How to Write a Business Plan: Step-by-Step Guide + Examples

Determined female African-American entrepreneur scaling a mountain while wearing a large backpack. Represents the journey to starting and growing a business and needing to write a business plan to get there.

Noah Parsons

24 min. read

Updated February 2, 2024

Writing a business plan doesn’t have to be complicated. 

In this step-by-step guide, you’ll learn how to write a business plan that’s detailed enough to impress bankers and potential investors, while giving you the tools to start, run, and grow a successful business.

  • The basics of business planning

If you’re reading this guide, then you already know why you need a business plan . 

You understand that planning helps you: 

  • Raise money
  • Grow strategically
  • Keep your business on the right track 

As you start to write your plan, it’s useful to zoom out and remember what a business plan is .

At its core, a business plan is an overview of the products and services you sell, and the customers that you sell to. It explains your business strategy: how you’re going to build and grow your business, what your marketing strategy is, and who your competitors are.

Most business plans also include financial forecasts for the future. These set sales goals, budget for expenses, and predict profits and cash flow. 

A good business plan is much more than just a document that you write once and forget about. It’s also a guide that helps you outline and achieve your goals. 

After completing your plan, you can use it as a management tool to track your progress toward your goals. Updating and adjusting your forecasts and budgets as you go is one of the most important steps you can take to run a healthier, smarter business. 

We’ll dive into how to use your plan later in this article.

There are many different types of plans , but we’ll go over the most common type here, which includes everything you need for an investor-ready plan. However, if you’re just starting out and are looking for something simpler—I recommend starting with a one-page business plan . It’s faster and easier to create. 

It’s also the perfect place to start if you’re just figuring out your idea, or need a simple strategic plan to use inside your business.

Dig deeper : How to write a one-page business plan

Brought to you by

LivePlan Logo

Create a professional business plan

Using ai and step-by-step instructions.

Secure funding

Validate ideas

Build a strategy

  • What to include in your business plan

Executive summary

The executive summary is an overview of your business and your plans. It comes first in your plan and is ideally just one to two pages. Most people write it last because it’s a summary of the complete business plan.

Ideally, the executive summary can act as a stand-alone document that covers the highlights of your detailed plan. 

In fact, it’s common for investors to ask only for the executive summary when evaluating your business. If they like what they see in the executive summary, they’ll often follow up with a request for a complete plan, a pitch presentation , or more in-depth financial forecasts .

Your executive summary should include:

  • A summary of the problem you are solving
  • A description of your product or service
  • An overview of your target market
  • A brief description of your team
  • A summary of your financials
  • Your funding requirements (if you are raising money)

Dig Deeper: How to write an effective executive summary

Products and services description

This is where you describe exactly what you’re selling, and how it solves a problem for your target market. The best way to organize this part of your plan is to start by describing the problem that exists for your customers. After that, you can describe how you plan to solve that problem with your product or service. 

This is usually called a problem and solution statement .

To truly showcase the value of your products and services, you need to craft a compelling narrative around your offerings. How will your product or service transform your customers’ lives or jobs? A strong narrative will draw in your readers.

This is also the part of the business plan to discuss any competitive advantages you may have, like specific intellectual property or patents that protect your product. If you have any initial sales, contracts, or other evidence that your product or service is likely to sell, include that information as well. It will show that your idea has traction , which can help convince readers that your plan has a high chance of success.

Market analysis

Your target market is a description of the type of people that you plan to sell to. You might even have multiple target markets, depending on your business. 

A market analysis is the part of your plan where you bring together all of the information you know about your target market. Basically, it’s a thorough description of who your customers are and why they need what you’re selling. You’ll also include information about the growth of your market and your industry .

Try to be as specific as possible when you describe your market. 

Include information such as age, income level, and location—these are what’s called “demographics.” If you can, also describe your market’s interests and habits as they relate to your business—these are “psychographics.” 

Related: Target market examples

Essentially, you want to include any knowledge you have about your customers that is relevant to how your product or service is right for them. With a solid target market, it will be easier to create a sales and marketing plan that will reach your customers. That’s because you know who they are, what they like to do, and the best ways to reach them.

Next, provide any additional information you have about your market. 

What is the size of your market ? Is the market growing or shrinking? Ideally, you’ll want to demonstrate that your market is growing over time, and also explain how your business is positioned to take advantage of any expected changes in your industry.

Dig Deeper: Learn how to write a market analysis

Competitive analysis

Part of defining your business opportunity is determining what your competitive advantage is. To do this effectively, you need to know as much about your competitors as your target customers. 

Every business has some form of competition. If you don’t think you have competitors, then explore what alternatives there are in the market for your product or service. 

For example: In the early years of cars, their main competition was horses. For social media, the early competition was reading books, watching TV, and talking on the phone.

A good competitive analysis fully lays out the competitive landscape and then explains how your business is different. Maybe your products are better made, or cheaper, or your customer service is superior. Maybe your competitive advantage is your location – a wide variety of factors can ultimately give you an advantage.

Dig Deeper: How to write a competitive analysis for your business plan

Marketing and sales plan

The marketing and sales plan covers how you will position your product or service in the market, the marketing channels and messaging you will use, and your sales tactics. 

The best place to start with a marketing plan is with a positioning statement . 

This explains how your business fits into the overall market, and how you will explain the advantages of your product or service to customers. You’ll use the information from your competitive analysis to help you with your positioning. 

For example: You might position your company as the premium, most expensive but the highest quality option in the market. Or your positioning might focus on being locally owned and that shoppers support the local economy by buying your products.

Once you understand your positioning, you’ll bring this together with the information about your target market to create your marketing strategy . 

This is how you plan to communicate your message to potential customers. Depending on who your customers are and how they purchase products like yours, you might use many different strategies, from social media advertising to creating a podcast. Your marketing plan is all about how your customers discover who you are and why they should consider your products and services. 

While your marketing plan is about reaching your customers—your sales plan will describe the actual sales process once a customer has decided that they’re interested in what you have to offer. 

If your business requires salespeople and a long sales process, describe that in this section. If your customers can “self-serve” and just make purchases quickly on your website, describe that process. 

A good sales plan picks up where your marketing plan leaves off. The marketing plan brings customers in the door and the sales plan is how you close the deal.

Together, these specific plans paint a picture of how you will connect with your target audience, and how you will turn them into paying customers.

Dig deeper: What to include in your sales and marketing plan

Business operations

The operations section describes the necessary requirements for your business to run smoothly. It’s where you talk about how your business works and what day-to-day operations look like. 

Depending on how your business is structured, your operations plan may include elements of the business like:

  • Supply chain management
  • Manufacturing processes
  • Equipment and technology
  • Distribution

Some businesses distribute their products and reach their customers through large retailers like Amazon.com, Walmart, Target, and grocery store chains. 

These businesses should review how this part of their business works. The plan should discuss the logistics and costs of getting products onto store shelves and any potential hurdles the business may have to overcome.

If your business is much simpler than this, that’s OK. This section of your business plan can be either extremely short or more detailed, depending on the type of business you are building.

For businesses selling services, such as physical therapy or online software, you can use this section to describe the technology you’ll leverage, what goes into your service, and who you will partner with to deliver your services.

Dig Deeper: Learn how to write the operations chapter of your plan

Key milestones and metrics

Although it’s not required to complete your business plan, mapping out key business milestones and the metrics can be incredibly useful for measuring your success.

Good milestones clearly lay out the parameters of the task and set expectations for their execution. You’ll want to include:

  • A description of each task
  • The proposed due date
  • Who is responsible for each task

If you have a budget, you can include projected costs to hit each milestone. You don’t need extensive project planning in this section—just list key milestones you want to hit and when you plan to hit them. This is your overall business roadmap. 

Possible milestones might be:

  • Website launch date
  • Store or office opening date
  • First significant sales
  • Break even date
  • Business licenses and approvals

You should also discuss the key numbers you will track to determine your success. Some common metrics worth tracking include:

  • Conversion rates
  • Customer acquisition costs
  • Profit per customer
  • Repeat purchases

It’s perfectly fine to start with just a few metrics and grow the number you are tracking over time. You also may find that some metrics simply aren’t relevant to your business and can narrow down what you’re tracking.

Dig Deeper: How to use milestones in your business plan

Organization and management team

Investors don’t just look for great ideas—they want to find great teams. Use this chapter to describe your current team and who you need to hire . You should also provide a quick overview of your location and history if you’re already up and running.

Briefly highlight the relevant experiences of each key team member in the company. It’s important to make the case for why yours is the right team to turn an idea into a reality. 

Do they have the right industry experience and background? Have members of the team had entrepreneurial successes before? 

If you still need to hire key team members, that’s OK. Just note those gaps in this section.

Your company overview should also include a summary of your company’s current business structure . The most common business structures include:

  • Sole proprietor
  • Partnership

Be sure to provide an overview of how the business is owned as well. Does each business partner own an equal portion of the business? How is ownership divided? 

Potential lenders and investors will want to know the structure of the business before they will consider a loan or investment.

Dig Deeper: How to write about your company structure and team

Financial plan

Last, but certainly not least, is your financial plan chapter. 

Entrepreneurs often find this section the most daunting. But, business financials for most startups are less complicated than you think, and a business degree is certainly not required to build a solid financial forecast. 

A typical financial forecast in a business plan includes the following:

  • Sales forecast : An estimate of the sales expected over a given period. You’ll break down your forecast into the key revenue streams that you expect to have.
  • Expense budget : Your planned spending such as personnel costs , marketing expenses, and taxes.
  • Profit & Loss : Brings together your sales and expenses and helps you calculate planned profits.
  • Cash Flow : Shows how cash moves into and out of your business. It can predict how much cash you’ll have on hand at any given point in the future.
  • Balance Sheet : A list of the assets, liabilities, and equity in your company. In short, it provides an overview of the financial health of your business. 

A strong business plan will include a description of assumptions about the future, and potential risks that could impact the financial plan. Including those will be especially important if you’re writing a business plan to pursue a loan or other investment.

Dig Deeper: How to create financial forecasts and budgets

This is the place for additional data, charts, or other information that supports your plan.

Including an appendix can significantly enhance the credibility of your plan by showing readers that you’ve thoroughly considered the details of your business idea, and are backing your ideas up with solid data.

Just remember that the information in the appendix is meant to be supplementary. Your business plan should stand on its own, even if the reader skips this section.

Dig Deeper : What to include in your business plan appendix

Optional: Business plan cover page

Adding a business plan cover page can make your plan, and by extension your business, seem more professional in the eyes of potential investors, lenders, and partners. It serves as the introduction to your document and provides necessary contact information for stakeholders to reference.

Your cover page should be simple and include:

  • Company logo
  • Business name
  • Value proposition (optional)
  • Business plan title
  • Completion and/or update date
  • Address and contact information
  • Confidentiality statement

Just remember, the cover page is optional. If you decide to include it, keep it very simple and only spend a short amount of time putting it together.

Dig Deeper: How to create a business plan cover page

How to use AI to help write your business plan

Generative AI tools such as ChatGPT can speed up the business plan writing process and help you think through concepts like market segmentation and competition. These tools are especially useful for taking ideas that you provide and converting them into polished text for your business plan.

The best way to use AI for your business plan is to leverage it as a collaborator , not a replacement for human creative thinking and ingenuity. 

AI can come up with lots of ideas and act as a brainstorming partner. It’s up to you to filter through those ideas and figure out which ones are realistic enough to resonate with your customers. 

There are pros and cons of using AI to help with your business plan . So, spend some time understanding how it can be most helpful before just outsourcing the job to AI.

Learn more: How to collaborate with AI on your business plan

  • Writing tips and strategies

To help streamline the business plan writing process, here are a few tips and key questions to answer to make sure you get the most out of your plan and avoid common mistakes .  

Determine why you are writing a business plan

Knowing why you are writing a business plan will determine your approach to your planning project. 

For example: If you are writing a business plan for yourself, or just to use inside your own business , you can probably skip the section about your team and organizational structure. 

If you’re raising money, you’ll want to spend more time explaining why you’re looking to raise the funds and exactly how you will use them.

Regardless of how you intend to use your business plan , think about why you are writing and what you’re trying to get out of the process before you begin.

Keep things concise

Probably the most important tip is to keep your business plan short and simple. There are no prizes for long business plans . The longer your plan is, the less likely people are to read it. 

So focus on trimming things down to the essentials your readers need to know. Skip the extended, wordy descriptions and instead focus on creating a plan that is easy to read —using bullets and short sentences whenever possible.

Have someone review your business plan

Writing a business plan in a vacuum is never a good idea. Sometimes it’s helpful to zoom out and check if your plan makes sense to someone else. You also want to make sure that it’s easy to read and understand.

Don’t wait until your plan is “done” to get a second look. Start sharing your plan early, and find out from readers what questions your plan leaves unanswered. This early review cycle will help you spot shortcomings in your plan and address them quickly, rather than finding out about them right before you present your plan to a lender or investor.

If you need a more detailed review, you may want to explore hiring a professional plan writer to thoroughly examine it.

Use a free business plan template and business plan examples to get started

Knowing what information you need to cover in a business plan sometimes isn’t quite enough. If you’re struggling to get started or need additional guidance, it may be worth using a business plan template. 

If you’re looking for a free downloadable business plan template to get you started, download the template used by more than 1 million businesses. 

Or, if you just want to see what a completed business plan looks like, check out our library of over 550 free business plan examples . 

We even have a growing list of industry business planning guides with tips for what to focus on depending on your business type.

Common pitfalls and how to avoid them

It’s easy to make mistakes when you’re writing your business plan. Some entrepreneurs get sucked into the writing and research process, and don’t focus enough on actually getting their business started. 

Here are a few common mistakes and how to avoid them:

Not talking to your customers : This is one of the most common mistakes. It’s easy to assume that your product or service is something that people want. Before you invest too much in your business and too much in the planning process, make sure you talk to your prospective customers and have a good understanding of their needs.

  • Overly optimistic sales and profit forecasts: By nature, entrepreneurs are optimistic about the future. But it’s good to temper that optimism a little when you’re planning, and make sure your forecasts are grounded in reality. 
  • Spending too much time planning: Yes, planning is crucial. But you also need to get out and talk to customers, build prototypes of your product and figure out if there’s a market for your idea. Make sure to balance planning with building.
  • Not revising the plan: Planning is useful, but nothing ever goes exactly as planned. As you learn more about what’s working and what’s not—revise your plan, your budgets, and your revenue forecast. Doing so will provide a more realistic picture of where your business is going, and what your financial needs will be moving forward.
  • Not using the plan to manage your business: A good business plan is a management tool. Don’t just write it and put it on the shelf to collect dust – use it to track your progress and help you reach your goals.
  • Presenting your business plan

The planning process forces you to think through every aspect of your business and answer questions that you may not have thought of. That’s the real benefit of writing a business plan – the knowledge you gain about your business that you may not have been able to discover otherwise.

With all of this knowledge, you’re well prepared to convert your business plan into a pitch presentation to present your ideas. 

A pitch presentation is a summary of your plan, just hitting the highlights and key points. It’s the best way to present your business plan to investors and team members.

Dig Deeper: Learn what key slides should be included in your pitch deck

Use your business plan to manage your business

One of the biggest benefits of planning is that it gives you a tool to manage your business better. With a revenue forecast, expense budget, and projected cash flow, you know your targets and where you are headed.

And yet, nothing ever goes exactly as planned – it’s the nature of business.

That’s where using your plan as a management tool comes in. The key to leveraging it for your business is to review it periodically and compare your forecasts and projections to your actual results.

Start by setting up a regular time to review the plan – a monthly review is a good starting point. During this review, answer questions like:

  • Did you meet your sales goals?
  • Is spending following your budget?
  • Has anything gone differently than what you expected?

Now that you see whether you’re meeting your goals or are off track, you can make adjustments and set new targets. 

Maybe you’re exceeding your sales goals and should set new, more aggressive goals. In that case, maybe you should also explore more spending or hiring more employees. 

Or maybe expenses are rising faster than you projected. If that’s the case, you would need to look at where you can cut costs.

A plan, and a method for comparing your plan to your actual results , is the tool you need to steer your business toward success.

Learn More: How to run a regular plan review

Free business plan templates and examples

Kickstart your business plan writing with one of our free business plan templates or recommended tools.

how to make a business plan for next year

Free business plan template

Download a free SBA-approved business plan template built for small businesses and startups.

Download Template

how to make a business plan for next year

One-page plan template

Download a free one-page plan template to write a useful business plan in as little as 30-minutes.

how to make a business plan for next year

Sample business plan library

Explore over 500 real-world business plan examples from a wide variety of industries.

View Sample Plans

how to make a business plan for next year

Write your plan faster with LivePlan

Try the business planning and growth tool trusted by over 1-million business owners.

Start your plan

How to write a business plan FAQ

What is a business plan?

A document that describes your business , the products and services you sell, and the customers that you sell to. It explains your business strategy, how you’re going to build and grow your business, what your marketing strategy is, and who your competitors are.

What are the benefits of a business plan?

A business plan helps you understand where you want to go with your business and what it will take to get there. It reduces your overall risk, helps you uncover your business’s potential, attracts investors, and identifies areas for growth.

Having a business plan ultimately makes you more confident as a business owner and more likely to succeed for a longer period of time.

What are the 7 steps of a business plan?

The seven steps to writing a business plan include:

  • Write a brief executive summary
  • Describe your products and services.
  • Conduct market research and compile data into a cohesive market analysis.
  • Describe your marketing and sales strategy.
  • Outline your organizational structure and management team.
  • Develop financial projections for sales, revenue, and cash flow.
  • Add any additional documents to your appendix.

What are the 5 most common business plan mistakes?

There are plenty of mistakes that can be made when writing a business plan. However, these are the 5 most common that you should do your best to avoid:

  • 1. Not taking the planning process seriously.
  • Having unrealistic financial projections or incomplete financial information.
  • Inconsistent information or simple mistakes.
  • Failing to establish a sound business model.
  • Not having a defined purpose for your business plan.

What questions should be answered in a business plan?

Writing a business plan is all about asking yourself questions about your business and being able to answer them through the planning process. You’ll likely be asking dozens and dozens of questions for each section of your plan.

However, these are the key questions you should ask and answer with your business plan:

  • How will your business make money?
  • Is there a need for your product or service?
  • Who are your customers?
  • How are you different from the competition?
  • How will you reach your customers?
  • How will you measure success?

How long should a business plan be?

The length of your business plan fully depends on what you intend to do with it. From the SBA and traditional lender point of view, a business plan needs to be whatever length necessary to fully explain your business. This means that you prove the viability of your business, show that you understand the market, and have a detailed strategy in place.

If you intend to use your business plan for internal management purposes, you don’t necessarily need a full 25-50 page business plan. Instead, you can start with a one-page plan to get all of the necessary information in place.

What are the different types of business plans?

While all business plans cover similar categories, the style and function fully depend on how you intend to use your plan. Here are a few common business plan types worth considering.

Traditional business plan: The tried-and-true traditional business plan is a formal document meant to be used when applying for funding or pitching to investors. This type of business plan follows the outline above and can be anywhere from 10-50 pages depending on the amount of detail included, the complexity of your business, and what you include in your appendix.

Business model canvas: The business model canvas is a one-page template designed to demystify the business planning process. It removes the need for a traditional, copy-heavy business plan, in favor of a single-page outline that can help you and outside parties better explore your business idea.

One-page business plan: This format is a simplified version of the traditional plan that focuses on the core aspects of your business. You’ll typically stick with bullet points and single sentences. It’s most useful for those exploring ideas, needing to validate their business model, or who need an internal plan to help them run and manage their business.

Lean Plan: The Lean Plan is less of a specific document type and more of a methodology. It takes the simplicity and styling of the one-page business plan and turns it into a process for you to continuously plan, test, review, refine, and take action based on performance. It’s faster, keeps your plan concise, and ensures that your plan is always up-to-date.

What’s the difference between a business plan and a strategic plan?

A business plan covers the “who” and “what” of your business. It explains what your business is doing right now and how it functions. The strategic plan explores long-term goals and explains “how” the business will get there. It encourages you to look more intently toward the future and how you will achieve your vision.

However, when approached correctly, your business plan can actually function as a strategic plan as well. If kept lean, you can define your business, outline strategic steps, and track ongoing operations all with a single plan.

See why 1.2 million entrepreneurs have written their business plans with LivePlan

Content Author: Noah Parsons

Noah is the COO at Palo Alto Software, makers of the online business plan app LivePlan. He started his career at Yahoo! and then helped start the user review site Epinions.com. From there he started a software distribution business in the UK before coming to Palo Alto Software to run the marketing and product teams.

Check out LivePlan

Table of Contents

  • Use AI to help write your plan
  • Common planning mistakes
  • Manage with your business plan
  • Templates and examples

Related Articles

how to make a business plan for next year

12 Min. Read

Amazon FBA business plan

how to make a business plan for next year

9 Min. Read

Write a customer analysis

how to make a business plan for next year

8 Min. Read

7. Use the right tools and resources

how to make a business plan for next year

11 Min. Read

SaaS business plan

The LivePlan Newsletter

Become a smarter, more strategic entrepreneur.

Your first monthly newsetter will be delivered soon..

Unsubscribe anytime. Privacy policy .

Garrett's Bike Shop

The quickest way to turn a business idea into a business plan

Fill-in-the-blanks and automatic financials make it easy.

No thanks, I prefer writing 40-page documents.

LivePlan pitch example

Discover the world’s #1 plan building software

how to make a business plan for next year

Step-by-Step Guide to Writing a Simple Business Plan

By Joe Weller | October 11, 2021

  • Share on Facebook
  • Share on Twitter
  • Share on LinkedIn

Link copied

A business plan is the cornerstone of any successful company, regardless of size or industry. This step-by-step guide provides information on writing a business plan for organizations at any stage, complete with free templates and expert advice. 

Included on this page, you’ll find a step-by-step guide to writing a business plan and a chart to identify which type of business plan you should write . Plus, find information on how a business plan can help grow a business and expert tips on writing one .

What Is a Business Plan?

A business plan is a document that communicates a company’s goals and ambitions, along with the timeline, finances, and methods needed to achieve them. Additionally, it may include a mission statement and details about the specific products or services offered.

A business plan can highlight varying time periods, depending on the stage of your company and its goals. That said, a typical business plan will include the following benchmarks:

  • Product goals and deadlines for each month
  • Monthly financials for the first two years
  • Profit and loss statements for the first three to five years
  • Balance sheet projections for the first three to five years

Startups, entrepreneurs, and small businesses all create business plans to use as a guide as their new company progresses. Larger organizations may also create (and update) a business plan to keep high-level goals, financials, and timelines in check.

While you certainly need to have a formalized outline of your business’s goals and finances, creating a business plan can also help you determine a company’s viability, its profitability (including when it will first turn a profit), and how much money you will need from investors. In turn, a business plan has functional value as well: Not only does outlining goals help keep you accountable on a timeline, it can also attract investors in and of itself and, therefore, act as an effective strategy for growth.

For more information, visit our comprehensive guide to writing a strategic plan or download free strategic plan templates . This page focuses on for-profit business plans, but you can read our article with nonprofit business plan templates .

Business Plan Steps

The specific information in your business plan will vary, depending on the needs and goals of your venture, but a typical plan includes the following ordered elements:

  • Executive summary
  • Description of business
  • Market analysis
  • Competitive analysis
  • Description of organizational management
  • Description of product or services
  • Marketing plan
  • Sales strategy
  • Funding details (or request for funding)
  • Financial projections

If your plan is particularly long or complicated, consider adding a table of contents or an appendix for reference. For an in-depth description of each step listed above, read “ How to Write a Business Plan Step by Step ” below.

Broadly speaking, your audience includes anyone with a vested interest in your organization. They can include potential and existing investors, as well as customers, internal team members, suppliers, and vendors.

Do I Need a Simple or Detailed Plan?

Your business’s stage and intended audience dictates the level of detail your plan needs. Corporations require a thorough business plan — up to 100 pages. Small businesses or startups should have a concise plan focusing on financials and strategy.

How to Choose the Right Plan for Your Business

In order to identify which type of business plan you need to create, ask: “What do we want the plan to do?” Identify function first, and form will follow.

Use the chart below as a guide for what type of business plan to create:

Is the Order of Your Business Plan Important?

There is no set order for a business plan, with the exception of the executive summary, which should always come first. Beyond that, simply ensure that you organize the plan in a way that makes sense and flows naturally.

The Difference Between Traditional and Lean Business Plans

A traditional business plan follows the standard structure — because these plans encourage detail, they tend to require more work upfront and can run dozens of pages. A Lean business plan is less common and focuses on summarizing critical points for each section. These plans take much less work and typically run one page in length.

In general, you should use a traditional model for a legacy company, a large company, or any business that does not adhere to Lean (or another Agile method ). Use Lean if you expect the company to pivot quickly or if you already employ a Lean strategy with other business operations. Additionally, a Lean business plan can suffice if the document is for internal use only. Stick to a traditional version for investors, as they may be more sensitive to sudden changes or a high degree of built-in flexibility in the plan.

How to Write a Business Plan Step by Step

Writing a strong business plan requires research and attention to detail for each section. Below, you’ll find a 10-step guide to researching and defining each element in the plan.

Step 1: Executive Summary

The executive summary will always be the first section of your business plan. The goal is to answer the following questions:

  • What is the vision and mission of the company?
  • What are the company’s short- and long-term goals?

See our  roundup of executive summary examples and templates for samples. Read our executive summary guide to learn more about writing one.

Step 2: Description of Business

The goal of this section is to define the realm, scope, and intent of your venture. To do so, answer the following questions as clearly and concisely as possible:

  • What business are we in?
  • What does our business do?

Step 3: Market Analysis

In this section, provide evidence that you have surveyed and understand the current marketplace, and that your product or service satisfies a niche in the market. To do so, answer these questions:

  • Who is our customer? 
  • What does that customer value?

Step 4: Competitive Analysis

In many cases, a business plan proposes not a brand-new (or even market-disrupting) venture, but a more competitive version — whether via features, pricing, integrations, etc. — than what is currently available. In this section, answer the following questions to show that your product or service stands to outpace competitors:

  • Who is the competition? 
  • What do they do best? 
  • What is our unique value proposition?

Step 5: Description of Organizational Management

In this section, write an overview of the team members and other key personnel who are integral to success. List roles and responsibilities, and if possible, note the hierarchy or team structure.

Step 6: Description of Products or Services

In this section, clearly define your product or service, as well as all the effort and resources that go into producing it. The strength of your product largely defines the success of your business, so it’s imperative that you take time to test and refine the product before launching into marketing, sales, or funding details.

Questions to answer in this section are as follows:

  • What is the product or service?
  • How do we produce it, and what resources are necessary for production?

Step 7: Marketing Plan

In this section, define the marketing strategy for your product or service. This doesn’t need to be as fleshed out as a full marketing plan , but it should answer basic questions, such as the following:

  • Who is the target market (if different from existing customer base)?
  • What channels will you use to reach your target market?
  • What resources does your marketing strategy require, and do you have access to them?
  • If possible, do you have a rough estimate of timeline and budget?
  • How will you measure success?

Step 8: Sales Plan

Write an overview of the sales strategy, including the priorities of each cycle, steps to achieve these goals, and metrics for success. For the purposes of a business plan, this section does not need to be a comprehensive, in-depth sales plan , but can simply outline the high-level objectives and strategies of your sales efforts. 

Start by answering the following questions:

  • What is the sales strategy?
  • What are the tools and tactics you will use to achieve your goals?
  • What are the potential obstacles, and how will you overcome them?
  • What is the timeline for sales and turning a profit?
  • What are the metrics of success?

Step 9: Funding Details (or Request for Funding)

This section is one of the most critical parts of your business plan, particularly if you are sharing it with investors. You do not need to provide a full financial plan, but you should be able to answer the following questions:

  • How much capital do you currently have? How much capital do you need?
  • How will you grow the team (onboarding, team structure, training and development)?
  • What are your physical needs and constraints (space, equipment, etc.)?

Step 10: Financial Projections

Apart from the fundraising analysis, investors like to see thought-out financial projections for the future. As discussed earlier, depending on the scope and stage of your business, this could be anywhere from one to five years. 

While these projections won’t be exact — and will need to be somewhat flexible — you should be able to gauge the following:

  • How and when will the company first generate a profit?
  • How will the company maintain profit thereafter?

Business Plan Template

Business Plan Template

Download Business Plan Template

Microsoft Excel | Smartsheet

This basic business plan template has space for all the traditional elements: an executive summary, product or service details, target audience, marketing and sales strategies, etc. In the finances sections, input your baseline numbers, and the template will automatically calculate projections for sales forecasting, financial statements, and more.

For templates tailored to more specific needs, visit this business plan template roundup or download a fill-in-the-blank business plan template to make things easy. 

If you are looking for a particular template by file type, visit our pages dedicated exclusively to Microsoft Excel , Microsoft Word , and Adobe PDF business plan templates.

How to Write a Simple Business Plan

A simple business plan is a streamlined, lightweight version of the large, traditional model. As opposed to a one-page business plan , which communicates high-level information for quick overviews (such as a stakeholder presentation), a simple business plan can exceed one page.

Below are the steps for creating a generic simple business plan, which are reflected in the template below .

  • Write the Executive Summary This section is the same as in the traditional business plan — simply offer an overview of what’s in the business plan, the prospect or core offering, and the short- and long-term goals of the company. 
  • Add a Company Overview Document the larger company mission and vision. 
  • Provide the Problem and Solution In straightforward terms, define the problem you are attempting to solve with your product or service and how your company will attempt to do it. Think of this section as the gap in the market you are attempting to close.
  • Identify the Target Market Who is your company (and its products or services) attempting to reach? If possible, briefly define your buyer personas .
  • Write About the Competition In this section, demonstrate your knowledge of the market by listing the current competitors and outlining your competitive advantage.
  • Describe Your Product or Service Offerings Get down to brass tacks and define your product or service. What exactly are you selling?
  • Outline Your Marketing Tactics Without getting into too much detail, describe your planned marketing initiatives.
  • Add a Timeline and the Metrics You Will Use to Measure Success Offer a rough timeline, including milestones and key performance indicators (KPIs) that you will use to measure your progress.
  • Include Your Financial Forecasts Write an overview of your financial plan that demonstrates you have done your research and adequate modeling. You can also list key assumptions that go into this forecasting. 
  • Identify Your Financing Needs This section is where you will make your funding request. Based on everything in the business plan, list your proposed sources of funding, as well as how you will use it.

Simple Business Plan Template

Simple Business Plan Template

Download Simple Business Plan Template

Microsoft Excel |  Microsoft Word | Adobe PDF  | Smartsheet

Use this simple business plan template to outline each aspect of your organization, including information about financing and opportunities to seek out further funding. This template is completely customizable to fit the needs of any business, whether it’s a startup or large company.

Read our article offering free simple business plan templates or free 30-60-90-day business plan templates to find more tailored options. You can also explore our collection of one page business templates . 

How to Write a Business Plan for a Lean Startup

A Lean startup business plan is a more Agile approach to a traditional version. The plan focuses more on activities, processes, and relationships (and maintains flexibility in all aspects), rather than on concrete deliverables and timelines.

While there is some overlap between a traditional and a Lean business plan, you can write a Lean plan by following the steps below:

  • Add Your Value Proposition Take a streamlined approach to describing your product or service. What is the unique value your startup aims to deliver to customers? Make sure the team is aligned on the core offering and that you can state it in clear, simple language.
  • List Your Key Partners List any other businesses you will work with to realize your vision, including external vendors, suppliers, and partners. This section demonstrates that you have thoughtfully considered the resources you can provide internally, identified areas for external assistance, and conducted research to find alternatives.
  • Note the Key Activities Describe the key activities of your business, including sourcing, production, marketing, distribution channels, and customer relationships.
  • Include Your Key Resources List the critical resources — including personnel, equipment, space, and intellectual property — that will enable you to deliver your unique value.
  • Identify Your Customer Relationships and Channels In this section, document how you will reach and build relationships with customers. Provide a high-level map of the customer experience from start to finish, including the spaces in which you will interact with the customer (online, retail, etc.). 
  • Detail Your Marketing Channels Describe the marketing methods and communication platforms you will use to identify and nurture your relationships with customers. These could be email, advertising, social media, etc.
  • Explain the Cost Structure This section is especially necessary in the early stages of a business. Will you prioritize maximizing value or keeping costs low? List the foundational startup costs and how you will move toward profit over time.
  • Share Your Revenue Streams Over time, how will the company make money? Include both the direct product or service purchase, as well as secondary sources of revenue, such as subscriptions, selling advertising space, fundraising, etc.

Lean Business Plan Template for Startups

Lean Business Plan Templates for Startups

Download Lean Business Plan Template for Startups

Microsoft Word | Adobe PDF

Startup leaders can use this Lean business plan template to relay the most critical information from a traditional plan. You’ll find all the sections listed above, including spaces for industry and product overviews, cost structure and sources of revenue, and key metrics, and a timeline. The template is completely customizable, so you can edit it to suit the objectives of your Lean startups.

See our wide variety of  startup business plan templates for more options.

How to Write a Business Plan for a Loan

A business plan for a loan, often called a loan proposal , includes many of the same aspects of a traditional business plan, as well as additional financial documents, such as a credit history, a loan request, and a loan repayment plan.

In addition, you may be asked to include personal and business financial statements, a form of collateral, and equity investment information.

Download free financial templates to support your business plan.

Tips for Writing a Business Plan

Outside of including all the key details in your business plan, you have several options to elevate the document for the highest chance of winning funding and other resources. Follow these tips from experts:.

  • Keep It Simple: Avner Brodsky , the Co-Founder and CEO of Lezgo Limited, an online marketing company, uses the acronym KISS (keep it short and simple) as a variation on this idea. “The business plan is not a college thesis,” he says. “Just focus on providing the essential information.”
  • Do Adequate Research: Michael Dean, the Co-Founder of Pool Research , encourages business leaders to “invest time in research, both internal and external (market, finance, legal etc.). Avoid being overly ambitious or presumptive. Instead, keep everything objective, balanced, and accurate.” Your plan needs to stand on its own, and you must have the data to back up any claims or forecasting you make. As Brodsky explains, “Your business needs to be grounded on the realities of the market in your chosen location. Get the most recent data from authoritative sources so that the figures are vetted by experts and are reliable.”
  • Set Clear Goals: Make sure your plan includes clear, time-based goals. “Short-term goals are key to momentum growth and are especially important to identify for new businesses,” advises Dean.
  • Know (and Address) Your Weaknesses: “This awareness sets you up to overcome your weak points much quicker than waiting for them to arise,” shares Dean. Brodsky recommends performing a full SWOT analysis to identify your weaknesses, too. “Your business will fare better with self-knowledge, which will help you better define the mission of your business, as well as the strategies you will choose to achieve your objectives,” he adds.
  • Seek Peer or Mentor Review: “Ask for feedback on your drafts and for areas to improve,” advises Brodsky. “When your mind is filled with dreams for your business, sometimes it is an outsider who can tell you what you’re missing and will save your business from being a product of whimsy.”

Outside of these more practical tips, the language you use is also important and may make or break your business plan.

Shaun Heng, VP of Operations at Coin Market Cap , gives the following advice on the writing, “Your business plan is your sales pitch to an investor. And as with any sales pitch, you need to strike the right tone and hit a few emotional chords. This is a little tricky in a business plan, because you also need to be formal and matter-of-fact. But you can still impress by weaving in descriptive language and saying things in a more elegant way.

“A great way to do this is by expanding your vocabulary, avoiding word repetition, and using business language. Instead of saying that something ‘will bring in as many customers as possible,’ try saying ‘will garner the largest possible market segment.’ Elevate your writing with precise descriptive words and you'll impress even the busiest investor.”

Additionally, Dean recommends that you “stay consistent and concise by keeping your tone and style steady throughout, and your language clear and precise. Include only what is 100 percent necessary.”

Resources for Writing a Business Plan

While a template provides a great outline of what to include in a business plan, a live document or more robust program can provide additional functionality, visibility, and real-time updates. The U.S. Small Business Association also curates resources for writing a business plan.

Additionally, you can use business plan software to house data, attach documentation, and share information with stakeholders. Popular options include LivePlan, Enloop, BizPlanner, PlanGuru, and iPlanner.

How a Business Plan Helps to Grow Your Business

A business plan — both the exercise of creating one and the document — can grow your business by helping you to refine your product, target audience, sales plan, identify opportunities, secure funding, and build new partnerships. 

Outside of these immediate returns, writing a business plan is a useful exercise in that it forces you to research the market, which prompts you to forge your unique value proposition and identify ways to beat the competition. Doing so will also help you build (and keep you accountable to) attainable financial and product milestones. And down the line, it will serve as a welcome guide as hurdles inevitably arise.

Streamline Your Business Planning Activities with Real-Time Work Management in Smartsheet

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. 

When teams have clarity into the work getting done, there’s no telling how much more they can accomplish in the same amount of time.  Try Smartsheet for free, today.

Discover why over 90% of Fortune 100 companies trust Smartsheet to get work done.

File today and secure your full Child Tax Credit when legislation passes. Get started

  • Small Business Tax Prep

Small Business Services

  • Self-Employed

Small Business Owners

  • Block Advisors News Center
  • Build Your Business
  • Manage Your Business
  • All Categories

October 31, 2023

Block Advisors

How to Write a Business Plan Step-By-Step

October 31, 2023 • Block Advisors

QUICK ANSWER:

  • A business plan outlines your business’s goals, services, financing, and more.
  • Business plans vary in length and complexity but should always include an explanation of what your business will do and how it will do it.
  • Business plans serve as a guide for business owners and employees and are key to boosting investor confidence.

Whether you’re a serial entrepreneur or just getting your first small business idea off the ground, creating a business plan is an important step. Good business planning will help you clarify your goals and objectives, identify strategies, and note any potential issues or roadblocks you might face.

Not every business owner chooses to write a business plan, but many find it to be a valuable step to take when starting a business. Creating a business plan can seem daunting and confusing at first. But taking the time to plan and research can be very beneficial, especially for first-time small business owners.

If you want to learn how to create a business plan or if you feel you just need a little business plan help, read on!

What is a Business Plan?

A business plan serves as a comprehensive document that outlines your business’s goals, services, financing, leadership, and more details essential to its success. Think of the plan as the who, what, and why of your new business:

A small business owner learning how to write a business plan

Who are the major players in your business?

What goods or services do you offer and why are they important?

Why are you in business and why should customers choose you?

Business plans can range in complexity and length, but, at their core, all plans explain what the business will do and how it will do it. A business plan serves as a guide for business owners and employees and should boost investor confidence. Some important advantages of business plans include:

  • Shows investors you have an in-demand product or service, a solid team to achieve business goals, and the potential for growth and scalability.
  • Increases the likelihood of securing a business loan, locking in investments, or raising capital. >>Read: A Guide to Raising Capital as a Small Business Founder
  • Helps recognize partnership opportunities with other companies.
  • Identifies and defines competitors within your given industry.

Looking for an examples of a successful business plan? Check out the SBA’s business plan page for walkthroughs of different business plan outlines.

How to Write a Business Plan: 10 Simple Steps

Starting with a blank page is undoubtedly intimidating. So, begin with a structured business plan template including the key elements for each section. Once your outline is complete, it’ll be time to fill in the details. Don’t worry, you’ll know how to write a business plan in no time. We’ve broken each section down to help you write a business plan in a few simple steps.

1. Brainstorm and Draft an Executive Summary for Your Business Plan

This will be the first page of your business plan. Think of it as your business’ written elevator pitch. In this high level summary, include a mission statement, a short description of the products or services you will be providing, and a summary of your financial and growth projections.

This section will be the first part people read, but you may find it easier to write it last. Writing it after building out the rest of your plan may help you condense the most important information into a concise statement. You’ll need to streamline your thoughts from the other sections into a one page or less summary.

2. Create a Business Description

In this next section, describe your business. Add more specific details than the executive summary. You should include your business’s registered name, the address of your business’s location, basic information about your business structure , and the names of key people involved in the business.

The company description should also answer these two questions:

  • Who are you?
  • What do you plan to do?

Explain why you’re in business. Show how you are different from competitors. Tell investors why they should finance your company. This section is often more inspirational and emotional. Make sure you grab the reader’s attention. The goal is to get them to believe in your vision as much as you do.

What business structure is right for my company?

Answer these six questions to help you find your fit

3. Outline Your Business Goals

This section should serve as an objective statement. Explain what you want to accomplish and your timeline. Business goals and objectives give you a clear focus. They drive your business to success, so dream big. Include objectives that will help you reach each goal. Don’t forget to make your goals and objectives SMART – that is, they should be:

S pecific | M easurable | A ttainable | R elevant | T ime-bound

4. Conduct and Summarize Market Research

Next, outline your ideal customer with some research. Do the math to estimate the potential size of your target market. Make sure you are choosing the right market for your product, one with plenty of customers who want and need your product. Define your customer’s pain points. Explain your expertise in relation to the market. Show how your product or service fills an important gap and brings value to your customers. Use your findings to build out a value proposition statement.

5. Conduct a Competitive Analysis

In a similar way, you’ll also want to conduct and include a competitive analysis. The purpose of this analysis is to determine the strengths and weaknesses of competitors in your market, strategies that will give you a competitive advantage, and how your company is different. Some people choose to conduct a competitive analysis using the SWOT method .

6. Outline Your Marketing and Sales Strategies

Your marketing sales strategy can make or break your business. Your marketing plan should outline your current sales decisions as well as future marketing strategies. In this section, you should reiterate your value proposition, target markets, and customer segments. Then, include details such as:

  • A launch plan
  • Growth tactics and strategies
  • A customer retention plan
  • Advertising and promotion channels (i.e. social media, print, search engines, etc.)

7. Describe Your Product or Service

By this point, your products or services have probably been mentioned in several areas of the business plan. But it’s still important to include a separate section that outlines their key details. Describe what you’re offering and how it fits in the current market. Also include details about the benefits, production process, and life cycle of your products. If you have any trademarks or patents, include them here. This is also a good time to ask yourself, “Should my plan include visual aids?”

[ Read More Must-Have Tips to Start Your Small Business ]

8. Compile Financial Plans

Financial health is crucial to the success of any business. If you’re just starting your business, you likely won’t have financial data yet. However, you still need to prepare a budget and financial plan. If you have them, include income statements , balance sheets , and cash flow statements . You can also include reporting metrics such as net income and your ratio of liquidity to debt repayment ability.

If you haven’t launched your business yet, include realistic projections of the same information. Set clear financial goals and include projected milestones. Share information about the budget. What are the business operations costs? Ensure you are comprehensive when considering what costs you may need to prepare for.

9. Build a Management and Operations Plan

Identify your team members. Highlight their expertise and qualifications. Outline roles that still need to be filled now to establish your company and later as the business grows. Read More: 8 tax steps to take when hiring employees >>

Include a section detailing your logistics and operations plan. Consider all parts of your operation. Create a plan that provides details on suppliers, production, equipment, shipment and fulfillment, and inventory. This shows how your business will get done.

10. Create an Appendix – A Place for Additional Information and Documents

Lastly, assemble an organized appendix. This section can contain any other relevant information a reader might need to enhance their understanding of other sections. If you feel like the appendix is getting long, consider adding a table of contents at the beginning of this section. Appendices often include documents such as:

  • Licenses and permits
  • Bank statements
  • Resumes of key employees
  • Equipment leases

How to Create a Business Plan: The Bottom Line

A business plan helps you identify clear goals and provides your business direction. Many small business plans are 10-20 pages in length. But as long as the essentials are covered, feel empowered to build a plan that works for you and your company’s needs. Creating a business plan will help you identify your market and target customers, define business aims, and foster long-term financial health.

We’re ready to help you get your business started on the right foot today, and help you find long-term satisfaction as you pursue your business dream. Writing a business plan can be exciting. But if the steps to starting your business are feeling overwhelming, Block Advisors is here to help. Make an appointment today – our experts can assist you with tax prep , bookkeeping , payroll , business formation , and more .

Block Advisors by H&R Block logo

Recommended for you

Defining employee compensation and taxable wages, a guide to raising capital as a small business founder, how to onboard new employees for their first day, find tax help in your area..

616-292-4912

Want Useful Tools & Frameworks Straight to Your Inbox Each Month?

Want Useful Tools & Frameworks Straight to Your Inbox Each Month?

Jay Hidalgo Logo

  • Meet Our Coaches
  • Reviews and Testimonials
  • Executive Coaching
  • Team Coaching
  • Enneagram Coaching & Workshops
  • How to Start a Coaching Business
  • Other Coaching
  • Strategic Planning
  • Life Planning
  • Talent Assessment
  • Manufacturing
  • Call: 616-292-4912

Time to Plan 2022: How to Make a Business Plan for Next Year

An analog clock is about to strike 12 o'clock.

It’s Not Too Late to Plan for Next Year

The curtain is closing on 2021. Though 2022 is only a few weeks away, it’s never too late to start making a business plan for the upcoming year. A strategic plan , even a flexible one, provides a helpful framework to ensure a clear vision, a manageable timeline for tasks, transparency, and an understanding of annual expectations. 

Benefits of Strategic Planning

The benefits of strategic planning include:

  • Seeing the big picture: Viewing your business in its entirety, rather than in departmental sectors, allows for focusing on areas of improvement. 
  • Breaking silos: The vertical silos model of business does not rely on  interdepartmental communication. Freeing your business from this rigid structure will encourage a horizontal chain of collaboration, leading to unconventional perspectives and solutions.
  • Learning the truth: For internal operations to run smoothly, transparency is paramount. Building trust with team members by encouraging an open dialogue means your business will be stronger than ever heading into the new year.
  • Gaining perspective: StrapOp creator Tom Paterson’s go-to line is: “Perspective before planning.” Creating a plan without fully fleshing out all possibilities, stances, and accurately seeing what is in front of you is a waste of time.
  • Clarifying your vision: An intentional, decisive vision gives everyone a common understanding of future accomplishments. This is the “why” for your process and projections—and integral for a thriving business. 
  • Strengthening your team: The phrase, “A chain is only as strong as its weakest link,” is an illustrative representation of how your business can suffer when everyone is not performing to their full potential. Strategic planning is a specific time to address snowballing issues, as well as set your team up for success. 
  • Having structure: Implementing a functional outline for meeting deadlines and making educated decisions is the main priority of a revamped structure. 
  • Planning to grow and change: Change is as inevitable as it is crucial. The skill of adaptation will benefit your organization when circumstances outside of your control arise, like a shift in consumer demand (or a multi-year pandemic). 

What’s Different About 2022?

2020 may have felt like a bust in terms of planning. Life was certifiably paused while many industries were unable to continue pursuing their endeavors . While 2020 threw most plans out the window, it can also be viewed as a reminder that embracing change (and working flexibility into a strategic plan) is a key attribute of a successful business owner. 

2021 presented new opportunities and challenges for planning. Many businesses were required to transform some aspect of their process, whether they were embracing remote work culture, optimizing their online presence, or completely restructuring teams due to state-specific mandates.

In 2022, many business owners are expecting growth, enacting a plan to maximize goals. There is a desire for customers to experience more, connect more, and seek out companies with similar alignment. This continued and heightened public support requires strategic planning to better serve a yearning, excited audience. 

On the other hand, many businesses may find it difficult to retain quality employees amid the Great Resignation . Planning strategies to attract and keep key team members is of the utmost importance this year.

What to Consider for Your Annual Business Plan

Where are you now.

Gaining perspective is hugely important. Honestly determining your current standing is a prerequisite to designing the future. Understanding ongoing barriers, specific team skills, and underdeveloped processes allows you to construct a powerful pathway to move forward.

Choosing a strategic planning framework that starts with gaining perspective, both from internal and external sources, is the ideal way to ensure your time spent getting there will pay off.

Where Do You Want to Go?

Without a clear vision for your business, you are floundering in a sea of cloudy possibilities. A vision provides identity, motivation, and direction. Both short-term and long-term goals are defined here.

Who Is on My Team?

Building a good team is important. Everyone’s roles should provide a critical function, and team input should be constructive and well-intentioned, not pessimistically critical. Personality and talent assessments lend insight to the way you can most beneficially interact with team members and where their strong suits lie, resulting in a more cohesive environment and more goal completions.

What Could Get in Our Way?

A good plan always accounts for roadblocks and realistic setbacks. By understanding these before they happen, you will be more prepared to handle them in a less chaotic, stress-inducing manner, and resume business as usual. 

What Opportunities May Arise?

Brainstorming new opportunities is a great way to get ahead of what clients or customers may be seeking out in the future, what your next candidate could bring to your team, or how to deliver more value in your services. 

How Will This Work Next Year?

It is important to make sure your annual strategic planning process is replicable. My preferred planning process, StratOp , has built-in opportunities for review and adaptation . Reconvening on goals and noticing patterns from the previous year will inform what to focus on in the year ahead.

6 Strategic Planning Process Steps

Phase 1: perspective – where are we now.

I cannot state this enough: “Perspective before planning.” With an authentically motivated perspective, the planning process develops systematically. 

Phase 2: Core Plan – Where Are We Headed?

With the reasoning behind what needs to be accomplished, adapted, or tossed altogether, a clear direction is uncovered. 

Phase 3: Action – What’s Important Now?

A pillar of StratOp is recognizing, “What’s Important Now?” (W.I.N.’s). This team-wide understanding leads to a unified plan of action.

Phase 4: Structure – What Form Best Facilitates The Plan?

Form is the outcome of a well-defined function. When you know what you need to do, you can figure out the best way to do it. The most important aspect of form is reaching necessary decisions in a specific, time-appropriate way. A proper form can increase group accountability by providing a framework to refer back to. 

Phase 5: Management – How Are We Doing?

Consistent feedback is key in maintaining a valuable, goal-oriented plan. Weekly, monthly, and quarterly reviews provide a space for evaluation and subsequent evolution of the strategic plan.

Phase 6: Renewal – What Needs To Change?

Every year, the team reconvenes on the strategic plan to discuss what worked well, what needs adjustments, and how to understand the current perspective, beginning the cycle again.

New Year’s Resolutions for Business Professionals

In addition to creating and implementing a strategic plan, there are other resolutions business owners and professionals may want to consider for the new year, such as:

  • Gaining perspective with executive coaching : Long-term coaching that can help you achieve quantifiable goals regarding your business processes, your leadership skills, team growth, and entrepreneurial pursuits.
  • Investing in the leadership development of your team: Fostering and developing imperative leadership traits, including honesty, consistency, and confidence, will take your leadership team to the next level.  
  • Developing a more intentional hiring process : Utilizing talent assessments to determine strengths is a surefire way to screen potential candidates and their ability to meld with your current and ideal work culture. 

Let’s Plan 2022

I am happy to set up a time to talk about your plan for 2022, business or executive coaching, or helpful Enneagram workshops . If you find yourself reading this in the new year, remember that while it’s never too late to enact a strategic plan for your business, the best time to start is now.

5 Steps to prepare your business plan for next year

Don't miss out.

Sign up for the weekly newsletter. Introducing you to the best insight of accounting, bookkeeping, startup and business news

Every successful entrepreneur knows how important a professional business plan is for their success. A business plan gives a direction to take the business forward. It creates an effective strategy for business growth , documents future needs, manages possible bumps, and attracts investors for fundraising.

However, owners face the most significant struggles in crafting a comprehensive business plan, including the trouble of conducting intensive and thorough research on their business needs.

Here we will discuss the following points:

What is a business plan?

How to prepare your business plan in 5 steps, tips for writing a business plan.

A business plan is a strategic representation of your business goals and strategy to achieve them. It includes the business objectives, strategies, competitor analysis, market size, operational, marketing and financial plans and SWOT analysis.

It helps communicate your business idea to potential investors , lenders or other stakeholders. Using a business plan, an owner can spot potential problems, plan new goals and measure business performance.

Hire Startup Accountants

Work with a London-based accountant for tax, accounting, payroll, & EIS/ SEIS needs.

Have a question? Call us on

Monday to friday 9am – 5pm.

A business plan should include the following elements as a minimum:

  • An executive summary
  • A business description
  • Competitor and SWOT analysis
  • Design and development plan for your business products and services
  • A detailed plan of your operations and management tasks
  • Financial forecasts
  • Detailed market strategies
  • Funding requirements
  • Organisational chart
  • Key team members’ profiles

Business plans must be customisable according to the business needs and industry type.

Common types of business plans are:

  • Startup business plan
  • Business acquisition plan
  • Business repositioning plan
  • Business expansion plan

What is the purpose of a business plan?

The purpose of a business plan is:

  • to prove that you are serious with business
  • to establish business milestones
  • to understand the competition
  • to recognise customers
  • to assess the business feasibility
  • to enable you to make a revenue model
  • to identify funding requirements
  • to attract investors and lenders
  • a good business plan reduces the risk of following wrong opportunities
  • it forces you to know your market and do proper research
  • to understand the chance of success
  • to understand your staffing needs, new opportunities, marketing, etc.

Therefore, a business plan is to guide your business doings.

If you feel you can improve your business performance, you need to develop a good business plan.

1.  State your goals

The executive summary is the essential part of a business plan that describes your business and its purpose. It also needs to explain your goals. For example, if you are writing a plan to raise capital, you need to specify how much money you expect to raise and how you will repay the loan.

Additionally, you need to establish clear short and long-term goals to know where your business will be in the future. Without proper planning, all your business activities may look successful but not in reality.

2.  Prepare SWOT analysis

Business SWOT stands for your business’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats. Identify the financial insights to change your route for achieving goals. Compare to industrial benchmarks regularly and know if you are performing well compared to your competitors.

Listing down your business strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats can help you make a strong business plan to deal with each of them in the current year.

3.  Make budget

If the previous year wasn’t as successful as you wanted, it could be because you didn’t have a proper budget. To meet business goals, maximise your strengths, and find greater opportunities, all of them need funds. However, unnecessary expenses may affect your profit margin.

Therefore, having a budget is necessary that helps you review your expenses and make better financial decisions.

4.  Supporting documentation

Preparing a successful business plan requires supporting documents. Therefore, enable your team members to provide you with essential documents during business planning.

For example, you may ask your bookkeeper or an accountant to consistently generate monthly financial metrics to help you understand the cash flow in your business and take necessary actions.

5.  Use the right tools

If you are not using the right tools, you may affect business performance. For example, accounting may require cost-effective software tools to automate your manual tasks or cloud-based software to help you manage your general ledger regularly.

Ask your professionals to recommend some latest tools and technologies to your business operations and create a better business scenario next year.

●   It shouldn’t be lengthy .

Business plans need to be precise and understandable to stakeholders, investors, and lenders. Therefore, use clear and concise language and avoid complicated jargon.

●  Show your intention

Your business plan must show your true passion for your business to employees, stakeholders, and investors.

●   Provide supporting documents

Don’t be afraid to provide your supporting documents for the business strategy. It may include an extensive list of appendices like team members’ resumes, product demonstrations, examples of internal messaging, etc.

●  Produce reference data

While making a business plan, you make market analysis, SWOT analysis, competitors and customer surveys, etc. You must produce all these authoritative and relevant data.

●  Research

Do good research on your business needs, goals, missions, and strategies, and go through financial statements to understand your financial situation, etc., before writing a business plan.

●   Demonstrate your unique vibe

When looking for how to write a business plan, you must understand how unique your business is compared to your competitors. It includes how your products are different, how you solve client problems, how efficient your technologies are, etc.

●  Be objective

You must showcase all your good and bad points regarding market research and your financial health. It will help your investors and shareholders to understand your thoughts and business future.

●   Understand the purpose

Before you start doing market research or writing a business plan, you need to understand the purpose of your plan. For example, are you making a business plan for fundraising? Be clear about the purpose while making the business plan.

●   Know your audience

You must recognise the audience, whether you are writing to attract a new investor, looking for a potential collaboration, or presenting your business plan to existing shareholders.

●   Avoid jargons

Do not use industry-specific jargon in your business plan unless you need them. Avoiding these words makes your business plan understandable to potential stakeholders and investors.

●   Evolve with company growth

You cannot have a static business plan throughout your business life cycle. That means you must evolve your plan according to the company’s growth, revise all the essential factors from the beginning, and see if you need to change anything.

Wrapping up

Whether starting a business or running an existing operation, writing a professional business plan is vital for future success. It is a foundational document that helps your business grow and thrive .

No matter your business type, size or stage, you must know what a business plan is? And how it can help your business to survive the competition. Ask a professional to help you make a successful business plan and involve all other team members like an accountant.

Learn more about Accounting , Bookkeeping and Tax

Subscribe to get our monthly dose of accounting, bookkeeping, tax and startup knowledge, inspiration and news.

FinTech

Fastest growing FinTech trends in UK 2024

business

10 Tips to pitch your business to the media

expense

10 Tips for managing unexpected expenses

how to make a business plan for next year

Get Free Monthly Update from us

Subscribe to our weekly newsletter - we will send weekly bookkeeping article directly in your inbox.

Get Started

  • Individual 61
  • Small Business 127
  • Startup 182

how to make a business plan for next year

Free Weekly Accounting advise

subscribe to our newsletter and get weekly accounting advise and news direcly in your inbox.

Sign up Now

investment

Is your SME “investment ready”? Top tips to get funding

business

How to turn your hobby into a six-figure business

startup

Cash flow planning for startup businesses in 2024

tax

How to claim tax relief for your job expenses in the UK

Accounting partners.

how to make a business plan for next year

Quality Service

how to make a business plan for next year

Good Support

how to make a business plan for next year

Satisfaction

@2017- 2023 123Financials, All rights reserved.

  • CFO SERVICES
  • CONTROLLER SERVICES
  • BOOKKEEPING SERVICES
  • How it Works
  • Recurring Revenue
  • Tech-Enabled
  • Get Started
  • Get Proposal

INSIGHTS IN ACTION

Our latest finance & accounting insights, ideas and perspectives, 5 steps to prepare your business plan for next year.

Large firms have the finance staff and business intelligence tools to inform their decision making and provide a competitive edge. Here are 5 simple, cost-effective steps to level the playing field for your small business, for 2018 and beyond.

business plan for next year

1. State Your Goals

Establish clear, quantifiable short and long-term goals so you know where you’re headed. Maintain and communicate clear priorities to your team. Live by the adage: “Without a plan, all activity looks like progress.”

2. Align Your Reporting

Identify the financial insights required to inform your decisions en route to achieving your goals, including regular comparisons to industry benchmarks so you know how you’re doing relative to your peers. And remember presentation matters. No business owner has time to read cryptic financial statements built for a CPA. Useful insights should leap from the page.

3. Enable Your Team

Even a finance team with a single bookkeeper should have the skills, time and mindset required to consistently generate helpful monthly financial metrics. Here are some questions to ask your bookkeeper or controller to ensure they're up to the task. If they fall short, consider outsourcing .

4. Deploy the Right Tools

There are many cost-effective software tools available to manage your general ledger and each aspect of your finance function – from QuickBooks for accounting to Bill.com for accounts payable automation. The right set of tools helps make the information you need secure, accessible, consumable and shareable.

Don't archive your reports after a glance. Use your monthly reporting to measure your progress toward your goals and steer your team’s focus to ensure you accomplish what you set out to do. Adapt your practices with your business. The opportunities and challenges a business owner faces evolve over time. Take the time to ensure your metrics adapt accordingly to keep you a step or two ahead of the competition.

How to make it All happen

If you’re excited by the concept of taking control of your finance function, but concerned that this new initiative may go the way of the gym membership (where you’re “all in” until early February when your focus wanes as other priorities surface), consider outsourcing your finance department. Leaning on Driven Insights for the heavy lifting, will ensure you get the most out of your finance department and that it continues to evolve with your changing needs and opportunities. 

Learn more: [email protected],   888-631-1124 .

Dave Robinson

Written by Dave Robinson

Driven Insights founder, writes about informing business decisions and building enterprise value through financial management.

Subscribe to Blog

Recent posts, posts by topic.

  • Software-as-a-service (27)
  • CFO Services (23)
  • Financial reporting (18)
  • metrics (17)
  • outsourced finance department (13)
  • SaaS Metrics Playbook (12)
  • Dashboard (4)
  • controls (4)
  • recurring revenue (4)
  • subscription model (4)
  • Finance Team (3)
  • Financial controller (2)
  • Nonprofit (2)
  • balance sheet (2)
  • bookkeeper (2)
  • bookkeeping (2)
  • get a business loan (2)
  • Community (1)
  • Controller (1)
  • Culture (1)
  • Projections (1)
  • SaaS Funding (1)
  • Small Business Funding Sources (1)
  • Startups (1)
  • Work from Home (1)
  • capital (1)
  • cash flow (1)
  • cash flow projections template (1)
  • financial close (1)
  • financing (1)
  • income statement (1)
  • invoicing (1)
  • law firm (1)
  • reconciliation (1)
  • setting business goals (1)

SCHEDULE FREE CONSULTATION

Outsourced Services

  • CFO Services
  • Controller Services
  • Bookkeeping Services

Who We Serve

  • Success Stories

How It Works

  • CFO Buyer’s Guide
  • SaaS CEO's Guide to Finance & Accounting

Linked-in

(888) 631-1124    [email protected]

Copyright ©2024 Driven Insights LLC, All rights reserved.

Strategic Business Planning for the New Year

Take stock of where your business currently stands and plan your business’s future. Here are 6 steps to plan for next year.

how to make a business plan for next year

The start of a new year is a great time to take stock of where your business currently stands and turn your attention to the future. What are your business goals for the year to come, and what kind of planning do you need to do to get there?

Strategic business planning basically answers three questions:

  • How is your business performing?
  • What business goals do you want to set for the new year?
  • What are the best ways to meet your goals?

Here’s how to plan out the new year for your small business in more detail, by following these six steps.

1. Set Your Business Goals

The first step toward any strategic plan is to determine where you’re headed, so spell out in concrete terms what you’d like to accomplish this year. Be specific. Don’t just say you’d like to increase sales. By how much? In which area? How? The clearer you are, the easier it will be to map out ways to achieve your goals.

There are three areas to consider as you set your business goals:

  • YOUR VISION FOR THE BUSINESS: Your vision is what caused you to start the business in the first place. What did you see when you looked to the future? Why did you start this business?
  • THE MISSION OF YOUR BUSINESS: Your mission is the specifics of what you’d like to accomplish, whether it’s making the best widget available or serving the most awesome tacos.
  • YOUR PERSONAL VALUES: Your values encompass what’s important to you in the way you run your business. What would you like your employees and customers to experience?

Articulating these three things – your vision, mission, and values – will help you put a strategy in place to accomplish them. Your plan will affect everything from the number of employees you hire to the types of goods and services you offer.

2. Do a Reality Check

Now that you’ve analyzed where you’d ideally like to be, figure out where you stand in relation to those goals. Sales figures are one way to measure how you’re doing, but success can mean many things; it all comes down to what success means to YOU.

Money is likely a big factor, but it also helps to think in terms of what your community involvement is like, how green your business is , and what kind of programs you have in place for your employees. Again, measure yourself against your vision, mission and values.

3. Choose Your Focus

Once you know where you are, compared to where you’d like to be, you can start working out how to get there. Most likely, you’ll have more things on your list than you might be able to accomplish at once, so you probably have to narrow it down a little, or at least choose priorities, or an order in which to proceed.

Based on your resources and capabilities, choose a handful of specific targets and start planning. Choosing just a few things to concentrate on will help you achieve your goals in actuality. It may sound simple, but work toward your strengths and away from your weaknesses.

4. Know When to Say No

As you start coming up with ideas, always keep your vision for the company and its purpose in mind. Reject any strategies that don’t fit. You’ll also have to shelve ideas that you don’t have the resources for right now. Those ideas may be wonderful, but you’ll need the right people , facilities, time and money to put your strategies into effect, so don’t plan what you can’t pull off. Understand what you can accomplish and what you can’t.

If you have ambitious plans, don’t be afraid to strategize how to get there down the road. You may not have the resources today, but part of what you’re planning for is to be able to develop in areas that will help you accomplish what you want in the future. Concentrate on longer-term business goals, like how to grow your business, improve the products and services you offer, and improve the way you run your company.

5. Create Your Implementation Strategy

Your strategic plan amounts to nothing more than an intellectual exercise until you start to implement it. Your next challenge will be doing the work to execute your ideas, making changes, and monitoring their effects.

Figure out how and when you will address each element of your plan. For the implementation of your plan to be successful, it’s helpful to assign specific responsibilities, activities, deadlines, and budgets.

6. Evaluate Your Plan’s Performance

Strategic planning isn’t a one-shot deal, but an ongoing process. You will need to evaluate how things are going after you put the plan into effect. As you move forward, don’t be afraid to change course if something isn’t working out the way you thought it would, and don’t be afraid of a little discomfort as you alter the way you’ve been doing things.

Schedule the time to take a look at what’s working and what might need tweaking. Make sure you and your staff are clear about your business goals and what needs to be done. For parts of the plan, you might decide on a daily or weekly check to see how the implementation is going. For other changes, monthly or quarterly reviews will do.

Apply for a Loan

Get started.

Loans from $5,000 - $100,000 with transparent terms and no prepayment penalty. Tell us a little about yourself, your business and receive your quote in minutes without impacting your credit score.

Thanks for applying!

Loans are originated and funded through our lending arm, Accion Opportunity Fund Community Development. By clicking “Continue to Application,” you consent to, Accion Opportunity Fund Community Development’s Terms of Use and Privacy Policy ; and to receive emails, calls and texts , potentially for marketing purposes, including autodialed or pre-recorded calls. You may opt out of receiving certain communications as provided in our Privacy Policy .

how to make a business plan for next year

Logo

Annual Planning: Plan Like a Pro In 5 Steps (+ Template)

how to make a business plan for next year

Get ready to take your strategic annual planning game to the next level! This process is essential for companies who want to set a clear direction for the future and ensure everyone is working towards the same goal. 

But, let's be real, executing a killer strategic plan is easier said than done. That's why we're here to help you. 

In this article, we'll dive into the nitty-gritty of annual planning and cover all the tips and tricks you need to know. From involving the right people to communicating your plan like a pro, we've got you covered. 

We'll also share some common pitfalls to watch out for and provide real-life examples to help bring it all to life. 

So, whether you're a seasoned planning pro or just starting out, get ready to learn how to make your annual strategic planning a total success!

In this article, you’ll discover:

What Is Annual Planning?

  • The Benefits of The Annual Planning Process

5 Steps To Build A Highly Effective Annual Plan

The only annual planning template you need in 2023.

  • 7 Mistakes to Avoid When Conducting Annual Strategic Planning

Build And Execute Your Annual Plan With Cascade 🚀

#1 Strategy Execution Platform Don't plan to fail.  Break down the complexity of your plans from high-level initiative to  executable outcome.   Learn how. Book a demo!

Annual planning is about turning long-term business goals into short-term action plans for the year ahead. It contains insights from past performance and a clear roadmap with a timeline. This yearly plan should be realistic and achievable, while also being ambitious enough to move the business forward.

Annual planning is your opportunity to take the previous year’s wins, knocks, and lessons and adjust your strategy to help your business grow consistently and become better.

Boilerplate definition aside, imagine if IBM still focused on building business-centric PCs, BMW still only made airplane engines, or Tata focused on producing steel. They wouldn’t be the companies they are today.

Annual planning and regular reviews help you proactively adapt to changes and steer your organization in the right direction to get the business results you want by the end of the year or toward your vision in the future.

The Benefits Of The Annual Planning Process

Whether it’s your IT, supply chain , pricing, marketing, operations , or sales strategy—improving, pivoting, or optimizing your annual planning approach from one year to the next year is non-negotiable. The annual planning process will help you assess the effectiveness of your business strategies and make adjustments to keep up with customer needs and market trends.

An effective annual planning process for the new year can offer:

  • Strategic clarity: Annual strategic planning helps define and align goals, mission, and values, leading to more focused and effective decision-making across all levels of the organization. This in turn sets a clear and consistent direction for future initiatives, maximizing the organization's potential to achieve success.
  • Focus: By regularly reviewing and updating its strategic plan , your organization stays focused on long-term objectives instead of being constantly sidetracked by day-to-day operations.
  • Benchmark performance: An annual strategic planning process helps you measure and track progress on key strategic initiatives , and evaluate the progress made compared to last year.
  • Gaps and opportunities: By regularly reviewing your strategic plan, your teams will identify gaps and opportunities for improvement and innovation, which can help you stay ahead of your competition.
  • Resource allocation: By aligning your strategic plan with your budget, you can allocate resources that will support your goals and cut costs from misaligned initiatives.
  • Engagement and buy-in: Involving key stakeholders in the strategic planning process will increase engagement and buy-in across your organization, leading to a more cohesive and motivated team.

A clear and execution-ready annual plan that focuses on the big picture and pays attention to the details can be the glue that binds your teams together. And this is crucial if you want to reach this year’s goals with greater speed and efficiency. Plus, it’s much better than the alternative of just winging it and hoping for the best!

📚 Recommended read: How To Create An Effective Annual Operating Plan (+Template)

Don’t get us wrong—creating and managing a yearly planning process can be a daunting task. But, with the right approach, you'll be able to get it right and start executing faster. Here's how to do annual planning the right way:

1. Analyze your performance and identify opportunities

Before you set goals , you should do an analysis of your company's current performance, market, and competitors to see where you stand. 

Here are some tools you can use in the process: 

  • SWOT analysis
  • PESTLE analysis
  • Porter’s Five Forces
  • Competitive analysis 
  • Financial performance of the previous year
  • Gap analysis  

A better understanding of your current performance can help you make data-driven decisions in the next steps of the planning process. 

Want to make it fail-proof? Don’t forget to include key stakeholders who will be involved in the day-to-day execution of your annual plan. 

Here’s who should be included in the analysis process: 

  • Executive leadership: They are responsible for setting the overall direction and strategy for the organization.
  • Department heads and team leaders: They can offer insights into team capabilities and resources. They can provide insight into the specific needs and challenges of their teams and ensure that their operational plans align with the annual plan.
  • Employees: Employees often have valuable insights and ideas that can help improve the plan. By involving them in the planning process, you can tap into this wealth of knowledge and potentially identify new opportunities or challenges that may not have been considered otherwise.
  • Customers: Customer feedback is critical to understanding the needs and priorities of the target market.
  • Suppliers and partners: Depending on the nature of the business, it may be beneficial to involve suppliers and partners in the strategic planning process. They can provide valuable insights into industry trends and potential challenges. 

👉Bonus tip: Don't let analysis paralysis slow you down! Set a timeline, prioritize data, make informed decisions, and don't overthink it. Move into the execution phase as fast as possible. Adapt later.

2. Formulate your strategy 

The data and insights from Step 1 should inform the formulation of your strategy for the coming year. At this point, you should have a clear sense of direction and objectives that your company wants to achieve in the coming year. 

💡 To identify and formulate your strategy, consider the following questions with your team:

  • What is the business problem that we are trying to solve?
  • What are our core strategic objectives , and how will we measure success?
  • What are our key strategic initiatives, and how will we prioritize them?
  • What are our key performance indicators , and how will we track progress?
  • Are there potential risks , and how will we mitigate them?
  • What resources will we need, and how do we allocate them?

Answering these questions will help you test the validity of your strategy and identify any potential gaps or risks that need to be addressed. In this way, you'll build a solid foundation for your annual plan and increase the chances of its successful execution.

3. Build your annual plan

Next, you’ll need to turn your strategy into a detailed roadmap that outlines the steps you’ll take to achieve your annual strategic objectives and goals. 

It’s like taking a map from a broad view of the journey to a more detailed look that zooms in on the roads and landmarks you’ll need to follow to reach your destination.

📝Your annual plan should include the following:

  • 🔎 Focus areas: The specific areas of the company or its operations that need improvement.
  • 📌Goals and objectives: Specific outcomes the company wants to achieve in its yearly plan. 
  • 📈Measures: Deliverables and KPIs to track progress toward your company’s goals and objectives.
  • 📤Actions: Specific actions or projects to achieve goals and objectives.
  • 😎Owners: Individuals or teams responsible for implementing the actions.
  • 📆Due dates: Specific deadlines and milestones throughout the year.
  • 💰Budget: Allocating the resources to achieve goals and objectives.

👉Here’s how Cascade can help you:  

Cascade’s strategic planning feature gives your annual planning process a standardized and structured approach that includes all the key elements for success. It helps you set high-level annual goals, break them down into smaller initiatives, and assign owners to drive accountability.

4. Create tight alignment with your teams

If the leadership team’s job is to set high-level company priorities to frame key strategic initiatives, then it’s up to specific business functions or teams to chart out the path to reach those strategic goals .

The first step in ensuring strategic alignment is to clearly communicate the plan to all employees. This can be done through regular meetings, company-wide presentations, and other forms of communication, such as a central location for your annual plan that is easily accessible to your stakeholders.

The key is to make sure that everyone understands the goals and objectives of the plan and how their work fits into the bigger picture.

With Cascade , you can link your annual strategic plan to individual departmental or team plans in a single source of truth. As a result, it's easier to ensure that everyone in the organization is aligned with the goals and objectives and monitor the progress being made toward those goals.

alignment cascade (1)

An example of the Cascade alignment view is where you can see how each plan aligns with the company's annual plan and drill down to evaluate performance.

5. Monitor progress and adjust your plan

Gone are the days of static, set-in-stone strategic plans! It's time to embrace flexibility and be willing to make changes as needed. Your annual plan is a flexible, dynamic roadmap that should be adjusted as circumstances change or new information becomes available. The key is to stay focused on your goals and objectives, and be ready to pivot when needed .

Here are some steps that you can take to monitor the annual plan and adapt as needed:

  • Set up a system for tracking progress: This can be done using a variety of tools, including spreadsheets, strategy reports , strategic planning software , or status reports . 
  • Establish regular review meetings: These meetings can be weekly, monthly, or quarterly, depending on the needs of your organization. The key is to make sure that progress is regularly reviewed and that any issues are identified and addressed in a timely manner.
  • Monitor key metrics: Track the most important KPIs that will help you quickly catch underperforming areas and evaluate the success of your annual plan and business strategies. 

If you want to be a savvy business leader, you need to always be monitoring progress, the business environment, and adjusting your plans accordingly. So, let's ditch the rigidity and embrace the flexibility of modern strategic planning and strategy execution! 

With Cascade’s powerful data visualization, you can connect multiple data sources from spreadsheets, project management tools, or business intelligence tools in a single place. You'll be able to uncover powerful insights and deliver accurate reports to help stakeholders make better decisions.

Plus, Cascade's drill-down capabilities allow you to easily explore and interact with your data to gain deeper insights in real time.

Ready for some serious annual planning made easy-peasy? We've got just the thing for you—our annual planning template ! This bad boy is like your own personal planning sidekick, packed with all the goodies you need to align your teams, monitor performance, and rock this year.

Think of it as a one-stop shop for all your annual planning needs. It’s pre-filled with examples that can guide you through the planning process, or you can customize it with your own information.

2023 strategy plan template

It’s a great alternative if you want to get out of messy and ineffective spreadsheets. Plus, it's got a super simple layout, so you won't be bogged down by a bunch of unnecessary features. This template can help, regardless of whether you work at a startup or an enterprise-sized company. And no matter the industry you’re in. 

Don't believe us? Give it a try! We guarantee it'll make your annual planning process a whole lot smoother and its execution a whole lot faster. So what are you waiting for? 

Sign up for a free forever plan with Cascade, add the annual planning template to your profile, and level up your game. It’s that simple. 

👉 Click here to get instant access to your annual planning template.

7 Mistakes To Avoid When Conducting Annual Strategic Planning

Alright, before you dive deep into your yearly planning session, let's talk about the elephant in the room: planning and execution mistakes . In this section, we're diving into some of the most common blunders made during the annual planning process, so you can dodge them like a boss. 

  • Lack of stakeholder engagement: Failing to involve critical stakeholders in the planning process can lead to a siloed plan that doesn’t align with the organization's capacities, needs, and priorities. 
  • Unrealistic goals: Be sure your planning is grounded in your situation's realities and consider your organization's resources, skills, and timelines. This is why it’s crucial that you consult with various stakeholders when planning and executing your strategy. If you need a goal-setting framework, you can check OKRs (Objectives and Key Results). Or take a look at these 5 best strategic planning models to help you set SMART goals. 
  • Lack of flexibility: View your plan as a flexible roadmap, not a rigid set of rules, and be prepared to adapt as the business environment changes. The “perfect plan” doesn’t exist. As 76% of corporate strategy leaders report significant pivots in strategic plans happening more frequently, you need to be ready to expect the unexpected. 
  • Lack of resources: An annual plan that doesn’t consider your team member’s knowledge and skill sets won't result in tangible outcomes. Additionally, ensure that your business has the necessary resources and that your annual plan won’t cause a cash flow crunch.
  • Inadequate communication: Clear and transparent communication is crucial for success, so communicate plans to all stakeholders and ensure they understand the goals and how they fit into the organization's overall strategy.
  • Lack of follow-through: Nobody wins if your teams aren’t hitting goals, and your strategy is just a document collecting dust. According to Cascade’s Strategy Report , less than 20% of team members review progress weekly. Set up regular progress reviews and take corrective actions as needed. Ignore this pitfall, and you’ll set your strategy up for failure.
  • Misalignment between business strategy and team goals: Strategy execution is a team sport, and everyone needs to be on the same page. Share annual business goals with your team leaders and their team members. Let them set their team goals independently, give them feedback, and ensure buy-in early on.

Ready to tackle your annual planning with confidence? 

Remember, the key to success is having a clear plan in a single source of truth, organization-wide alignment, and being flexible enough to adapt when necessary.

And as a final reminder, don't forget to check out our annual planning template! It's the perfect tool to help you structure your plan, get your teams aligned with your strategic priorities, and keep track of your progress so you can adapt quickly if needed. 

So don't miss out, book a demo with one of our strategy experts or sign up today for free , and let's get started!

Popular articles

how to make a business plan for next year

How To Implement The Balanced Scorecard Framework (With Examples)

how to make a business plan for next year

The Best Management Reporting Software For Strategy Officers (2024 Guide)

how to make a business plan for next year

How To Set And Execute Strategic Priorities

how to make a business plan for next year

How To Implement Effective Strategic Planning In Healthcare

Your toolkit for strategy success.

how to make a business plan for next year

24 of My Favorite Sample Business Plans & Examples For Your Inspiration

Clifford Chi

Published: February 06, 2024

Free Business Plan Template

how to make a business plan for next year

The essential document for starting a business -- custom built for your needs.

Thank you for downloading the offer.

I believe that reading sample business plans is essential when writing your own.

sample business plans and examples

hbspt.cta._relativeUrls=true;hbspt.cta.load(53, 'e9d2eacb-6b01-423a-bf7a-19d42ba77eaa', {"useNewLoader":"true","region":"na1"});

As you explore business plan examples from real companies and brands, it’s easier for you to learn how to write a good one.

But what does a good business plan look like? And how do you write one that’s both viable and convincing. I’ll walk you through the ideal business plan format along with some examples to help you get started.

Table of Contents

Business Plan Format

Business plan types, sample business plan templates, top business plan examples.

Ask any successful sports coach how they win so many games, and they’ll tell you they have a unique plan for every single game. To me, the same logic applies to business.

If you want to build a thriving company that can pull ahead of the competition, you need to prepare for battle before breaking into a market.

Business plans guide you along the rocky journey of growing a company. And if your business plan is compelling enough, it can also convince investors to give you funding.

With so much at stake, I’m sure you’re wondering where to begin.

how to make a business plan for next year

  • Outline your idea.
  • Pitch to investors.
  • Secure funding.
  • Get to work!

You're all set!

Click this link to access this resource at any time.

Fill out the form to get your free template.

First, you’ll want to nail down your formatting. Most business plans include the following sections.

1. Executive Summary

I’d say the executive summary is the most important section of the entire business plan. 

Why? Essentially, it's the overview or introduction, written in a way to grab readers' attention and guide them through the rest of the business plan. This is important, because a business plan can be dozens or hundreds of pages long.

There are two main elements I’d recommend including in your executive summary:

Company Description

This is the perfect space to highlight your company’s mission statement and goals, a brief overview of your history and leadership, and your top accomplishments as a business.

Tell potential investors who you are and why what you do matters. Naturally, they’re going to want to know who they’re getting into business with up front, and this is a great opportunity to showcase your impact.

Need some extra help firming up those business goals? Check out HubSpot Academy’s free course to help you set goals that matter — I’d highly recommend it

Products and Services

To piggyback off of the company description, be sure to incorporate an overview of your offerings. This doesn’t have to be extensive — just another chance to introduce your industry and overall purpose as a business.

In addition to the items above, I recommend including some information about your financial projections and competitive advantage here too.:

Keep in mind you'll cover many of these topics in more detail later on in the business plan. So, keep the executive summary clear and brief, and only include the most important takeaways.

Executive Summary Business Plan Examples

This example was created with HubSpot’s business plan template:

business plan sample: Executive Summary Example

This executive summary is so good to me because it tells potential investors a short story while still covering all of the most important details.

Business plans examples: Executive Summary

Image Source

Tips for Writing Your Executive Summary

  • Start with a strong introduction of your company, showcase your mission and impact, and outline the products and services you provide.
  • Clearly define a problem, and explain how your product solves that problem, and show why the market needs your business.
  • Be sure to highlight your value proposition, market opportunity, and growth potential.
  • Keep it concise and support ideas with data.
  • Customize your summary to your audience. For example, emphasize finances and return on investment for venture capitalists.

Check out our tips for writing an effective executive summary for more guidance.

2. Market Opportunity

This is where you'll detail the opportunity in the market.

The main question I’d ask myself here is this: Where is the gap in the current industry, and how will my product fill that gap?

More specifically, here’s what I’d include in this section:

  • The size of the market
  • Current or potential market share
  • Trends in the industry and consumer behavior
  • Where the gap is
  • What caused the gap
  • How you intend to fill it

To get a thorough understanding of the market opportunity, you'll want to conduct a TAM, SAM, and SOM analysis and perform market research on your industry.

You may also benefit from creating a SWOT analysis to get some of the insights for this section.

Market Opportunity Business Plan Example

I like this example because it uses critical data to underline the size of the potential market and what part of that market this service hopes to capture.

Business plans examples: Market Opportunity

Tips for Writing Your Market Opportunity Section

  • Focus on demand and potential for growth.
  • Use market research, surveys, and industry trend data to support your market forecast and projections.
  • Add a review of regulation shifts, tech advances, and consumer behavior changes.
  • Refer to reliable sources.
  • Showcase how your business can make the most of this opportunity.

3. Competitive Landscape

Since we’re already speaking of market share, you'll also need to create a section that shares details on who the top competitors are.

After all, your customers likely have more than one brand to choose from, and you'll want to understand exactly why they might choose one over another.

My favorite part of performing a competitive analysis is that it can help you uncover:

  • Industry trends that other brands may not be utilizing
  • Strengths in your competition that may be obstacles to handle
  • Weaknesses in your competition that may help you develop selling points
  • The unique proposition you bring to the market that may resonate with customers

Competitive Landscape Business Plan Example

I like how the competitive landscape section of this business plan below shows a clear outline of who the top competitors are.

Business plans examples: Competitive Landscape

It also highlights specific industry knowledge and the importance of location, which shows useful experience in this specific industry. 

This can help build trust in your ability to execute your business plan.

Tips for Writing Your Competitive Landscape

  • Complete in-depth research, then emphasize your most important findings.
  • Compare your unique selling proposition (USP) to your direct and indirect competitors.
  • Show a clear and realistic plan for product and brand differentiation.
  • Look for specific advantages and barriers in the competitive landscape. Then, highlight how that information could impact your business.
  • Outline growth opportunities from a competitive perspective.
  • Add customer feedback and insights to support your competitive analysis.

4. Target Audience

Use this section to describe who your customer segments are in detail. What is the demographic and psychographic information of your audience?

If your immediate answer is "everyone," you'll need to dig deeper. Here are some questions I’d ask myself here:

  • What demographics will most likely need/buy your product or service?
  • What are the psychographics of this audience? (Desires, triggering events, etc.)
  • Why are your offerings valuable to them?

I’d also recommend building a buyer persona to get in the mindset of your ideal customers and be clear on why you're targeting them.

Target Audience Business Plan Example

I like the example below because it uses in-depth research to draw conclusions about audience priorities. It also analyzes how to create the right content for this audience.

Business plans examples: Target Audience

Tips for Writing Your Target Audience Section

  • Include details on the size and growth potential of your target audience.
  • Figure out and refine the pain points for your target audience , then show why your product is a useful solution.
  • Describe your targeted customer acquisition strategy in detail.
  • Share anticipated challenges your business may face in acquiring customers and how you plan to address them.
  • Add case studies, testimonials, and other data to support your target audience ideas.
  • Remember to consider niche audiences and segments of your target audience in your business plan.

5. Marketing Strategy

Here, you'll discuss how you'll acquire new customers with your marketing strategy. I’d suggest including information:

  • Your brand positioning vision and how you'll cultivate it
  • The goal targets you aim to achieve
  • The metrics you'll use to measure success
  • The channels and distribution tactics you'll use

I think it’s helpful to have a marketing plan built out in advance to make this part of your business plan easier.

Marketing Strategy Business Plan Example

This business plan example includes the marketing strategy for the town of Gawler.

In my opinion, it really works because it offers a comprehensive picture of how they plan to use digital marketing to promote the community.

Business plans examples: Marketing Strategy

Tips for Writing Your Marketing Strategy

  • Include a section about how you believe your brand vision will appeal to customers.
  • Add the budget and resources you'll need to put your plan in place.
  • Outline strategies for specific marketing segments.
  • Connect strategies to earlier sections like target audience and competitive analysis.
  • Review how your marketing strategy will scale with the growth of your business.
  • Cover a range of channels and tactics to highlight your ability to adapt your plan in the face of change.

6. Key Features and Benefits

At some point in your business plan, you'll need to review the key features and benefits of your products and/or services.

Laying these out can give readers an idea of how you're positioning yourself in the market and the messaging you're likely to use. It can even help them gain better insight into your business model.

Key Features and Benefits Business Plan Example

In my opinion, the example below does a great job outlining products and services for this business, along with why these qualities will attract the audience.

Business plans examples: Key Features and Benefits

Tips for Writing Your Key Features and Benefits

  • Emphasize why and how your product or service offers value to customers.
  • Use metrics and testimonials to support the ideas in this section.
  • Talk about how your products and services have the potential to scale.
  • Think about including a product roadmap.
  • Focus on customer needs, and how the features and benefits you are sharing meet those needs.
  • Offer proof of concept for your ideas, like case studies or pilot program feedback.
  • Proofread this section carefully, and remove any jargon or complex language.

7. Pricing and Revenue

This is where you'll discuss your cost structure and various revenue streams. Your pricing strategy must be solid enough to turn a profit while staying competitive in the industry. 

For this reason, here’s what I’d might outline in this section:

  • The specific pricing breakdowns per product or service
  • Why your pricing is higher or lower than your competition's
  • (If higher) Why customers would be willing to pay more
  • (If lower) How you're able to offer your products or services at a lower cost
  • When you expect to break even, what margins do you expect, etc?

Pricing and Revenue Business Plan Example

I like how this business plan example begins with an overview of the business revenue model, then shows proposed pricing for key products.

Business plans examples: Pricing and Revenue

Tips for Writing Your Pricing and Revenue Section

  • Get specific about your pricing strategy. Specifically, how you connect that strategy to customer needs and product value.
  • If you are asking a premium price, share unique features or innovations that justify that price point.
  • Show how you plan to communicate pricing to customers.
  • Create an overview of every revenue stream for your business and how each stream adds to your business model as a whole.
  • Share plans to develop new revenue streams in the future.
  • Show how and whether pricing will vary by customer segment and how pricing aligns with marketing strategies.
  • Restate your value proposition and explain how it aligns with your revenue model.

8. Financials

To me, this section is particularly informative for investors and leadership teams to figure out funding strategies, investment opportunities, and more.

 According to Forbes , you'll want to include three main things:

  • Profit/Loss Statement - This answers the question of whether your business is currently profitable.
  • Cash Flow Statement - This details exactly how much cash is incoming and outgoing to give insight into how much cash a business has on hand.
  • Balance Sheet - This outlines assets, liabilities, and equity, which gives insight into how much a business is worth.

While some business plans might include more or less information, these are the key details I’d include in this section.

Financials Business Plan Example

This balance sheet is a great example of level of detail you’ll need to include in the financials section of your business plan.

Business plans examples: Financials

Tips for Writing Your Financials Section

  • Growth potential is important in this section too. Using your data, create a forecast of financial performance in the next three to five years.
  • Include any data that supports your projections to assure investors of the credibility of your proposal.
  • Add a break-even analysis to show that your business plan is financially practical. This information can also help you pivot quickly as your business grows.
  • Consider adding a section that reviews potential risks and how sensitive your plan is to changes in the market.
  • Triple-check all financial information in your plan for accuracy.
  • Show how any proposed funding needs align with your plans for growth.

As you create your business plan, keep in mind that each of these sections will be formatted differently. Some may be in paragraph format, while others could be charts or graphs.

The formats above apply to most types of business plans. That said, the format and structure of your plan will vary by your goals for that plan. 

So, I’ve added a quick review of different business plan types. For a more detailed overview, check out this post .

1. Startups

Startup business plans are for proposing new business ideas.

If you’re planning to start a small business, preparing a business plan is crucial. The plan should include all the major factors of your business.

You can check out this guide for more detailed business plan inspiration .

2. Feasibility Studies

Feasibility business plans focus on that business's product or service. Feasibility plans are sometimes added to startup business plans. They can also be a new business plan for an already thriving organization.

3. Internal Use

You can use internal business plans to share goals, strategies, or performance updates with stakeholders. In my opinion, internal business plans are useful for alignment and building support for ambitious goals.

4. Strategic Initiatives

Another business plan that's often for sharing internally is a strategic business plan. This plan covers long-term business objectives that might not have been included in the startup business plan.

5. Business Acquisition or Repositioning

When a business is moving forward with an acquisition or repositioning, it may need extra structure and support. These types of business plans expand on a company's acquisition or repositioning strategy.

Growth sometimes just happens as a business continues operations. But more often, a business needs to create a structure with specific targets to meet set goals for expansion. This business plan type can help a business focus on short-term growth goals and align resources with those goals.

Now that you know what's included and how to format a business plan, let's review some of my favorite templates.

1. HubSpot's One-Page Business Plan

Download a free, editable one-page business plan template..

The business plan linked above was created here at HubSpot and is perfect for businesses of any size — no matter how many strategies we still have to develop.

Fields such as Company Description, Required Funding, and Implementation Timeline give this one-page business plan a framework for how to build your brand and what tasks to keep track of as you grow.

Then, as the business matures, you can expand on your original business plan with a new iteration of the above document.

Why I Like It

This one-page business plan is a fantastic choice for the new business owner who doesn’t have the time or resources to draft a full-blown business plan. It includes all the essential sections in an accessible, bullet-point-friendly format. That way, you can get the broad strokes down before honing in on the details.

2. HubSpot's Downloadable Business Plan Template

Sample business plan: hubspot free editable pdf

We also created a business plan template for entrepreneurs.

The template is designed as a guide and checklist for starting your own business. You’ll learn what to include in each section of your business plan and how to do it.

There’s also a list for you to check off when you finish each section of your business plan.

Strong game plans help coaches win games and help businesses rocket to the top of their industries. So if you dedicate the time and effort required to write a workable and convincing business plan, you’ll boost your chances of success and even dominance in your market.

This business plan kit is essential for the budding entrepreneur who needs a more extensive document to share with investors and other stakeholders.

It not only includes sections for your executive summary, product line, market analysis, marketing plan, and sales plan, but it also offers hands-on guidance for filling out those sections.

3. LiveFlow’s Financial Planning Template with built-in automation

Sample Business Plan: LiveFLow

This free template from LiveFlow aims to make it easy for businesses to create a financial plan and track their progress on a monthly basis.

The P&L Budget versus Actual format allows users to track their revenue, cost of sales, operating expenses, operating profit margin, net profit, and more.

The summary dashboard aggregates all of the data put into the financial plan sheet and will automatically update when changes are made.

Instead of wasting hours manually importing your data to your spreadsheet, LiveFlow can also help you to automatically connect your accounting and banking data directly to your spreadsheet, so your numbers are always up-to-date.

With the dashboard, you can view your runway, cash balance, burn rate, gross margins, and other metrics. Having a simple way to track everything in one place will make it easier to complete the financials section of your business plan.

This is a fantastic template to track performance and alignment internally and to create a dependable process for documenting financial information across the business. It’s highly versatile and beginner-friendly.

It’s especially useful if you don’t have an accountant on the team. (I always recommend you do, but for new businesses, having one might not be possible.)

4. ThoughtCo’s Sample Business Plan

sample business plan: ThoughtCo.

One of the more financially oriented sample business plans in this list, BPlan’s free business plan template dedicates many of its pages to your business’s financial plan and financial statements.

After filling this business plan out, your company will truly understand its financial health and the steps you need to take to maintain or improve it.

I absolutely love this business plan template because of its ease-of-use and hands-on instructions (in addition to its finance-centric components). If you feel overwhelmed by the thought of writing an entire business plan, consider using this template to help you with the process.

6. Harvard Business Review’s "How to Write a Winning Business Plan"

Most sample business plans teach you what to include in your business plan, but this Harvard Business Review article will take your business plan to the next level — it teaches you the why and how behind writing a business plan.

With the guidance of Stanley Rich and Richard Gumpert, co-authors of " Business Plans That Win: Lessons From the MIT Enterprise Forum ", you'll learn how to write a convincing business plan that emphasizes the market demand for your product or service.

You’ll also learn the financial benefits investors can reap from putting money into your venture rather than trying to sell them on how great your product or service is.

This business plan guide focuses less on the individual parts of a business plan, and more on the overarching goal of writing one. For that reason, it’s one of my favorites to supplement any template you choose to use. Harvard Business Review’s guide is instrumental for both new and seasoned business owners.

7. HubSpot’s Complete Guide to Starting a Business

If you’re an entrepreneur, you know writing a business plan is one of the most challenging first steps to starting a business.

Fortunately, with HubSpot's comprehensive guide to starting a business, you'll learn how to map out all the details by understanding what to include in your business plan and why it’s important to include them. The guide also fleshes out an entire sample business plan for you.

If you need further guidance on starting a business, HubSpot's guide can teach you how to make your business legal, choose and register your business name, and fund your business. It will also give small business tax information and includes marketing, sales, and service tips.

This comprehensive guide will walk you through the process of starting a business, in addition to writing your business plan, with a high level of exactitude and detail. So if you’re in the midst of starting your business, this is an excellent guide for you.

It also offers other resources you might need, such as market analysis templates.

8. Panda Doc’s Free Business Plan Template

sample business plan: Panda Doc

PandaDoc’s free business plan template is one of the more detailed and fleshed-out sample business plans on this list. It describes what you should include in each section, so you don't have to come up with everything from scratch.

Once you fill it out, you’ll fully understand your business’ nitty-gritty details and how all of its moving parts should work together to contribute to its success.

This template has two things I love: comprehensiveness and in-depth instructions. Plus, it’s synced with PandaDoc’s e-signature software so that you and other stakeholders can sign it with ease. For that reason, I especially love it for those starting a business with a partner or with a board of directors.

9. Small Business Administration Free Business Plan Template

sample business plan: Small Business Administration

The Small Business Administration (SBA) offers several free business plan templates that can be used to inspire your own plan.

Before you get started, you can decide what type of business plan you need — a traditional or lean start-up plan.

Then, you can review the format for both of those plans and view examples of what they might look like.

We love both of the SBA’s templates because of their versatility. You can choose between two options and use the existing content in the templates to flesh out your own plan. Plus, if needed, you can get a free business counselor to help you along the way.

I’ve compiled some completed business plan samples to help you get an idea of how to customize a plan for your business.

I chose different types of business plan ideas to expand your imagination. Some are extensive, while others are fairly simple.

Let’s take a look.

1. LiveFlow

business plan example: liveflow

One of the major business expenses is marketing. How you handle your marketing reflects your company’s revenue.

I included this business plan to show you how you can ensure your marketing team is aligned with your overall business plan to get results. The plan also shows you how to track even the smallest metrics of your campaigns, like ROI and payback periods instead of just focusing on big metrics like gross and revenue.

Fintech startup, LiveFlow, allows users to sync real-time data from its accounting services, payment platforms, and banks into custom reports. This eliminates the task of pulling reports together manually, saving teams time and helping automate workflows.

"Using this framework over a traditional marketing plan will help you set a profitable marketing strategy taking things like CAC, LTV, Payback period, and P&L into consideration," explains LiveFlow co-founder, Lasse Kalkar .

When it came to including marketing strategy in its business plan, LiveFlow created a separate marketing profit and loss statement (P&L) to track how well the company was doing with its marketing initiatives.

This is a great approach, allowing businesses to focus on where their marketing dollars are making the most impact. Having this information handy will enable you to build out your business plan’s marketing section with confidence. LiveFlow has shared the template here . You can test it for yourself.

2. Lula Body

Business plan example: Lula body

Sometimes all you need is a solid mission statement and core values to guide you on how to go about everything. You do this by creating a business plan revolving around how to fulfill your statement best.

For example, Patagonia is an eco-friendly company, so their plan discusses how to make the best environmentally friendly products without causing harm.

A good mission statement  should not only resonate with consumers but should also serve as a core value compass for employees as well.

Patagonia has one of the most compelling mission statements I’ve seen:

"Together, let’s prioritise purpose over profit and protect this wondrous planet, our only home."

It reels you in from the start, and the environmentally friendly theme continues throughout the rest of the statement.

This mission goes on to explain that they are out to "Build the best product, cause no unnecessary harm, and use business to protect nature."

Their mission statement is compelling and detailed, with each section outlining how they will accomplish their goal.

4. Vesta Home Automation

business plan example: Vesta executive summary

This executive summary for a smart home device startup is part of a business plan created by students at Mount Royal University .

While it lacks some of the sleek visuals of the templates above, its executive summary does a great job of demonstrating how invested they are in the business.

Right away, they mention they’ve invested $200,000 into the company already, which shows investors they have skin in the game and aren’t just looking for someone else to foot the bill.

This is the kind of business plan you need when applying for business funds. It clearly illustrates the expected future of the company and how the business has been coming along over the years.

5. NALB Creative Center

business plan examples: nalb creative center

This fictional business plan for an art supply store includes everything one might need in a business plan: an executive summary, a company summary, a list of services, a market analysis summary, and more.

One of its most notable sections is its market analysis summary, which includes an overview of the population growth in the business’ target geographical area, as well as a breakdown of the types of potential customers they expect to welcome at the store. 

This sort of granular insight is essential for understanding and communicating your business’s growth potential. Plus, it lays a strong foundation for creating relevant and useful buyer personas .

It’s essential to keep this information up-to-date as your market and target buyer changes. For that reason, you should carry out market research as often as possible to ensure that you’re targeting the correct audience and sharing accurate information with your investors.

Due to its comprehensiveness, it’s an excellent example to follow if you’re opening a brick-and-mortar store and need to get external funding to start your business .

6. Curriculum Companion Suites (CSS)

business plan examples: curriculum companion suites

If you’re looking for a SaaS business plan example, look no further than this business plan for a fictional educational software company called Curriculum Companion Suites. 

Like the business plan for the NALB Creative Center, it includes plenty of information for prospective investors and other key stakeholders in the business.

One of the most notable features of this business plan is the executive summary, which includes an overview of the product, market, and mission.

The first two are essential for software companies because the product offering is so often at the forefront of the company’s strategy. Without that information being immediately available to investors and executives, then you risk writing an unfocused business plan.

It’s essential to front-load your company’s mission if it explains your "Why?" and this example does just that. In other words, why do you do what you do, and why should stakeholders care? This is an important section to include if you feel that your mission will drive interest in the business and its offerings.

7. Culina Sample Business Plan

sample business plan: Culina

Culina's sample business plan is an excellent example of how to lay out your business plan so that it flows naturally, engages readers, and provides the critical information investors and stakeholders need. 

You can use this template as a guide while you're gathering important information for your own business plan. You'll have a better understanding of the data and research you need to do since Culina’s plan outlines these details so flawlessly for inspiration.

8. Plum Sample Business Plan

Sample business plan: Plum

Don't forget to share this post!

Related articles.

How to Write a Powerful Executive Summary [+4 Top Examples]

How to Write a Powerful Executive Summary [+4 Top Examples]

19 Best Sample Business Plans & Examples to Help You Write Your Own

19 Best Sample Business Plans & Examples to Help You Write Your Own

What is a Business Plan? Definition, Tips, and Templates

What is a Business Plan? Definition, Tips, and Templates

Maximizing Your Social Media Strategy: The Top Aggregator Tools to Use

Maximizing Your Social Media Strategy: The Top Aggregator Tools to Use

The Content Aggregator Guide for 2023

The Content Aggregator Guide for 2023

7 Gantt Chart Examples You'll Want to Copy [+ 5 Steps to Make One]

7 Gantt Chart Examples You'll Want to Copy [+ 5 Steps to Make One]

The 8 Best Free Flowchart Templates [+ Examples]

The 8 Best Free Flowchart Templates [+ Examples]

15 Best Screen Recorders to Use for Collaboration

15 Best Screen Recorders to Use for Collaboration

The 25 Best Google Chrome Extensions for SEO

The 25 Best Google Chrome Extensions for SEO

Professional Invoice Design: 28 Samples & Templates to Inspire You

Professional Invoice Design: 28 Samples & Templates to Inspire You

2 Essential Templates For Starting Your Business

Marketing software that helps you drive revenue, save time and resources, and measure and optimize your investments — all on one easy-to-use platform

  • 6 steps for operations leaders to build ...

6 steps for operations leaders to build a better annual plan

Julia Martins contributor headshot

An effective annual plan is critical to keep your teams, departments, and company together, working toward the same goals. 

As an operations leader, you oversee how your organization runs its business. By reviewing how your company performed in the past year, you and your operations teams can identify which strategies worked—and which fell short—to build an effective annual plan designed to maximize the impact of every department.

Here’s what you need to know about building a successful annual plan.

Connect everyone's work to company-wide goals

87% of workers with individual goals tied to company-wide goals say their business is well-prepared to meet customer expectations. Discover how Asana can transform the way your organization aligns work to goals.

CTA banner image for a webinar by Asana, a collaborative work management platform

Annual plans drive clarity and accountability 

With an annual plan, departments can start the year off with a strong understanding of the overall vision and how their work contributes to larger business goals. Without an overarching plan, it can be difficult to understand how a specific project or initiative moves the business forward. 

Clear goals establish benchmarks for project progress

Your annual plan shouldn’t be a set-it-and-forget-it goal. Rather, periodically check project progress against your annual plan so you can see how your operations teams are doing. Doing this throughout the year will not only give you a sense of how your teams are tracking towards their overall goals—it can also help you understand if they’re ahead or behind schedule, and adjust accordingly. 

If you notice that a specific initiative is not on track to meet the strategic goals outlined in your company’s annual plan, you can use this data to pivot and double down on—or divest from—specific initiatives. 

Establish concrete goals for a specific time period

The more specific your goal, the more concrete your action plan. Providing detailed and specific goals gives your employees a clear understanding of what work to prioritize and what deliverables they’re responsible for. 

Make sure your goals are measurable, as well. Clear KPIs and OKRs demonstrate how tangible work connects back to larger business goals. 

6 steps for annual business planning

The annual planning process often takes place near the end of the calendar year or at the end of your company’s fiscal year. As you get closer to annual planning time, consider these six steps of the annual planning process. 

1. Reflect on previous strategies—and develop new ones

Before your business can start planning for next year, ask yourself, your stakeholders, and your operations teams: How did we perform against the strategies laid out in last year’s annual plan?

No matter the answer, use these recent data points to steer your decision-making when building your next annual plan. That could mean doubling down on big programs or initiatives born in the last year—or going a different direction entirely. 

A well-built annual plan factors in reflection on what did and didn’t work—and improves off of it.

2. Transform your business’s greatest needs into goals

After reflecting on last year’s performance, hone in on the most significant growth and improvement opportunities. Use this for guidance as you construct company- and department-wide goals.

It helps to have a consistent framework for goals across the business, to accelerate the goal-setting process and ensure greater understanding of goals within all corners of the organization.

The exact goal framework you use will depend on your company, but a few good ones to consider are: 

The Objectives and Key Results (OKR) method , which helps your business set goals using the framework “I will [objective] as measured by [key result].”

Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) , which use leading and lagging indicators to track how you’re performing towards your goals. 

The SMART goals framework , which helps ensure the goals your organization sets are specific, measurable, achievable, realistic, and time-bound.

3. Create an action plan to maximize impact

The next step is to create an action plan for your business to achieve the goals outlined in step three. Your action plan should outline the list of steps your teams need to take to accomplish their goals. Think of an action plan like the map you’ll use to arrive at your final destination. 

From there, delegate the work laid out in the action plan to specific teams and departments. Connecting the work that your operations teams complete to larger company goals makes it easier for each team to understand the impact their work has on the business.

4. Ensure the annual plan is everyone’s plan

Not everyone can be involved in building the annual plan for your company—but every team member should feel like their work is seen and accounted for in the plan. 

As the annual plan comes together, meet with leaders and employees across the business to ensure varying perspectives and priorities are factored into the final product. This step is critical for getting buy-in and generating excitement across the business. 

You don’t want to be in a position where you’re just telling everyone what the annual plan is—you want to bring every department along for the journey and get them excited about what they’re working toward in the coming year. Consider conducting a presentation to not only share the company plan and why this plan matters, but also to outline timelines and how departments will use it to achieve the company’s goals. 

5. Execute your strategy, monitor metrics, and adjust as needed

At this point, your organization’s annual plan is completed, but nothing is ever fully set in stone. As the year progresses, make sure you’re continually monitoring success metrics and KPIs. If the results of your strategies are not behaving as you expected them to, it’s important to adjust so your business will still hit the goals outlined in your annual plan. 

6. Repeat again for next year 

At the end of the year, it’s time to start the process over again. Align with your strategic plan, look back at the past year’s results, and create another plan to achieve those business goals. 

What does a good annual plan include?

Effective annual plans should contain components that are essential for completing the work outlined in the plan itself, and context for why this plan will be effective. Here are a few examples of components you would find in an annual plan:

Reports of the previous year’s performance: Your company’s annual plan for the upcoming year should be based on the data from the previous year’s performance. This provides context for your teams as to what they’re capable of doing within one calendar year.

Budget estimates: A common KPI investors track is return on investment (ROI). Knowing how much money different teams are spending makes it easier for your organization to calculate ROI and adjust strategies. Providing budget estimations also gives departments the context they need for the amount of resources they have at their disposal for the year.

Clear and specific goals: Annual plans should use the SMART goal framework so that your company can easily measure progress and report back on it later. 

Important milestones: Your business can accomplish a lot of work within one year—but to do that, each department needs to know how they're doing. Milestones operate like checkpoints, giving teams and departments a sense of direction and an idea of how they're pacing against annual goals.

Project buffers and contingency plans: Unexpected things happen all the time, and it’s better to be prepared than caught off guard. Develop a contingency plan for how your organization will get back on track in the event of an unexpected roadblock. Also set aside some resource buffers, such as a small portion of your company’s budget, to accommodate for unexpected expenses.

Gear up for next year

After a year of hard work, it’s time to reflect back and plan for more great things in the future. While annual planning takes time, collaboration, and thoughtful strategy, the efforts show in the form of your business success. 

Still have questions? We have answers. 

What is annual planning.

Annual planning is the act of developing a strategy for the upcoming year based on the learnings from the current year’s performance. This provides an opportunity for your operations teams to iterate on strategy from the past year and incorporate those learnings into your upcoming plans. 

In essence, your annual plan should contain: 

The goals your business needs to achieve

A strategy for how your organization will hit those goals

Clear tactics for what each department will work on

Any important milestones that benchmark progress

What’s the difference between annual planning and strategic planning? 

Strategic planning and annual planning are both important business planning methods that help set your team's strategy for the future. However, the scale of these planning strategies are different.

Strategic planning is the long-term strategy for your business. This encompasses a basic roadmap of how business should develop within three to five years. You will use your strategic planning process to inform your annual plan. 

Annual planning represents all of the goals and strategies that you want your business to achieve, similar to a strategic goal. The main difference here is that an annual plan only encompasses one calendar year, instead of a few years. If you think of it like a pie, annual planning is just one slice of the larger strategic plan pie.

When should your operations teams start annual planning?

Begin your annual planning process during Q4, so you can begin day one of Q1 with your plan in hand. If that’s not an option, do your annual planning as close to the start of the new year as possible. 

There are two benefits to planning earlier. First off, you’ll beat the end-of-year crunch, and avoid the stress that traditionally comes with the end of the year. Additionally, if you run an efficient annual planning process with your leadership team, your operations teams will still be free to execute on high-impact projects throughout Q4.

Related resources

how to make a business plan for next year

What is strategic planning? A 5-step guide

how to make a business plan for next year

Your company's goal-setting approach needs to change. Here's why

how to make a business plan for next year

How to accomplish big things with long-term goals

how to make a business plan for next year

What is Asana’s Work Graph®?

  • Our Approach
  • Our Programs
  • Group Locations
  • Member Success Stories
  • Become a Member
  • Vistage Events
  • Vistage CEO Climb Events
  • Vistage Webinars
  • Research & Insights Articles
  • Leadership Resource & PDF Center
  • A Life of Climb: The CEO’s Journey Podcast
  • Perspectives Magazine
  • Vistage CEO Confidence Index
  • What is Vistage?
  • 7 Laws of Leadership
  • The CEO’s Climb
  • Coaching Qualifications
  • Virtual Chair Academy
  • Apply to be a Vistage Chair

Research & Insights

  • Talent Management
  • Customer Engagement
  • Business Operations
  • Personal Development

Strategic Planning

10 Strategies for Business New Year Planning

10 Strategies for Business New Year Planning

Share this:

If you want to make the next 12 months more successful, more profitable, and more productive than the last 12 months, these 10 strategies are for you.

10 Strategies for Business New Year Planning

1. List the 3 most important objectives for your business over the next year. These should be critical “big picture” accomplishments that will lead to profits and future achievement.

2. For each objective listed above , identify your responsibility in achieving the objective. WHAT will you do? HOW will you do it? WHEN will you do it?

3. Be crystal clear in separating strategies (how and why items) from tactics (what and when items) and use “Verb-noun-date” format to create specific action steps and put them on your calendar.

4. Don’t think of the year as a whole . Break it down to monthly metrics and put quarterly goal-planning reviews on your calendar so you can adjust the dials on your plan, measure results, and take a strategic look at your marketing, sales, and business development activities every 90 days while keeping a close eye on results (profits, clients, projects, revenue) every 30 days.

5. Don’t go it alone . Remember, lone wolves starve to death. Think of partners, advocates, allies, referral sources, and joint venture partners who can help you leapfrog over obstacles and who are a great supplement and complement to your own products and services. Contact them and build (or grow) your relationship with them so you can collaborate more closely – starting right now.

6. Write down a list of professional development goals for the next 12 months. What do you want to learn, do, or become as a business owner? Go to conferences? Gain additional certifications or professional designations? Speak more? Get more articles published? Be specific and put these activities on your calendar so you make sure they happen.

7. Write down a list of personal goals for the next 12 months. What do you want to accomplish for yourself and how would you like to grow personally? Spend more time with your partner? Stay connected with your kids as they grow up and/or pursue their college or post-college adventures? Dig deeper into a special hobby or sport? Drop 10 pounds? Run a 5K? More golf? More vacation time? Where? When? With whom? Map it out to make it happen!

8. Don’t get distracted . Shiny object syndrome has a powerful pull on most entrepreneurs and business owners. Stay focused on the big picture goals you set in Step 1 above – and then relentlessly ask yourself for every new idea, initiative or project, “Does this support one of my three goals? If so, how?” And don’t let yourself off the hook as easily as you might have done in the past. If it’s a no, it’s a no. Metaphorically speaking, stop opening up hot dog stands in the parking lot and redouble your efforts to make your gourmet restaurant thrive!

9. Live out of your calendar, not your inbox . Plan your day – what MUST get done and WHEN? Chunk your day down into blocks and assign specific tasks to those blocks – Phone calls, emails, client tasks, whatever it is YOU want to do that will move you closer to your GOALS. Keep that calendar under your nose. All day. Make it your default screen. Hide, minimize or (gasp) close your email until “check email” pops up on your calendar.

10. Breathe. Relax. You got this . Any time you’re creating an inflection point in your business, it can be scary. You’re letting go of the old – letting go of what no longer works or what no longer serves you well. And you’re embracing the new – the untried, the uncomfortable, perhaps even what seems risky. But the biggest risks of all are stagnation, arrogance, or complacency. Remember – a bend in the road is never fatal… unless you fail to turn.

Print Friendly, PDF & Email

Category: Strategic Planning

' src=

David Newman

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Gain deeper insights when you join Vistage

Take advantage of peer advisory group advice, 1-to-1 executive coaching, industry networks, exclusive events and more.

how to make a business plan for next year

Privacy Policy

Your contact and business information will be used to fulfill this request and to share other Vistage services.

See Vistage's Privacy Policy for details.

Privacy Overview

Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.

Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website.

  • Auto Insurance Best Car Insurance Cheapest Car Insurance Compare Car Insurance Quotes Best Car Insurance For Young Drivers Best Auto & Home Bundles Cheapest Cars To Insure
  • Home Insurance Best Home Insurance Best Renters Insurance Cheapest Homeowners Insurance Types Of Homeowners Insurance
  • Life Insurance Best Life Insurance Best Term Life Insurance Best Senior Life Insurance Best Whole Life Insurance Best No Exam Life Insurance
  • Pet Insurance Best Pet Insurance Cheap Pet Insurance Pet Insurance Costs Compare Pet Insurance Quotes
  • Travel Insurance Best Travel Insurance Cancel For Any Reason Travel Insurance Best Cruise Travel Insurance Best Senior Travel Insurance
  • Health Insurance Best Health Insurance Plans Best Affordable Health Insurance Best Dental Insurance Best Vision Insurance Best Disability Insurance
  • Credit Cards Best Credit Cards 2024 Best Balance Transfer Credit Cards Best Rewards Credit Cards Best Cash Back Credit Cards Best Travel Rewards Credit Cards Best 0% APR Credit Cards Best Business Credit Cards Best Credit Cards for Startups Best Credit Cards For Bad Credit Best Cards for Students without Credit
  • Credit Card Reviews Chase Sapphire Preferred Wells Fargo Active Cash® Chase Sapphire Reserve Citi Double Cash Citi Diamond Preferred Chase Ink Business Unlimited American Express Blue Business Plus
  • Credit Card by Issuer Best Chase Credit Cards Best American Express Credit Cards Best Bank of America Credit Cards Best Visa Credit Cards
  • Credit Score Best Credit Monitoring Services Best Identity Theft Protection
  • CDs Best CD Rates Best No Penalty CDs Best Jumbo CD Rates Best 3 Month CD Rates Best 6 Month CD Rates Best 9 Month CD Rates Best 1 Year CD Rates Best 2 Year CD Rates Best 5 Year CD Rates
  • Checking Best High-Yield Checking Accounts Best Checking Accounts Best No Fee Checking Accounts Best Teen Checking Accounts Best Student Checking Accounts Best Joint Checking Accounts Best Business Checking Accounts Best Free Checking Accounts
  • Savings Best High-Yield Savings Accounts Best Free No-Fee Savings Accounts Simple Savings Calculator Monthly Budget Calculator: 50/30/20
  • Mortgages Best Mortgage Lenders Best Online Mortgage Lenders Current Mortgage Rates Best HELOC Rates Best Mortgage Refinance Lenders Best Home Equity Loan Lenders Best VA Mortgage Lenders Mortgage Refinance Rates Mortgage Interest Rate Forecast
  • Personal Loans Best Personal Loans Best Debt Consolidation Loans Best Emergency Loans Best Home Improvement Loans Best Bad Credit Loans Best Installment Loans For Bad Credit Best Personal Loans For Fair Credit Best Low Interest Personal Loans
  • Student Loans Best Student Loans Best Student Loan Refinance Best Student Loans for Bad or No Credit Best Low-Interest Student Loans
  • Business Loans Best Business Loans Best Business Lines of Credit Apply For A Business Loan Business Loan vs. Business Line Of Credit What Is An SBA Loan?
  • Investing Best Online Brokers Top 10 Cryptocurrencies Best Low-Risk Investments Best Cheap Stocks To Buy Now Best S&P 500 Index Funds Best Stocks For Beginners How To Make Money From Investing In Stocks
  • Retirement Best Gold IRAs Best Investments for a Roth IRA Best Bitcoin IRAs Protecting Your 401(k) In a Recession Types of IRAs Roth vs Traditional IRA How To Open A Roth IRA
  • Business Formation Best LLC Services Best Registered Agent Services How To Start An LLC How To Start A Business
  • Web Design & Hosting Best Website Builders Best E-commerce Platforms Best Domain Registrar
  • HR & Payroll Best Payroll Software Best HR Software Best HRIS Systems Best Recruiting Software Best Applicant Tracking Systems
  • Payment Processing Best Credit Card Processing Companies Best POS Systems Best Merchant Services Best Credit Card Readers How To Accept Credit Cards
  • More Business Solutions Best VPNs Best VoIP Services Best Project Management Software Best CRM Software Best Accounting Software
  • Manage Topics
  • Investigations
  • Visual Explainers
  • Newsletters
  • Abortion news
  • Coronavirus
  • Climate Change
  • Vertical Storytelling
  • Corrections Policy
  • College Football
  • High School Sports
  • H.S. Sports Awards
  • Sports Betting
  • College Basketball (M)
  • College Basketball (W)
  • For The Win
  • Sports Pulse
  • Weekly Pulse
  • Buy Tickets
  • Sports Seriously
  • Sports+ States
  • Celebrities
  • Entertainment This!
  • Celebrity Deaths
  • American Influencer Awards
  • Women of the Century
  • Problem Solved
  • Personal Finance
  • Small Business
  • Consumer Recalls
  • Video Games
  • Product Reviews
  • Destinations
  • Airline News
  • Experience America
  • Today's Debate
  • Suzette Hackney
  • Policing the USA
  • Meet the Editorial Board
  • How to Submit Content
  • Hidden Common Ground
  • Race in America

Personal Loans

Best Personal Loans

Auto Insurance

Best Auto Insurance

Best High-Yields Savings Accounts

CREDIT CARDS

Best Credit Cards

Advertiser Disclosure

Blueprint is an independent, advertising-supported comparison service focused on helping readers make smarter decisions. We receive compensation from the companies that advertise on Blueprint which may impact how and where products appear on this site. The compensation we receive from advertisers does not influence the recommendations or advice our editorial team provides in our articles or otherwise impact any of the editorial content on Blueprint. Blueprint does not include all companies, products or offers that may be available to you within the market. A list of selected affiliate partners is available here .

How to start a small business at home in 2024

Blair Travers

Sierra Campbell

Sierra Campbell

“Verified by an expert” means that this article has been thoroughly reviewed and evaluated for accuracy.

Published 8:07 a.m. UTC Feb. 16, 2024

  • path]:fill-[#49619B]" alt="Facebook" width="18" height="18" viewBox="0 0 18 18" fill="none" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg">
  • path]:fill-[#202020]" alt="Email" width="19" height="14" viewBox="0 0 19 14" fill="none" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg">

Editorial Note: Blueprint may earn a commission from affiliate partner links featured here on our site. This commission does not influence our editors' opinions or evaluations. Please view our full advertiser disclosure policy .

Featured Image

PeopleImages, Getty Images

Starting a small business at home can help you turn your passions, skills or ideas into financial prosperity. There are some unique perks and challenges to consider when deciding to start a home-based business. 

You’ll also want to have a solid plan and follow some key steps to get your business off on the right foot. It’s helpful to know where you can find ideas, answers to your questions and other resources you need to run an at-home business successfully.

Should you start a business at home?

There are many factors to consider when deciding to start a small business at home. On the one hand, it’s important to make sure there is demand for your business. On the other hand, you want to be able to handle the amount of business you receive. Gauging things like demand, profit margins and the ability to scale your business early on can help you avoid trouble down the road.

Across the country, at-home businesses make up a large portion of small businesses. C.E. “Tee” Rowe is the president and CEO of America’s Small Business Development Centers (SBDC), which provides free or low-cost support for small businesses in partnership with the U.S. Small Business Administration. “Here at America’s SBDC, we have seen an uptick in home-based businesses that started during the pandemic but continues to date,” said Rowe. 

Pros of a home business

Here are some key benefits to starting a business at home:

  • Increased flexibility: Set your own hours, freeing you up for other commitments as needed.
  • Less commuting: Save time and money by skipping the drive to work.
  • Comfortable work environment: Design your workspace how you want it. After all, it is your home.
  • Money-saving perks: Pay lower startup costs compared to larger businesses by avoiding costs like renting retail or office space. Take advantage of tax breaks for at-home businesses.
  • Reduce risk: Protect yourself by limiting your liability and avoiding the cost and risk of maintaining commercial space.
  • Rewards for your hard work: Work hard for your business, and your business reaps the benefits instead of some other employer.

Cons of a home business

These are some of the disadvantages of starting a business at home:

  • Limited space: You give up part of your home, and even then, you may still need more space for your business.
  • Distracting work environment: Crying babies, barking dogs and loud neighbors can all be distracting when running a business at home.
  • Professional boundaries: Some people may feel awkward about meeting to discuss business at your home or a public location.
  • Increased mental health risks: Running a home business can feel isolating for some. A lack of social interaction, time outside, work-life balance or effective time management can also threaten mental health.
  • Growth restrictive: If your home-based business scales too rapidly, you may outgrow your workspace quickly. In this situation, success creates a problem for home businesses to solve.
  • Increased costs: Whether you’re paying new employee salaries or wages or forking over more money for higher utility bills, you may feel the financial squeeze.

Featured LLC service offers

Zenbusiness.

how to make a business plan for next year

Via ZenBusiness’ website

Free version available

Lowest published package price

how to make a business plan for next year

Via LegalZoom’s website

Northwest Registered Agent

how to make a business plan for next year

Via Northwest’s website

7 steps to start a home business

After considering the pros and cons, does the idea of taking the reins and starting a home business appeal to you? You’re not alone. 

“When we work with individuals seeking to start a home-based business, it is frequently based on a desire to control their own circumstance and success, which are great reasons, but it always needs to be thought out carefully,” Rowe explained.

Planning is key. From creating a business plan and determining your business structure to securing funding and setting your marketing strategy, there’s a lot to think through. Follow the steps below to get on the right track to starting a small business at home.

1. Find your niche

Plenty of successful at-home businesses arise from emotion: a passion to do what you love, a frustration with the status quo or excitement to seize on a timely opportunity.

If you’re struggling to find your niche, ask yourself:

  • What do you love to do that others may find challenging?
  • What is a need that no business currently has the right solution for?
  • What are you good at? What do people ask for your help with?
  • What high-demand skills or services do you have to offer?

2. Draft a business plan

Having a business plan is essential for running your business effectively. As Rowe pointed out, “Every business needs a solid, comprehensive plan to guide them to success. That plan needs to focus on skills, finance, revenue and marketing.”

A business plan outlines the direction of the business — its goals, strategies, structure, ways of measuring success and plans for dealing with things like change and risk. Simply put, it’s the roadmap to success for your business.

When creating your business plan, include key sections such as an executive summary, a business description, market analysis and financial projections. For more on what to cover, check out this step-by-step guide to drafting a business plan .

3. Select a business structure

According to the IRS, the most common business structures are sole proprietorships, partnerships , corporations and limited liability companies (LLC) . Each business structure comes with its own set of operational, legal, financial and tax considerations. 

A sole proprietorship is a business owned and operated by a single individual, while a partnership is jointly owned by two or more individuals who share responsibilities. 

In contrast, corporations — like C corporations and S corporations — are independent legal entities. C corporations limit shareholder liability but are highly complex. S corporations feature pass-through taxation, distributing income (and losses) to shareholders.

While sole proprietorship is a common structure for just starting out, LLC is another popular option for at-home businesses. It combines elements of a corporation and a partnership, offering limited liability to its members and the flexibility of pass-through taxation. Members of an LLC can choose to be taxed as a sole proprietorship, partnership, C corporation or S corporation.

4. Register your business and get an EIN

After you choose a business structure, you’ll need to register your business with state and federal governments. Select a business name , pay fees and provide required documents, which vary by state.

After getting registered with your state, you can then apply for an Employer Identification Number (EIN) from the IRS. Once you’re approved, you’ll receive this unique nine-digit number that is essential for all sorts of business purposes, from filing your taxes to hiring employees. 

Not all businesses need an EIN, such as sole proprietors and single-member LLCs with no employees.

5. Get any required licenses and permits

Depending on your industry and federal, state and local requirements, you may also need to obtain licenses and permits for your business. 

Here are some examples of licenses and permits you may need, depending on your business:

  • Occupational, professional or trade licenses.
  • Online business permits.
  • Sales tax permits.
  • Health department permits.
  • Safety permits.
  • Home-based child care licenses.
  • Zoning, signage, environmental and other permits to operate an at-home business, as required by local government, HOA or deed restrictions.

6. Obtain funding for your business

Many owners fund their businesses using their own savings. Self-funding is a viable choice if you can get up and running without much money, can come up with the needed funding from your own accounts or can ask for help from family or friends. 

You can also apply for a business loan . Banks will likely want to see a rock-solid business plan, strong financial projections, good personal and/or business credit history and any collateral you’ll use for your loan. If you are a good candidate for lending, make sure that shows in your application so that you can get the best funding and terms for your business.

If you don’t have much personal or business credit history, it may be easier to get a business credit card . This gives you benefits like payment flexibility, credit card rewards and essential early or emergency spending power. It will also help your business establish or strengthen its credit so you can get favorable terms on future loans and other credit.

7. Launch and market your business

You’ve planned out your business, defined its structure and gotten your business registered, licensed, permitted and even paid for. Now it’s showtime. For many who seek to start a small business at home, the launch is the most exciting part of the journey. You are now ready to conduct business.

It’s also important to get others excited about your small business — and keep them engaged. Here are some of the most common marketing strategies for small home-based businesses:

  • Social media marketing: Reach potential customers on platforms like Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and X (formerly Twitter) by sharing engaging content and updates.
  • Business website: More than just a place to sell your products or services online, your business website should help users find what they want to meet their needs. It should also help achieve business objectives by offering features like payment services or e-commerce functionality .
  • Advertising: Platforms such as search engines and social media can help you reach your target audience.
  • Content marketing: Write blog posts, produce videos or create helpful graphics to explain what your business offers and to establish trust and authority.
  • Email marketing: To keep business coming back, build an email list to communicate using promotions, newsletters and updates.
  • Word of mouth: In the early stages, many small home-based businesses rely on word of mouth. You can also ask for customer reviews on platforms like Google and Yelp.

Weigh the costs and benefits when deciding on your marketing plan, so you choose what’s best for your business.

Top home business ideas

Check out these home business ideas to find the right fit for you:

  • Retail: Sell products you make — including crafts and customized gifts — or resell products you get for less than what you pay for them.
  • Case-based services: Open up an in-home daycare, provide home-based care for adults or even take care of pets by offering pet sitting and mobile grooming.
  • Events: Plan weddings and events. Create the perfect look as a makeup artist or stylist. Play music in a band or take your place on the 1s and 2s as a DJ.
  • Art and creative services: Capture the moment as a photographer, or maybe you’d rather bring your vision to life as an artist. More of a words person? Write, edit or translate content. 
  • Education: Teach the next generation how to do math, play an instrument or learn a new language. Provide adults with specialized training in arts and crafts, life coaching or test preparation.
  • Health and wellness: Become a personal trainer to get people in the best shape of their lives or a mental health counselor to help them find their inner peace.
  • Home and real estate: Transform homes by organizing, decorating or even staging. Produce virtual home tours for real estate agents, or become a realtor yourself.

Resources to start a business

For more resources and guidance on how to start a small business at home, check out these guides and articles:

  • Follow our step-by-step guide on how to start a business from the ground up.
  • Learn how to start an LLC if that’s your chosen business structure.
  • Discover how to start a business with no money so funding doesn’t hold you back.
  • Skip the overhead that comes with brick-and-mortar stores and find out how to start an online business .
  • Explore options to accept payments online and start making money in your sleep.
  • Find the cheapest payroll services to pay your employees and contractors.
  • Build a successful business by attracting loyal, repeat customers. 

Frequently asked questions (FAQs)

The cost of starting a business at home varies widely and depends on several factors. Some businesses, including sole proprietorships, can get away with paying little to no money to start their business. Other home-based businesses, including those with manufacturing or inventory expenses, could have considerably higher startup costs.

Yes, you can use your home address to register a business. However, you’ll want to make sure that usage does not go against local laws, HOA bylaws or property covenants. It’s also a good idea to check with your mortgage and homeowners insurance companies to make sure that running a business out of your home does not introduce unforeseen headaches.

Blueprint is an independent publisher and comparison service, not an investment advisor. The information provided is for educational purposes only and we encourage you to seek personalized advice from qualified professionals regarding specific financial decisions. Past performance is not indicative of future results.

Blueprint has an advertiser disclosure policy . The opinions, analyses, reviews or recommendations expressed in this article are those of the Blueprint editorial staff alone. Blueprint adheres to strict editorial integrity standards. The information is accurate as of the publish date, but always check the provider’s website for the most current information.

Blair Travers

Blair Travers is a business writer and content strategist with over a decade of experience breaking down complex problems to help businesses move forward with confidence. He brings a wide range of technology, banking and retail expertise. Blair enjoys helping businesses figure out complex processes and make choices that are right for them. His work has been published in U.S. News & World Report and Carfax.

Sierra Campbell is a small business editor for USA Today Blueprint. She specializes in writing, editing and fact-checking content centered around helping businesses. She has worked as a digital content and show producer for several local TV stations, an editor for U.S. News & World Report and a freelance writer and editor for many companies. Sierra prides herself in delivering accurate and up-to-date information to readers. Her expertise includes credit card processing companies, e-commerce platforms, payroll software, accounting software and virtual private networks (VPNs). She also owns Editing by Sierra, where she offers editing services to writers of all backgrounds, including self-published and traditionally published authors.

How to start a small business: A step-by-step guide

How to start a small business: A step-by-step guide

Business Eric Rosenberg

Entrepreneur

How to Create a Growth Plan for Your Business in 6 Simple Steps

The following is an excerpt from Grow Your Business: Scaling Your Business for Long-Term Success by the staff of Entrepreneur Media and Eric Butow, on sale now.

To grow your company, you need a plan that establishes how you will grow and why your ideal customers should buy from you. Then you need to invest in the people and tools that can turn your plans into reality. If possible, distill your growth plan into a one-page document that will help you focus on the essentials and be easy for your team to digest. Growth plans are different for each business, and you can implement different strategies depending on what type of business you have. But regardless, you need to keep your team thinking in terms of growth. Once you establish a growth mindset in your employees, you and your team can continuously look for new opportunities for growth.

What a Growth Plan Is . . . and Isn't

A growth plan may be hard to wrap your head around when you're getting started in your business. Before you offer your product and/or service to the world, you need to focus on establishing a value proposition for potential customers and find out where your ideal customers are. Once you do, you can measure your progress as you sell your product and/or service. Those measurements will help you identify new revenue streams and let you compare yourself to the competition. That comparison will tell where your strengths are so you can focus on them. And when you have a clear idea of what you do and who your customers are, you can use that information to attract talented employees. Establish a Value Proposition Before you can grow, you need to think about what sets you apart from the competition. For example, some companies compete on authority. Whole Foods Market touts itself as the place to buy healthy and organic foods. Walmart asserts that it's the low-price leader and no one can beat its prices. Whatever competitive advantage you find, stick with it. If you don't, you run the risk of devaluing your business because customers won't know what you stand for.

Grow Your Business: Scaling Your Business for Long-Term Success is available now at Entrepreneur Bookstore | Amazon | Barnes and Noble

1. Pinpoint Your Ideal Customer

You started a business so you could solve a problem for a specific audience. During the startup stage, you may have identified numerous markets you thought you might be able to serve before narrowing it down to your specific niche market. Now you need to hone your target market even further until you've winnowed it down to your ideal customer. Once you know who they are, you can address them consistently in your market or submarket as you grow.

Related: How to Leverage Virtual Sales Events to Grow Your Business

2. Define Key Indicators

You won't be able to measure growth if you can't measure change. Start by identifying key performance indicators (KPIs), which are quantifiable measurements of a company's performance in specific areas over time. (Examples of commonly tracked KPIs include net profit, liquidity ratio, customer satisfaction, and customer retention.) Then dedicate time and money to improving those indicators.

3. Verify Your Revenue Streams

Don't just think about your current revenue streams—think about new revenue streams that could make your business more profitable. Once you've started identifying possible new revenue streams, get in the habit of asking yourself (and your team) if every cool new idea you and they come up with has a revenue stream attached. If it does, ask if that stream is sustainable over the long run.

Related: 5 Reasons Why Your Brand Needs a Chief Growth Officer

4. Research Your Competition

If your company is struggling with something, you likely have a competitor that excels at it. Don't just put your head down and try to surmount a challenge yourself. Look at similar growth businesses to inform your strategies and solutions. If you belong to an industry trade group or a networking organization (and you should), don't be afraid to ask for advice. Why have similar businesses made different choices? Do your competitors' growth choices mean that their businesses are positioned differently?

5. Focus on Your Strengths

Tailoring your growth plan to focus on and maximize your strengths can help you identify strategies for success. That doesn't mean you should ignore your weaknesses, but starting from a position of strength will give your company the fuel it needs to grow.

6. Invest in Talent

Your employees have direct or indirect contact with your customers, so you should hire people who are motivated by your company's value proposition and your plans for growth. Pay and treat your employees well because their positive energy will inspire your customers. Your employees will also listen to your customers and bring back ideas from them that will help you grow your business.

For more growth strategies, pickup Grow Your Business: Scaling Your Business available now at Entrepreneur Bookstore | Amazon | Barnes and Noble

How to Create a Growth Plan for Your Business in 6 Simple Steps

Credit cards

  • View all credit cards
  • Banking guide
  • Loans guide
  • Insurance guide
  • Personal finance
  • View all personal finance
  • Small business
  • View all small business
  • View all taxes

How to Find the Best Travel Insurance

Elina Geller

Many or all of the products featured here are from our partners who compensate us. This influences which products we write about and where and how the product appears on a page. However, this does not influence our evaluations. Our opinions are our own. Here is a list of our partners and here's how we make money .

Table of Contents

What travel insurance covers

How much does travel insurance cost, types of travel insurance, how to get travel insurance, what to look for in travel insurance, best travel insurance comparison sites, which insurance company is best for travel insurance, when to skip travel insurance, travel insurance, recapped.

Travel insurance can cover medical expenses, emergencies, trip interruptions, baggage, rental cars and more.

Cost is affected by trip length, pre-existing medical conditions, depth of coverage, your age and add-ons.

You can get it through credit cards or third-party companies, & can shop on travel insurance comparison sites.

Before buying, evaluate risks, know existing coverage, obtain quotes online and review policy details warily.

Skip it if you buy flexible airfare and hotels, already have coverage or only book refundable activities.

Booking travel always carries some degree of uncertainty. Travel insurance provides a safety net so you can step out with confidence. You may not need travel insurance for inexpensive trips, but it can provide a sense of security when you prepay for pricey reservations, a big international trip or travel during cold and flu season, which can be unpredictable.

According to insurance comparison site Squaremouth, travelers in 2023 spent an average of $403 for comprehensive coverage, compared to $96 for medical-only policies. Comprehensive plans typically cost between 5% and 10% of the insured trip cost.

Since that price tag is no small amount, it helps to know how to shop smart for travel insurance. Here's how to find the right travel insurance plan for you and your next adventure.

Depending on the type of coverage you’re looking for, the chart below will help you determine what to look for when selecting a policy:

Depending on the policy, travel insurance reimburses you or offers services when something goes awry. There’s even coverage for the worst-case scenario: if you die in an accident while traveling. Accidental death coverage pays your beneficiary a lump sum in that case.

Before you buy, take a little time to get familiar with different types of travel insurance products, how it’s priced, and what it covers and excludes. If you’re traveling during these uncertain times, you’ll want to make sure that the policy you select covers coronavirus-related emergencies. Usually, the more thorough the coverage, the more it will cost.

Travel insurance costs vary depending on:

Length and cost of the trip: The longer and more expensive the trip, the higher the policy cost.

Cost of local health care: High health-care costs in your destination can drive up the price of trip insurance.

Medical conditions you want covered: Conditions you already have will increase the cost of travel insurance coverage.

Amount and breadth of coverage: The more risks a policy covers, the more it will cost.

Your age: Generally the older you are, the higher the price.

Any optional supplement you add to your policy : Cancel For Any Reason , Interrupt For Any Reason and more.

Keep these factors in mind when considering different travel insurance options.

You’ll find a wide selection of travel protection plans when you shop for a policy.

Typically, travel insurance is sold as a package, known as a comprehensive plan, which includes a variety of coverage.

Here are seven of the most common types of travel insurance:

Travel medical insurance

These plans provide health insurance while you’re away from home. Although in some ways these policies work like traditional health plans, generally you cannot use travel health insurance for routine medical events. For example, a routine medical checkup is usually not covered. In addition, these policies often include limitations on coverage and exclusions for pre-existing conditions.

Although most travel insurance plans cover many recreational activities, such as skiing and horseback riding, they often exclude adventure sports, such as skydiving or parasailing, or competition in organized sporting events. You may need to buy a special travel policy designed for adventure or competitive sports.

International travel insurance

Most likely, your U.S.-based medical insurance will not work while you’re traveling internationally, and Medicare does not provide any coverage once you leave the United States outside of a few very specific exemptions. If you plan on traveling abroad, purchasing travel medical insurance could make a lot of sense.

» Learn more: Travel medical insurance: Emergency coverage while you travel internationally

Trip cancellation, interruption and delay

Trip cancellation coverage reimburses you for prepaid, nonrefundable expenses if the tour operator goes out of business or you have to cancel the trip for one of the covered reasons outlined in the policy, such as:

Your own illness.

The illness or death of a family member who’s not traveling with you.

Natural disasters.

Trip interruption insurance covers the nonrefundable cost of the unused portion of the trip if it is interrupted due to a reason outlined in the policy.

Trip delay coverage reimburses you for expenses such as lodging and meals if you’re delayed during a trip (e.g., your flight gets canceled due to weather ).

Many package policies cover all three. These policies are different from the cancellation waivers that cruise lines and tour operators offer, the Insurance Information Institute says. Waivers are cheap, ranging from $40 to $60, and often include restrictions. For example, according to the institute, waivers might not refund your money if you cancel immediately before departure. Waivers are technically not insurance policies.

Some companies offer additional layers of coverage at extra cost. “Cancel For Any Reason” coverage will reimburse a large part of the trip cost, no matter why you back out. And some companies let you pay extra to cover pre-existing conditions if you cancel for medical reasons.

Some insurers and comparison sites let you customize a policy by choosing types of coverage a la carte. For example, TravelInsurance.com is a comparison site that provides quotes from different providers.

Baggage and personal belongings

How does lost luggage insurance work? This coverage reimburses you for baggage and personal belongings that are lost, stolen or damaged during the trip. Some plans also reimburse you for extra expenses if you experience a baggage delay for more than a certain period, such as 12 hours.

Your renters or homeowners insurance may cover personal belongings while you are traveling. It’s best to review your homeowners insurance policy to determine the level of coverage it provides so you do not end up paying for a benefit you already have.

» Learn more: Baggage insurance explained

Emergency medical assistance, evacuation and repatriation

This coverage pays medical expenses if you get sick or injured on a trip . Medical evacuation coverage pays for transporting you to the nearest hospital, and medical repatriation pays for flying you to your home country.

» Learn more: Can I get travel insurance for pre-existing medical conditions?

24-hour assistance

This service is included with many package plans. The insurer provides a 24-hour hotline that you can call when you need help, such as booking a flight after a missed connection, finding lost luggage, or locating a doctor or lawyer.

Generally, travel insurance companies do not cover sports or any activity that can be deemed risky. If you’re thinking of incorporating adventurous activities into your vacation, choose a plan that includes adventure sports coverage.

Most travel insurers cover a wide array of services, but the specific options vary. Some plans include concierge services, providing help with restaurant referrals, tee time reservations and more. Many services also offer information before the trip, such as required vaccinations. The only way to know what’s included is to read the policy.

» Learn more: Should you insure your cruise?

Accidental death and dismemberment insurance

This coverage pays a lump sum to your beneficiary, such as a family member, if you die in an accident while on the trip. Accidental death and dismemberment insurance policies also pay a portion of the sum to you if you lose a hand, foot, limb, eyesight, speech or hearing. Some plans apply only to accidental death in a plane.

This coverage may be duplicative if you already have sufficient life insurance, which pays out whether you die in an accident or from an illness. You may also already have accidental death and dismemberment insurance through work, so it's best to check your policies to ensure you’re not overpaying.

» Learn more: NerdWallet's guide to life insurance

Rental car coverage

Rental car insurance pays for repairing your rental car if it’s damaged in a wreck, by vandals or in a natural disaster. The coverage doesn't include liability insurance, which pays for damage to other vehicles or for the medical treatment of others if you cause an accident and are held responsible.

Ask your car insurance company whether your policy will cover you when renting cars on the trip. U.S. car insurance policies generally don’t cover you when driving in other countries, except Canada.

Car insurance requirements are complex because they vary among countries. You can usually purchase liability insurance from the rental car company. Learn about car insurance requirements by searching for auto insurance by country on the U.S. Embassy website .

» Learn more: Best credit cards for rental car coverage

A note about single vs. long-term policies

Single trip insurance plans are a great option for those going on a single trip for a specific length of time (e.g., a two-week vacation) and then returning home. The price of the policy is usually determined by the cost of the trip.

Long-term travel policies cover you for multiple trips, but there are limitations to how long you can be away from home, if you can return home during your travels and how many trips you can take. In addition, trip cancellation and interruption coverage is either not offered or capped at a dollar amount that can be significantly below the total cost of all the trips taken during the covered period.

Long-term travel insurance plans — often called 'multi-trip' or 'annual travel insurance' — are a suitable option for those who travel often and are satisfied with the amount of trip cancellation coverage for all the trips they take over the duration of the policy.

» Learn more: How annual (multi-trip) travel insurance works

Below, we include how to obtain travel insurance, along with the pros and cons of each option.

Some credit cards offer trip cancellation and rental car insurance if you use the card to book the trip or car.

When you book a trip with your credit card, depending on the card you use, you may already receive trip cancellation and interruption coverage.

» Learn more: 10 credit cards that provide travel insurance

Here are a handful of credit cards with travel insurance benefits.

Chase Sapphire Preferred Credit Card

on Chase's website

Chase Sapphire Reserve Credit Card

on American Express' website

Chase Ink Business Preferred Credit Card

• Trip delay: Up to $500 per ticket for delays more than 12 hours.

• Trip cancellation: Up to $10,000 per person and $20,000 per trip. Maximum benefit of $40,000 per 12-month period.

• Trip interruption: Up to $10,000 per person and $20,000 per trip. Maximum benefit of $40,000 per 12-month period.

• Baggage delay: Up to $100 per day for five days.

• Lost luggage: Up to $3,000 per passenger.

• Travel accident: Up to $500,000.

• Rental car insurance: Up to $75,000.

• Trip delay: Up to $500 per ticket for delays more than 6 hours.

• Travel accident: Up to $1 million.

• Rental car insurance: Up to the actual cash value of the car.

• Trip delay: Up to $500 per trip for delays more than 6 hours.

• Trip cancellation: Up to $10,000 per trip. Maximum benefit of $20,000 per 12-month period.

• Trip interruption: Up to $10,000 per trip. Maximum benefit of $20,000 per 12-month period.

Terms apply.

Pros: Coverage is free.

Cons: You can’t customize the insurance to meet your needs. Most credit cards offer secondary car rental insurance, which pays for the costs not covered by your regular car insurance plan.

Travel agents and travel reservation sites

You can buy travel insurance when you book your flight, hotel and car rental.

Pros: Buying is as quick and easy as clicking “yes” when you book reservations. Coverage is inexpensive.

Cons: You can’t customize the coverage.

» Learn more: Airline travel insurance vs. independent travel insurance

Travel insurance comparison sites

You can compare different policies and review quotes at once based on the trip search criteria you’ve input into the search form. Examples include marketplaces like Squaremouth or TravelInsurance.com.

Pros: You can choose a policy that fits your needs and compare policies and pricing in one place.

Cons: Comparing multiple policies takes time.

Travel insurance companies

You can purchase travel insurance directly from an insurance provider.

Pros: You can choose a policy that fits your needs. Many travel insurer websites also offer information to help you understand the coverage.

Cons: You’ll need to go to multiple websites to compare coverage and pricing.

» Learn more: The best travel insurance companies right now

Keep these tips in mind when you’re considering a trip insurance policy.

Evaluate the financial risks you face when traveling. Can you bear those costs yourself, or do you want insurance?

Examine what coverage you already have: Does your credit card offer travel insurance? Do you have renters or homeowners insurance to cover belongings? What is the deductible? Will your health plan cover you in all the locations where you travel?

Get quotes for trip insurance online. Choose a package of the benefits you need and compare prices for similar coverage among carriers.

Narrow your choices and then read the policy fine print to understand what’s covered, what’s excluded and the limits on coverage. You may find that the lowest-priced policy is too restrictive and that paying a little more gets you the coverage you need. Or you might find that the cheapest, most basic policy fits the bill.

If you don’t know which provider to go with, it makes sense to browse a list of plans on a travel insurance comparison site. These online marketplaces will often include plans from the best travel insurance companies along with customer reviews.

Squaremouth

how to make a business plan for next year

Compare plans from more than 30 providers.

Over 86,000 customer reviews of insurers.

Under its Zero Complaint Guarantee, Squaremouth (a NerdWallet partner) will remove a provider if any customer complaint isn't resolved to its satisfaction.

Has a filter option to see policies that provide COVID-coverage.

TravelInsurance.com

how to make a business plan for next year

Compare plans from 13 providers.

See good and poor customer ratings and reviews for each insurer when you receive quotes.

“Learning Center” includes travel insurance articles and travel tips, including important how-to information.

Quotes provided from each provider include a link to COVID-19 FAQs, making it easy for customers to review what’s covered or not.

InsureMyTrip

how to make a business plan for next year

Compare plans from more than two dozen providers.

More than 70,000 customer reviews.

“Anytime Advocates” help customers navigate the claim process and will work on behalf of the customer to help with appealing a denied claim.

Includes a link to plans that offer COVID coverage.

how to make a business plan for next year

Compare plans from 11 providers.

Search coverage by sporting activity, including ground, air and water sports.

Many types of plans available for students, visiting family members, new immigrants, those seeking COVID quarantine coverage and more.

how to make a business plan for next year

Compare different insurance plans from 35 providers.

Over 5,600 customer reviews on Trustpilot, with an average 4.9 stars out of five.

Formerly known as AardvarkCompare, AARDY includes a “Travel Insurance 101” learning center to help customers understand various policies and benefits.

Quote search results page includes COVID-coverage highlighted in a different color to make it easier for customers to review related limits.

Whether you’re looking for an international travel insurance plan, emergency medical care, COVID coverage or a policy that includes extreme sports, these providers have you covered.

Our full analysis and more details about each organization can be found here: The Best Travel Insurance Companies Today .

Allianz Global Assistance .

Travel Guard by AIG .

USI Affinity Travel Insurance Services .

Travel Insured International .

World Nomads .

Berkshire Hathaway Travel Protection .

Travelex Insurance Services .

Seven Corners .

AXA Assistance USA .

There are a few scenarios when spending extra on travel insurance doesn't really make sense, like:

You booked flexible airline tickets.

Your hotel room has a good cancellation policy.

It's already included in your credit card.

You haven't booked any nonrefundable activities.

» Learn more: When you don't need travel insurance

Yes, especially for nonrefundable trips and travel during the COVID-era. Whether you purchase a comprehensive travel insurance policy or have travel insurance from your credit card, you shouldn't travel without having some sort of travel protection in place to safeguard you and your trip. Travel insurance can protect you in case of an unexpected emergency such as a canceled flight due to weather, a medical event that requires hospitalization, lost luggage and more.

There are many good travel insurance policies out there and a policy that may be great for you may not be good for someone else. Selecting the best plan depends on what coverage you would like and your trip details.

For example, World Nomads offers a comprehensive travel insurance policy that has excellent coverage for adventure sports. Allianz provides coverage for trips of varying lengths of time through its single trip plans and multi-trip plans. Some providers offer add-on options like Cancel For Any Reason travel insurance. If you’re not sure which plan to go with, consider looking at trip insurance comparison sites like Squaremouth or Insuremytrip.

Yes, you can. However, it's better to purchase it sooner rather than later, ideally right after booking your trip because the benefits begin as soon as you purchase a policy.

Let’s say you’re going on a trip in a month and a week before departure, you fall and break your leg. If you’ve purchased a travel insurance policy, you can use your trip cancellation benefits to get your nonrefundable deposit back.

Most comprehensive travel insurance plans offer trip cancellation, trip interruption, emergency medical and dental, medical evacuation, trip delay and lost luggage coverage. Many plans offer COVID coverage, but you’ll always want to check to ensure that the policy you choose provides that benefit if you’re traveling during these times. Some plans may also allow you to add features like Cancel For Any Reason travel insurance.

It depends which credit card you have. Premium travel cards like the Chase Sapphire Reserve® and The Platinum Card® from American Express offer travel insurance benefits if you book a trip using your card or points.

However, the coverage provided by the credit cards is usually lower than if you purchased a standalone policy. Review the travel insurance benefits on your credit card and check that the limits are adequate before foregoing from purchasing a separate plan.

Let’s say you’re going on a trip in a month and a week before departure, you fall and break your leg. If you’ve purchased a travel insurance policy, you can use your

trip cancellation benefits

to get your nonrefundable deposit back.

It depends which credit card you have. Premium travel cards like the

Chase Sapphire Reserve®

The Platinum Card® from American Express

offer travel insurance benefits if you book a trip using your card or points.

Unpredictability is one of the mind-opening joys of travel, but travel insurance should contain no surprises. The time you spend to understand your options will be well worth the peace of mind as you embark on your next adventure.

Whether you’re seeking a single or a long-term policy, each travel insurance option offers different strengths and weaknesses. Choosing the right policy depends on your trip needs, your budget and how important various benefits are to you.

Keep reading

If you want to dig in deeper to world of travel insurance, these resources will point you in the right direction.

What is travel insurance? How much is travel insurance? Is travel insurance worth it? What does travel insurance cover? Does travel insurance cover COVID?

How to maximize your rewards

You want a travel credit card that prioritizes what’s important to you. Here are our picks for the best travel credit cards of 2024 , including those best for:

Flexibility, point transfers and a large bonus: Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card

No annual fee: Bank of America® Travel Rewards credit card

Flat-rate travel rewards: Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card

Bonus travel rewards and high-end perks: Chase Sapphire Reserve®

Luxury perks: The Platinum Card® from American Express

Business travelers: Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card

1x-10x Earn 5x total points on flights and 10x total points on hotels and car rentals when you purchase travel through Chase Ultimate Rewards® immediately after the first $300 is spent on travel purchases annually. Earn 3x points on other travel and dining & 1 point per $1 spent on all other purchases

60,000 Earn 60,000 bonus points after you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening. That's $900 toward travel when you redeem through Chase Ultimate Rewards®.

1x-5x 5x on travel purchased through Chase Ultimate Rewards®, 3x on dining, select streaming services and online groceries, 2x on all other travel purchases, 1x on all other purchases.

60,000 Earn 60,000 bonus points after you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening. That's $750 toward travel when you redeem through Chase Ultimate Rewards®.

Chase Southwest Rapid Rewards® Plus Credit Card

1x-2x Earn 2X points on Southwest® purchases. Earn 2X points on local transit and commuting, including rideshare. Earn 2X points on internet, cable, and phone services, and select streaming. Earn 1X points on all other purchases.

30,000 Limited-time offer: Earn Companion Pass® good through 2/28/25 plus 30,000 points after you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening.

IMAGES

  1. 11 Business Plan Templates

    how to make a business plan for next year

  2. To Make A Business Plan

    how to make a business plan for next year

  3. How to create a simple business plan on one page (plus a free template)

    how to make a business plan for next year

  4. How to create a perfect Business Plan? Steps to create a successful plan

    how to make a business plan for next year

  5. Steps Involved on How to Write a Business Plan to Suit your Desire

    how to make a business plan for next year

  6. Small Business Plan Template

    how to make a business plan for next year

VIDEO

  1. A Business Plan

  2. New Business Plan

  3. What’s your big travel plan next year?

  4. BUSINESS PLAN PRESENTATION //Business plan presentation discussion //How to make business plan

  5. BUSINESS PLAN PRESENTATION || Business plan presentation discussion || How to make business plan

  6. BUSINESS IDEA IN 2024 || Business Information and Idea || Business Plan discussion

COMMENTS

  1. How To Write A Business Plan (2024 Guide)

    Describe Your Services or Products. The business plan should have a section that explains the services or products that you're offering. This is the part where you can also describe how they fit ...

  2. 5 Steps to Write a 5-Year Business Plan[2023 Guide]

    15 min. read Updated October 27, 2023 Download Now: Free Business Plan Template Learn why the traditional way of writing a five-year business plan is often a waste of time and how to use a one-page plan instead for smarter, easier strategic planning to establish your long-term vision.

  3. How to Create a Profitable Annual Business Plan [+Free Template]

    Published: February 09, 2023 The beginning of a new quarter is the perfect time to start planning the next year for your business. Start the next year or quarter off on the right foot by creating an annual business plan for your company. Q4 often brings a flurry of business-related activity.

  4. How to Write a Business Plan: Guide + Examples

    Raise money Grow strategically Keep your business on the right track As you start to write your plan, it's useful to zoom out and remember what a business plan is. At its core, a business plan is an overview of the products and services you sell, and the customers that you sell to.

  5. Business Plan: What it Is, How to Write One

    Steps 2. Describe your company 3. State your business goals 4. Describe your products and services 5. Do your market research 6. Outline your marketing and sales plan 7. Perform a business...

  6. Write your business plan

    Content Business plans help you run your business A good business plan guides you through each stage of starting and managing your business. You'll use your business plan as a roadmap for how to structure, run, and grow your new business. It's a way to think through the key elements of your business.

  7. How to Write a Simple Business Plan

    Get free Smartsheet templates By Joe Weller | October 11, 2021 A business plan is the cornerstone of any successful company, regardless of size or industry. This step-by-step guide provides information on writing a business plan for organizations at any stage, complete with free templates and expert advice.

  8. Simple Business Plan Template (2024)

    Whether you want to launch a side gig, a solo operation or a small business, you need a simple business plan template to guide you. Forbes Advisor offers you a comprehensive and easy-to-follow ...

  9. How to Write a Business Plan in 10 Steps

    Don't worry, you'll know how to write a business plan in no time. We've broken each section down to help you write a business plan in a few simple steps. 1. Brainstorm and Draft an Executive Summary for Your Business Plan. This will be the first page of your business plan.

  10. How to Write a Business Plan: Beginner's Guide (& Templates)

    Step #3: Conduct Your Market Analysis. Step #4: Research Your Competition. Step #5: Outline Your Products or Services. Step #6: Summarize Your Financial Plan. Step #7: Determine Your Marketing Strategy. Step #8: Showcase Your Organizational Chart. 14 Business Plan Templates to Help You Get Started.

  11. Time to Plan 2022: How to Make a Business Plan for Next Year

    It's Not Too Late to Plan for Next Year. The curtain is closing on 2021. Though 2022 is only a few weeks away, it's never too late to start making a business plan for the upcoming year. A strategic plan, even a flexible one, provides a helpful framework to ensure a clear vision, a manageable timeline for tasks, transparency, and an understanding of annual expectations.

  12. 11 Steps for Writing a 5-Year Business Plan

    How to write a 5-year business plan. Following a template can help you write more effective five-year business plans. Here is a list of steps on how to write a five-year business plan: 1. Write an executive summary. Include this section at the beginning of your five-year business plan to summarize all the other sections within the plan, and to ...

  13. 5 Steps to prepare your business plan for next year

    Listing down your business strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats can help you make a strong business plan to deal with each of them in the current year. 3. Make budget ... Ask your professionals to recommend some latest tools and technologies to your business operations and create a better business scenario next year.

  14. 5 Steps to Prepare Your Business Plan for Next Year

    1. State Your Goals Establish clear, quantifiable short and long-term goals so you know where you're headed. Maintain and communicate clear priorities to your team. Live by the adage: "Without a plan, all activity looks like progress." 2. Align Your Reporting

  15. Strategic Business Planning for the New Year

    In which area? How? The clearer you are, the easier it will be to map out ways to achieve your goals. There are three areas to consider as you set your business goals: YOUR VISION FOR THE BUSINESS: Your vision is what caused you to start the business in the first place. What did you see when you looked to the future?

  16. Annual Planning: Plan Like a Pro In 5 Steps (+ Template)

    Here's how to do annual planning the right way: 1. Analyze your performance and identify opportunities. Before you set goals, you should do an analysis of your company's current performance, market, and competitors to see where you stand. Here are some tools you can use in the process: SWOT analysis. PESTLE analysis.

  17. Annual Planning Templates: How to Make your 2021 Annual Plan

    Step #1: Assess Your Current Situation Planning is all about reading a situation and making informed choices. So step #1 in your annual planning process is to review last year. It's important to determine what worked and what didn't work for the business. To do this you can gather data from past reports or talk to managers from each area.

  18. 24 of My Favorite Sample Business Plans & Examples For Your Inspiration

    8. Panda Doc's Free Business Plan Template. PandaDoc's free business plan template is one of the more detailed and fleshed-out sample business plans on this list. It describes what you should include in each section, so you don't have to come up with everything from scratch.

  19. How To Set Effective New Year's Goals For 2022

    Setting realistic expectations is a matter of identifying what you want and creating a solid plan. Ultimately, you want to identify the change you'd like to see and create achievable steps to ...

  20. Business Plan: What It Is + How to Write One

    1. Executive summary. This is a short section that introduces the business plan as a whole to the people who will be reading it, including investors, lenders, or other members of your team. Start with a sentence or two about your business, your goals for developing it, and why it will be successful. If you are seeking funding, summarize the ...

  21. Annual Planning: 6 Steps to Plan a Fiscal Year [2024] • Asana

    1. Reflect on previous strategies—and develop new ones Before your business can start planning for next year, ask yourself, your stakeholders, and your operations teams: How did we perform against the strategies laid out in last year's annual plan?

  22. My 4 step business planning strategy for the New Year

    The first thing I do is to go through a giant list of questions to help me to reflect and figure out what I should be doing my next year in business. I've popped all those questions into a handy little (fill-out-able) PDF here. 👇 New Year Business Strategy Questions PDF

  23. 10 Strategies for Business New Year Planning

    Here are strategies for business New Year planning. 1. List the 3 most important objectives for your business over the next year. These should be critical "big picture" accomplishments that will lead to profits and future achievement. 2. For each objective listed above, identify your responsibility in achieving the objective. WHAT will you do?

  24. How to Kick off Your Planning for Next Year: Build a Better Strategy

    1. Agree on an Executive Strategy. We advise the executive team to come together to build a shared vision (the "why"), company-wide objectives (the "what"), and key strategies (the "how"). Doing this exercise as a team ensures that you hear multiple viewpoints and get buy-in and accountability.List all of the potential priorities on ...

  25. How to start a business in 2024

    Step 1: Define (and refine) your business idea. All businesses start with a strong idea. It's this idea that lays the foundation for what your business will become. Start simple: You don't ...

  26. How to Start a Small Business at Home in 2024

    4. Register your business and get an EIN. After you choose a business structure, you'll need to register your business with state and federal governments. Select a business name, pay fees and ...

  27. How to Create a Growth Plan for Your Business in 6 Simple Steps

    How to Create a Growth Plan for Your Business in 6 Simple Steps. The new book, "Grow Your Business," offers an easy-to-follow guide to expanding your business and making more money this year.

  28. How to Find the Best Travel Insurance

    Find out whether you need travel insurance for your next trip, what it covers, and how to compare and shop for the best plan. Credit cards View all credit cards