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How To Write the Management Section of a Business Plan

Susan Ward wrote about small businesses for The Balance for 18 years. She has run an IT consulting firm and designed and presented courses on how to promote small businesses.

business plan staff structure

Ownership Structure

Internal management team, external management resources, human resources, frequently asked questions (faqs).

When developing a business plan , the 'management section' describes your management team, staff, resources, and how your business ownership is structured. This section should not only describe who's on your management team but how each person's skill set will contribute to your bottom line. In this article, we will detail exactly how to compose and best highlight your management team.

Key Takeaways

  • The management section of a business plan helps show how your management team and company are structured.
  • The first section shows the ownership structure, which might be a sole proprietorship, partnership, or corporation.
  • The internal management section shows the department heads, including sales, marketing, administration, and production.
  • The external management resources help back up your internal management and include an advisory board and consultants.
  • The human resources section contains staffing requirements—part-time or full-time—skills needed for employees and the costs.

This section outlines the legal structure of your business. It may only be a single sentence if your business is a sole proprietorship. If your business is a partnership or a corporation, it can be longer. You want to be sure you explain who holds what percentage of ownership in the company.

The internal management section should describe the business management categories relevant to your business, identify who will have responsibility for each category, and then include a short profile highlighting each person's skills.

The primary business categories of sales, marketing , administration, and production usually work for many small businesses. If your business has employees, you will also need a human resources section. You may also find that your company needs additional management categories to fit your unique circumstances.

It's not necessary to have a different person in charge of each category; some key management people often fill more than one role. Identify the key managers in your business and explain what functions and experience each team member will serve. You may wish to present this as an organizational chart in your business plan, although the list format is also appropriate.

Along with this section, you should include the complete resumés of each management team member (including your own). Follow this with an explanation of how each member will be compensated and their benefits package, and describe any profit-sharing plans that may apply.

If there are any contracts that relate directly to your management team members, such as work contracts or non-competition agreements, you should include them in an Appendix to your business plan.

While external management resources are often overlooked when writing a business plan , using these resources effectively can make the difference between the success or failure of your managers. Think of these external resources as your internal management team's backup. They give your business credibility and an additional pool of expertise.

Advisory Board

An Advisory Board can increase consumer and investor confidence, attract talented employees by showing a commitment to company growth and bring a diversity of contributions. If you choose to have an Advisory Board , list all the board members in this section, and include a bio and all relevant specializations. If you choose your board members carefully, the group can compensate for the niche forms of expertise that your internal managers lack.

When selecting your board members, look for people who are genuinely interested in seeing your business do well and have the patience and time to provide sound advice.

Recently retired executives or managers, other successful entrepreneurs, and/or vendors would be good choices for an Advisory Board.

Professional Services

Professional Services should also be highlighted in the external management resources section. Describe all the external professional advisors that your business will use, such as accountants, bankers, lawyers, IT consultants, business consultants, and/or business coaches. These professionals provide a web of advice and support outside your internal management team that can be invaluable in making management decisions and your new business a success .

The last point you should address in the management section of your business plan is your human resources needs. The trick to writing about human resources is to be specific. To simply write, "We'll need more people once we get up and running," isn't sufficient. Follow this list:

  • Detail how many employees your business will need at each stage and what they will cost.
  • Describe exactly how your business's human resources needs can be met. Will it be best to have employees, or should you operate with contract workers or freelancers ? Do you need full-time or part-time staff or a mix of both?
  • Outline your staffing requirements, including a description of the specific skills that the people working for you will need to possess.
  • Calculate your labor costs. Decide the number of employees you will need and how many customers each employee can serve. For example, if it takes one employee to serve 150 customers, and you forecast 1,500 customers in your first year, your business will need 10 employees.
  • Determine how much each employee will receive and total the salary cost for all your employees.
  • Add to this the cost of  Workers' Compensation Insurance  (mandatory for most businesses) and the cost of any other employee benefits, such as company-sponsored medical and dental plans.

After you've listed the points above, describe how you will find the staff your business needs and how you will train them. Your description of staff recruitment should explain whether or not sufficient local labor is available and how you will recruit staff.

When you're writing about staff training, you'll want to include as many specifics as possible. What specific training will your staff undergo? What ongoing training opportunities will you provide your employees?

Even if the plan for your business is to start as a sole proprietorship, you should include a section on potential human resources demands as a way to demonstrate that you've thought about the staffing your business may require as it grows.

Business plans are about the future and the hypothetical challenges and successes that await. It's worth visualizing and documenting the details of your business so that the materials and network around your dream can begin to take shape.

What is the management section of a business plan?

The 'management section' describes your management team, staff, resources, and how your business ownership is structured.

What are the 5 sections of a business plan?

A business plan provides a road map showing your company's goals and how you'll achieve them. The five sections of a business plan are as follows:

  • The  market analysis  outlines the demand for your product or service.
  • The  competitive analysis  section shows your competition's strengths and weaknesses and your strategy for gaining market share.
  • The management plan outlines your ownership structure, the management team, and staffing requirements.
  • The  operating plan  details your business location and the facilities, equipment, and supplies needed to operate.
  • The  financial plan  shows the map to financial success and the sources of funding, such as bank loans or investors.

SCORE. " Why Small Businesses Should Consider Workers’ Comp Insurance ."

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How to Write the Management Team Section of a Business Plan + Examples

Written by Dave Lavinsky

management hierarchy

Over the last 20+ years, we’ve written business plans for over 4,000 companies and hundreds of thousands of others have used our business plan template and other business planning materials.

From this vast experience, we’ve gained valuable insights on how to write a business plan effectively , specifically in the management section.

What is a Management Team Business Plan?

A management team business plan is a section in a comprehensive business plan that introduces and highlights the key members of the company’s management team. This part provides essential details about the individuals responsible for leading and running the business, including their backgrounds, skills, and experience.

It’s crucial for potential investors and stakeholders to evaluate the management team’s competence and qualifications, as a strong team can instill confidence in the company’s ability to succeed.

Why is the Management Team Section of a Business Plan Important?

Your management team plan has 3 goals:

  • To prove to you that you have the right team to execute on the opportunity you have defined, and if not, to identify who you must hire to round out your current team
  • To convince lenders and investors (e.g., angel investors, venture capitalists) to fund your company (if needed)
  • To document how your Board (if applicable) can best help your team succeed

What to Include in Your Management Team Section

There are two key elements to include in your management team business plan as follows:

Management Team Members

For each key member of your team, document their name, title, and background.

Their backgrounds are most important in telling you and investors they are qualified to execute. Describe what positions each member has held in the past and what they accomplished in those positions. For example, if your VP of Sales was formerly the VP of Sales for another company in which they grew sales from zero to $10 million, that would be an important and compelling accomplishment to document.

Importantly, try to relate your team members’ past job experience with what you need them to accomplish at your company. For example, if a former high school principal was on your team, you could state that their vast experience working with both teenagers and their parents will help them succeed in their current position (particularly if the current position required them to work with both customer segments).

This is true for a management team for a small business, a medium-sized or large business.

Management Team Gaps

In this section, detail if your management team currently has any gaps or missing individuals. Not having a complete team at the time you develop your business plan. But, you must show your plan to complete your team.

As such, describe what positions are missing and who will fill the positions. For example, if you know you need to hire a VP of Marketing, state this. Further, state the job description of this person. For example, you might say that this hire will have 10 years of experience managing a marketing team, establishing new accounts, working with social media marketing, have startup experience, etc.

To give you a “checklist” of the employees you might want to include in your Management Team Members and/or Gaps sections, below are the most common management titles at a growing startup (note that many are specific to tech startups):

  • Founder, CEO, and/or President
  • Chief Operating Officer
  • Chief Financial Officer
  • VP of Sales
  • VP of Marketing
  • VP of Web Development and/or Engineering
  • UX Designer/Manager
  • Product Manager
  • Digital Marketing Manager
  • Business Development Manager
  • Account Management/Customer Service Manager
  • Sales Managers/Sales Staff
  • Board Members

If you have a Board of Directors or Board of Advisors, you would include the bios of the members of your board in this section.

A Board of Directors is a paid group of individuals who help guide your company. Typically startups do not have such a board until they raise VC funding.

If your company is not at this stage, consider forming a Board of Advisors. Such a board is ideal particularly if your team is missing expertise and/or experience in certain areas. An advisory board includes 2 to 8 individuals who act as mentors to your business. Usually, you meet with them monthly or quarterly and they help answer questions and provide strategic guidance. You typically do not pay advisory board members with cash, but offering them options in your company is a best practice as it allows you to attract better board members and better motivate them.

Management Team Business Plan Example

Below are examples of how to include your management section in your business plan.

Key Team Members

Jim Smith, Founder & CEO

Jim has 15 years of experience in online software development, having co-founded two previous successful online businesses. His first company specialized in developing workflow automation software for government agencies and was sold to a public company in 2003. Jim’s second company developed a mobile app for parents to manage their children’s activities, which was sold to a large public company in 2014. Jim has a B.S. in computer science from MIT and an M.B.A from the University of Chicago

Bill Jones, COO

Bill has 20 years of sales and business development experience from working with several startups that he helped grow into large businesses. He has a B.S. in mechanical engineering from M.I.T., where he also played Division I lacrosse for four years.

We currently have no gaps in our management team, but we plan to expand our team by hiring a Vice President of Marketing to be responsible for all digital marketing efforts.

Vance Williamson, Founder & CEO

Prior to founding GoDoIt, Vance was the CIO of a major corporation with more than 100 retail locations. He oversaw all IT initiatives including software development, sales technology, mobile apps for customers and employees, security systems, customer databases/CRM platforms, etc. He has a  B.S in computer science and an MBA in operations management from UCLA.

We currently have two gaps in our Management Team: 

A VP of Sales with 10 years of experience managing sales teams, overseeing sales processes, working with manufacturers, establishing new accounts, working with digital marketing/advertising agencies to build brand awareness, etc. 

In addition, we need to hire a VP of Marketing with experience creating online marketing campaigns that attract new customers to our site.

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Since 1999, Growthink has developed business plans for thousands of companies who have gone on to achieve tremendous success.

Click here to see how Growthink’s professional business plan consulting services can create your business plan for you.  

Other Resources for Writing Your Business Plan

  • How to Write an Executive Summary
  • How to Expertly Write the Company Description in Your Business Plan
  • How to Write the Market Analysis Section of a Business Plan
  • The Customer Analysis Section of Your Business Plan
  • Completing the Competitive Analysis Section of Your Business Plan
  • Financial Assumptions and Your Business Plan
  • How to Create Financial Projections for Your Business Plan
  • Everything You Need to Know about the Business Plan Appendix
  • Business Plan Conclusion: Summary & Recap

Other Helpful Business Plan Articles & Templates

Business Plan Template & Guide for Small Businesses

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

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  • 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

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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.

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Table of Contents

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

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Creating an Organizational Chart for a Small Business

By Letícia Fonseca , Jun 09, 2023

Creating an Organizational Chart for a Small Business

No matter the size of your business, whether you’re starting out or already established, creating an organizational chart for small business planning is a necessary exercise.

There are numerous reporting relationships to visualize, especially when you have more than one manager in your small business.

Making an organizational chart can feel challenging, but this guide will make it easier to design an organizational chart that reflects many types of corporate structure.

Or you can customize a Venngage organizational chart template to create a chart that reflects your management structure in just a few minutes.

Click to jump ahead:

What is an organizational chart.

  • Organizational charts for small businesses examples

What is the purpose of organizational charts for a small business?

How to make an organizational chart for a small business, faqs about organizational charts.

An organizational chart, or an org chart, provides a visual representation of an organization’s internal structure. It outlines relationships between departments and employees, establishes the chain of command in an organization, and defines the role of each staff member.

You can see how this hierarchical organizational chart example structures the employees of a company.

Corporate Organizational Chart Template

The most common structure has small business owners, or the chief executive officer, listed on the top.

Other C-suite executives or the vice president are listed below them. Department managers and team leaders are below them, followed by employees.

An org chart helps you navigate your company and can be included in onboarding documents for new employees to familiarize themselves with the organizational structure.

You can make the organizational chart your own by adding your branding to the diagram.

Venngage’s  My Brand Kit  feature imports your brand identity from your website so you can apply it to your designs.

Organizational chart for small businesses examples

There are two basic types of organizational charts for a small business:

  • flat organizational structure
  • hierarchical organizational structures

Flat organizational structure

A flat org chart or horizontal organizational structure is composed of limited or no middle management between lower-level employees and upper management, like in this  organizational chart example .

Company Management Organizational Chart Template

This type of organizational chart is common for small businesses and startups in their initial years of operation.

As this structure does away with several levels of management, it enables employees to quickly and independently make choices.

The decision-making power for the business is shared among employees on the same level, and they are held accountable for their decisions.

Hierarchical Organizational Structure

A hierarchical structure or top-down chart is shaped like a pyramid.

It is a traditional reporting structure adopted by most companies.

Hierarchy charts look like this:

Corporate Healthcare Organizational Chart Template

A single person or a group is seated at the top, followed by managers in the middle and the rank-and-file employees at the bottom.

The organizational chart is divided into different departments with each employee reporting directly to a supervisor. This is most commonly used by large organizations and government units.

Create the right type of organization chart for your business with Venngage’s real-time collaboration feature. With a  Venngage business account, you can add team members, and share comments and feedback simultaneously.

An organizational chart offers a number of advantages to small businesses. 

We share the biggest benefits of creating org charts below.

An organizational chart improves communication across teams

When a small business starts growing, people’s new job titles can become confusing.

When merging with larger organizations with several teams and departments, in this example, it becomes crucial that the structure is tracked.

Tech Flow Chart Template

Understanding the hierarchy in the workplace is essential, so you know who your immediate supervisor is and whom to approach in case some issues arise.

A matrix organizational chart makes it easier to see which employees are involved in a project, and who the project manager or executive is. This improves efficiency across the entire organization.

Organizational charts enable easy onboarding for new employees

For new hires to find their way around the office can be quite challenging.

But presenting your organizational structure, like the template below, will facilitate the  onboarding process  and orient the employee to the chain of command.

Hospital Organizational Chart

Organizational charts can also help guide new hires through the specific functions and work responsibilities of coworkers.

The diagram serves as a cheat sheet, showing them the person to whom they should go for what information.

Organizational charts boost employee productivity

A matrix organizational structure expedites processes in the workplace as it shows the roles and responsibilities of each employee.

This helps reduce the time spent looking for the right people for the right task.

This organizational chart template also includes assistant managers so employees don’t need to go to the top managers for simple problems.

Organizational Chart for Small Business

Instead of wasting time searching for information that would otherwise be found in an org chart, the employee becomes productive and efficient.

The organizational chart also prevents overlapping and duplication of work as it identifies positions and tasks assigned to each individual.

These details in org charts also help forge relationships among other employees.

An organization chart facilitates business growth

Employers can also get a clear view of the organizational structure, like in the template below.

They will know where an employee is positioned and the tasks they undertake. This makes it easier for the employer to determine which part of their organization needs improvement.

Company Structure Flow Chart Template

By taking a step back, owners can see which department is in need of additional manpower and which is overstaffed.

An org chart helps executives organize their workforce and ensure that managers have enough workforce to achieve company goals and objectives.

Create your small business’ organizational chart by following these simple steps.

Step 1: Determine the structure you want your business to follow

The first thing to do when making an org chart is to determine the corporate structure it will follow.

Choose the one that best suits your business needs from the two types of organizational structure discussed above: the flat org structure or the hierarchical organizational chart.

Step 2: Choose an org chart software

Creating an org chart might come as a challenge to some. But there are numerous free or paid tools online that can help. One of the best solutions is Venngage’s organizational chart maker.

We have plenty of professional smart org chart templates that can be easily edited with just a few clicks. Our library of visuals includes 40,0000+ icons as well as over 4 million high-quality free stock images. 

Step 3: Fill out the organizational chart template with your information

With the necessary data you have compiled, you can start filling out the chart templates from Venngage’s online org chart maker.

Collaborate with your team in real-time with a  Venngage business account . And once you’re done, you can download the chart as a high-quality PNG or PDF.

How can you create a small business organizational chart with Venngage?

Sign up for a free Venngage account using your email, Google, or Facebook profile.

Choose one of Venngage’s wide array of organizational chart templates for small businesses. To add information, titles, and visuals to your org chart, use Venngage’s drag-and-drop smart editor.

Then customize your org chart easily. Add or remove nodes in your org chart by clicking on the ‘+’ or ‘-‘ buttons. When you change the text or images, the nodes automatically resize to fit the content. Then you can download your organizational chart as a PNG or PDF file. Or share your design directly with your team through a private link.

What is a good organizational structure?

An organizational structure is deemed good when it helps a business reach its objectives. It should also be designed to aid individual employees’ growth. Additionally, org charts should reduce conflicts between individuals and team members, and remove duplication and overlapping of work.

Make your org chart for your small business today

Streamlining communication and driving efficiency has never been easier than with the help of organizational charts. It is an effective management tool that can help improve team performance for planning purposes. Org charts also act as a visual personnel directory.

To help you organize your teams and ultimately lead them to success, use the organizational chart examples that we’ve shared in this post. These Venngage templates will help your company’s overall performance in the long run.

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Tips on Writing the Management Team Section of a Business Plan

Ultimate Guide On Writing A Business Plan

Free Ultimate Guide On Writing A Business Plan

  • December 21, 2023

10 Min Read

Management Section

A business is as efficient as its team and its management. It, therefore, becomes important for business owners to build a structured management team that achieves the objectives and goals set by the organization. Thus, making the management section of a business plan the most essential component.

Andrew Carnegie , an American steel magnate, beautifully summarized it –

Teamwork is the ability to work together toward a common vision. The ability to direct individual accomplishments toward organizational objectives. It is the fuel that allows common people to attain uncommon results.

A business management plan helps build an efficient team and formalize business operations . This helps businesses streamline strategies to achieve their goals.

It, therefore, becomes imperative that business owners pay utmost importance while writing the management section of a business plan.

So, if you are a business owner who is looking to formalize their business structure and write the management team section in their business plan , this guide is for you.

Here’s a sneak peek into what you’ll learn:

Table of Contents

  • What Is the Management Section?
  • Importance of the Management Section
  • What to Include in the Management Section?
  • Example of a Management Section Plan
  • Ensure That the Management Section Is Fool-proof?

Sounds good? Let’s dive in.

What Is The Management Section Of A Business Plan?

The management section of a business plan is an in-depth description of a business’s team, its structure, and the ownership of a business.

The section discusses in detail who is on the management team – internal and external- their skill sets, experiences, and how meaningfully they would contribute to an organization’s goals and outcomes.

Now that we have defined what is the management section of a business plan, let’s understand why it is so important.

The Importance Of The Management Section Of A Business Plan

The management section helps you to:

1. Convince your investors (banks and government agencies) to disburse loans and grants for your business idea

2. Prove that your management team can execute your idea and if not, help hire the right fit for a position

3. Share how your advisory board can help your team succeed

What To Include In the Management Section Of A Business Plan?

The management section of a business plan helps in formalizing and structuring the management team plan and is comprised of

  • The Management Team
  • The Management Team Gaps
  • The Management Structure

Let’s understand them in detail.

1. The Management Team

An organization’s entire management team can be divided into parts – the internal team and the external team.

The Internal Management Team

A business team consists of several departments. The most common departments are – Marketing, Sales, IT, Customer Service, Operations, Finance, and HR.

These departments may or may not be required. It purely depends on the nature and functioning of your business. For example, a dental clinic may not require a sales department per se.

The entire management team is compartmentalized according to their responsibility. This helps the business owners and investors be aware of the roles, benefits, ESOPs (if applicable), profit sharing (for sales), work contracts, NDAs (Non-Disclosure Agreements), and Non-Competition Agreements of the entire team.

It is recommended that business owners collect and document the following information about their team:

  • Educational Background
  • Work Experience
  • Accomplishments

The Internal Management Team

For example, your present VP of Marketing helped their previous company grow its bottom line from $3 million to $10 million over 18 months.

The External Management Team

The external management team is usually composed of – Advisory Board Members and Professional Services.

Advisory board members help by :

  • Establishing trust, showing results, and experiencing the table.
  • Increasing the confidence of investors and consumers.

This helps attract talented employees to the team. Credible advisory board members show great commitment to a company’s growth. Therefore, it becomes important to document their experience and specialization in the business management plan. The advisory board members can help give valuable advice that internal team members need or lack.

If your business has not or will not have VC funding, you may not require board members on your team.

Usually, board members meet quarterly or monthly to provide strategic guidance in place of stock options in your company. This helps attract the best advisors and motivates them to invest in your business.

For example, founders and business owners coming to raise funds in Shark Tank , a business television series, are looking for advisory members who would invest money and provide guidance on necessary steps.

On the other hand, Professional Service helps by

  • Offering highly specialized advice and sharing knowledge.
  • Business owners make key strategic management decisions.

Such services help businesses leverage skills that would be difficult to build and acquire over a short period.

Examples of such professional services are

Examples of such professional services

  • IT Consultants
  • Business coaches and consultants

After a brief overview of the Management Team of an organization, let’s dive into what to include in Management Team Gaps.

2. The Management Team Gaps

The management team gap is an important part of the management section. Primarily because it helps document if your management team currently has gaps or missing skills. Your team may lack a few required skills while starting. The management team gaps help you to be aware and make efforts to close this gap.

As a business owner, you must document what positions are missing and who ought to fill that positions or take responsibility.

For example, if you need a VP of Sales, clearly document this in the section.

Also, write down the job description and key responsibilities to be undertaken,

Example – You might mention that role required 10 years of experience in the sales domain. The applicant must have experience handling a sales team, closing new accounts, working in tandem with the marketing team, and having relevant startup experience.

Be as detailed as possible. This will help you build a checklist while interviewing the right candidate and also win investor confidence in your managerial skills.

Following are a few key positions you would want to include in your management team:

  • Founder and/or, CEO
  • Chief Technical Officer (CTO)
  • Chief Marketing Officer (CMO)
  • Chief Operating Officer (COO)
  • Chief Financial Officer (CFO)
  • Chief Human Resources Officer (CHRO)
  • Head of Product Management (PM)
  • VP of Sales
  • VP of Marketing
  • UX Designer
  • Digital Marketing Manager
  • Business Development Manager
  • Customer Service Manager
  • Customer Success Manager
  • Sales Managers/Sales Staff
  • Advisory Board Members

Let’s dive into the nitty-gritty of the management structure.

3. The Management Structure

The management structure defines how a business organizes its management hierarchy. A hierarchy helps determine the roles, positions, power, and responsibilities of all team members.

The management structure also depends upon the type of business ownership. Business ownership can be – a sole proprietorship, partnership, or simply an LLC.

Following is a sample management structure of an organization.

The Management Structure

Now that we understand what details we need to document in the business management plan, let’s look at a few examples of the management plan.

The ultimate guide to starting a business

Example Of A Management Section Plan

[management section of a hotel], [management team], internal team members.

Name: Charles Fargo Role: Owner Responsibility: Formulating key strategies, defining budgets , and building a business plan Experience: 35 years of owning multiple hotels in Las Vegas Educational Background: B.Sc in Hospitality Management from South Dakota State University.

Name: Michael Clark Role: General Manager Responsibility: Overall hotel operations – guest interactions, revenue management, brand ambassador of the hotel, customer satisfaction, and experience, leadership to all departments Experience: 25 years working with several technology hotels as the general manager. Educational Background: MBA from Wharton School

Name: George Trump Role: Department Manager Responsibility: Manage employees, smooth coordination amongst employees, plan daily affairs of the department, strategize, prepare reports, and deal with complaints and suggestions. Lead team members to function as a team Experience: 15 years working as a department manager Educational Background: BSc in Hotel Management from Texas University

Note: There can be multiple Department Managers depending on the nature of your business. In the case of hotels, departments can include – housekeeping, logistics, security, food, and banquets.

Name: Donald Clooney Role: Marketing and Sales Manager Responsibility: Increase occupancy and generate revenue. Position the hotel as an option for leisure activities, relaxation, and holidays. Experience: 11 years working as the marketing and sales manager for hotels Educational Background: MBA in Tourism and Hospitality from Midway University

External Team Members

Advisory Board Member

#1 Richard Branson Responsibility: Strategic advisory for sustainable growth and expansion Experience: Founder of Virgin Group

Professional Services

[management structure].

Example Of A Management Section Plan

There is a gap in one key position in our startup.

#1 Chief Finance Officer (CFO) Responsibilities: Finance, Accounting, Tracking Profit and Loss, and overseeing FP&A (Financial Planning and Analysis)

How To Ensure That The Management Section Of Your Business Plan Is Fool-Proof?

“In preparing for battle I have always found that plans are useless, but planning is indispensable.” ― Dwight D. Eisenhower

By building a fool-proof management plan and ensuring that all the intricate details are accounted for, we can ensure that your business has a greater chance of succeeding.

Business planning software like Upmetrics ensures that business owners, like you, get the management section planning correct on the first attempt itself.

You can also get started with a free demo today to discover how Upmetrics can help you plan your business in a breeze.

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About the Author

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Upmetrics Team

Upmetrics is the #1 business planning software that helps entrepreneurs and business owners create investment-ready business plans using AI. We regularly share business planning insights on our blog. Check out the Upmetrics blog for such interesting reads. Read more

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

By Joe Weller | October 11, 2021

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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.

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How to Write a Business Plan: Organization Structure

How to write a business plan: organizational structure, what is the organizational structure for a business plan.

The organization structure section should discuss whether your business will be a sole proprietor, limited liability corporation, or corporation, who will run your business, each person’s responsibility, and how your business will expand if needed.  There are numerous benefits to a detailed assessment of the company’s structure.  First, examining the structure of the business will help for tax purposes.  For example, limited liability and corporations are considered excellent for protecting shareholders concerning liabilities.  However, tax-wise, these firms often are double taxed.  The second benefit of a detailed assessment of a company’s structure is to understand how each owner will contribute to the company.  In other words, if there is more than one owner, what are their responsibilities, and how are these responsibilities to be carried out.

Why is the Organizational Structure important? 

There are numerous reasons why the organizational structure is essential for a business plan. In this section, the business owner will lay out how the company will be structured.  For example, this section will include job titles and responsibilities, resumes from owners and management, showing expertise in the industry, and supporting accolades for expertise.  Through discussing job responsibilities and experiences for management, readers will better understand why this type of business structure, and this management team, will be successful in the proposed business.

A second important reason for the organizational structure is that the section introduces business owners.  The owners and management team should not only be introduced in this section, but their experiences in the industry need to be highlighted and thoroughly explained.  In doing this, a sound foundation for management competence will be established.

A final reason for its importance is the job responsibility segment.  Ownership and management need to have a written document showing specific duties for each owner, if applicable, and specific job responsibilities for each position within the company.  By having this document, readers will see how the business will function and better understand the breakup of management responsibilities.

When to write the Organizational Structure?

The organizational structure should be written after the company description.   In the company description, readers will be introduced to the problem that the company is going to solve and how they propose to solve this problem.  This is usually the product or service offered.  The logical next step is to show a business structure that will allow the company to supply that product or service effectively and efficiently.  Thus the need for the organizational section follows immediately behind the company description.

How to write the Organizational Structure?

When I write my organizational structure for a business plan, for the most part, I start the first paragraph by reminding the readers of the company name.  From this, I then introduce how the company will be held in ownership.  For example, will the company be a limited liability corporation?  Sole proprietorship?  Next, I briefly introduce the management team and owners.  Further, I also briefly introduce their experience in the industry.

By following this structure, the first paragraph is an excellent summation of the section. This allows the reader to understand the breadth of the ownership structure without gaining significant details.

Organizational Structure:  Ownership

In the ownership section, I usually start writing the section by introducing the CEO/founder/majority owner.  In this portion, I usually write the segment, almost like a brief biography.  I will discuss the CEO's history in the industry and the reason why they feel that they are best suited to start and run the operation.

Once this is complete, I then follow the same structure with the other management team members and minority stakeholders.  When this is done, the reader should walk away with an excellent understanding of the qualifications of the ownership team and how their skills will complement each other.

Need Help Writing an Organizational Structure for a Business Plan?

Call or Text Paul, Doctoral Candidate, MBA.

321-948-9588

Email: [email protected]

Organizational Structure:  Responsibilities

In the job responsibility section, I usually structure this portion as a bullet-pointed list.  At the top, I put the title such as CEO, project manager, or job title.  Following this, I list the responsibilities and expectations for each position.  Not only does this help show structure and foresight for the company.  But also, this will help management divvy up duties for the business.

Organizational Structure: Resume

The resume section is for senior managers and owners.  By including resumes, supporting documentation is available for claims made related to experience.  For example, if the CEO claims to have 20 years of experience in the industry, then the resume will show where this experience came from.  This adds credibility to previous claims made.

Organizational Structure: Compensation

Compensation is sometimes necessary to include in the organizational structure component.  Investors expect management to be compensated and employees as well.  However, excessive compensation is often an issue with startups and established businesses.  By showing reasonable compensation for each position, not only will a solid understanding of the pay for each position be shown, but restraint for compensation by the management team and ownership may be highlighted as well.

Organizational Structure: Achievements

This final section is almost like a cherry on top of the cake.  By this point, the reader should be well-versed in the experience and expertise of ownership and the management team.  Adding achievements highlights their expertise in their chosen industry.

Organizational Structure Example

Organizational structure.

Legal Structure

ABC Restaurant will be a limited liability corporation.

Management Summary

John Smith, Sr., MBA., is the founder and CEO of ABC Restaurant.  He has started and managed numerous successful small restaurants over the last ten years.  Restaurants started, and managed, including a breakfast cafe, food truck, and 24-hour diner.  For each business, he was responsible for all aspects of the organization, from marketing to strategic planning.

Job Responsibilities

  • Create and execute marketing strategies for business growth.
  • Align business strategies with the vision statement.
  • Negotiating contracts with vendors.
  • Ensure legal compliance for the business.
  • Continually examine the firm’s external environment for new market opportunities.

General Manager:

  • Control inventory to ensure optimal levels are attained.
  • Manage day-to-day operations of the restaurant.
  • Servers and cooks during high volume times.
  • Interview and hire new employees.
  • Assist in the onboarding process for new employees.
  • Set up all workstations in the kitchen
  • Prepare ingredients to use in cooked and non-cooked foods.
  • Check food while cooking for appropriate temperatures.
  • Ensure great presentation by dressing dishes as trained.
  • Keep a sanitized and clean environment in the kitchen area.
  • Stock dining area tables with needed items.
  • Greet customers when they enter.
  • Present dinner menus and help customers with food/beverages selections.
  • Take and serve orders quickly and accurately.

Author: Paul Borosky, MBA., Doctoral Candidate, Published Author

Updated: 3/4/2022

Scott Legal, P.C.

How Do You Draft the Personnel Section of the Business Plan? The Personnel Section of a Business Plan Explained.

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How to create an organizational chart (with free examples)

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An organizational chart outlines how your company functions in real time. This diagram shows the reporting relationships between job titles and the roles in your organization. We’ll explain the different types of organizational charts and provide free templates for you to customize your own.

You’re having a family dinner when your grandma pulls out the family tree. She uncrinkles the piece of paper and traces her name down the line. As she searches, her finger lands on a name. “See! There he is, right next to your cousin Charles!” She points to the name of your third cousin, proving that this name matches that of a famous poet. 

In this guide, we’ll explain how to make an org chart, the different types of organizational charts, and provide free templates so you can customize and build your own.

How to make an organizational chart

An organizational chart is a way to visualize your company’s structure. To create an org chart, you’ll need to gather team member information and decide how you’d like to build the chart. 

As you consider the reporting relationships in your organization, you can plan your chart from top to bottom. 

Organizational chart example

1. Define scope

You can treat your organizational chart like any other new project you work on. Defining the scope of your org chart can help ensure it clearly represents your team structure . The scope will determine the overall purpose of your organizational chart.

Consider these questions to get started:

Will your org chart act as a resource for team members to know who’s who within the company? 

Will you share your organizational chart with external stakeholders or partners? 

Will you need multiple charts for different levels of the company? 

Asking these questions from the start can help you gather the right information and map out your chart.

2. Gather information

Gathering information is the most important step of making an organizational chart because without the right information, you won’t be able to proceed.  You can gather information by surveying individual team members through email or working with your HR department. 

You’ll need up-to-date information about the people in your company, including employee names and their latest job titles. You’ll also need to understand reporting relationships throughout your company, such as the hierarchy between managers and direct reports. Consider gathering headshots of your team for added personalization.

3. Decide how to build your chart

Deciding how to build your organizational chart is crucial because different tools can make the process easier. Drawing out your org chart by hand isn’t time efficient and will make your results hard to share, so consider harnessing the power of a tool for this process. 

Using an editable PDF can save you time because the template is pre-built with placeholders. You can then easily share the PDF with the rest of your company. 

4. Plan for updates

After creating your org chart, use a team calendar to plan for regular updates. After all, it’s likely that your company structure and team dynamics will change often. 

People switch in and out of positions, new employees are hired, and reporting relationships change. With a digital org chart, it’s easy to update the structure and redistribute it to team members.

Organizational chart templates

Creating an organizational chart can be easier when building from an org chart template. Most companies follow similar structures, whether it’s a top-down structure or a matrix structure. 

You can use the org chart examples below as jumping-off points. To create your custom org chart, determine which organizational type best represents your company structure. Then, update the template to fit your unique team needs.

Types of organizational charts

There are four common org chart types. Each one of these charts uses a different chart design and represents a different way that a company might function. Since an organizational chart is basically a hierarchy chart—a visual translation of your company’s internal structure—the chart type you use should mirror your organization’s reporting relationships and decision-making procedures.  

Types of organizational charts

1. Functional top-down

A functional top-down org chart is the most common structure, with the company functioning as a hierarchy. At the top of this organizational structure there is one team member, who usually has the title of president or CEO. 

Branching off from that team member are the leaders who are next in charge, like the company vice presidents. The organizational hierarchy extends further into departments and eventually branches into teams. 

2. Matrix organizational chart

The matrix organization is a more complex structure than the traditional top-down design. If your company uses this reporting structure, team members report to multiple managers. 

While employees likely have a primary manager they report to for their department, they may also report to a project manager . These secondary project managers also have department managers they report to, which makes the matrix org chart look rectangular instead of tree-like. 

3. Divisional structure

A divisional organizational structure is a high-level version of the traditional hierarchical structure. Divisional structures make sense for companies that have departments working independently from one another. 

For example, companies with separate product lines may work in divisional structures because each product line has separate IT, marketing, and sales departments.

4. Flat organizational chart

The flat organizational chart is unique because it shows few or no levels of management. This type of organizational structure may be present in a small business or a modern business that’s experimenting with no chain of command. 

With this type of organizational structure, the company promotes wide-spread team member self-management and decision-making. 

How to use an org chart

You can benefit your company by using an organizational structure because it provides a visual representation of different departments and job titles in action. This chart can help team members understand how to collaborate with one another and feel confident in their role and responsibilities. 

Visualize reporting relationships

As a manager, you may use an org chart to show work responsibilities and reporting relationships to new team members. When onboarding new hires, the org chart helps team members get to know their fellow teammates and what they do. It also helps new team members remember who’s who within the company. 

Manage growth and change

Organizational charts can also help the leadership team stay organized and manage growth or change within the company. For example, if a department head notices that one team has become larger than other teams, they can shift or hire new team members to create balance.

See where everyone fits

An org chart creates clarity by showing everyone in the company where they fit in the organizational structure. If a new member joins the team, they can glance at the organizational chart and understand that they have five other members on their team, two assistants below them, and a project manager above them. They can also see that their project manager reports to a department manager.

Improve communication

Having an established organizational structure for your company can improve communication because it makes reporting relationships clear. Without an organizational chart in place, team members may not know who to go to when they have questions. The org chart makes it clear who leads what, so team members can feel empowered to ask questions and collaborate with others.  

Create visual directory

An org chart is essentially a visual directory of your organization. You can  update the chart when team members get promoted or when they leave. Keeping a visual directory up to date keeps everyone informed of who’s working at the company and what their current position is.

Limitations of using an org chart

While organizational charts can increase communication among teams, there are limitations of using them. Knowing these limitations can help you find solutions to any potential issues before they occur.

Can get outdated quickly

Org charts can get outdated quickly as companies restructure and shift team roles. Team members must be mindful and keep the org chart updated with current company structure and staff names. 

Solution: Assign someone to regularly update and redistribute your organizational chart in order to maintain this valuable resource.

Only shows formal relationships

The organizational chart is a one-dimensional document, so it doesn’t offer much explanation beyond the reporting structure it provides. While it’s useful in visualizing the basic company structure, it only shows formal relationships. Many companies function and thrive on various informal reporting relationships that wouldn’t show up on a traditional org chart. 

Solution: Use an org chart as a jumping off point, but keep in mind there may be other working relationships that the org chart doesn’t capture.

Doesn’t display management style

While the org chart shows managers and the team members that report to them, it won’t show what each manager is like. For example, the org chart may show that one manager has two team members and another manager has five team members. Assumptions may be made that the manager with more team members is a stronger leader, but the org chart won’t show that the manager with less team members has a more hands-on management style . 

Solution: Use your org chart as a first point of reference, but be mindful that face to face contact is the best way to understand reporting relationships among internal teams.

Can be difficult to update

Not only can printable org chart worksheets or drawn-out organization charts become outdated quickly, they can also be difficult to update. After all, if your chart is created in a static tool, you’ll have to start from scratch every time your organization’s structure changes.

Solution: Instead of creating your chart in a fixed workspace, opt for a dynamic tool. Platforms like Microsoft Word, PowerPoint, and Excel are easily updated. Or, take it one step further with org chart software or a project management tool that uses integrations and apps to connect your team to data visualizers that map out workflows, like LucidChart and Miro .

Streamline your organizational structure with a chart

While there are limitations to organizational charts, these charts offer a helpful way to understand your company structure. It can also improve communication with upper management by clarifying roles and responsibilities. To build an organizational chart for your company, use our free editable PDFs and customize them as you see fit. 

Need help streamlining teamwork? Find out how Asana helps teams communicate effectively. 

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How to Develop a Staffing Plan

This how-to guide is designed to help an HR professional answer the question, "What staff support will my HR department need in the next year, and how will we meet those requirements?" (Generally, the time period is a year, but it could be shorter or longer.) The staffing plan should be used to identify not only head count additions and reductions but also the different skills and knowledge that might be needed. Staffing plans may encompass employees, contractors, consultants or other experts. In essence, the steps used in developing a staffing plan help HR professionals ask the right questions to come to a clear understanding of the current state, the desired future state of the function and how to get there.

Staffing plans are often used during budget cycles to help plan and allocate costs. However, staffing plans can be used any time there will be a major adjustment to a workforce.

While the steps given below and the sample staffing plan are specifically for a human resource department, they can be applied to any function within an organization. HR professionals can also use the steps and staffing plan on a larger scale for a division or entire company. For best results, each step should be completed in order rather than jumping ahead.

Staffing plans can be one component of a strategic workforce plan. The differences between the two and how they intersect will be discussed at the end of this how-to guide.

For a demonstration of how each step would work, see a sample rationale for decisions made at the end of each step, and a sample staffing plan based on those decisions.

Steps to Complete a Staffing Plan

Step 1: evaluate goals.

The first step in developing a staffing plan is to evaluate the needed goals to achieve. By recognizing the targets employees will be working toward, human resource professionals can identify the amount and type of support needed to meet those expectations.

Ensuring a clear understanding of expectations helps HR professionals in a number of ways. Departmental goals should align and support organizational goals. Thus, this exercise is a perfect opportunity to reach out to other leaders to understand their expectations of the department in the upcoming year, including support for major projects, new strategic initiatives or other changes that will require adjusting staff.

In addition, during this step, HR should identify any major goals within the function. Perhaps a reorganization or realignment is needed to increase customer service or develop specific expertise.

Questions to ask when evaluating goals include:

  • What are the organization's major strategic and tactical goals for the upcoming year?
  • How will the HR function support those goals?
  • What goals do I need to set for my function to ensure I'm aligned with the company's goals?
  • What support are other functions/departments expecting from my department this year?
  • What internal goals would this function like to achieve this year?

Step 2: Identify Influencers

In this step, HR professionals determine the factors that might affect the staffing plan. Influencers can be internal or external to the organization. They can be positive or negative and are defined as anything that might indirectly affect the plan but that the organization has little control over. By evaluating influencers on the staffing plan, HR professionals survey the landscape to identify and understand forces that will affect the talent supply. Examples of such influencers are a tight labor market, changing regulations and evolution of a function.

To complete this step, HR professionals should start with a brainstorming session to identify everything that might impact their workforce. Once they generate the list, they can then group like influencers. For example, if the brainstorm list includes "low unemployment" and "competitor ABC Company is hiring 50,000 local workers in the next year," the two could be consolidated under the influencer "external workforce availability."

Sources that provide labor market data include:

  • U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
  • State and municipal labor statistics.
  • State unemployment data.

Questions to help identify influencers include:

  • What is the talent availability in our market?
  • What trends are affecting skill development? These could be social impacts such as managing social media requirements, learning new skills as part of process evolution or the need to learn new technology.
  • Will technology changes influence our labor supply or demand? These changes could be new technology that will require additional staffing or training time or technology that improves efficiencies, thereby eliminating jobs.
  • Will changes to regulations affect our workforce?
  • Do we have competitors that will affect the supply of labor? Perhaps competitors are growing their workforce, or they are laying off people, thereby growing the labor supply.
  • Will economic or financial factors affect our staffing plans? These may include anticipated changes to the local economy, tightening of financing available to the organization or an influx of venture capital funding.
  • Do we need to account for constraints or impacts from facilities or infrastructure? These include office size, location and commuting implications.
  • Are potential "game changers" affecting our industry? Called "disrupter companies," examples include Uber and its impact on the taxi industry. Other game changers include technology improvements such as driverless cars that may affect the transportation industry.

Step 3: Analyze the Current State of the Function

As with any plan, it is critical to know the starting point. In this step, HR professionals compile information on the current state of the function or create an inventory of the important components of the skill set currently in play.

Compiling information on the current state of the HR function involves listing all current resources, including staff, contingency workers or other people who regularly support function goals. In addition, the current-state analysis should determine competencies, skill set or expertise to fully understand the tools presently available to meet expected plans.

As part of the activities in this step, HR professionals need to decide which systems to use to obtain the analysis data. Small departments can simply count positions on an organizational chart. However, data for larger staffing plans may need to be pulled from the human resource information system (HRIS) or payroll, talent management or scheduling systems. If the staffing plan is for head count purposes, payroll or HRIS data will suffice. But for competency planning, a learning or talent management system may provide the most accurate data.

In this step HR should also evaluate factors that may change the makeup of the department, such as flight risks, potential departures and current open positions actively being recruited.

This step does not include identifying gaps; that activity happens in Step 5.

Questions to ask while analyzing the current state include:

  • What systems should I review for data on the current state?
  • Who are my current staff members? What positions affect how we get things done (e.g., what responsibilities require an HR manager versus an HR administrator)?
  • What expertise do staff members bring to their role?
  • Do other employees outside of my function regularly influence achieving HR team goals (e.g., perhaps the employee in payroll who reports to the chief financial officer)? This question is especially relevant in matrixed organizations.
  • Do vendors, contractors or others outside my organization regularly contribute to achieving team goals?
  • What are the competencies my current staff have?
  • Do I have any employees who are flight risks or who have personal issues that may affect their longevity with the organization?

Step 4: Envision Needs

In Step 4, HR professionals envision what will be needed to accomplish the goals set out in Step 1. Keys to this step are to start fresh and not be overly influenced by the current state. This step identifies both end-state staffing and interim needs. It should be assessed at both a head count and skills level.

To complete this step, HR professionals should review the goals outlined in Step 1 and imagine what will be needed to accomplish those goals. It is best to envision needs as if building the department from scratch. Taking this approach will help articulate requirements without being hampered by the current state.

The envisioning step may be approached from a head count perspective. However, envisioning needs from a skill set, competency or expertise perspective helps overcome biases that may exist in the current state.

Questions to ask while envisioning needs include:

  • What expertise does the HR function need to accomplish our goals for next year?
  • How many people will we need to meet our goals, and where should they be located? Sources for this figure may include current span-of-control numbers, staff ratio recommendations, historical rule of thumb within the organization or statistical regression analysis.
  • Does staffing change throughout the year? What will it look like in six months? In 12 months?
  • What is the ideal mix of staff, contractors or outside expertise needed to meet our goals? Generally outside experts are costly specialists such as lawyers or consultants whom HR may want on only a very limited basis but whose input is critical to the success of the plan. Contractors should be hired to fill short-term needs.
  • What budget will we need to meet our goals?

Step 5: Conduct a Gap Analysis

Step 5 identifies what is missing between the end state outlined in Step 4 and the current state identified in Step 3. Gaps may include inadequate staffing, lack of expertise or simply the wrong people in the wrong place. Information derived from a gap analysis will identify deficiencies in the current state of the function that HR will need to address to achieve the outlined goals. HR professionals should not view these gaps as weaknesses of the current department but rather as opportunities to evolve the function into an ideal state to achieve organizational goals.

Questions to ask when doing a gap analysis include:

  • If I compare the end state to the current state, in what areas are we currently unable to support outlined goals?
  • Where will we need to adjust current staffing? Will factors such as current performance or mobility affect the current staffing?
  • Do we lack staff with the right expertise in functional areas?
  • Do we have geographical gaps in which we need to hire staff?
  • Will cross-functional collaboration be needed? If so, how can we strengthen that partnership?

Step 6: Develop a Solution Plan

Having conducted the analysis above, HR professionals can now put together a plan to achieve the stated goals for the upcoming year. The plan should include both end-state staffing and any interim staffing needed. Step 6 often encompasses determining timing (i.e., when to hire or promote specific staff) and assigning costs if the staffing plan is being done in conjunction with a budget cycle.

The plan itself should outline the staff needed, at what time and location. It should differentiate full time versus contingent staff and identify every role needed in the function from entry level to executive. The plan may also detail the timing for when specific, outside expertise is needed.

Staffing plans may be created as tables, charts, PowerPoint presentations or other visuals. The important thing is to present the information in a format that provides the amount and type of information required in an easily consumable format.

Questions to ask while developing the solution plan include:

  • Given all the information above, how do I use it to achieve the goals outlined in Step 1?
  • At the end of the year, what should my staff composition consist of?
  • When and where will we need to adjust staffing levels to support organizational goals?
  • What level of expertise do I require in which roles?
  • How am I accommodating for the influencers identified in Step 2?
  • How am I addressing the gaps outlined in Step 5? Outside of hiring, would training or other methods help cover these gaps? Can we fill some of these gaps with technology?
  • Finally, how often do I need to revisit this plan to ensure it continues to meet organizational needs?

As detailed above, completing a staffing plan comprises six main steps:

  • Evaluate goals: What does this function need to accomplish?
  • Identify influencers: What factors might affect the staffing plan?
  • Identify the current state: What is the starting point?
  • Envision needs: What is really needed (end state)?
  • Conduct a gap analysis: What differences exist between the current state and the end state?
  • Develop a solution plan: What types of staff are needed? When and where?

The above outline is designed to complete a staffing plan for a specific function. Staffing plans can also be created for entire divisions or organizations. To complete staffing plans with a bigger scope, organizations can break down the plan into manageable pieces. For example, a division might complete individual staffing plans for the sales, finance, HR, IT, marketing and production functions and then combine them into one overall plan. HR professionals responsible for this type of planning must closely collaborate with the leaders of each individual group to understand goals, needs and expertise required. Conducting such an exercise can help leaders refine their understanding of how each function interlocks to support overall organizational goals.

As noted in the introduction, staffing plans may be one component of workforce planning. The table below provides a summary of the difference between staffing plans and workforce planning as defined by a study on strategic workforce planning conducted by The Conference Board in 2012.

Staffing plans can be the first step in evolving the organization toward adoption of workforce planning. As leaders become more comfortable with the iterative exercise of planning for head count, additional complexities in terms of criteria, time frames or scenarios may be added to help address long-term strategic plans.

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How to develop a staffing plan

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Your employees are one of your greatest assets. However, too often, organizations struggle to manage their human resources and plan for the future. In fact, according to a survey from the Society for Human Resource Management, 43% of HR professionals say human capital is the largest "investment challenge" for employers. 

Plagued by turnover, skills gaps, over-employment, low productivity, and ever-changing business landscapes, it’s no wonder that businesses are struggling to keep up. But these issues can be mitigated with a strategic staffing plan. 

Use the following tips to learn how to develop a staffing plan that puts the right people in the right place at the right time. 

What is a staffing plan?

A staffing plan answers the questions: 

  • What work needs to be done?
  • How many people do we need to employ?
  • What skills and experience are necessary to do this work?
  • What skills gaps need to be filled (and are there any areas of redundancies)?

Staffing plans can encompass the entire company or apply to smaller teams or departments and even individual projects. 

For example, if your company’s business goals focus on expanding its salesforce in the coming year, a staffing plan can help prepare the sales department for that growth—so that the right people with the right skills are brought on board at the right times. 

Additionally, a staffing plan helps your business to:

  • Reduce labor costs and maximize productivity.
  • Eliminate skills gaps.
  • Increase employee engagement.
  • Increase employee retention and reduce turnover.
  • Improve customer experience.
  • Streamline business growth.

Having a clear staffing plan helps prevent issues that could delay growth or hinder the quality of your products and services that could result in unhappy customers and lost business opportunities. 

Not only do staffing plans help companies effectively recruit, hire, and develop employees, but they also help guide budgeting and financial decisions within the organization. 

How to calculate staffing needs

A staffing plan involves three main steps:

  • Determining current staffing levels 
  • Forecasting future staffing needs
  • Identifying the gaps between the two

Once you’ve assessed your staffing needs, you can outline recommendations for how to address those needs, which might include recruiting and hiring new talent, promoting internally, focusing on training and employee development, or adding contractors to your staff. These forecasts and recommendations will help you develop your overall human resources plan for the organization.

Use the following steps to learn how to calculate staffing needs and make a plan for the future.

1. Identify the business goals

Before you dive into staffing plans and changes, you need to know what the overarching goals are for the business. These goals are typically outlined in a strategic business plan. Use this plan to clarify the company’s objectives and align the staffing plan accordingly.

What you do with your staff will affect business outcomes (for better or for worse), so you want to make sure the two plans align.

For instance, if the business plans to open a new location, you may need to move current staff around or hire new employees to fill those roles. The business plan will help inform those staffing decisions.

2. Determine your current staffing situation

To develop a staffing plan, you must first understand your current staffing environment.

If you have a robust HR database, this step could be reasonably straightforward. However, if you host personnel information on multiple sources, you will first need to consolidate that data into one source of truth. Work with business leaders and managers to help you ensure accurate and complete data on your human resources.

Once you have your staffing data in one place, you can assess the current staffing environment and begin to pull actionable insights from the data.

Pay particular attention to:

  • The number of people on staff
  • Staff distribution (team size and who works where)
  • Skills and competencies within the workforce
  • High performers and potential leaders 
  • Low performers or “flight risks” who could indicate turnover
  • Staff age and tenure (to anticipate retirement numbers)

Pulling out these data will help you better understand the current staffing landscape and more accurately identify staffing needs and opportunities down the road. 

Lucidchart can help you assess your current staff to glean new insights. Import employee data directly into Lucidchart to build an org chart or group employees in Smart Containers by role, competencies, performance, etc. Visualizing your workforce can help you identify important relationships, correlations, or gaps in the staffing.

org chart by growth track

3. Forecast future staffing needs 

After you assess your current staffing landscape, it’s time to make some predictions about your future staffing needs. 

As you conduct your staffing needs assessment, you will want to consider the factors that can affect staffing decisions and opportunities, including: 

  • Business goals 
  • Turnover rates and projections
  • Expected mergers or acquisitions
  • New product launches
  • Business investments (e.g., new technology) 
  • Changes in the economy
  • Competitors attracting key talent 
  • Industry labor costs
  • Unemployment rate 

All of these internal and external factors can influence the workforce and your staffing needs. 

While forecasting will always involve some guesswork, you can make confident, educated, (and more accurate) predictions using the following methods.

Trend analysis

Trend analysis works well for established businesses with several years under their belt. Trend analysis uses historical data (i.e., past experience) to inform future needs. 

To perform a trend analysis, start by gathering historical data. Focus on gathering information for at least the past five years—but you may want to go back as far as 10 years. (Keep in mind that the larger the sample size, the more accurate the results.)  

Collect data on the following: 

  • Hiring and retirement patterns
  • Transfers and promotions
  • Employee turnover
  • Years of service
  • Employee demographics
  • Skills and qualifications
  • Past work experience

Once you have collected the data, you can analyze it to understand turnover rates over time as well as to discover trends or patterns between the data sets.

Ratio analysis

A ratio analysis is a dual-purpose forecasting method that both predicts staffing demand and compares forecasting results against an industry standard. 

The beauty of the ratio analysis is that it doesn’t rely on historical data to predict future demand. This is an advantage for younger companies who don’t have the benefit of years of historical data to provide insight into future trends. 

Here’s how it works.

A ratio establishes a relationship between two things. A business can calculate ratios between business factors like future sales revenue predictions and staffing requirements. 

For example, let’s say your business plans to expand its sales in the coming year and predicts sales revenue at $500,000. You’ll need to estimate how many sales employees you will need to support that growth. 

To calculate this, you need to determine the ratio between sales revenue and staff. To do this, divide current sales revenue by the current number of sales employees. If the ratio is 50:1 (with 50 representing $50,000 in sales), that means a sales revenue of $500,000 would require 10 employees. 

Once you have that ratio, you can then identify gaps in your staffing. For instance, if you plan to increase your sales revenue to $500,000 but currently have only five employees, you know you will need to hire five more people to support that goal. 

4. Do a gap analysis

With your current and future staffing assessments complete, you can compare the two reports for gaps. In other words, look at where your staff is now and where it needs to be. What discrepancies are there? Do you need more staff? Are there skills missing from your current workforce that you will need in the future to meet your business goals?

Note any gaps between the two assessments.

As you go through this process, our skills supply and demand chart can help you determine how many current employees and job candidates have the skills you need and whether you should hire or train to gain those competencies.

Make sure that your workforce has the skills and experience required to meet company goals. Learn how to conduct a skills gap analysis.

5. Make a staffing plan

With your staffing needs analysis completed, you can now make a plan. 

Your staffing plan might include recommendations to implement a corporate training program to address skills gaps or to develop succession policies to streamline handoffs following retirements or promotions. 

During this process, work with the business’s leaders to create a strategic action plan to address staffing needs that aligns with the organization’s goals, culture, and mission. 

business plan staff structure

Learn how Lucidchart can help your organization plan for the future and hire employees with the right skills.

Lucidchart, a cloud-based intelligent diagramming application, is a core component of Lucid Software's Visual Collaboration Suite. This intuitive, cloud-based solution empowers teams to collaborate in real-time to build flowcharts, mockups, UML diagrams, customer journey maps, and more. Lucidchart propels teams forward to build the future faster. Lucid is proud to serve top businesses around the world, including customers such as Google, GE, and NBC Universal, and 99% of the Fortune 500. Lucid partners with industry leaders, including Google, Atlassian, and Microsoft. Since its founding, Lucid has received numerous awards for its products, business, and workplace culture. For more information, visit lucidchart.com.

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How to Talk to Your Team About a Decision You Disagree With

  • Ron Carucci

business plan staff structure

Upper management sometimes makes choices you don’t like. How can you navigate your disappointment with grace and resilience?

When you’re part of a company’s management structure, there will be moments when you’ll have to represent a decision your bosses made that you don’t agree with to your team. Carrying the proverbial flag on behalf of the powers-that-be won’t feel good, but that’s part of the job. Barring a decision or action that is immoral, illegal, or unethical, standing behind decisions that don’t go your way is one of the most challenging things you’ll have to do as a leader. Doing so effectively requires thoughtful preparation. Here are six strategies to use when you have to convey a decision you don’t agree with.

I recently got a call from “Taylor,” an executive I’d coached as part of a high-potential program at his company, asking to talk. He was irate. A project he’d spearheaded for the last two years was having its funding cut due to market headwinds. His bosses reassured him that it had nothing to do with the project’s progress or his leadership; it was simply “a hard call that had to be made.”

business plan staff structure

  • Ron Carucci is co-founder and managing partner at  Navalent , working with CEOs and executives pursuing transformational change. He is the bestselling author of eight books, including To Be Honest and Rising to Power . Connect with him on Linked In at  RonCarucci , and download his free “How Honest is My Team?” assessment.

Partner Center

Employment growth slows but wages set to rise in 2024, say HR professionals

A Sushi Hub store in central Sydney advertises for staff.

Employment intentions are at their lowest levels in at least a year, but businesses are not yet planning mass lay-offs and are expecting to pay workers more in a bid to retain the staff they do have.

The findings come from a survey of more than 600 human resources professionals from the Australian HR Institute (AHRI), representing a mix of small, medium and large employers, from both the private and public sectors. 

The report has only been running for a year, with the latest March quarter survey taken between January 9 and 18.

It found net employment intentions have fallen from +41 in the December 2023 quarter to +33 in the March 2024 quarter.

This figure measures the difference between the proportion of employers that expect to increase staff levels and those expecting to decrease overall headcount.

It indicates overall employment is expected to rise over the coming months, but not by as much as it had been.

The number is based on 36 per cent of organisations planning to increase their staff levels in the March 2024 quarter, with just 3 per cent planning to cut the overall size of their workforce.

A blonde woman with glasses and a pattern shirt smiles

"This is the lowest figure for net employment intentions recorded by our four Work Outlook surveys published to date," observed Sarah McCann-Bartlett, AHRI's CEO.

Economists at the Commonwealth Bank estimate that Australia currently needs to generate about 33,000 additional jobs every month to keep up with the rapid growth in the working-age population.

Fewer employers contemplating redundancies

However, while few employers are planning to reduce their overall headcounts, that does not mean that workers are immune from lay-offs.

More than one in five HR professionals surveyed expected to implement redundancies, although this was down from nearly a third in the run-up to Christmas.

"This may be because the labour market remains tight by historical standards," noted Ms McCann-Bartlett.

"It may also be partly explained by the extent to which Australian employers are adopting alternatives to redundancies.

"This could be because they wish to preserve the skills and knowledge of the existing workforce, or because they are waiting for further information about the Australian economic outlook."

For now at least, 70 per cent of employers reported adopting tactics to avoid or reduce redundancies, such as raising prices (27 per cent), exercising greater control over non-staff operation costs (23 per cent) and reducing the use of non-permanent staff in their organisation (21 per cent).

Among those employers that are planning redundancies, the job losses threaten to be fairly significant — an average of 6 per cent of their workforce.

Wages set to rise as employers seek to retain staff

Even though fewer employers are experiencing recruitment difficulties (38 per cent, down from 48 per cent in December), the institute sees recruitment activity as now being more about replacing staff than adding to the workforce.

Despite this, the drive to retain existing workers appears strong, with many employers seemingly burnt by the experience of acute labour shortages during the pandemic.

"A lack of quality in the labour supply and the high training and recruitment costs associated with replacing staff may still be putting upward pressure on wages in many Australian workplaces," Ms McCann-Bartlett suggested.

"The mean basic pay increase in organisations (excluding bonuses) is expected to be 3.7 per cent in the 12 months to January 2025, significantly up from 2.6 per cent in the 12 months to October 2024.

However, more than a third of employers surveyed said that they did not yet know the extent of wage changes in their organisation for the 12 months to January 2025.

For young people starting out, the survey sheds some light on what HR staff are looking for during recruitment.

The top three skills or attributes desired are communication skills (38 per cent), teamwork ability (36 per cent) and work ethic (36 per cent).

That is if a human ever looks at your application, with more than half of employers using artificial intelligence to filter applications in some way.

HR professionals are most likely to use AI to create online application forms (56 per cent), review CVs (54 per cent), source (53 per cent), and screen candidates (53 per cent).

Certain groups screened out by many employers

Whether by humans or AI, the survey also reveals the high barriers some jobseekers face in searching for work.

Nearly two-thirds of employers actively excluded candidates with certain characteristics during the hiring process.

The most likely to be excluded were people with a criminal record (33 per cent), those with a history of drug or alcohol problems (29 per cent), people with a history of long-term sickness (19 per cent) or mental illness (18 per cent) and the long-term unemployed (16 per cent).

Close to one in seven employers also reported screening out people who identify as neurodiverse or having a disability during recruitment.

The report noted this "represents a loss of potential labour, especially given employers' persistent claims that labour shortages have been one of their biggest challenges".

  • X (formerly Twitter)

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NBC Bay Area

San Francisco looks for new site for proposed sober housing community

By nbc bay area staff • published february 20, 2024 • updated on february 20, 2024 at 11:40 pm.

Plans for a sober living center in San Francisco’s Chinatown are being dropped by the city in favor of a different location, according to a statement from Mayor London Breed’s office Tuesday. 

The city had planned to convert the North Beach Hotel into a permanent housing facility for people in recovery from alcohol and drugs. The site sits at the corner of Kearny Street and Columbus Avenue, near shops and restaurants in Chinatown. 

But the plan sparked safety concerns from locals and business owners. 

business plan staff structure

First-of-its-kind SF sober housing community raises concerns, backlash

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SF supervisor proposes libraries as a key in battling the opioid crisis

Get a weekly recap of the latest San Francisco Bay Area housing news. Sign up for NBC Bay Area’s Housing Deconstructed newsletter.

Then, on Tuesday, Breed’s office released a statement saying that the city would look for an alternate site for the facility. It added that support from the surrounding community was important for the program’s success, and that conversations with them indicated that that wasn’t there. 

The statement concluded by saying Breed remained committed to finding another location for the program. 

Read the statement form the mayor’s office in its entirety below: 

“After meeting with many community members, we have decided to pursue an alternative location for the Sober Living project that had been proposed at the North Beach Hotel. For this critical new program to be successful, it’s important for it to have support from the surrounding community. It became clear from my conversations with many in the area that this support was not there. 

I remain firmly committed to establishing this new sober housing program at another location, which will be the first of its kind in San Francisco. It will create an opportunity for those in recovery who want to live in housing free from alcohol or drugs to live their lives and to thrive. We need to establish different paths for people who need support, and sober housing absolutely will be a part of our strategy here in San Francisco.”

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    1. Determine your organization's goals. Set clear, quantifiable goals that align with your organization's strategic objectives and workforce planning. This might entail growth targets, productivity benchmarks, or specific project outcomes and address current and future staffing needs and challenges.

  16. Simple Business Plan Template (2024)

    This section of your simple business plan template explores how to structure and operate your business. Details include the type of business organization your startup will take, roles and ...

  17. How to Create a Staffing Plan Your Employees Will Approve

    For example, imagine you establish a ratio between sales revenue and staffing. You currently make $200,000 a year and employ 10 staff. That's a ratio of 20:1, where one staff member equates to $20,000 of revenue. If one of your organizational goals is to increase your sales revenue to $500,000, you can predict you'll need 25 members of staff.

  18. How to create an organizational chart (with free examples)

    An organizational chart is a way to visualize your company's structure. To create an org chart, you'll need to gather team member information and decide how you'd like to build the chart. As you consider the reporting relationships in your organization, you can plan your chart from top to bottom. 1.

  19. How to Develop a Staffing Plan

    Step 1: Evaluate Goals. The first step in developing a staffing plan is to evaluate the needed goals to achieve. By recognizing the targets employees will be working toward, human resource ...

  20. How to Develop a Staffing Plan

    Use the following steps to learn how to calculate staffing needs and make a plan for the future. 1. Identify the business goals. Before you dive into staffing plans and changes, you need to know what the overarching goals are for the business. These goals are typically outlined in a strategic business plan.

  21. How to Create a Staffing Plan: A Step-By-Step Guide

    Step 2: Analyze your current people management landscape. Once you've got a plan in place, you need to take stock of your current people management situation. You need to know how long it takes ...

  22. How To Create a Staffing Plan in 9 Steps (With Benefits)

    It can also help you in creating plans for employee promotions and in developing a salary structure. Related: 5 Types of Business Structures (Plus Tips for Choosing One) Increased opportunity for growth A staffing plan can help you expand a company's current staff and create a more efficient structure.

  23. Organizational Restructuring Process & Templates to Help Plan

    Then, when the new structure is finalized, it can be published for all employees to see and understand how the new organization will be structured. Tools to Help Organizational Restructuring. Corporate restructuring is a natural part of business life, but it doesn't have to slow business productivity or create havoc on the company's structure.

  24. The Power of an Effective Employee Training Plan

    A well-designed training plan provides a structured approach to the larger goal, breaking it down into smaller, more manageable tasks. This helps optimize time and resource utilization by prioritizing tasks and activities. Additionally, training plans include progress tracking mechanisms to help ensure the training produces the desired results.

  25. How to Talk to Your Team About a Decision You Disagree With

    When you're part of a company's management structure, there will be moments when you'll have to represent a decision your bosses made that you don't agree with to your team. Carrying the ...

  26. Employment growth slows but wages set to rise in 2024, say HR

    Fewer employers plan to add staff compared with last year, but not many have plans for mass lay-offs either, leaving the jobs market in wait-and-see mode at the start of 2024.

  27. San Francisco looks for new site for proposed sober housing community

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  28. Council wants business plan on Eden Village 'God pods' despite staff

    The dwellings would offer climate-controlled shelter from 8 p.m. to 8 a.m. With enough room for a twin bed, bedside table, chair and small heater, homeless individuals would be able to rent a pod ...