Business Plan Template for a Startup Business

BE SURE TO DELETE ALL RED TEXT FROM THIS TEMPLATE BEFORE SUBMITTING YOUR PLAN!!

A startup business plan serves several purposes. It can help convince investors or lenders to finance your business. It can persuade partners or key employees to join your company. Most importantly, it serves as a roadmap guiding the launch and growth of your new business.

Writing a business plan is an opportunity to carefully think through every step of starting your company so you can prepare for success. This is your chance to discover any weaknesses in your business idea, identify opportunities you may not have considered, and plan how you will deal with challenges that are likely to arise. Be honest with yourself as you work through your business plan. Don’t gloss over potential problems; instead, figure out solutions.

A good business plan is clear and concise. A person outside of your industry should be able to understand it. Avoid overusing industry jargon or terminology.

Most of the time involved in writing your plan should be spent researching and thinking. Make sure to document your research, including the sources of any information you include.

Avoid making unsubstantiated claims or sweeping statements. Investors, lenders and others reading your plan will want to see realistic projections and expect your assumptions to be supported with facts.

This template includes instructions for each section of the business plan, followed by corresponding fillable worksheet/s.

The last section in the instructions, “Refining Your Plan,” explains ways you may need to modify your plan for specific purposes, such as getting a bank loan, or for specific industries, such as retail.

Proofread your completed plan (or have someone proofread it for you) to make sure it’s free of spelling and grammatical errors and that all figures are accurate.

Business Plan

[Insert Date]

Company name

Street address 1

Street address 2

City, state, ZIP

Business phone

Website URL

Email address

The undersigned reader acknowledges that any information provided by _________________________ in this business plan, other than information that is in the public domain, is confidential in nature, and that any disclosure or use of same by the reader may cause serious harm or damage to ________________________. Therefore, the undersigned agrees not to disclose it without express written permission from ________________________________.

Upon request, the undersigned reader will immediately return this document to ___________________________.

___________________ Signature

___________________ Name (typed or printed)

___________________ Date

This is a business plan. It does not imply an offering of securities.

Table of Contents Confidentiality Agreement 3 I. Executive Summary 5 Executive Summary 6 II. Company Description 7 Company Description Worksheet 8 III. Products & Services 9 Product & Service Description Worksheet 10 IV. Marketing Plan 11 SWOT Analysis Worksheet 12 Competitor Data Collection Plan 14 Competitive Analysis Worksheet 15 Marketing Expenses Strategy Chart 17 Pricing Strategy Worksheet 19 Distribution Channel Assessment Worksheet 21 V. Operational Plan 23 VI. Management & Organization 25 Management Worksheet 26 Organization Chart 27 VII. Startup Expenses & Capitalization 28 VIII. Financial Plan 29 IX. Appendices 31 X. Refining the Plan 32 Now That You’re (Almost) Finished . . . 34

The Executive Summary is the most important part of your business plan. Often, it’s the only part that a prospective investor or lender reads before deciding whether or not to read the rest of your plan. It should convey your enthusiasm for your business idea and get readers excited about it, too.

Write your Executive Summary LAST, after you have completed the rest of the business plan. That way, you’ll have thought through all the elements of your startup and be prepared to summarize them.

The Executive Summary should briefly explain each of the below.

1. An overview of your business idea (one or two sentences).

2. A description of your product and/or service. What problems are you solving for your target customers?

3. Your goals for the business. Where do you expect the business to be in one year, three years, five years?

4. Your proposed target market. Who are your ideal customers?

5. Your competition and what differentiates your business. Who are you up against, and what unique selling proposition will help you succeed?

6. Your management team and their prior experience. What do they bring to the table that will give your business a competitive edge?

7. Financial outlook for the business. If you’re using the business plan for financing purposes, explain exactly how much money you want, how you will use it, and how that will make your business more profitable.

Limit your Executive Summary to one or two pages in total.

After reading the Executive Summary, readers should have a basic understanding of your business, should be excited about its potential, and should be interested enough to read further.

After you’ve completed your business plan, come back to this section to write your executive summary on the next page .

(Write after you’ve completed the rest of the business plan.)

This section explains the basic elements of your business. Include each of the below:

1. Company mission statement

A mission statement is a brief explanation of your company’s reason for being. It can be as short as a marketing tagline (“MoreDough is an app that helps consumers manage their personal finances in a fun, convenient way”) or more involved: (“Doggie Tales is a dog daycare and grooming salon specializing in convenient services for urban pet lovers. Our mission is to provide service, safety and a family atmosphere, enabling busy dog owners to spend less time taking care of their dog’s basic needs and more time having fun with their pet.”) In general, it’s best to keep your mission statement to one or two sentences.

2. Company philosophy and vision

a. What values does your business live by? Honesty, integrity, fun, innovation and community are values that might be important to your business philosophy.

b. Vision refers to the long-term outlook for your business. What do you ultimately want it to become? For instance, your vision for your doggie day-care center might be to become a national chain, franchise or to sell to a larger company.

3. Company goals

Specify your long- and short-term goals as well as any milestones or benchmarks you will use to measure your progress. For instance, if one of your goals is to open a second location, milestones might include reaching a specific sales volume or signing contracts with a certain number of clients in the new market.

4. Target market

You will cover this in-depth in the Marketing Plan section. Here, briefly explain who your target customers are.

5. Industry

Describe your industry and what makes your business competitive: Is the industry growing, mature or stable? What is the industry outlook long-term and short-term? How will your business take advantage of projected industry changes and trends? What might happen to your competitors and how will your business successfully compete?

6. Legal structure

a. Is your business a sole proprietorship, LLC, partnership or corporation? Why did you choose this particular form of business?

b. If there is more than one owner, explain how ownership is divided. If you have investors, explain the percentage of shares they own. This information is important to investors and lenders.

After reading the Company Description, the reader should have a basic understanding of your business’s mission and vision, goals, target market, competitive landscape and legal structure.

Use the Company Description worksheet on the next page to help you complete this section.

This section expands on the basic information about your products and services included in the Executive Summary and Company Description. Here are some items to consider:

1. Your company’s products and/or services: What do you sell, and how is it manufactured or provided? Include details of relationships with suppliers, manufacturers and/or partners that are essential to delivering the product or service to customers.

2. The problem the product or service solves: Every business needs to solve a problem that its customers face. Explain what the problem is and how your product or service solves it. What are its benefits, features and unique selling proposition? Yours won’t be the only solution (every business has competitors), but you need to explain why your solution is better than the others, targets a customer base your competitors are ignoring, or has some other characteristic that gives it a competitive edge.

3. Any proprietary features that give you a competitive advantage: Do you have a patent on your product or a patent pending? Do you have exclusive agreements with suppliers or vendors to sell a product or service that none of your competitors sell? Do you have the license for a product, technology or service that’s in high demand and/or short supply?

4. How you will price your product or service: Describe the pricing, fee, subscription or leasing structure of your product or service. How does your product or service fit into the competitive landscape in terms of pricing—are you on the low end, mid-range or high end? How will that pricing strategy help you attract customers? What is your projected profit margin?

Include any product or service details, such as technical specifications, drawings, photos, patent documents and other support information, in the Appendices.

After reading the Products & Services section, the reader should have a clear understanding of what your business does, what problem it solves for customers, and the unique selling proposition that makes it competitive.

Use the Product and Service Description Worksheet on the next page to help you complete this section.

This section provides details on your industry, the competitive landscape, your target market and how you will market your business to those customers.

Market research

There are two kinds of research: primary and secondary. Primary market research is information you gather yourself. This could include going online or driving around town to identify competitors; interviewing or surveying people who fit the profile of your target customers; or doing traffic counts at a retail location you’re considering.

Secondary market research is information from sources such as trade organizations and journals, magazines and newspapers, Census data and demographic profiles. You can find this information online, at libraries, from chambers of commerce, from vendors who sell to your industry or from government agencies.

This section of your plan should explain:

· The total size of your industry

· Trends in the industry – is it growing or shrinking?

· The total size of your target market, and what share is realistic for you to obtain

· Trends in the target market – is it growing or shrinking? How are customer needs or preferences changing?

Barriers to entry

What barriers to entry does your startup face, and how do you plan to overcome them? Barriers to entry might include:

· High startup costs

· High production costs

· High marketing costs

· Brand recognition challenges

· Finding qualified employees

· Need for specialized technology or patents

· Tariffs and quotas

· Unionization in your industry

Threats and opportunities

Once your business surmounts the barriers to entry you mentioned, what additional threats might it face? Explain how the following could affect your startup:

· Changes in government regulations

· Changes in technology

· Changes in the economy

· Changes in your industry

Use the SWOT Analysis Worksheet on the next page to identify your company’s weaknesses and potential threats, as well as its strengths and the potential opportunities you plan to exploit.

Product/service features and benefits

Describe all of your products or services, being sure to focus on the customer’s point of view. For each product or service:

· Describe the most important features. What is special about it?

· Describe the most important benefits. What does it do for the customer?

In this section, explain any after-sale services you plan to provide, such as:

·

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· Product delivery

· Warranty/guarantee

· Service contracts

· Ongoing support

· Training

· Refund policy

Target customer

Describe your target customer. (This is also known as the ideal customer or buyer persona.)

You may have more than one target customer group. For instance, if you sell a product to consumers through distributors, such as retailers, you have at least two kinds of target customers: the distributors (businesses) and the end users (consumers).

Identify your target customer groups, and create a demographic profile for each group that includes:

For consumers:

·

· Age

· Gender

· Location

· Income

· Occupation

· Education level

For businesses:

·

· Industry

· Location

· Size

· Stage in business (startup, growing, mature)

· Annual sales

Key competitors

One of the biggest mistakes you can make in a business plan is to claim you have “no competition.” Every business has competitors. Your plan must show that you’ve identified yours and understand how to differentiate your business. This section should:

List key companies that compete with you (including names and locations), products that compete with yours and/or services that compete with yours. Do they compete across the board, or just for specific products, for certain customers or in certain geographic areas?

Also include indirect competitors. For instance, if you’re opening a restaurant that relies on consumers’ discretionary spending, then bars and nightclubs are indirect competitors.

Use the Competitor Data Collection Plan on the next page to brainstorm ways you can collect information about competitors in each category.

Once you’ve identified your major competitors, use the Competitive Analysis Worksheet on the next page to compare your business to theirs.

For each factor listed in the first column, assess whether you think it’s a strength or a weakness (S or W) for your business and for your competitors. Then rank how important each factor is to your target customer on a scale of 1 to 5 (1 = very important; 5 = not very important). Use this information to explain your competitive advantages and disadvantages.

Positioning/Niche

Now that you’ve assessed your industry, product/service, customers and competition, you should have a clear understanding of your business’s niche (your unique segment of the market) as well as your positioning (how you want to present your company to customers). Explain these in a short paragraph.

How you will market your product/service

In this section, explain the marketing and advertising tactics you plan to use.

Advertising may include:

· Online

· Print

· Radio

· Cable television

· Out-of-home

Which media will you advertise in, why and how often?

Marketing may include:

· Business website

· Social media marketing

· Email marketing

· Mobile marketing

· Search engine optimization

· Content marketing

· Print marketing materials (brochures, flyers, business cards)

· Public relations

· Trade shows

· Networking

· Word-of-mouth

· Referrals

What image do you want to project for your business brand?

What design elements will you use to market your business? (This includes your logo, signage and interior design.) Explain how they’ll support your brand.

Promotional budget

How much do you plan to spend on the marketing and advertising outreach above:

· Before startup (These numbers will go into your startup budget)

· On an ongoing basis (These numbers will go into your operating plan budget)

Use the Marketing Expenses Strategy Chart on the next page to help figure out the cost of reaching different target markets.

Location or proposed location

If you have a location picked out, explain why you believe this is a good location for your startup.

If you haven’t chosen a location yet, explain what you’ll be looking for in a location and why, including:

· Convenient location for customers

· Adequate parking for employees and customers

· Proximity to public transportation or major roads

· Type of space (industrial, retail, etc.)

· Types of businesses nearby

Focus on the location of your building, not the physical building itself. You’ll discuss that later, in the Operations section.

Distribution channels

What methods of distribution will you use to sell your products and/or services? These may include:

· Retail

· Direct sales

· Ecommerce

· Wholesale

· Inside sales force

· Outside sales representatives

· OEMs

If you have any strategic partnerships or key distributor relationships that will be a factor in your success, explain them here.

If you haven’t yet finalized your distribution channels, use the Distribution Channel Assessment Worksheet on the next page to assess the pros and cons of each distribution channel you are considering.