What is a business plan?
A business plan is a written document that lays out a company’s business objectives, activities, and methods to achieve desired outcomes. They are useful in providing direction to the sales, marketing, financial, and operational departments.
Business plans provide important information to stakeholders within and outside the organization. Startups and new companies leverage business plans to attract secure investments and present action items and target goals.
Companies leverage business plan software to identify strategies for operational effectiveness and performance efficiency. The software is valuable in creating, managing, and sharing business plans for organizations seeking funding.
TL;DR: Business plan definition, types, and best practices
A business plan outlines how a company will achieve its goals by detailing strategy, operations, and financial projections. It is used to guide execution, secure funding, and evaluate opportunities, and can take forms like startup, expansion, or acquisition plans. Unlike a business model, which defines value creation, a business plan focuses on execution and implementation.
Why are business plans important?
Business plans are important because they help communicate organizational objectives, secure funding, analyze market risks, and guide employees, thereby enabling better decision-making and more efficient resource allocation across the organization.
Companies that operate without a business plan are often unable to meet long-term visions and think through ideas, leading to a wasteful use of resources.
These benefits can be broken down into the following key areas:
- Communicate objectives. Having a business plan makes it simple to communicate organizational goals. Leaders can turn to the plan regularly to identify the next steps and share that information within the team and externally.
- Raise capital. Viable business plans are often a prerequisite for banks and investment firms before providing capital. Potential investors almost always prefer to see a comprehensive document outlining strategic and financial decisions.
- Perform market analysis. Successful companies learn from the mistakes of their competitors. Every business plan contains potential industry-specific risks and weaknesses, ensuring the company is prepared for uncertainty.
- Guide employees. A business plan is essential to help employees and service providers, such as freelancers and contractors, understand their tasks and work efficiently.
What are the types of business plans?
Business plans vary based on business stage and goals, including startup, acquisition, repositioning, and expansion plans, with each type adapting the same core structure for a specific strategic purpose.
The main types of business plans include:
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Startup business plan: The most common type of business plan, startup plans, are used by founders and new organizations. Startup business plans are essential to ensure a strong foundation and future success.
While writing a startup business plan, keep in mind the industry data and business strategies unique to the company, since it’s challenging to create a plan entirely from scratch.
- Business acquisition plan: Another type of business plan is created to develop an acquisition strategy. Business acquisition plans outline details of how the operating model will change, the current and predicted state of the business, and a justification for the need to merge companies.
- Business repositioning plan: Leaders create a business repositioning plan when realigning their brand and trying to avoid acquisition by other companies. When creating this type of business plan, companies should outline the company's current state, outline the future vision, justify the business's repositioning, and provide details on change management.
- Expansion business plan: Organizations looking to expand require a business plan to understand how to focus on new markets and make a case to demand more capital. An expansion business plan is different from a startup plan. It lays down details of existing successes, sales, revenue from current locations, and projections for the future after expansion.
How do you write a business plan?
Writing a business plan involves structuring sections such as the executive summary, company details, goals, products and services, market analysis, sales strategy, financial analysis, and appendix into a cohesive document that explains the business’s strategy and feasibility.
Every business plan is unique and tailored for a specific business purpose. However, standard business plans have common elements that guide the general theme.
A standard business plan typically includes the following sections:
- Executive summary: This is the main section of a business plan. It includes the organization’s mission statement and primary focus, a summary relating to its offerings, the ownership structure, and an overview of business plans.
- Company statement: Information about the business name, registration details, company locations, description of leadership, company history, and nature of the business.
- Business goals and objectives: This includes company goals, business strategy, and details on achieving those goals. Plans for growth, product expansion, and the need for funding are also mentioned here.
- Products and services: Details of the products and services offered by the company are given in this section of the business plan.
Consider including these details in the products and services section:
- Customer personas
- Product pricing strategies and plans
- Product lifecycle
- Production and manufacturing details
- Inventory reports
- Research and development (R&D) data
- Market analysis: In-depth market research provides a competitive edge to businesses. The business plan should outline the top industry competitors and their strengths and weaknesses, along with information available on their business models. Expected consumer demand for the product and data on past and current market share are also good value adds to the plan.
- Sales and marketing strategies: Every business plan explains how the company seeks to attract new customers and retain existing ones, as well as techniques for increasing customer reach. Provide clear communication and distribution channels for sales and marketing campaigns by highlighting the company’s unique selling point.
- Financial analysis: Mentions details on three main financial aspects of the business that provide an overview of the company's total financial analysis.
Financial analysis includes
- Budget: Includes total business costs related to staffing, development, manufacturing, marketing, and miscellaneous expenses. Budget tracking software helps keep records of expenses and forecast future revenue.
- Financial planning: Companies must have a thorough financial plan in place that contains information on financial statements, balance sheets, investments, debts, and other payments.
- Projections: No financial analysis is complete without developing estimates for the future. These may be short-term (one-or three-year) or long-term (ten-year) plans, depending on the company’s current growth trajectory.
- Appendix: Additional information necessary to support the business structure, such as licenses, equipment, and property leases, product patents, bank statements, receipts, contracts, and company credit history.
What are the best practices for writing a business plan?
The best practices for writing a business plan include keeping content concise, using realistic data and projections, and ensuring thorough proofreading, all of which improve clarity, credibility, and usability.
- Be concise. Most plans are 15-20 pages long, but the length of the document can vary depending on the included information. Ensure all details are relevant and not presented in technical jargon. Use the appendix for any supporting information to avoid getting into the nitty-gritty of each section.
- Stay realistic. It can be tempting to overestimate values in the hope of securing funding. However, providing unreasonable figures and projections can do more harm than good. Stick to the market analysis and estimate responsibly.
- Ensure proofreading. Always check business plans for spelling, punctuation, and grammatical errors. Copyedit every section and remember to fact-check figures, statistics, and financial data.
What is the difference between a business plan and a business model?
A business plan is a detailed document covering strategy, operations, and financial projections, while a business model defines how a company creates, delivers, and captures value through revenue streams, customer value, and competitive positioning.
The differences between the two are outlined below:
| Aspect | Business plan | Business model |
| Definition | A comprehensive document outlining strategy, operations, and financial projections | A framework that explains how a business creates, delivers, and captures value |
| Purpose | Used for planning, execution, and securing funding | Used to define how the business operates and generates revenue |
| Scope | Detailed and document-heavy | Conceptual and strategic |
| Key focus | Goals, strategies, financials, and implementation | Value proposition, revenue streams, and customer segments |
| Usage | Shared with investors, stakeholders, and internal teams | Used internally to design and refine the business approach |
| Level of detail | High (includes multiple sections and data) | Moderate (focuses on core structure and logic) |
Related resources
Frequently asked questions about business plan
Here are the frequently asked questions about a business plan.
Q1. What is the main purpose of a business plan?
The main purpose of a business plan is to outline a company’s strategy, operations, and financial projections, helping guide decision-making, align teams, and secure funding from investors or lenders.
Q2. How long should a business plan be?
Most business plans are typically 15-20 pages long, depending on the complexity of the business, with enough detail to cover strategy, market analysis, and financial projections without unnecessary information.
Q3. When should a business plan be updated?
A business plan should be updated regularly, especially when there are significant changes in business goals, market conditions, financial performance, or expansion plans, to ensure it remains accurate and relevant.
Q4. What are the key components of a business plan?
A business plan typically includes key sections that define a company’s strategy, operations, and financial viability, such as the executive summary, company description, market analysis, products or services, marketing and sales strategy, management team, and financial plan, each contributing to a clear roadmap for how the business will operate and grow.
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Aayushi Sanghavi
Aayushi Sanghavi is a Campaign Coordinator at G2 for the Content and SEO teams at G2 and is exploring her interests in project management and process optimization. Previously, she has written for the Customer Service and Tech Verticals space. In her free time, she volunteers at animal shelters, dances, or attempts to learn a new language.
