Your business plan should function as the roadmap for the future of your company. Your business plan includes an overview of your company, your goals, the methods to achieve them, and all aspects of its current state and future expectations. Writing a business plan can be an arduous, nerve-wracking, and time-consuming endeavor. However, there is another word that would fit – necessary.
Our days are thankfully filled with sample business plans that are just as effective as a 40-page plan. One of Airbnb’s most famous characteristics is its complicated business model. A single page is all it has. Besides, a business plan doesn’t have to be permanent. From time to time, you should revise your proposal. Your document should also evolve as your business does.
Having gotten that out of the way, let’s turn to a more important question.
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What is the Purpose of a Business Plan?
Obtaining funding is the most obvious answer. Your business must demonstrate its viability to a bank, lender, or investor. Lastly, what makes it stand out from hundreds, if not thousands of companies like it. Sadly, 27% of businesses were not able to access funding.
Business plans are usually required for securing financing. This can be done by providing financial data, projected sales, and how the money will be used. In the beginning, you and your team should make their case for funding to your readers.
Business plans of various types
Getting a business plan right starts with knowing why you need one.
Business plans can be divided into two main categories – internal or external, and either learnt or standard.
The standard business plan
Business plans typically provide a comprehensive picture. They include information about the company’s services or products, its target market, strategies, financials, and goals. Plan usually includes more details and is more comprehensive than a lean plan.
In most cases, these plans are for external use, since most banks and investors need them to decide whether to finance your project.
These standard business plan examples will give you an idea how one is written if you need some guidance.
Internal business plan
These plans are usually for internal use, but they have a variety of variations based on their purpose. These are usually lean, meaning they don’t include all the details of a standard one.
Strategies, deadlines, budgeting, and goals are the main topics. Third parties do not receive detailed descriptions, company backgrounds, or other information in lean plans. Furthermore, the language used is informal, and most of the content is bulleted.
When thinking about how to write a business plan, keep in mind that they all serve different purposes. Typical lean business plans are used mainly internally and might target diverse audiences – like stakeholders, marketing, and sales departments, for example.
We have now identified the two main categories, so let’s go over the specifics.
Startup business plan
Most startup business plans follow the standard business plan format, regardless of how lean or robust the plan is. As a startup, here are the questions one should answer when writing a business plan. How do you write a business plan for a startup? Get an idea of what a business plan looks like by downloading an example.
Business plan for feasibility
A business plan’s purpose is to determine if your product or service will sell and if it will be profitable. You typically use the funds internally unless you need them for funding. It would then be necessary The report presents only the bare essentials about your company – overview, products, market, and financials. to include the standard plan.
Business plan on one page
Business presentations are also known as presentations. In external use, this type of plan can be shown to investors, banks or vendors who may not want to read a complete standard plan. You can see only the most crucial details of your company, such as your products and services, your market, and your finances.
Business growth plan
Expansion is also referred to as this plan. You can use it internally or externally and can be lean or standard. When developing a business plan, you should concentrate on a specific part of your company and its potential growth. An entire subset of your business could be created or a new product could be introduced. To achieve that growth, we will follow the steps outlined in this plan.