Seven Steps To Building Your Business Plan

It might be time for you to write a business plan for your company, and if this is the case you might not know exactly what the next step is. Not only is a business plan important for a startup, or for a business that needs to procure a loan, but a business plan should be part of every business. A business plan can define your purpose and give your business direction, doing all of this in a tidy, organized document. Here follows the seven elements that your business plan will need.

1) Executive Summary: This will be the last part you write - it is basically a summary of everything you will say in the document - but it will come at the beginning.

2) Company Description: If you are a new business, this will contain your startup plans; if you have been around, this part will include your history up to this point.

3) Product or Service: You will use this section to not only describe your product or service, but to do so while keeping the focus on the customers themselves.

4) Market Analysis: This is hugely important, especially when you need a loan. In this section, you should prove your understanding of both the market and your customer's needs, as well as your plans to reach the customers.

5) Strategy and Implementation: Concreteness is important in this section; make sure that you aim to avoid vagueness. Explain your company's structure and all of its strategies.

6) Management Team: As you dig into the backgrounds and histories of your key team members, this section can become an excellent selling point.

7) Financial Strategy: Especially if you are a startup company, you have to make sure you understand what you are doing in this section, providing detailed analysis and projections.

A good business plan can help you get your feet under you as a business, and if your business already has its feet under it, a good business plan can help you gain traction. On the other hand, a bad business plan can keep you from getting the money you need, and it can keep your business from moving forward.

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