How to Write A Perfect Business Plan (10 Steps) – Complete Guide

According to a recent study, 90% of businesses fail in the first year, because they don’t have a solid business plan. And a perfect business plan is the foundation of any business. Your business won’t be able to sustain itself without it. And here we’ll explain all the steps to write the perfect business plan.

Write a Perfect Business Plan

A well-written business plan describes your company’s structure, future goals, product development, and operations. Planning is the first step to start a business from scratch. And if you ever mistakenly ignore this step, you’ll be among that 90% of people who fail in the initial phase of their business.

A Perfect Business plan consists of the following steps:

• 1- Executive Summary
• 2- Business Description
• 3- Market Analysis
• 4- Ownership and Management
• 5- Operating Plan
• 6- Describe Products and Services
• 7- Marketing and Sales Plan
• 8- Business Financial Plan
• 9- Funding Request
• 10- Appendix

1- Executive Summary

Executive Summary is the first step in writing a business plan. Here you provide a short description of your company, problems you’re going to solve, product line, marketing, management, and ownership.

In the executive summary section, you summarize all other sections of your business plan. It’s basically an overview of your business.

How to Write Executive Summary:

First, Introduce your company in a few lines and write the ownership structure. And then explain the problem or need and give your solution. Prove how the recommended solution will be valuable. And write about your company’s role and how its product or service differs from other competitors. And then at the end write all the steps in bulleted lines that you’re going to describe ahead.

You can include these points in the Executive Summary of your Business Plan:

• Business Name
• Ownership
• Problem or Need
• Your Solution
• Competition
• Marketing Plan
• Management

2- Business Description

In the Business Description section, you provide some important information about your business. And this information will be your registered business name, location of your business, business roles, your team, products, and history of your business.

You’ll also have to explain your objectives and goals here that are realistic and achievable in a specific period of time. And also some reasons of your business existence.

Include these points in your Business Plan:

• Registered Name
• Executive Leadership roles
• Reason for Business existence
• Number of Employees
• Milestones
• Objectives

3- Market Analysis

In Market Analysis, you’ll have to outline your potential customer and the size of your targeted market. And provide demographic information like location, interests, age, gender, and income. Do comprehensive market research and explain how you can get the advantage of opportunities. And how you are different and better than your competitors.

And also write the competitive analysis here to describe your competitors’ strengths and weak points. How they are serving their clients. And can you do this in a better way?

4- Ownership and Management

How to write the perfect business plan? In this step, you’ll have to describe your business ownership, roles, and management team. And also have to explain the expertise of every team member and how they can turn your business goals into reality.

You can also write about the skilled workers you’ll need to hire to work more efficiently and their cost of hiring.

Key Points for Business Management and Ownership:

• Business legal structure ( Sole Proprietorship, Partnership, LLC, Corporations)
• Founder and Co-Founder of your Business
• Percent ownership of each partner
• Employees and their expertise

5- Operating Plan

In the operating plan, you’ll have to describe how your business works and the responsibilities of your management team. And you’ll also have to provide details about the manufacturing process, inventory, and equipment you acquire and you need for your business. Because this information is very important for investors to know the basic model of your business. So, explain every step in detail, from manufacturing or sourcing to the product or service delivery.

Describe these points in the operating section of your Business plan:

• Product source or supplier
• Manufacturing
• Physical location
• Tools and Software
• Shipping or Delivery

6- Describe Products and Services

In writing a perfect business plan the 6th step is to describe your company’s products and services. Explain what problems your company is solving and how this solution works. And it is one of the most important steps for writing a good business plan. Because it’ll help business partners and investors to better understand your business model.

And you can include these points in the products and services section:

• Explain why your product is helpful
• Describe the products physical characteristics (diagrams, photographs, and graphics)
• Give reasons why your products are better than your competitors
• How these products are adding value to customers’ life
• What they are going to lose if they ignore your product

7- Marketing and Sales Plan

Write your business goals and objectives and allocate your marketing budget accordingly. And also do competitive analysis to know what your competitors are actually doing and what marketing strategies they are following. Identify your buyers’ demographics and target related audiences. And you’ll also have to write about all the marketing sources and platforms that you are going to use to promote your products.

8- Business Financial Plan

Business financial planning is a very crucial part of a business plan. Because if you are going to get funds for your business, you’ll have to provide numbers that will show your business growth, expected profit, and the total investment required. And to get the confidence of your business potential investors, you’ll have to write your financial plan more efficiently.

• Business expenses
• Income projection
• Cash flow statement
• Breakeven Analysis

9- Funding Request

In the funding request section of your business plan, you’ll have to write the total amount of funds you need to run your business. Outline all the things you need to invest for, whether it’s product development, marketing, staff management, or building expenses.

And also specify the types of funds. Are you looking for a short-term business loan or as an investment in exchange for percentage ownership?

10- Appendix

This is the last step in writing the perfect business plan for your company. Here you’ll be providing all the additional information, graphs, and photos that you think might help readers to better understand your business. It’s basically for motivating and convincing the reader that your business idea is feasible.

You can include these things in the Appendix of your Business Plan:

• Products Photos and Packaging samples
• Brand marketing materials and logos
• Licenses and permits
• Legal documents like shareholders certificates and incorporation papers
• Property leases and rental agreements
• Financial projection spreadsheets