Business plan templates examples

Every section involved in a business plan is designed to help startup businesses reach their target market. A business plan asks founders and entrepreneurs to detail their business strategy in a step-by-step process that makes sense from an operational perspective.

This is essential if a startup is seeking a business loan or an investment from a venture capital firm. However, even small businesses that are already economically viable can benefit from creating a business plan, since it encourages business owners and their management teams to examine their business model and reevaluate the best ways to reach their target customers.

Creating a successful plan that you can use to grow your small business can require weeks of market analysis and financial preparation. You may spend time using Microsoft Excel or Powerpoint in order to create documentation which better supports our operational decisions.

However, almost every professional business plan is structured in the same way and most ask for the same information. Because of this, using a business plan template is advisable to save time, money, and effort. Rather than spending time trying to figure out how to write a business plan , use a free template as a guide to completion. Business plan templates from PandaDoc can help you reach an effective go-to-market strategy even faster by asking you to provide all the relevant information you need when creating an effective business plan.

This depends on the kind of business plan you need to write and how you intend to use the plan that you create. For example, a plan for a small business seeking potential investors or a business loan will need to provide income statements, cash flow statements, and a balance sheet usually for a three-year or five-year forecast period. Some business plans may only run a few pages. Fully-developed business plans can be as long as 50 pages. Much of this depends on the type of business, the operational strategy, and the level of detail that goes into developing the business plan.

Your business plan will help your team to see and visualize your vision and help them to understand what they are working to achieve even if they are working with you or remotely. It's essential to have a business plan, but it's also crucial to keep it up to date as your business progresses. A business plan is not merely a document that you write once and forget after you get started.

It's a business road map and vision that you should develop as your business progresses and evolves. It's also important to update your business plan regularly as your business situation and position change. For example, you must update your business plan if you secure investment, hire important board members or partners, plan to implement new marketing or sales strategies or add new products to your business.

This will help you and your team to plan for the future. We have created Upmetrics — business plan software to simplify the process of business planning. Our business plan builder allows you to write and customize your business plan. Our sample business plans and inbuilt help tips will help you to get started with your writing even if you are no expert. Our business plan sections and charts will make your document visually attractive.

Our financial forecasting module will create all the essential reports automatically. You just need to enter numbers and the application will do all the math to generate your financial reports. Later you can embed those reports into your business plan. Also, you can share it online with investors or with other important people just by a quick link. Now that you have a business idea and you know how to write a business plan, it's time to go for it.

Our business plan software will take you through each step outlined above in more detail so there are no surprises on your journey. Whether you're starting or growing your business, after reading your business plan you'll be ready to take the next step to success. In business plan writing you will need to write the following sections into your business plan. Check out our article to learn how you can write these sections in detail for your business plan.

The length of your business plan depends on the type of plan you choose. There are one-page business plans that offer easy and practical planning. Then you have traditional business plans that usually vary from 20 to 50 pages. Absolutely No, You as a business owner know all about your business idea, your business goals, target market and audience, and what you want to achieve by writing your plan.

Don't hire someone who doesn't know what your readers will want, the reason is that, if you intend to raise funds, you are the best person that understands what investors will look out for in your business plan. Consultants or business plan writers definitely can write a business plan but not better than you. Excel Smartsheet. This template doubles as a project plan and timeline to track progress as you develop your business plan. This business planning template enables you to break down your work into phases and provides room to add key tasks and dates for each activity.

Easily fill in the cells according to the start and end dates to create a visual timeline, as well as to ensure your plan stays on track. Once you complete your business plan, use this business plan rubric template to assess and score each component of your plan. This rubric helps you identify elements of your plan that meet or exceed requirements and pinpoint areas where you need to improve or further elaborate.

This template is an invaluable tool to ensure your business plan clearly defines your goals, objectives, and plan of action in order to gain buy-in from potential investors, stakeholders, and partners. This business plan sample serves as an example of a basic business plan that contains all the traditional components. The sample provides a model of what a business plan might look like for a fictional food truck business.

Reference this sample as you develop your own business plan. The elements you include in your business plan will depend on your product or service offerings, as well as the size and needs of your business. Below are the components of a standard business plan and details you should include in each section:. Finding the right template for your business needs can be beneficial for a variety of reasons. Using a business plan template — instead of creating your plan from scratch — can benefit you in the following ways:.

Empower your people to go above and beyond with a flexible platform designed to match the needs of your team — and adapt as those needs change. The Smartsheet platform makes it easy to plan, capture, manage, and report on work from anywhere, helping your team be more effective and get more done.

Report on key metrics and get real-time visibility into work as it happens with roll-up reports, dashboards, and automated workflows built to keep your team connected and informed. Try Smartsheet for free, today. Get a Free Smartsheet Demo. If you're looking for a tool to walk you through writing your own business plan step-by-step, we recommend LivePlan , especially if you're seeking a bank loan or outside investment and need to use an SBA-approved format.

Use our exclusive gallery of more than free sample business plans from a wide variety of industries to help you start writing your own business plan today. How do you know what elements need to be included in your business plan, especially if you've never written one before? Looking at examples can help you visualize what a full, traditional plan looks like, so you know what you're aiming for before you get started.

Are you an educator looking for real—world business plan examples for your students? With LivePlan, you give your students access to industry—best business plans and help them set goals and track metrics with spreadsheet—free financial forecasts.

All of this within a single tool that includes additional instructional resources that work seamlessly alongside your current classroom setup.

With LivePlan, it's not just a classroom project. It's your students planning for their futures. Click here to learn more about business planning for students. If you're planning to pitch your business to investors or seek out any funding, you'll need a pitch deck to accompany your business plan.

A pitch deck is designed to inform people about your business. You want your pitch deck to be short and easy to follow, so it's best to keep your presentation under 20 slides.