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How to Write a Business Plan, Step by Step
Many or all of the products featured here are from our partners who compensate us. This influences which products we write about and where and how the product appears on a page. However, this does not influence our evaluations. Our opinions are our own. Here is a list of our partners and here's how we make money .
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. add additional information to an appendix, business plan tips and resources.
A business plan is a document that outlines your business’s financial goals and explains how you’ll achieve them. A strong, detailed plan will provide a road map for the business’s next three to five years, and you can share it with potential investors, lenders or other important partners.
Here’s a step-by-step guide to writing your business plan.
» Need help writing? Learn about the best business plan software .
This is the first page of your business plan. Think of it as your elevator pitch. It should include a mission statement, a brief description of the products or services offered, 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, which should contain 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, it should cover 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 exactly what you’d like to accomplish, both in the near term and over the long term.
If you’re looking for a business loan or outside investment, you can use this section to explain why you have a clear need for the funds, how the financing will help your business grow, and how you plan to achieve your growth targets. The key is to provide a clear explanation of the opportunity presented and how the loan or investment will grow your company.
For example, if your business is launching a second product line, you might explain how the loan will help your company launch the new product and how much you think sales will increase over the next three years as a result.
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.
Your sales strategy.
Your distribution 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.
» 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.
You may also include 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.
» NerdWallet’s picks for setting up your business finances:
The best business checking accounts .
The best business credit cards .
The best accounting software .
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.
List any supporting information or additional materials that you couldn’t fit in elsewhere, such as resumes of key employees, licenses, equipment leases, permits, patents, receipts, bank statements, contracts and personal and business credit history. If the appendix is long, you may want to consider adding a table of contents at the beginning of this section.
Here are some tips to help your business plan stand out:
Avoid over-optimism: If you’re applying for a business loan at a local bank, the loan officer likely knows your market pretty well. Providing unreasonable sales estimates can hurt your chances of loan approval.
Proofread: Spelling, punctuation and grammatical errors can jump off the page and turn off lenders and prospective investors, taking their mind off your business and putting it on the mistakes you made. 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. You can search for a mentor or find a local SCORE chapter for more guidance.
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.
How to write a business plan in 7 steps
With this step-by-step guide, learn how to write a well-written professional business plan that can help you successfully start your business, apply for funding, and grow.
Writing a business plan doesn’t have to be complicated. You don’t need to have a business or accounting degree to put together a viable business plan. Business planning can be simple—even fun!
This guide will show you how to get your plan done without any complexity or frustration. By the time you’re done, you’ll be better prepared to start, run, and grow your business. Here are the 7 steps to write a business plan:
- Executive summary
- Products & services
- Market analysis
- Marketing & sales
- Company organization and management team
- Financial projections
Be sure to download our free business plan template to start writing your own business plan as you work through this guide. For a more detailed guide to writing a business plan, download our free ebook : The Easy Way to Write Your Business Plan.
What is a business plan?
A business plan is a document that describes your business, the products and services you sell, and the customers that you sell to. It explains your business strategy. How you’re going to build and grow your business, what your marketing strategy is, and who your competitors are.
Most business plans also include financial forecasts for the future. Setting sales goals, expense budgets, and predictions for cash flow.
Now, a business plan can be far more than just a static document that you write once and forget about. It’s also a guide that helps you outline and achieve your goals. A management tool to analyze results, make strategic decisions, and showcase how your business will operate and grow. In short, if you’re thinking of starting a business or plan to pitch to investors or venture capitalists, writing a business plan can improve your chances of success.
Why do you need a business plan?
You likely already have a good idea of your business strategy in your head. So you may be wondering, “Why should I spend my time making a business plan?” Here are the top reasons why you should invest in planning:
Businesses that plan grow 30% faster.
A surprising amount of research has been done on business planning and has shown that companies that take the time to write a plan and review it regularly grow 30% faster than those businesses that don’t plan. Not only do these companies grow faster, but they perform better and are less likely to fail in the long run.
Lenders and investors need business plans
If you’re growing your business and plan on getting a business loan or raising money from investors, you’ll need a business plan. Most lenders and investors will ask for a plan, but even if they don’t want to see the actual document, they will ask you questions that only a solid business plan will be able to answer.
Business plans reduce risk
Starting and running a business is always risky. Instead of flying by the seat of your pants, you can use a plan to forecast potential cash flow issues and get ahead of any potential roadblocks so you aren’t caught off guard. A business plan will help you reduce your risk and help you navigate the future.
Business planning helps you make smart spending decisions
Before you make a big spending decision for your business, you need to know the potential impacts on your finances. With a business plan in place, you can easily explore different scenarios and see what impacts a new hire or an expansion to a second location will have on your business.
Need more reasons for why you need a business plan? Read our full list of reasons why having a business plan is important for small businesses .
How to write a business plan step-by-step
Whether you’re building a business plan to raise money and grow your business or just need to figure out if your idea will work, every business plan needs to cover 6 essential sections. Here’s an overview of each section:
1. Executive summary
The executive summary is an overview of your business and your plans. It comes first in your plan and is ideally only one to two pages. Most people write it last, though.
Ideally, the executive summary can act as a stand-alone document that covers the highlights of your detailed plan. In fact, it’s very common for investors to ask for only the executive summary when they are evaluating your business. If they like what they see in the executive summary, they’ll often follow up with a request for a complete plan, a pitch presentation, and more in-depth financials.
Your executive summary should include a summary of the problem you are solving, a description of your product or service, an overview of your target market, a brief description of your team, a summary of your financials, and your funding requirements (if you are raising money).
Learn more about writing an effective executive summary .
2. Products & services
The products & services chapter of your business plan is where the real meat of your plan lives. It includes information about the problem that you’re solving, your solution, and how your product or service fits into the existing competitive landscape.
Start the products & services chapter by describing the problem that you are solving for your customers and what your solution is. This is a description of your product or service.
Next, you should outline your competition . Who else is providing solutions that try to solve your customers’ pain points? What are your competitive advantages over other businesses?
If you happen to have any competitive advantages, such as specific intellectual property or patents that protect your product—this chapter is a great place to talk about those things.
Finally, review your milestones and metrics. This is an overview of the next steps that you need to accomplish to get your product or service ready to sell, with target dates. If you’ve already achieved some key milestones, such as landing a crucial customer or taking on pre-orders, discuss that here.
3. Market analysis
This section is where you will showcase all of the information about your potential customers. You’ll cover your target market as well as information about the growth of your market and your industry.
First, describe your target market . Your target market is the group of people that you plan on selling to. Try to be as specific as possible. With a solid target market, it will be easier to create a sales and marketing plan that will reach your customers.
Next, provide any market analysis and market research that you have. You’ll want to explain how your market is growing over time and also explain how your business is positioned to take advantage of expected changes in your industry.
4. Marketing & sales
The marketing and sales plan section of your business plan details how you plan to reach your target market segments, how you plan on selling to those target markets, what your pricing plan is, and what types of activities and partnerships you need to make your business a success.
Some businesses that distribute their products and reach their customers through stores like Amazon.com, Walmart, Target, grocery store chains, and other retail outlets should review how this part of their business works. The plan should discuss the logistics and costs of getting products onto store shelves and any potential hurdles that the business may have to overcome.
The marketing & sales chapter of your business plan can also be a good place to include a SWOT analysis . This is purely optional but can be a good way to explain how your products and services are positioned to deal with competitive threats and take advantage of opportunities.
5. Company organization and management team
Investors look for great teams in addition to great ideas. Use this chapter to describe your current team and who you need to hire. You will also provide a quick overview of your legal structure, location, and history if you’re already up and running.
Include brief bios that highlight the relevant experiences of each key team member. It’s important here to make the case for why the team is the right team to turn an idea into a reality. Do they have the right industry experience and background? Have members of the team had entrepreneurial successes before?
Your company overview should also include a summary of your company’s current business structure. The most common business structures include:
- Sole proprietor
- Partnership
Be sure to provide a review of how the business is owned as well. Does each business partner own an equal portion of the business? How is ownership divided? Potential lenders and investors will want to know the structure of the business before they will consider a loan or investment.
6. Financial projections
Last, but certainly not least, is your financial plan chapter. This is often what entrepreneurs find most daunting, but it doesn’t have to be as intimidating as it seems. Business financials for most startups are less complicated than you think, and a business degree is certainly not required to build a solid financial forecast. That said, if you need additional help, there are plenty of tools and resources out there to help you build a solid financial plan.
A typical financial plan will include:
Sales and revenue projections
A monthly sales and revenue forecast for the first 12 months, and then annual projections for the remaining three to five years. Three-year projections are typically adequate, but some investors will request a five-year forecast.
Profit and loss statement
An income statement , also known as the profit and loss (or P&L), is where your numbers all come together and show if you’re making a profit or taking a loss.
Cash flow statement
A cash flow statement . While the income statement calculates your profits and losses, the cash flow statement keeps track of how much cash (money in the bank) you have at any given point.
Balance sheet
A balance sheet lists the assets, liabilities, and equity in your company. In short, it provides an overview of the financial health of your business.
Optional sections to include when seeking funding
If you are raising money from investors, you should include a brief section of your business plan that details exactly how you plan on using your investors’ cash. This is typically just called, “Use of Funds.”
Investors will also want to see a short section on your exit strategy. An exit strategy is your plan for eventually selling your business, either to another company or to the public in an IPO. If you have investors, they will want to know your thoughts on this. If you’re running a business that you plan to maintain ownership of indefinitely, and you’re not seeking angel investment or VC funding, you can skip the exit strategy section.
For more information, read our guide on the different types of exit strategies .
Finally, discuss any assumptions and important risks for your business. Knowing what your assumptions are as you start a business can make the difference between business success and business failure. When you recognize your assumptions, you can set out to prove that your assumptions are correct. The more that you can minimize your assumptions, the more likely it is that your business will succeed.
7. Appendix
An appendix to your business plan isn’t a required chapter by any means. However, it is a useful place to stick any charts, tables, definitions, legal notes, or other critical information that either felt too long or too out-of-place to include elsewhere in your business plan. If you have a patent or a patent-pending, or illustrations of your product, this is where you’d want to include the details. For more details, read about what to include in your business plan appendix .
Business plan writing tips
To help streamline the business plan writing process here are a few tips and key questions to answer to make sure you get the most out of your plan and avoid common mistakes .
Determine why you are writing a business plan
Knowing why you are writing a business plan will determine your approach to your planning project. For example, if you are writing a business plan for yourself or just for use inside your own business, you can probably skip the section about your team and organizational structure.
If you’re raising money, you’ll want to spend more time explaining why you’re looking to raise the money you want and exactly how you’re going to use those funds. So, before you start writing your plan, think about why you are writing a business plan and what you’re trying to get out of the process.
Keep things concise
Probably the most important tip is to keep your business plan short and simple . There are no prizes for long business plans. In fact, the longer your plan, the less likely it is to be read.
So, focus on trimming things down to the essentials that your readers need to know. Skip the extended descriptions of your target market and instead focus on creating a plan that is easy to read.
Have someone review your business plan
Writing a business plan in a vacuum is never a good idea. It’s helpful to zoom out from time to time and make sure that your plan is logical and makes sense. You also want to make sure that it’s easy to read and understand. Don’t wait until your plan is “done” to get a second look, though.
Start sharing your plan early and find out from your reader what questions the plan leaves unanswered. This early review cycle will help keep you on track. If you need a more detailed review, you may want to explore hiring a professional plan writer to give it a thorough examination.
Use a free business plan template to get started
Knowing what information you need to cover in a business plan sometimes isn’t quite enough. If you’re struggling to get started or need additional guidance, it may be worth using a business plan template. If you’re looking for a free downloadable business plan template to get you started, download the template that’s been used by more than 1 million businesses.
Or, if you just want to see what a completed business plan looks like, check out our library of over 500 free sample business plans .
How do I write a simple business plan?
If you’re not ready to work on a detailed business plan and want to start with something shorter and simpler, we recommend starting with a simple one-page business plan . You’ll be able to put together an initial plan in less than 30 minutes. For many businesses, this is a great way to get started. And, if you’re not raising money from investors, this may be all the plan you need.
Next steps for writing your business plan
Whether you’re writing a plan to explore a new business idea, establishing steps to start a business, looking to raise money from investors, seeking a loan, or just trying to run your business better—a solid business plan will help get you there.
Business planning is a continuous process that can help you validate your idea, set goals, manage, and successfully pitch your business. One of the most helpful things you can do to build a successful business is to jump in and start planning. If you’re looking for a more comprehensive step-by-step walkthrough for writing a business plan, check out our Business Planning Guide .
If you need more than a template, we recommend exploring business planning software, such as LivePlan. It features step-by-step guidance that ensures you include only what you need in your plan and reduces the time you spend on formatting and presenting.
You’ll also get help building solid financial models that you can trust, without having to worry about getting everything right in a spreadsheet. Finally, it will transform your plan into a management tool that will help you easily compare your forecasts to your actual results. This makes it easy to track your progress and make adjustments as you go.
Business plan FAQ
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 investor, and identify 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.
The seven steps to writing a business plan include: 1. Write a brief executive summary. 2. Describe your products and services. 3. Conduct market research and compile data into a cohesive market analysis. 4. Describe your marketing and sales strategy. 5. Outline your organizational structure and management team. 6. Develop financial projections for sales, revenue, and cash flow. 7. Add any additional documents to your appendix.
There are plenty of mistakes that can be made when writing a business plan. However, these are the 5 most common that you should do your best to avoid: 1. Not taking the planning process seriously. 2. Having unrealistic financial projections or incomplete financial information. 3. Inconsistent information or simple mistakes. 4. Failing to establish a sound business model. 5. Not having a defined purpose for your business plan.
Writing a business plan is all about asking yourself questions about your business and being able to answer them through the planning process. You’ll likely be asking dozens and dozens of questions for each section of your plan. However, these are the key questions you should ask and answer with your business plan: – How will your business make money? – Is there a need for your product or service? – Who are your customers? – How are you different from the competition? – How will you reach your customers? – How will you measure success?
The length of your business plan fully depends on what you intend to do with it. From the SBA and traditional lender point of view, a business plan needs to be whatever length necessary to fully explain your business. This means that you prove the viability of your business, show that you understand the market, and have a detailed strategy in place. If you intend to use your business plan for internal management purposes, you don’t necessarily need a full 25-50 page business plan. Instead, you can start with a one-page plan or a 3-10 page Lean Plan to get all of the necessary information in place.
While all business plans cover similar categories, the style and function fully depend on how you intend to use your plan. Here are a few common business plan types worth considering. Traditional business plan: The tried-and-true traditional business plan is a formal document meant to be used when applying for funding or pitching to investors. This type of business plan follows the outline above and can be anywhere from 10-50 pages depending on the amount of detail included, the complexity of your business, and what you include in your appendix. Business model canvas: The business model canvas is a one-page template designed to demystify the business planning process. It removes the need for a traditional, copy-heavy business plan, in favor of a single-page outline that can help you and outside parties better explore your business idea. One-page business plan: This format is a simplified version of the traditional plan that focuses on the core aspects of your business. You’ll typically stick with bullet points and single sentences. It’s most useful for those exploring ideas, needing to validate their business model, or who need an internal plan to help them run and manage their business. Lean Plan: The Lean Plan is less of a specific document type and more of a methodology. It takes the simplicity and styling of the one-page business plan and turns it into a process for you to continuously plan, test, review, refine, and take action based on performance. It’s faster, keeps your plan concise, and ensures that your plan is always up-to-date.
A business plan covers the “who” and “what” of your business. It explains what your business is doing right now and how it functions. The strategic plan explores long-term goals and explains “how” the business will get there. It encourages you to look more intently toward the future and how you will achieve your vision. However, when approached correctly, your business plan can actually function as a strategic plan as well. If kept lean, you can define your business, outline strategic steps, and track ongoing operations all with a single plan.
The core elements of business planning are the same for nonprofit organizations and for-profit businesses. The main difference between the two is that nonprofits are primarily driven by a specific mission or purpose. While a for-profit organization is typically driven by growth and improved performance. Additionally, nonprofit organizations will need to intently focus on their promotional, partnership, and fundraising strategies. While some of this is present in for-profit businesses, the need to thoroughly outline how and who you will continue to receive funding is far more important as a nonprofit.
Noah Parsons
Noah is currently the COO at Palo Alto Software, makers of the online business plan app LivePlan. You can follow Noah on Twitter .
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Business Plan Example and Template
Learn how to create a business plan
What is a Business Plan?
A business plan is a document that contains the operational and financial plan of a business, and details how its objectives will be achieved. It serves as a road map for the business and can be used when pitching investors or financial institutions for debt or equity financing .
A business plan should follow a standard format and contain all the important business plan elements. Typically, it should present whatever information an investor or financial institution expects to see before providing financing to a business.
Contents of a Business Plan
A business plan should be structured in a way that it contains all the important information that investors are looking for. Here are the main sections of a business plan:
1. Title Page
The title page captures the legal information of the business, which includes the registered business name, physical address, phone number, email address, date, and the company logo.
2. Executive Summary
The executive summary is the most important section because it is the first section that investors and bankers see when they open the business plan. It provides a summary of the entire business plan. It should be written last to ensure that you don’t leave any details out. It must be short and to the point, and it should capture the reader’s attention. The executive summary should not exceed two pages.
3. Industry Overview
The industry overview section provides information about the specific industry that the business operates in. Some of the information provided in this section includes major competitors, industry trends, and estimated revenues. It also shows the company’s position in the industry and how it will compete in the market against other major players.
4. Market Analysis and Competition
The market analysis section details the target market for the company’s product offerings. This section confirms that the company understands the market and that it has already analyzed the existing market to determine that there is adequate demand to support its proposed business model.
Market analysis includes information about the target market’s demographics , geographical location, consumer behavior, and market needs. The company can present numbers and sources to give an overview of the target market size.
A business can choose to consolidate the market analysis and competition analysis into one section or present them as two separate sections.
5. Sales and Marketing Plan
The sales and marketing plan details how the company plans to sell its products to the target market. It attempts to present the business’s unique selling proposition and the channels it will use to sell its goods and services. It details the company’s advertising and promotion activities, pricing strategy, sales and distribution methods, and after-sales support.
6. Management Plan
The management plan provides an outline of the company’s legal structure, its management team, and internal and external human resource requirements. It should list the number of employees that will be needed and the remuneration to be paid to each of the employees.
Any external professionals, such as lawyers, valuers, architects, and consultants, that the company will need should also be included. If the company intends to use the business plan to source funding from investors, it should list the members of the executive team, as well as the members of the advisory board.
7. Operating Plan
The operating plan provides an overview of the company’s physical requirements, such as office space, machinery, labor, supplies, and inventory . For a business that requires custom warehouses and specialized equipment, the operating plan will be more detailed, as compared to, say, a home-based consulting business. If the business plan is for a manufacturing company, it will include information on raw material requirements and the supply chain.
8. Financial Plan
The financial plan is an important section that will often determine whether the business will obtain required financing from financial institutions, investors, or venture capitalists. It should demonstrate that the proposed business is viable and will return enough revenues to be able to meet its financial obligations. Some of the information contained in the financial plan includes a projected income statement , balance sheet, and cash flow.
9. Appendices and Exhibits
The appendices and exhibits part is the last section of a business plan. It includes any additional information that banks and investors may be interested in or that adds credibility to the business. Some of the information that may be included in the appendices section includes office/building plans, detailed market research , products/services offering information, marketing brochures, and credit histories of the promoters.
Business Plan Template
Here is a basic template that any business can use when developing its business plan:
Section 1: Executive Summary
- Present the company’s mission.
- Describe the company’s product and/or service offerings.
- Give a summary of the target market and its demographics.
- Summarize the industry competition and how the company will capture a share of the available market.
- Give a summary of the operational plan, such as inventory, office and labor, and equipment requirements.
Section 2: Industry Overview
- Describe the company’s position in the industry.
- Describe the existing competition and the major players in the industry.
- Provide information about the industry that the business will operate in, estimated revenues, industry trends, government influences, as well as the demographics of the target market.
Section 3: Market Analysis and Competition
- Define your target market, their needs, and their geographical location.
- Describe the size of the market, the units of the company’s products that potential customers may buy, and the market changes that may occur due to overall economic changes.
- Give an overview of the estimated sales volume vis-à-vis what competitors sell.
- Give a plan on how the company plans to combat the existing competition to gain and retain market share.
Section 4: Sales and Marketing Plan
- Describe the products that the company will offer for sale and its unique selling proposition.
- List the different advertising platforms that the business will use to get its message to customers.
- Describe how the business plans to price its products in a way that allows it to make a profit.
- Give details on how the company’s products will be distributed to the target market and the shipping method.
Section 5: Management Plan
- Describe the organizational structure of the company.
- List the owners of the company and their ownership percentages.
- List the key executives, their roles, and remuneration.
- List any internal and external professionals that the company plans to hire, and how they will be compensated.
- Include a list of the members of the advisory board, if available.
Section 6: Operating Plan
- Describe the location of the business, including office and warehouse requirements.
- Describe the labor requirement of the company. Outline the number of staff that the company needs, their roles, skills training needed, and employee tenures (full-time or part-time).
- Describe the manufacturing process, and the time it will take to produce one unit of a product.
- Describe the equipment and machinery requirements, and if the company will lease or purchase equipment and machinery, and the related costs that the company estimates it will incur.
- Provide a list of raw material requirements, how they will be sourced, and the main suppliers that will supply the required inputs.
Section 7: Financial Plan
- Describe the financial projections of the company, by including the projected income statement, projected cash flow statement, and the balance sheet projection.
Section 8: Appendices and Exhibits
- Quotes of building and machinery leases
- Proposed office and warehouse plan
- Market research and a summary of the target market
- Credit information of the owners
- List of product and/or services
Related Readings
Thank you for reading CFI’s guide to Business Plans. To keep learning and advancing your career, the following CFI resources will be helpful:
- Corporate Structure
- Three Financial Statements
- NEW CFI Template Marketplace
- See all management & strategy resources
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If you’re starting a new business, or changing or expanding an existing one, it’s critical to have a solid plan to guide your decisions. A Microsoft business plan template can help get you started. Business plan templates offer step-by-step instructions and prefabricated slides for your executive summary, company overview, financial plan, and more. You’ll even find a business plan template for specific industries including business plan templates in Word for healthcare providers, professional services, and retail. Enlist your management team, or for a sole proprietor, trusted family and friends, to contribute to your plan using a checklist business plan template in Excel. Assign tasks and deadlines to keep everyone accountable and on track. There are also free business plan templates to help you determine your business’ legal structure, define your target audience, and map out your marketing plan. Explore all the business plan template options to find what suits your needs.
500+ Free business plan examples
Need help writing your business plan? Explore over 500 free real-world business plan examples from a wide variety of industries to guide you through writing your own plan. If you're looking for an intuitive tool that walks you through the plan writing process, we recommend LivePlan . It includes many of these same SBA-approved business plan examples and is especially useful when applying for a bank loan or outside investment.
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Example business plan format
Before you start exploring our library of business plan examples, it's worth taking the time to understand the traditional business plan format . You'll find that the plans in this library and most investor-approved business plans will include the following sections:
Executive summary
The executive summary is an overview of your business and your plans. It comes first in your plan and is ideally only one to two pages. You should also plan to write this section last after you've written your full business plan.
Your executive summary should include a summary of the problem you are solving, a description of your product or service, an overview of your target market, a brief description of your team, a summary of your financials, and your funding requirements (if you are raising money).
Products & services
The products & services chapter of your business plan is where the real meat of your plan lives. It includes information about the problem that you're solving, your solution, and how your product or service fits into the existing competitive landscape.
Describe the problem you're solving, how your offering solves the problem, and who your potential competitors are. You'll want to outline your competitive advantages and the milestones you have in mind to successfully start and grow your business.
Market analysis
Conducting a market analysis ensures that you fully understand the market that you're entering and who you'll be selling to. This section is where you will showcase all of the information about your potential customers. You'll cover your target market as well as information about the growth of your market and your industry. Focus on outlining why the market you're entering is viable and creating a realistic persona for your ideal customer base.
Marketing & sales
The marketing and sales plan section of your business plan details how you plan to reach your target market segments. You'll address how you plan on selling to those target markets, what your pricing plan is, and what types of activities and partnerships you need to make your business a success.
Organization & management
Use this section to describe your current team and who you need to hire. If you intend to pursue funding, you'll need to highlight the relevant experience of your team members. Basically, this is where you prove that this is the right team to successfully start and grow the business. You will also need to provide a quick overview of your legal structure, location, and history if you're already up and running.
Financial projections
Your financial plan should include a sales and revenue forecast, profit and loss statement, cash flow statement, and a balance sheet. You may not have established financials of any kind at this stage. Not to worry, rather than getting all of the details ironed out, focus on making projections and strategic forecasts for your business. You can always update your financial statements as you begin operations and start bringing in actual accounting data.
Now, if you intend to pitch to investors or submit a loan application, you'll also need a "use of funds" report in this section. This outlines how you intend to leverage any funding for your business and how much you're looking to acquire. Like the rest of your financials, this can always be updated later on.
The appendix isn't a required element of your business plan. However, it is a useful place to add any charts, tables, definitions, legal notes, or other critical information that supports your plan. These are often lengthier or our-of-place information that simply didn't work naturally into the structure of your plan. You'll notice that in these business plan examples, the appendix mainly includes extended financial statements.
Types of business plans explained
While all business plans cover similar categories, the style and function fully depend on how you intend to use your plan. To get the most out of your plan, it's best to find a format that suits your needs. Here are a few common business plan types worth considering.
Traditional business plan
The tried-and-true traditional business plan is a formal document meant to be used for external purposes. Typically this is the type of plan you'll need when applying for funding or pitching to investors. It can also be used when training or hiring employees, working with vendors, or any other situation where the full details of your business must be understood by another individual.
Business model canvas
The business model canvas is a one-page template designed to demystify the business planning process. It removes the need for a traditional, copy-heavy business plan, in favor of a single-page outline that can help you and outside parties better explore your business idea.
The structure ditches a linear format in favor of a cell-based template. It encourages you to build connections between every element of your business. It's faster to write out and update, and much easier for you, your team, and anyone else to visualize your business operations.
One-page business plan
The true middle ground between the business model canvas and a traditional business plan is the one-page business plan . This format is a simplified version of the traditional plan that focuses on the core aspects of your business.
By starting with a one-page plan, you give yourself a minimal document to build from. You'll typically stick with bullet points and single sentences making it much easier to elaborate or expand sections into a longer-form business plan.
The Lean Plan is less of a specific document type and more of a methodology. It takes the simplicity and styling of the one-page business plan and turns it into a process for you to continuously plan, test, review, refine, and take action based on performance.
It holds all of the benefits of the single-page plan, including the potential to complete it in as little as 27-minutes . However, it's even easier to convert into a full plan thanks to how heavily it's tied to your financials. The overall goal of Lean Planning isn't to just produce documents that you use once and shelve. Instead, the Lean Planning process helps you build a healthier company that thrives in times of growth and remain stable through times of crisis.
It's faster, keeps your plan concise, and ensures that your plan is always up-to-date.
Download a free sample business plan template
Ready to start writing your own plan but aren't sure where to start? Download our free business plan template that's been updated for 2022.
This simple, modern, investor-approved business plan template is designed to make planning easy. It's a proven format that has helped over 1 million businesses write business plans for bank loans, funding pitches, business expansion, and even business sales. It includes additional instructions for how to write each section and is formatted to be SBA-lender approved. All you need to do is fill in the blanks.
How to use an example business plan to help you write your own
How do you know what elements need to be included in your business plan, especially if you've never written one before? Looking at examples can help you visualize what a full, traditional plan looks like, so you know what you're aiming for before you get started. Here's how to get the most out of a sample business plan.
Choose a business plan example from a similar type of company
You don't need to find an example business plan that's an exact fit for your business. Your business location, target market, and even your particular product or service may not match up exactly with the plans in our gallery. But, you don't need an exact match for it to be helpful. Instead, look for a plan that's related to the type of business you're starting.
For example, if you want to start a vegetarian restaurant, a plan for a steakhouse can be a great match. While the specifics of your actual startup will differ, the elements you'd want to include in your restaurant's business plan are likely to be very similar.
Use a business plan example as a guide
Every startup and small business is unique, so you'll want to avoid copying an example business plan word for word. It just won't be as helpful, since each business is unique. You want your plan to be a useful tool for starting a business —and getting funding if you need it.
One of the key benefits of writing a business plan is simply going through the process. When you sit down to write, you'll naturally think through important pieces, like your startup costs, your target market , and any market analysis or research you'll need to do to be successful.
You'll also look at where you stand among your competition (and everyone has competition ), and lay out your goals and the milestones you'll need to meet. Looking at an example business plan's financials section can be helpful because you can see what should be included, but take them with a grain of salt. Don't assume that financial projections for a sample company will fit your own small business.
If you're looking for more resources to help you get started, this guide on how to write a business plan is a good place to start. You can also download our free business plan template , or get started right away with LivePlan .
Think of business planning as a process, instead of a document
Think about business planning as something you do often , rather than a document you create once and never look at again. If you take the time to write a plan that really fits your own company, it will be a better, more useful tool to grow your business. It should also make it easier to share your vision and strategy so everyone on your team is on the same page.
Adjust your plan regularly to use it as a business management tool
Keep in mind that businesses that use their plan as a management tool to help run their business grow 30 percent faster than those businesses that don't. For that to be true for your company, you'll think of a part of your business planning process as tracking your actual results against your financial forecast on a regular basis.
If things are going well, your plan will help you think about how you can re-invest in your business. If you find that you're not meeting goals, you might need to adjust your budgets or your sales forecast. Either way, tracking your progress compared to your plan can help you adjust quickly when you identify challenges and opportunities—it's one of the most powerful things you can do to grow your business.
Prepare to pitch your business
If you're planning to pitch your business to investors or seek out any funding, you'll need a pitch deck to accompany your business plan. A pitch deck is designed to inform people about your business. You want your pitch deck to be short and easy to follow, so it's best to keep your presentation under 20 slides.
Your pitch deck and pitch presentation are likely some of the first things that an investor will see to learn more about your company. So, you need to be informative and pique their interest. Luckily, just like you can leverage an example business plan template to write your plan, we also have a gallery of over 50 pitch decks for you to reference.
With this gallery, you have the option to view specific industry pitches or get inspired by real-world pitch deck examples. Or for a modern pitch solution that helps you create a business plan and pitch deck side-by-side, you may want to check out LivePlan . It will help you build everything needed for outside investment and to better manage your business.
Get LivePlan in your classroom
Are you an educator looking for real-world business plan examples for your students? With LivePlan, you give your students access to industry-best business plans and help them set goals and track metrics with spreadsheet-free financial forecasts. All of this within a single tool that includes additional instructional resources that work seamlessly alongside your current classroom setup.
With LivePlan, it's not just a classroom project. It's your students planning for their futures. Click here to learn more about business planning for students .
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20 Reasons Why You Need a Business Plan in 2023
- Written by Dave Lavinsky
What is the purpose of a business plan and why are business plans so important? Below are our top 20 reasons why you need a business plan.
2. To establish business milestones. The business plan should clearly lay out the long-term milestones that are most important to the success of your business. To paraphrase Guy Kawasaki, a milestone is something significant enough to come home and tell your spouse about (without boring him or her to death). Would you tell your spouse that you tweaked the company brochure? Probably not. But you’d certainly share the news that you launched your new website or reached $1M in annual revenues.
3. To better understand your competition. Creating the business plan forces you to analyze the competition. All companies have competition in the form of either direct or indirect competitors, and it is critical to understand your company’s competitive advantages. And if you don’t currently have competitive advantages, to figure out what you must do to gain them.
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4. To better understand your customer. Why do they buy when they buy? Why don’t they when they don’t? An in-depth customer analysis is essential to an effective business plan and to a successful business. Understanding your customers will not only allow you to create better products and services for them, but will allow you to more cost-effectively reach them via advertising and promotions.
5. To enunciate previously unstated assumptions. The process of actually writing the business plan helps to bring previously “hidden” assumptions to the foreground. By writing them down and assessing them, you can test them and analyze their validity. For example, you might have assumed that local retailers would carry your product; in your business plan, you could assess the results of the scenario in which this didn’t occur.
6. To assess the feasibility of your venture. How good is this opportunity? The business plan process involves researching your target market, as well as the competitive landscape, and serves as a feasibility study for the success of your venture. In some cases, the result of your planning will be to table the venture. And it might be to go forward with a different venture that may have a better chance of success.
7. To document your revenue model. How exactly will your business make money? This is a critical question to answer in writing, for yourself and your investors. Documenting the revenue model helps to address challenges and assumptions associated with the model. And upon reading your plan, others may suggest additional revenue streams to consider.
8. To determine your financial needs. Does your business need to raise capital? How much? One of the purposes of a business plan is to help you to determine exactly how much capital you need and what you will use it for. This process is essential for raising capital for business and for effectively employing the capital. It will also enable you to plan ahead, particularly if you need to raise additional funding in the future.
9. To attract investors. A formal business plan is the basis for financing proposals. The business plan answers investors’ questions such as: Is there a need for this product/service? What are the financial projections? What is the company’s exit strategy? While investors will generally want to meet you in person before writing you a check, in nearly all cases, they will also thoroughly review your business plan.
10. To reduce the risk of pursuing the wrong opportunity. The process of creating the business plan helps to minimize opportunity costs. Writing the business plan helps you assess the attractiveness of this particular opportunity, versus other opportunities. So you make the best decisions.
11. To force you to research and really know your market. What are the most important trends in your industry? What are the greatest threats to your industry? Is the market growing or shrinking? What is the size of the target market for your product/service? Creating the business plan will help you to gain a wider, deeper, and more nuanced understanding of your marketplace. And it will allow you to use this knowledge to make decisions to improve your company’s success.
12. To attract employees and a management team. To attract and retain top quality talent, a business plan is necessary. The business plan inspires employees and management that the idea is sound and that the business is poised to achieve its strategic goals. Importantly, as you grow your company, your employees and not you will do most of the work. So getting them aligned and motivated will be key to your success.
13. To plot your course and focus your efforts. The business plan provides a roadmap from which to operate, and to look to for direction in times of doubt. Without a business plan, you may shift your short-term strategies constantly without a view to your long-term milestones. You wouldn’t go on a long driving trip without a map; think of your business plan as your map.
14. To attract partners. Partners also want to see a business plan, in order to determine whether it is worth partnering with your business. Establishing partnerships often requires time and capital, and companies will be more likely to partner with your venture if they can read a detailed explanation of your company.
15. To position your brand. Creating the business plan helps to define your company’s role in the marketplace. This definition allows you to succinctly describe the business and position the brand to customers, investors, and partners. With the industry, customer and competitive insight you gain during the business planning process, you can best determine how to position your brand.
16. To judge the success of your business. A formal business plan allows you to compare actual operational results versus the business plan itself. In this way, it allows you to clearly see whether you have achieved your strategic, financing, and operational goals (and why you have or have not).
17. To reposition your business to deal with changing conditions. For example, during difficult economic conditions, if your current sales and operational models aren’t working, you can rewrite your business plan to define, try, and validate new ideas and strategies.
18. To document your marketing plan . How are you going to reach your customers? How will you retain them? What is your advertising budget? What price will you charge? A well-documented marketing plan is essential to the growth of a business. And the marketing strategies and tactics you use will evolve each year, so revisiting your marketing plan at least annually is critical.
19. To understand and forecast your company’s staffing needs. After completing your business plan, you will not be surprised when you are suddenly short-handed. Rather, your business plan provides a roadmap for your staffing needs, and thus helps to ensure smoother expansion. Importantly your plan can not only help you understand your staffing needs, but ensure your timing is right as it takes time to recruit and train great employees.
20. To uncover new opportunities. Through the process of brainstorming, white-boarding and creative interviewing, you will likely see your business in a different light. As a result, you will often come up with new ideas for marketing your product/service and running your business. It’s coming up with these ideas and executing on them which is often the difference between a business that fails or just survives and one that thrives.
What is a Business Plan?
A business plan is a document that details your business concept and strategy for growth.
What is the Purpose of a Business Plan?
A business plan helps guide your company's efforts and, if applicable, gives investors and lenders the information they need to decide whether or not to fund your company. A business plan template helps you to most easily complete your plan.
Why Do You Need a Business Plan?
A business plan provides details about your company, competition, customers and industry so that you make the best possible decisions to grow your company.
What is the Importance of a Business Plan?
The 3 most important purposes of a business plan are 1) to create an effective strategy for growth, 2) to determine your future financial needs, and 3) to attract investors (including angel investors and VC funding ) and lenders.
Why is a Business Plan Important to an Entrepreneur?
Business plans help entrepreneurs take their visions and turn them into tangible action plans for success.
About Growthink
Since 1999, Growthink’s business plan experts have assisted more than 4,000 clients in launching and growing their businesses, and raising more than $2.5 billion in growth financing.
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Do You Actually Need a Business Plan?
Amanda abella.
I was recently at a CollabMiami meetup where I was interviewing the founder for my podcast. During the podcast, we took live questions from people who were watching via Instagram Live.
The question that kept coming up over and over again was “How do I create a business plan?” or “Do I need a business plan?”
The short answer is it depends on what you’re trying to do. If you’re trying to get a line of credit from the bank, then you’ll definitely need a more traditional business plan. However, good luck trying to get one of those if you’re a freelancer or really just starting out.
That being said, here’s what I’ve come to notice about the notion of a business plan over the years. This is based on my own experience and watching many of my friends and colleagues create some great brands for themselves.
None of us had a formal business plan when we started.
Many colleagues and I started our businesses in much the same way: our backs were up against the wall and we needed to figure out a way to make money.
Many of us also don’t have any formal training like an MBA. In some ways, this is a huge advantage because you just do stuff. You don’t necessarily think about financial forecasts when you’re just trying to hustle to make enough money to pay rent. You just hustle. That’s it.
Another thing I noticed is that we just did a whole lot of experimenting – especially in the beginning stages. If something worked we kept it, if it didn’t then we dropped it. We kept this going until we had more experience and could better strategize.
For many of us, our formal business training came from old jobs, coaches, colleagues, reading business books and taking as many classes as we could. I’ve done a lot of this, and no where has anyone mentioned creating a formal business plan – they simply tell you to go out there and do it.
Do we have a business plan now?
I don’t know about my colleagues so I won’t speak for them. Speaking from my own experience, I still don’t write up a business plan. At least not in the formal sense.
- I do create a basic plan for the next few months to a year.
- I do sit down with my accountant and talk numbers.
- I do forecast and assess what could possibly go wrong with my plans.
- I do seek counsel in the form of coaches and consultants to see where things can improve.
- I do (now) have a team manager with whom I discuss what needs to get done and who needs to do it.
- I do plan out my marketing, promotions and sales processes.
So yes, I have gotten much more strategic in running my business, but I have yet to create a really formal business plan. And unless I feel like I need to get a line of credit from the bank, I probably won’t waste my time trying to write one.
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5 reasons you need a business plan
If you are starting a small business, there is no shortage of advice on the steps you should take: registering your business name, getting a Tax ID, deciding on a business structure and applying for the needed permits and licenses. While these are all very important steps to take, a business plan will be central to how you start, grow and develop your business.
Here are 5 reasons why you need a business plan:
1. It will help you steer your business as you start and grow. Think of a business plan as a GPS to get your business going. A good business plan guides you through each stage of starting and managing your business. You’ll use your business plan like a GPS for how to structure, run, and grow your new business. It’s a way to think through and detail all the key elements of how your business will run.
2. It’s not as hard as you think. A business plan is a written tool about your business that projects 3-5 years ahead and outlines the path your business intends to take to make money and grow revenue. Think of it as a living project for your business, and not as a one-time document. Break it down into mini-plans – one for sales and marketing, one for pricing, one for operations, and so on.
3. It will help you to reach business milestones. A well-thought-out business plan helps you to step back and think objectively about the key elements of your business and informs your decision making as you move forward. It is essential whether you need to secure a business loan or not. Keep in mind that the plan does not have to be like an encyclopedia and does not have to have all the answers.
4. It can help you get funding. Business plans can help you get funding or bring on new business partners. Having one in place will help investors feel confident that they will see a return on their investment. Your business plan is the tool you will use to persuade others that working with you (or investing in your business) is a smart decision.
5. There’s no wrong way to write a business plan. There is no right or wrong way to write a business plan. You can pick a plan format that works best for you. What’s important is that your business plan meets your needs. Most business plans fall into one of two common categories: traditional or lean startup.
Traditional business plans are more common, use a standard structure, and encourage you to go into detail in each section. Traditional plans tend to require more work upfront. Lean startup business plans are less common, but still use a standard structure. They focus on summarizing only the most important points of the key elements of your plan. They can take as little as one hour to make and are typically just one page.
Because knowing where to start can be challenging, the SBA has tools to help make writing a business plan less intimidating and time consuming. The SBA offers a Business Plan Tool that helps simplify the process. The tool consists of eight easy-to-follow steps to help create a well-prepared plan.
To learn more about putting your business plan together, go to the SBA’s online Learning Center and take the self-paced course on How to Write a Business Plan . The course explains the importance of business planning, describes the components of a plan, and provides access to resources and sample plans. You can also take a look at the SBA’s Business Planning Guide for more information and to view business plan templates.
If you want a more hands-on approach, you can get assistance from an SBA resource partner to help complete your business plan. Working with a mentor or counselor from SCORE , a Small Business Development Center or a Women’s Business Center can help with all aspects of starting, growing or expanding your business.
About the author
U.s. small business administration.
The SBA works to ignite change and spark action so small businesses can confidently start, grow, expand, or recover.
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Who Needs a Business Plan?
Published On - April 13, 2019
If you’re just planning on picking up some freelance work to supplement your income, you can skip the business plan. But, if you’re embarking on a more significant endeavor that’s likely to consume a significant amount of time, money, and resources, then you need a business plan.
If you’re serious about business, taking planning seriously is critical to your success.
Unfortunately, many people think of business plans only for starting a new business or applying for business loans. But business plans are also vital for running a business—strategic planning—whether or not it needs new loans or new investments. Existing businesses should have business plans that they maintain and update as market conditions change and as new opportunities arise.
Every business has long-term and short-term goals, sales targets, and expense budgets—a business plan encompasses all of those things and is as useful to a startup trying to raise funds as it is to a 10-year-old business that’s looking to grow.
1. Startup businesses
The most classic business planning scenario is for a startup, for which the plan helps the founders break uncertainty down into meaningful pieces, like the sales projection, expense budget, milestones, and tasks.
The need becomes obvious as soon as you recognize that you don’t know how much money you need, and when you need it, without laying out projected sales, costs, expenses, and timing of payments. And that’s for all startups, whether or not they need to convince investors, banks, or friends and family to part with their money and fund the new venture.
In this case, the business plan is focused on explaining what the new company is going to do, how it is going to accomplish its goals, and—most importantly—why the founders are the right people to do the job. A startup business plan also details the amount of money needed to get the business off the ground, and through the initial growth phases that will lead (hopefully!) to profitability.
2. Existing businesses
Not all business plans are for startups that are launching the next big thing. Existing businesses use business plans to strategically manage and steer the business, not just to address changes in their markets and to take advantage of new opportunities. They use a plan to reinforce strategy, establish metrics, manage responsibilities and goals, track results, and manage and plan resources including critical cash flow. And of course they use a plan to set the schedule for regular review and revision.
Business plans can be a critical driver of growth for existing businesses. Did you know that businesses that write plans and use them to manage their business grow 30 percent faster than businesses that take a “seat of the pants” approach? A study by Professor Andrew Burke, the founding Director of the Bettany Centre for Entrepreneurial Performance and Economics at Cranfield School of Management, discovered exactly this.
For existing businesses, a robust business planning process can be a competitive advantage that drives faster growth and greater innovation. Instead of a static document, business plans in existing businesses become dynamic tools that are used to track growth and spot potential problems before they derail the business.
Considering that business plans serve many different purposes, it’s no surprise that they come in many different forms.
Before you even start writing your business plan, you need to think about who the audience is and what the goals of your plan are. While there are common components that are found in almost every business plan, such as sales forecasts and marketing strategy, business plan formats can be very different depending on the audience and the type of business.
For example, if you’re building a plan for a biotech firm, your plan will go into details about government approval processes. If you are writing a plan for a restaurant, details about location and renovations might be critical factors. And, the language you’d use in the biotech firm’s business plan would be much more technical than the language you’d use in the plan for the restaurant.
Plans can also differ greatly in length, detail, and presentation. Plans that never leave the office and are used exclusively for internal strategic planning and management might use more casual language and might not have much visual polish.
On the other end of the spectrum, a plan that is destined for the desk of a top venture capitalist will have a high degree of polish and will focus on the high-growth aspects of the business and the experienced team that is going to deliver stunning results.
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15 Reasons Why You Need a Business Plan in 2023
Posted january 21, 2022 by noah parsons.
As a small business owner or aspiring entrepreneur, a business plan can seem more like a hurdle you have to overcome than a useful tool. It’s a barrier that’s keeping you from moving forward with your business. Maybe the bank won’t review your loan application without a business plan or a potential investor has asked to see your business plan before they will meet with you.
But, writing a business plan doesn’t have to feel like a homework assignment. Instead, think of writing a business plan as an investment in your business. It’s a tool to figure out a strong and financially viable strategy for growth. And, it’s even been scientifically proven that planning will increase your chances of success and help you grow faster.
Still not convinced? Read on for our definitive list of reasons why you should write a plan for your business.
What is the key purpose of a business plan?
Imagine you’re setting out on a journey. You know what your final destination is, but you haven’t figured out how to get there. While it might be fun to just start driving and figure things out as you go, your trip will most likely take longer than you anticipated and cost you more. If you instead take a look at a map and chart the best way to get to your destination, you’ll arrive on time and on budget. Planning for your business isn’t that much different.
The primary purpose of a business plan is to help you figure out where you want to go with your business and how you’re going to get there. It helps you set your direction and determine a winning strategy. A solid business plan will set your business up for success and help you build an unbeatable company.
If you start off without a plan, you may go down some interesting detours, but you’re unlikely to grow quickly or stick to your budget.
Why do you need to write a business plan?
Establishing a strategic roadmap for your business is the primary benefit of writing a business plan. But what does that really look like for you and your business? Here are our top 15 reasons why you should write a business plan.
1. Reduce your risk
Writing a business plan takes some of the risk out of starting a business. It ensures that you’re thinking through every facet of your business to determine if it can truly be viable.
Does your solution fit the market? Are your startup or operational costs manageable? Will your proposed business model actually generate sales? What sort of milestones would you need to hit to achieve profitability? These are all questions associated with business risk that you can answer with your plan.
For those already running a business, writing a plan can help you better manage ongoing risk. Should you bring on a new employee? What does cash flow look like for your next month, quarter, or even year? Are you on track to meet your milestones or do you need to change your focus? Keep your plan up to date, review it regularly and you can easily answer these questions and mitigate risk.
2. Uncover your business’s potential
Writing a business plan helps you think about the customers you are serving and what their needs are. Exploring those customer needs will help you uncover new opportunities for your business to serve them and potentially expose new products and services that you could offer. When you use your business plan to manage your business, you’ll be able to see the parts of your strategy that are working and those that aren’t. For example, you may have invested in new marketing efforts to sell one of your products, but that strategy just isn’t working out. With a business plan in hand, you’ll be able to see what’s going to plan and where you need to make adjustments to your strategy, pivoting to new opportunities that will drive profitability.
3. Test a new business idea
When you have a new business idea, it really helps to spend a little time thinking through all the details. A business plan will help you think about your target market, your budget, how much money you’ll need to launch, and how your idea will actually work before you spend any real money. A business plan will also help you easily share your idea with other people to get input and feedback before you get started.
We recommend using a one-page business plan to test ideas quickly and easily.
4. Attract investors and get funding to start and grow your business
Sharing your business idea with investors requires a business plan. Now, you probably won’t share a long, detailed business plan to get investors interested, but you probably will share your executive summary — which is an overview of your business plan. Investors may never actually ask for your full business plan, but they will certainly ask you questions that you’ll only be able to answer if you’ve taken the time to write a plan.
At the very least, they’ll want to see your financial forecasts , so you should be prepared for this. If you end up pitching your business to investors, whether in-person or remotely , having a business plan written makes it much easier to translate the right information into a pitch deck. In short, you’ll have all of the right information ready and available to show why your business is worth investing in.
5. Plan for different scenarios
Even if you have a plan in place, things rarely actually go to plan. The world is always changing, customer tastes change, and new competitors arrive on the scene. Having a plan allows you to experiment with different scenarios to see how changes to your business will impact your forecasts, budgets, profitability, and cash flow.
6. Research shows that business plans definitely work
A Journal of Management Studies study found that businesses that take the time to plan grow 30% faster than those that don’t. Our own 2021 small business research study found that 58% of small business owners that have or are working on a plan feel confident in their business, even amidst a crisis. And a study in Small Business Economics found that entrepreneurs that write business plans for their ideas are 152% more likely to actually start their businesses. There’s plenty of additional research that links planning with success, so it’s a proven fact that you won’t be wasting your time when you write your plan.
7. Build a better budget and a financial forecast
A core component of any business plan is a financial forecast. When you take the time to plan, you’ll have to think through your expense budget, your sales goals, and the cash that it’s going to take to keep your doors open, purchase inventory, and more.
The beauty of incorporating forecasts into your business plan is that you don’t need to have the exact numbers to start. You can work with general assumptions and compare against competitive benchmarks to set a baseline for your business. As you operate and collect financial data you can then begin to update your forecasts to generate a more accurate view of how your business will operate.
8. Determine your financial needs
Without a business plan, it’s impossible to really know how much money it’s going to take to start and run your business. You don’t just need money for your initial purchases. You need to have enough cash in the bank to keep your business afloat while you get fully up and running. A plan will help you determine exactly how much money you’ll need and help you keep track of your cash flow and runway .
9. Attract employees
Especially if you’re a young startup company, attracting employees can be hard. Without a proven track record, why should someone take a risk to work for you? Having a business plan can help solve that problem. Your plan can help a prospective employee understand your business strategy and plans for growth so that they can feel confident joining your team. It’s also incredibly useful in determining when and if it’s feasible for you to bring on more employees .
10. Get your team all on the same page
A great strategy for your business can only be successful if your team understands it. By documenting your strategy with a business plan, you can easily get everyone on the same page, working towards the same goals. It’s even better if you regularly review your plan with members of your team. This ensures that everyone is consistently going back to the core strategy documentation, analyzing it, and exploring how it impacts individual and team goals .
11. Manage your business better
A business plan is all about setting goals for your company — both financial goals and milestones you hope to accomplish. When you use your plan to regularly check in on your business to see how you’re doing and what your progress is, you’re managing your business. Regular review , ideally monthly, will help you build a strong, resilient business.
12. Understand your market and build a marketing plan
No matter how good your idea is, you have to figure out who your ideal customers are and how you’re going to get the word out to them. That’s where a marketing plan comes in. It can be an indispensable tool for figuring out how you get your first customers as well as your thousandth customer.
13. It’s easier than you think
You may be procrastinating in writing a business plan because it sounds like a lot of work. The truth is that planning is much less complicated than you think. Start small with a one-page business plan that you complete in half an hour . From there, refine your plan until your idea is solid. At that point, you can invest a little more time in a more detailed business plan. Just start with the basics and expand from there.
14. You’ll sleep better at night
When you have a plan for your business, you have peace of mind. You know that you’ve invested the time to figure out a business model that actually works and you’ve considered different financial scenarios so you can handle the unexpected. And, you’ve got a management tool to run your business better than your competitors.
15. Effectively navigate a crisis
Having a business plan not only helps you create a roadmap for your business but also helps you navigate unforeseen events. Large-scale economic downturns, supply shortages, payment delays, cash flow problems, and any number of other issues are bound to pop up. But, you can be prepared to face each crisis head-on by leveraging your business plan.
A plan helps you assess your current situation, determine how the crisis will alter your plan, and begin to explore what it will take to recover. With a little planning, you can even prepare your business for future downturns with this same process. It’ll make crisis planning easier and ideally recession-proof your business by having the right plan and processes in place.
Don’t wait, start writing your business plan today
There are plenty of reasons to write a business plan, but the real reason is about finding success for you and your business. Taking the time to plan is an investment in yourself and your business that will pay dividends, whether you’re starting a new business or taking your existing business to the next level.
You can jump-start your business plan writing process with our article covering how to write a business plan in as little as 30-minutes .
If you’re looking for a tool to help you get more from your business plan, we recommend trying out LivePlan . Our business planning and management tool will guide you through the entire process, including all of your financial forecasts, without ever requiring that you open a spreadsheet.
Noah Parsons
Posted in business plan writing.
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What is a Business Plan? Definition, Tips, and Templates
Updated: September 02, 2021
Published: September 01, 2021
In an era where more than 50% of small enterprises fail in their first year, having a clear, defined, and well-thought-out business plan is a crucial first step for setting up a business for long-term success.
The business plan is an undeniably critical component to getting any company off the ground. It's key to securing financing, documenting your business model, outlining your financial projections, and turning that nugget of a business idea into a reality.
Business plans are a required tool for all entrepreneurs, business owners, business acquirers, and even business school students. But … what exactly is a business plan?
In this post, we'll explain what a business plan is, the reasons why you'd need one, identify different types of business plans, and what you should include in yours.
What is a business plan?
A business plan is a documented strategy for a business that highlights its goals and its plans for achieving them. It outlines a company's go-to-market plan, financial projections, market research, business purpose, and mission statement. Key staff who are responsible for achieving the goals may also be included in the business plan along with a timeline.
What is a business plan used for?
The purpose of a business plan is three-fold: It summarizes the organization’s strategy in order to execute it long term, secures financing from investors, and helps forecast future business demands.
Business Plan Template [ Download Now ]
Working on your business plan? Try using our Business Plan Template . Pre-filled with the sections a great business plan needs, the template will give aspiring entrepreneurs a feel for what a business plan is, what should be in it, and how it can be used to establish and grow a business from the ground up.
Purposes of a Business Plan
Chances are, someone drafting a business plan will be doing so for one or more of the following reasons:
1. Securing financing from investors.
Since its contents revolve around how businesses succeed, break-even, and turn a profit, a business plan is used as a tool for sourcing capital. This document is an entrepreneur's way of showing potential investors or lenders how their capital will be put to work and how it will help the business thrive.
All banks, investors, and venture capital firms will want to see a business plan before handing over their money, and investors typically expect a 10% ROI or more from the capital they invest in a business.
Therefore, these investors need to know if – and when – they'll be making their money back (and then some). Additionally, they'll want to read about the process and strategy for how the business will reach those financial goals, which is where the context provided by sales, marketing, and operations plans come into play.
2. Documenting a company's strategy and goals.
A business plan should leave no stone unturned.
Business plans can span dozens or even hundreds of pages, affording their drafters the opportunity to explain what a business' goals are and how the business will achieve them.
To show potential investors that they've addressed every question and thought through every possible scenario, entrepreneurs should thoroughly explain their marketing, sales, and operations strategies – from acquiring a physical location for the business to explaining a tactical approach for marketing penetration.
These explanations should ultimately lead to a business' break-even point supported by a sales forecast and financial projections, with the business plan writer being able to speak to the why behind anything outlined in the plan.
3. Legitimizing a business idea.
Everyone's got a great idea for a company – until they put pen to paper and realize that it's not exactly feasible.
A business plan is an aspiring entrepreneur's way to prove that a business idea is actually worth pursuing.
As entrepreneurs document their go-to-market process, capital needs, and expected return on investment, entrepreneurs likely come across a few hiccups that will make them second guess their strategies and metrics – and that's exactly what the business plan is for.
It ensures an entrepreneur's ducks are in a row before bringing their business idea to the world and reassures the readers that whoever wrote the plan is serious about the idea, having put hours into thinking of the business idea, fleshing out growth tactics, and calculating financial projections.
4. Getting an A in your business class.
Speaking from personal experience, there's a chance you're here to get business plan ideas for your Business 101 class project.
If that's the case, might we suggest checking out this post on How to Write a Business Plan – providing a section-by-section guide on creating your plan?
What does a business plan need to include?
- Business Plan Subtitle
- Executive Summary
- Company Description
- The Business Opportunity
- Competitive Analysis
- Target Market
- Marketing Plan
- Financial Summary
- Funding Requirements
1. Business Plan Subtitle
Every great business plan starts with a captivating title and subtitle. You’ll want to make it clear that the document is, in fact, a business plan, but the subtitle can help tell the story of your business in just a short sentence.
2. Executive Summary
Although this is the last part of the business plan that you’ll write, it’s the first section (and maybe the only section) that stakeholders will read. The executive summary of a business plan sets the stage for the rest of the document. It includes your company’s mission or vision statement, value proposition, and long-term goals.
3. Company Description
This brief part of your business plan will detail your business name, years in operation, key offerings, and positioning statement. You might even add core values or a short history of the company. The company description’s role in a business plan is to introduce your business to the reader in a compelling and concise way.
4. The Business Opportunity
The business opportunity should convince investors that your organization meets the needs of the market in a way that no other company can. This section explains the specific problem your business solves within the marketplace and how it solves them. It will include your value proposition as well as some high level information about your target market.
5. Competitive Analysis
Just about every industry has more than one player in the market. Even if your business owns the majority of the market share in your industry or your business concept is the first of its kind, you still have competition. In the competitive analysis section, you’ll take an objective look at the industry landscape to determine where your business fits. A SWOT analysis is an organized way to format this section.
6. Target Market
Who are the core customers of your business and why? The target market portion of your business plan outlines this in detail. The target market should explain the demographics, psychographics, behavioristics, and geographics of the ideal customer.
7. Marketing Plan
Marketing is expansive, and it’ll be tempting to cover every type of marketing possible, but a brief overview of how you’ll market your unique value proposition to your target audience, followed by a tactical plan will suffice. Think broadly and narrow down from there: Will you focus on a slow-and-steady play where you make an upfront investment in organic customer acquisition? Or will you generate lots of quick customers using a pay-to-play advertising strategy? This kind of information should guide the marketing plan section of your business plan.
8. Financial Summary
Money doesn’t grow on trees and even the most digital, sustainable businesses have expenses. Outlining a financial summary of where your business is currently and where you’d like it to be in the future will substantiate this section. Consider including any monetary information that will give potential investors a glimpse into the financial health of your business. Assets, liabilities, expenses, debt, investments, revenue, and more are all fair game here.
So, you’ve outlined some great goals, the business opportunity is valid, and the industry is ready for what you have to offer. Who’s responsible for turning all this high-level talk into results? The “team” section of your business plan answers that question by providing an overview of the roles responsible for each goal. Don’t worry if you don’t have every team member on board yet, knowing what roles to hire for is helpful as you seek funding from investors.
10. Funding Requirements
Remember that one of the goals of a business plan is to secure funding from investors, so you’ll need to include funding requirements you’d like them to fulfill. The amount your business needs, for what reasons, and for how long will meet the requirement for this section.
Types of Business Plans
There’s no one size fits all business plan as there are several types of businesses in the market today. From startups with just one founder to historic household names that need to stay competitive, every type of business needs a business plan that’s tailored to its needs. Below are a few of the most common types of business plans. For even more examples, check out these 11 sample business plans to help you write your own .
1. Startup Business Plan
As one of the most common types of business plans, a startup business plan is used for brand new business ideas. This plan is used to lay the foundation for the eventual success of a business.
The biggest challenge with the startup business plan is that it’s written completely from scratch. Startup business plans typically reference existing industry data and explain unique business strategies and go-to-market plans.
2. Business Acquisition Plan
Believe it or not, investors use business plans to acquire existing businesses, too — not just new businesses.
A business plan for an existing company will explain how an acquisition will change its operating model, what will stay the same under new ownership, and why things will change or stay the same. Additionally, the business plan should speak to what the current state of the business is and why it's up for sale.
For example, if someone is purchasing a failing business, the business plan should explain why the business is being purchased and what the new owner will do to turn the business around, referencing previous business metrics, sales projections after the acquisition, and a justification for those projections.
3. Business Repositioning Plan
When a business wants to avoid acquisition, reposition its brand, or try something new, CEOs or owners will develop a business repositioning plan.
This plan will:
- Acknowledge the current state of the company.
- State a vision for the future of the company.
- Explain why the business should (or must) be repositioned.
- Outline a process for how the company will adjust.
Companies planning for a business reposition do so – proactively or retroactively – due to a shift in market trends and customer needs. For example, Pizza Hut announced a plan to drastically overhaul its brand, as it sees the need to shift from dine-in to delivery – a decision resulting from observing years of industry and company trends and acknowledging the need to reposition itself for the future of its sector.
4. Expansion Business Plan
Expanding a successful business venture into another location typically requires a business plan, as the project may focus on a new target market and demand more capital.
Fortunately, an expansion business plan isn’t like a startup business plan in that it starts from scratch. Instead, this type of plan references sales, revenue, and successes from existing locations. However, as great as a reference as these points can be, it's important to not be too reliant on them since it's still a new business that could succeed or fail for a myriad of reasons.
Getting Started With Your Business Plan
At the end of the day, a business plan is simply an explanation of a business idea and why it will be successful. The more detail and thought you put into it, the more successful your plan – and the business it outlines – will be.
When writing your business plan, you’ll benefit from extensive research, feedback from your team or board of directors, and a solid template to organize your thoughts. If you need one of these, download HubSpot's Free Business Plan Template below to get started.
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What Is a Business Plan?
Understanding business plans, how to write a business plan, elements of a business plan, special considerations.
- Business Plan FAQs
- Investopedia
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.
:max_bytes(150000):strip_icc():format(webp)/adam_hayes-5bfc262a46e0fb005118b414.jpg "need for business plan")
Investopedia / Ryan Oakley
A business plan is a document that defines in detail a company's objectives and how it plans to achieve its goals. A business plan lays out a written road map for the firm from marketing , financial, and operational standpoints. Both startups and established companies use business plans.
A business plan is an important document aimed at a company's external and internal audiences. For instance, a business plan is used to attract investment before a company has established a proven track record. It can also help to secure lending from financial institutions.
Furthermore, a business plan can serve to keep a company's executive team on the same page about strategic action items and on target for meeting established goals.
Although they're especially useful for new businesses, every company should have a business plan. Ideally, the plan is reviewed and updated periodically to reflect goals that have been met or have changed. Sometimes, a new business plan is created for an established business that has decided to move in a new direction.
Key Takeaways
- A business plan is a document describing a company's core business activities and how it plans to achieve its goals.
- Startup companies use business plans to get off the ground and attract outside investors.
- A business plan can also be used as an internal guide to keep an executive team focused on and working toward short- and long-term objectives.
- Businesses may create a lengthier traditional business plan or a shorter lean startup business plan.
- Good business plans should include an executive summary and sections on products and services, marketing strategy and analysis, financial planning, and a budget.
Want Funding? You Need a Business Plan
A business plan is a fundamental document that any new business should have in place prior to beginning operations. Indeed, banks and venture capital firms often require a viable business plan before considering whether they'll provide capital to new businesses.
Operating without a business plan usually is not a good idea. In fact, very few companies are able to last very long without one. There are benefits to creating (and sticking to) a good business plan. These include being able to think through ideas before investing too much money in them and working through potential obstacles to success.
A good business plan should outline all the projected costs and possible pitfalls of each decision a company makes. Business plans, even among competitors in the same industry, are rarely identical. However, they can have the same basic elements, such as an executive summary of the business and detailed descriptions of its operations, products and services, and financial projections. A plan also states how the business intends to achieve its goals.
While it's a good idea to give as much detail as possible, it's also important that a plan be concise to keep a reader's attention to the end.
A well-considered and well-written business plan can be of enormous value to a company. While there are templates that you can use to write a business plan, try to avoid producing a generic result. The plan should include an overview and, if possible, details of the industry of which the business will be a part. It should explain how the business will distinguish itself from its competitors.
Start with the essential structure: an executive summary, company description, market analysis, product or service description, marketing strategy, financial projections, and appendix (which include documents and data that support the main sections). These sections or elements of a business plan are outlined below.
When you write your business plan, you don’t have to strictly follow a particular business plan outline or template. Use only those sections that make the most sense for your particular business and its needs.
Traditional business plans use some combination of the sections below. Your plan might also include any funding requests you're making. Regardless, try to keep the main body of your plan to around 15-25 pages.
The length of a business plan varies greatly from business to business. Consider fitting the basic information into a 15- to 25-page document. Then, other crucial elements that take up a lot of space—such as applications for patents—can be referenced in the main document and included as appendices.
As mentioned above, no two business plans are the same. Nonetheless, they tend to have the same elements. Below are some of the common and key parts of a business plan.
- Executive summary: This section outlines the company and includes the mission statement along with any information about the company's leadership, employees, operations, and location.
- Products and services: Here, the company can outline the products and services it will offer, and may also include pricing, product lifespan, and benefits to the consumer. Other factors that may go into this section include production and manufacturing processes, any 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 firm needs a good handle on its industry as well as its target market. This section of the plan will detail a company's competition and how the company fits in the industry, along with its relative strengths and weaknesses. It will also describe the expected consumer demand for a company's products or services and how easy or difficult it may be to grab market share from incumbents.
- Marketing strategy: This section describes how the company will attract and keep its customer base and how it intends to reach the consumer. A clear distribution channel must be outlined. The section also spells out advertising and marketing campaign plans and the types of media those campaigns will use.
- Financial planning: This section should include a company's financial planning and projections. Financial statements, balance sheets, and other financial information may be included for established businesses. New businesses will include targets and estimates for the first few years plus a description of potential investors.
- Budget: Every company needs to have a budget in place. This section should include costs related to staffing, development, manufacturing, marketing, and any other expenses related to the business.
Unique Business Plans Help
The best business plans aren't generic ones created from easily accessed templates. A company should entice readers with a plan that demonstrates its singularity and potential for success.
Types of Business Plans
Business plans help companies identify their objectives and remain on track to meet goals. They can help companies start, manage themselves, and grow once up and running. They also act as a means to attract lenders and investors.
Although there is no right or wrong business plan, they can fall into two different categories—traditional or lean startup. According to the Small Business Administration (SBA) , the traditional business plan is the most common. It contains a lot of detail in each section. These tend to be longer than the lean startup plan and require more work.
Lean startup business plans, on the other hand, use an abbreviated structure that highlights key elements. These business plans aren't as common in the business world because they're short—as short as one page—and lack detail. If a company uses this kind of plan, it should be prepared to provide more detail if an investor or lender requests it.
Financial Projections
A complete business plan must include a set of financial projections for the business. These forward-looking financial statements are often called pro-forma financial statements or simply the " pro-formas ." They include an overall budget, current and projected financing needs, a market analysis, and the company's marketing strategy.
Other Considerations for a Business Plan
A major reason for a business plan is to give owners a clear picture of objectives, goals, resources, potential costs, and drawbacks of certain business decisions. A business plan should help them modify their structures before implementing their ideas. It also allows owners to project the type of financing required to get their businesses up and running.
If there are any especially interesting aspects of the business, they should be highlighted and used to attract financing, if needed. For example, Tesla Motors' electric car business essentially began only as a business plan.
Importantly, a business plan shouldn't be a static document. As a business grows and changes, so too should the business plan. An annual review of the company and its plan allows an entrepreneur or group of owners to update the plan, based on successes, setbacks, and other new information. It provides an opportunity to size up the plan's ability to help the company grow.
Think of the business plan as a living document that evolves with your business.
A business plan is a document created by a company that describes the company's goals, operations, industry standing, marketing objectives, and financial projections. The information it contains can be a helpful guide in running the company. What's more, it can be a valuable tool to attract investors and obtain financing from financial institutions.
Why Do Business Plans Fail?
Even if you have a good business plan, your company can still fail, especially if you do not stick to the plan! Having strong leadership with focus on the plan is always a good strategy. Even when following the plan, if you had poor assumptions going into your projections, you can be caught with cash flow shortages and out of control budgets. Markets and the economy can also change. Without flexibility built in to your business plan, you may be unable to pivot to a new course as needed.
What Does a Lean Startup Business Plan Include?
The lean startup business plan is an option when a company prefers a quick explanation of its business. The company may feel that it doesn't have a lot of information to provide since it's just getting started.
Sections can include: a value proposition, a company's major activities and advantages, resources such as staff, intellectual property, and capital, a list of partnerships, customer segments, and revenue sources.
Small Business Administration. " Write Your Business Plan ."
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Shopify Pricing Plans (2023 Guide)
Published: Mar 16, 2023, 12:12pm
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Shopify is one of the best e-commerce platforms known for its advanced features designed to meet the needs of online sellers and its variety of plans to meet varying budgets. Plans start as low as INR 20 per month but increase quickly to INR 1,994 per month for those that want to build an online store.
But Shopify costs don’t end at its subscription price. You’ll also need a domain name (around INR 800 to INR 1,200 per year) and potentially a premium theme and premium plugins to maximize your online store’s functionalities.
Choosing the right Shopify plan will depend on your desired features, ideal price point and how much technical support you’ll need. We’ve created a Shopify pricing guide to help you make the best choice for your business.
What Is Shopify?
Shopify is a leading e-commerce website builder that offers all the tools you need to launch and run an online store. It started as a stand-alone platform, allowing businesses to either integrate Shopify directly into their website or send buyers to a secure Shopify page to complete their transactions. But it didn’t stay one-dimensional for long and has now branched into website hosting, along with supporting selling through other online marketplaces, including Amazon and eBay.
Shopify’s homepage tagline says, “Millions of the world’s most successful brands trust Shopify to sell, ship and process payments anywhere,” and it shares that more than 1.7 million businesses have made over INR 20 crore in sales with its Shopify websites. It boasts a user-friendly interface designed to help businesses connect with customers, drive sales and manage operations. This is done by offering four different plans, which range from basic to advanced. Here’s a breakdown of each offering, along with their pricing.
Shopify Plans and Costs
Whether your business is small and brand-new or large and established, there is likely a Shopify plan that will match your needs and budget. It’s a highly scalable platform as well, so if you start on the basic end, it’s easy to adjust upwards as your business grows.
Shopify platform features that are standard in all four plan options include 24/7 support and a variety of tools for entrepreneurs, plus automatic updates to orders, products and inventory. The higher tier plan you choose, the more additional features are offered, including everything from shipping discounts and labels to fraud analysis and language translation.
Shopify Tiered Pricing and Plans [Compared]
Shopify lite – inr 20 per month.
The Shopify Lite plan is for businesses that want to add a buy button to their existing website, or those who sell in person and need a point-of-sale (POS) processor. For this reason, it’s not the ideal solution for the average small business looking to build a professional online store.
The Shopify Lite plan offers a card reader for in-person purchases. These transactions have a 2.7% fee, while online sales go through the Shopify payment gateway, which charges a fee of 2.9% plus around INR 24 per transaction.
Shopify Basic – INR 1,994 per month
The Shopify Basic plan offers more features than the Lite plan, making it a good choice for small businesses that are looking to build a comprehensive online store with omnichannel selling capabilities, including dropshipping. Basic includes an online store, with both a website and blog. Users can list unlimited items, plus are able to sell in online marketplaces and on social media channels.
The Shopify Basic plan includes solutions for businesses interested in offering in-store transactions, such as card readers. With Basic, if you choose a third party payment provider the additional transaction fee would be 2%.
Shopify Standard – INR 7,447 per month
The standard Shopify plan includes everything you will get with Basic, plus performance reports, up to five staff accounts and gift card purchase support. You’ll also be able to take advantage of the abandoned cart recovery tool. This plan is the one you’ll need to begin any international selling, as it allows you to use country-specific domains and currency conversions.
With the Standard Shopify plan, if you choose a third party payment provider the additional transaction fee would be 1%.
Shopify Advanced – INR 30,164 per month
The Shopify Advanced plan is designed for businesses that are selling large volumes both online and in person, and need more advanced features. With unlimited storage capacity, up to 15 staff accounts and third-party calculated shipping rates, this plan is built for extensive traffic. Users will also have access to customized reporting options and e-commerce automation.
With the Advanced Shopify plan, if you choose a third party payment provider the additional transaction fee would be 0.5%.
Additional Shopify Costs
In addition to the cost of Shopify plans, users often pay for premium themes and addons. For example, while there are free Shopify themes, many businesses choose to purchase a premium theme that comes with the features, functionalities and design they want out of the gate. The cost for premium themes hovers around around INR 6,000 to INR 24,500 but can be cost-effective as they can save you a good amount of time as they make building a site easier and faster.
Here are some of the most common costs associated with using Shopify:
- Domain Name: Must be purchased separately from a domain name registrar, such as Google Domains or DreamHost for around INR 1,200 per year.
- Premium Theme: While it’s entirely possible to use a free Shopify theme, businesses often opt for a premium theme to make their look exactly how they want out of the gate. Premium themes range greatly from around INR 6,000 to INR 24,500.
- Premium Apps and Plugins: To expand the functionality of a Shopify store, businesses often pay to use premium plugins. Pricing ranges from plugin to plugin, but varies from as little as around INR 400 per month to hundreds of dollars.
- Time: Of course, building your own online store will cost you time.
- Development: In some instances, businesses may choose to hire a web developer or designer to assist with the creation of a Shopify site or to mitigate any issues that should arise.
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Kelly is an SMB Editor specializing in starting and marketing new ventures. Before joining the team, she was a Content Producer at Fit Small Business where she served as an editor and strategist covering small business marketing content. She is a former Google Tech Entrepreneur and she holds an MSc in International Marketing from Edinburgh Napier University. Additionally, she manages a column at Inc. Magazine.
Rob is an SMB writer and editor based in New Jersey. Before joining Forbes Advisor, he was a content producer at Fit Small Business. In that role, he was responsible for writing, editing, and strategizing content geared toward small business owners. Before that, he worked at PCMag as a business analyst.
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How to write a business plan by Sandra Beckwith
How to write a business plan
This advice from the pros will make the process of writing a business plan easier and less stressful.
by Sandra Beckwith updated January 06, 2023 · 4 min read
Writing a business plan can seem intimidating, especially when you don't know how to get started. It helps to know that it doesn't need to be long—we aren't talking about high school term papers here, particularly if it's just for internal purposes. And the writing process is also a lot easier when you know where to find some of the information you need.
Here's advice that will help you write a thorough, accurate document.
1. Begin with the easy sections
The typical business plan includes these elements:
- Executive summary
- Company description with the mission statement
- Products and services
- Target audience
- Market analysis
- Competitive analysis
- Operations and management
- Sales and marketing strategy
- Financial plan
You probably know some of this off the top of your head, so warm up by starting with those pieces.
2. Create a target audience persona
Also known as an "avatar," the process of creating a target audience persona helps give you clarity about who will buy your product or service. It starts with research. This is important because target audience specifics will influence and guide your sales and marketing strategy.
Dave Lavinsky, president of Growthink , recommends getting demographic information about potential customers by generating reports for competitor website URLs at SimilarWeb and Alexa .
"If you operate a brick-and-mortar business serving local customers, go to the U.S. Census Quick Facts page and enter your ZIP code to find the demographic profiles of the areas you are serving," he adds.
Audience Insights data from your Facebook business page will provide valuable intelligence, as will customer insights tools SparkToro and Audiense .
Use the demographic information you find about potential customers at these sites, along with other research such as surveys, one-on-one conversations, and focus groups, to create that single person—your customer persona—that best represents your target customer.
3. Get smart about your industry and market
"What's the market value, how does it operate, what are the needs, and who are your direct and indirect competitors? You need to understand the ins and outs of how the market works, and how the profit is made," says Zohar Gilad, CEO and co-founder of InstantSearch+ .
Start with the local library reference desk, advises Linda Murray Bullard, chief business strategist at LSMB Business Solutions . "The local Small Business Administration office or small business development center has a wealth of information that can help, too, and some will even do the market analysis for you," she says.
Lavinsky also recommends looking for market information on industry association websites and in research reports available online. In addition, check trade journals as well as the Bureau of Labor Statistics and the Census Bureau.
4. Know, understand, and analyze your competition
Your research into competitive products or services and pricing, combined with knowledge of how customers perceive them, will help shape your product and positioning.
Reuben Yonatan, founder and CEO of GetVoIP , recommends categorizing competitors as primary and secondary. Learn as much as you can about your primary competitors because they often represent your end goal, but don't overlook the others. "With secondary competitors, extract as much insight as possible. For example, try to determine why they are not at the top of the food chain. Could it be their pricing?" he says.
Talk to their vendors and customers, and study their website, marketing materials, and press releases. How are their offerings different from yours? How are they the same? This information will help you explain your differentiation in the business plan.
5. Dig into the numbers
The primary purpose of the financial plan, says Phil Santoro, co-founder of startup studio Wilbur Labs , is to document how much money you need to start the business, and how or when the business will generate revenue and profit.
When creating the financial plan, he determines where the company wants to be in three to five years, then builds a roadmap to get there. "Working backwards like this allows you to look at the different workstreams required for each phase of the business," he says. "Most importantly, working backwards lets you create projections based on achievable assumptions. A plan is only as good as the assumptions that go into it."
This is not a situation where you want to guess . In addition to working with an accountant, base your financial projections on verified data from Dun & Bradstreet Business Ratios reports, says marketing consultant Marsha Kelly of Best4Businesses.com . "This verifiable information is dependable to make business projections and to assure banker investors of the trustworthiness of the business plan," she says.
Other resources include LivePlan and Bizminer .
Additionally, consider getting help from professionals, especially regarding regulatory or legal issues and financial planning. You want to get it right, especially if you will use your business plan to secure bank or investor funding.
After you've written the plan, don't tuck it away. Think of it as an organic document that grows with the business. For this reason, you'll want to update and refine it as you learn and succeed.
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Do I Need a Business Plan: Everything You Need to Know
There may be mixed answers to this question. However, if you are looking to raise funds through a bank loan, angel investment or venture capital. 3 min read
Do I need a business plan? There may be mixed answers to this question. However, if you are looking to raise funds through a bank loan, angel investment or venture capital, you will almost always need a business plan to present to the investors.
Even if you write down your business plan as a broad outline, you will have something to start with. Instead of having random ideas in your mind, putting down your ideas on paper can be effective in the long run.
When Do You Need a Business Plan?
Following are some of the main reasons for creating a business plan:
- To define the scope of a new business.
- To seek external funding.
- To raise equity capital.
- To define business goals and objectives.
- To evaluate or test a new product.
- To review the business and take corrective actions on a regular basis.
- To define a partnership agreement.
- For valuation of a business.
A business plan should provide all the essential information required for management, monitoring, review and revision of business operations.
If you are preparing a business plan for the purpose of raising a loan or investment, your business plan should show that you will have enough revenue to meet your expenses. You should include the important sections commonly found in a business plan. However, you can customize the plan to suit your audience.
Features of a Successful Business Plan
A good business plan typically bears the following features:
- It fits the needs of your business.
- It is realistic and practical, rather than idealistic and perfect.
- It is specific and measurable so that results can be tracked.
- It defines responsibilities and assigns them to specific individuals.
- It defines assumptions in clear terms.
- It conveys the information to the target audience.
- It evokes commitment from people towards their responsibilities.
- It establishes a schedule for regular review and planning.
A business plan is an important management tool; it defines your business strategy, guides you through execution and helps monitor your progress. Whenever required, the plan document also helps you convince your investors that your business is well-planned for success.
Why Is It Important to Write a Business Plan?
Helps You Make Decisions - You cannot finish some of the sections of a traditional business plan with an undecided or half-committed mind. A business plan thus brings clarity to your ideas and simplifies the decision making process.
Acts as a Reality Check - In an excitement and enthusiasm to launch a new venture, a small business owner often forgets to double check his business idea. Putting down a business plan on paper forces the entrepreneur to do a reality check and discover any flaws in the idea.
Gives You New Ideas - We generally tend to procrastinate making tough decisions due to lack of clarity. Sitting down to write a business plan gets you many creative solutions to deal with several challenging situations. New ideas are especially helpful in designing your marketing strategy.
Creates an Action Plan - As they say, no idea works unless you work on the idea. A business plan outlines a clear action plan to execute your ideas so that you know the time and priority of things you should be doing to get the expected results.
How to Create a Business Plan for Your Business
- Prepare a basic outline of how you will operate the business.
- Begin with a strong, core idea.
- Outline the key elements of your plan.
- Create a functioning prototype of your business .
- Write down informally how you plan to move on from conceptualization to product development, commercialization, marketing and expansion.
- Don't hesitate to revisit and revise your plan. Remember, nothing is set in stone. You will learn many new things as you get off the ground. What seemed to be the best path initially may change when you actually execute the plan. Hence, be ready to explore and deviate as required.
- Define your vision in clear terms. The way to accomplish your vision may change with the situation, but the vision itself should not be subject to any changes.
- Remain focused and formalize your plan. It should clearly express the problems you intend to solve, your target market, how the business will earn revenue and all other relevant issues.
If you need help with whether or not you need a business plan, you can post your legal need on UpCounsel's marketplace. UpCounsel accepts only the top 5 percent of lawyers to its site. Lawyers on UpCounsel come from law schools such as Harvard Law and Yale Law and average 14 years of legal experience, including work with or on behalf of companies like Google, Menlo Ventures, and Airbnb.
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Importance of Business Plan: 10 Reasons Why You Need a Business Plan
If you have recently started your own business or are thinking of doing so, you might be overwhelmed by all the documentation you need to do. And it isn’t always clear why either which only adds to the confusion. One such document—and the most important one at that—is a business plan.
A business plan is the first document you create after you decide to set up your business. It is a roadmap to your business goals—highlighting the essentials needed to achieve them such as your marketing process , financial reports, customer analysis , operational plan, etc.
No matter the industry, every business has to face the volatility of its environment. Luckily, a business plan makes it easier to withstand these market fluctuations by helping you manage resources, maintain uniformity, and secure financial support.
Importance of Business Plan
Explore business plans in details, turn your ideas into actions, what is the purpose of a business plan.
A business plan serves many purposes. At its core, it’s a guide to your business journey—encapsulating all areas of interest from the inside and out. With a personalized business plan set in place, you can do the following:
Let’s explore the Reasons Why You Need a Business Plan in detail.
1. Test the Practicality of Your Business Ideas
If you’re a new entrepreneur, you probably have a ton of ideas in mind for your business but are unsure of how to actualize them. This is where a business plan can help turn your ideas into real projects.
Since business plans are cohesive by design, they help you test out the practicality of your business ideas . It takes you through all the stages of running your business including the resources needed to get started and achieve short-term and long-term goals.
Doing so urges you to think rationally before starting your business venture. This way, you can save time and money by canceling out the ideas that only seem good in your imagination but are unrealistic, unviable, or too risky.
For instance, here are a few basic questions your business plan would cover:
- Which market segment(s) will you be catering to?
- What are the market pain points you are trying to solve?
- How will you solve it? What’s your product/service?
- Who are your target customers? What’s their profile?
- How much capital do you want to acquire and how?
2. Demonstrate Feasibility to Investors
Acquiring financial support is one of the biggest challenges of building a business. Whether it’s a bank or a venture capitalist, every investor wants to know the potential and feasibility of your business idea before putting their money into it.
This is precisely why investors require you to submit a business plan to answer all their queries. Your business plan acts as evidence that your business idea can survive the competition and risks of the market and generate good ROI.
3. Refine Business Strategies and Tactics
As mentioned before, your business plan is a roadmap designed to help you reach your business milestones . While writing a business plan , you formulate strategies, elaborate on how you plan to implement them, and mention when you will set them in motion.
A lot of research goes into creating this document. And in the process, you can identify and fix flaws and inconsistencies in your tactics. Doing this beforehand helps you avoid wasting scarce resources. It also helps foresee obstacles and prepare counteractive measures to overcome them.
4. Organize and Manage Business Activities
A business plan includes an in-depth explanation of your business activities and how you will manage them. The format of a business plan includes all the major activities of your company, including:
- Manufacturing
- Customer analysis
- Market analysis
- Human resources
Your business plan serves as an instruction manual for you and your employees to refer to whenever there’s confusion. Having standardized procedures helps increase consistency and uniformity of operations—making sure things are done according to expectations.
A business plan acts as a guide for your team members in case of your absence.
5. Track Your Progress in Real-time
Writing a business plan helps you articulate your ultimate mission of starting your venture. Using the operations section of your business plan , you keep track of the progress you make toward achieving your current objectives via the metrics relevant to you.
This can include increased production, reduced wasteful expenditure, improved product quality, etc. This section also encompasses the roles your team members perform and how they contribute.
6. Reduce the Probability of Failure
Businesses fail due to numerous reasons. However, there are always examples out there to understand the common factors that can bring your business down to its last days. Some of the common reasons are:
- Lack of market
- Lack of financial stability
- Lack of competent team
- Lack of a robust business model
- Lack of USPs
A business plan covers sections that address all of these in-depth—making it easier for you to identify the risks that your business is subject to. Using these insights, you can equip yourself with the tools needed to safeguard yourself against potential failures.
7. Manage Finances
The success of a business is judged by its profitability—which, in turn, is dependent on how well you manage your financial assets. And while doing so is tricky, having a business plan makes the process less convoluted. The financial section of your business plan includes all the essentials of finance and accounting.
Your business plan provides a comprehensive picture of the following:
- Business model : It determines how you generate revenue.
- Cash flow : It states how much money enters and leaves your business.
- Assets : These include all the resources you own that can be cashed out.
- Liabilities : It covers what you owe to a creditor or other third party.
- ROI : It tells how much return your business generates for investors.
8. Build an Information Pool
Whenever you need to inform or brief your employees or contractors about a particular aspect of your business, you need a perfectly crafted error-free guide. But creating one for every context can be taxing. If you have a business plan, you can avoid this step.
A business plan is essentially a reflection of your entire business. It contains every detail of your company. This makes it easy for you to share particular parts of your business plan whenever it is necessary.
9. Stay Prepared for Critical Situations
Drafting a business plan pushes you to address the uncomfortable and challenging situations that may come your way in the future. Doing so ensures that you have a strategy set in place to deal with such situations.
This is essential because it is difficult to predict when a crisis can occur. However, it is possible to identify what these situations may look like.
While writing a business plan, you study various external and internal factors of your business, identify potential challenges, and tabulate them with a SWOT analysis . This will help develop contingent strategies to deal with predictable challenges.
10. Prepare an Exit
Your business plan not only helps you run your business but also helps you exit it when you need to. Many entrepreneurs plan a lot for starting their business but not enough of them plan for when they will need to liquidate their business or transfer the ownership.
You choose an exit strategy for reasons relevant to you. For instance, you might want to exit when you have successfully achieved your end business goals and want to focus on something else. Or, perhaps, you are selling your business to an acquirer.
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Investors Fear Bank Contagion, Despite a Sweeping Rescue Plan
Shares in regional lenders were under pressure, even after regulators unveiled a vast backstop for U.S. banks after Silicon Valley Bank’s collapse
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By Andrew Ross Sorkin , Ravi Mattu , Bernhard Warner , Sarah Kessler , Michael J. de la Merced , Lauren Hirsch and Ephrat Livni
Bailout nation
Andrew here. Federal regulators on Sunday unveiled the most sweeping backstop for the U.S. banking system since the 2008 crisis, to limit carnage from the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank. The decision has shaken up global markets, with investors selling bank stocks and betting that the Fed would hold off on further interest rate rises.
Monday’s newsletter is a special edition deep dive into what just happened. Let’s start with some takeaways from the dizzying turn of events: Too Big to Fail is as alive as ever, but now no bank is too small to fail as well.
Banking is now officially a government-backed business, if it wasn’t before. Let’s admit it: Once the government guarantees all deposits, the “business” of banking isn’t much of a business — and maybe shouldn’t be. This is likely to become the biggest debate of the coming weeks and months.
The venture capital community, a group that includes a vocal group of libertarians, was just bailed out. Yes, these investors do good by funding start-ups, but they have also long lobbied for fewer regulations and also benefited from the special treatment of carried interest. This all looks particularly egregious after some of them spent the weekend begging for government help.
But the reality is that if S.V.B. was just a small regional bank that did not have ties to loud, politically connected venture capitalists and the tech community, it might have been allowed to die — and its customers, individuals and small businesses, would have suffered. Instead, because it is Silicon Valley, it commanded attention.
We have become a country of bailouts. We did it after the Sept. 11 attacks, in the wake of the financial crisis in 2008, during the pandemic — and now we are at it again. For those that say we should have lower taxes and shouldn’t fund the government, how are these bailouts supposed to be financed? (It’s also fair to say regulators should have done a better job, but the truth is that they have been pushed to do less , not more.)
Now that regulators will likely force small banks to raise their capital requirements to a level similar to bigger banks, costs for businesses and consumers will go up in the short term. That, of course, comes on top of higher interest rates.
Regulators should have kept a closer eye on small banks. They spent too much of the past decade or so focused on the big banks, because they apparently didn’t think that small lenders posed a systemic risk. But guess what? We have now decided that regional banks are just as risky.
Some of these institutions, including S.V.B., pushed back on more regulation, arguing that this wouldn’t allow them to compete with their bigger rivals. Silicon Valley Bank wrapped itself in the flag, arguing that was supporting small start-up businesses.
Shadow banking will expand. As more and more of the banking system faces tighter regulation, the business of making loans will increasingly move down the food chain to private firms. This has been happening for years already, but the trend is now likely to accelerate.
Bank runs are even more dangerous in the age of social media. Confidence can evaporate faster than ever when misinformation can spread in a matter of minutes, and a single tweet can send customers fleeing.
The big winner: Jamie Dimon and the big banks. JPMorgan Chase’s bankers spent the week opening up new accounts as everyone fled smaller lenders in favor of its “fortress balance sheet.” Investors have complained over the years about Dimon’s focus on having enough capital and sufficient liquidity at the expense of earnings, but his approach now looks like the right one.
Big banks’ behavior this time has been shaped by the fallout from 2008. Why isn’t Dimon buying S.V.B.? He has complained about the headaches of buying Bear Stearns and Washington Mutual at the government’s behest in 2008, having spent years fighting litigation and paying fines for those firms’ bad behavior. Bank executives who were around back then remember that.
HERE’S WHAT’S HAPPENING
The U.S., Britain and Australia will unveil a new defense pact to counter China. President Biden will announce the landmark nuclear-submarine agreement with the leaders of the other two countries at a meeting in San Diego. The talks come as China’s leader, Xi Jinping, vowed to bolster his country’s military and warned against “external interference” in Taiwan. Xi reportedly plans to meet as soon as next week with President Vladimir Putin of Russia and to speak with President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine.
President Biden will greenlight environmental protections, as well as drilling, in the Arctic. A new measure defending more than 16 million acres of land and water in Alaska from oil and gas leases comes as he also plans to approve a contentious oil development project.
“Everything Everywhere All At Once” wins big at the Oscars. The sci-fi action comedy won best picture and six other awards, including best actress for Michelle Yeoh, making her the first Asian woman to receive the prize. The ceremony passed without incident after Will Smith slapped Chris Rock last year.
The race to stop banking contagion continues
Federal regulators hope that the sweeping backstop they introduced on Sunday to insulate the U.S. financial system from Silicon Valley Bank’s collapse will hold, even as they shut another regional lender, Signature Bank .
But yet another institution, First Republic, appears under pressure on Monday, despite securing funding. And the blame game is well underway.
First Republic reflects investor fears about banks’ health. The independent lender said on Sunday that it had secured access to about $70 billion in additional liquidity from the Fed and JPMorgan Chase. But its shares were down nearly 60 percent in premarket trading, suggesting markets are worried that it remains in trouble.
Investors more broadly feared further chaos was coming, despite the Fed’s efforts. European stocks, particularly big banks, were down this morning. Not even the prospect of a pause in central banks’ raising rates appeared to offer much comfort.
Regulators are still trying to sort out the wreckage of Silicon Valley Bank. HSBC said on Monday that it would buy the failed lender’s British operations for a symbolic 1 pound ($1.21), helping to shore up U.K. start-ups.
Meanwhile, bidders including JPMorgan and PNC Financial are reportedly still pursuing a deal for Silicon Valley Bank’s holding company , which includes asset management and a securities division and excludes the commercial bank now under F.D.I.C. control.
Start-ups are hoping they can finally exhale. Until the Fed announced that deposits at Silicon Valley Bank would be available from Monday, entrepreneurs raced to find cash to make payroll and pay expenses. Some found help from their venture capital bankers, private lenders and even from tech moguls like Sam Altman , of the ChatGPT creator OpenAI.
The billionaire investor Dan Loeb took a shot at some of his fellow venture capitalists, however: Start-ups could see who came to help, versus those who “hemmed and hawed or claimed their GPs didn’t have capital like that guy from a multi- billion quant shop,” he tweeted.
And recriminations are flying widely. Regulators face questions about how they missed red flags at Silicon Valley Bank, while venture capitalists were criticized as helping to spark a run at the lender. S.V.B. executives also took flak for mismanagement, including by failing to hedge against rises in interest rates, and for paying out employee bonuses on Friday.
But much of the criticism was aimed at the banking industry itself, which pushed back hard against tougher regulations after 2008. Lever News reported that allies of Silicon Valley Bank had opposed a higher deposit insurance surcharge from the F.D.I.C. to protect customer money. (Of note: One of Signature’s directors is Barney Frank, the former U.S. lawmaker who helped spearhead the expansive Dodd-Frank banking regulations. Incidentally, he blames this mess on crypto .)
Progressives used the moment to call for tighter regulations, including Senator Elizabeth Warren , Democrat of Massachusetts, in a Times Opinion guest essay:
These bank failures were entirely avoidable if Congress and the Fed had done their jobs and kept strong banking regulations in place since 2018. S.V.B. and Signature are gone, and now Washington must act quickly to prevent the next crisis.
What we know (and don’t know) about the bailout
The government’s deal to backstop depositors’ money held at all banks — and, in particular, at Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank — came as a huge relief to start-ups, the venture capital ecosystem and investors. But it hardly removes the contagion fears. Here are the main points of the rescue program, and the questions we still have.
The move could improve the prospects of a deal for S.V.B. A potential buyer wouldn’t have to absorb the bank’s huge losses, making the bank, which has a powerful customer base of tech elites and start-ups, more desirable. But will a savior demand some kind of protection against possible future litigation?
Silicon Valley shareholders will see their holdings wiped out. That’s a key difference from the Troubled Asset Relief Program, the sweeping banking bailout that saved U.S. lenders during the 2008 financial crisis .
Other banks have a new liquidity cushion. The Fed’s new program will let eligible banks borrow against bond holdings that have lost value since the central bank jacked up interest rates. That’s a big deal for banks sitting on huge quantities of these bonds, like Charles Schwab and First Republic, that would have had to take losses too if a wave of customer deposit withdrawals forced them to sell off those holdings. (Banks wouldn’t book a loss if those bonds are held to maturity.)
Are taxpayers really off the hook? Federal regulators say that banks insured by the F.D.I.C. (that is, most U.S. lenders) will be required to pay a tax to fund the measure.
But there’s nothing stopping banks from passing on that cost to customers, including through, say, credit card fees. And the loan program itself is backed by $25 billion from the Exchange Stabilization Fund, a Treasury Deposit emergency rescue fund financed by taxpayers.
What about other regional banks ? Markets’ volatility this morning shows that not all investors are convinced that these measures will safeguard American banks, particularly in an era of rising interest rates and industry consolidation.
The week ahead
Here’s what else to watch this week:
Tomorrow: The Commerce Department will release Consumer Price Index data at 8:30 a.m. Eastern. Economists, on average, expect the figures to confirm that inflation is moderating, but only slightly . On the earnings front: Volkswagen.
Wednesday: Adobe, BMW and Inditex, the owner of Zara, report results. New data on retail sales and the Producer Price Index are also due to be published. Elsewhere: Britain’s spring budget.
Thursday: It’s decision day for the European Central Bank. A half-percentage point increase is expected. Microsoft will present an A.I.-themed “future of work” event. The tech press is speculating that the software giant could offer details on a ChatGPT-powered Outlook software suite. FedEx and Dollar General report earnings.
Friday: The closely watched consumer sentiment report from the University of Michigan is scheduled for release.
THE SPEED READ
Carl Icahn is reportedly planning a proxy fight at Illumina. (WSJ)
Silver Lake is set to buy the survey software maker Qualtrics in a $12.5 billion deal. (FT)
“A Supermarket Merger Will Redefine What You Buy at the Grocery Store” (WSJ)
Best of the rest
JPMorgan Chase has an uphill battle to make a former executive liable for any financial damages from lawsuits over the bank’s ties to Jeffrey Epstein. (FT)
Fox News could face a mortal blow if it loses the defamation lawsuit filed by Dominion Voting Systems — but it’s unclear whether damaging new evidence against the network will be heard in court . (MSNBC, NYT)
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What the FDIC takeovers of SVB and Signature mean for the banks’ customers and employees
Here’s where things stand for customers and employees of Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank , both of which failed this week and were promptly taken over by the FDIC.
Will customers have full access to all of their money on deposit?
Over the weekend, the Treasury Department, the Federal Reserve and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation issued a joint statement noting that they were taking steps that “fully protec[t] all depositors. Depositors will have access to all of their money starting Monday, March 13. No losses associated with the resolution of Silicon Valley Bank will be borne by the taxpayer.”
A similar statement was issued for customers of Signature Bank .
That means customers will be able to access their insured deposits as well as their uninsured deposits from the “bridge bank” that the FDIC created for SVB deposits and the one it created for Signature deposits.
Both SVB and Signature were FDIC-insured. That means the FDIC insures up to $250,000 per depositor for each account ownership category. Some customers may be insured for more than $250,000 if they had more than one type of deposit account, since each account is covered separately.
What’s more, if more than one person owns an account jointly, each owner is covered up to $250,000.
But the move by the three agencies to provide customers access to their uninsured deposits as well was critical. Most SVB customers, for instance, are businesses, and they have a lot more than $250,000 on deposit because they used SVB for much of their cash management, including payroll.
What are the ways customers can access their money?
SVB and Signature customers will have many of the same banking conveniences that they had before their banks were taken over.
“Depositors and borrowers … will have customer service and access to their funds by ATM, debit cards, and writing checks in the same manner as before. Silicon Valley Bank’s official checks will continue to clear. Loan customers should continue making loan payments as usual,” the FDIC said in a statement Monday regarding SVB.
It issued a similar statement for Signature .
What about lines of credit?
Per FAQ s specific to the SVB and Signature closures, customers’ lines of credit have been transferred to the new bridge banks the FDIC created to handle customers’ transferred deposits and banking services. The agency notes that customers should contact the bank if they have questions about their credit lines.
Can customers continue to keep their money where it is?
Yes, but the FDIC will communicate to customers how long they can continue to do so.
The specifics of each individual bank closure will differ. But, as an example, when the FDIC took over the Bank of Eastern Shore in Maryland on April 27, 2012, it gave customers until May 25 to open accounts at other institutions, but they had varying dates before that for the ending of different types of services (such as online banking services, direct deposits, etc.).
So far, the FDIC has not established any end dates of services for SVB or Signature customers.
What if a customer has a loan through SVB or Signature?
Customers with a loan still have to make payments, even if the FDIC ends up selling the loan.
For now, the agency states, “You may continue to send your payments to the same payment address… You will receive a letter advising you of any changes.”
Will SVB and Signature employees keep their jobs?
Very likely, but perhaps not for long.
Typically, in an FDIC takeover, the employees of the failed bank are kept on to help with the transition . Their salary and benefits are paid for by the FDIC during that time. “It is customary that we seek to retain these employees during the resolution process to ensure continued customer service and access to deposits,” a spokesperson said.
The FDIC offered Silicon Valley Bank employees 45 days of employment and 1.5 times their salary, according to reports. The FDIC did not confirm those numbers, telling CNN it does not discuss the salary arrangements it makes with staff at former banks. Nor did it respond to a query about whether employees who are not kept on would get severance pay.
Should the FDIC find a buyer for either bank, the acquiring institution will be the one deciding whether the banks’ employees stay on.
But, as with any corporate merger, if SVB and Signature are sold to other entities, it wouldn’t be surprising if some layoffs followed.
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EU sets out plan to create home-grown net-zero market
In response to the US Inflation Reduction Act, the Commission wants 40% of EU’s clean technologies to be manufactured in the bloc by end of the decade
EU commissioner for internal market Thierry Breton at the unveiling of the the Net Zero Industry Act. Photo: Claudio Centonze / European Union
Today’s the day: the European Commission has unveiled its plan for making clean tech European, seven months after the US announced its green industry booster plan.
“I believe that our proposals make Europe ready for the race to net-zero,” said Commission vice president Frans Timmermans. “But we have to make sure it’s a fair race and we have to make sure that the EU industry is in the best possible position to compete, and we’ve seen in several areas we have some catching up to do. I think what we proposed today does just that.”
The clean technology market is set to be worth €600 billion a year by 2030, according to the International Energy Agency (IEA), and the new Net-Zero Industry Act is the EU’s attempt at securing itself a bigger slice of that pie. The US set out its strategy back in August in the form of the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), which will funnel $369 billion to into the green tech industry.
Today, the EU is a net importer of many net-zero technologies that are key for EU’s ambition to become the first carbon neural continent by 2050. But the proposed action plan comes with a goal: have at least 40% of EU’s strategic net-zero technologies manufactured within the bloc by the end of the decade, reducing reliance on other countries and giving Europe’s industry a boost. “We’re not talking about reacting short term here – we’re moving into a new reality,” said Thierry Breton, EU commissioner for internal market.
Global race
As the Commission set out its blueprint, the OECD published its latest biennial report on global science and innovation policy, suggesting current green policy and governance frameworks are not doing enough to help deliver sustainability agendas. Meanwhile, the planet keeps warming, likely to reach about 2.7°C by 2100.
The report point to two big bottlenecks. First, most net-zero missions remain focused on supporting research and innovation are led by R&I authorities and rely on R&I funds. Second, it’s all talk no action: many strategic agendas have been defined and governance structures set up but there are few joined-up implementation efforts.
The next big battle for clean tech is finding public money – an estimated $90 billion by 2026 – for large-scale demonstrator projects to test innovation that could be on the market by 2030. The IRA is a step in the right direction, the report notes.
Breton said the EU’s plan is different from the US’ subsidy-heavy plan. It’s an overall package for a stronger net-zero industry, aimed at creating the right conditions for boosting investment.
But Christian Ehler, spokesman for the European Parliament's centre-right group, says this should only be the start. “The upcoming proposals are welcome steps in this direction, but they alone will not be sufficient. We need to reduce the dramatically increasing administrative burden and create breathing space for our industry,” said Ehler.
The US plan gave Europe a kick, but the bloc’s lagging industry is already a problem. Ehler says more investment is needed, among other measures. “The IRA put the focus on the general challenge we have and this is competitiveness. We see chances, but we have to deregulate, we have to invest more, we have to invest more in research and innovation – this is the comparative advantage we have,” said Ehler.
What’s in the plan?
The six-step plan singles out eight key technology: solar power; onshore wind and offshore renewable energy; batteries and storage; heat pumps and geothermal energy; electrolysers and fuel cells; biogas/biomethane; carbon capture and storage (CCS); and grid technologies.
The innovation part of the plan proposes to set up test beds for net-zero technologies.
A big aspect, highlighted by the commissioners, is a proposal to streamline granting of permits, including an even faster procedure for priority technologies.
The plan also looks to boost CO2 capture and storage, setting out an objective to reach 50 million tonnes of annual CO2 storage capacity by 2030, according to the proposal.
Public procurement will be used to get technologies on the market faster by introducing sustainability and resilience criteria.
Boosting skills is also part of the plan, with the Commission proposing got set up specialised academies.
In a nod to keeping open to the rest of the world despite upping sovereignty ambitions, the plan introduces Net-Zero Industrial partnerships with so-called like-minded partners to help diversify trade and investments.
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Over a third of employers plan to hire more people in second quarter
Businesses are offering higher salaries to attract staff with the skills they need, recruitment group manpower reports.
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The healthcare and life sciences sector has the strongest hiring intentions for the second quarter, according to Manpower. Photograph: iStock
Irish employers remain in hiring mode, with 37 per cent saying they intend to add to their workforces in the second quarter, according to the latest employment outlook survey from Manpower Group.
However, four in five employers are struggling to attract the talent they need, the recruitment company said.
Manpower reports a net national hiring outlook of 22 per cent among employers, with large organisations the most optimistic. Small businesses were least optimistic of the businesses studied, indicating some pressures on those companies, the recruiters said.
The net national hiring outlook, which is calculated by subtracting employers planning net reductions from those planning to hire, is down 3 percentage points compared to the first quarter and is 8 points lower than it was ahead of the second quarter of 2022.
From rugby pitch to boardroom: Johnny Sexton to follow well trodden path into business world
:quality(70)/cloudfront-eu-central-1.images.arcpublishing.com/irishtimes/5ZXTQIGNLS5YW7LMPPJPXFDDOA.jpg "need for business plan")
Big tech is all for capitalism until the going gets tough
:quality(70)/cloudfront-eu-central-1.images.arcpublishing.com/irishtimes/GXRPUUJMQUGSOTXUHKQFF2LEZA.jpg "need for business plan")
If it is time to say goodbye to your mobile phone provider, what plan should you be looking at?
:quality(70)/cloudfront-eu-central-1.images.arcpublishing.com/irishtimes/ERPS4U3EQZC53J6ONKFZPS2D2Y.jpg "need for business plan")
Ryan Tubridy wrestled with The Late Late Show as long as he could. Who will take it on next?
:quality(70)/cloudfront-eu-central-1.images.arcpublishing.com/irishtimes/ITQEMEATXZBT3OU4Q7QCYKGIM4.jpg "need for business plan")
Businesses are offering increased salaries across all levels to attract talent amid an increase in job-hopping and higher salary expectations from candidates
Despite this slight easing in hiring intentions, the outlook remains strong in the context of high inflation and a wider slowdown in the European economy, Manpower said.
Businesses are offering increased salaries across all levels to attract talent amid an increase in job-hopping and higher salary expectations from candidates, it added.
Silicon Valley Bank: what is the cost of the collapse?
Some 81 per cent of employers say they are having difficulty in attracting the staff with the skills they need, up from 79 per cent last year.
The healthcare and life sciences sector has the strongest hiring intentions, with its net outlook standing at 42 per cent. It is followed by the financials and real estate industry on 34 per cent and transport and logistics on 33 per cent.
Notwithstanding continued announcements of further restructuring at tech giants, including Facebook owner Meta, the IT sector has bounced back from a quiet first quarter, with hiring intentions increasing dramatically from 9 per cent to 32 per cent.
:quality(70)/s3.amazonaws.com/arc-authors/irishtimes/f20d5c24-63d4-4695-af0b-810d00c65b6d.png "need for business plan")
Laura Slattery
Laura Slattery is an Irish Times journalist writing about media, advertising and other business topics
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Avelo Airlines plans three-destination expansion at RDU
Richard craver.
- Mar 16, 2023
Avelo Airlines is expanding its service at Raleigh-Durham International Airport by adding a second Boeing Next-Generation 737 aircraft and three new nonstop destinations in Manchester, N.H., Memphis, Tenn., and Rochester, N.Y.
The additional routes expands Avelo’s U.S. network to 40 destinations.
Introductory one-way fares from RDU start at $39. Memphis and Rochester service will begin on June 14 and Manchester service will begin June 21. All three routes will operate twice weekly.
Avelo launched its RDU service on Feb. 23 at Terminal 1. It has 50 employees linked to RDU service. The plan is adding 35 employees with the new flights.
When the three new destinations began, Avelo will offer 10 from RDU counting Tweed-New Haven Airport in Connecticut and six Florida cities: Bradenton, Fort Lauderdale, Fort Myers, Orlando, Sarasota, Tampa and West Palm Beach.
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In the description, you'll need to include your business's registered name, your business address and any key employees involved in the business. The business description should also...
A good business plan guides you through each stage of starting and managing your business. You'll use your business plan as a roadmap for how to structure, run, and grow your new business. It's a way to think through the key elements of your business. Business plans can help you get funding or bring on new business partners.
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Here are the 7 steps to write a business plan: Executive summary Products & services Market analysis Marketing & sales Company organization and management team Financial projections Appendix Be sure to download our free business plan template to start writing your own business plan as you work through this guide.
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A Microsoft business plan template can help get you started. Business plan templates offer step-by-step instructions and prefabricated slides for your executive summary, company overview, financial plan, and more. You'll even find a business plan template for specific industries including business plan templates in Word for healthcare ...
Typically this is the type of plan you'll need when applying for funding or pitching to investors. It can also be used when training or hiring employees, working with vendors, or any other situation where the full details of your business must be understood by another individual. Business model canvas
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A business plan is a document that highlights a company's goals, the methods for how it plans to reach its goals and the timeframe in which it needs to achieve them. ... If you're in charge of writing a business plan, here are the components you need to include: Executive summary. Company description. Products and services. Market analysis ...
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After looking at this sample, you'll have a better understanding of the data and research you need to do for your own business plan. 8. Plum Sample Business Plan. This is one of my favorite sample business plans because you can see how implementing visuals can help tell your brand's story.
Here are 5 reasons why you need a business plan: 1. It will help you steer your business as you start and grow. Think of a business plan as a GPS to get your business going. A good business plan guides you through each stage of starting and managing your business.
The most classic business planning scenario is for a startup, for which the plan helps the founders break uncertainty down into meaningful pieces, like the sales projection, expense budget, milestones, and tasks. The need becomes obvious as soon as you recognize that you don't know how much money you need, and when you need it, without laying ...
A written business plan takes your vision and creates a clear path for making it a reality. If you're thinking, "Well, I've made it this long without it," you may be surprised to learn ...
The primary purpose of a business plan is to help you figure out where you want to go with your business and how you're going to get there. It helps you set your direction and determine a winning strategy. A solid business plan will set your business up for success and help you build an unbeatable company.
A business plan is a documented strategy for a business that highlights its goals and its plans for achieving them. It outlines a company's go-to-market plan, financial projections, market research, business purpose, and mission statement.
A business plan is a document that defines in detail a company's objectives and how it plans to achieve its goals. A business plan lays out a written road map for the firm from marketing,...
Shopify Advanced - INR 30,164 per month. The Shopify Advanced plan is designed for businesses that are selling large volumes both online and in person, and need more advanced features. With ...
Start with a template. Download these templates from the Office Templates site to create your plan: Fill in your Business plan. Analyze your market with the Business market analysis template. Detail your financials in a Financial plan. Divide up the work and track deliverables with this Business plan checklist.
And the writing process is also a lot easier when you know where to find some of the information you need. Here's advice that will help you write a thorough, accurate document. 1. Begin with the easy sections. The typical business plan includes these elements: Executive summary. Company description with the mission statement.
Following are some of the main reasons for creating a business plan: To define the scope of a new business. To seek external funding. To raise equity capital. To define business goals and objectives. To evaluate or test a new product. To review the business and take corrective actions on a regular basis.
A business plan is the first document you create after you decide to set up your business. It is a roadmap to your business goals —highlighting the essentials needed to achieve them such as your marketing process, financial reports, customer analysis, operational plan, etc. → Download Now: Business Planning E-Book
Federal regulators hope that the sweeping backstop they introduced on Sunday to insulate the U.S. financial system from Silicon Valley Bank's collapse will hold, even as they shut another ...
Here's where things stand for customers and employees of Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank, both of which failed this week and were promptly taken over by the FDIC.
The next big battle for clean tech is finding public money - an estimated $90 billion by 2026 - for large-scale demonstrator projects to test innovation that could be on the market by 2030. The IRA is a step in the right direction, the report notes. Breton said the EU's plan is different from the US' subsidy-heavy plan.
Thu Mar 16 2023 - 10:31. Irish employers remain in hiring mode, with 37 per cent saying the intend to add to their workforces in the second quarter, according to the latest employment outlook ...
Avelo Airlines is expanding its service at Raleigh-Durham International Airport by adding a second Boeing Next-Generation 737 aircraft and three new nonstop destinations in Manchester, N.H ...
2. What does the rescue plan do? Officials tried to short-circuit the logic of a bank run and restore depositors' confidence that their money is safe. The officials announced that the Federal ...