Types of Content in Business Plan

Types of Content in Business Plan

Business plans appear in many different formats, depending on the audience for the plan and complexity of the business. However, msot business plans address the following five topic areas in one form or another.

1. Business summary -- Describes the organization, business venture or product (service), summarizing its purpose, management, operations, marketing and finances.
2. Market opportunity -- Concisely describes what unmet need it will (or does) fill, presents evidence that this need is genuine, and that the beneficiaries (or a third party) will pay for the costs to meet this need. Describes credible market research on target customers (including perceived benefits and willingness to pay), competitors and pricing.
3. People -- Arguably the most important part of the plan, it describes who will be responsible for developing, marketing and operating this venture, and why their backgrounds and skills make them the right people to make this successful. Ideally, each person in the management team (and key program and technical folks) are indicated by NAME.
4. Implementation -- This is the how-to section of the plan, where the action steps are clearly described, usually in four areas: start-up, marketing, operations and financial. Marketing builds on market research presented, e.g., in a Market Opportunity section of the plan, including your competitive niche (how you will be better than your competitors in ways that matter to your target customers). Financial plan includes, e.g., costs to launch, operate, market and finance the business, along with conservative estimates of revenue, typically for three years; a break-even analysis is often included in this section.
5. Contingencies -- This section outlines the most likely things that could go wrong with implementing this plan, and how management is prepared to respond to those problems if they emerge.

In many cases, an organization will already have in its possession some of the information needed for preparing a business plan. For example, in the case of nonprofits, grant proposals often contain some of this information.

What is a Business Plan?

Uses and Benefits of a Business Plan

A business plan is often prepared when:

• Starting a new organization, business venture, or product (service) or
• Expanding, acquiring or improving any of the above.

Several benefits are gained from preparing a business plan.

1. First, this process often leads to early identification of important problems, which can lead to finding solutions prior to launch, or lead to the realization that the plan needs to be significantly revised or even scrapped.
2. Secondly, getting the people who will be responsible for implementation to agree in advance on purpose, priorities and strategies BEFORE implementation, typically leads to better results.
3. Finally, the business plan can serve as a roadmap to compare with results as the venture proceeds from paper to reality.

For these reasons, often the planning process itself is as valuable as the business plan document itself. Finally, a business plan is often an important document to present to investors, funders, lenders and Board of Directors to get their advice and support.