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The Components of a Business Plan

Executive Summary

The executive summary serves as an introduction to the business plan. The summary content should allow the reader to learn about your business and its strengths. The executive summary is usually one to three pages in length and should include numerical data for your lender.

Business Description

  • The Business Description
  • Products/Services Provided
  • The Management Team

The business description allows the writer to prove that they know their business by providing information and numbers to sell their business case. An important aspect of the plan is the management team; effective managers make a business grow and prosper.

A business plan is:
A roadmap for your business
A document to sell your
business idea to potential
lenders
A way to make mistakes on paper before spending any money!
   

The Marketing Plan

  • The Market and Our Target Customer

  • The Competition

  • Marketing Strategy

The marketing plan should outline the business’s strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats (SWOT) in comparison to its competition. The marketing plan should also outline sales, advertising, promotion and other marketing programs. The costs in this section should agree with projected numbers in the financial statements.

The Production and Operations Plan

  • Business Location

  • Equipment and Inventory Requirements

  • Hours of Operation

This section allows the writer to discuss the operation of the business, such as hours of operation, equipment and inventory requirements and the physical location of the business.

The Human Resources Plan

  • Staffing
  • Salaries and Benefits
  • Staff Training

This component of the business plan allows the writer to determine what staff are required to run the business, as well as the training and salaries associated with each position.

The Financial Plan

  • Projected Cash Flow
  • Projected Income Statement
  • Projected Balance Sheet

The financial section is the heart of the business plan. The financial plan is aimed at lenders– people who think in numbers. It is important to be able show where the numbers have come from (backed up by research data).

Appendices