Components of a Business Plan
- Executive summary – highlights key points.
- Company description – provides overview of business.
- Market analysis – analyzes target market.
- Competitive analysis – assesses competitors.
- Marketing/sales strategy – plans for market infiltration.
- Operations plan – discusses daily operations.
- Management team – introduces key personnel.
- Financial statements – includes past records and forecasts.
- Appendix – contains supporting documents.
A good business plan convinces stakeholders to invest in or work with your company. Adapt components to suit your specific business and audience.
Importance of the Executive Summary
The executive summary is important as it highlights key points. You should adapt components to your specific business and audience. Writing a plan helps you develop your ideas.
Importance of a Business Plan
Writing a business plan helps you think about what you are doing. The plan sets out your strategy and action plan for the next one to three years, or sometimes longer. As part of the process, you set concrete objectives and plan how you will achieve them. It will help you focus and develop your ideas. Putting the plan in writing makes it easier to spot any gaps where you may have more work or research to do. Once written, the plan is a benchmark for the performance of the business. It’s also essential if you are planning to raise finance from a bank or outside investors and it can help you attract new senior management, or business partners such as distributors and agents.