Your Business Plan Outline

This is a comprehensive business plan outline. Not all small business owners will want to do a plan as comprehensive and intensive as this one. This business plan outline includes a number of strategic management elements that are not common in all plans but that are useful and necessary if you have a highly active and competitive market, complex products or services, and/or complex buyer behavior.

First, determine why you want to do a business plan:

• Is it to manage and operate your business better?
• Is it to manage fast growth better?
• Is it to manage in a declining market better?
• Is it to manage the impact of your competition better?
• Is it to introduce more products (or to consider doing so)? Or to add more locations?
• Is it to change ownership: adding new partners, adding key employees?
• Is it to obtain financing?
• Is it to sell your business?

Once you've answered these, or other, questions, then choose one of the business plan outlines on this page (either comprehensive or simple business plan).

There are many reasons to write a business plan and how you write your plan depends a lot on why you want to write it.

Here's what I suggest: do the key elements of the plan to start your business or if you haven't done a plan or updated a plan in a long time (key elements will be in italics in the business plan outline below). Then each year when you update your plan, add another element or two. Often the updates will not take as much time as originating the work or the research - and the numbers should be tracked by your system as your business operates.

However if your business is fairly complex, if you have a lot of products or services, if you have a highly active competition, if your life-cycle is in the introductory or the declining phases, do as much of this business plan outline as possible. Outsource some, or all, of the work if necessary: this means do what you can yourself (if you want to) and have a consultant or business plan writer do the sections that you can't do, or don't want to do.

Business Plan Outline:

1. Executive Summary
• Business concept (if a new business) or Business focus (if a plan renewal or update)
• Current Business Environment
• Key Management and/or Ownership
• Key Success Factors
• Key Risk Factors
• Requirements for the plan: managing the business, significant change in the marketplace, selling the business, obtaining bank loans, obtaining grants, obtaining venture capital, going from a private to public enterprise, and more.
2. Vision and Mission Statements
• Strategic Vision Statement - set the direction of where your business is going (future)
• Mission Statement - define your business, where it is today
3. Company Analysis
• SWOT Analysis (internal strengths and weaknesses; external opportunities and threats)
4. Market Analysis
• The Industry
• Market Environment
• Driving Forces in the Industry
• Market Segmentation
• Target Marketing: primary, secondary and tertiary
• Buyer Behavior: characteristics, needs, wants, decisions
• Post purchase buyer/customer behavior
5. Competitive analysis
• Identifying your competition
• Competition: strengths and weaknesses
• Competition: strategies and objectives
• How does your competition react?
• Primary Competitors and their impact
• Competitive Intelligence
• External Opportunities and Threats: impact on competition
6. Strategy
• Competive Advantages: Defensive and Offensive Tactics
• Differentiation, Niche, Low-Cost, OR Leader Strategy and Why
• Identify How You Will Implement Your Strategy (What you will do)
7. Products Or Services
• Products or Services List, including features, advantages, and benefits
• Service or Product Differentiation
• Service or Product Positioning
• Your Service or Product Life-Cycle
• Comparison to Competitive Products or Services
• New Services or New Product Development Plan (future)
8. Marketing Plan
• Marketing Environment
• demographics
• psychographics
• economic
• technological
• political/legal
• Market Research
• Customer (or Buyer) Satisfaction and Retention
• Value Chain Analysis
• Marketing Mix:
• Product
• Price and Pricing Strategy
• Promotion and Communication
• Sales tactics, contests, incentives
• Advertising and Media
• Publicity
• Trade shows, Events and Conventions
• Direct Marketing Campaigns, such as Postcard Marketing
• Relationship Marketing
• Personal Selling
• Place or Distribution: Location, Retail
  and/or Marketing Channels
9. Sales Plan
• Assumptions
• Notes or Comments
• 5 year plan by customer, by sales representative, by geographic market, by product line
10. Business Operations Plan
• Organization (culture, management team)
• Products or Services List, including production standards, how to produce, and standard operating procedures (SOPs)
• Human Resources Plan, including key personnel list
• Capital Expenditures Plan
• Equipment and Asset List
• Customer Service Plan
• Facilities/Location, including future space needs
• Maintenance Plan
• Safety Plan
• Quality Plan
• Environmental Plan
• Management Informations System Plan, including back-up and security
11. Financial Plan
• Assumptions
• Notes or Comments
• Pro Forma (projected) Balance Sheet
• Pro Form (projected) Income Statement
• Cash Flow Projections
• Financial Ratios
12. Business Exit Strategy: yes, you need to plan your exit and your strategy for succession even as you build your business.
13. Manage Your Business To Achieve Your Strategic Business Plan
• Business Plan Objectives
• Action Plan
• Measure for Success
• Adjust for Improvement Where Necessary

I am often asked how long does it take to write a business plan. The real answer is 'it depends': on how complex your business is, how easy it is to access industry information, how well you know your market, and much more.

But, because I am usually pressed to give a more specific answer, I will assume that the level of complexity is low, industry information is relatively easy to access, and you know your market well. Under those circumstances, to write a simple business plan, if you spend 8 hours a day writing and researching, it can take about 15 business days to do it.

To do a comprehensive business plan, if you spend 8 hours a day writing and researching, it will take you about 30 to 40 business days to do it. Yes, as you can see by this business plan outline, this is a big investment of time.

If you consider the advantages of outsourcing and hire an outside consultant or business plan writer, it will likely take less time (for either types of plan) because consultants are experienced at writing plans and because they often have other resources (e.g. accountants) that they work with. But they cannot work on producing your plan unless you provide them with the information they need.

Please note, not all business plan writers or consultants will work exclusively for you on your plan so the actual elapsed time might be longer. But negotiate what you want and need up front.

P.S. I am also often asked how much it costs to write a business plan. But the answer to this comes from determining what needs to be done: is this a simple 10 page plan? Is it a basic plan (such as identified in italics in the business plan outline)? Are you wanting part of your plan done or all of it? Are you wanting a comprehensive, strategic plan? Are you wanting your plan edited or reviewed?

There are too many parameters to provide a price here but I can tell you that I have seen pricing range from $500 for an edit and review to over $40,000 for a comprehensive strategic plan that was developed to 'win' a large venture capital investment.

If you need a small business plan writer to build, or help you build, your small business plan, contact us for a quote.

Return from Business Plan Outline to Small Business Plan.

Or Return From Business Plan Outline to More For Small Business.

Monthly More-For-Small-Business Newsletter: Subscribe here for up-to-date small business information, resources and advice.