Business Plans 101: What actually goes in your business plan

1. Executive summary: A concise pitch that covers the key points of your plan and invites further reading

The executive summary comes first but can be written last. It functions as a short brief of the entire plan, so remember that less is more. Keep your executive summary under two pages. Be sure to feature your financial position and projections. Don’t shy away from outlining funding needs or requests. The sooner you can state your needs and goals, the better.

2. Business concept: Describe your business and talk about your vision

Describing the “what” of your business, like detailed product or service information, can be straightforward. Outlining your vision and mission statements are important to defining the “why” behind your business. Work through these values to help investors understand the story and motivation beyond your business model, product or service.

3. S.W.O.T. analysis: Detail the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats

The S.W.O.T. framework is used across businesses of all sizes, types and tenures. Strong analyses are detailed yet candid. Exceptional S.W.O.T. analyses include industry and business data to support business goals. Follow the acronym in order. Find your strengths to boost confidence in your business plan. Outline weaknesses as areas of opportunities. If you have natural competitors, attempt a S.W.O.T. analysis on them and include it in your plan.

4. Operations and management: Explain your ownership style, suppliers, location(s), and any other useful information

Go deep on the details and attributes of your business that may be of interest to a potential partner or investor. Consider including information from the following list:

• owner background
• staff and advisors
• location
• equipment
• suppliers and inventory
• manufacturing processes
• delivery and distribution
• taxes and regulations
• insurance
• operational risk and solutions 

What you choose to include will depend on your business type.

5. Marketing: Include the “4 Ps” of marketing

Everyone from potential employees to investors will want to know how customers are going to discover and acquire your product or service. A basic business plan should cover your “4 Ps” of marketing: product, price, place and promotion. An exceptional plan adds even more details like market research, industry trends, target markets and competitor insights.

6. Financial projections: Include information from your advisory team

This part of your plan is critical. Cash flow projections are very important, especially during the first 12 months of your new business. Three essential components to brainstorm and include in your plan are cash flow projection, sales pipeline and forecast, and opening balance sheet. Your projections should be vetted by experts, so assemble a strong advisory team to validate your information.