How to write a business plan step by step

Why do you need a business plan?

Imagine that you want to travel to a country without knowing anything about it.

You will struggle to find your way!

The business is the same.

You can get too many problems without planning because the business plan analyses the current situation and gives you the shortest and smartest ways to get better.

So, if you want to build a successful business, you should create a successful business plan.

Before start talking about how to write a business plan, you should know that the business plan can be different from one company to another. So, we have prepared the main elements to make a business plan.

How to write a business plan step by step?

1. Executive summary

This is the first section of your business plan and it should include a general overview of the project and its goals.

Also, this page should include a brief description of the products and services that you will offer.

2. Products and services

In this section, you should explain in detail the products and services you’re going to offer.

In addition, you should add the prices, types, benefits of your products. Also, you can add anything else related to your products such as the production process.

3. Business goals

Goals are very important in any project because they give you two important things: periodic evaluation and assessment results.

You should set two types of goals for your business:

Short-term goals:

these types of goals should be achieved in the near future. The near future can be the next week, month, or six months. These type of goals is very important because it includes daily, weekly, monthly tasks. And you can assess your project depending on the results.

Long-term goals:

These types of goals should be accomplished in the far future. The far future can be after one year, two years, or even five years.

It is noteworthy that these goals are not constant and they can be changed depending on the market requirements and monthly assessment results.

4. Marketing plan

This paragraph describes how the company will attract customers and how it will promote its products and services to the clients.

So, it should include a clear marketing strategy and a full description of the selling process.

5. Financial plan

In the financial section, you should write the following statements:

Cash flow statement: It is a financial statement that summarizes the amount of cash entering and leaving a company.

The income statement: It is a financial statement that measures the performance of a company over a specific period of time.

The balance sheet: It is a financial statement that reports a company's liabilities, assets, and shareholder equity.

6. Management structure

This is the last part of the business plan.

To succeed in any company, you should build successful teamwork.

This is one of the most important points because ignoring distributing the tasks to the right employees will interrupt the work and decrease production.

So, you must build a professional management structure to make the work easier.

Also, you can follow the mistakes faster and fix them quickly.

How many pages should a business plan be?

There is no maximum or a minimum number of pages for a successful business plan because it can be different from one business to another. Also, it depends on the business field and size.

In general, the business plan can be from 50 to 100 pages but these numbers are not constant. The most important thing is to cover the major sections to build a clear, smart, and successful business plan.