups in recent history) for reference, the important components of a good slide are listed below.

• Cover/Introduction Slide: Here, you should include your company's name and mission statement. Your mission statement should be a very catchy tagline. Also, include personal information and contact details to provide an easy link for potential investors.
• Problem Slide: This slide requires you to create a connection with the audience or the investor that you are pitching. For example in their pitch, Airbnb summarized the most important problems it would solve in three brief points – pricing of hotels, disconnection from city culture, and connection problems for local bookings.
• Solution Slide: This slide includes your core value proposition. List simple and direct solutions to the problems you have mentioned
• Customer Analysis: Here you will provide information on the customers you will be offering your service to. The identity of your customers plays an important part in fundraising as well as the long-run viability of the business.
• Market Validation: Use competitive analysis to show numbers that prove the presence of a market for your product, industry behavior in the present and the long run, as well as the percentage of the market you aim to attract. It shows that you understand your competitors and customers and convinces investors of the opportunities presented in the market.
• Business Model: Your business model is the hook of your presentation. It may vary in complexity but it should generally include a pricing system informed by your market analysis. The goal of the slide is to confirm your business model is easy to implement.
• Marketing Strategy: This slide should summarize a few customer acquisition methods that you plan to use to grow the business.
• Competitive Advantage: What this slide will do is provide information on what will set you apart and make you a more attractive option to customers. It could be the possession of technology that is not widely known in the market.
• Team Slide: Here you will give a brief description of your team. Include your key management personnel here and their specific roles in the company. Include their educational background, job history, and skillsets. Also, talk about their accomplishments in their careers so far to build investors' confidence in members of your team.
• Traction Slide: This validates the company’s business model by showing growth through early sales and support. The slide aims to reduce any lingering fears in potential investors by showing realistic periodic milestones and profit margins. It can include current sales, growth, valuable customers, pre-orders, or data from surveys outlining current consumer interest.
• Funding Slide: This slide is popularly referred to as ‘the ask'. Here you will include important details like how much is needed to get your business off the ground and how the funding will be spent to help the company reach its goals.
• Appendix Slides: Your pitch deck appendix should always be included alongside a standard pitch presentation. It consists of additional slides you could not show in the pitch deck but you need to complement your presentation.

It is important to support your calculations with pictorial renditions. Infographics, such as pie charts or bar graphs, will be more effective in presenting the information than just listing numbers. For example, a six-month graph that shows rising profit margins will easily look more impressive than merely writing it.

Lastly, since a pitch deck is primarily used to secure meetings and you may be sharing your pitch with several investors, it is advisable to keep a separate public version that doesn't include financials. Only disclose the one with projections once you have secured a link with an investor.

Advantages of the Business Model Canvas, Lean Canvas, and Startup Pitch Deck over the Traditional Business Plan

• Time-Saving: Writing a detailed traditional business plan could take weeks or months. On the other hand, all three alternatives can be done in a few days or even one night of brainstorming if you have a comprehensive understanding of your business.
• Easier to Understand: Since the information presented is almost entirely factual, it puts focus on what is most important in running the business. They cut away the excess pages of fillers in a traditional business plan and allow investors to see what is driving the business and what is getting in the way.
• Easy to Update: Businesses typically present their business plans to many potential investors before they secure funding. What this means is that you may regularly have to amend your presentation to update statistics or adjust to audience-specific needs. For a traditional business plan, this could mean rewriting a whole section of your plan. For the three alternatives, updating is much easier because they are not voluminous.
• Guide for a More In-depth Business Plan: All three alternatives have the added benefit of being able to double as a sketch of your business plan if the need to create one arises in the future.

Business Plan FAQ

Business plans are important for any entrepreneur who is looking for a framework to run their company over some time or seeking external support. Although they are essential for new businesses, every company should ideally have a business plan to track their growth from time to time.  They can be used by startups seeking investments or loans to convey their business ideas or an employee to convince his boss of the feasibility of starting a new project. They can also be used by companies seeking to recruit high-profile employee targets into key positions or trying to secure partnerships with other firms.

Business plans often vary depending on your target audience, the scope, and the goals for the plan. Startup plans are the most common among the different types of business plans.  A start-up plan is used by a new business to present all the necessary information to help get the business up and running. They are usually used by entrepreneurs who are seeking funding from investors or bank loans. The established company alternative to a start-up plan is a feasibility plan. A feasibility plan is often used by an established company looking for new business opportunities. They are used to show the upsides of creating a new product for a consumer base. Because the audience is usually company people, it requires less company analysis. The third type of business plan is the lean business plan. A lean business plan is a brief, straight-to-the-point breakdown of your ideas and analysis for your business. It does not contain details of your proposal and can be written on one page. Finally, you have the what-if plan. As it implies, a what-if plan is a preparation for the worst-case scenario. You must always be prepared for the possibility of your original plan being rejected. A good what-if plan will serve as a good plan B to the original.

A good business plan has 10 key components. They include an executive plan, product analysis, desired customer base, company analysis, industry analysis, marketing strategy, sales strategy, financial projection, funding, and appendix. Executive Plan Your business should begin with your executive plan. An executive plan will provide early insight into what you are planning to achieve with your business. It should include your mission statement and highlight some of the important points which you will explain later. Product Analysis The next component of your business plan is your product analysis. A key part of this section is explaining the type of item or service you are going to offer as well as the market problems your product will solve. Desired Consumer Base Your product analysis should be supplemented with a detailed breakdown of your desired consumer base. Investors are always interested in knowing the economic power of your market as well as potential MVP customers. Company Analysis The next component of your business plan is your company analysis. Here, you explain how you want to run your business. It will include your operational strategy, an insight into the workforce needed to keep the company running, and important executive positions. It will also provide a calculation of expected operational costs.  Industry Analysis A good business plan should also contain well laid out industry analysis. It is important to convince potential investors you know the companies you will be competing with, as well as your plans to gain an edge on the competition. Marketing Strategy Your business plan should also include your marketing strategy. This is how you intend to spread awareness of your product. It should include a detailed explanation of the company brand as well as your advertising methods. Sales Strategy Your sales strategy comes after the market strategy. Here you give an overview of your company's pricing strategy and how you aim to maximize profits. You can also explain how your prices will adapt to market behaviors. Financial Projection The financial projection is the next component of your business plan. It explains your company's expected running cost and revenue earned during the tenure of the business plan. Financial projection gives a clear idea of how your company will develop in the future. Funding The next component of your business plan is funding. You have to detail how much external investment you need to get your business idea off the ground here. Appendix The last component of your plan is the appendix. This is where you put licenses, graphs, or key information that does not fit in any of the other components.

The business model canvas is a business management tool used to quickly define your business idea and model. It is often used when investors need you to pitch your business idea during a brief window.

A pitch deck is similar to a business model canvas except that it makes use of slides in its presentation. A pitch is not primarily used to secure funding, rather its main purpose is to entice potential investors by selling a very optimistic outlook on the business.

Business plan competitions help you evaluate the strength of your business plan. By participating in business plan competitions, you are improving your experience. The experience provides you with a degree of validation while practicing important skills. The main motivation for entering into the competitions is often to secure funding by finishing in podium positions. There is also the chance that you may catch the eye of a casual observer outside of the competition. These competitions also provide good networking opportunities. You could meet mentors who will take a keen interest in guiding you in your business journey. You also have the opportunity to meet other entrepreneurs whose ideas can complement yours.

Exlore Further

• 12 Key Elements of a Business Plan (Top Components Explained)
• 13 Sources of Business Finance For Companies & Sole Traders
• 5 Common Types of Business Structures (+ Pros & Cons)
• How to Buy a Business in 8 Steps (+ Due Diligence Checklist)

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Martin luenendonk.

Martin loves entrepreneurship and has helped dozens of entrepreneurs by validating the business idea, finding scalable customer acquisition channels, and building a data-driven organization. During his time working in investment banking, tech startups, and industry-leading companies he gained extensive knowledge in using different software tools to optimize business processes.

This insights and his love for researching SaaS products enables him to provide in-depth, fact-based software reviews to enable software buyers make better decisions.

• Network infrastructure

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Tips to provide network support for remote workers

Enterprises must modernize their networks to support remote work, while IT teams ensure networks have proper bandwidth and security, as well as dedicated help for remote workers.

• Paul Kirvan

Remote workers need reliable network support from their organization's management teams.

Remote work, also called telecommuting , rose in popularity with the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. Enterprises suddenly had to support hundreds or thousands of remote workers, and network management teams needed to adapt. Remote work continues to be a popular option among employees, so it's important for companies to recognize that remote workers require different support compared with in-office employees.

A continuing goal for network teams is ensuring optimal support, security, reliability and performance for both in-person and remote employees. As part of those efforts, management teams have enacted modernization strategies and improved network configurations and security management.

IT administrators are responsible for facilitating and managing remote work. To provide the best possible outcomes for remote workers, it's essential for organizations to have a dedicated and proactive approach to remote work. This article provides guidance on how to monitor and manage network performance and security for remote workers. Also provided is a checklist of activities network teams can follow to provide network support for those employees.

Remote work policies and procedures

A formal policy for remote work technology is an essential program component. This policy differs from an overall corporate remote work policy . It focuses primarily on the technologies remote workers need to perform their duties in a secure environment. IT teams should document, regularly update and circulate remote work procedures. This way, remote workers can securely connect with necessary resources.

End-user devices

In the early days of remote working, employees typically used their personal laptops or computers. Ideally, however, organizations issue remote workers company-owned and configured laptops. In this arrangement, employees might still use personal devices, such as smartphones, tablets and other similar devices.

Enterprises must configure each device with the correct software for secure access to a company VPN or other corporate network. In lieu of such arrangements, IT departments must ensure remote workers' personal devices are configured for access to company resources. It might be necessary for remote users to have a company account on their devices in addition to a personal one.

Network resources for remote working

While VPNs are a secure method for remote connection to corporate resources, it can be challenging for organizations to obtain sufficient VPN licenses to support each employee. Add to that the cost for access arrangements, such as two-factor (2FA), multifactor authentication (MFA) or password management, to ensure secure login to company resources. In this case, the company's corporate network infrastructure might be the better vehicle for remote workers.

Managing bandwidth to accommodate remote workers continues to be an important activity. Remote users might connect to their company VPN via the internet, so the necessary bandwidth at the company's data center might need a substantial increase to handle the demand. This might mean negotiating with LAN and WAN carriers for additional bandwidth. Software-defined WANs can also optimize bandwidth.

Security for remote working

Remote work always increases security concerns. While VPNs have native security attributes, it's important to extend security in additional directions . For example, 2FA and MFA are key access methods. Data encryption -- at rest and in motion -- is another important activity. Some technologies add security to almost any data transaction. Zero-trust security models further increase security attributes.

Beyond the front-line activities, regularly examine security risks, threats and vulnerabilities. Doing so can help identify potential threat actors that could disrupt remote networks with the following:

• Damaging or stealing data during transit.
• Introducing phishing scams.
• DDoS attacks.
• Ransomware attacks.

Teams can help keep the network secure by deploying security systems that monitor remote connection health. These security systems can run penetration tests as well as breach and attack simulations to ensure stable and healthy remote connections.

Remote workers should have antivirus, ransomware, access control and encryption tools in their systems to ensure security at the network edge. Company-prepared laptops and other workstations can help achieve this.

Remote work administration

Companies with remote worker populations should have IT networking and security teams dedicated to their operation. Optimize internal help desk departments to support remote workers. This could mean making remote help a separate unit from in-house support activities. If this isn't possible, ensure support teams have the necessary tools to diagnose problems remotely and provide solutions.

On-site equipment replacement is not possible with remote workers. As such, workers might need to obtain replacement items on their own or wait on shipping.

Continuous monitoring of all remote workers and their network connections is essential to quickly identify potential problems. Numerous network diagnostic tools are available. The key is to select tools that provide both remote monitoring and diagnostics. The table below provides a short list of such programs.

The following remote monitoring and management (RMM) tools are listed in alphabetical order.

Additional administrative activities include the following:

• Patch devices when needed.
• Review and update firewall and intrusion detection system /intrusion prevention system rules.
• Evaluate VPN usage and trends.
• Manage network segmentation if used.
• Monitor and respond to WAN traffic changes.
• Test remote access connections.
• Analyze risks, threats and vulnerabilities.
• Monitor use of cloud-based technologies that support remote work.
• Review and update disaster recovery plans associated with remote working.
• Establish backup arrangements in case of network disruption.
• Provide tips and guidance to remote workers, including best practices training and awareness for remote work.
• Ensure collaboration resources like Microsoft Teams and Zoom are available and operational.

Remote versus in-office workers

In-office employees have access to all relevant networking and security resources. In-office employees can handle arising issues quickly and involve IT technicians if necessary.

By contrast, remote workers have greater risks to their ability to perform their duties . They rely on remote networks, such as Wi-Fi and local carrier internet access, which might not be 100% dependable. Remote employees need security and networking arrangements such as 2FA/MFA and VPNs.

Remote problem diagnostics and troubleshooting might be more challenging. Desktop tools must be able to synchronize with data center systems. Collaboration tools are necessary for meetings and for keeping people in touch. Emergency procedures must be in place to address unplanned disruptions.

Network support for remote workers checklist

Included here is a checklist of the activities discussed in this article. This approach reduces the likelihood of security breaches disrupting remote worker productivity.

Paul Kirvan is an independent consultant, IT auditor, technical writer, editor and educator. He has more than 25 years of experience in business continuity, disaster recovery, security, enterprise risk management, telecom and IT auditing.

Related Resources

• Security Scale Simplicity Why Networking Platforms Matter –Cisco
• Wi-Fi 6 And Beyond: Your On-Ramp To The Connected Campus –SHI International
• How to build an agile enterprise network infrastructure –Console Connect
• Leeds Beckett University Modernises Campus Infrastructure with Extreme Networks –FourNet

Dig Deeper on Network infrastructure

RMM software (remote monitoring and management software)

CISA: Federal Employees Targeted in Malicious Cyber Threat Campaign Using RMM Software

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managed service provider (MSP)

Part of: IT support for home networking

The market maturation of SD-WAN is leading companies to consider extending the technology to remote workers. Companies should ask three important questions before taking that step.

Demilitarized zone, network access control and VPN termination points are some of the on-premises components that need to be addressed in a remote work infrastructure.

Organizations should create comprehensive work-from-home reimbursement plans that drive better network and internet connectivity rates rather than offset employee's existing bills.

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Japan rivals Nissan and Honda will share EV components and AI research as they play catch up

Nissan Chief Executive Makoto Uchida, left, and Honda Chief Executive Toshihiro Mibe shake hands during a joint news conference in Tokyo, Thursday, Aug. 1, 2024. Japanese automakers Nissan and Honda say they plan to share components for electric vehicles like batteries and jointly research software for autonomous driving. (Kyodo News via AP)

FILE - Logos at a Nissan showroom are seen in Ginza shopping district in Tokyo, March 31, 2023. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko, File)

FILE - Logos of Honda Motor Co. are pictured in Tsukuba, northeast of Tokyo, on Feb. 13, 2019. (Kyodo News via AP, File)

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TOKYO (AP) — Japanese automakers Nissan and Honda say they plan to share components for electric vehicles like batteries and jointly research software for autonomous driving.

A third Japanese manufacturer, Mitsubishi Motors Corp., has joined the Nissan-Honda partnership, sharing the view that speed and size are crucial in responding to dramatic changes in the auto industry centered around electrification.

A preliminary agreement between Nissan Motor Co. and Honda Motor Co. was announced in March .

After 100 days of talks, executives of the companies evinced a sense of urgency. Japanese automakers dominated the era of gasoline engines in recent decades but have fallen behind formidable new players in green cars like Tesla of the U.S. and China’s BYD.

“Companies that don’t adapt to the changes cannot survive,” said Honda Chief Executive Toshihiro Mibe. “If we try to do everything on our own, we cannot catch up.”

Nissan and Honda will use the same batteries and adopt the same specifications for motors and inverters for EV axels, they said.

By coming together in what Mibe and counterpart at Nissan, Makoto Uchida, repeatedly called “making friends” to achieve economies of scale, the companies plan more strategic investments in technology and aim to cut costs by boosting volume.

Each company will continue to produce and offer its own model offerings. But they will share resources in areas like components and software development, where “making friends” will be a plus, Mibe and Uchida told reporters.

They declined to say whether the friendship will extend to a mutual capital ownership, while noting that wasn’t ruled out.

The two companies also agreed to have their model lineups “mutually complement” each other in various global markets, including both internal combustion engine vehicles and EVs. Details on that are being worked out, the companies said.

Honda and Nissan will also work together on energy services in Japan. Under Thursday’s announcements, Mitsubishi will join as a third member.

Toyota Motor Corp. , Japan’s top automaker, is not part of the three-way collaboration.

Although Honda and Nissan have very different corporate cultures, it became clear, as their discussions on working together continued, their engineers and other workers on the ground have a lot in common, Uchida said.

“Speed is the most crucial element, considering our size,” he added.

Uchida and Mibe repeatedly stressed speed, openly admitting BYD is moving very quickly, but they said there was still time to catch up and remain in the game.

“In coming together, we will show that one plus one will add up to become more than two,” Uchida said.

Yuri Kageyama is on X: https://twitter.com/yurikageyama

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Sprout Social Pricing (2024 Guide)

Published: May 29, 2024, 1:00pm

Table of Contents

What is sprout social, sprout social pricing and plans, sprout social discounts, sprout social cost vs. competitors, sprout social free trial: what you should know, additional sprout social costs, frequently asked questions (faqs).

Sprout Social is a powerful social media management tool that lets you control all of your accounts in one place. If you’re considering this software as a solution for your social media woes, you’re likely wondering what it costs. Sprout Social pricing varies depending on the plan you select and whether you pay monthly or annually. Keep reading to see what you can expect to pay to use Sprout Social.

Featured Partners

Sprout Social

Standard $199/seat/month; Professional $299/seat/month; Advanced $399/seat/month *pricing is based on annual subscriptions

30 day free trial (all plans)

Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, Youtube, TikTok, Pinterest, Reddit, Tumblr, Yelp!, Glassdoor, Trip Advisor, Google My Business, and more

On Sprout Social's Website

Professional $99/month; Team $249/month *pricing based on annual subscriptions

Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube, TikTok, Pinterest, Threads (beta), Google Business Profile and more

On Hootsuite's Website

Sprout Social is a platform that allows you to manage all of your business social media accounts in one place. It lets you schedule posts, manage messages and even create content calendars all in one intuitive dashboard. Better yet, it also compiles publishing and engagement data from all of your profiles to curate a comprehensive analysis of your success. To learn more about what this tool can do, check out our Sprout Social review .

Sprout Social has three main plans as well as one custom-built plan. You can switch plans at any time, which makes it great for scaling up as your business grows. Sprout Social lets you pay with credit cards or PayPal.

Sprout Social Tiered Features and Plans

Price: $199 per month (billed annually) Best for: Businesses starting with social media management without a ton of accounts will appreciate the lower cost of the Standard plan.

Sprout Social’s Standard plan includes five social profiles, meaning it’s best geared toward businesses without a huge social media presence. With this plan, you can manage your content calendar, incoming messages and even reviews all in the same place. You can even get suggestions from the company’s AI Assist tool if you need help enhancing your posts.

Professional

Price: $299 per month (billed annually) Best for: Businesses with accounts on nearly every social media site will love the Professional plan as it lets you connect to all of them without limits.

The biggest benefit of upgrading to the Professional plan is getting unlimited social profiles, which is super-helpful if you maintain accounts on all of the web’s most popular sites. You’ll also get competitive reports for Instagram, Facebook and X (formerly Twitter) to help you tailor your strategies accordingly. Pair that with X keyword trend analysis, paid social reporting and response rate and time analysis reports and the Professional plan is a highly effective tool for businesses looking to conquer social algorithms.

Price: $399 per month (billed annually) Best for: The Advanced plan is relevant for agencies managing multiple brands at a time as it provides more in-depth sentiment reporting and chatbots.

For even more functionality, the Advanced plan can be a good pick. It provides a full digital asset and content library along with more advanced AI Assist message tone and length edits, so coming up with content for your accounts should never be a problem. Another cool feature is the addition of automated chatbots on X and Facebook. We also like the inbox sentiment classification so you can take your brand’s online temperature quickly.

Price: Custom pricing Best for: If none of the other Sprout Social plans fit what you’re looking for, then you can work with the team to create a plan that’s ideal for you.

Sometimes, your business just needs to have a customized solution and that’s what the Enterprise plan provides. You’ll get tailored implementation and onboarding to help your teams get a better handle on how to use the software. You’ll also benefit from consulting services to help you improve your social media presence.

Which Sprout Social Plan Should You Choose?

Overall, we recommend the Professional plan for most users. It’s the cheapest plan with unlimited social profiles, which is important if you want to maximize your web presence. However, the Standard plan could be good if you’re just getting started with a social media management tool. Finally, because the Advanced and Enterprise plans are so expensive, we only recommend them for large companies or agencies dealing with multiple brands and accounts.

Annual Discount

If you’re able to commit to a year-long subscription with Sprout Social, you can save 5% on your payments. You’ll pay the annual lump sum upfront rather than monthly. Here’s how the annual totals break down:

• Standard Plan: $2,850
• Professional Plan: $4,550
• Advanced Plan: $5,700

Agency or Nonprofit Discount

Sprout Social has special pricing for agencies, although it doesn’t specify the cost. There may also be special pricing for nonprofits, but again, Sprout Social doesn’t disclose specifics. Your best bet is to get in touch with the customer service team to see what discounts you might be eligible for.

Sprout Social is one of the best social media management software available, but there are also other options. Here are two high-ranking competitors with a much lower cost.

Sprout Social vs. Zoho Social

One immediate difference between Sprout Social and Zoho Social is the price: Zoho Social is far cheaper. But with that cheaper price tag comes far fewer accounts. You also don’t get nearly as many analytics, reports or automation features. However, if your company isn’t out to create a social media empire, then Zoho Social is a great tool to start with.

Sprout Social vs. Hootsuite

Hootsuite limits you to a maximum of 20 social accounts, but that should be more than enough for most users. It also comes with up to five users—Sprout Social requires you to pay an expensive fee for more than one user. Hootsuite gives you unlimited drafts and scheduled posts, along with an extensive content asset library and an all-in-one inbox. Learn more in our Hootsuite review .

Sprout Social currently offers a free trial to let you test out the software. You can try out the Standard, Professional or Advanced plans without providing credit card information. All you have to do is provide your name, email and some information about your business and you’ll get access. You’ll be prompted to connect at least one social media account before getting started.

How Long Is the Free Trial?

Sprout Social’s free trial is for 30 days. After that, you’ll need to decide what plan you want. You can see your current plan details under the “Billing & Plan” section of your account.

What’s Included In (and Missing From) the Trial?

All of Sprout Social’s features are included in the free trial. If you’re not happy with the plan you signed up with, you can switch to a different plan throughout the trial to test out the different levels and see what you’re missing.

Can You Extend A Trial?

No—when your trial ends, you’ll be prompted to choose which plan you’d like to sign up for. However, if you’re not ready to commit and want to keep exploring Sprout Social, you may be able to schedule a customized demo with the Sprout Social team.

Add-on Solutions

Sprout Social offers a handful of add-on solutions. However, it isn’t transparent about what they cost so if you’re interested, you have to reach out for custom pricing:

• Listening: Helps you find trends that can inform your social media marketing strategy .
• Premium Analytics: Provides an additional 150 reports and interactive dashboards.
• Employee Advocacy: Allows employees to share curated content on their personal networks.
• Influencer Marketing: Helps you connect with influencers in your niche.

Premier Success Plan

Sprout Social also offers a Premier Success Plan that again, has custom pricing. With it, you’ll receive the following benefits:

• Platform optimization
• Product roadmap
• Two-hour response time
• One-on-one onboarding
• Direct access to customer success team

Is Sprout Social worth the money?

For small businesses that don’t have a huge social media following yet, Sprout Social is likely too expensive. Sprout Social pricing is more than twice that of the two competitors we looked at in this article. However, if you’re a larger brand looking to make the most of social media, then Sprout Social has valuable tools to help you capitalize on your audience.

Is there a free version of Sprout Social?

Sprout Social does not have a free version. Plans start at $199 per month.

How much is Sprout a month?

Sprout Social pricing ranges from $199 to $399 a month if you pay annually and $249 to $499 if you’re paying monthly.

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Kristy Snyder is a freelance writer and editor with 12 years of experience, currently contributing to the Forbes Advisor Small Business vertical. She uses her experience managing her own successful small business to write articles about software, small business tools, loans, credit cards and online banking. Kristy's work also appears in Newsweek and Fortune, focusing on personal finance.