FREE Elements of a Business Plan [ Some Tips for Writing One ]

Planning is an important process that every organization, business, or company should do in order to have a clear direction for the business. It is essential for enterprises and establishments to assure that they will curate an effective, time-bound, and measurable business plan. Creating a plan is important to be able to have a guide on how to effectively run the business.

There are various types of business plan that are used by businesses. These include a marketing plan, strategic plan, etc. Through accurate planning, businesses and other entities will be able to set goals and also to ensure that they achieve these goals. If you need to create a plan, specifically a business plan, you can download the business plan templates that are available for download on this page. To help you in the process of creating one, you can refer to the information that we have gathered below to guide and help you create a useful and effective business plan.

Tourism  Sample Business Plan

Printable Sample Business Plan

Bookkeeping Business Plan Template

What Is a Business Plan?

A business plan is a written document that is used by various businesses in different industries. It is a useful document in helping the business identify the problems in order to provide solutions to ensure that the operations of the business run smoothly. Through a business plan, businesses will also be able to create goals that they need to achieve to ensure the success and growth of the business. To create your business plan, we have business plan samples available that you can use as reference should you need help in formatting or outlining your document.

What Is the Importance of a Business Plan?

Business plans are essential, whether you are starting a small business or you are running a corporation. A business plan helps you make decisions in the various aspects of the business. The importance of a business plan are as follows:

• The main purpose of a business plan is to be able to determine the direction that the business will be taking over time. Through a business plan, you will be able to plan what you want to achieve in the finance, marketing, operations, and other departments within a company or business.
• A business plan is important in every business since this allows them to create strategies and goals for the business to evolve and adapt to the constantly changing market, demands, and other aspects that can affect the growth of the business.
• Business plans are also important documents that can be useful in determining whether a business is gaining profit and also identifying the status of the business.
• An effective business plan also helps attract investors, suppliers, partners, etc., to the business since a business plan clearly outlines the goals that a particular business has. This enables these entities to understand the purpose of the business, its direction, and whether a particular undertaking will work.
• A business plan also lays out the duties and responsibilities of the relevant members of the company and also acts as an effective tool in managing the business.

 

Sample Restaurant Business Plan

Farm Business Plan Template

Sample Business Plan for Research

Essential Elements That You Need to Include in a Business Plan

There are a number of elements that is important in every business plan. By having these elements in your document, you can assure an effective and useful business plan, marketing plan, research plan or any type of plan that you are creating. Listed below are the essential elements that should be present in every business plan.

• Executive summary – the executive summary is a short overview of what the business plan contains. This section explains the purpose and the goal of the business plan being created.
• Business description – this section of the business plan contains the background of the business or company. It defines the services that your business is offering to clients, the type of industry, objectives of the business, etc.
• Products and services – every business involves the sale of certain products and services. This section lists down the various products that the business or company provides and markets to the various entities and individuals. It is important that you specifically describe what you are selling and what makes your product or service unique from other competitors.
• Sales and marketing – this section contains an analysis of the market that the business is going into and their competitors.
• Operations – this section of the business plan outlines the methods on how a particular business operates, where the business is located, the business expenses, suppliers, equipment, etc.
• Management team – this refers to the individuals that contribute in managing the business, and other individuals involved in the overall operations of the business.
• Development – this section highlights the future plans that the business is aiming for, how the business will develop over time, and the methods needed in order for the business to remain competitive.
• Financial summary – the financial summary focuses on the financial aspect of the company or business. This includes the investments, the financial status of the business, profit, expenses, and the cash flow.

 

Steps in Creating a Business Plan

As previously mentioned, a business plan is an essential tool in every business. When creating a business plan, it is important that you understand all the steps that you need to do in order to create an effective plan for your business. The steps in creating a business plan are as follows:

• Before you start writing your business plan, the first step that you will need to do is to gather all the important information and data needed when creating the business plan.
• To help you prepare your business plan, identify and analyze the different markets as well as the size of the market that your business will be targeting.
• Now that you have gathered all the relevant data for your business plan, create an outline or the format of the business plan that you will be creating. You can start one from scratch or you can download from the various business plan templates that we have available on this site to help you in formatting your business plan.
• Create the title page of your plan and the table of contents in order to clearly list the contents of every page of your document.
• Write a detailed description of your business or company.
• Describe the products and services that you are offering to your clients.
• Write down the methods and procedures on how you are going to market your products and services as well as how your business will operate.
• Determine and list the goals and objectives that you want to accomplish.
• Create a financial plan explaining your business or company’s financial status, the budget needed to accomplish the plan, etc.

 

Business Plan Template

Sample Business Plan for Small Businesses

Sample Business Plan Template

What Are the Types of Business Plans?

There are various types of business plans that can be used depending on which aspect of the business is focused on. To help you understand the different types of business plans, the commonly used business plans are as follows:

• Start-up Plan – this type of business plan is used when starting a new business. It outlines the important details about the business, their goals, market, etc.
• Marketing Plan – a marketing plan is a document that is used to outline a business’ marketing and advertising methods for the products and services that they offer. Through a marketing plan, businesses will be able to determine the most effective way to market their products to achieve their business goals.
• Strategic Plan – a strategic plan is a used to develop various strategies within the business in order to accomplish the set goals and other objectives developed during the planning process.
• Operational Plan – this type of business plan focuses on the operations of the business and how it will allocate the company’s resources to be able to achieve the goals contained in the strategic plan.
• Growth Plan – a growth plan refers to the planning process that focuses on the organic growth of the business. It allows businesses to develop new methods, especially in technology, in order to adapt to the changing market.

 

Factors Affecting the Implementation of a Business Plan

There are external and internal factors that can affect the implementation of a business plan. These factors are as follows:

• The format of the business plan and the chronological order in which call to actions are arranged.
• The awareness of the entities who will implement presented in the business plan.
• The achievability of the timeline created for the execution of the business plan.
• The realistic approach on the business plan call to actions and the methods on how these items are measured.
• The assessment plan to incorporate within the business plan to assure the latter’s achievement.

 

Sample Community Development Business Plan

Top Tips for Writing Effective Business Plans

Writing a business plan can be a complicated process, especially when you lack the information or data that you need. Here are the top tips that will help you effectively write your business plan:

• Before you start writing your business plan, it is important that you thoroughly research on the different markets.
• It is important to remember to write based on a particular audience or reader’s perspective.
• Always pay attention to detail when writing your business plan to ensure that all the information written in the document are accurate.
• Research about the various business competitions to be able to understand and make the necessary changes to improve your products and services.
• Ensure that you have covered all the essential components of the business plan.
• Always create an executive summary in your business plan to be able to catch the attention of the readers like investors, business partners, etc.
• Create a draft and review all the information and data written in the business plan.
• After you have written the business plan, ensure that you implement the steps and methods in the plan that you have created.
• Include charts, graphs, and other graphical elements in your business plan to make it more attractive.
• When setting goals and objectives, always remember to be realistic.