how long a business plan should be

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How to Write a Business Plan, Step by Step

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What is a business plan?

1. write an executive summary, 2. describe your company, 3. state your business goals, 4. describe your products and services, 5. do your market research, 6. outline your marketing and sales plan, 7. perform a business financial analysis, 8. make financial projections, 9. summarize how your company operates, 10. add any additional information to an appendix, business plan tips and resources.

A business plan outlines your business’s financial goals and explains how you’ll achieve them over the next three to five years. Here’s a step-by-step guide to writing a business plan that will offer a strong, detailed road map for your business.

ZenBusiness

A business plan is a document that explains what your business does, how it makes money and who its customers are. Internally, writing a business plan should help you clarify your vision and organize your operations. Externally, you can share it with potential lenders and investors to show them you’re on the right track.

Business plans are living documents; it’s OK for them to change over time. Startups may update their business plans often as they figure out who their customers are and what products and services fit them best. Mature companies might only revisit their business plan every few years. Regardless of your business’s age, brush up this document before you apply for a business loan .

» Need help writing? Learn about the best business plan software .

This is your elevator pitch. It should include a mission statement, a brief description of the products or services your business offers and a broad summary of your financial growth plans.

Though the executive summary is the first thing your investors will read, it can be easier to write it last. That way, you can highlight information you’ve identified while writing other sections that go into more detail.

» MORE: How to write an executive summary in 6 steps

Next up is your company description. This should contain basic information like:

Your business’s registered name.

Address of your business location .

Names of key people in the business. Make sure to highlight unique skills or technical expertise among members of your team.

Your company description should also define your business structure — such as a sole proprietorship, partnership or corporation — and include the percent ownership that each owner has and the extent of each owner’s involvement in the company.

Lastly, write a little about the history of your company and the nature of your business now. This prepares the reader to learn about your goals in the next section.

» MORE: How to write a company overview for a business plan

The third part of a business plan is an objective statement. This section spells out what you’d like to accomplish, both in the near term and over the coming years.

If you’re looking for a business loan or outside investment, you can use this section to explain how the financing will help your business grow and how you plan to achieve those growth targets. The key is to provide a clear explanation of the opportunity your business presents to the lender.

For example, if your business is launching a second product line, you might explain how the loan will help your company launch that new product and how much you think sales will increase over the next three years as a result.

» MORE: How to write a successful business plan for a loan

In this section, go into detail about the products or services you offer or plan to offer.

You should include the following:

An explanation of how your product or service works.

The pricing model for your product or service.

The typical customers you serve.

Your supply chain and order fulfillment strategy.

You can also discuss current or pending trademarks and patents associated with your product or service.

Lenders and investors will want to know what sets your product apart from your competition. In your market analysis section , explain who your competitors are. Discuss what they do well, and point out what you can do better. If you’re serving a different or underserved market, explain that.

Here, you can address how you plan to persuade customers to buy your products or services, or how you will develop customer loyalty that will lead to repeat business.

Include details about your sales and distribution strategies, including the costs involved in selling each product .

» MORE: R e a d our complete guide to small business marketing

If you’re a startup, you may not have much information on your business financials yet. However, if you’re an existing business, you’ll want to include income or profit-and-loss statements, a balance sheet that lists your assets and debts, and a cash flow statement that shows how cash comes into and goes out of the company.

Accounting software may be able to generate these reports for you. It may also help you calculate metrics such as:

Net profit margin: the percentage of revenue you keep as net income.

Current ratio: the measurement of your liquidity and ability to repay debts.

Accounts receivable turnover ratio: a measurement of how frequently you collect on receivables per year.

This is a great place to include charts and graphs that make it easy for those reading your plan to understand the financial health of your business.

This is a critical part of your business plan if you’re seeking financing or investors. It outlines how your business will generate enough profit to repay the loan or how you will earn a decent return for investors.

Here, you’ll provide your business’s monthly or quarterly sales, expenses and profit estimates over at least a three-year period — with the future numbers assuming you’ve obtained a new loan.

Accuracy is key, so carefully analyze your past financial statements before giving projections. Your goals may be aggressive, but they should also be realistic.

NerdWallet’s picks for setting up your business finances:

The best business checking accounts .

The best business credit cards .

The best accounting software .

Before the end of your business plan, summarize how your business is structured and outline each team’s responsibilities. This will help your readers understand who performs each of the functions you’ve described above — making and selling your products or services — and how much each of those functions cost.

If any of your employees have exceptional skills, you may want to include their resumes to help explain the competitive advantage they give you.

Finally, attach any supporting information or additional materials that you couldn’t fit in elsewhere. That might include:

Licenses and permits.

Equipment leases.

Bank statements.

Details of your personal and business credit history, if you’re seeking financing.

If the appendix is long, you may want to consider adding a table of contents at the beginning of this section.

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.

Here are some tips to write a detailed, convincing business plan:

Avoid over-optimism: If you’re applying for a business bank loan or professional investment, someone will be reading your business plan closely. Providing unreasonable sales estimates can hurt your chances of approval.

Proofread: Spelling, punctuation and grammatical errors can jump off the page and turn off lenders and prospective investors. If writing and editing aren't your strong suit, you may want to hire a professional business plan writer, copy editor or proofreader.

Use free resources: SCORE is a nonprofit association that offers a large network of volunteer business mentors and experts who can help you write or edit your business plan. The U.S. Small Business Administration’s Small Business Development Centers , which provide free business consulting and help with business plan development, can also be a resource.

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What Is a Business Plan?

Understanding business plans, how to write a business plan, common elements of a business plan, how often should a business plan be updated, the bottom line, business plan: what it is, what's included, and how to write one.

Adam Hayes, Ph.D., CFA, is a financial writer with 15+ years Wall Street experience as a derivatives trader. Besides his extensive derivative trading expertise, Adam is an expert in economics and behavioral finance. Adam received his master's in economics from The New School for Social Research and his Ph.D. from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in sociology. He is a CFA charterholder as well as holding FINRA Series 7, 55 & 63 licenses. He currently researches and teaches economic sociology and the social studies of finance at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem.

A business plan is a document that details a company's goals and how it intends to achieve them. Business plans can be of benefit to both startups and well-established companies. For startups, a business plan can be essential for winning over potential lenders and investors. Established businesses can find one useful for staying on track and not losing sight of their goals. This article explains what an effective business plan needs to include and how to write one.

Key Takeaways

• A business plan is a document describing a company's business activities and how it plans to achieve its goals.
• Startup companies use business plans to get off the ground and attract outside investors.
• For established companies, a business plan can help keep the executive team focused on and working toward the company's short- and long-term objectives.
• There is no single format that a business plan must follow, but there are certain key elements that most companies will want to include.

Investopedia / Ryan Oakley

Any new business should have a business plan in place prior to beginning operations. In fact, banks and venture capital firms often want to see a business plan before they'll consider making a loan or providing capital to new businesses.

Even if a business isn't looking to raise additional money, a business plan can help it focus on its goals. A 2017 Harvard Business Review article reported that, "Entrepreneurs who write formal plans are 16% more likely to achieve viability than the otherwise identical nonplanning entrepreneurs."

Ideally, a business plan should be reviewed and updated periodically to reflect any goals that have been achieved or that may have changed. An established business that has decided to move in a new direction might create an entirely new business plan for itself.

There are numerous benefits to creating (and sticking to) a well-conceived business plan. These include being able to think through ideas before investing too much money in them and highlighting any potential obstacles to success. A company might also share its business plan with trusted outsiders to get their objective feedback. In addition, a business plan can help keep a company's executive team on the same page about strategic action items and priorities.

Business plans, even among competitors in the same industry, are rarely identical. However, they often have some of the same basic elements, as we describe below.

While it's a good idea to provide as much detail as necessary, it's also important that a business plan be concise enough to hold a reader's attention to the end.

While there are any number of templates that you can use to write a business plan, it's best to try to avoid producing a generic-looking one. Let your plan reflect the unique personality of your business.

Many business plans use some combination of the sections below, with varying levels of detail, depending on the company.

The length of a business plan can vary greatly from business to business. Regardless, it's best to fit the basic information into a 15- to 25-page document. Other crucial elements that take up a lot of space—such as applications for patents—can be referenced in the main document and attached as appendices.

These are some of the most common elements in many business plans:

• Executive summary: This section introduces the company and includes its mission statement along with relevant information about the company's leadership, employees, operations, and locations.
• Products and services: Here, the company should describe the products and services it offers or plans to introduce. That might include details on pricing, product lifespan, and unique benefits to the consumer. Other factors that could go into this section include production and manufacturing processes, any relevant patents the company may have, as well as proprietary technology . Information about research and development (R&D) can also be included here.
• Market analysis: A company needs to have a good handle on the current state of its industry and the existing competition. This section should explain where the company fits in, what types of customers it plans to target, and how easy or difficult it may be to take market share from incumbents.
• Marketing strategy: This section can describe how the company plans to attract and keep customers, including any anticipated advertising and marketing campaigns. It should also describe the distribution channel or channels it will use to get its products or services to consumers.
• Financial plans and projections: Established businesses can include financial statements, balance sheets, and other relevant financial information. New businesses can provide financial targets and estimates for the first few years. Your plan might also include any funding requests you're making.

The best business plans aren't generic ones created from easily accessed templates. A company should aim to entice readers with a plan that demonstrates its uniqueness and potential for success.

2 Types of Business Plans

Business plans can take many forms, but they are sometimes divided into two basic categories: traditional and lean startup. According to the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) , the traditional business plan is the more common of the two.

• Traditional business plans : These plans tend to be much longer than lean startup plans and contain considerably more detail. As a result they require more work on the part of the business, but they can also be more persuasive (and reassuring) to potential investors.
• Lean startup business plans : These use an abbreviated structure that highlights key elements. These business plans are short—as short as one page—and provide only the most basic detail. If a company wants to use this kind of plan, it should be prepared to provide more detail if an investor or a lender requests it.

Why Do Business Plans Fail?

A business plan is not a surefire recipe for success. The plan may have been unrealistic in its assumptions and projections to begin with. Markets and the overall economy might change in ways that couldn't have been foreseen. A competitor might introduce a revolutionary new product or service. All of this calls for building some flexibility into your plan, so you can pivot to a new course if needed.

How frequently a business plan needs to be revised will depend on the nature of the business. A well-established business might want to review its plan once a year and make changes if necessary. A new or fast-growing business in a fiercely competitive market might want to revise it more often, such as quarterly.

What Does a Lean Startup Business Plan Include?

The lean startup business plan is an option when a company prefers to give a quick explanation of its business. For example, a brand-new company may feel that it doesn't have a lot of information to provide yet.

Sections can include: a value proposition ; the company's major activities and advantages; resources such as staff, intellectual property, and capital; a list of partnerships; customer segments; and revenue sources.

A business plan can be useful to companies of all kinds. But as a company grows and the world around it changes, so too should its business plan. So don't think of your business plan as carved in granite but as a living document designed to evolve with your business.

Harvard Business Review. " Research: Writing a Business Plan Makes Your Startup More Likely to Succeed ."

U.S. Small Business Administration. " Write Your Business Plan ."

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Business Plan Length: How Long Should a Business Plan Be?

Fifteen to 25 pages is enough room to explain your business’ vision and excite readers to support your company. Importantly, your business plan is not supposed to answer every question someone might possibly have about your business. Rather, it is to give the reader a solid understanding of your business, and allow them to make an informed decision as to whether they should meet with you to take next steps such as to fund or partner with your business.

Having written thousands of business plans over the past 20+ years, Growthink’s business plan consultants have found 15 to 25 pages of text to be the sweet spot. Any more and the time-constrained investor will be forced to skim certain sections of the plan, even if they are generally interested, which could lead them to miss essential information. Any less and the investor will think that the business has not been fully thought through, or will simply not have enough information to make an investment decision.

Download our Ultimate Business Plan Template here

These essential components, taken from our best business plan template , are as follows:

• Executive Summary
• Company Overview
• Industry Analysis
• Customer Analysis
• Competitive Analysis
• Marketing Plan
• Operations Plan
• Management Team
• Financial Plan

Business plans, like other marketing communications documents, should be visually appealing and easy-to-read. This can be accomplished by using charts and graphics and by formatting the plan for readability. Effectively using these techniques will enable the investor to more quickly and easily understand the company’s value proposition within fewer pages.

While a business plan writer should make the body of document between 15 and 25 pages, the Appendix can be used for supplemental information, thus potentially making your full plan longer.

The Appendix should include a full set of financial projections, and as appropriate, technical and/or operational drawings, partnership and/or customer agreements, expanded competitor reviews, and lists of key customers among others.

If the Appendix is long, if you a printing it out, a divider should be used to separate it from the body of the plan, or a separate Appendix document should be prepared. These techniques ensure that the investor is not handed a thick plan, which will make them queasy before even opening it up.

To summarize, the goal of your plan is to create interest – not to have an investor write you a check.

In creating interest, the full story of your company need not be told. Rather, the plan should include the essential elements regarding why an investor should invest and spend more time examining the business opportunity.

The shorter length does not mean that your plan should take less time to prepare. Rather, the entire process will take more time. As Mark Twain once said, “If I had more time, I would write a shorter story.”

So, in answering how long should a business plan be, you can keep it short, yet quite compelling and comprehensive. While condensing your plan to a concise, strong document is challenging and time consuming, fortunately the rewards are significant.

How to Finish Your Business Plan in 1 Day!

Don’t you wish there was a faster, easier way to finish your business plan?

With Growthink’s Ultimate Business Plan Template you can finish your plan in just 8 hours or less!

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When Should Entrepreneurs Write Their Business Plans?

• Francis J. Greene
• Christian Hopp

Don’t write a plan before you understand your customer.

It pays to plan. Entrepreneurs who write business plans are more likely to succeed, according to research. But while this might tempt some entrepreneurs to make writing a plan their very first task, a subsequent study shows that writing a plan first is a really bad idea. It is much better to wait, not to devote too much time to writing the plan, and, crucially, to synchronize the plan with other key startup activities.

It pays to plan. Entrepreneurs who write business plans are more likely to succeed, according to our research, described in an earlier piece for Harvard Business Review . But while this might tempt some entrepreneurs to make writing a plan their very first task, our subsequent study shows that writing a plan first is a really bad idea. It is much better to wait, not to devote too much time to writing the plan, and, crucially, to synchronize the plan with other key startup activities.

• FG Francis J. Greene is Chair in Entrepreneurship in the University of Edinburgh Business School.
• CH Christian Hopp is Chair in Technology Entrepreneurship in the TIME Research Area, the Faculty of Business and Economics, RWTH Aachen University.

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Ask The Experts: How Long Should A Business Plan Be?

Business planning can be confusing, and one of the questions that entrepreneurs often ponder is, “how long should a business plan be?”

Asking around doesn’t seem to help much. One camp of people believes that a business plan should be a single page, while the other camp believes that a business plan should be comprehensive and extremely detailed.

The truth is, there is no perfect answer to this question. A plan should be as long as is needed to fulfill its purpose – and not everyone has the same objective when developing a business plan.

Each business plan is unique. While some plans may be text-heavy and go into deep detail with research about its market, others may use graphics to get their points across. The way a business plan writer presents their information can drastically affect the overall length of their business plan.

Does business plan length matter? Yes, but the length of your business plan is highly dependent upon your business, your audience, your writing style, and the type of plan you are developing.

The One-Page Business Plan

Over the last several years, the one-page business plan has become more and more popular as an introduction tool. Very similar to a standard executive summary, a one-page business plan summarizes the important points of the business into a single page. This  business plan format  is extremely digestible but isn’t acceptable for all situations.  

The most applicable scenario for a one-page business plan is for introducing an investor (or another party) to a business that they are unfamiliar with. With only one page, it isn’t too time-consuming for them to read, and provides just enough information to spark their curiosity.

When building your one-page business plan, it is important to realize that a single page does not leave much room for extreme detail. With a one-pager, you will have to choose the elements that are most important and the information that will best describe your business to drive the interest of readers.

However, for an investor who is already curious about your business and seeking to learn about it in detail, a one-page business plan is often not enough. Unfortunately, a business plan of this length does not provide enough context to get into the fine details of your overall strategy.

Is a one-page business plan right for you? Consider the following pros and cons.

• Easy to put together quickly when in a pinch.
• Provides just enough content for readers to easily digest.
• Allows entrepreneurs to explain the market problem, their solution and their strategy for reaching the market.
• Often does not provide enough context for readers to fully understand your business.
• If investors are interested after reading the one-pager, they will likely request a more comprehensive business plan.
• A one-page business plan doesn’t provide enough research and won’t prove the feasibility of a company.

The Mini Business Plan

A “mini business plan” is typically around 1-10 pages and provides much of the same information as a comprehensive business plan. However, the information is condensed and minimizes all fine details and explanations.

A mini business plan cuts to the chase, often using bullet points to fulfill the section. While it includes some of the same information, it doesn’t replace a comprehensive plan. It is perfect in a situation where more detail is required to prove the feasibility of the business but immense detail is not yet necessary.

For example, if an entrepreneur has already shared their one-page plan, but the investor requests more information, a mini business plan can be sent. This version will include more extensive information including the problem, solution, marketing strategy, financial projections, and financial requirements.

Is a mini business plan right for you? Consider the following pros and cons.

• Much more inclusive than a one-pager, but easier to digest than a comprehensive business plan.
• Provides a better balance between document length and business information.
• Can be written within several days.
• Meant for brevity. Does not give enough room to thoroughly explain the major points within the plan.
• Typically excludes certain information such as an operational strategy, exit strategy, and etc.
• Provides a strong introduction to the business, but does not typically include enough research or background information to prove feasibility.

The Comprehensive Business Plan

Comprehensive business plans are full-scale plans that can be anywhere from 15-35 pages and beyond. This business plan gives readers a full view of the business including the market problem, the solution, company mission, objectives and goals, marketing strategy, competitive analysis, operational strategy, financial projections, management team, financial ask, and more.

A comprehensive plan begins with an executive summary (similar to the one-page business plan) and then expands on the summary with details and supporting information. This plan tells the story of the business, connects the entire strategy together, and provides the necessary research to validate the entire idea.

However, comprehensive business plans have their place. Virtually no one will read a 35-page document with no prior knowledge of the business. Instead, these business plans are best given on request, and after a one-page or mini-business plan has already been sent. When  raising seed funding , a comprehensive business plan provides investors with a full scope of the business.

Is writing a comprehensive business plan right for you? Consider the following pros and cons.

• Provides the most detail and information with supporting research and data using text, pie charts , and other visual aids.
• Examines every aspect of the business with a solid go-to-market strategy.
• Gives the most context and answers reader’s questions with full detail.
• Readers may not read through the entire plan and flip directly to specific sections.
• Comprehensive plans require thorough research and preparation and may take weeks to fully complete.
• Plans must be extremely informative and be presented in a way that captures the reader’s attention. If they get bored while reading, they may miss important points.

What Type of Plan Do You Need?

Many entrepreneurs only complete one business plan, and they send that one business plan out for every situation. Unfortunately, this is not an effective method. Instead, entrepreneurs should have all three types of business plans in their arsenal and be able to supply the right business plan when needed. The length of your plan isn’t what’s most important – knowing what type of plan to use, and when, is what will give you an advantage when seeking funding.

Whether you need a one-pager, a mini-plan, or a full-scale comprehensive business plan, we can help. Our experts have written hundreds of winning business plans for startups around the world. We’d love to help you, too.  Contact us  today and let’s write your investor-ready business plan!

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Does your business plan need a push?

Writting a business plan can be a springboard exercise for your business, and it's not as difficult as people think. All it takes is a bit of method, and some efficient tools. The good news our free articles and paid course have you covered!

Resources on Business Plan Writing :

An article of the Accelerated MBA written by:

Antoine Martin (Ph.D) | Business coach

Is this article relevant? Share it & help someone!

In this article:

How long should a business plan be hint: smart is better than short.

How long should a business plan be? That question is typical, and every entrepreneur or business owner involved in a business plan writing process has to answer it sooner than later.

The stakes are high. If you consider that investors and bankers are permanently solicited and thus have a ton of business proposals on their desk (let alone in their inbox), then the quality, the ease of reading, and the length of a business plan are crucial. Not to say vital.

Is your business plan too long to read? You’re out.

Is it boring to read? Out.

Not visual enough? Out.

Not teasing enough? Out.

Not aligned with the code everyone expects you to follow?

Long story short? Business plan writing is a codified exercise, so your interlocutors will have specific (and standard) expectations as to what they want to read. And your job as the business owner is to provide them with just that.

Before getting into typical and ideal business plan lengths, let me give you a quick background reminder, though.

First, this article is part of a more extensive series of articles written to share  tips on how to write a business plan people will want to read . As business coaches, we repeatedly answer the same questions, and coming up with these resources felt logical. So please give them a look!

Second, in case the articles are not enough and you want to get your own business plan ready in no time, we also created  a very efficient business plan template and module (The Business Plan Builder)  to get you going fast, with two hours of business coaching videos, a template you can use immediately, automated financial tables and two designer-made renderings you’ll be able to adapt to your liking. The module will get you going immediately and pays for itself in no time. You have no excuse!

Back to our question now: how long should a business plan be?

In this article, we’ll give you various elements of answer.

We’ll answer the question the best we can, but we’ll also go through a brief reality check to tell you how long a typical business plan is (as compared to an ideal one) and how many pages yours should be if you want to give your business a chance with investors.

We’ll also talk briefly about the importance of pitching your operational plan in your business plan. Finally, we’ll conclude with some hints about the importance of storytelling.

Sounds good? Let’s get going.

The stake: How long should a business plan be?

So, how long should a business plan be, then? Well. Let us come back to the basics:  what is a business plan for? A business plan is an excuse to tell a story people about your business that people will want to remember.

How does that translate in terms of length? Your document should be long enough to convey your story and message. But it should also be short enough to keep people focused and attentive.

That’s not helping too much, we know. But read again. The answer is there (and in the next section, so keep reading).

Your document should be long enough to convey your story and message. If you get people excited about your project with just one page: fantastic. And if you need a few pages to get the same result, that’s fine too.

Your goal is to get people on board, so the stake is to pitch your story in just the right amount of words and pages needed to tease and get the excitement through. Once that occurs, your reader will ask you for more information, which gets you to second base. And then you’ll be able to get the relationship going.

However, there is no point in putting absolutely everything about your business in your business plan document. If the business plan is too long, you’ll lose your reader. And if the design is boring (i.e., black text on a white page), you’ll also lose the reader.

Having said that, the point is obviously not to start printing your business plan in blue on a pink background. It is to turn your business plan into something fancy to read. More on that later, but in short, you have everything to lose in not being concise and teasing!

So – how long is a business plan? Long enough to tease and turn people on. Short enough to keep them focused. That’s it. Period!

Okay, that’s still vague, so we’re going to give you the number you want. Keep reading.

Reality check: how long is a typical business plan, and how many pages should a business plan be?

Ready for the number you’re looking for?

Seven pages, plus the cover page (obviously) and the financial statements in an annex. That’s how long your business plan should be. Not less, not more. Here’s why.

So, how many pages should a business plan be?

As I’ve suggested before, your readers – investors and bankers – expect your business plan to match a code everyone in the industry abides by.

That code is there for a reason. It creates a standardized best practice that shows who’s done their research or not (insights on the investor’s side). And it gives business owners a framework to work with to structure their thinking (insights on the business owner’s side).

According to that code, your business plan should follow a precise outline and include the following seven points (and recommended pages):

• An executive summary
• A big picture presentation of the issue solved by the business idea
• A description of your offering (the products & services) and target market analysis
• A go-to-market strategy presentation (your business model, marketing plan…)
• An operations presentation (including the company description)
• A presentation of your management team
• Your financial plan & projections, plus the corresponding financial documents & cash flow projections

All of them. Not less, not more. Seven!

And, because you don’t want people to die out of boredom, you want each topic covered over one page tops! So, seven topics, seven pages. Plus a cover page and the financial tables, which, as we just said, can be provided in the annex.

If you want to learn more about  business plan outlines and formatting , we wrote an entire article on the topic – follow the link.

How long is a typical business plan?

In comparison, though, the typical business plan is long, bland, and boring.

Most business owners are not aware of the code part of the exercise. Therefore, they have no idea about what they are expected to do. So they think a bit, try and find a free template and write their thoughts without being too careful about the amount of text they’re using.

Walk a mile in your investor’s shoes: how’s that type of business plan looking to you?

Yes, exactly.

The good news, though, is that you have a chance to stand out from the crowd now that you know. So what are you waiting for? It’s time to get started!

Beware of the one-page business plan trap!

Right. Before moving on to the next step – let me finish this point with a short comment on one-page business plans.

Long story short? These can be highly efficient as teasers if (if if if) you have a real strategic plan for your business and you can really (really really really) defend that strategic plan. Otherwise, just a page will lack depth and will likely be pointless.

Or, said differently, the stake is not to do a quick and dirty plan on a page. Instead, it is first to build an elaborate plan that allows you to consider your options for real. And then, to go straight to the point on one page designed to sell your story and tease your reader so bad they’ll want to know more. The logic is really close to the one you’d typically want to use to  create the executive summary of a business plan . Can you see the difference?

To explore the topic in more depth, We’ve also published an article to explain  how to use one page business plans  (and why they can be a trap). Have a look and see for yourself!

In short: How many pages is a business plan?

• The typical business plan is usually way too long
• Your ideal business plan should be concise: it’s a pitch and a teaser!
• Aim for seven key topics, developed on seven pages. Period.

Pitching your operational plan in your business plan is critical.

So we just gave you a framework here: seven key topics, seven pages to tell a story and tease. But what’s the reader looking for exactly?

Again, it depends on who you are talking to.

Suppose you are looking to  write a business plan for a loan . In that case, your interlocutor is likely to be a banker – and their expectations are very specific. We dedicated an article to the topic (follow the link), so I’ll be brief.

A banker wants to see that the operational plan in your business plan will enable you to repay the loan asap. The point, therefore, is to make sure that your seven pages build confidence in your ability to deliver on that.

Now suppose that you are looking to  write an investor proposal . The perspective is dramatically different. An investor is not expecting you to repay a loan. Instead, they expect you to generate profit so they can get their money back a few years from now with an X factor as significant as possible.

There, the point is to show that  the operational plan in your business plan  is (beyond) likely to generate the drive needed to make a profit that makes their investment worthwhile.

As far as the length of your business plan document is concerned, your job is, therefore, to optimize the storytelling power of your presentation. Written and oral.

Again, the point is not to expend the document as much as needed to stuff everything inside it. Instead, it is to tweak and tailor your arguments to fit them nicely into your space. One page for one topic.

Ultimately, the goal is to tease and give people a reason to invite you to the next meeting, so be selective!

How to make the financial projections fit?

Financial projections are an essential component of your business plan  if you remember the list of topics and pages we provided earlier. Still, if you only have one page dedicated to the subject, how do you do? How do you fit all the financial tables into one page?

Well, the keyword we used earlier was ‘financial projections’, which is a matter of showing what targets you have in terms of turnover and EBITDA for the next three to five years.

Reminder: your turnover is the money that comes in, while the EBITDA is the profit leftover on your bank account after all the expenses are paid, but before the taxman claims their share. 

So, well, you could use that important page to throw in a graph showing both elements and a few other indicators. For example, your expected marketing plan budget, expected customer acquisition cost, expected margin or expected return on investment.

To go deeper, think about who your reader is.

If the business plan is written for a banker, show numbers related to your investment capacity and cashflow, and demonstrate your borrowing and repayment capacity.

If you are talking to investors, show that your financial estimates give your company some value and develop valuation numbers that show what’s in for the investors.

Note, however, that the financial statements and tables used to obtain your target numbers (Cashflow, P&L, and balance sheet) should not be displayed on your financial projections page. Instead, you can put them as annex documents at the end of the business plan.

Oh, and just in case you’re wondering how you’ll come up with those financial tables in the first place, we’re providing the automated spreadsheets you’ll need in our Business Plan Builder module – you know what to do!

Smart is better than short: focus on storytelling!

So, how long should a business plan be? How long should a startup business plan be? How many pages should a business plan be? What’s the ideal length of a business plan?

The questions are all the same, so the answer is also the same. To wrap things up, you’ll probably want to keep three key ideas in mind.

Idea one: make your business plan long enough to pass your message, but make it short enough to keep people focused.

Idea two: seven topics, seven pages, plus the financial information (the tables) in the annex. That’s it.

Your business plan should be a teaser , not a profitability report, so the focus should be on building storytelling. This is what business plans are about if you think about it. So, more than making yours short, make it smart!

Idea three: coming up with a short business plan usually requires a lot of business planning work. You first need to build a complete business plan that gets all your ideas laid down before summarizing everything into something straightforward. Sounds unfun, we know, but that’s also an excellent opportunity to stand on the table and take some needed perspective on your business, so why not give it a try?

Meet The Business Plan Builder: 2 hours of tutorial videos and the tools you need to get started

Now – If you are looking for a push to get started with everything we’ve talked about in this article, the  Impactified  Business Plan package was created for you! It’s built around over 2 hours of explanatory videos and comes with a template you’ll be able to use to:

• Figure out what you need to figure out – powerful, uh?
• Understand the business plan code!
• Write your business plan – with just the right amount of words and pages!
• Build your financial estimates – with automated tables!
• Create a visually appealing (designer-made!) document and deck people will want to read!

If you want to stop wasting your time, this is THE most simple business plan template, and you can’t afford to miss it!

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Topics related to How Long Should a Business Plan Be? Hint: Smart is Better Than Short!:

• How long should a business plan be?
• How long is a business plan? How many pages should a business plan be?
• Do I need a business plan software?
• Should I hire a business plan writer?

Need help with building & scaling your business?

At Impactified , we are on a mission to make you build, grow, and scale businesses you can be proud of, and we do that by making our business coaching expertise available to you, in person and through kick-ass self-coaching modules. You will love the experience either way, the only question is, what makes the most sense to you?

More Insights on Business Plan Writing

Financial Projections: How to write the financial plan in business plan

Hey coach! I’m writing a business plan and I’m wondering how to build the financial projections part of the document. What’s the importance of financial projections exactly – I mean, isn’t it absolute BS? How do I write the financial plan in business plan, and even more importantly, how can I make sense of all those messy tables? Can you help me understand this? Thanks in advance!

Do I Need a Business Plan Consultant? No, You Don’t!

Hey there Coach! I’m a small business owner and I need to find some support with my business plan. People suggested that I find a business plan consultant near me, but that’s a big cost and I’m not too sure about what to expect from that. What’s your opinion about business plan consultants in general? Is there any alternative you would highly recommend? Thanks!

How Much Does a Business Plan Cost? Just Under $100!

Hey coach! I was wondering – how much does a business plan cost? I need one, and I’m thinking about having it written for me, so I’d love your insights. Also, I’ve heard business plan writers cost a lot of money, so I’m interested if you have tips for writing a low-cost business plan! Thanks!

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• Business Guides

How long your business plan should be?

It’s a common question: How long should a business plan be? This is one of the most important questions to ask when you’re creating your business plan since it impacts how much time and effort you put into writing the document.

Introduction (3 to 5 pages)

Market analysis (9 to 22 pages), company description (1 to 2 pages), organization and management (3 to 5 pages), marketing and sales strategies (4 to 6 pages), product or service (4 to 10 pages), equity investment and funding request (2 to 4 pages), financial information (12 to 25 pages), in conclusion.

In answering the question as to how long a business plan should be, the first thing to know is that it shouldn’t be any longer than necessary. Why are you writing the document in the first place? Recall that it should be considered a “living document.” You’ll want to revise it over time.

In this article, we’ll give you a good idea about how many pages should a business plan be so that you know how much work is required ahead of time!

The introduction section of your business plan should be around three to five pages long and is your chance to seize the reader’s attention and give them a broad overview of what you’re trying to do. You should include:

• The problem that you are solving or an issue in need of resolution
• How your product, service, or company can solve the problem
• Why it matters for the reader (the investor or company executive) and why they’ll care about the suggested solutions
• How much of a profit do you believe you’ll realize?
• Who is your target audience? What are their demographics?
• What is the size of the market?
• How large of a market share do you believe you can seize?

These points help paint a picture of who you are and what you intend to achieve.

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In brief, your introductory section should include:

• An attention-grabbing Cover Page (1 page)
• An Executive Summary (1 to 2 pages); and
• A Table of Contents (1 page)

Generally, a market analysis should include the following:

• Background information about your company and its products/services
• An overview of the industry with an examination of key trends that are driving change in the marketplace (industry structure)
• Identification of customer needs and how these compare to competitive offerings (customer profiles), which will help you determine where there is an opportunity for profitable growth.

It’s also essential to understand how well positioned your company is relative to competitors on various performance indicators such as product quality or service levels.

The company description is a snapshot of your organization’s history, what you do, and how the values that drive success. It should be succinct – no more than two pages.

The following are some potential parts to include in this section:

• How long has the company existed? What were its early years like?
• How does it operate today?
• How have recent changes impacted operations or strategy, and why was change needed?
• What sets your business apart from competitors (products/services)?
• Why would someone want to work at the organization as opposed to others out there in similar industries?

The organization and management section of a standard business plan includes all the information about running and developing your organization. You also explain what your company’s culture is like and who your executive team members are.

This section should cover how you will promote your products/services, the media channels being used, and whether or not there is any need for additional help. How much of a budget do you have? What’s your target audience? Have all these questions been answered before spending valuable time creating ads without knowing if they will produce results?

The product or service section is one of the most important parts and should give an in-depth look at your company’s products and services. How will they be produced? How much do you charge for them? This section may take some time to write if it includes things like manufacturing costs, but it’ll save time later when making decisions about how to sell your goods.

The investment and funding request section is a brief overview of the requester’s strengths, what you need from an equity partner, how much it’ll cost an investor to be invested in your business, and other pertinent information.

This section is detailed and provides all relevant information about the company’s financials, such as how much money you’ve made in past years. This includes a comparison to other companies of similar size or industry.

The length of a typical business plan ranges from 15-25 pages. How long yours be? That’s up to you. How much information do your readers need or want about your company and its plans for growth? For example, if investors are looking at investing in your company, they may require more detailed financial information.

Finally, keep in mind that the Executive Summary at the beginning of your plan is the section most people will read and pay attention to the most. You’ll want to write it after you’ve written the rest of your document as it summarizes everything you’ve put together. However, you’ll want to ensure that the summary is presented in an exciting and engaging style so that it keeps the reader’s interest.

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• Business plans

You are a hard worker who does constant labor on the job. You could be a construction worker, electrician, fisherman or woman, or a scientist, hard labor requires a lot of supplies. You want certain tools for your job that prevents you from possible issues or injuries. Your job can be dangerous, and it could be quite stressful not being able to accomplish one thing during your work hours. Your safety is your top priority. You enjoy the hard labor, so you rely on a lot of planning ahead. Your job requires tools for safety and for storage as well.

You want constant supplies for your job, supplies that make it easier for you to finish the task at hand. In your job, you run the risk of toxication, burned from chemicals, and electrocuted. You risk your life every day in your labor job. That is why supplies are essential to your daily work life. The listed supplies are some supplies that are required for your daily work life. These supplies are a way to plan your job and accomplish your job tasks. You will appreciate having the supplies to make it easier for you to do your job in labor.

Event planning can make or break a business. Events can help market products, improve business networks, and launch successful ventures, but that is only if they are considered a success. Whether your event includes a series of speakers or simply a short welcome from the CEO, the business's message can be lost if the audio isn't up to par. That's why the products on this list are so important to planning the event.

This list goes beyond the microphone and speaker, since those are often provided by the venue. A professional event planner should bring their own inventory of a few key products to ensure they can handle the audio. A couple of cords, a filter, and some stands should cover any last minute concerns that might arise. It's definitely a good idea to have these products on stand by because the audio is one of the most important aspects of the event.

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Business Plan Length: How Long Should a Business Plan be?

Business Plan Template

• April 17, 2024

What should be my business plan length? It is a common question for entrepreneurs who are new to business planning.

Certain people hold the opinion that a business plan should be one page long, while some believe a business plan should be extensive and filled with minute details.

Every business plan and business is different. While some may be heavily text-based and include extensive market research, others may rely on graphics to make their points.

If your business plan is too brief, you’re probably not offering potential investors enough details about your operation. In contrast, if it goes on for too long, you will bore them, and they will lose interest since you are giving them too much information.

Confused about the length of a business plan? Make sure your business plan is detailed enough to show that investing in or getting involved with your business is a good idea.

In light of this, a business plan length should typically be between 15-30 pages . Let’s see the detailed guide on how long should a business plan be

Length Depends on the Purpose of Your Business Plan

Don’t overlook the main mission of your plan while you determine the ideal length of your business plan. The goal of your plan is to persuade readers to support your business, financially or by being an active part of your business.

Certain questions to answer to know your purpose are:

• Who is the target audience, first, for whom you are creating a business plan? (E.g., banks, investors, potential partners, etc.)
• Will it have details of the business and the management team that everyone can read?
• Do you require showing the whole business plan or only the executive summary to your readers?
• Does it contain thorough research, plans, designs, and charts?

Length Also Depends on the Type of Business Plan

The page count of a business plan also depends on its type. There are three types of business plans, let’s deep dive into them, and then you can decide the ideal length of your business plan.

One-Page Business Plan

A business owner prefers a one-page business plan to introduce their business to investors. A one-page startup business plan encompasses the key elements of the company into just one page, much like an executive summary.

One of the advantages is that investors can read it quickly because it is simply one page long and has just enough details to pique their interest.

Mini Business Plan

A mini business plan contains 1 to 10 pages and has every component that is in a normal traditional business plan, but all are synchronized.

A short plan has all the essential elements of your business in bullet points to make it concise. Even though it contains some of the same details, a detailed business plan is still necessary.

If an investor asks for further details, after reading a one-page business plan, then this mini-business plan can come in handy.

This version will contain more detailed information, such as the problem, the solution, the marketing plan, the expected financial results, the target market, the company and management team, short financial tables, business charts, and the details to secure funding.

The Comprehensive Business Plan

Comprehensive business plans can range in length from 15 to 35 pages and beyond.

This business plan provides readers with a complete overview of the company, including the market problem, the proposed solution, company description, objectives, and goals, as well as its marketing plan, competitive analysis, operational plan, financial projections, management team, and funding request.

A comprehensive plan starts with an executive summary and then expands on it with supporting data. This plan includes essential research to validate the overall business idea.

These business plans should only be provided upon request and following the delivery of a one-page or mini-business plan. An extensive business plan gives investors a complete picture of the company while raising the starting capital.

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Elements to Include in a Business Plan

Now that you know the types of businesses and the average length of a plan, let’s move ahead with what to actually include in a plan. By exploring these essential components, you will be able to create a solid plan.

Executive summary

It is an overview of the whole business plan. Generally, entrepreneurs prefer to write it at the last, after having the clarity of each section of the business plan.

Company description

There is a detailed introduction to your business in this section, including the structure, name of your business, location, history, etc.

Market analysis

This is the section where you provide information about the market, like market size, market trends, target market, industry trends, regulatory environment, etc.

Products or services

Mention the products or services you will provide in this section, including the competitive advantage, unique value proposition, and benefits of the product or service.

Sales and marketing strategy

Here should be your marketing plan on how will attract new and retain old customers.

Management team

Here, mention the names, roles, and experience of key members, managers, and owners.

Financial projections

Attach financial forecasts of at least 3 years to 5 years in this section, including income statement, balance sheet, and cash flow statement.

Additional information that supports the main sections of the business plan, such as resumes, market research data, legal documents, and any other relevant materials.

Tips for Writing a Concise Business Plan

Writing a concise business plan is essential for capturing the attention of potential investors and partners. Here are some tips to help you write a concise business plan:

1. The Length of an Executive Summary is Crucial

The executive summary is typically the whole overview of the business plan, so it is one of the essential components. Therefore, make sure your summary is well-presented and brief with all the details.

The executive summary’s opening paragraph, in particular, is of utmost significance, since if you don’t grab the reader’s attention right away, they won’t continue reading.

It should normally be one to two pages long to get the reader’s interest in your plan.

A good executive summary should be 5-10% of the whole business plan, so write all the information in a synchronized yet clear manner.

Your business plan has six essential components after the executive summary. These sections should each be between one and two pages long.

2. Correctly Format Your Plan

By organizing your plan, you can avoid including information that would make the plan too cluttered, long, and difficult to read.

Formatting will:

• Give readers a more enjoyable experience
• Make it simple for them to locate the exact information
• Help you fit in the ideal length of the business plan
• Increases engagement and your chances of getting results
• Will also help you understand key elements of your business

3. No One Wants a Novel

When it comes to your business plan length, no one would be interested in reading 100 long pages.

If you include every minute detail of your business, then the plan will be excessively lengthy, and the majority of readers will become bored. Keep in mind that no one will read a 100-page business plan.

Instead, include the most significant information in the executive summary, and then in the other sections of your plan, validate what you mentioned in the executive summary.

4. Move Supporting Documents to the Appendix

While an executive summary gives a quick overview of your whole plan, the appendix supports the data presented in the plan, making it simple to read with all the evidence.

For instance, the primary component of your plan includes revenue projections for years 1 and 5. You can include the specifics of how those forecasts were made in your appendix, rather than putting all pertinent information in the main text.

Therefore, to make your plan clutter-free, move all the supporting documents to the appendix.

5. The 15 Minutes Readability

The 15-minute readability is an actual answer to the question; how long should a business plan be? After quickly scanning the main points of a strong business plan for 15 minutes, the reader should have a good understanding of its main components.

Format, headlines, white space, and graphics all significantly impact readability. The main ideas of a business strategy should be presented as rapidly as they are in a business proposal or business presentation.

If you are still confused about how to write a business plan, then you can also use free business plan samples to make your plan perfect.

6. Use Graphics Wisely

Never reduce a plan by removing helpful graphics. Readability and understanding of the plan are much more important with the help of graphics.

Make your financial projections easier to understand by using business charts to illustrate the numbers. As much as possible, use pictures and drawings to illustrate locations, items, sample menus, product images, and other things.

Are You Ready for Your Business Plan?

In final words, a business plan’s length depends on various factors, like the type & complexity of your plan, the audience of your plan, the purpose of the plan, and many more.

The thing that only matters is your plan should reflect all the main elements of your business, whether it is 15 pages or 30 pages with clarity.

Don’t worry if the ideal length of your business plan is still confusing, because you can always rely on a good business plan software like Upmetrics for writing a business plan. So, start writing, and all the best!

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About the Author

Upmetrics Team

Upmetrics is the #1 business planning software that helps entrepreneurs and business owners create investment-ready business plans using AI. We regularly share business planning insights on our blog. Check out the Upmetrics blog for such interesting reads. Read more

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How to Write a Business Plan (Plus Examples & Templates)

• 3 years ago

Have you ever wondered how to write a business plan step by step? Mike Andes, told us: 

This guide will help you write a business plan to impress investors.

Throughout this process, we’ll get information from Mike Andes, who started Augusta Lawn Care Services when he was 12 and turned it into a franchise with over 90 locations. He has gone on to help others learn how to write business plans and start businesses.  He knows a thing or two about writing  business plans!

We’ll start by discussing the definition of a business plan. Then we’ll discuss how to come up with the idea, how to do the market research, and then the important elements in the business plan format. Keep reading to start your journey!

What Is a Business Plan?

A business plan is simply a road map of what you are trying to achieve with your business and how you will go about achieving it. It should cover all elements of your business including: 

• Finding customers
• Plans for developing a team
•  Competition
• Legal structures
• Key milestones you are pursuing

If you aren’t quite ready to create a business plan, consider starting by reading our business startup guide .

Get a Business Idea

Before you can write a business plan, you have to have a business idea. You may see a problem that needs to be solved and have an idea how to solve it, or you might start by evaluating your interests and skills. 

Mike told us, “The three things I suggest asking yourself when thinking about starting a business are:

• What am I good at?
• What would I enjoy doing?
• What can I get paid for?”

If all three of these questions don’t lead to at least one common answer, it will probably be a much harder road to success. Either there is not much market for it, you won’t be good at it, or you won’t enjoy doing it. 

As Mike told us, “There’s enough stress starting and running a business that if you don’t like it or aren’t good at it, it’s hard to succeed.”

If you’d like to hear more about Mike’s approach to starting a business, check out our YouTube video

Conduct Market Analysis

Market analysis is focused on establishing if there is a target market for your products and services, how large the target market is, and identifying the demographics of people or businesses that would be interested in the product or service. The goal here is to establish how much money your business concept can make.

Product and Service Demand

A search engine is your best friend when trying to figure out if there is demand for your products and services. Personally, I love using presearch.org because it lets you directly search on a ton of different platforms including Google, Youtube, Twitter, and more. Check out the screenshot for the full list of search options.

With quick web searches, you can find out how many competitors you have, look through their reviews, and see if there are common complaints about the competitors. Bad reviews are a great place to find opportunities to offer better products or services. 

If there are no similar products or services, you may have stumbled upon something new, or there may just be no demand for it. To find out, go talk to your most honest friend about the idea and see what they think. If they tell you it’s dumb or stare at you vacantly, there’s probably no market for it.

You can also conduct a survey through social media to get public opinion on your idea. Using Facebook Business Manager , you could get a feel for who would be interested in your product or service.

 I ran a quick test of how many people between 18-65  you could reach in the U.S. during a week. It returned an estimated 700-2,000 for the total number of leads, which is enough to do a fairly accurate statistical analysis.

Identify Demographics of Target Market

Depending on what type of business you want to run, your target market will be different. The narrower the demographic, the fewer potential customers you’ll have. If you did a survey, you’ll be able to use that data to help define your target audience. Some considerations you’ll want to consider are:

• Other Interests
• Marital Status
• Do they have kids?

Once you have this information, it can help you narrow down your options for location and help define your marketing further. One resource that Mike recommended using is the Census Bureau’s Quick Facts Map . He told us,  

“It helps you quickly evaluate what the best areas are for your business to be located.”

How to Write a Business Plan

Now that you’ve developed your idea a little and established there is a market for it, you can begin writing a business plan. Getting started is easier with the business plan template we created for you to download. I strongly recommend using it as it is updated to make it easier to create an action plan. 

Each of the following should be a section of your business plan:

• Business Plan Cover Page
• Table of Contents
• Executive Summary
• Company Description
• Description of Products and Services

SWOT Analysis

• Competitor Data
• Competitive Analysis
• Marketing Expenses Strategy 

Pricing Strategy

• Distribution Channel Assessment
• Operational Plan
• Management and Organizational Strategy
• Financial Statements and/or Financial Projections

We’ll look into each of these. Don’t forget to download our free business plan template (mentioned just above) so you can follow along as we go. 

How to Write a Business Plan Step 1. Create a Cover Page

The first thing investors will see is the cover page for your business plan. Make sure it looks professional. A great cover page shows that you think about first impressions.

A good business plan should have the following elements on a cover page:

• Professionally designed logo
• Company name
• Mission or Vision Statement
• Contact Info

Basically, think of a cover page for your business plan like a giant business card. It is meant to capture people’s attention but be quickly processed.

How to Write a Business Plan Step 2. Create a Table of Contents

Most people are busy enough that they don’t have a lot of time. Providing a table of contents makes it easy for them to find the pages of your plan that are meaningful to them.

A table of contents will be immediately after the cover page, but you can include it after the executive summary. Including the table of contents immediately after the executive summary will help investors know what section of your business plan they want to review more thoroughly.

Check out Canva’s article about creating a  table of contents . It has a ton of great information about creating easy access to each section of your business plan. Just remember that you’ll want to use different strategies for digital and hard copy business plans.

How to Write a Business Plan Step 3. Write an Executive Summary

An executive summary is where your business plan should catch the readers interest.  It doesn’t need to be long, but should be quick and easy to read.

Mike told us,

How long should an executive summary bein an informal business plan?

For casual use, an executive summary should be similar to an elevator pitch, no more than 150-160 words, just enough to get them interested and wanting more. Indeed has a great article on elevator pitches .  This can also be used for the content of emails to get readers’ attention.

It consists of three basic parts:

• An introduction to you and your business.
• What your business is about.
• A call to action

Example of an informal executive summary 

One of the best elevator pitches I’ve used is:

So far that pitch has achieved a 100% success rate in getting partnerships for the business.

What should I include in an executive summary for investors?

Investors are going to need a more detailed executive summary if you want to secure financing or sell equity. The executive summary should be a brief overview of your entire business plan and include:

• Introduction of yourself and company.
• An origin story (Recognition of a problem and how you came to solution)
• An introduction to your products or services.
• Your unique value proposition. Make sure to include intellectual property.
• Where you are in the business life cycle
• Request and why you need it.

Successful business plan examples

The owner of Urbanity told us he spent 2 months writing a 75-page business plan and received a $250,000 loan from the bank when he was 23. Make your business plan as detailed as possible when looking for financing. We’ve provided a template to help you prepare the portions of a business plan that banks expect.

Here’s the interview with the owner of Urbanity:

When to write an executive summary?

Even though the summary is near the beginning of a business plan, you should write it after you complete the rest of a business plan. You can’t talk about revenue, profits, and expected expenditures if you haven’t done the market research and created a financial plan.

What mistakes do people make when writing an executive summary?

Business owners commonly go into too much detail about the following items in an executive summary:

• Marketing and sales processes
• Financial statements
• Organizational structure
• Market analysis

These are things that people will want to know later, but they don’t hook the reader. They won’t spark interest in your small business, but they’ll close the deal.

How to Write a Business Plan Step 4. Company Description

Every business plan should include a company description. A great business plan will include the following elements while describing the company:

• Mission statement
• Philosophy and vision
• Company goals

Target market

• Legal structure

Let’s take a look at what each section includes in a good business plan.

Mission Statement

A mission statement is a brief explanation of why you started the company and what the company’s main focus is. It should be no more than one or two sentences. Check out HubSpot’s article 27 Inspiring Mission Statement for a great read on informative and inspiring mission and vision statements. 

Company Philosophy and Vision

The company philosophy is what drives your company. You’ll normally hear them called core values.  These are the building blocks that make your company different. You want to communicate your values to customers, business owners, and investors as often as possible to build a company culture, but make sure to back them up.

What makes your company different?

Each company is different. Your new business should rise above the standard company lines of honesty, integrity, fun, innovation, and community when communicating your business values. The standard answers are corporate jargon and lack authenticity. 

Examples of core values

One of my clients decided to add a core values page to their website. As a tech company they emphasized the values:

•  Prioritize communication.
•  Never stop learning.
•  Be transparent.
•  Start small and grow incrementally.

These values communicate how the owner and the rest of the company operate. They also show a value proposition and competitive advantage because they specifically focus on delivering business value from the start. These values also genuinely show what the company is about and customers recognize the sincerity. Indeed has a great blog about how to identify your core values .

What is a vision statement?

A vision statement communicate the long lasting change a business pursues. The vision helps investors and customers understand what your company is trying to accomplish. The vision statement goes beyond a mission statement to provide something meaningful to the community, customer’s lives, or even the world.

Example vision statements

The Alzheimer’s Association is a great example of a vision statement:

A world without Alzheimer’s Disease and other dementia.

It clearly tells how they want to change the world. A world without Alzheimers might be unachievable, but that means they always have room for improvement.

Business Goals

You have to measure success against goals for a business plan to be meaningful. A business plan helps guide a company similar to how your GPS provides a road map to your favorite travel destination. A goal to make as much money as possible is not inspirational and sounds greedy.

Sure, business owners want to increase their profits and improve customer service, but they need to present an overview of what they consider success. The goals should help everyone prioritize their work.

How far in advance should a business plan?

Business planning should be done at least one year in advance, but many banks and investors prefer three to five year business plans. Longer plans show investors that the management team  understands the market and knows the business is operating in a constantly shifting market. In addition, a plan helps businesses to adjust to changes because they have already considered how to handle them.

Example of great business goals

My all time-favorite long-term company goals are included in Tesla’s Master Plan, Part Deux . These goals were written in 2016 and drive the company’s decisions through 2026. They are the reason that investors are so forgiving when Elon Musk continually fails to meet his quarterly and annual goals.

If the progress aligns with the business plan investors are likely to continue to believe in the company. Just make sure the goals are reasonable or you’ll be discredited (unless you’re Elon Musk).

You did target market research before creating a business plan. Now it’s time to add it to the plan so others understand what your ideal customer looks like. As a new business owner, you may not be considered an expert in your field yet, so document everything. Make sure the references you use are from respectable sources. 

Use information from the specific lender when you are applying for lending. Most lenders provide industry research reports and using their data can strengthen the position of your business plan.

A small business plan should include a section on the external environment. Understanding the industry is crucial because we don’t plan a business in a vacuum. Make sure to research the industry trends, competitors, and forecasts. I personally prefer IBIS World for my business research. Make sure to answer questions like:

• What is the industry outlook long-term and short-term?
• How will your business take advantage of projected industry changes and trends?
• What might happen to your competitors and how will your business successfully compete?

Industry resources

Some helpful resources to help you establish more about your industry are:

• Trade Associations
• Federal Reserve
• Bureau of Labor Statistics

Legal Structure

There are five basic types of legal structures that most people will utilize:

• Sole proprietorships
• Limited Liability Companies (LLC)

Partnerships

Corporations.

• Franchises.

Each business structure has their pros and cons. An LLC is the most common legal structure due to its protection of personal assets and ease of setting up. Make sure to specify how ownership is divided and what roles each owner plays when you have more than one business owner.

You’ll have to decide which structure is best for you, but we’ve gathered information on each to make it easier.

Sole Proprietorship

A sole proprietorship is the easiest legal structure to set up but doesn’t protect the owner’s personal assets from legal issues. That means if something goes wrong, you could lose both your company and your home.

To start a sole proprietorship, fill out a special tax form called a  Schedule C . Sole proprietors can also join the American Independent Business Alliance .

Limited Liability Company (LLC)

An LLC is the most common business structure used in the United States because an LLC protects the owner’s personal assets. It’s similar to partnerships and corporations, but can be a single-member LLC in most states. An LLC requires a document called an operating agreement.

Each state has different requirements. Here’s a link to find your state’s requirements . Delaware and Nevada are common states to file an LLC because they are really business-friendly. Here’s a blog on the top 10 states to get an LLC.

Partnerships are typically for legal firms. If you choose to use a partnership choose a Limited Liability Partnership. Alternatively, you can just use an LLC.

Corporations are typically for massive organizations. Corporations have taxes on both corporate and income tax so unless you plan on selling stock, you are better off considering an LLC with S-Corp status . Investopedia has good information corporations here .

There are several opportunities to purchase successful franchises. TopFranchise.com has a list of companies in a variety of industries that offer franchise opportunities. This makes it where an entrepreneur can benefit from the reputation of an established business that has already worked out many of the kinks of starting from scratch.

How to Write a Business Plan Step 5. Products and Services

This section of the business plan should focus on what you sell, how you source it, and how you sell it. You should include:

• Unique features that differentiate your business products from competitors
• Intellectual property
• Your supply chain
• Cost and pricing structure 

Questions to answer about your products and services

Mike gave us a list  of the most important questions to answer about your product and services:

• How will you be selling the product? (in person, ecommerce, wholesale, direct to consumer)?
• How do you let them know they need a product?
• How do you communicate the message?
• How will you do transactions?
• How much will you be selling it for?
• How many do you think you’ll sell and why?

Make sure to use the worksheet on our business plan template .

How to Write a Business Plan Step 6. Sales and Marketing Plan

The marketing and sales plan is focused on the strategy to bring awareness to your company and guides how you will get the product to the consumer.  It should contain the following sections:

SWOT Analysis stands for strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. Not only do you want to identify them, but you also want to document how the business plans to deal with them.

Business owners need to do a thorough job documenting how their service or product stacks up against the competition.

If proper research isn’t done, investors will be able to tell that the owner hasn’t researched the competition and is less likely to believe that the team can protect its service from threats by the more well-established competition. This is one of the most common parts of a presentation that trips up business owners presenting on Shark Tank .

SWOT Examples

Examples of strengths and weaknesses could be things like the lack of cash flow, intellectual property ownership, high costs of suppliers, and customers’ expectations on shipping times.

Opportunities could be ways to capitalize on your strengths or improve your weaknesses, but may also be gaps in the industry. This includes:

• Adding offerings that fit with your current small business
• Increase sales to current customers
• Reducing costs through bulk ordering
• Finding ways to reduce inventory
•  And other areas you can improve

Threats will normally come from outside of the company but could also be things like losing a key member of the team. Threats normally come from competition, regulations, taxes, and unforeseen events.

The management team should use the SWOT analysis to guide other areas of business planning, but it absolutely has to be done before a business owner starts marketing. 

Include Competitor Data in Your Business Plan

When you plan a business, taking into consideration the strengths and weaknesses of the competition is key to navigating the field. Providing an overview of your competition and where they are headed shows that you are invested in understanding the industry.

For smaller businesses, you’ll want to search both the company and the owners names to see what they are working on. For publicly held corporations, you can find their quarterly and annual reports on the SEC website .

What another business plans to do can impact your business. Make sure to include things that might make it attractive for bigger companies to outsource to a small business.

Marketing Strategy

The marketing and sales part of business plans should be focused on how you are going to make potential customers aware of your business and then sell to them.

If you haven’t already included it, Mike recommends:

“They’ll want to know about Demographics, ages, and wealth of your target market.”

Make sure to include the Total addressable market .  The term refers to the value if you captured 100% of the market.

Advertising Strategy

You’ll explain what formats of advertising you’ll be using. Some possibilities are:

• Online: Facebook and Google are the big names to work with here.
• Print : Print can be used to reach broad groups or targeted markets. Check out this for tips .
• Radio : iHeartMedia is one of the best ways to advertise on the radio
• Cable television : High priced, hard to measure ROI, but here’s an explanation of the process
• Billboards: Attracting customers with billboards can be beneficial in high traffic areas.

You’ll want to define how you’ll be using each including frequency, duration, and cost. If you have the materials already created, including pictures or links to the marketing to show creative assets.

Mike told us “Most businesses are marketing digitally now due to Covid, but that’s not always the right answer.”

Make sure the marketing strategy will help team members or external marketing agencies stay within the brand guidelines .

This section of a business plan should be focused on pricing. There are a ton of pricing strategies that may work for different business plans. Which one will work for you depends on what kind of a business you run.

Some common pricing strategies are:

• Value-based pricing – Commonly used with home buying and selling or other products that are status symbols.
• Skimming pricing – Commonly seen in video game consoles, price starts off high to recoup expenses quickly, then reduces over time.
• Competition-based pricing – Pricing based on competitors’ pricing is commonly seen at gas stations.
• Freemium services –  Commonly used for software, where there is a free plan, then purchase options for more functionality.

HubSpot has a great calculator and blog on pricing strategies.

Beyond explaining what strategy your business plans to use, you should include references for how you came to this pricing strategy and how it will impact your cash flow.

Distribution Plan

This part of a business plan is focused on how the product or service is going to go through the supply chain. These may include multiple divisions or multiple companies. Make sure to include any parts of the workflow that are automated so investors can see where cost savings are expected and when.

Supply Chain Examples

For instance, lawn care companies  would need to cover aspects such as:

• Suppliers for lawn care equipment and tools
• Any chemicals or treatments needed
• Repair parts for sprinkler systems
• Vehicles to transport equipment and employees
• Insurance to protect the company vehicles and people.

Examples of Supply Chains

These are fairly flat supply chains compared to something like a clothing designer where the clothes would go through multiple vendors. A clothing company might have the following supply chain:

• Raw materials
• Shipping of raw materials
• Converting of raw materials to thread
• Shipping thread to produce garments
• Garment producer
• Shipping to company
• Company storage
• Shipping to retail stores

There have been advances such as print on demand that eliminate many of these steps. If you are designing completely custom clothing, all of this would need to be planned to keep from having business disruptions.

The main thing to include in the business plan is the list of suppliers, the path the supply chain follows, the time from order to the customer’s home, and the costs associated with each step of the process.

According to BizPlanReview , a business plan without this information is likely to get rejected because they have failed to research the key elements necessary to make sales to the customer.

How to Write a Business Plan Step 7. Company Organization and Operational Plan

This part of the business plan is focused on how the business model will function while serving customers.  The business plan should provide an overview of  how the team will manage the following aspects:

Quality Control

• Legal environment

Let’s look at each for some insight.

Production has already been discussed in previous sections so I won’t go into it much. When writing a business plan for investors, try to avoid repetition as it creates a more simple business plan.

If the organizational plan will be used by the team as an overview of how to perform the best services for the customer, then redundancy makes more sense as it communicates what is important to the business.

Quality control policies help to keep the team focused on how to verify that the company adheres to the business plan and meets or exceeds customer expectations.

Quality control can be anything from a standard that says “all labels on shirts can be no more than 1/16″ off center” to a defined checklist of steps that should be performed and filled out for every customer.

There are a variety of organizations that help define quality control including:

• International Organization for Standardization – Quality standards for energy, technology, food, production environments, and cybersecurity
• AICPA – Standard defined for accounting.
• The Joint Commission – Healthcare
• ASHRAE – HVAC best practices

You can find lists of the organizations that contribute most to the government regulation of industries on Open Secrets . Research what the leaders in your field are doing. Follow their example and implement it in your quality control plan.

For location, you should use information from the market research to establish where the location will be. Make sure to include the following in the location documentation.

• The size of your location
• The type of building (retail, industrial, commercial, etc.)
• Zoning restrictions – Urban Wire has a good map on how zoning works in each state
• Accessibility – Does it meet ADA requirements?
• Costs including rent, maintenance, utilities, insurance and any buildout or remodeling costs
• Utilities – b.e.f. has a good energy calculator .

Legal Environment

The legal requirement section is focused on defining how to meet the legal requirements for your industry. A good business plan should include all of the following:

• Any licenses and/or permits that are needed and whether you’ve obtained them
• Any trademarks, copyrights, or patents that you have or are in the process of applying for
• The insurance coverage your business requires and how much it costs
• Any environmental, health, or workplace regulations affecting your business
• Any special regulations affecting your industry
• Bonding requirements, if applicable

Your local SBA office can help you establish requirements in your area. I strongly recommend using them. They are a great resource.

Your business plan should include a plan for company organization and hiring. While you may be the only person with the company right now, down the road you’ll need more people. Make sure to consider and document the answers to the following questions:

• What is the current leadership structure and what will it look like in the future?
• What types of employees will you have? Are there any licensing or educational requirements?
• How many employees will you need?
• Will you ever hire freelancers or independent contractors?
• What is each position’s job description?
• What is the pay structure (hourly, salaried, base plus commission, etc.)?
• How do you plan to find qualified employees and contractors?

One of the most crucial parts of a business plan is the organizational chart. This simply shows the positions the company will need, who is in charge of them and the relationship of each of them. It will look similar to this:

Our small business plan template has a much more in-depth organizational chart you can edit to include when you include the organizational chart in your business plan.

How to Write a Business Plan Step 8. Financial Statements 

No business plan is complete without financial statements or financial projections. The business plan format will be different based on whether you are writing a business plan to expand a business or a startup business plan. Let’s dig deeper into each.

Provide All Financial Income from an Existing Business

An existing business should use their past financial documents including the income statement, balance sheet, and cash flow statement to find trends to estimate the next 3-5 years.

You can create easy trendlines in excel to predict future revenue, profit and loss, cash flow, and other changes in year-over-year performance. This will show your expected performance assuming business continues as normal.

If you are seeking an investment, then the business is probably not going to continue as normal. Depending on the financial plan and the purpose of getting financing, adjustments may be needed to the following:

• Higher Revenue if expanding business
• Lower Cost of Goods Sold if purchasing inventory with bulk discounts
• Adding interest if utilizing financing (not equity deal)
• Changes in expenses
• Addition of financing information to the cash flow statement
• Changes in Earnings per Share on the balance sheet

Financial modeling is a challenging subject, but there are plenty of low-cost courses on the subject. If you need help planning your business financial documentation take some time to watch some of them.

Make it a point to document how you calculated all the changes to the income statement, balance sheet, and cash flow statement in your business plan so that key team members or investors can verify your research.

Financial Projections For A Startup Business Plan

Unlike an existing business, a startup doesn’t have previous success to model its future performance. In this scenario, you need to focus on how to make a business plan realistic through the use of industry research and averages.

Mike gave the following advice in his interview:

Financial Forecasting Mistakes

One of the things a lot of inexperienced people use is the argument, “If I get one percent of the market, it is worth $100 million.” If you use this, investors are likely to file the document under bad business plan examples.

Let’s use custom t-shirts as an example.

Credence Research estimated in 2018 there were 11,334,800,000 custom t-shirts sold for a total of $206.12 Billion, with a 6% compound annual growth rate.

With that data,  you can calculate that the industry will grow to $270 Billion in 2023 and that the average shirt sold creates $18.18 in revenue.

Combine that with an IBIS World estimate of 11,094 custom screen printers and that means even if you become an average seller, you’ll get .009% of the market.

Here’s a table for easier viewing of that information.

The point here is to make sure your business proposal examples make sense.

You’ll need to know industry averages such as cost of customer acquisition, revenue per customer, the average cost of goods sold, and admin costs to be able to create accurate estimates.

Our simple business plan templates walk you through most of these processes. If you follow them you’ll have a good idea of how to write a business proposal.

How to Write a Business Plan Step 9. Business Plan Example of Funding Requests

What is a business plan without a plan on how to obtain funding?

The Small Business Administration has an example for a pizza restaurant that theoretically needed nearly $20k to make it through their first month.

In our video, How to Start a $500K/Year T-Shirt Business (Pt. 1 ), Sanford Booth told us he needed about $200,000 to start his franchise and broke even after 4 months.

Freshbooks estimates it takes on average 2-3 years for a business to be profitable, which means the fictitious pizza company from the SBA could need up to $330k to make it through that time and still pay their bills for their home and pizza shop.

Not every business needs that much to start, but realistically it’s a good idea to assume that you need a fairly large cushion.

Ways to get funding for a small business

There are a variety of ways to cover this. the most common are:

• Bootstrapping – Using your savings without external funding.
• Taking out debt – loans, credit cards
• Equity, Seed Funding – Ownership of a percentage of the company in exchange for current funds
• Crowdsourcing – Promising a good for funding to create the product

Keep reading for more tips on how to write a business plan.

How funding will be used

When asking for business financing make sure to include:

• How much to get started?
• What is the minimum viable product and how soon can you make money?
• How will the money be spent?

Mike emphasized two aspects that should be included in every plan, 

How to Write a Business Plan Resources

Here are some links to a business plan sample and business plan outline. 

• Sample plan

It’s also helpful to follow some of the leading influencers in the business plan writing community. Here’s a list:

• Wise Plans –  Shares a lot of information on starting businesses and is a business plan writing company.
• Optimus Business Plans –  Another business plan writing company.
• Venture Capital – A venture capital thread that can help give you ideas.

How to Write a Business Plan: What’s Next?

We hope this guide about how to write a simple business plan step by step has been helpful. We’ve covered:

• The definition of a business plan
• Coming up with a business idea
• Performing market research
• The critical components of a business plan
• An example business plan

In addition, we provided you with a simple business plan template to assist you in the process of writing your startup business plan. The startup business plan template also includes a business model template that will be the key to your success.

Don’t forget to check out the rest of our business hub .

Have you written a business plan before? How did it impact your ability to achieve your goals?

Brandon Boushy

Brandon Boushy lives to improve people’s lives by helping them become successful entrepreneurs. His journey started nearly 30 years ago. He consistently excelled at everything he did, but preferred to make the rules rather than follow him. His exploration of self and knowledge has helped him to get an engineering degree, MBA, and countless certifications. When freelancing and rideshare came onto the scene, he recognized the opportunity to play by his own rules. Since 2017, he has helped businesses across all industries achieve more with his research, writing, and marketing strategies. Since 2021, he has been the Lead Writer for UpFlip where he has published over 170 articles on small business success.

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How long should a business plan be? Mistakes and tips

Table of contents, how long should a business plan be, #1. correctly format your plan, #2. create different size versions, #3. adapt the business plan to the reader, #4. use graphics wisely, #5. ask for feedback, mistakes of a business plan length, the business plan for you.

If you are wondering “ how long should a business plan be?” , you must know that it would depend on your short-, medium- and long-term objectives. Asking strategic questions as: “what is your main goal?” and “how to achieve it?” will help you to clarify your business idea and will determine the length of your business plan .

Remember the main purpose of a business plan is to correctly scale or grow a business , meaning to efficiently prepare a plan for future business growth , where it becomes both economically and operationally optimal.

Creating a business plan is one of the most arduous parts of starting a company and has to be done with the utmost diligence. This, of course, presents many challenges that if not taken into consideration can create many missed opportunities for a company . n this article you’ll be able to understand which mistakes to avoid and you’ll learn some tips for creating the correct Business Action Plan (BAP).

There is no precise answer to this question. The correct standard length of a business plan does not exist ; it all depends on your company's planned objectives; whether it is a big company, startup, etc. The length of your business plan is up to you, however, it is important for a business plan to contain the following:

• cover page,
• table of contents,
• executive summary,
• company description,
• market analysis,
• balance sheets,
• financial projections.

Tips for an adequate length business plan:

Formatting your action plan allows you to be organized and not include useless information, which only makes the document busy and not reader-friendly. Including precise information in a uniform way:

• enables readers a more pleasant experience ,
• allows them to easily localize precise information .
• increases audience engagement and the possibilities of a more positive outcome .

Because a BAP serves as the company's introduction, it is imperative to hold different length versions of the business plan in order to supply it when the occasion arises:

• a long (25 to 35 pages),
• medium (15 to 25 pages),
• version (5 to 15 pages). of the plan.

An example of this is, if a company wants to get a venture capitalist , it should primarily show him/her an executive summary of the plan, in order to not overwhelm him/her with information, but rapidly captivate his/her attention. Once this happens, the company should send the long version for a detailed action plan.

Going hand in hand with the previous tip, if you want to effectively captivate the reader , and not have them just briefly skimming through it, it’s important to adapt your plan for the type of audience you have . Whether you are demonstrating it to a financial institution, a marketing specialist, or a potential customer for your product and service .

For example , if trying to get the first attention of a potential investor, they typically only need a summary of your product offer, and a detailed description of your cash flow projections , (sales, budget, etc.). This allows you to hold their attention and interest them in what they specifically have a passion for.

Because business plans are so precise and tend to contain copious amounts of information, it is important to utilize graphics wisely . Graphics are good tools for explaining data and summarising information. However, the excessive use of this tool can be harmful to particular types of readers.

Not everyone is comfortable with pages full of data and no explanation and so for a successful BAP, it is imperative to have the correct balance between graphics and images.

The most recommended tip for an adequate length is to get feedback from reliable sources . It is always a good practice to understand other people's perception of a person's work. Feedback allows people a trial of how targeted readers can react to reading your business plan , it helps you understand the different points of view, new ideas, and opens a space for improvement.

According to the feedback, you’ll understand how engaging your BAP is, whether you have to shorten it, add information, or be more precise. These are key suggestions that can lead you towards a successful action plan.

An effective business plan takes more into account than the overall proposition of the company. If a plan is not well established, doesn’t contain the essential elements, and doesn’t offer captivating information, the audience won’t continue to read it , will get bored, and won’t effectuate any initiatives .

Some common mistakes to avoid of a BAP are:

• not giving enough precision ,
• excessive or minimal use of words ,
• wrong targeted audience ,
• being non-realistic about financial projections ,
• excessive use of graphics ,
• not being adapted for skimming ,
• being out of order .

Remember: an effective business plan must be appealing , easy to read , available to skim , and captivating, in order for the audience to be engaged with your action plan, thus getting positive results from your business.

It’s normal for companies to have an extensive business action plan . After all, it details a company's business model based on amp research, thus defending its value proposition in light of the global context data. However, it is imperative to exercise different versions of the same plan in order for the reading parties to be instantly and easily engaged .

This will allow the company a versatile and straight to the point proposition for their audience, captivating different types of readers and adapting their plan towards their main areas of interests. Furthermost, positioning itself as an efficient company that does their homework and research for optimal delivery.

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How to write an effective business plan in 11 steps (with workbook)

February 28, 2024 | 14 minute read

Writing a business plan is a powerful way to position your small business for success as you set out to meet your goals. Landmark studies suggest that business founders who write one are 16% more likely to build viable businesses than those who don’t and that entrepreneurs focused on high growth are 7% more likely to have written a business plan. HBR. July 14, 2017. Available online at https://hbr.org/2017/07/research-writing-a-business-plan-makes-your-startup-more-likely-to-succeed" data-footnote="sevenpercent" aria-label="Footnote 1" data-options="{"interstitialType":"leaving-site","targetAction":"new-tab"}" class="spa-ui-layer-link spa-fn spa-ui-layer-interstitial"> Footnote [1] Even better, other research shows that owners who complete business plans are twice as likely to grow their business successfully or obtain capital compared with those who don’t. Footnote [2]

The best time to write a business plan is typically after you have vetted and researched your business idea. (See How to start a business in 15 steps .) If conditions change later, you can rewrite the plan, much like how your GPS reroutes you if there is traffic ahead. When you update your plan regularly, everyone on your team, including outside stakeholders such as investors, will know where you are headed.

What is a business plan?

Typically 15-20 pages long, a business plan is a document that explains what your business does, what you want to achieve in the business and the strategy you plan to use to get there. It details the opportunities you are going after, what resources you will need to achieve your goals and how you will define success.

Why are business plans important?

Business plans help you think through barriers and discover opportunities you may have recognized subconsciously but have not yet articulated. A business plan can also help you to attract potential lenders, investors and partners by providing them with evidence that your business has all of the ingredients necessary for success.

What questions should a business plan answer?

Your business plan should explain how your business will grow and succeed. A great plan will provide detailed answers to questions that a banker or investor will have before putting money into the business, such as:

• What products or services do you provide?
• Who is your target customer?
• What are the benefits of your product and service for customers?
• How much will you charge?
• What is the size of the market?
• What are your marketing plans?
• How much competition does the business face in penetrating that market?
• How much experience does the management team have in running businesses like it?
• How do you plan to measure success?
• What do you expect the business’s revenue, costs and profit to be for the first few years?
• How much will it cost to achieve the goals stated in the business plan?
• What is the long-term growth potential of the business? Is the business scalable?
• How will you enable investors to reap the rewards of backing the business? Do you plan to sell the business to a bigger company eventually or take it public as your “exit strategy”?

How to write a business plan in 11 steps

This step-by-step outline will make it easier to write an effective business plan, even if you’re managing the day-to-day demands of starting a new business. Creating a table of contents that lists key sections of the plan with page numbers will make it easy for readers to flip to the sections that interest them most.

Use our editable workbook to capture notes and organize your thoughts as you review these critical steps. Note: To avoid losing your work, please remember to save this PDF to your desktop before you begin.

1. Executive summary

The executive summary is your opportunity to make a great first impression on investors and bankers. It should be just as engaging as the enthusiastic elevator pitch you might give if you bumped into a potential backer in an elevator.

In three to five paragraphs, you’ll want to explain what your business does, why it will succeed and where it will be in five years. The executive summary should include short descriptions of the following:

• Business concept. What will your business do?
• Goals and vision. What do you expect the business to achieve, both financially and for other key stakeholders, such as the community?
• Product or service. What does your product or service do — and how is it different from those of competitors?
• Target market. Who do you expect to buy your product or service?
• Marketing strategy. How will you tell people about your product or service?
• Current revenue and profits. If your business is pre-revenue, offer sales projections.
• Projected revenue and profits. Provide a realistic look at the next year, as well as the next three years, ideally.
• Financial resources needed. How much money do you need to borrow or raise to fund your plan?
• Management team. Who are the company’s leaders and what relevant experience will they contribute?

2. Business overview

Here is where you provide a brief history of the business and describe the product(s) or service(s) it offers. Make sure you describe the problem you are attempting to solve, for whom you will solve it (your customers) and how you will solve it. Be sure to describe your business model (such as direct-to-consumer sales through an online store) so readers can envision how you will make sales. Also mention your business structure (such as a sole proprietorship , general partnership, limited partnership or corporation) and why it is advantageous for the business. And be sure to provide context on the state of your industry and where your business will fit into it.

3. Business goals and vision

Explain what you hope to achieve in the business (your vision) as well as its mission and value proposition. Most founders judge success by the size to which they grow the business using measures such as revenue or number of employees. Your goals may not be solely financial. You may also wish to provide jobs or solve a societal problem. If that’s the case, mention those goals as well.

If you are seeking outside funding, explain why you need the money, how you will put it to work to grow the business and how you expect to achieve the goals you have set for the business. Also explain your exit strategy—that is, how you would enable investors to cash out, whether that means selling the business or taking it public.

4. Management and organization

Many investors say they bet on the team behind a business more than the business idea, trusting that talented and experienced people will be capable of bringing sound business concepts to life. With that in mind, make sure to provide short bios of the key members of your management team (including yourself) that emphasize the relevant experience each individual brings, along with their special talents and industry recognition. Many business plans include headshots of the management team with the bios.

Also describe more about how your organization will be structured. Your company may be a sole proprietorship, a limited liability company (LLC) or a corporation in one or more states.

If you will need to hire people for specific roles, this is the place to mention those plans. And if you will rely on outside consultants for certain roles — such as an outsourced CFO — be sure to make a note of it here. Outside backers want to know if you’ve anticipated the staffing you need.

5. Service or product line

A business will only succeed if it sells something people want or need to buy. As you describe the products or services you will offer, make sure to explain what benefits they will provide to your target customers, how they will differ from competing offerings and what the buying cycle will likely be so it is clear that you can actually sell what you are offering. If you have plans to protect your intellectual property through a copyright or patent filing, be sure to mention that. Also explain any research and development work that is underway to show investors the potential for additional revenue streams.

6. Market/industry analysis

Anyone interested in providing financial backing to your business will want to know how big your company can potentially grow so they have an idea of what kind of returns they can expect. In this section, you’ll be able to convey that by explaining to whom you will be selling and how much opportunity there is to reach them. Key details to include are market size; a strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats (SWOT) analysis ; a competitive analysis; and customer segmentation. Make it clear how you developed any projections you’ve made by citing interviews or research.

Also describe the current state of the industry. Where is there room for improvement? Are most companies using antiquated processes and technology? If your business is a local one, what is the market in your area like? Do most of the restaurants where you plan to open your café serve mediocre food? What will you do better?

In this section, also list competitors, including their names, websites and social media handles. Describe each source of competition and how your business will address it.

7. Sales and marketing

Explain how you will spread the word to potential customers about what you sell. Will you be using paid online search advertising, social media promotions, traditional direct mail, print advertising in local publications, sponsorship of a local radio or TV show, your own YouTube content or some other method entirely? List all of the methods you will use.

Make sure readers know exactly what the path to a sale will be and why that approach will resonate with customers in your ideal target markets as well as existing customer segments. If you have already begun using the methods you’ve outlined, include data on the results so readers know whether they have been effective.

8. Financials

In a new business, you may not have any past financial data or financial statements to include, but that doesn’t mean you have nothing to share. Preparing a budget and financial plan will help show investors or bankers that you have developed a clear understanding of the financial aspects of running your business. (The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) has prepared a guide you can use; SCORE , a nonprofit organization that partners with the SBA, offers a financial projections template to help you look ahead.) For an existing business, you will want to include income statements, profit and loss statements, cash flow statements and balance sheets, ideally going back three years.

Make a list of the specific steps you plan to take to achieve the financial results you have outlined. The steps are generally the most detailed for the first year, given that you may need to revise your plan later as you gather feedback from the marketplace.

Include interactive spreadsheets that contain a detailed financial analysis showing how much it costs your business to produce the goods and services you provide, the profits you will generate, any planned investments and the taxes you will pay. See our startup costs calculator to get started.

9. Financial projections

Creating a detailed sales forecast can help you get outside backers excited about supporting you. A sales forecast is typically a table or simple line graph that shows the projected sales of the company over time with monthly or quarterly details for the next 12 months and a broader projection as much as five years into the future. If you haven’t yet launched the company, turn to your market research to develop estimates. For more information, see “ How to create a sales forecast for your small business .”

10. Funding request

If you are seeking outside financing such as a loan or equity investment, your potential backers will want to know how much money you need and how you will spend it. Describe the amount you are trying to raise, how you arrived at that number and what type of funding you are seeking (such as debt, equity or a combination of both). If you are contributing some of your own funds, it is worth noting this, as it shows that you have skin in the game.

11. Appendix

This should include any information and supporting documents that will help investors and bankers gain a greater understanding of the potential of your business. Depending on your industry, you might include local permits, licenses, deeds and other legal documents; professional certifications and licenses; media clips; information on patents and other intellectual property; key customer contracts and purchase orders; and other relevant documents.

Some business owners find it helpful to develop a list of key concepts, such as the names of the company’s products and industry terms. This can be helpful if you do business in an industry that may not be familiar to the readers of the business plan.

Tips for creating an effective business plan

Use clear, simple language. It’ll be easier to win people over if your plan is easy to read. Steer clear of industry jargon, and if you must use any phrases the average adult won’t know, be sure to define them.

Emphasize what makes your business unique. Investors and bankers want to know how you will solve a problem or gap in the marketplace differently from anyone else. Make sure you’re conveying your differentiating factors.

Nail the details. An ideal business plan will be detailed and accurate. Make sure that any financial projections you make are realistic and grounded in solid market research. (If you need help in making your calculations, you can get free advice at SCORE.) Seasoned bankers and investors will quickly spot numbers that are overly optimistic.

Take time to polish it. Your final version of the plan should be neat and professional with an attractive layout and copy that has been carefully proofread.

Include professional photos. High-quality shots of your product or place of business can help make it clear why your business stands out.

Updating an existing business plan

Some business owners in rapidly growing businesses update their business plan quarterly. Others do so every six months or every year. When you update your plan make sure you consider these three things:

1. Are your goals still current? As you’ve tested your concept, your goals may have changed. The plan should reflect this.

2. Have you revised any strategies in response to feedback from the marketplace? You may have found that your offerings resonated with a different customer segment than you expected or that your advertising plan didn’t work and you need to try a different approach. Given that investors will want to see a marketing and advertising plan that works, keeping this section current will ensure you are always ready to meet with one who shows interest.

3. Have your staffing needs changed? If you set ambitious goals, you may need help from team members or outside consultants you did not anticipate when you first started the business. Take stock now so you can plan accordingly.

Final thoughts

Most business owners don’t follow their business plans exactly. But writing one will get you off to a much better start than simply opening your doors and hoping for the best, and it will be easier to analyze any aspects of your business that aren’t working later so you can course-correct. Ultimately, it may be one of the best investments you can make in the future of your business.

Business plan FAQs

The biggest mistake you can make when writing a business plan is creating one before the idea has been properly researched and tested. Not every idea is meant to become a business. Other common mistakes include:

• Not describing your management team in a way that is appealing to investors. Simply cutting and pasting someone’s professional bio into the management section won’t do the trick. You’ll want to highlight the credentials of each team member in a way that is relevant to this business.
• Failing to include financial projections — or including overly optimistic ones. Investors look at a lot of business plans and can tell quickly whether your numbers are accurate or pie in the sky. Have a good small business accountant review your numbers to make sure they are realistic.
• Lack of a clear exit strategy for investors. Investors may want the option to cash out eventually and would want to know how they can go about doing that.
• Slapdash presentation. Make sure to fact-check any industry statistics you cite and that any charts, graphs or images are carefully prepared and easy to read.

There are a variety of styles of business plans. Here are three major types:

Traditional business plan. This is a formal document for pitching to investors based on the outline in this article. If your business is a complicated one, the plan may exceed the typical length and stretch to as many as 50 pages.

One-page business plan. This is a simplified version of a formal business plan designed to fit on one page. Typically, each section will be described in bullet points or in a chart format rather than in the narrative style of an executive summary. It can be helpful as a summary document to give to investors — or for internal use. Another variation on the one-page theme is the business model canvas .

Lean plan. This methodology for creating a business plan is ideal for a business that is evolving quickly. It is designed in a way that makes it easy to update on a regular basis. Lean business plans are usually about one page long. The SBA has provided an example of what this type of plan includes on its website.

Many elements of a business plan for a nonprofit are similar to those of a for-profit business. However, because the goal of a nonprofit is achieving its mission — rather than turning a profit — the business plan should emphasize its specific goals on that front and how it will achieve them. Many nonprofits set key performance indicators (KPIs) — numbers that they track to show they are moving the needle on their goals.

Nonprofits will generally emphasize their fundraising strategies in their business plans rather than sales strategies. The funds they raise are the lifeblood of the programs they run.

A strategic plan is different from the type of business plan you’ve read about here in that it emphasizes the long-term goals of the business and how your business will achieve them over the long run. A strong business plan can function as both a business plan and a strategic plan.

A marketing plan is different from a business plan in that it is focused on four main areas of the business: product (what you are selling and how you will differentiate it), price (how much your products or services will cost and why), promotion (how you will get your ideal customer to notice and buy what you are selling) and place (where you will sell your products). A thorough business plan may cover these topics, doing double duty as both a business plan and a marketing plan.

The Small Business Community is now Small Business Resources .

How Long Should a Business Plan Be?

The short answer is “as long as it needs to be”.  The length of your business plan depends on several factors such as who your audience is, the complexity of your product or service, and how long it takes to prove your mastery of the market.

In similar articles, you’ll hear things like this: “Your business plan should be as long as it takes to convince the reader that your company is worth investing in.”  This is true if your only objective is to secure an investment, but research shows that people use business plans for so much more than that.

In this article, I’ll answer the general question of, “How long should a business plan be?” based on who your audience is, and what their requirements are.

Internal Audience

An internal audience like yourself, a small team, or even a medium to a large group can benefit from a lean business plan, standard business plan or a comprehensive business plan.

A lean business plan may only be a page or two in length but can be incredibly helpful in developing the leadership qualities of your management team.

Business Plan, not an Operations Manual

It’s fascinating when it comes to standard or comprehensive business plans.  Most people believe that startups only write long business plans when they’re writing for an outside audience.  This is completely inaccurate, especially for startups with a complex product, or service.

What happens is the founders write word for word how their technology or intellectual property works.  Remember, a business plan requires a summarization of operations, not a focus on the actual operational plan.

Your business plan should dial in on the strategic direction of the company.  Any detailed explanations of IP, or specific processes should be done separately.

External Audience With Criteria

Some audiences will require your business plan to be a certain length.  It’s important to review these criteria to ensure you’re meeting all of their requirements.  Here are a few examples:

• The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) requests basic business plans to be 38 to 50 pages in length, and complex plans to be 80 to 100 pages.

https://www.sba.gov/offices/district/az/phoenix/resources/sba-recommended-business-plans-length#:~:text=This%20is%20one%20of%20the,on%20their%20own%20personal%20perspective.

• The Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs requires a business plan to be 10-30 pages in length, typed and double spaced, with adequate margins for adding notes or questions

https://www.omafra.gov.on.ca/english/busdev/facts/08-051.htm

• The DECA International Business Plan requirements are that the body of the written entry must be limited to 30 numbered pages, including the appendix

https://www.deca.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/HS_IBP_Guidelines1.pdf

• Alberta Immigrant Nominee Program encourages candidates to provide business plans not exceeding 10 pages plus required appendices.

https://www.alberta.ca/assets/documents/lbr-ainp-business-plan-guidelines.pdf

●        Yahoo Small Business suggests a business plan can range from 20 to 50 pages in total.

https://smallbusiness.yahoo.com/advisor/resource-center/does-business-plan-140000974/

As you can see every audience is drastically different.  That is why your business plan’s length should mirror the audience it’s going in front of.

External Audience With No Criteria

In the situation that your business plan is for an external audience that hasn’t set forth any criteria, simply follow this procedure:

• Do all the research you can to ensure that your business plan answers every question it should.  Ensure your content is based on evidence.
• Once completed, revise your business plan for readability.  Is your business plan easy to read?
• Get your business plan in front of people you know: small business owners, friends, family, people with English degrees.  Get the advice you need, not just what you want to hear.
• Next, you can contact our team.  We’ll peer-review your business plan and offer our thoughts based on your goals and objectives.

Every business plan should be written with a consideration of who the audience is.  A bank may focus on financial projections, while an investor might be more focused on the life-cycle of the market.  A great business plan starts with a clear understanding of the audience, their requirements and criteria.

Use Charts and Graphs

That’s right.  Business plans with strictly text are boring, and rarely ever get the point across.  By using charts, graphs, and other visuals you can illustrate your concept while keeping your audience engaged.

The Average Length of a Business Plan

A standard business plan is usually 2,600 to 4,000 words in length, which is around 10-15 pages of text.

A comprehensive business plan can be anywhere from 4,000 to 26,000 words, which is equivalent to anywhere from 15-100 words in length.

“Our best approximation of the average length of a business plan is 3,200 words throughout 12-15 pages.”

Our main takeaways are to:

Excite your readers, and keep them focused on your idea.  Speak to your audience. Figure out what will be most compelling to them, while ensuring your content is evidence-based.

More important to length is the content inside your business plan.  Some long plans may communicate very little, while some short plans will communicate the essence of the business more effectively and with fewer words.

Most audiences skim business plans.  This means you never know where your audience’s eyes will land; therefore, every sentence must be your best sentence.  To help your audience with their skim you should:

Use Headers To Help Them Navigate

Headers will give your audience an idea of the business plan’s structure, so they can dial in on their areas of interest.

One option is to write your plan at a length you’re confident with, provide it to your audience, and allow them to suggest areas that can be expanded upon.

So, how long should a business plan really be?  A winning business plan is not based on its length, but rather on what’s inside.  A good rule is do not make your business plan longer than it needs to be.

9 Things You Must Know When Writing Your Small Business Plan

One most common question that strikes in the mind of almost all new entrepreneurs is, “ how long should a business plan be ”.

Some experts suggest business plans be detailed with just everything that you need to present your business idea, the revenue model, and the projections. On the other hand, some insist not to be too much stuff!

How long is a business plan?

Well, business plans today are way too different than that of what they looked like ten years ago, but today’s trend still follows those fundamentals, i.e. good projections and solid analysis and easy & quick to read. So, the crux is to keep the business plan simple, i.e. from wording and formatting to the stats and graphical presentations.

Writing a Simple Business Plan

Now, the problem happens when people confuse simple wording and formats with simple thinking and assume that a complex business model cannot have a short and simple business plan .

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Anything 20 to 30 pages long with 10 pages for appendices is an ideal length of a business plan for a complex business model. The length may be trimmed for simple business ideas.

Writing a simple business plan for a simple business model is easy, but entrepreneurs with complex business ideas find it difficult to make it happen. They prefer to use a  business plan writing service  to do the plan correctly. Moreover, this article will help you to make your complex business idea comprehensible to a layman.

Quick Guidelines to Keep the Business Plan Simple:

• Avoid long complicated sentences.
• Avoid buzzwords, jargon, and acronyms; you know that KISS stands for “keep it simple, stupid,” but don’t assume anybody else does.
• Avoid verbose text.
• Keep the text style the same throughout the business plan.
• Avoid text size lesser than 11 and greater than 13 for paragraphs and note more than 18 for headings.
• Use page breaks to separate sections and to separate charts from text and to highlight tables.
• Be creative with explanations and use imagery, charts, diagrams, and more visuals that can explain the plan in less time.

The graphical business plans are more effective than any other type, however, they require more effort and development time. Hiring an experienced business plan writer is the best idea, however, if you want to do it yourself, you may need the help of a designer or graphic tools to develop a solid business plan for your startup .

Here are some more tips to utilize the graphics more effectively.

• Make your important numbers easy to find with summary tables and simple business charts. And provide related details easy to find in the appendices.
• Bar charts can serve best for yearly data, i.e. sales, profits, cash flow and net worth etc.
• Pie charts work great for presenting market share and analysis of segments.
• Action plans and milestones should be presented horizontally with labels on the left and dates along the top or bottom.
• Don’t use a graphic without referencing it in the text.

And finally, always proofread your text to make sure that everything is in order!

Overview of the Key Sections:

So, now that you know exactly how long your business plan should be, let’s review what you  need to include. If your business plan is the right length, but it’s missing important information, this article will have been for nothing! Here are the general sections of your business plan and what they entail:

1. Executive Summary

So, this is technically the last step of the business plan. However, you’ll put it at the front so that the reader can gain some extra context before jumping in. This section summarizes the following sections, and should typically be about 2 pages maximum.

2. A Description of the Company

Here’s where you get into the details of what your company does. What are the vision and mission statements? What problem is your business going to solve? You should keep this part lean and without fluff, approximately 3 pages. 

3. Products & Offerings

This section is the descriptor of what your company has to offer. In the previous section, you detailed what your product will solve, but now you have to show how you’ll do that, and how you’ll make money with your products. This section length will depend on how many products you have but shouldn’t take up more than 15% of the report. 

4. Competitive Market Analysis

This section will be one of the longer ones, about 4-5 pages. You’ll really need to emphasize why your company will survive amidst its competition. Detail your competitors and analyze them closely and realistically in this section. Find what your competitive advantage is in the process. 

5. Business Strategy Report

Now that you’ve found your competitive edge, detail it in this section. Another long one, this one shouldn’t exceed 6 pages. However, this is one of the most important sections, second only to the financial plan. Investors want to see that you know where you’re going in the long run and how you’ll get there. 

6. Team Overview

Here, you will describe the management team and provide an overview of your employees. The organization structure should also be present in this section, as it lets potential investors predict your success more easily. This section will also depend on your company’s size, but again, shouldn’t take up more than 15% of the total length. 

7. Financial Plan & Targets

According to  SharpSheets , it’s best to use the bottom-up methodology to create accurate and realistic financial projections. 

Here is the section that investors need to see in order to make their final decision—the financials. Without this section, there would be no investment potential. Make realistic capital requirements, analyze overhead costs, and make humble but firm projections.

Don’t give any half-truths or misinformation here; it will come back to haunt you. Make sure you know your stuff and that this section receives special attention. In all, this section should be one of the longer ones.

The Bottom Line:

Whether you are a first-time entrepreneur or someone who has already launched a few ventures, having an authentic business coach on board can help you develop a solid business plan. A business coach can help you get a deep understanding of the business, pinpoint areas to improve and thus you get the confidence to be bold and take the right business decisions. With the help of a solid coaching program like Titaniums success , you can develop a success-oriented business plan , generate hard, measurable results, get the faster execution of strategies done, and build a better business in less time.

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How to write a business plan in 12 steps (2024 edition)

Updated 18 April 2024 • 12 min read

This guide breaks down how to write a business plan, step-by-step, detailing what your document needs to include and what you need to think about to make your business plan as persuasive as possible.

What is a business plan?

A business plan is an essential document that can provide immense value for new and existing companies of all sizes. It is an overview that includes an outline of your business, its key objectives and plan for achieving important goals.

This information can be used to communicate strategic actions to internal teams and also attract interest from potential partners and investors . However, writing a business plan can be a lengthy and involved process. For many, using a business plan template can be a good way to get started.

For best results, you’ll need to do a lot of thinking and planning before you start writing your business plan. This way you have all the information and resources you need at your fingertips and won’t be under time pressure to come up with something at the last minute. After all, a well-thought-out business plan can help you avoid generic information and set your company up for success.

Download your free business plan template .

Why write a business plan?

Writing your business plan helps to get your strategy nailed down and onto the page. A plan that stays in your head is probably going to be full of unrealistic assumptions and biases, whereas a strategically thought-out and organised approach forces you to notice your blind spots and find a way forward.

If you’re looking for financing, a bank or investor needs to be persuaded by your business proposal and the opportunity to work with you. Therefore, a well-written business plan can help provide potential financial partners with the confidence that your business can become profitable. Your business plan gives them a comprehensive view of all aspects of your business and details your strategy for achieving your goals.

What are the main sections of a business plan?

Whatever your line of work, your business plan will generally need to provide the following:

An executive summary

A business overview

The market opportunity

Your products/services

How to write a business plan

Make sure you cover each of the following steps when preparing your document:

1. Write an executive summary

This section of your business plan should be 1–2 pages in length and enables potential financiers or partners to get an overview of what your business does and – most importantly — what the opportunity is for them. If they’re interested in the opportunity, they’ll conduct their own due diligence - and this will start with going through your business plan and financials.

It’s a good idea to write your executive summary last, when you’ve clarified your thinking around every section of the document. As an overview section, you don’t want to add any new content that isn’t in your business plan. Aim to keep this summary succinct and engaging by using simple, plain language, as this is much more persuasive than complicated or academic wording.

Use sub-headings and bullet points to help your most important information stand out, especially as busy executives may simply scan your executive summary and use this to decide whether they want to find out more.

What to include in an executive summary?

Make sure you include details on:

What your business does

What the opportunity is

What your unique selling points / differentiators are

How much funding you’re looking for

What the funding will be used for

How you'll succeed

Remember, you’re providing the big picture overview of your business - the detail is in the rest of the document and in the appendices.

2. Write your business overview

This section of your business plan needs to be more than just a list of what your business does. Its purpose is to excite those you’re hoping will work with you or help to fund your business.

Information to address includes:

What's the purpose of your business?

What problem does your business’ product or service solve?

What niche could it fill?

What’s different about your offering?

How are you better than anyone else at what you do?

Consider what your customer value proposition is by deciding what you want to achieve and what your number 1 benefit is for your customer.

3. Identify your USP

Think about what your unique selling points (USP) or differentiators are, and what proof-points you can provide to back them up.

For example, you can use terms like “market-leading” but if you don’t provide any evidence to back up your claims, your reader will take them with a big pinch of salt!

You should certainly reference any awards or endorsements that position you as the best person to provide your product or service, as well as any client testimonials. Make sure you include any education or experience that makes you an expert in your field as well.

4. Describe the market opportunity

Show you understand your industry, market and where you fit in it. While no-one can predict the future, offer up where you think the opportunity is for your business and make sales projections based on that. 

For example, imagine your business is selling personalised cookies - there's little competition in your area and you see your market opportunity to create designs for all calendar and holiday events. You expect to increase sales by 30% in one year and 50% in three years, driven primarily by word-of-mouth referrals.

Make sure you also consider macro trends that may create opportunities for you, such as social, environmental, or technological changes that may affect buying behaviour.

5. Include a SWOT analysis

Whatever your business strengths or opportunities, they’ll always be known and unknown weaknesses and threats; there’s no such thing as certainty in business or in life!

However, you can demonstrate that you’ve examined your business through different lenses and have a thorough understanding of it by doing a SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats) analysis.

Don’t worry about drawing attention to your business’ shortcomings - every opportunity has them and it’ll give investors and partners confidence in you that you won't bury your head in the sand. Naturally, it's important that you specify what you’re going to do to address these weaknesses and counter these threats.

Here are some areas you can think about to get started: reputation, technology, location, experience, staff, overheads, competition, suppliers and price.

6. Present a competitor analysis

Let’s face it, no matter what industry you’re in, or what you’re selling, there’s going to be other businesses offering the same thing. But instead of worrying about the competition, use this as a positive opportunity to up your game and work out the unique advantages you have that will keep you competitive.

Identify your top 3 competitors and analyse what they're doing well and where they’re coming up short. Try to be as objective as possible and identify how to differentiate yourself from them.

You should also look into who the industry leaders are and what the benchmarks are for your industry so that you can set yourself targets for continuous improvement.

7. Create a customer persona

A customer persona is a fictional person who represents your company's ideal customer. Naturally, the persona can be based on a real person - the more you get to know your ideal customer, the more targeted and successful your marketing efforts will be.

To create a customer persona, you need to conduct research into your ideal customer’s age, sex, income, employment, daily activities, interests and hobbies. If you’re feeling unsure about your customer persona, you may need to give your ideal customer further thought and download the customer persona template to get started.

8. Write your marketing strategy

When you’ve created your customer persona, you need to work out how you’re going to reach them. Do they hang out on social media apps, like Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, Twitter or LinkedIn? Or are they more used to local, traditional marketing like free local papers or high foot traffic areas?

Once you’ve figured where your audience is likely to hang out, you can outline your strategies for promoting and advertising your products or services in the next 12 months.

Make a list of the marketing channels you’ll use to achieve your advertising strategy and be sure to include your budget. How much can you set aside for advertising? And where are you most likely to see a return on your efforts? Paid ads on Facebook? Half or full paid spreads in an industry magazine? Or even a direct mail out? 

For more structured help around this, check out free course: Business 101 | Get social with your business on Facebook . 

9. Design your customer retention strategy

Business success relies heavily on the relationship you’re able to build with your customers. What techniques will you use to keep them coming back? Consider the following:

What can your business do to increase the number of repeat customers? 

Does your business have a referral or loyalty program? 

Do you have a post-purchase follow up in place?

Will you use surveys to track customer satisfaction?

What ways can you continue delivering outstanding service?

Is there a way to continue educating and adding value to your customers?

10. Present your financials

Most people who are looking at investing their time and/or money in your business will want to see your financial statements - your performance to date and your projections over the short and medium term. They'll also want to know how much you’ve received in funding to date and what these other sources of funding are - including your own investment.

Current finances

You need to show how your business has performed financially over the last year, highlighting metrics such as positive cashflow , net profit and assets.

Financial forecasts

You should also provide a balance forecast projecting total assets, total liabilities and net assets over 1, 2 and 3 years, and a profit and loss forecast for the same periods detailing gross profit /net sales, total expenses and net profit/loss. Finally, you should also provide a cash flow forecast month by month over the next year.

It’s also a good idea to speak to an expert like an accountant or bookkeeper about your finances and get advice on how best to present them in this all-important section of your business plan.

11. Detail how much funding is needed

Naturally, you also need to be very clear about how much money you’re looking for and what you plan to do with it. If you’re looking for a loan , you need to detail what it’s for, over what period it’ll be repaid, and what collateral you have to secure it.

12. Propose an exit strategy

Any financial stakeholder in your business will want a return on investment. If you’re pursuing this type of funding, you should include some detail on your proposed exit strategy . For example, do you want to sell the company at some point or go public?

Similarly, you should outline your succession plan so the business can continue to operate if you decide to step away from it. Likewise, you need a plan for what happens if the business loses money and can’t sustain itself. Documenting this means that everyone is on the same page and potential investors have this information upfront.

Frequently asked questions about writing a business plan:

When to write a business plan.

Typically, entrepreneurs write their business plans within the first year of operations. A business plan is a tool that helps business owners refine their strategy, attract partners and financiers, and grow their business.

If a business plan is written too soon, it may lack the substance that comes with time in the market. However, it’s important to note that a business plan isn't a static document - it can and should change as the business evolves.

How long should your business plan be?

There are no hard and fast rules around how long your business plan should be - it just needs to include all the relevant information. Aim for clear, concise sections and build a business plan that is as easy to read and navigate as possible.

Using a business plan template can help you make sure you have everything covered off, while also having a document that looks as professional as possible. Make sure you run a spelling and grammar check too - any sloppy errors can undermine your credibility.

What’s a business plan on a page?

It’s important to write your business plan as it helps to embed your strategy - as well as communicate what you’re about to potential partners or investors. When you have a comprehensive business plan you can easily adapt it to suit different audiences. For example, a full business plan is essential for raising capital but a business plan on a page may be enough for potential partners or employees.

What do venture capitalists look for in a business plan?

Venture capitalists invest money into businesses with the goal of achieving a return on their investment within the short to medium term. As a result, they’re looking for an attractive market opportunity, a clear point of differentiation, a strong management team, a proven track record, solid financials and, importantly, an exit opportunity.

Where to go for help or more information?

There are many great resources out there to help you fine-tune your business strategy and write your business plan. The Australian Government has a comprehensive website dedicated to supporting businesses at all stages of their journey.

You can also get help from Business Enterprise Centres , business advisors, accountants and fellow business owners. MYOB also has a list of business advisors who can give you feedback on your business plan, so your venture has the very best chance of success. 

Related Guides

How to get a business loan arrow right, how to find investors: a guide for startups arrow right, business models: definitions, types and key components arrow right.

How long should your business plan be?

Having a business plan is essential for any successful venture, but how long should it be? Is there a right or wrong answer when it comes to the length of your business plan?

The short answer is no – every business has unique needs and goals which will determine what should go into their plan. However, there are some guidelines that can help you figure out how long your plan should be.

In this guide, we’ll discuss why having an appropriate length for your business plan is important, how the length should vary based on the type of business plan you are writing, as well as provide tips on striking the perfect balance between detail and conciseness.

By the end of this guide, you’ll have a better understanding of how long your own business plan should be based on your use case.

In this guide:

Guiding principles when it comes to your business plan's length

How long should a business plan for a bank be, how long should a business plan for an investor be, how long should a business plan for a supplier be, how long should a business plan to find a business partner be, how long should an internal business plan be.

• Final Thoughts

A business plan should contain enough information to convince its reader, but it should also be as short as possible so that people don't get bored reading it.

The amount of convincing you need to do depends on what you are asking to the reader. Therefore, the ideal length and depth of your document will vary depending on the type of business plan you are writing.

For example, an internal business plan to make sure your team is aligned on your company goals does not need to be as long or detailed as one you would send to an investor in order to secure $10 million in funding.

An internal business plan should focus more on helping employees understand how their roles contribute to achieving organisational objectives instead of providing complex financial information which investors may require.

Yet, and even though it's possible to write a one-page business plan in some rare instances, most documents follow the standard business plan outline that investors and lenders expect to see. Documents which follow this structure are quite comprehensive and as a result usually have a minimum length of 15 pages.

One reason for this is the space taken by the financial tables. Including a P&L, balance sheet and cash flow statement will take at least 3 pages (6 if you include three years of monthly cash flow statements as well - as required by most financial institutions).

Now that we understand the guiding principles, let's look at the main use cases and the typical business plan length in each situation.

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Writing a business plan to obtain a loan from a bank gives potential lenders the opportunity to evaluate your borrowing capacity and consider all the risks involved with lending to your business.

Your business plan must demonstrate the viability of your proposed venture (or existing business if you're already trading) and provide reassurance that your company will be in a position to repay the sums borrowed.

It should therefore include a description of your business’s goals, strategies, and tactics; detailed financials including cash flow forecasts; and information about how you will use the funds borrowed and repay the loan.

The typical length of a business plan to obtain a bank loan is usually between 15 and 30 pages, plus any appendices.

However, it's important to note that the complexity and level of details in the document should be tailored to the situation.

The more you wish to borrow, the greater the risk for lenders, and therefore, the more convincing and due diligence it takes. For instance, if you're writing a business plan to borrow $10m, the bank will ask more questions (and need more details) than if you want to borrow $10k.

Similarly, the business plan of a clothes shop which has been in business for 10 years can be shorter than the business plan of a new startup operating in a niche industrial area.

This is due to two reasons:

• The shop is already in business and therefore the bank can partly rely on historical trading to assess the loan application, whereas the projections of the new startup can't be backed by historical trading data
• The retail industry is relatively straightforward to understand, whereas a niche industrial area will require more explaining - and therefore more pages - before the lender is able to form a view

In summary, you need to provide enough information for lenders to assess whether or not they are willing to enter into a loan agreement with you. The more you ask and the more complex your business is, the longer your business plan.

Need inspiration for your business plan?

The Business Plan Shop has dozens of business plan templates that you can use to get a clear idea of what a complete business plan looks like.

Writing a business plan to attract investors has slightly different requirements to that for obtaining a loan from a bank. Whereas lenders tend to focus on your ability to repay them and not to go bankrupt, investors are primarily interested in the return they can expect from their investment.

Investors, therefore, have a more bullish and upside focused mindset than lenders who are primarily concerned about the downsides. You can read more about this difference in mindset in our guide on how investors analyse business plans .

In this sense, a well-written business plan for an investor should put a greater focus on your company's products or services and the market opportunity and competitive landscape in order to demonstrate why you are uniquely positioned to capture that opportunity.

The goal is to demonstrate that there is potential for significant returns, convince potential investors that you have a solid strategy for achieving those returns, and present data which shows you are capable of executing the strategy and detailed financial projections which show them the money.

Generally speaking though, your business plan should contain enough detail so that even someone with little knowledge on the subject matter can quickly understand what your company does and how it will return money to them.

This means having at least 20-30 pages explaining all relevant particulars including market analysis, competitive landscape assessment, branding strategies, product offerings, financials, etc.

Although most business plans follow roughly the structure mentioned above, like for banks, their length can vary depending on the type of investment and amount sought (for example venture capital vs. angel investments).

Overall, when writing a business plan for prospective investors - whether it’s venture capitalists or angel investors - make sure you provide enough information both on yourself as well as on the market dynamics so they can assess if investing in your company makes sense financially, while still keeping things concise enough so they don’t lose interest partway through reading it. Easier said than done!

A comprehensive business plan for a supplier should provide enough information about the company and its services in order to clearly define the potential mutually beneficial relationship.

It should also enable them to assess the size of the opportunity (how much will you buy from them) and financial viability (do they need to be worried about getting paid) in order to decide if they want to do business with you and on which terms.

Depending on how deep and complex your products or services offered are, this may require anywhere from 10 to 20 pages.

When looking for a business partner, you need to present an attractive opportunity that is easy to understand.

Your business plan should explain why this partnership would be beneficial for both parties, how you plan on achieving success together, and the details of what each party will bring to the table. It is also important to be transparent about any potential risks or areas of difficulty so that your potential partner has a full understanding of what they are getting into.

The length of this type of business plan will ultimately depend on the nature of the partnership.

For example, are you looking for an non-executive director helping you 1 day a month, or for a full time cofounder? Will your business partner invest in the business? Will they receive sweat equity? Will they receive a salary or financial compensation?

If you expect your business partner or cofounder to invest money in the business, then they will likely expect the same fully fledged business plan you will give to an investor (20-30 pages).

If there isn't an investment involved, then you can afford to condense the necessary information into a short and concise document of no more than 10 pages.

An internal business plan is typically a shorter version of the business plan that you would use to provide to an investor, bank, or other third parties.

It should be between 1 to 20 pages long and contain all essential information such as company overview, mission statement, market analysis, competitive environment assessment, product/service offerings, milestones, marketing plan, etc.

Depending on the audience of your internal business plan you may decide not to include financial projections. For example, you might want to share your financials with your board but not with your staff.

You may also decide just to include financial highlights without having complete financial statements. Not including complete forecasted financial statements will reduce the length by 3 to 6 pages.

The length will also vary based on your reason for sharing the internal business plan, but it should generally be concise enough so those reading it can quickly get the gist of things without having to devote too much time to reading it.

Use our online business plan software to write business plans of any length!

Using our online business plan software to write your business plan provides you with an efficient way to create a comprehensive and professional document.

There are several advantages to using specialised software:

• You are guided through the writing process by detailed instructions and examples for each part of the plan
• You can be inspired by already written business plan templates
• You can easily make your financial forecast by letting the software take care of the financial calculations for you
• You get a professional document, formatted and ready to be sent to your bank or investors
• You can easily compare your financial forecast against the actual financial performance of your company and keep the business plan up to date

If you're interested in using this type of solution, you can try our software for free by signing up here .

We hope this guide has given you a much better understanding of how long a business plan should be.

Remember that the length of your business plan should be tailored to the audience you are sharing it with and the size of what you are asking for in the plan.

Ultimately, no matter what type of business plan you’re writing, its length will also depend on how complex your products and services offerings are. Always strive to be as concise as possible!

Please do not hesitate to contaxct us if you'd like advice on any of the points mentioned above or would like to speak to a member of our team about anything else related.

Also on The Business Plan Shop

• Business plan steps: everything you need to know
• What is a business plan and how to create one?

Know someone who needs to write a business plan? Share this article with them!

Founder & CEO at The Business Plan Shop Ltd

Guillaume Le Brouster is a seasoned entrepreneur and financier.

Guillaume has been an entrepreneur for more than a decade and has first-hand experience of starting, running, and growing a successful business.

Prior to being a business owner, Guillaume worked in investment banking and private equity, where he spent most of his time creating complex financial forecasts, writing business plans, and analysing financial statements to make financing and investment decisions.

Guillaume holds a Master's Degree in Finance from ESCP Business School and a Bachelor of Science in Business & Management from Paris Dauphine University.

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How to Write an Online Business Plan in 2024

Written by Vanessa Petersen on July 26, 2023 Blog , Sell Online .

You’ve committed to turning your ecommerce or online business idea into something real. You want your small business to produce revenue and change the course of your life, but what’s your first step in realizing your dream? Developing a plan. If you’re not sure about how to write an online business plan, you’ve come to the right place.

One of the most essential tasks involved in starting any kind of business is to write a business plan. An online business plan won’t look that different from a traditional business plan and will include many of the same elements.

In this post, we’ll show you how to write an online business plan, including all the components and sections. We’ll also walk through how WooCommerce can help you put your plan to action and achieve your business goals.

Why write a business plan? 

Starting your own business is a great experience and something that will shape your life, fill you with self-confidence and independence, and inspire other people around you. A new business is also a serious endeavor that will take time, money, sweat, lots of decisions, and a degree of risk.

A traditional business plan template helps you document and keep track of your business goals, challenges, opportunities, and all the steps and processes involved with making your idea work. It will help you conduct thorough market research and set you up for success.

When you write a business plan, it can confirm that you’ve found the best online business to start , or provide clarity about the need to pivot.

It details all the things you will need to do in order to successfully launch and grow your business, and may include revenue projections, timelines for specific goals, concept art for products, and architectural drawings for any brick and mortar aspects of your business. 

Business plans help create a structure for your company’s development and keep you grounded in reality, focused, and not distracted by less important matters. 

If you have more than one person helping run the business, the business plan also keeps everyone unified around the same set of goals and objectives. 

Another reason to write a business plan is for situations where you are presenting your idea to someone else and asking them to invest. In that scenario, your business plan is also a sort of sales document. It makes the argument for why your business idea is so good and well-considered that an investor should want to be a part of it. 

But even if you’re self-funding your entire business — which is more common with online businesses — you still want to write the plan for the reasons given earlier.

The benefits of running an online business

Starting an online business or ecommerce store offers many of the same great benefits as any other business, but without as much risk. If you’re thinking of starting a business, here’s why an online one is a great option:

It has low startup costs

Without a storefront, you eliminate so many costs of running a business. With all the bills that come with having property — like rent, parking, furnishings and decor, etc. — there’s a much higher investment required to start a brick-and-mortar-based business. Online businesses still have startup costs, but they are much lower. 

It gives you freedom over your schedule

With an online business, you have more freedom to set your own hours, because you don’t always have to be open during the usual times. You can build your business to suit the lifestyle you want. Rearrange your time to get things done in the fastest possible way and take time off when you need it. 

You can start small

Once you have a location, it’s yours, and you have to make it work. With an online business, you can start very small, offering just a few products or even just a single service. You can more easily test the waters without making huge commitments with inventory, and other physical investments.

You can more easily pivot

If your online or ecommerce business doesn’t do as well as you expected, it’s easier to pivot and adapt to something new because you haven’t committed so much to making your original idea work. There are many business success stories where the business owner adjusted their idea after gaining some experience, and then it took off. It’s a lot easier to do that when you aren’t tied to a physical location.

But, there’s one thing online businesses have in common with every other type of business: You need a robust business plan to help guide your idea from concept to a successful reality that makes money and fulfills your dreams and goals. 

So, let’s get into business planning. 

How do I write my own online business plan?

Most formal business plans and business plan templates include seven sections, plus an executive summary. You’ll need to keep in mind who you’re writing your business plan for. If you are taking this to potential investors or will be seeking a business loan, your business plan needs to sell the idea of your business as a great investment opportunity and communicate the skills, expertise, and commitment you personally bring to the table. 

Here are the key sections of a traditional business plan format:

• Executive summary
• Company description
• Market analysis
• Organization and management
• Service and product line
• Sales and marketing plans
• Financial projections
• Funding request (if working with investors or partners)

Here’s a brief look at each step of creating an online business plan:

Draft an executive summary

In the executive summary, the first section of almost every business plan template, you’ll present your vision and focus on building excitement. If the business plan is a sales document, the executive summary is the lead. It gets the reader engaged and excited to hear more. 

Your executive summary should achieve two goals:

• Deliver the basic facts about your business
• Motivate the reader to keep going and get them excited about your idea

What facts should you include? Whatever helps the reader understand your business idea. Describe the industry and niche. Mention the target market. Briefly state the needs or problems your products and services will be solving. Touch on the potential for growth in terms of revenue and customers. 

For motivation, describe your mission statement and company values. What will set you apart from the competition? What is your value proposition as a business owner? What makes you different? Again — keep this brief. You’ll elaborate later. 

It might be a good move to write all the other sections first, then finish with the executive summary so it will be the most concise and best version of how you describe your business.

Write a company description

Here, you’ll give a brief overview of your company. What are your strengths, skills, and areas of expertise as a business owner that will position you for success? If you have a compelling story behind why you’re starting your business, you can include that too.

Conduct a SWOT analysis 

If you’re not sure where to start, consider doing a SWOT analysis , which is a diagram outlining your strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. 

It’s a common part of many business plans and will help paint a realistic picture of what your business can achieve, and what stands in the way. You won’t include all of this in the company description, but your strengths and opportunities may fit here. 

Create a mission and vision statement

The company description is also the place to create a mission statement and a vision statement. What’s the difference between these? 

The vision is where you’re going, the mission is how you’ll get there. A vision statement paints a picture of a future reality for your customers and perhaps the world at large, as a result of your company’s influence. A mission statement expresses how you will achieve that.

The company description can elaborate on your vision and mission beyond just a single sentence, and later you can fine-tune what you write into a succinct pair of statements. Feeling some writer’s block? See company description templates by industry for some inspiration.

Include any unique attributes

If your company will involve particular attributes such as manufacturing, supply chains, dropshipping, affiliates, coaching or advising, online courses, or other relevant particulars, include that in your company description, too. 

State your business location, industry, niche, and other details

Also, state the location of your business, even though it’s online. Name your industry and niche target market again, and describe the nature of your company. For example, is it an ecommerce business, a consulting firm, delivery service, wholesale, or ad-based website? These are just some of many types of online business structures. 

You may also want to include whether your business is in any special class of business that might position it for special loan or grant opportunities like women-owned businesses or veteran-owned businesses.

After reading your description, readers should have a good understanding of what your business is about, why it exists, and how it works. Here’s a detailed look at company descriptions , with an example.

Perform a market analysis

A market analysis uses industry research to assess the scope of your business’s target market and describe the current competition in your industry. It can help you estimate the potential for success and prepare for the challenges you may face when you launch your online business or ecommerce shop.

Doing this research, and including it your business plan, can also help you:

• Identify industry trends
• Pinpoint opportunities 
• Diminish risks and reduce costs
• Generate new ideas for products and services
• Learn from the failures and shortcomings of your competitors
• Find ways to stand out from your competitors
• Discover new markets
• Refine your marketing plans

Now let’s dig into the elements involved in a thorough market analysis.

Understand your audience

Here, you will explain in detail who your target customers are and why they want or need what you’ll be selling. What problems or needs does your product solve? What will motivate people to buy from you? And why can’t they get it somewhere else just as easily? An ecommerce business competes against other ecommerce businesses as well as brick-and-mortar stores and shopping malls. Stores with omnichannel strategies compete with both. Why would someone choose you?

Share your key customer demographics, psychographics, and interests. Who will you be serving? What drives them? 

What are their values? If your product, service, or personal brand will appeal to a customer segment that also shares particular values, that’s a strength, not a weakness, and you can use that to win them over. 

Perform customer segmentation

Break down different categories of target customers your business plans to serve. One category could be age. Another might be life situations such as retirees, parents, divorcees, or living with older relatives. You could create a segment of people with particular health conditions, or who live certain lifestyles. 

But you can also get way more specific than that. Runners are different from hikers, who are different from bikers, yoga enthusiasts, and gym enthusiasts. Different supplements, philosophies about food, motivations for eating various foods — all of these present near endless possibilities for more narrowly defining your customer segments, all under the broad category of ‘health.’ And you might serve multiple segments. 

The more customer segments you know, the more effectively you can market to them. In an online store, good product descriptions call out the various customer segments that product is designed for.

Also, give a sense of the potential size of your target market. How many people need what you’re selling? Show how this market is large enough to justify your business and drive revenue. You might do this by studying revenue reports from other companies in your industry. Or look at specific products related to yours and research their sales and revenue performance. 

You may also perform a survey of some kind, or an online quiz, and use that to express the needs your potential customers have that aren’t currently being met.

Perform a competitive analysis

Study your competition. What are they doing well? What areas are they underserving? Where are they underperforming? Make note of what other companies in your industry are struggling with or failing at so that you can deliver something more valuable and gain a competitive advantage.

It could be product quality, customer service, or selection. Maybe their ecommerce store is badly designed and hard to use. Perhaps there’s a huge industry serving the masses, but customers who have more particular tastes or needs aren’t being well-served by the big companies. Those customers might spend more on something that delivers what they really want. 

Maybe your key competition has been rocked by scandal. Maybe a company went out of business, was sold, or closed down due to retirement and there’s an opening in the market you want to leverage. 

The main point of the competitive analysis is to persuade investors that there’s an underserved market that your business plans to cater to. You must be able to promise something that no one else is currently delivering. Otherwise, why should your business exist? Put them at ease by demonstrating proper market research.

Refer to your SWOT analysis and present any potential threats from the competition here, too.

Outline management and organizational structure

Next, present your management and legal structure. Is your company an LLC, sole proprietorship, S corporation, partnership, or some other arrangement? Who’s in charge of what? If you have different departments, list out the leadership for each one. If relevant, you might even include some information about the expertise of your leaders concerning the areas under their charge and the tasks they’ll be performing.

Remember — if your business plan will be used to persuade investors to help fund your business idea, this sort of information will reassure them that your company has strong and competent leadership. 

If there’s a chain of command, use a diagram or other method for laying out who reports to whom. 

List your products and services

What are you selling? You’ll touch on this briefly in the earlier sections, but here is where you’ll expand on the details. If you have an array of similar products, such as food flavors or clothing variations, list as many as seem relevant. But focus on the spirit of the business plan — you’re simply communicating what your business is about, not listing every SKU in your projected inventory. 

Also, include information about your products such as quality, durability, expirations, patents, and whatever else will give a clear picture of what you’re selling.

For service businesses and memberships that may include multiple packages, bundles, or tiers, describe each of these so your readers get a sense of how you’ll appeal to different types of customers and price points. 

Develop a sales and marketing strategy

Having products is great, but how do you intend to sell them? How will people find your business? How will anyone know you exist? And once they know, what will motivate them to buy from you and not from your competition? What is your unique value proposition — the thing that sets you apart from your direct competitors?

You’ll need to develop an initial marketing plan to help promote your business, products, and services to your target customers.

And remember, competition isn’t limited just to other businesses. Sometimes, competition is against the customer’s time, or their budget, or mere indifference — the conflict between doing something and doing nothing. Your SWOT analysis should touch on several of these potential barriers to the success of your online business.

Your marketing plan will obviously change over time, but give your readers and potential investors a sense of how you plan to launch and grow your business. 

Discuss media channels you plan to use, such as pay-per-click (PPC) ads , social media , email marketing , affiliate marketing , direct mail, referrals, joint ventures, search engine optimization (SEO), webinars, influencer marketing , and live events. Describe the ones you actually plan to use, and explain the core strategy you’ll begin with and how you will measure success. 

Also, include a sense of your marketing budget. If you will have a dedicated marketing team, or actual sales professionals using a particular process or sales script, discuss that as well. 

For ecommerce businesses, include a discussion of how you plan to leverage platforms like WooCommerce, which features a host of extensions that can help manage your business , engage customers, save money, and promote growth .

Make financial projections

You’ve made a lot of claims in your business plan, but how will your investors be convinced of your future success? At some point, you have to show them the money. 

If this is a brand new business with no income, where will your finances come from for the first year? Give realistic financial projections for anticipated profits and losses, as well as growth expectations for the first five years. Include financial documents if you have them, including profit and loss statements, balance sheets, and cash flow statements. Include costs of employment, manufacturing, and other investments both one-time and ongoing.

Your financial projections should reference your:

• market analysis 
• anticipated sales volume 

Investors will feel more confident when they can see your business plan does not rely entirely on just one or two ‘wins.’ For example, if your entire plan hinges on selling on eBay or Amazon , what happens if Amazon suspends your store, changes the terms, or you struggle to get noticed there? 

If your plan depends on winning over a few Instagram influencers, what if they don’t come through? It’s really easy to say what you hope will happen. But actually making it happen is another thing. Business success happens more easily when you apply a multi-channel marketing and sales approach. 

Your financial projections will feel based in reality, when you can demonstrate some prior successes, either in other businesses you’ve already launched, test audiences, local sales you made, prior experience, or data from other businesses. 

Explain your funding request — if applicable

If you intend to ask investors to help fund your business idea, present your request in the final main section of your business plan. If you’ve already secured funding from other sources, include that here as well. An investor will feel better knowing they are not the only one who believes in the potential of your business. 

Will your funding request be for a one-time payment, monthly, annually, or at some other interval? How do you plan to repay their investment? Will you allow them to charge interest? How much ROI can you promise them? 

How WooCommerce can help

WooCommerce can help you build a scalable online business that supports your business plan. No matter what you’re selling, WooCommerce offers a suite of flexible tools that allows you to customize your store to meet your needs and goals. 

Here are just some of the benefits your business will enjoy when you choose to build your store with WooCommerce:

• Sell absolutely anything you can imagine . From physical items and digital downloads to subscriptions, memberships, bookings, courses, and affiliate products, WooCommerce provides everything you need. Want to run a wholesale store? You can do that, too!
• Harness the power of WordPress . Since WooCommerce is a plugin specifically for WordPress, you can take advantage of powerful features like the block editor and blogging capabilities. 
• Capture payments securely. Choose from a large number of payment gateways, from popular options like PayPal and Stripe, to more niche processors for specific locations and types of regulated products. And with tools like WooPayments , you can keep customers on-site, capture a variety of currencies, and even accept digital wallets like Apple Pay and Google Pay.
• Customize your shipping options. Offer free shipping, charge based on weight, set fixed prices, or calculate shipping costs based on real-time carrier rates. You can even use extensions like Table Rate Shipping to create complicated shipping rules based on conditions that you set. And with WooCommerce Shipping , you benefit from discounted shipping labels and the ability to print right from your dashboard. 
• Connect to your social media channels. Use extensions to sync your store with social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and Pinterest. You can even sell on those platforms alongside your store without having to update inventory and information manually.
• Integrate with marketing tools. Quickly connect your store to any number of marketing tools, from email platforms like MailPoet to CRMs like Jetpack CRM . You can also implement a number of marketing strategies, from abandoned cart emails to loyalty programs.
• Keep track of your numbers. Ecommerce accounting is a big part of running an online business. While you can easily view data in your dashboard, you can also sync with tools like QuickBooks to make your accountant’s life a little bit easier.
• Manage inventory. Update your inventory levels manually or connect to tools like Scanventory to sync with your warehouse. Running low or out of stock? Add a wishlist option so customers get an alert as soon as it’s available.

As you can see, WooCommerce is well-equipped to handle any type of online store and support you as you grow. Here are a few more reasons that WooCommerce should be your go-to choice for implementing the ecommerce side of your online business plan:

WooCommerce itself is free! Many extensions for WooCommerce can also be found for free in the WordPress.org plugins library or on the Woo Marketplace . If you need to start your website with a limited budget, but want to build on a platform that can grow to support a thriving, high-traffic store, WooCommerce is an excellent option.

You have full control over your store

Unlike other ecommerce solutions that are tied to the platform’s own web hosting, WooCommerce is designed to be used with WordPress along with any hosting provider of your choice. You are also free to use whatever payment processor you want without any additional fees from WooCommerce. You can also customize your site’s appearance and functionality more extensively than you can with other ecommerce platforms and with less (or no) coding knowledge.

Thousands of free and premium extensions

There are over 800 free and premium extensions for WooCommerce on WooCommerce.com alone and over 1,000 in the WordPress.org plugins library . There are also hundreds of independent developers and agencies that offer premium and custom extensions for WooCommerce so that you can customize your store with the exact features you need. 

Excellent support and large community of users

WooCommerce is used by over 3.9 million stores — 23% of all online stores worldwide . The support team is available to answer questions and the documentation library is extensive and thorough. There are also plenty of independent resources for learning how to use WordPress and WooCommerce.

Dedicate time and resources to put your online business plan in action

A successful business plan is one that empowers and guides the business owner to launch their online or ecommerce business, and possibly secure funding. But it only works if you use it.

One advantage of starting an ecommerce store or online business is that you aren’t as locked down by deadlines. With a physical location, once you start paying the rent, you better have your business plan ready to put into action. 

But the beauty of being online is that you have more flexibility on the front end. Despite having more wiggle room with your timelines, you still need to keep your momentum going forward. Staying on track with your business projects and goals is one of the keys to reaching profitability sooner and turning your business plan into reality. A few quick tips:

• Schedule your time. Block out hours and specific days to work on your business.
• Treat it like a job, not a hobby. Build on your momentum week after week.
• Always keep learning. Research your industry, competition, target audience, and potential customers. Learn marketing — you can never know too much.
• Try stuff! Take risks, make calls, create campaigns, write content.

Your business plan template should give you a concrete list of tasks and business objectives. Once you write a business plan, then you can implement it.

Frequently asked questions about writing an online business plan

What are the seven steps of a business plan.

The seven key elements of a business plan are the executive summary, company description, market analysis, organization and management, services and products, marketing plan, and financial projections. If you’re making a funding request, that would be an eighth section.

Where can I find business plan templates?

You can find a free business plan template online, for general business plans as well as for specific industries. However, since each business is different and your plan must be authentic and specific to your company — a business plan template can only get you so far. 

If you need design inspiration for your own custom business plan template or want to start with a pre-designed template that you can customize, you can purchase one for a relatively low cost through a stock resources site like Envato Market or Creative Market .

Do I need a business plan if I am already running an online business or ecommerce shop?

Business plans aren’t only for people who are launching new businesses. You can create a business plan at any time to help you maintain or change the direction of your store or just to get a better picture of the health of your business. Below are a few different types of business plans that you might want to consider for your established online business:

• Operational business plan. Outlines the structure of your business operations, staffing, and logistics.
• Feasibility plan. Feasibility plans are like mini business plans that cover new business ideas and outline steps for implementation.
• Growth business plan. This plan is for businesses that want to demonstrate opportunities and plans for growth to attract investors.
• Maturing business plan. This plan is for businesses looking to merge with or acquire other companies, significantly expand, or go public.
• Strategic business plan. Any time your business wants to shift strategies regarding products or marketing or any other major changes to your previous business plan, you’ll want to create a new strategic business plan to address your new goals and the steps involved in achieving them.

What software should I use for my online business plan?

Your business plan should include some images, graphs, and graphic elements in the layout, so you’ll want to at least use word processing software to put your business plan together. If you have access to Google Workspace, Microsoft 365, Canva, or Adobe Creative Cloud, you’ll have some other options that might lead to a more professional layout.

Here’s a list of free and paid software that can help you put together your online business plan outline:

What do investors want to see in a business plan?

The most important piece of information to show investors in your business plan is potential for profitability. Investors don’t want to throw money at a sinking ship, no matter how cool and exciting the business sounds. 

Most investors also want to make sure that they’ll see a decent return on their investment in a relatively short time period — probably around 5-7 years. How much of a return they’ll expect will depend on your industry and what kind of investor they are. 

Investors will also want to see that you clearly understand your business, your industry, and that you have concrete, actionable steps for achieving, maintaining, and growing profitability. They’ll want to make sure that the key people on your team also understand your business and the roles they play and they’ll want to see that each person has a good amount of experience in their field and the required skill sets to fulfill their job duties, if not go above and beyond. 

Any details you can include that highlight unique aspects of your business will also be important. Any area where you have a competitive edge, are offering a unique or proprietary solution, have established any celebrity endorsements, have the backing of other investors, or have secured special grants will be of special interest to investors.

Create your plan for success

Now that you understand what goes into creating a formal business plan, it’s time to write one! Take the time to think through and consider each aspect of the list included in this article, and you’ll be well on your way to finding success.

And WooCommerce is here to support your business every step of the way, with powerful and flexible tools that help your business grow. Start selling online today !

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Plan Your Business

A well-written business plan is your path to a successful business. Learn to write, use, and improve your business plan with exclusive guides, templates, and examples.

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What should i include in my business plan.

You must have an executive summary, product/service description, market and competitive analysis, marketing and sales plan, operations overview, milestones, company overview, financial plan, and appendix.

Why should I write a business plan?

Businesses that write a business plan typically grow 30% faster because it helps them minimize risk, establish important milestones, track progress, and make more confident decisions.

What are the qualities of a good business plan?

A good business plan uses clear language, shows realistic goals, fits the needs of your business, and highlights any assumptions you’re making.

How long should my business plan be?

There is no target length for a business plan. It should be as long as you need it to be. A good rule of thumb is to go as short as possible, without missing any crucial information. You can always expand your business plan later.

How do I write a simple business plan?

Use a one-page business plan format to create a simple business plan. It includes all of the critical sections of a traditional business plan but can be completed in as little as 30 minutes.

What should I do before writing a business plan?

If you do anything before writing—figure out why you’re writing a business plan. You’ll save time and create a far more useful plan.

What is the first step in writing a business plan?

The first thing you’ll do when writing a business plan is describe the problem you’re solving and what your solution is.

What is the biggest mistake I can make when writing a business plan?

The worst thing you can do is not plan at all. You’ll miss potential issues and opportunities and struggle to make strategic decisions.

Business planning guides

Learn what a business plan is, why you need one, when to write it, and the fundamental elements that make it a unique tool for business success.

Types of business plans

Explore different business plan formats and determine which type best suits your needs.

How to write a business plan

A step-by-step guide to quickly create a working business plan.

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Explore industry-specific guides to learn what to focus on when writing your business plan.

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Business planning FAQ

What is business planning?

Business planning is the act of sitting down to establish goals, strategies, and actions you intend to take to successfully start, manage, and grow a business.

What are the 7 steps of a business plan?

The seven steps to write a business plan include:

• Craft a brief executive summary
• Describe your products and services
• Conduct market research and compile data into a 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 additional documents to your appendix

What should a business plan include?

A traditional business plan should include:

• An executive summary
• Description of your products and services
• Market analysis
• Competitive analysis
• Marketing and sales plan
• Overview of business operations
• Milestones and metrics
• Description of your organization and management team
• Financial plan and forecasts

Do you really need a business plan?

You are more likely to start and grow into a successful business if you write 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.

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Tips for Setting Better Business Goals

Table of Contents

If you want to take your business to the next level, setting the right goals could be the key. While creating the right goals for your company can be challenging, the best ones can make all the difference in your growth.

Hard work is required to build your business, but you also need direction. Setting solid and attainable goals is an excellent place to start. Read on to learn about different business goals and how to set them.

What is a business goal?

A business goal differs significantly from a New Year’s resolution and has way more money riding on it than a gym membership fee. Business goals are objectives tied to your vision for your company and the achievements you want to accomplish. 

Business goals may pertain to the whole company, certain departments, specific groups of employees or other areas of the business. Depending on your purpose, the goals you set to help your company progress can be daily, quarterly or yearly objectives. If you’ve created a business plan , you may have already mapped out your goals as action strategies.

What are SMART goals?

When setting business goals, it helps to be SMART, as in the goal-setting acronym that stands for “specific, measurable, achievable, relevant and time-bound.” SMART business goals can be highly effective.

A SMART goal should follow the elements in the framework, which we elaborate on below. By setting a SMART goal, a person plans out their goal to track and execute their specific target. Here are some pointers on what it means to set SMART goals.

When setting a goal, knowing precisely what you hope to accomplish and what actions you must take to reach your objective is essential. Let’s say you want to expand your revenue . These are some of the specifics you would want to decide as you set your goal:

• The dollar amount or percentage of revenue growth you want to achieve
• A deadline for when you expect to reach the objective
• Which department or individuals would drive this process
• What steps they would take to work toward this goal
• What resources you would need to allocate to help your staff meet this objective

Measurable goals use metrics such as dates and numerical values to track your progress. This approach not only encourages you to focus on the end goal, but also helps you evaluate how your efforts are helping you accomplish your objectives, which can help you stay motivated. In the above example, your measurable goal might be to increase your sales by $5,000. You might decide this should happen in a month, and then ask each sales team member to follow five extra leads per week in hopes of meeting this objective.

For a goal to be achievable, it must be realistic. For example, a goal to make $1 million in one day probably isn’t attainable for most of us, and setting such a goal would be setting yourself up to fail. Even though your goals should require you to expend extra effort, they should be reachable.

Teams can benefit from collaboration-based goals. Strengthen groups by creating interconnected objectives. Offer professional communication channels like Slack to facilitate coordination and celebrate achievements.

A relevant goal matters to your business; it should make sense and meet your company’s needs. Referring to the example above, would increasing your revenue make a difference to your business? Of course! However, not every business goal needs to be about revenue.

“If one of your big values is to serve others to the best of your abilities, then merely setting a revenue-based goal isn’t going to be enough to motivate you,” Heather Moulder, leadership and business coach at Course Correction Coaching, told business.com.

A time-bound goal has a deadline for the work you intend to do. When there isn’t any time limit, measuring your progress is hard. Deadlines can push you to action and help you work toward your goals efficiently.

What are examples of business goals?

Understanding a good goal can help you model your own goals for your small business. 

Let’s say you want to increase revenue by introducing a new service or product. Moulder said this goal is purposeful and beneficial to your company because it would help you better serve your clients and improve customer satisfaction. It would also mean taking on more responsibility for creating your new product or service, so you would need to prepare for the time and resources that entails.

Business goals can also be about your employees. If your objective is, for example, to improve or grow your team members’ skill sets, you can do so through actionable items, like creating a committee to hire a professional instructor for employee training courses . Then, the objective would be to have this instructor train your staffers for the next six months. When they complete the course, you can measure their skills by assigning tasks based on their learning. 

How do you write a business goal?

It’s one thing to have general goals in mind, but you need to put pen to paper. Writing your goals down is very effective.  “The physical act of writing down a goal makes it real and tangible,” said Angela Civitella, a certified business coach and founder of Intinde. “You have no excuse for forgetting about it.”

Here are two tips to help you write effective business goals.

1. Write in an active style.

The language you use when writing your goals impacts how you perceive them and whether you get them done.

“As you write, use the word ‘will’ instead of ‘would like to’ or ‘might,’” Civitella said. “For example, ‘I will reduce my operating expenses by 10 percent this year,’ not ‘I would like to reduce my operating expenses by 10 percent this year.’ The first goal statement has power, and you can ‘see’ yourself reducing expenses. The second lacks passion and gives you an excuse if you get sidetracked.”

Writing down your goals creates self-accountability. The goal is no longer simply in your mind but tangible. Whether you look at your goal in writing daily or revisit it months later, this extra step can signal intent and motivate you to achieve your objectives.

2. Narrow down what’s important.

Make sure your goals are important to you and your company. Ask yourself, “Does this goal motivate me?”

“If you have little interest in the outcome, or they are irrelevant given the larger picture, then the chances of you putting in the work to make them happen are slim,” Civitella said. “Motivation is key to achieving goals.”

There is such a thing as too many goals. Ensure you write down only extremely valuable objectives. A long to-do list with only two items crossed off can cause feelings of disappointment and frustration, which can add to demotivation and be incredibly destructive, Civitella said.

“Ask yourself, ‘If I were to share my goal with others, what would I tell them to convince them it was a worthwhile goal?’” she said. “You can use this motivating value statement to help you if you start to doubt yourself or lose confidence in your ability to actually make the goal happen.”

What are the different types of business goals?

Four types of goals are beneficial in the business world. Read on to learn more about each of them.

Activity-based goals

Activity-based goals require you to perform specific tasks or activities. For example, you might set a goal to make 20 weekly client phone calls.

Process-based goals

Process-based goals require you to focus on internal processes, strategies and behaviors. “Some examples would be resetting business policies for better efficiency or developing a new training program for staff to help their communication with customers,” Moulder said. 

Outcome-based goals

Outcome-based goals focus on the results of your efforts. You may have less control over these results if they’re based on consumer or client behavior. 

“An example of this would be to get 10 referrals from existing customers,” said James Pollard, owner of The Advisor Coach. “You can’t directly control whether or not they give you any referrals, but you can influence the process by asking.”

Some goals are a hybrid of process and outcome goals, explained Moulder. For instance, a service-based business might set a goal to implement a new staff training program to improve customer service. The process portion of the goal is implementing the training program. The outcome is improving customer service, which you could gauge by a reduction in service cancellations or an increase in repeat customers . 

Personal goals

Personal goals are those that business owners set for themselves. These may be related to maintaining or improving your health, work-life balance , or professional development. Knowing what you want for yourself is as essential as understanding what you want for your business because your personal goals affect how you run your company. 

Celebrate reaching both your short-term and long-term goals. Choose rewards that give you time away from your business to unwind, like an outing with friends or a family vacation.

Why is setting goals important in business?

We set small goals in our everyday lives, such as making it home in time for dinner or eating salad for lunch. Goals are vital because they give you and your business direction. With them, you may perform at your best.

Without goals, however, it’s hard to measure your business’s success, which makes it challenging to recognize what aspects of your company are doing well and where growth is needed. Objectives and a mission statement also keep you and your team aligned. When everyone knows the company’s purpose and how their roles contribute to the mission, it improves morale and increases productivity.

Julie Thompson contributed to this article. Source interviews were conducted for a previous version of this article. 

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• Just Because I’m Missing, Doesn’t Mean I’m Lost: Should Plan Sponsors Provide Data for the DOL’s Missing Participant Database?

“Missing participants” have long been a thorn in the side of plan sponsors and administrators, as they are owed a retirement benefit, but are unable to be found or unresponsive to plan communications. As a partial solution, Congress directed the DOL in the SECURE 2.0 Act of 2022 to create a “Retirement Savings Lost and Found”—an online searchable database that would connect missing participants with their retirement benefits—by December 29, 2024. The DOL had contemplated populating the database with information from Form 8955-SSA, which plans already submit to the IRS. However,  the IRS has refused to provide the information to the DOL, citing privacy concerns regarding confidential tax information. This has caused the DOL to look to sponsors of ERISA plans to voluntarily provide participant information to populate the database. While this may be a good idea in principle, it creates many obstacles.

On April 15, 2024, the DOL released a proposed information collection request for the Retirement Savings Lost and Found and requested comments on the proposal. The request asks plans to voluntarily provide information to populate the database by submitting the requested information along with the plan’s 2023 Form 5500 filing. Although one might think a missing participant database would only ask for information about truly missing participants, that is not the case: the database would also include information about participants who were previously reported as vested terminated participants—even if they later received distributions (so they are not missing!). In addition, the database would include information about participants who were cashed out under involuntary small benefit cash-out provisions, plus those with benefits that were distributed to an annuity company in an annuity purchase.

The requested information is voluminous and includes the following for each participant or beneficiary: name, date of birth, mailing address, email address, telephone number, social security number, form and amount of benefit, and, if a distribution was made, the date and amount of distribution. For small benefit cash-outs or annuity purchases, the plan must provide the information about the financial institution and contract. Finally, the plan sponsor must provide a history of the plan itself, including any plan name changes and plan sponsor changes that have occurred over the years, as well as plan merger and transferor plan information.

Even better, the DOL has been asking for this information since inception of the plan! While this database could be helpful to both participants and plan sponsors, the DOL’s request would likely be a significant new burden on plans. The DOL proposal states that it does not impose any new recordkeeping requirements, and “the Department expects plans that follow best practices will already have much of this information on file.” However, having information on file or in the plan records somewhere does not necessarily mean this will be easy, especially regarding benefits that were already paid. Gathering and organizing the information will be especially difficult in situations where there have been plan sponsor changes, plan mergers, and recordkeeper changes.

Moreover, plan sponsors, administrators, and recordkeepers may also be concerned about the privacy implications of providing this detailed information to the DOL for its database—especially since provision of data is currently voluntary, and there is not a legal requirement to do so. Although the DOL data request assures that “multiple security measures will be in place to protect plan participant and beneficiary data” and further that a public user will have no access to “sensitive data,” it is troubling that the DOL is not currently proposing a safe harbor that would protect fiduciaries from liability for providing the information.

Comments on the DOL’s proposal are due June 17, 2024, though it’s possible the proposal will be modified; the timing may make it unlikely for the final parameters to be established before the Form 5500 due date which is the current mechanism for providing information. In any case, plans can view this as a reminder to dust off their missing participant search procedures, working with their employee benefits counsel and recordkeepers. Plans may also want to consider ways to gather the requested information, as it is possible the DOL will make this “request” mandatory in the future.

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DISCLAIMER: Because of the generality of this update, the information provided herein may not be applicable in all situations and should not be acted upon without specific legal advice based on particular situations.

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Could Trump Go to Prison? If He Does, the Secret Service Goes, Too

Officials have had preliminary discussions about how to protect the former president in the unlikely event that he is jailed for contempt during the trial.

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By William K. Rashbaum

The U.S. Secret Service is in the business of protecting the president, whether he’s inside the Oval Office or visiting a foreign war zone.

But protecting a former president in prison? The prospect is unprecedented. That would be the challenge if Donald J. Trump — whom the agency is required by law to protect around the clock — is convicted at his criminal trial in Manhattan and sentenced to serve time.

Even before the trial’s opening statements, the Secret Service was in some measure planning for the extraordinary possibility of a former president behind bars. Prosecutors had asked the judge in the case to remind Mr. Trump that attacks on witnesses and jurors could land him in jail even before a verdict is rendered.

(The judge, who held a hearing Tuesday morning to determine whether Mr. Trump should be held in contempt for violating a gag order, is far more likely to issue a warning or impose a fine before taking the extreme step of jailing the 77-year-old former president. It was not immediately clear when he would issue his ruling.)

Last week, as a result of the prosecution’s request, officials with federal, state and city agencies had an impromptu meeting about how to handle the situation, according to two people with knowledge of the matter.

That behind-the-scenes conversation — involving officials from the Secret Service and other relevant law enforcement agencies — focused only on how to move and protect Mr. Trump if the judge were to order him briefly jailed for contempt in a courthouse holding cell, the people said.

The far more substantial challenge — how to safely incarcerate a former president if the jury convicts him and the judge sentences him to prison rather than home confinement or probation — has yet to be addressed directly, according to some of a dozen current and former city, state and federal officials interviewed for this article.

That’s at least in part because if Mr. Trump is ultimately convicted, a drawn-out and hard-fought series of appeals, possibly all the way up to the U.S. Supreme Court, is almost a certainty. That would most likely delay any sentence for months if not longer, said several of the people, who noted that a prison sentence was unlikely.

But the daunting challenge remains. And not just for Secret Service and prison officials, who would face the logistical nightmare of safely incarcerating Mr. Trump, who is also the presumptive Republican nominee for President.

“Obviously, it’s uncharted territory,” said Martin F. Horn, who has worked at the highest levels of New York’s and Pennsylvania’s state prison agencies and served as commissioner of New York City’s correction and probation departments. “Certainly no state prison system has had to deal with this before, and no federal prison has had to either.”

Steven Cheung, the communications director for Mr. Trump’s campaign, said the case against the former president was “so spurious and so weak” that other prosecutors had refused to bring it, and called it “an unprecedented partisan witch hunt.”

“That the Democrat fever dream of incarcerating the nominee of the Republican Party has reached this level exposes their Stalinist roots and displays their utter contempt for American democracy,” he said.

Protecting Mr. Trump in a prison environment would involve keeping him separate from other inmates, as well as screening his food and other personal items, officials said. If he were to be imprisoned, a detail of agents would work 24 hours a day, seven days a week, rotating in and out of the facility, several officials said. While firearms are obviously strictly prohibited in prisons, the agents would nonetheless be armed.

Former corrections officials said there were several New York state prisons and city jails that have been closed or partly closed, leaving wings or large sections of their facilities empty and available. One of those buildings could serve to incarcerate the former president and accommodate his Secret Service protective detail

Anthony Guglielmi, the spokesman for the Secret Service in Washington, declined in a statement to discuss specific “protective operations.” But he said that federal law requires Secret Service agents to protect former presidents, adding that they use state-of-the-art technology, intelligence and tactics to do so.

Thomas J. Mailey, a spokesman for New York State’s prison agency, said his department couldn’t speculate about how it would treat someone who has not yet been sentenced, but that it has a system “to assess and provide for individuals’ medical, mental health and security needs.” Frank Dwyer, a spokesman for the New York City jails agency, said only that “the department would find appropriate housing” for the former president.

The trial in Manhattan, one of four criminal cases pending against Mr. Trump and possibly the only one that will go to a jury before the election, centers on accusations he falsified records to cover up a sex scandal involving a porn star. The former president is charged with 34 counts of felony falsifying business records. If convicted, the judge in the case, Juan M. Merchan, could sentence him to punishments ranging from probation to four years in state prison, though for a first-time offender of Mr. Trump’s age, such a term would be extreme.

If Mr. Trump is convicted, but elected president again, he could not pardon himself because the prosecution was brought by New York State.

Under normal circumstances, any sentence of one year or less, colloquially known as “city time,” would generally be served on New York City’s notorious Rikers Island, home to the Department of Correction’s seven jails. (That’s where Mr. Trump’s former chief financial officer, Allen H. Weisselberg, 76, is currently serving his second five-month sentence for crimes related to his work for his former boss.)

Any sentence of more than a year, known as state time, would generally be served in one of the 44 prisons run by New York State’s Department of Corrections and Community Supervision.

The former president could also be sentenced to a term of probation, raising the bizarre possibility of the former commander in chief reporting regularly to a civil servant at the city’s Probation Department.

He would have to follow the probation officer’s instructions and answer questions about his work and personal life until the term of probation ended. He would also be barred from associating with disreputable people, and if he committed any additional crimes, he could be jailed immediately.

Maggie Haberman contributed reporting.

William K. Rashbaum is a Times reporter covering municipal and political corruption, the courts and broader law enforcement topics in New York. More about William K. Rashbaum

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A Gen Xer who got $250,000 in student loans forgiven said he can now finally start saving for retirement — and consider his dream of studying in India

• Joel Lambdin, 49, received $250,000 in student-loan forgiveness in January.
• It's a result of the Education Department's one-time account adjustments.
• Lambdin said the relief would allow him to save for retirement and consider long-term dreams.

Joel Lambdin finished graduate school in 1998 — but as a professional musician, he was hardly making enough money to pay off his student loans and other bills.

So Lambdin, now 49, said his only option to make ends meet was to put his student loans in forbearance — in which he was not making payments but interest was still accumulating .

"It was just so that I could subsist, so that I could survive," Lambdin told Business Insider. "With the hope that at some point, I would be making enough money that I would be able to take them out of forbearance and start paying them down."

But he grew to realize that the only way he could make a significant dent in his student loans was by switching careers. He didn't want to do that because he loved working in music, so he decided to keep his larger student loan in forbearance and begin paying off his smaller loan with a lower monthly payment.

He continued making those payments until the pandemic pause on student-loan payments , at which point he and his wife started making a plan of action to tackle the larger debt once the pause ended. That led them to discover the Education Department's initiative allowing some borrowers a one-time account adjustment . It lets the department evaluate borrowers' accounts and update payment progress toward forgiveness on income-driven repayment plans and Public Service Loan Forgiveness, including any payments made during a forbearance period.

That account adjustment led to a letter Lambdin received on January 31, reviewed by BI, from his student-loan servicer Aidvantage. It said: "Congratulations! The Biden-Harris Administration has forgiven your federal student loan(s) listed below with Aidvantage in full."

For Lambdin, that letter meant his $249,255 outstanding student-loan balance was effectively wiped out.

"It had started to feel like my fate was being decided for me by the cold hand of finance," Lambdin said, "and that was a weight that I didn't realize was there until it wasn't there."

He added: "The feeling was much more like putting down a backpack that was really full of books that you got used to. And then you put it down, and you're like, 'Oh, man, that feels so much better.' It's more like that, rather than sort of a jump-for-joy kind of situation."

While Lambdin is still working to determine what exactly the relief will mean for him and his wife, he said, discussing retirement is "a much more present conversation now" because contributing to savings is viable after the relief. He can also begin to look into buying a home.

Related stories

The Education Department continues to cancel student debt through its one-time account adjustments, a process it plans to complete this summer. Most recently, the department wiped out $7.4 billion in student debt for 277,000 borrowers , some of whom benefited from the adjustments.

Beyond financial goals, Lambdin said the relief was also allowing him the freedom to pursue some of his long-term dreams, including taking a sabbatical to study with his meditation teacher in India.

"It's something that I wouldn't have been able to even consider doing if we had to pay off student loans, but without them, it's something that I can really seriously consider doing," he said. "And so those are the kinds of things that I think get really lost in the monetary side of the conversation about debt relief."

'I've been really lucky'

While Lambdin said he felt as though he earned the relief given his decades of payments, he recognized that it's not that easy for many other borrowers.

For example, as BI has previously reported , some borrowers who might qualify for relief through different repayment programs may not have gotten it yet because of paperwork backlogs and administrative errors. On top of that, funding for federal student-loan servicers is strained — meaning many borrowers face hourslong hold times and cannot get clear answers from customer service regarding their payment progress.

"There are some real horror stories out there, and I've been really lucky in that I haven't experienced the kinds of shenanigans that other people have experienced," Lambdin said. "So I actually feel very lucky that things have transpired the way they have."

Some of those horror stories include inaccurate payment projections and delayed billing statements . When it comes to student-loan forgiveness, some borrowers told BI that their servicer made a mistake with the forgiveness , reinstating their payments months later.

The Education Department has said it's aware of the challenges borrowers face and has established an accountability framework to punish servicers when they fail to fulfill their contractual obligations.

The department is also in the process of crafting its new plan for student-loan forgiveness — it recently released the draft text of the rules , which included relief for borrowers with unpaid interest and those who have been in repayment for at least 20 years.

As for Lambdin, he's still figuring out how to approach life without student debt hanging over his head. But now he can consider various options, and he can thank the loan forgiveness for that freedom.

"There's a certain amount of waiting for the other shoe to drop because it's not that I don't trust that it's happening but just that the debt has been with me for so long, and then it's not there," Lambdin said. "And it's something that I think really takes some getting used to."

Watch: Biden announces who can have $10,000 erased in student loans

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