Today, let’s discuss the structure, components, and parts of a complete business plan such that the reader may develop his/her own business roadmap and foundations for entrepreneurial success.
The Structure Of A Business Plan
In general terms, a business plan should be structured from macro to micro, from broad to specific. This is why the first section of a business plan is the Executive Summary, while the last is the Financial Plan, followed by the Appendix. This macro to micro structure is illustrated in the image below.
The Components Of A Business Plan
A business plan should be structured with the following seven components, each of which has multiple parts:
- Executive Summary
- Introduction
- Industry
- Offering
- Marketing Plan
- Financial Plan
- Appendix
Each of the above mentioned business plan components should be further divided into multiple key parts to create a complete business plan structure:
Regarding 7. Appendix
The Appendix is a catch-all of supporting documents. While our version of the complete business plan includes Charters, Bylaws, Articles of Incorporation, and Intellectual Property Registrations (such as copyrights, trademarks, patents, and trade secrets), the reality is that one’s Appendix will include many more documents than this and should be unique to one’s business. The Appendix often includes the following additional documents:
- Permits
- Leases
- Resumes
- Licenses
- Market Studies
- Media Mentions
- Product Pictures
- Letters of Reference
- Professional Certifications
- Deeds & other Legal Documents
- Credit History (personal & business)
- Consultants (especially attorney and accountant)
- Contracts (especially key customer contracts and purchase orders)
- Any other relevant documents!
Business Plan Building Resources
More resources for your business plan building!
– “Are Formal Planners More Likely To Achieve New Venture Viability? A Counterfactual Model And Analysis” – Wiley Online Library – https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/sej.1245
– “Elements of a Business Plan” – Georgetown – https://www.law.georgetown.edu/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/Elements-of-a-Business-Plan.pdf
– “Financial Projections Guide” – SCORE – https://s3.amazonaws.com/mentoring.redesign/s3fs-public/Financial%2520Projections%2520Template%2520Guide%2520-%2520English.pdf
– “Marketing Strategy: Templates, Definitions, Importance, Benefits, Steps, & Types” – CoSchedule – https://coschedule.com/marketing-strategy
– “Necessary Components of an Effective Business Plan” – Expert Business Advice – https://www.expertbusinessadvice.com/business-planning/necessary-components-of-a-business-plan-39.html
– “Perspectives on Learning and Business Plans—More in Common Than Meets the Eye” – National Library of Medicine – https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3963774/
– “Pre-Startup Formal Business Plans and Post-Startup Performance: A Study of 116 New Ventures” – Babson College – https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1269484
– “Research: Writing a Business Plan Makes Your Startup More Likely to Succeed” – Harvard Business Review – https://hbr.org/2017/07/research-writing-a-business-plan-makes-your-startup-more-likely-to-succeed
– “Write Your Business Plan” – The US Small Business Administration (SBA) – https://www.sba.gov/business-guide/plan-your-business/write-your-business-plan
Thanks for reading!