Business Plan Template

Business plans can assist individuals who develop and read them with a variety of duties. Entrepreneurs looking for investment use them to explain their concepts to potential backers. They may also be used by businesses looking to recruit key personnel, pursue new business, interact with suppliers, or just learn how to run their businesses more effectively. 

Executive Summary

It is an important document, especially for new businesses. It defines the goal of your company, the products or services you aim to offer, how you intend to maintain it, and other details. A strong business plan will not only assist you in obtaining money but will also assist you in managing your company since it contains all the steps and data required to launch and run your company. 

Business Description

In this section, you have to explain the basic elements of your business. For example, 

What is your business about?

What will be your main products and services?

What are your business goals and objectives? 

Company Purpose

Here you need to specify your long-term goals and short-term goals. Along with the benchmarks you will use to measure your business progress. 

Our Mission

This section will represent the mission statement of your business. A mission statement is a brief explanation of your business’s main target or objective. It is best to keep your mission statement short and crisp as a marketing aspect.  

Our Vision

Vision refers to the long-term perspective of your business. For example, what exactly do you want to become or want to achieve ultimately?

Core Values

Core values are important personal ideals, principles, or behaviors that shape how people live their life. Core values are guiding concepts that help a team of people achieves a shared goal while they are working together in a business setting. When choosing how to act in regard to company and consumer relationships, core values are taken into consideration.

They influence a company's strategy and decision-making process, which helps it grow and determines its future. A company's core principles serve to remind its stakeholders how to function as a team, which in turn fosters trust and a sense of community. Any firm should uphold and put its core beliefs into practice. 

Location of business

In this part, first, you need to mention what place/location you have picked for your business to conduct. Then you have to explain why this selected location is appropriate for your business.

Target Market

Target market means a specific group of people to whom your business would sell products and services, and it means the ideal customer group for your specific product or service. You can have many aspects included in your target market, and you can also have more than one target market group. 

When a business creates, packages, and advertises its product, determining the target market is a crucial step in the decision-making process. 

The demographic and individual groups that the company is aiming to attract as potential consumers are referred to as its target market. People's ages, locations, occupations, income levels, and other factors might all be included. 

Products and Services

Describe your products and services in detail. Firstly, you need to explain what are the key features of the product. Secondly, you need to explain its benefits to the targeted consumers.  

Marketing Plan

An organization's advertising strategy for generating leads and reaching its target market is outlined in a marketing plan, which is a practical document. A marketing strategy outlines the outreach and programs that will be run over time, as well as how the business will evaluate its success. 

Competitor Analysis

A competitor’s analysis has to be conducted by collecting every possible competitor’s data, such as their product price, business size, market presence, marketing strategy, and several other aspects. 

Sales Channel

We believe businesses that use channel partners should start incorporating channel management into larger corporate infrastructure applications, such as the supply chain. Under this header, you need to mention the distribution channels of your business. For instance, wholesale, direct sales, retail, eCommerce, inside sales force, etc. 

Startup Costs

You will need to make a different investment depending on the franchise/business opportunity, so you need to have a thorough awareness of the costs to make sure you aren't stretched too thin. Consider how much money you will need for personal obligations because it could be challenging to start drawing a salary at first. It's a good idea to keep some money in reserve that you can use if the startup of the firm takes longer than anticipated.

Costs and Projections

This part will represent the expected capital that you will need for the business. For instance, 

-How much is the entire cost of the franchise? What exactly does the package consist of, and how much operating capital is needed? Are there any other costs? Examine the value for your money.

-What are the current fees? Expenses for management services, markups on goods or services, advertising fees, and any other expenses.

-Which financial ratios are important? Gross profit margin, common overheads, anticipated net profit, stock turnover, days with delinquent accounts, and break-even point. Are they plausible?

Pricing Strategy

In marketing, the pricing strategy is simply changing prices in response to market factors. Mention your planned pricing strategy for the business that seems effective for you. 

Price is the value that a person, using information from a study, allocates to a good or service. A pricing plan takes into account factors including competitive pressure, consumer willingness to pay, market conditions, trade margins, costs incurred, etc. Pricing entails determining a cost for the ownership and use of items. 

Inventory

The daily operations of many businesses depend heavily on inventory, and the amount of inventory a company has is listed as an asset on the balance sheet. One of the key methods a business uses to enhance prospective sales is inventory management. 

Financial plan

No matter how good your business idea is, its ability to make money will determine whether it succeeds or fails. Individuals desire to collaborate with a company they anticipate will be sustainable for the near future, despite the effort, energy, and capital they have already put in.

Your audience and your objectives will determine the level of detail needed in your financial plan, but you should normally include an income statement, a balance sheet, and a cash-flow statement as the three main views of your finances. Financial forecasts might also be essential to include.

Income statement

Readers can view your sources of income and outlays on your income statement for a specific time period. Show the crucial bottom line, or the earnings or losses your organization made during that time, using those two data points. If you haven't started running your company yet, you can still create a prediction using the same data.

Balance sheet

Your balance sheet offers a look at how much equity you have in your business. On one side, you list all your business assets (what you own), and on the other side, all your liabilities (what you owe). That provides a snapshot of your business’ shareholder equity which is calculated as

Cash-flow statement

Your cash-flow statement is similar to your income statement, with one important difference, and it takes into account when revenues are collected and when expenses are paid.

Your cash flow is positive when it exceeds the amount of money leaving your business, and your cash flow is negative if the opposite is true. Your cash flow statement should ideally show you when cash is low, when you may have a surplus, and when you might need to have a backup funding source to make your business solvent. \

Break-Even Projection

You should be able to determine the date your business breaks even—the day when you start making more money than you are losing—if you did a decent job predicting your sales and expenses and entering the information into a spreadsheet.

Although this is not expected to happen right away for a new company, potential investors want to see that you have a target date in mind and that you can back up that forecast with the data you've provided in the business plan's financial section.

Implementation Plan

Timeline and Milestones:

This section provides a detailed timeline and identifies key milestones for the implementation of the business plan. It specifies the specific dates or timeframes for important tasks, activities, and goals. The timeline serves as a roadmap, ensuring that activities are executed within the allocated time. Milestones act as significant markers of progress towards achieving the business objectives. By establishing a clear timeline and milestones, the implementation plan becomes well-structured and facilitates effective tracking of progress.

Action Plan:

The action plan delineates the step-by-step approach and tasks required to successfully implement the business plan. It breaks down the overall goals into actionable items, assigns responsibilities to team members, and sets deadlines for each task. The action plan should encompass various aspects of the business, such as operations, marketing, sales, finance, and other pertinent areas. By having a comprehensive action plan, the team can coordinate and execute tasks efficiently, ensuring the smooth execution of the business plan.

Resource Allocation:

This section focuses on the allocation of resources necessary for the implementation of the business plan. It identifies the required resources, including financial resources, human capital, equipment, technology, and any other assets needed to effectively carry out the plan. The resource allocation plan outlines how resources will be obtained, utilized, and managed throughout the implementation process. It ensures that the necessary resources are available and optimally utilized to achieve the desired outcomes.

Monitoring and Evaluation:

Monitoring and evaluation play a crucial role in assessing the progress, effectiveness, and impact of the implementation plan. This section specifies the methods and metrics that will be employed to monitor the implementation process and evaluate its outcomes. It may include key performance indicators (KPIs), milestone tracking, regular progress reporting, periodic reviews, and feedback mechanisms. By continuously monitoring and evaluating the implementation, the business can identify areas for improvement, address challenges, and make necessary adjustments to stay on track and achieve the desired results.

Conclusion

Just summarize the main points you covered in the previous section. Mention why this business will be beneficial and a success. 

Confidentiality

This clause means that the recipient understands and agrees to not disclose or use the business plan or any confidential business information for personal benefit.

Notices

The parties need to mention their registered/permanent address for any communication from the other side.

Applicable Law

This clause states that the business plan made by the parties shall be governed and interpreted as per the laws of the State, which are applicable to them. 

Appendix

Your business plan's appendix is not by any means a compulsory chapter. In contrast, it is a helpful location to incorporate any diagrams, tables, definitions, legal notes, or other pertinent data that felt either too lengthy or inappropriate to present elsewhere in your business plan. This is the place to mention any information regarding patents, patent applications, or product illustrations.

FAQs

1. What is a business plan template?

An outline for a description of your company's specifics, goals, and the quantifiable activities you intend to take to reach them can be found in a business plan template. A business strategy, which should form the basis of your pitch deck, is essential to securing finance for your company.  

2. Is a business plan a legal requirement?

The creation of a business plan is strongly advised before attempting to get funding, searching for office space, or even choosing a company name, even if it is not technically necessary.  

3. Can you pay someone to write your business plan?

Don't hire someone to develop your business plan if they don't understand what potential investors are looking for. If you want to raise money, you need someone to assist you in writing your business plan who is aware of what potential investors are looking for.