Business Plan Template for a Startup Business
A startup business plan serves several purposes. It can help convince investors or lenders to finance your business. It can persuade partners or key employees to join your company. Most importantly, it serves as a roadmap guiding the launch and growth of your new business.
Writing a business plan is an opportunity to carefully think through every step of starting your company so you can prepare for success. This is your chance to discover any weaknesses in your business idea, identify opportunities you may not have considered, and plan how you will deal with challenges that are likely to arise. Be honest with yourself as you work through your business plan. Don’t gloss over potential problems; instead, figure out solutions.
A good business plan is clear and concise. A person outside of your industry should be able to understand it. Avoid overusing industry jargon or terminology.
Most of the time involved in writing your plan should be spent researching and thinking. Make sure to document your research, including the sources of any information you include.
Avoid making unsubstantiated claims or sweeping statements. Investors, lenders, and others reading your plan will want to see realistic projections and expect your assumptions to be supported with facts.
This template includes instructions for each section of the business plan, followed by a corresponding fillable worksheet/s.
The last section in the instructions, “Refining Your Plan,” explains ways you may need to modify your plan for specific purposes, such as getting a bank loan, or for specific industries, such as retail. Proofread your completed plan (or have someone proofread it for you) to make sure it’s free of spelling and grammatical errors and that all figures are accurate.
Executive Summary
The Executive Summary is the most important part of your business plan. Often, it’s the only part that a prospective investor or lender reads before deciding whether or not to read the rest of your plan. It should convey your enthusiasm for your business idea and get readers excited about it, too. Write your Executive Summary LAST, after you have completed the rest of the business plan. That way, you’ll have thought through all the elements of your startup and be prepared to summarize them. The Executive Summary should briefly explain each of the below.
1. An overview of your business idea (one or two sentences).
2. A description of your product and/or service. What problems are you solving for your target customers?
3. Your goals for the business. Where do you expect the business to be in one year, three years, five years?
4. Your proposed target market. Who are your ideal customers?
5. Your competition and what differentiates your business. Who are you up against, and what unique selling proposition will help you succeed?
6. Your management team and their prior experience. What do they bring to the table that will give your business a competitive edge?
7. Financial outlook for the business. If you’re using the business plan for financing purposes, explain exactly how much money you want, how you will use it, and how that will make your business more profitable.
Limit your Executive Summary to one or two pages in total.
After reading the Executive Summary, readers should have a basic understanding of your business, should be excited about its potential, and should be interested enough to read further.
After you’ve completed your business plan, come back to this section to write your executive summary on the next page.
by VHSBI
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