The executive summary lays out all the vital information about your business within a relatively short space.

Now, let’s dive into the 10 key elements of your business plan.Įven though it appears first in the plan, write your executive summary last so you can condense essential ideas from the other nine sections. Experiencing slow growth and need a changeĭefining your audience helps you determine the language you’ll need to propose your ideas as well as the depth to which you need to go to help readers conduct due diligence.Attracting, hiring, and retaining top talent.Searching for a new partner or co-founder.It’s also smart to write a business plan when you’re: Over the long term, it’ll keep you focused on what needs to be accomplished. Perhaps the strongest evidence comes from the Journal of Business Venturing’s 2010 meta-analysis of 46 separate studies on 11,046 organizations: Its findings confirm that “business planning increases the performance of both new and established small firms.”īefore you leave a nine-to-five income, your business plan can tell you if you’re ready. Entrepreneurs with a business plan have a 129% increased likelihood of growing beyond the startup phase and a 260% increased likelihood of growing from “idea” to “new business.”.Owners with business plans are twice as likely to grow, get investments, or secure loans than those without.

Businesses with a business plan grow 30% faster than those without.

In 2018, entrepreneurial resource center Bplans worked with the University of Oregon to compile and analyze research around the benefits of business planning. Not only does a business plan help you focus on concrete objectives, but it gives outside parties reassurance that you’ve thought ahead. You need a business plan because the majority of venture capitalists (VCs) and all banking institutions will not invest in a startup or small business without a solid, written plan.

Scalability: Can you grow sales volume without proportional growth in headcount and fixed costs?Ī templated business plan gives investors a blueprint of what to expect from your company and tells them about you as an entrepreneur.

A solid team in place: Do you have the people you need to support your goals and objectives?.

Product-market fit: Have you done the research to determine the demand for your product or service?.

Business plan budget template