Startups should take the time to write a business plan. If you have a great idea or product and are thinking of creating a startup, a strong business plan should reflect your understanding of why and how your business will be successful. Learning how to write a business plan will also help you to realistically evaluate your company’s mission, financial needs, industry statistics, and marketing strategies to help set your business up for success.

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Know Your Audience

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Before you start figuring out how to write a business plan, understand your audience. Who is going to read your business plan? Are you going to present your business plan to investors, or are you making a general plan for your employees to refer to, or maybe both? Knowing who is going to read your business plan can help you focus on what you are going to include content and presentation-wise.

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Keep It Brief

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While there are no requirements for how many pages your business plan must be, it’s best to keep it direct and concise. Avoid expressing data in a confusing way. Be optimistic but honest in your profit projections. According to the U.S. Small Business Administration, your business plan can be anywhere from 30 to 100 pages but should take as many pages as needed to show that you understand your industry and market, and present an execution strategy for both short and long-term objectives that will excite your readers.

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The Basic Components of a Business Plan

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Before you start putting together your business plan, you should also make yourself aware of local resources that have the tools and knowledge to help you throughout the process. For all of our Detroit founders, Bamboo Detroit's partner, BUILD institute, helps through classes, networking events, mentorship, or connections to resources, and The Mobile Business School, who hosts regular events at Bamboo Detroit on business plan classes.

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Executive Summary

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The executive summary is the most important section of your business plan. This is the first page your reader sees, but will probably be the last section you write after you’ve worked through the details of all the other sections. There may be information you wish you had, especially if your startup is truly brand new, but take the information you do have and present it in a way that will be enticing and informative to your audience. The executive summary may include:

• Mission statement and company description
• When your company was founded
• Brief founder bios and a description of their roles
• Business information, including locations and number of employees
• Your products or services
• Current financial information
• Financial projections
• Summary of company growth and achievements
• Summary of future plans

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Operations and Management

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Think of the operations and management section as an encompassing resume of your whole management team. This section presents how your business functions on a daily basis, the roles and responsibilities of each team member, and how tasks are assigned to each division within a company.

• Organizational chart
• Names of owners and percentages of ownership
• Description of roles and company involvement
• Forms of ownership
• Resumes and qualifications of the management team

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Market Analysis

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Your market analysis should prove to your reader that you have a strong understanding of your industry and that you’ve done your research on your target market. This includes:

• Industry description and outlook
• Description of the target market
• Market research
• Pricing and gross margin targets
• Industry risks
• Regulatory restrictions, licensing, or special permitting
• Projected revenue levels based on market data

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Marketing Strategies and Competitive Analysis

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While the market analysis section shows your understanding of your industry, this section should illustrate your knowledge of your target market and a plan of action on how to reach them. This section may include:

• Distribution plans
• Promotional strategy
• Communication strategy
• Overall sales strategy
• Sales strategy
• Strengths and weaknesses of competitors
• Barriers that may be developed to prevent other competitors

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Products and Services

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In this part of your business plan, describe your startup’s service or products and the benefits and solutions they offer to your target customers.

• Descriptions of products or services
• Benefits of product or service
• Design and development timelines for products
• Legal information, such as copyrights and patents
• Research and development information

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Financial Plan and Financial Information

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It’s important to understand your startup’s goals and to properly allocate your resources. To do so, you must understand where your company stands financially. It’s advisable to work through the financial section of your business plan with an accountant. Financial information to include within this section includes:

• Personal financial statements of owners
• Startup expenses and capital
• List of debts owed
• Projected cash flow
• 12-month profit/loss statement
• Break-even analysis

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Funding Request

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If you are presenting your business plan to investors, you should also include a funding request within your business plan. This section should tie in closely with your financial plan; make sure you can back up any funding or financial scenarios with corresponding financial statements and projections. Avoid making estimates, use exact amounts for any funding requests, and back up any projections with statistics from credible sources.

• What has already been invested in the company
• How much you plan to invest
• Exact amounts of funding you need for your business
• Strategic information that may affect your business’ finances, including going public, being acquired, whether or not you plan on selling in the future, etc.

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After you’ve finished writing and editing the components of your business plan, put it in a quality binder with an attractive cover page and a table of contents so that it is ready to be presented. Include page numbers and dividers for easy navigation.

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The information you present in your business plan should be timeless and serve as a reference point so that you can revisit your plan throughout your company’s timeline. Many successful companies will take time to compare their business plans to what is actually going on in their business. Your plan can help you stay on track with your long-term goals, help revise your current work processes, and, ultimately, continue to help your business grow and succeed.