Your business plan is an invaluable roadmap for launching and growing your business. Not only will it help you spot potential weaknesses, opportunities, and threats, but it can also help you make informed decisions about your venture before you commit legally or financially. Before putting your business concept on paper, you should think and research all the factors you need to succeed. In this article, we’ve summarized the seven key sections of a business plan to help you get started on the right track.
But first, get started by downloading our Business Plan Template and Cashflow Forecasting Tool.
1. Executive Summary
Your executive summary should be one to two pages long, and provide an overview of your:
- Business concept
- Key objectives of your business and your plan
- Ownership structure
- Management team
- Product or service offerings
- Target market(s)
- Competitive advantages
- Marketing strategy
- Financial projections
Your executive summary should be written last. Each paragraph should summarize the more detailed, related sections of the plan.
2. Business Overview
Include details regarding your business’ history, vision, mission, objectives, and ownership structure.
3. Products and Services
Expand upon your products and services, including their features, benefits, competitive advantages, and, if marketing a product, how and where your products will be produced.
4. Industry Overview
The industry overview is your opportunity to demonstrate the viability of your business by discussing the size and growth of your industry, key markets within it, how your customers will buy your products or services, and which markets you’ll be targeting.
5. Marketing Strategy
Here, you’ll describe your target market segments, competition, how you’ll differentiate your products or services, and your unique selling proposition (USP). It should include the following:
- A discussion of your product or service pricing and promotion, including how your promotional programs will appeal to each of your target market segments.
- A plan of traditional and guerrilla marketing tactics, such as tradeshows, press-magnet events, social media marketing, networking, print, media, and online advertising. Include the costs associated with each strategy.
- A description of how your products or services will be sold, such as from a storefront, online, or wholesalers, as well as your target markets’ buying cycle.
6. Operations Plan
Provide a profile of your management team, human resources plan, business location(s) and facilities, production plan (if selling a product), and an overview of day-to-day operations.
7. Financial Plan
Some believe that this is the most important part of a plan – so much so, that it’s worth dedicating up to 80 percent of your time to writing it.
You’ll need to show three years of projected financial statements, including income statements, pro-forma balance sheets, as well as monthly and annual cash flow statements. Summarize each statement into a few simple sentences and put them all on a cover page. Be sure to document all of the assumptions used in forecasting your revenues and expenses.
Need More Guidance?
Get started on your business plan by downloading our Business Plan Template and Cashflow Forecasting Tool.
Small Business BC Awards – Win a Cash Prize of $5,000
The 2024 Small Business BC Awards are here, with four opportunities for BC small businesses to win a cash prize of $5,000. From now until August 16th, enter your business, or a business you love, and don’t miss out on this opportunity to celebrate small business success.
Small Business BC is Here to Help
SBBC is a non-profit resource centre for BC-based small businesses. Whatever your idea of success is, we’re here to provide holistic support and resources at every step of the journey. Check out our range of business webinars, on-demand E-Learning Education, our Talk to an Expert Advisories, or browse our business articles.
