• 11.4 The Business Plan
  • Introduction
  • 1.1 Entrepreneurship Today
  • 1.2 Entrepreneurial Vision and Goals
  • 1.3 The Entrepreneurial Mindset
  • Review Questions
  • Discussion Questions
  • Case Questions
  • Suggested Resources
  • 2.1 Overview of the Entrepreneurial Journey
  • 2.2 The Process of Becoming an Entrepreneur
  • 2.3 Entrepreneurial Pathways
  • 2.4 Frameworks to Inform Your Entrepreneurial Path
  • 3.1 Ethical and Legal Issues in Entrepreneurship
  • 3.2 Corporate Social Responsibility and Social Entrepreneurship
  • 3.3 Developing a Workplace Culture of Ethical Excellence and Accountability
  • 4.1 Tools for Creativity and Innovation
  • 4.2 Creativity, Innovation, and Invention: How They Differ
  • 4.3 Developing Ideas, Innovations, and Inventions
  • 5.1 Entrepreneurial Opportunity
  • 5.2 Researching Potential Business Opportunities
  • 5.3 Competitive Analysis
  • 6.1 Problem Solving to Find Entrepreneurial Solutions
  • 6.2 Creative Problem-Solving Process
  • 6.3 Design Thinking
  • 6.4 Lean Processes
  • 7.1 Clarifying Your Vision, Mission, and Goals
  • 7.2 Sharing Your Entrepreneurial Story
  • 7.3 Developing Pitches for Various Audiences and Goals
  • 7.4 Protecting Your Idea and Polishing the Pitch through Feedback
  • 7.5 Reality Check: Contests and Competitions
  • 8.1 Entrepreneurial Marketing and the Marketing Mix
  • 8.2 Market Research, Market Opportunity Recognition, and Target Market
  • 8.3 Marketing Techniques and Tools for Entrepreneurs
  • 8.4 Entrepreneurial Branding
  • 8.5 Marketing Strategy and the Marketing Plan
  • 8.6 Sales and Customer Service
  • 9.1 Overview of Entrepreneurial Finance and Accounting Strategies
  • 9.2 Special Funding Strategies
  • 9.3 Accounting Basics for Entrepreneurs
  • 9.4 Developing Startup Financial Statements and Projections
  • 10.1 Launching the Imperfect Business: Lean Startup
  • 10.2 Why Early Failure Can Lead to Success Later
  • 10.3 The Challenging Truth about Business Ownership
  • 10.4 Managing, Following, and Adjusting the Initial Plan
  • 10.5 Growth: Signs, Pains, and Cautions
  • 11.1 Avoiding the “Field of Dreams” Approach
  • 11.2 Designing the Business Model
  • 11.3 Conducting a Feasibility Analysis
  • 12.1 Building and Connecting to Networks
  • 12.2 Building the Entrepreneurial Dream Team
  • 12.3 Designing a Startup Operational Plan
  • 13.1 Business Structures: Overview of Legal and Tax Considerations
  • 13.2 Corporations
  • 13.3 Partnerships and Joint Ventures
  • 13.4 Limited Liability Companies
  • 13.5 Sole Proprietorships
  • 13.6 Additional Considerations: Capital Acquisition, Business Domicile, and Technology
  • 13.7 Mitigating and Managing Risks
  • 14.1 Types of Resources
  • 14.2 Using the PEST Framework to Assess Resource Needs
  • 14.3 Managing Resources over the Venture Life Cycle
  • 15.1 Launching Your Venture
  • 15.2 Making Difficult Business Decisions in Response to Challenges
  • 15.3 Seeking Help or Support
  • 15.4 Now What? Serving as a Mentor, Consultant, or Champion
  • 15.5 Reflections: Documenting the Journey
  • A | Suggested Resources

Learning Objectives

By the end of this section, you will be able to:

  • Describe the different purposes of a business plan
  • Describe and develop the components of a brief business plan
  • Describe and develop the components of a full business plan

Unlike the brief or lean formats introduced so far, the business plan is a formal document used for the long-range planning of a company’s operation. It typically includes background information, financial information, and a summary of the business. Investors nearly always request a formal business plan because it is an integral part of their evaluation of whether to invest in a company. Although nothing in business is permanent, a business plan typically has components that are more “set in stone” than a business model canvas , which is more commonly used as a first step in the planning process and throughout the early stages of a nascent business. A business plan is likely to describe the business and industry, market strategies, sales potential, and competitive analysis, as well as the company’s long-term goals and objectives. An in-depth formal business plan would follow at later stages after various iterations to business model canvases. The business plan usually projects financial data over a three-year period and is typically required by banks or other investors to secure funding. The business plan is a roadmap for the company to follow over multiple years.

Some entrepreneurs prefer to use the canvas process instead of the business plan, whereas others use a shorter version of the business plan, submitting it to investors after several iterations. There are also entrepreneurs who use the business plan earlier in the entrepreneurial process, either preceding or concurrently with a canvas. For instance, Chris Guillebeau has a one-page business plan template in his book The $100 Startup . 48 His version is basically an extension of a napkin sketch without the detail of a full business plan. As you progress, you can also consider a brief business plan (about two pages)—if you want to support a rapid business launch—and/or a standard business plan.

As with many aspects of entrepreneurship, there are no clear hard and fast rules to achieving entrepreneurial success. You may encounter different people who want different things (canvas, summary, full business plan), and you also have flexibility in following whatever tool works best for you. Like the canvas, the various versions of the business plan are tools that will aid you in your entrepreneurial endeavor.

Business Plan Overview

Most business plans have several distinct sections ( Figure 11.16 ). The business plan can range from a few pages to twenty-five pages or more, depending on the purpose and the intended audience. For our discussion, we’ll describe a brief business plan and a standard business plan. If you are able to successfully design a business model canvas, then you will have the structure for developing a clear business plan that you can submit for financial consideration.

Both types of business plans aim at providing a picture and roadmap to follow from conception to creation. If you opt for the brief business plan, you will focus primarily on articulating a big-picture overview of your business concept.

The full business plan is aimed at executing the vision concept, dealing with the proverbial devil in the details. Developing a full business plan will assist those of you who need a more detailed and structured roadmap, or those of you with little to no background in business. The business planning process includes the business model, a feasibility analysis, and a full business plan, which we will discuss later in this section. Next, we explore how a business plan can meet several different needs.

Purposes of a Business Plan

A business plan can serve many different purposes—some internal, others external. As we discussed previously, you can use a business plan as an internal early planning device, an extension of a napkin sketch, and as a follow-up to one of the canvas tools. A business plan can be an organizational roadmap , that is, an internal planning tool and working plan that you can apply to your business in order to reach your desired goals over the course of several years. The business plan should be written by the owners of the venture, since it forces a firsthand examination of the business operations and allows them to focus on areas that need improvement.

Refer to the business venture throughout the document. Generally speaking, a business plan should not be written in the first person.

A major external purpose for the business plan is as an investment tool that outlines financial projections, becoming a document designed to attract investors. In many instances, a business plan can complement a formal investor’s pitch. In this context, the business plan is a presentation plan, intended for an outside audience that may or may not be familiar with your industry, your business, and your competitors.

You can also use your business plan as a contingency plan by outlining some “what-if” scenarios and exploring how you might respond if these scenarios unfold. Pretty Young Professional launched in November 2010 as an online resource to guide an emerging generation of female leaders. The site focused on recent female college graduates and current students searching for professional roles and those in their first professional roles. It was founded by four friends who were coworkers at the global consultancy firm McKinsey. But after positions and equity were decided among them, fundamental differences of opinion about the direction of the business emerged between two factions, according to the cofounder and former CEO Kathryn Minshew . “I think, naively, we assumed that if we kicked the can down the road on some of those things, we’d be able to sort them out,” Minshew said. Minshew went on to found a different professional site, The Muse , and took much of the editorial team of Pretty Young Professional with her. 49 Whereas greater planning potentially could have prevented the early demise of Pretty Young Professional, a change in planning led to overnight success for Joshua Esnard and The Cut Buddy team. Esnard invented and patented the plastic hair template that he was selling online out of his Fort Lauderdale garage while working a full-time job at Broward College and running a side business. Esnard had hundreds of boxes of Cut Buddies sitting in his home when he changed his marketing plan to enlist companies specializing in making videos go viral. It worked so well that a promotional video for the product garnered 8 million views in hours. The Cut Buddy sold over 4,000 products in a few hours when Esnard only had hundreds remaining. Demand greatly exceeded his supply, so Esnard had to scramble to increase manufacturing and offered customers two-for-one deals to make up for delays. This led to selling 55,000 units, generating $700,000 in sales in 2017. 50 After appearing on Shark Tank and landing a deal with Daymond John that gave the “shark” a 20-percent equity stake in return for $300,000, The Cut Buddy has added new distribution channels to include retail sales along with online commerce. Changing one aspect of a business plan—the marketing plan—yielded success for The Cut Buddy.

Link to Learning

Watch this video of Cut Buddy’s founder, Joshua Esnard, telling his company’s story to learn more.

If you opt for the brief business plan, you will focus primarily on articulating a big-picture overview of your business concept. This version is used to interest potential investors, employees, and other stakeholders, and will include a financial summary “box,” but it must have a disclaimer, and the founder/entrepreneur may need to have the people who receive it sign a nondisclosure agreement (NDA) . The full business plan is aimed at executing the vision concept, providing supporting details, and would be required by financial institutions and others as they formally become stakeholders in the venture. Both are aimed at providing a picture and roadmap to go from conception to creation.

Types of Business Plans

The brief business plan is similar to an extended executive summary from the full business plan. This concise document provides a broad overview of your entrepreneurial concept, your team members, how and why you will execute on your plans, and why you are the ones to do so. You can think of a brief business plan as a scene setter or—since we began this chapter with a film reference—as a trailer to the full movie. The brief business plan is the commercial equivalent to a trailer for Field of Dreams , whereas the full plan is the full-length movie equivalent.

Brief Business Plan or Executive Summary

As the name implies, the brief business plan or executive summary summarizes key elements of the entire business plan, such as the business concept, financial features, and current business position. The executive summary version of the business plan is your opportunity to broadly articulate the overall concept and vision of the company for yourself, for prospective investors, and for current and future employees.

A typical executive summary is generally no longer than a page, but because the brief business plan is essentially an extended executive summary, the executive summary section is vital. This is the “ask” to an investor. You should begin by clearly stating what you are asking for in the summary.

In the business concept phase, you’ll describe the business, its product, and its markets. Describe the customer segment it serves and why your company will hold a competitive advantage. This section may align roughly with the customer segments and value-proposition segments of a canvas.

Next, highlight the important financial features, including sales, profits, cash flows, and return on investment. Like the financial portion of a feasibility analysis, the financial analysis component of a business plan may typically include items like a twelve-month profit and loss projection, a three- or four-year profit and loss projection, a cash-flow projection, a projected balance sheet, and a breakeven calculation. You can explore a feasibility study and financial projections in more depth in the formal business plan. Here, you want to focus on the big picture of your numbers and what they mean.

The current business position section can furnish relevant information about you and your team members and the company at large. This is your opportunity to tell the story of how you formed the company, to describe its legal status (form of operation), and to list the principal players. In one part of the extended executive summary, you can cover your reasons for starting the business: Here is an opportunity to clearly define the needs you think you can meet and perhaps get into the pains and gains of customers. You also can provide a summary of the overall strategic direction in which you intend to take the company. Describe the company’s mission, vision, goals and objectives, overall business model, and value proposition.

Rice University’s Student Business Plan Competition, one of the largest and overall best-regarded graduate school business-plan competitions (see Telling Your Entrepreneurial Story and Pitching the Idea ), requires an executive summary of up to five pages to apply. 51 , 52 Its suggested sections are shown in Table 11.2 .

Are You Ready?

Create a brief business plan.

Fill out a canvas of your choosing for a well-known startup: Uber, Netflix, Dropbox, Etsy, Airbnb, Bird/Lime, Warby Parker, or any of the companies featured throughout this chapter or one of your choice. Then create a brief business plan for that business. See if you can find a version of the company’s actual executive summary, business plan, or canvas. Compare and contrast your vision with what the company has articulated.

  • These companies are well established but is there a component of what you charted that you would advise the company to change to ensure future viability?
  • Map out a contingency plan for a “what-if” scenario if one key aspect of the company or the environment it operates in were drastically is altered?

Full Business Plan

Even full business plans can vary in length, scale, and scope. Rice University sets a ten-page cap on business plans submitted for the full competition. The IndUS Entrepreneurs , one of the largest global networks of entrepreneurs, also holds business plan competitions for students through its Tie Young Entrepreneurs program. In contrast, business plans submitted for that competition can usually be up to twenty-five pages. These are just two examples. Some components may differ slightly; common elements are typically found in a formal business plan outline. The next section will provide sample components of a full business plan for a fictional business.

Executive Summary

The executive summary should provide an overview of your business with key points and issues. Because the summary is intended to summarize the entire document, it is most helpful to write this section last, even though it comes first in sequence. The writing in this section should be especially concise. Readers should be able to understand your needs and capabilities at first glance. The section should tell the reader what you want and your “ask” should be explicitly stated in the summary.

Describe your business, its product or service, and the intended customers. Explain what will be sold, who it will be sold to, and what competitive advantages the business has. Table 11.3 shows a sample executive summary for the fictional company La Vida Lola.

Business Description

This section describes the industry, your product, and the business and success factors. It should provide a current outlook as well as future trends and developments. You also should address your company’s mission, vision, goals, and objectives. Summarize your overall strategic direction, your reasons for starting the business, a description of your products and services, your business model, and your company’s value proposition. Consider including the Standard Industrial Classification/North American Industry Classification System (SIC/NAICS) code to specify the industry and insure correct identification. The industry extends beyond where the business is located and operates, and should include national and global dynamics. Table 11.4 shows a sample business description for La Vida Lola.

Industry Analysis and Market Strategies

Here you should define your market in terms of size, structure, growth prospects, trends, and sales potential. You’ll want to include your TAM and forecast the SAM . (Both these terms are discussed in Conducting a Feasibility Analysis .) This is a place to address market segmentation strategies by geography, customer attributes, or product orientation. Describe your positioning relative to your competitors’ in terms of pricing, distribution, promotion plan, and sales potential. Table 11.5 shows an example industry analysis and market strategy for La Vida Lola.

Competitive Analysis

The competitive analysis is a statement of the business strategy as it relates to the competition. You want to be able to identify who are your major competitors and assess what are their market shares, markets served, strategies employed, and expected response to entry? You likely want to conduct a classic SWOT analysis (Strengths Weaknesses Opportunities Threats) and complete a competitive-strength grid or competitive matrix. Outline your company’s competitive strengths relative to those of the competition in regard to product, distribution, pricing, promotion, and advertising. What are your company’s competitive advantages and their likely impacts on its success? The key is to construct it properly for the relevant features/benefits (by weight, according to customers) and how the startup compares to incumbents. The competitive matrix should show clearly how and why the startup has a clear (if not currently measurable) competitive advantage. Some common features in the example include price, benefits, quality, type of features, locations, and distribution/sales. Sample templates are shown in Figure 11.17 and Figure 11.18 . A competitive analysis helps you create a marketing strategy that will identify assets or skills that your competitors are lacking so you can plan to fill those gaps, giving you a distinct competitive advantage. When creating a competitor analysis, it is important to focus on the key features and elements that matter to customers, rather than focusing too heavily on the entrepreneur’s idea and desires.

Operations and Management Plan

In this section, outline how you will manage your company. Describe its organizational structure. Here you can address the form of ownership and, if warranted, include an organizational chart/structure. Highlight the backgrounds, experiences, qualifications, areas of expertise, and roles of members of the management team. This is also the place to mention any other stakeholders, such as a board of directors or advisory board(s), and their relevant relationship to the founder, experience and value to help make the venture successful, and professional service firms providing management support, such as accounting services and legal counsel.

Table 11.6 shows a sample operations and management plan for La Vida Lola.

Marketing Plan

Here you should outline and describe an effective overall marketing strategy for your venture, providing details regarding pricing, promotion, advertising, distribution, media usage, public relations, and a digital presence. Fully describe your sales management plan and the composition of your sales force, along with a comprehensive and detailed budget for the marketing plan. Table 11.7 shows a sample marketing plan for La Vida Lola.

Financial Plan

A financial plan seeks to forecast revenue and expenses; project a financial narrative; and estimate project costs, valuations, and cash flow projections. This section should present an accurate, realistic, and achievable financial plan for your venture (see Entrepreneurial Finance and Accounting for detailed discussions about conducting these projections). Include sales forecasts and income projections, pro forma financial statements ( Building the Entrepreneurial Dream Team , a breakeven analysis, and a capital budget. Identify your possible sources of financing (discussed in Conducting a Feasibility Analysis ). Figure 11.19 shows a template of cash-flow needs for La Vida Lola.

Entrepreneur In Action

Laughing man coffee.

Hugh Jackman ( Figure 11.20 ) may best be known for portraying a comic-book superhero who used his mutant abilities to protect the world from villains. But the Wolverine actor is also working to make the planet a better place for real, not through adamantium claws but through social entrepreneurship.

A love of java jolted Jackman into action in 2009, when he traveled to Ethiopia with a Christian humanitarian group to shoot a documentary about the impact of fair-trade certification on coffee growers there. He decided to launch a business and follow in the footsteps of the late Paul Newman, another famous actor turned philanthropist via food ventures.

Jackman launched Laughing Man Coffee two years later; he sold the line to Keurig in 2015. One Laughing Man Coffee café in New York continues to operate independently, investing its proceeds into charitable programs that support better housing, health, and educational initiatives within fair-trade farming communities. 55 Although the New York location is the only café, the coffee brand is still distributed, with Keurig donating an undisclosed portion of Laughing Man proceeds to those causes (whereas Jackman donates all his profits). The company initially donated its profits to World Vision, the Christian humanitarian group Jackman accompanied in 2009. In 2017, it created the Laughing Man Foundation to be more active with its money management and distribution.

  • You be the entrepreneur. If you were Jackman, would you have sold the company to Keurig? Why or why not?
  • Would you have started the Laughing Man Foundation?
  • What else can Jackman do to aid fair-trade practices for coffee growers?

What Can You Do?

Textbooks for change.

Founded in 2014, Textbooks for Change uses a cross-compensation model, in which one customer segment pays for a product or service, and the profit from that revenue is used to provide the same product or service to another, underserved segment. Textbooks for Change partners with student organizations to collect used college textbooks, some of which are re-sold while others are donated to students in need at underserved universities across the globe. The organization has reused or recycled 250,000 textbooks, providing 220,000 students with access through seven campus partners in East Africa. This B-corp social enterprise tackles a problem and offers a solution that is directly relevant to college students like yourself. Have you observed a problem on your college campus or other campuses that is not being served properly? Could it result in a social enterprise?

Work It Out

Franchisee set out.

A franchisee of East Coast Wings, a chain with dozens of restaurants in the United States, has decided to part ways with the chain. The new store will feature the same basic sports-bar-and-restaurant concept and serve the same basic foods: chicken wings, burgers, sandwiches, and the like. The new restaurant can’t rely on the same distributors and suppliers. A new business plan is needed.

  • What steps should the new restaurant take to create a new business plan?
  • Should it attempt to serve the same customers? Why or why not?

This New York Times video, “An Unlikely Business Plan,” describes entrepreneurial resurgence in Detroit, Michigan.

  • 48 Chris Guillebeau. The $100 Startup: Reinvent the Way You Make a Living, Do What You Love, and Create a New Future . New York: Crown Business/Random House, 2012.
  • 49 Jonathan Chan. “What These 4 Startup Case Studies Can Teach You about Failure.” Foundr.com . July 12, 2015. https://foundr.com/4-startup-case-studies-failure/
  • 50 Amy Feldman. “Inventor of the Cut Buddy Paid YouTubers to Spark Sales. He Wasn’t Ready for a Video to Go Viral.” Forbes. February 15, 2017. https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbestreptalks/2017/02/15/inventor-of-the-cut-buddy-paid-youtubers-to-spark-sales-he-wasnt-ready-for-a-video-to-go-viral/#3eb540ce798a
  • 51 Jennifer Post. “National Business Plan Competitions for Entrepreneurs.” Business News Daily . August 30, 2018. https://www.businessnewsdaily.com/6902-business-plan-competitions-entrepreneurs.html
  • 52 “Rice Business Plan Competition, Eligibility Criteria and How to Apply.” Rice Business Plan Competition . March 2020. https://rbpc.rice.edu/sites/g/files/bxs806/f/2020%20RBPC%20Eligibility%20Criteria%20and%20How%20to%20Apply_23Oct19.pdf
  • 53 “Rice Business Plan Competition, Eligibility Criteria and How to Apply.” Rice Business Plan Competition. March 2020. https://rbpc.rice.edu/sites/g/files/bxs806/f/2020%20RBPC%20Eligibility%20Criteria%20and%20How%20to%20Apply_23Oct19.pdf; Based on 2019 RBPC Competition Rules and Format April 4–6, 2019. https://rbpc.rice.edu/sites/g/files/bxs806/f/2019-RBPC-Competition-Rules%20-Format.pdf
  • 54 Foodstart. http://foodstart.com
  • 55 “Hugh Jackman Journey to Starting a Social Enterprise Coffee Company.” Giving Compass. April 8, 2018. https://givingcompass.org/article/hugh-jackman-journey-to-starting-a-social-enterprise-coffee-company/

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  • Authors: Michael Laverty, Chris Littel
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  • Book title: Entrepreneurship
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550+ Business Plan Examples to Launch Your Business

550+ Free Sample Business Plans

Need help writing your business plan? Explore over 550 industry-specific business plan examples for inspiration. Go even further with LivePlan , which harnesses AI-assisted writing features and SBA-approved plan examples to get you funded.

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Example business plan format

Before you start exploring our library of business plan examples, it's worth taking the time to understand the traditional business plan format . You'll find that the plans in this library and most investor-approved business plans will include the following sections:

Executive summary

The executive summary is an overview of your business and your plans. It comes first in your plan and is ideally only one to two pages. You should also plan to write this section last after you've written your full business plan.

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, and your funding requirements (if you are raising money).

Products & services

The products & services chapter of your business plan is where the real meat of your plan lives. It includes information about the problem that you're solving, your solution, and any traction that proves that it truly meets the need you identified.

This is your chance to explain why you're in business and that people care about what you offer. It needs to go beyond a simple product or service description and get to the heart of why your business works and benefits your customers.

Market analysis

Conducting a market analysis ensures that you fully understand the market that you're entering and who you'll be selling to. This section is where you will showcase all of the information about your potential customers. You'll cover your target market as well as information about the growth of your market and your industry. Focus on outlining why the market you're entering is viable and creating a realistic persona for your ideal customer base.

Competition

Part of defining your opportunity is determining what your competitive advantage may be. To do this effectively you need to get to know your competitors just as well as your target customers. Every business will have competition, if you don't then you're either in a very young industry or there's a good reason no one is pursuing this specific venture.

To succeed, you want to be sure you know who your competitors are, how they operate, necessary financial benchmarks, and how you're business will be positioned. Start by identifying who your competitors are or will be during your market research. Then leverage competitive analysis tools like the competitive matrix and positioning map to solidify where your business stands in relation to the competition.

Marketing & sales

The marketing and sales plan section of your business plan details how you plan to reach your target market segments. You'll address how you plan on selling to those target markets, what your pricing plan is, and what types of activities and partnerships you need to make your business a success.

The operations section covers the day-to-day workflows for your business to deliver your product or service. What's included here fully depends on the type of business. Typically you can expect to add details on your business location, sourcing and fulfillment, use of technology, and any partnerships or agreements that are in place.

Milestones & metrics

The milestones section is where you lay out strategic milestones to reach your business goals.

A good milestone clearly lays out the parameters of the task at hand and sets expectations for its execution. You'll want to include a description of the task, a proposed due date, who is responsible, and eventually a budget that's attached. You don't need extensive project planning in this section, just key milestones that you want to hit and when you plan to hit them.

You should also discuss key metrics, which are the numbers you will track to determine your success. Some common data points worth tracking include conversion rates, customer acquisition costs, profit, etc.

Company & team

Use this section to describe your current team and who you need to hire. If you intend to pursue funding, you'll need to highlight the relevant experience of your team members. Basically, this is where you prove that this is the right team to successfully start and grow the business. You will also need to provide a quick overview of your legal structure and history if you're already up and running.

Financial projections

Your financial plan should include a sales and revenue forecast, profit and loss statement, cash flow statement, and a balance sheet. You may not have established financials of any kind at this stage. Not to worry, rather than getting all of the details ironed out, focus on making projections and strategic forecasts for your business. You can always update your financial statements as you begin operations and start bringing in actual accounting data.

Now, if you intend to pitch to investors or submit a loan application, you'll also need a "use of funds" report in this section. This outlines how you intend to leverage any funding for your business and how much you're looking to acquire. Like the rest of your financials, this can always be updated later on.

The appendix isn't a required element of your business plan. However, it is a useful place to add any charts, tables, definitions, legal notes, or other critical information that supports your plan. These are often lengthier or out-of-place information that simply didn't work naturally into the structure of your plan. You'll notice that in these business plan examples, the appendix mainly includes extended financial statements.

Types of business plans explained

While all business plans cover similar categories, the style and function fully depend on how you intend to use your plan. To get the most out of your plan, it's best to find a format that suits your needs. 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 for external purposes. Typically this is the type of plan you'll need when applying for funding or pitching to investors. It can also be used when training or hiring employees, working with vendors, or in any other situation where the full details of your business must be understood by another individual.

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.

The structure ditches a linear format in favor of a cell-based template. It encourages you to build connections between every element of your business. It's faster to write out and update, and much easier for you, your team, and anyone else to visualize your business operations.

One-page business plan

The true middle ground between the business model canvas and a traditional business plan is the one-page business plan . This format is a simplified version of the traditional plan that focuses on the core aspects of your business.

By starting with a one-page plan , you give yourself a minimal document to build from. You'll typically stick with bullet points and single sentences making it much easier to elaborate or expand sections into a longer-form business plan.

Growth planning

Growth planning is more than a specific type of business plan. It's 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, forecast, review, and refine based on your performance.

It holds all of the benefits of the single-page plan, including the potential to complete it in as little as 27 minutes . However, it's even easier to convert into a more detailed plan thanks to how heavily it's tied to your financials. The overall goal of growth planning isn't to just produce documents that you use once and shelve. Instead, the growth planning process helps you build a healthier company that thrives in times of growth and remain stable through times of crisis.

It's faster, keeps your plan concise, and ensures that your plan is always up-to-date.

Download a free sample business plan template

Ready to start writing your own plan but aren't sure where to start? Download our free business plan template that's been updated for 2024.

This simple, modern, investor-approved business plan template is designed to make planning easy. It's a proven format that has helped over 1 million businesses write business plans for bank loans, funding pitches, business expansion, and even business sales. It includes additional instructions for how to write each section and is formatted to be SBA-lender approved. All you need to do is fill in the blanks.

How to use an example business plan to help you write your own

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How do you know what elements need to be included in your business plan, especially if you've never written one before? Looking at examples can help you visualize what a full, traditional plan looks like, so you know what you're aiming for before you get started. Here's how to get the most out of a sample business plan.

Choose a business plan example from a similar type of company

You don't need to find an example business plan that's an exact fit for your business. Your business location, target market, and even your particular product or service may not match up exactly with the plans in our gallery. But, you don't need an exact match for it to be helpful. Instead, look for a plan that's related to the type of business you're starting.

For example, if you want to start a vegetarian restaurant, a plan for a steakhouse can be a great match. While the specifics of your actual startup will differ, the elements you'd want to include in your restaurant's business plan are likely to be very similar.

Use a business plan example as a guide

Every startup and small business is unique, so you'll want to avoid copying an example business plan word for word. It just won't be as helpful, since each business is unique. You want your plan to be a useful tool for starting a business —and getting funding if you need it.

One of the key benefits of writing a business plan is simply going through the process. When you sit down to write, you'll naturally think through important pieces, like your startup costs, your target market , and any market analysis or research you'll need to do to be successful.

You'll also look at where you stand among your competition (and everyone has competition), and lay out your goals and the milestones you'll need to meet. Looking at an example business plan's financials section can be helpful because you can see what should be included, but take them with a grain of salt. Don't assume that financial projections for a sample company will fit your own small business.

If you're looking for more resources to help you get started, our business planning guide is a good place to start. You can also download our free business plan template , or get started right away with LivePlan .

Think of business planning as a process, instead of a document

Think about business planning as something you do often , rather than a document you create once and never look at again. If you take the time to write a plan that really fits your own company, it will be a better, more useful tool to grow your business. It should also make it easier to share your vision and strategy so everyone on your team is on the same page.

Adjust your plan regularly to use it as a business management tool

Keep in mind that businesses that use their plan as a management tool to help run their business grow 30 percent faster than those businesses that don't. For that to be true for your company, you'll think of a part of your business planning process as tracking your actual results against your financial forecast on a regular basis.

If things are going well, your plan will help you think about how you can re-invest in your business. If you find that you're not meeting goals, you might need to adjust your budgets or your sales forecast. Either way, tracking your progress compared to your plan can help you adjust quickly when you identify challenges and opportunities—it's one of the most powerful things you can do to grow your business.

Prepare to pitch your business

If you're planning to pitch your business to investors or seek out any funding, you'll need a pitch deck to accompany your business plan. A pitch deck is designed to inform people about your business. You want your pitch deck to be short and easy to follow, so it's best to keep your presentation under 20 slides.

Your pitch deck and pitch presentation are likely some of the first things that an investor will see to learn more about your company. So, you need to be informative and pique their interest. Luckily, just like you can leverage an example business plan template to write your plan, we also have a gallery of over 50 pitch decks for you to reference.

With this gallery, you have the option to view specific industry pitches or get inspired by real-world pitch deck examples. Or for a modern pitch solution that helps you create a business plan and pitch deck side-by-side, you may want to check out LivePlan . It will help you build everything needed for outside investment and to better manage your business.

Get LivePlan in your classroom

Are you an educator looking for real-world business plan examples for your students? With LivePlan, you give your students access to industry-best business plans and help them set goals and track metrics with spreadsheet-free financial forecasts. All of this within a single tool that includes additional instructional resources that work seamlessly alongside your current classroom setup.

With LivePlan, it's not just a classroom project. It's your students planning for their futures. Click here to learn more about business planning for students .

Ready to get started?

Now that you know how to use an example business plan to help you write a plan for your business, it's time to find the right one.

Use the search bar below to get started and find the right match for your business idea.

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Simple Business Plan Template for Entrepreneurs

Follow This Business Plan Outline to Write Your Own

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.

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Pros and Cons of Using a Business Plan Template

Do i need a simple or detailed business plan, how to use this business plan template, table of contents, section 1: executive summary, section 2: business/industry overview.

  • Section 3: Market Analysis and Competition

Section 4: Sales and Marketing Plan

Section 5: ownership and management plan, section 6: operating plan, section 7: financial plan.

  • Section 8: Appendices and Exhibits

Ariel Skelley / Getty Images

Think you have a great idea for a business? The best way to find out whether your idea is feasible is to create a business plan .

A solid, well-researched business plan provides a practical overview of your vision. It can be used to ground your ideas into workable actions and to help pitch your idea to financial institutions or potential investors when looking for funding.

The standard business plan consists of a single document divided into several sections for distinct elements, such as a description of the organization, market research, competitive analysis, sales strategies, capital and labor requirements, and financial data. Your plan may include more or fewer sections to best represent your business.

The template presented here will get you well on your way toward your simple business plan.

Ready-made layouts

Free downloads

Generic, not customized

No financial guidance

Additional skills needed

  • Ready-made layouts : Templates offer general guidance about what information is needed and how to organize it, so you’re not stuck looking at a blank page when getting started. Especially detailed templates may offer instructions or helpful text prompts along the way.
  • Variations : If you know what type of business plan you need—traditional, lean, industry-specific—chances are you can find a specialized template.
  • Free downloads : There are many free business plan templates available online, which can be useful for comparing formats and features, or refining your own.
  • Generic, not customized : Templates typically contain just the basics, and there will still be a lot of work involved to tailor the template to your business. For instance, you'll have to reformat, refine copy, and populate tables.
  • No financial guidance : You’ll need enough industry knowledge to apply financial models to your specific business, and the math skills to generate formulas and calculate figures.
  • Additional skills needed : Some degree of tech savvy is required to integrate charts and graphs, merge data from spreadsheets, and keep it all up-to-date.

A corporate business plan for a large organization can be hundreds of pages long. However, for a small business, it's best to keep the plan short and concise, especially if you're submitting it to bankers or investors . Around 35 to 50 pages should be sufficient, and more allowed for extras, such as photos of products, equipment, logos, or business premises or site plans.  Your audience will likely prefer solid research and analysis over long, wordy descriptions.

An entrepreneur who creates a business plan is nearly twice as likely to secure financing and grow their business compared with those who do not have a plan.

The business plan template below is divided into sections as described in the table of contents. Each section can be copied into a document of your own; you may need to add or delete sections or make adjustments to fit your specific needs.

Once complete, be sure to format it attractively and get it professionally printed and bound. You want your business plan to convey the best possible impression. Make it engaging, something people will to want to pick up and peruse.

Enter your business information, including the legal name and address. If you already have a business logo, you can add it at the top or bottom of the title page.

  • Business Plan for "Business Name"
  • Business address
  • Website URL

If you're addressing it to a company or individual, include:

  • Presented to "Name"
  • At "Company"
  • Executive Summary................................................Page #
  • Business/Industry Overview.................................Page #
  • Market Analysis and Competition.........................Page #
  • Sales and Marketing Plan.......................................Page #
  • Ownership and Management Plan.......................Page #
  • Operating Plan..........................................................Page #
  • Financial Plan............................................................Page #
  • Appendices and Exhibits........................................Page #

The  executive summary introduces the plan, but it is written last. It provides a concise and optimistic overview of your business and should capture the reader's attention and create a desire to learn more. The executive summary should be no more than two pages long, with highlights or brief summaries of other sections of the plan.

  • Describe your  mission —what is the need for your new business? Sell your vision.
  • Introduce your company briefly, sticking to vital details such as size, location, management, and ownership.
  • Describe your main product(s) and/or service(s).
  • Identify the customer base you plan to target and how your business will serve those customers.
  • Summarize the competition and how you will get market share. What is your competitive advantage?
  • Outline your financial projections for the first few years of operation.
  • State your startup financing requirements.

This section provides an overview of the industry and explains in detail what makes your business stand out.

  • Describe the overall nature of the industry, including sales and other statistics. Note trends and demographics, as well as economic, cultural, and governmental influences.
  • Explain your business and how it fits into the industry.
  • Mention the existing competition, which you'll expand upon in the following section.
  • Identify what area(s) of the market you will target and what unique, improved, or lower-cost products and/or services you will offer.

Many business plans cover their products/services in a standalone section to add more detail or emphasize unique aspects.

Section 3: Market Analysis and Competition

This section focuses on the competitive factor of your business and justifies it with financial models and statistics. You need to demonstrate that you have thoroughly analyzed the target market, assessed the competition, and concluded that there is enough demand for your products/services to make your business viable.

  • Define the target market(s) for your products/services in your geographic locale.
  • Explain the need for your products/services.
  • Estimate the overall size of the market and the units of your products/services that the target market might buy. Include forecasts of potential repeat-purchase volume and how the market might be affected by economic or demographic changes.
  • Estimate the volume and value of your sales in comparison with any existing competitors. Highlight any key strengths over the competition in easily digestible charts and tables.
  • Describe any helpful barriers to entry that may protect your business from competition, such as access to capital, technology, regulations, employee skill sets, or location.  

You may opt to split the target market description and competitive analysis into two separate sections, if either (or both) portray your business especially favorably.

Here's where you dive into profits, giving detailed strategic view of how you intend to entice customers to buy your products and/or services, including advertising or promotion, pricing, sales, distribution, and post-sales support.

Product or Service Offerings

If your products and/or services don't take up a standalone section earlier in the plan, here is where you can answer the question: What is your unique selling proposition? Describe your products and/or services, how they benefit the customer and what sets them apart from competitor offerings.

Pricing Strategy

How will you price your products/services? Pricing must be low enough to attract customers, yet high enough to cover costs and generate a profit. You can base pricing decisions on a number of financial models, such as markup from cost or value to the buyer, or in comparison with similar products and/or services in the marketplace.  

Sales and Distribution

For products, describe how you plan to distribute to the customer. Will you be selling wholesale or retail? What type of packaging will be required? How will products be shipped? If you offer a service, how will it be delivered to the customer? What methods will be used for payment?

Advertising and Promotion

List the various forms of media you will use to get your message to customers (e.g., website, email, social media, or newspapers). Will you use sales promotional methods such as free samples and product demonstrations? What about product launches and trade shows? Don't forget more everyday marketing materials such as business cards, flyers, or brochures. Include an approximate budget.

This section describes the legal structure, ownership, and (if applicable) management and staffing requirements of your business.

  • Ownership structure : Describe the legal structure of your company (e.g., corporation, partnership, LLC, or  sole proprietorship ). List ownership percentages, if applicable. If the business is a sole proprietorship, this is the only section required.
  • Management team : Describe managers and their roles, key employee positions, and how each will be compensated. Include brief résumés.
  • External resources and services : List any external professional resources required, such as accountants, lawyers, or consultants.
  • Human resources : List the type and number of employees or contractors you will need, and estimate the salary and benefit costs of each.
  • Advisory board : Include an advisory board as a supplemental management resource, if applicable.

The operating plan outlines the physical requirements of your business, such as office, warehouse, or retail space; equipment; supplies; or labor. This section will vary greatly by industry; a large manufacturer, for instance, should provide full details about supply chain or specialty equipment, while a therapist's office can get by with a much shorter list.

If your business is a small operation (like a one-person, home-based consulting firm), you might choose to eliminate the operating plan section altogether and include the operating essentials in the business overview.

  • Development : Explain what you have done to date to identify possible locations, sources of equipment, supply chains, and other relevant relationships. Describe your production workflow.
  • Production : For manufacturing, explain how long it takes to produce a unit and when you'll be ready to start production. Include factors that may affect the time frame of production and how you'll deal with potential problems, such as rush orders.
  • Facilities : Describe the physical location of the business. Include geographical or building requirements; square footage estimates (with room for expansion if expected); mortgage or leasing costs; and estimates of maintenance, utilities, and related  overhead costs . Include zoning approvals and other permissions that are necessary in order to operate.
  • Staffing : Outline expected staffing needs and the main duties of staff members, especially the key employees. Describe how the employees will be sourced and the employment relationship (i.e., contract, full-time, part-time) as well as any training needs and how these will be provided.
  • Equipment : Include a list of any specialized equipment needed, along with cost, whether it will be leased or purchased, and sources.
  • Supplies : If your business is, for example, manufacturing, retail, or food services, include a description of the materials needed, reliable sources, major suppliers, and how you will manage inventory.

The financial plan is the most important section for lenders or investors. The goal is to demonstrate that your business will grow and be profitable. To do this, you will need to create realistic predictions or forecasts.

To avoid inflated expectations, a prudent financial plan underestimates revenues and overestimates expenses.

  • Income statements : The income statement displays projected revenues, expenses, and profit. Do this on a monthly basis for at least the first year for a startup business.
  • Cash-flow projections : The cash-flow projection shows your monthly anticipated cash revenues and disbursements for expenses. To be considered a good credit risk, it is important to demonstrate that you can manage your cash flow.
  • Balance sheet : The  balance sheet  is a snapshot summary of the assets, liabilities, and equity of your business at a particular point in time. For a startup, this would be on the day the business opens.
  • Breakeven analysis : Including a breakeven analysis will demonstrate to lenders or investors what level of sales you need to achieve to make a profit.

Section 8: Appendices and Exhibits

The appendices and exhibits section contains any detailed information needed to support other sections of the plan.  

Possible Appendix or Exhibit items include:

  • Credit histories for the business owners
  • Detailed market research and analysis of competitors
  • Résumés of the owners and key employees
  • Diagrams and/or research about your products and/or services
  • Site, building, or office plans
  • Copies of mortgage documents or equipment leases (or quotes)
  • Marketing brochures and other materials
  • References from business colleagues
  • Links to your business website
  • Any other material that may impress potential lenders or investors

SCORE. " Business Plan Template for a Startup Business ." Accessed April 28, 2021.

U.S. Small Business Administration. " Write your business plan ." Accessed April 28, 2021.

U.S. Small Business Administration. " SBA Recommended Business Plans and Length ." Accessed April 28, 2021.

Bplans. " Why Plan Your Business? Look at This Data ." Accessed April 28, 2021.

Marketing MO. " Pricing Strategy ." Accessed April 28, 2021.

Incorporate.com. " Write a Business Plan, a Step-by-Step Guide ." Accessed April 29, 2021.

Startup Nation. " The Five Costs You're Most Likely to Underestimate in Your Business Plan ." Accessed April 28, 2021.

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Business LibreTexts

1.1: Chapter 1 – Developing a Business Plan

  • Last updated
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  • Page ID 21274

  • Lee A. Swanson
  • University of Saskatchewan

Learning Objectives

After completing this chapter, you will be able to

  • Describe the purposes for business planning
  • Describe common business planning principles
  • Explain common business plan development guidelines and tools
  • List and explain the elements of the business plan development process
  • Explain the purposes of each element of the business plan development process
  • Explain how applying the business plan development process can aid in developing a business plan that will meet entrepreneurs’ goals

This chapter describes the purposes, principles, and the general concepts and tools for business planning, and the process for developing a business plan.

Purposes for Developing Business Plans

Business plans are developed for both internal and external purposes. Internally, entrepreneurs develop business plans to help put the pieces of their business together. Externally, the most common purpose is to raise capital.

Internal Purposes

As the road map for a business’s development, the business plan

  • Defines the vision for the company
  • Establishes the company’s strategy
  • Describes how the strategy will be implemented
  • Provides a framework for analysis of key issues
  • Provides a plan for the development of the business
  • Helps the entrepreneur develop and measure critical success factors
  • Helps the entrepreneur to be realistic and test theories

External Purposes

The business plan provides the most complete source of information for valuation of the business. Thus, it is often the main method of describing a company to external audiences such as potential sources for financing and key personnel being recruited. It should assist outside parties to understand the current status of the company, its opportunities, and its needs for resources such as capital and personnel.

Business Plan Development Principles

Hindle and Mainprize (2006) suggested that business plan writers must strive to effectively communicate their expectations about the nature of an uncertain future and to project credibility. The liabilities of newness make communicating the expected future of new ventures much more difficult than for existing businesses. Consequently, business plan writers should adhere to five specific communication principles .

First, business plans must be written to meet the expectations of targeted readers in terms of what they need to know to support the proposed business. They should also lay out the milestones that investors or other targeted readers need to know. Finally, writers must clearly outline the opportunity , the context within the proposed venture will operate (internal and external environment), and the business model (Hindle & Mainprize, 2006).

There are also five business plan credibility principles that writers should consider. Business plan writers should build and establish their credibility by highlighting important and relevant information about the venture team . Writers need to elaborate on the plans they outline in their document so that targeted readers have the information they need to assess the plan’s credibility. To build and establish credibility, they must integrate scenarios to show that the entrepreneur has made realistic assumptions and has effectively anticipated what the future holds for their proposed venture. Writers need to provide comprehensive and realistic financial links between all relevant components of the plan. Finally, they must outline the deal , or the value that targeted readers should expect to derive from their involvement with the venture (Hindle & Mainprize, 2006).

General Guidelines for Developing Business Plans

Many businesses must have a business plan to achieve their goals. Using a standard format helps the reader understand that the you have thought everything through, and that the returns justify the risk. The following are some basic guidelines for business plan development.

As You Write Your Business Plan

1. If appropriate, include nice, catchy, professional graphics on your title page to make it appealing to targeted readers, but don’t go overboard.

2. Bind your document so readers can go through it easily without it falling apart. You might use a three-ring binder, coil binding, or a similar method. Make sure the binding method you use does not obscure the information next to where it is bound.

3. Make certain all of your pages are ordered and numbered correctly.

4. The usual business plan convention is to number all major sections and subsections within your plan using the format as follows:

1. First main heading

1.1 First subheading under the first main heading

1.1.1. First sub-subheading under the first subheading

2. Second main heading

2.1 First subheading under the second main heading

Use the styles and references features in Word to automatically number and format your section titles and to generate your table of contents. Be sure that the last thing you do before printing your document is update your automatic numbering and automatically generated tables. If you fail to do this, your numbering may be incorrect.

5. Prior to submitting your plan, be 100% certain each of the following requirements are met:

  • Everything must be completely integrated. The written part must say exactly the same thing as the financial part.
  • All financial statements must be completely linked and valid. Make sure all of your balance sheets balance.
  • Everything must be correct. There should be NO spelling, grammar, sentence structure, referencing, or calculation errors.
  • Your document must be well organized and formatted. The layout you choose should make the document easy to read and comprehend. All of your diagrams, charts, statements, and other additions should be easy to find and be located in the parts of the plan best suited to them.
  • In some cases it can strengthen your business plan to show some information in both text and table or figure formats. You should avoid unnecessary repetition , however, as it is usually unnecessary—and even damaging—to state the same thing more than once.
  • You should include all the information necessary for readers to understand everything in your document.
  • The terms you use in your plan should be clear and consistent. For example, the following statement in a business plan would leave a reader completely confused: “There is a shortage of 100,000 units with competitors currently producing 25,000. We can help fill this huge gap in demand with our capacity to produce 5,000 units.”

A business journal from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania

Knowledge at Wharton Podcast

How entrepreneurs can create effective business plans, march 2, 2010 • 16 min listen.

When an entrepreneur has identified a potential business opportunity, the next step is developing a business plan for the new venture. What exactly should the new plan contain? How can the entrepreneur ensure it has the substance to find interest among would-be investors? In this installment of a series of podcasts for the Wharton-CERT Business Plan Competition, Wharton management professor Ian MacMillan explains that business plans must contain several crucial elements: They must articulate a market need; identify products or services to fill that need; assess the resources required to produce those products or services; address the risks involved in the venture; and estimate the potential revenues and profits.

project on business plan entrepreneurship

An edited transcript of the interview appears below:

Knowledge at Wharton: Professor MacMillan, thank you for speaking with us about the necessity of entrepreneurs writing business plans. To start with a basic question, what exactly is a business plan?

Ian MacMillan: A business plan to me is a 25-page, maximum 30-page, document, which is a description, analysis and evaluation of a venture that you want to get funded by somebody. It provides critical information to the reader — usually an investor — about you, the entrepreneur, about the market that you are going to enter, about the product that you want to enter with, your strategy for entry, what the prospects are financially, and what the risks are to anybody who invests in the project.

Knowledge at Wharton: Could you explain some of these elements in a little more detail and describe how entrepreneurs can develop an effective business plan?

MacMillan: Let me start by saying that you probably want to avoid developing a detailed business plan unless you have done some initial work. Basically what happens is that by doing a little bit of work, you earn the right to do more work. The first thing I would do before you start a business plan is think about a concept statement. A concept statement is about three to five pages that you put together and share with potential customers or investors just to see if they think it’s worth the energy and effort of doing more detailed work.

The concept statement has a few pieces to it. You are going to have a description of the market need that has to be fulfilled; a description of the products or services that you think are going to fulfill that need; a description of the key resources that you think are going to be needed to provide that product or service; a specification of what resources are currently available; an articulation of what you think the risks are; and then a sort of rough and ready estimate of what you think the profits and profitability will be.

The idea is to put together this concept document and begin to share it around with people who are going to have to support your venture if you take it forward. This allows you to rethink as a result of feedback that you get. You might get word back from the various stakeholders — like potential customers or distributors — that this really wasn’t such a good idea after all. That saves you the energy and effort of putting together a big business plan.

Knowledge at Wharton: Assuming the concept statement works out and you want to move towards the business plan, what else would you need? And where can you find the information? Some information can be hard to locate, especially about your competitors.

MacMillan: It’s really important to go out and speak to your potential customers. You need to find the people who you think will buy your product and talk to them about what dissatisfies them with their current offerings. You should get a sense from them about who is providing the alternative at the moment. Remember, the world has gone for maybe 100,000 years without your idea — and people are getting by; they’re not dying. Something out there is servicing their need. So what is the closest competitive alternative to what you want to offer?

That is what you need to find out — and that involves talking and listening. And for all the enthusiasm you have for your venture or your idea, you really need to listen to people who are eventually going to write a check for it.

Before you go on to write a business plan, you have to do some more work. If the concept statement looks good, then the next step is to do a 15- to 20-page feasibility analysis. This means we are now going to take this idea to the next level. We’ve learned from potential customers and distributors. We’ve learned who the major competitors are. We’ve shaped the idea more clearly, and now we’re digging deeper.

The next challenge you face is to say, well, if you start this business, what evidence do you have that the market actually wants it? Who do you think would write a check for your product? You need to articulate what makes your product or your service feasible. What has to be done in order to make this thing real? You need a description of how you intend to enter the market, a description of who the major competitors are, a preliminary plan — a very rough plan — which specifies what you think your revenues and profits are going to be, and an estimate of what you think the required investment will be. And only then, once you have articulated that, and once again shared it with your stakeholder community, will you perhaps be able to go and write a business plan.

Knowledge at Wharton: Once you have done your feasibility analysis and assuming you get the go ahead from your stakeholders, what is the next step?

MacMillan: The idea of the business plan is to convince the stakeholders. First, what we need to do in a business plan is show that we understand the needs — the unmet needs — of potential customers. Second, we need to understand the strengths and weaknesses of the current most competitive offering out there. Third, we need to understand the skills and capabilities that you and your team have as entrepreneurs. Next we need to understand what the investors need to get out of their investment, because they have to put their money in and they need to have some kind of sense of what they are going to get in terms of returns. In addition, the investment needs to be competitive with alternative investments that the investors might make.

The most important idea in the business plan is to articulate and satisfy the different perspectives of various stakeholders. This process sets in motion some basic requirements in the business plan — to tee up right from the start — evidence that the customer will accept it. Probably a third of the ventures out there that fail are because some person came up with the right product that they thought the world would love and then found out that the customers couldn’t care less. What you want to try to do in a business plan is convince the reader that there are customers out there who will in fact buy the product — not because it’s a great product, but because they want it and they are willing to pay for it.

Moreover, you need to convince the reader that you have some kind of proprietary position that you can defend. You also need to convince your readers that you have an experienced and motivated management team and that you have the experience and the management capabilities to pull it off. You need to convince potential investors that they are going to get a better return than they could get elsewhere, so you need to estimate the net present value of this venture. You need to show that the risk they are taking will be accompanied by appropriate returns for that risk. If we look at the contents of a typical business plan, you need to be able to articulate all these issues in some 25 to 30 pages. People get tired if they have to read too much.

Now let’s look at the various components of the business plan document:

First, you need an executive summary that grabs the attention of the potential investor. This should be done in no more than two pages. The executive summary is meant to convince the potential investor to read further and say, “Wow! This is why I should read more about this business plan.”

Next, you need a market analysis. What is the market? How fast is it growing? How big is it? Who are the major players? In addition, you need a strategy section. It should address questions such as, “How are you going to get into this market? And how are you going to win in that marketplace against current competition?”

After that, you need a marketing plan. How are we going to segment the market? Which parts of the market are we going to attack? How are we going to get the attention of that market and attract it to our product or service?

You also need an operations plan that answers the question, “How are we going to make it happen?” And you need an organization plan, which shows who the people are who will take part in the venture.

You need to list the key events that will take place as the plan unfolds. What are the major things that are going to happen? If your plan happens to be about a physical product, are you going to have a prototype or a model? If it happens to be a software product, are you going to have a piece of software developed — a prototypical piece of software? What are the key milestones by which investors can judge what progress you are making in the investment? Remember that you will not get all your money up front. You will get your funds allocated contingent on your ability to achieve key milestones. So you may as well indicate what those milestones are.

You should also include a hard-nosed assessment of the key risks. For example, what are the market risks? What are the product risks? What are the financial risks? What are the competitive risks? To the extent that you are upfront and honest about it, you will convince your potential investors that you have done your homework. You need to also be able to indicate how you will mitigate these risks — because if you can’t mitigate them, investors are not going to put money into your venture.

After that, what you get down to is a financial plan where you basically do a five-year forecast of what you think the finances are going to be — maybe with quarterly data or projections for the first two years and annual for the next three years.

You need a pro forma profit and loss statement. You need a pro forma balance sheet if you have assets in the balance sheet. You need to have a pro forma cash flow. Your cash flow is important, because it is the cash flow that kills. You may have great profits on your books but you may run out of money — so you need a pro forma cash flow statement. And you need a financing plan that explains, as the project unfolds, what tranches of financing you will need and how will you go about raising that money.

Finally you need a financial evaluation that tells investors, if you make this investment, what is its value going to be to you as an investor. That is basically the structure of the plan.

Knowledge at Wharton: Let’s say you have written a business plan and presented it to your investors. How closely do you have to be tied to the plan? Does it mean that once you are executing against the plan, you should reject new opportunities you find because they are not part of your plan? Or should you build in some flexibility that allows you to explore emerging opportunities?

MacMillan: Is this an opportunity for me to speak about discovery-driven planning?

Knowledge at Wharton: Of course.

MacMillan: Okay. The thing about most entrepreneurial ventures is that your outcome is uncertain — because what you are doing is very new. It is very, very hard to predict what the actual outcome is going to be. One of the most fundamental flaws is that in the face of unfolding uncertainty, you single-mindedly and bloody-mindedly pursue the original objective.

The reality is that the true opportunity will emerge over time. What venture capitalists do is they will put a small amount of money into the project, allow the entrepreneur to enter that market space and then — contingent on performance and contingent on what apparent traction you can get in that market space — completely re-plan to find out what the true opportunity really is. It is insanity to insist that people actually meet their plan as it was originally written.

This doesn’t mean you compromise your objectives. The idea is that I want to keep on trying to meet my objectives, but how I meet them must change as the plan unfolds. That’s basically what led to all the work that Wharton has done in the last few years on discovery driven planning. It’s a way of thinking about planning that says, “I’m going to make small investments. If I’m wrong early, I can fail fast, fail cheap and move on. But as I find out what the true opportunity is, I can aggressively invest in what this opportunity is.”

Knowledge at Wharton: Could you give an example of a company that has used this discovery-driven planning process to take its business to the next level?

MacMillan: One company that has done the most in this area is Air Products. What they have been able to do is use discovery-driven planning to unfold completely different businesses from the ones that they were in. Air Products makes things like carbon dioxide and oxygen and nitrogen. It is a very old-line company. Using discovery-driven planning, they have been able to move aggressively into, for instance, the service sector. Once they recognized that they were able to deliver reliably and predictably in the face of uncertain demand, they developed a set of skills that allowed them to enter the service business where the return on investment and return on assets are far higher than putting a huge plant in place.

Knowledge at Wharton: Professor MacMillan, thanks so much.

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What Is a Business Plan?

Understanding business plans, how to write a business plan, common elements of a business plan, how often should a business plan be updated, the bottom line, business plan: what it is, what's included, and how to write one.

Adam Hayes, Ph.D., CFA, is a financial writer with 15+ years Wall Street experience as a derivatives trader. Besides his extensive derivative trading expertise, Adam is an expert in economics and behavioral finance. Adam received his master's in economics from The New School for Social Research and his Ph.D. from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in sociology. He is a CFA charterholder as well as holding FINRA Series 7, 55 & 63 licenses. He currently researches and teaches economic sociology and the social studies of finance at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem.

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A business plan is a document that details a company's goals and how it intends to achieve them. Business plans can be of benefit to both startups and well-established companies. For startups, a business plan can be essential for winning over potential lenders and investors. Established businesses can find one useful for staying on track and not losing sight of their goals. This article explains what an effective business plan needs to include and how to write one.

Key Takeaways

  • A business plan is a document describing a company's business activities and how it plans to achieve its goals.
  • Startup companies use business plans to get off the ground and attract outside investors.
  • For established companies, a business plan can help keep the executive team focused on and working toward the company's short- and long-term objectives.
  • There is no single format that a business plan must follow, but there are certain key elements that most companies will want to include.

Investopedia / Ryan Oakley

Any new business should have a business plan in place prior to beginning operations. In fact, banks and venture capital firms often want to see a business plan before they'll consider making a loan or providing capital to new businesses.

Even if a business isn't looking to raise additional money, a business plan can help it focus on its goals. A 2017 Harvard Business Review article reported that, "Entrepreneurs who write formal plans are 16% more likely to achieve viability than the otherwise identical nonplanning entrepreneurs."

Ideally, a business plan should be reviewed and updated periodically to reflect any goals that have been achieved or that may have changed. An established business that has decided to move in a new direction might create an entirely new business plan for itself.

There are numerous benefits to creating (and sticking to) a well-conceived business plan. These include being able to think through ideas before investing too much money in them and highlighting any potential obstacles to success. A company might also share its business plan with trusted outsiders to get their objective feedback. In addition, a business plan can help keep a company's executive team on the same page about strategic action items and priorities.

Business plans, even among competitors in the same industry, are rarely identical. However, they often have some of the same basic elements, as we describe below.

While it's a good idea to provide as much detail as necessary, it's also important that a business plan be concise enough to hold a reader's attention to the end.

While there are any number of templates that you can use to write a business plan, it's best to try to avoid producing a generic-looking one. Let your plan reflect the unique personality of your business.

Many business plans use some combination of the sections below, with varying levels of detail, depending on the company.

The length of a business plan can vary greatly from business to business. Regardless, it's best to fit the basic information into a 15- to 25-page document. Other crucial elements that take up a lot of space—such as applications for patents—can be referenced in the main document and attached as appendices.

These are some of the most common elements in many business plans:

  • Executive summary: This section introduces the company and includes its mission statement along with relevant information about the company's leadership, employees, operations, and locations.
  • Products and services: Here, the company should describe the products and services it offers or plans to introduce. That might include details on pricing, product lifespan, and unique benefits to the consumer. Other factors that could go into this section include production and manufacturing processes, any relevant patents the company may have, as well as proprietary technology . Information about research and development (R&D) can also be included here.
  • Market analysis: A company needs to have a good handle on the current state of its industry and the existing competition. This section should explain where the company fits in, what types of customers it plans to target, and how easy or difficult it may be to take market share from incumbents.
  • Marketing strategy: This section can describe how the company plans to attract and keep customers, including any anticipated advertising and marketing campaigns. It should also describe the distribution channel or channels it will use to get its products or services to consumers.
  • Financial plans and projections: Established businesses can include financial statements, balance sheets, and other relevant financial information. New businesses can provide financial targets and estimates for the first few years. Your plan might also include any funding requests you're making.

The best business plans aren't generic ones created from easily accessed templates. A company should aim to entice readers with a plan that demonstrates its uniqueness and potential for success.

2 Types of Business Plans

Business plans can take many forms, but they are sometimes divided into two basic categories: traditional and lean startup. According to the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) , the traditional business plan is the more common of the two.

  • Traditional business plans : These plans tend to be much longer than lean startup plans and contain considerably more detail. As a result they require more work on the part of the business, but they can also be more persuasive (and reassuring) to potential investors.
  • Lean startup business plans : These use an abbreviated structure that highlights key elements. These business plans are short—as short as one page—and provide only the most basic detail. If a company wants to use this kind of plan, it should be prepared to provide more detail if an investor or a lender requests it.

Why Do Business Plans Fail?

A business plan is not a surefire recipe for success. The plan may have been unrealistic in its assumptions and projections to begin with. Markets and the overall economy might change in ways that couldn't have been foreseen. A competitor might introduce a revolutionary new product or service. All of this calls for building some flexibility into your plan, so you can pivot to a new course if needed.

How frequently a business plan needs to be revised will depend on the nature of the business. A well-established business might want to review its plan once a year and make changes if necessary. A new or fast-growing business in a fiercely competitive market might want to revise it more often, such as quarterly.

What Does a Lean Startup Business Plan Include?

The lean startup business plan is an option when a company prefers to give a quick explanation of its business. For example, a brand-new company may feel that it doesn't have a lot of information to provide yet.

Sections can include: a value proposition ; the company's major activities and advantages; resources such as staff, intellectual property, and capital; a list of partnerships; customer segments; and revenue sources.

A business plan can be useful to companies of all kinds. But as a company grows and the world around it changes, so too should its business plan. So don't think of your business plan as carved in granite but as a living document designed to evolve with your business.

Harvard Business Review. " Research: Writing a Business Plan Makes Your Startup More Likely to Succeed ."

U.S. Small Business Administration. " Write Your Business Plan ."

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Developing a Business Plan in Entrepreneurship: A Comprehensive Guide

  • Developing a Business Plan in Entrepreneurship: A Comprehensive Guide

Welcome to our comprehensive guide on developing a business plan in entrepreneurship! Whether you're a seasoned entrepreneur or just starting out on your business journey, having a well-crafted business plan is essential for success. In this article, we will walk you through the process of creating a business plan from start to finish, providing valuable insights and expert advice along the way.

Table of Contents

☑️ 1. understanding the importance of a business plan, 👩‍💻 2. conducting market research: identifying your target audience, 🎯 3. defining your business goals and objectives, 🛠️ 4. crafting a unique value proposition, 👥 5. analyzing the competitive landscape, 🛗 6. developing a marketing and sales strategy, ⚙️ 7. creating an operational plan, 📈 8. building a financial plan: budgeting and forecasting, 💼 9. securing funding for your business, ⚖️ 10. legal and regulatory considerations, 📏 11. measuring success: key performance indicators (kpis), 🎛️ 12. adapting and evolving your business plan, ✨ conclusion.

💡 A business plan is more than just a document; it's your roadmap to entrepreneurial success. It guides you, step by step, on your journey towards building a thriving business. When you take the time to create a comprehensive business plan, you not only gain a deeper understanding of your vision and objectives, but you also show potential investors, partners, and stakeholders that you mean business.

💡 A well-crafted business plan allows you to present your business idea in a structured and organized way. Clearly outlining your products or services, target market, and unique selling proposition effectively communicates your concept to others and build trust in your vision.

💡 Additionally, a business plan helps you strategize and set realistic goals. It prompts you to analyze the market, assess competition, and identify opportunities and challenges. Armed with this knowledge, you can make informed decisions that minimize risks and increase your chances of success.

💡 Now let's talk finances. Financial projections are another vital aspect of a business plan. You can create a realistic financial forecast by thoroughly analyzing your costs, revenue streams, and cash flow. This not only helps you gauge the financial viability of your business, but it also provides essential information for potential investors evaluating your venture's profitability and sustainability.

💡 Moreover, a business plan is often required by external parties when seeking funding. But here's the thing: a well-structured and comprehensive plan showcases your professionalism, competence, and dedication to your venture. It boosts your credibility with potential investors who are more likely to invest in a business with a clear and well-thought-out plan.

💡 To sum it up, developing a business plan is a critical step in entrepreneurship. It helps you clarify your vision, effectively communicate your ideas, make informed decisions, and attract potential investors. So, take the time to craft a comprehensive business plan so you can establish a solid foundation for the success of your venture and demonstrate your commitment to its growth and sustainability.

Let's get started on that business plan and set yourself up for success !

You know what's essential for developing a successful business plan? Understanding your target audience. That's right, it's all about conducting thorough market research to gain valuable insights into the needs, preferences, and behaviors of your potential customers . This knowledge will empower you to customize your products or services to meet their specific demands, giving you a competitive edge in the market .

🔍 So, how do you go about this market research? Well, it involves gathering and analyzing data related to your industry, target market, and competition. It's a comprehensive process that allows you to identify and assess potential opportunities and challenges within your chosen market segment. You won't be relying on assumptions or guesswork. Instead, you'll make informed decisions based on reliable data.

👂 Let's talk about identifying your target audience . These are the individuals or groups who are most likely to be interested in and benefit from your products or services. To identify them, think about demographic factors such as age, gender, location, income level, and occupation. And don't forget to delve into psychographic factors too, like interests, values, lifestyles, and purchasing behaviors. The more detailed and specific you can be in defining your target audience, the better you'll be able to tailor your marketing strategies to effectively reach and engage them.

🎛️ Now, let's dive into the methods of market research. You can use surveys, interviews, focus groups, and analyze data from secondary sources. Surveys will provide you with quantitative data, giving you insights on a large scale. And when it comes to interviews and focus groups, you'll get qualitative data that takes you deeper into the thoughts, opinions, and motivations of your target audience. Secondary sources like industry reports, government publications, and online databases will provide you with valuable information about market trends, competitor analysis, and customer behavior.

📊 Once you have all this data, it's time to analyze it . Look for patterns, trends, and opportunities that will inform your business strategies. When you truly understand your target audience's needs, pain points, and preferences, you'll be able to develop products or services that truly resonate with them. And guess what? This customer-centric approach increases the likelihood of customer satisfaction, loyalty, and ultimately, business success.

🧐 But wait, there's more! Market research also helps you assess the competitive landscape . Take a close look at your competitors' strengths, weaknesses, and market positioning. This analysis will help you identify gaps and differentiation opportunities for your business. Armed with this knowledge, you can develop unique value propositions and effective marketing strategies that set you apart from the competition.

Ready to dive into market research and gain valuable insights? Let's get started and propel your business forward!

Welcome to the next step in developing your business plan: defining your goals and objectives. It is important to set clear and well-defined goals and objectives for your business. These goals serve as guideposts, directing and giving purpose to your entrepreneurial journey. With the SMART framework—specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, and time-bound—you can set yourself up for success and ensure that your efforts are focused and effective.

With a clear roadmap in place, you are well-positioned to navigate the challenges and achieve the success you envision for your business.

Let's break down each element of the SMART framework:

✅ Specific: Your goals should be clear, concise, and well-defined. Instead of stating a vague objective like "increase revenue," let's be specific. For example, you could aim to "increase annual revenue by 20% within the next fiscal year."

✅ Measurable: It is important to establish metrics or key performance indicators (KPIs ) that allow you to track your progress. This enables you to measure the success of your strategies and determine whether you are on track to achieve your goals. For instance, if your goal is to expand your customer base, you can track the number of new customers acquired within a specific period.

✅ Attainable: While setting ambitious goals is important, they should also be realistic and attainable. Consider your available resources, market conditions, and industry trends when defining your objectives. Finding the balance between ambition and practicality is key to avoiding frustration and disappointment.

✅ Relevant: Ensure that your goals align with your overall vision, mission, and values. They should be relevant to your industry, target market, and the specific needs of your customers. Set relevant goals so you can stay focused on what truly matters for the growth and success of your business.

✅ Time-bound: Set specific timeframes or deadlines for achieving your objectives. This creates a sense of urgency, helps you prioritize tasks, and allows you to track your progress. Having a timeline ensures that your goals remain actionable and within reach.

Defining your business goals and objectives brings numerous benefits:

✔️ It keeps you focused and motivated, providing a clear vision of what you want to accomplish. Goals serve as milestones, giving you a sense of achievement as you make progress toward them.

✔️ They also provide a framework for decision-making, enabling you to effectively prioritize tasks and allocate resources.

✔️ Moreover, clearly defined goals make it easier to communicate your vision and strategies to your team members, investors, and stakeholders. Alignment of efforts and shared purpose foster collaboration and synergy within your organization.

In the world of business, standing out from the competition is key to your success. In today's crowded marketplace, having a unique value proposition (UVP) is essential. Your UVP is what sets you apart and defines the special benefits and value your products or services offer to customers.

With a strong UVP, you can thrive in a crowded marketplace and build a loyal customer base that recognizes and appreciates what you bring to the table.

Let's dive into the steps of crafting a compelling UVP that will attract and retain customers , differentiate your business, and build a strong and sustainable brand.

Step 1: Identify your target audience. Get to know your customers inside and out. Understand their needs, desires, and pain points. This knowledge forms the foundation for creating a UVP that truly resonates with them.

Step 2: Analyze the competition. Take a closer look at your competitors and their value propositions. What are others offering? Can you identify gaps and opportunities in the market that you can leverage to set your business apart?

Step 3: Focus on differentiation. Determine what makes your offerings unique. What are the standout features, advantages, or benefits that set you apart? How do your products or services better address the specific needs of your target audience compared to the competition?

Step 4: Communicate the value. Craft a clear and concise statement that communicates the value customers can expect from choosing your business. Use compelling language to highlight the benefits and outcomes they can achieve by using your products or services.

Step 5: Make it memorable. Your UVP should be easy to understand and leave a lasting impression. Consider using a catchy slogan or tagline that captures the essence of your UVP and resonates with your target audience.

Step 6: Consistency is key. Keep your Unique Value Proposition (UVP) consistently communicated across all your marketing and communication channels. It should shine through on your website, social media presence, advertising materials, and customer interactions. Consistency builds trust and reinforces your brand identity.

When it comes to developing a robust and resilient business plan, understanding your competitors and their strategies is crucial.

Analyzing the competitive landscape involves a comprehensive examination of your direct and indirect competitors within your industry or market segment.

When you understand your competitors' strengths, weaknesses, and market positioning, you can identify opportunities, develop differentiated strategies, and gain a competitive edge. Regularly update your analysis to stay ahead of the competition and ensure your business remains relevant and successful in the ever-changing business landscape.

To begin, let's break down the key steps for effectively analyzing the competition:

Step 1: Identify your competitors Start by identifying your direct competitors—those businesses offering similar products or services to the same target audience. Additionally, consider indirect competitors—those providing alternative solutions that fulfill the same customer needs. This broader understanding will uncover both direct and indirect threats and opportunities.

Step 2: Gather information Collect as much information as possible about your competitors. Study their websites, social media presence, advertising campaigns, product offerings, pricing strategies, distribution channels, customer reviews, and any available market reports or industry publications. Utilize tools like SWOT analysis to organize and evaluate the data.

Step 3: Assess strengths and weaknesses Analyze the strengths and weaknesses of your competitors. Identify what they excel at, such as unique features, exceptional customer service, strong brand recognition, or extensive industry experience. Similarly, pinpoint their weaknesses, like limited product range, poor customer reviews, outdated technology, or inefficient processes. This assessment will highlight areas where you can leverage your strengths and differentiate yourself.

Step 4: Understand market positioning Examine how your competitors position themselves in the market. Consider their target audience, brand image, value propositions, and marketing messages. Identify the specific niche or market segment they focus on and determine if there are untapped opportunities for you to capitalize on. Positioning your business uniquely will attract customers who resonate with your specific value propositions.

Step 5: Identify opportunities and threats Through your analysis, identify potential opportunities and threats within the competitive landscape. Look for gaps in the market that your competitors have overlooked or underserved customer needs that you can address. Also, be on the lookout for emerging trends, technological advancements, or regulatory changes that may impact your business. This knowledge enables you to adapt and strategize effectively.

Step 6: Develop strategies for differentiation Based on your analysis, devise strategies that differentiate your business from the competition. Leverage your unique strengths and address customer pain points that your competitors haven't resolved. Focus on developing value-added features, delivering exceptional customer experiences, or offering innovative solutions that set you apart. Effective differentiation will give you a competitive edge and attract customers who appreciate your distinct offerings.

When it comes to growing and making your business profitable, having a well-defined and comprehensive marketing and sales strategy is key. It outlines the steps you'll take to promote your products or services, attract customers, and generate sales. An effective marketing and sales strategy in your business plan increases brand visibility, reaches a wider audience, and ultimately drives revenue.

With a well-designed marketing and sales strategy, you can establish a strong brand presence, attract customers, and achieve sustainable business growth.

Here are some important elements to consider as you develop your marketing and sales strategy:

  • Identify your target market: Start by clearly defining your target market and understanding their demographics, preferences, and buying behavior. This knowledge will help you tailor your marketing messages and promotional activities to effectively reach and engage your ideal customers.
  • Choose the right marketing channels: Determine the most suitable marketing channels to reach your target audience. This could include a mix of traditional and digital channels such as print media, television, radio, search engine marketing (SEM) , social media platforms, email marketing, and content marketing. Select the channels based on your target audience's preferences and behavior.
  • Leverage digital marketing techniques: Maximize your online presence and attract potential customers by leveraging digital marketing techniques. This includes search engine optimization (SEO) to improve your website's visibility in search engine results, social media marketing to engage with your audience and build brand awareness, and content marketing to provide valuable and relevant information that establishes your expertise and credibility.
  • Craft compelling marketing messages: Develop clear and compelling marketing messages that effectively communicate the unique value of your products or services. Highlight the key benefits, features, and solutions your offerings provide to address customer needs and pain points. Emphasize what sets your business apart from competitors and how customers stand to benefit by choosing your products or services.
  • Determine your pricing strategy: Align your pricing strategy with your target market, positioning, and business goals. Take into account factors such as production costs, market demand, perceived value, and competitor pricing. Striking the right balance between affordability and profitability is essential to attract customers while maintaining healthy profit margins.
  • Plan targeted promotional activities: Plan and execute targeted promotional activities to create awareness and generate interest in your offerings. This may include advertising campaigns, public relations efforts, participation in industry events, sponsorships, or partnerships with complementary businesses. Use both online and offline channels to reach a broader audience and maximize exposure.
  • Develop a sales forecast: Create a sales forecast that outlines your projected sales revenues based on your marketing and sales strategies. Consider factors such as market size, growth potential, customer acquisition rate, and conversion rates. This will provide you with a realistic view of your revenue goals and help you track your progress.
  • Monitor and evaluate: Continuously monitor the performance of your marketing and sales efforts and make necessary adjustments. Keep track of key metrics such as website traffic, conversion rates, social media engagement, and sales revenue to gauge the effectiveness of your strategies. Use analytics tools to gain insights into customer behavior and preferences, allowing you to refine your marketing and sales approaches.

In this section, we'll explore the importance of an operational plan and provide you with valuable insights to help you create one that sets the stage for smooth and efficient business operations. Let's dive in!

An operational plan is a vital component of your business plan, serving as a guide for your day-to-day activities and processes. It covers various aspects of your operations, such as production, inventory management, supply chain logistics, quality control, and more. With a comprehensive operational plan, you will have seamless operations while being prepared to tackle challenges.

With a well-designed operational plan in place, you can confidently manage day-to-day activities and position your business for long-term success.

Here are key considerations for creating your plan:

  • Production processes: Start by describing the specific steps involved in producing your products or delivering your services. Outline the necessary resources, equipment, and manpower for each stage. Identify any bottlenecks or areas for improvement to streamline your processes and boost productivity.
  • Inventory management: Detail how you'll manage your inventory to meet customer demand while minimizing costs. Determine optimal inventory levels, establish tracking systems, and implement replenishment strategies for stock availability. This avoids stockouts or excess inventory, enhancing customer satisfaction and reducing expenses.
  • Supply chain logistics: Outline your supply chain logistics, including sourcing raw materials, managing suppliers, and coordinating distribution. Identify potential risks and develop contingency plans to mitigate disruptions. Streamline processes to minimize lead times, optimize transportation, and improve overall efficiency.
  • Quality control: Explain how you'll maintain quality standards and ensure consistency in your products or services. Define quality control measures, such as inspections, testing procedures, and adherence to industry standards. Implement feedback loops to capture customer input and continuously enhance your offerings.
  • Resource allocation: Determine how you'll allocate financial, human, and technological resources to support your operations. This involves budgeting, workforce planning, and identifying technology solutions that boost efficiency and productivity.
  • Risk management: Assess potential risks and develop strategies to minimize their impact on your operations. Identify key risks like supply chain disruptions, compliance issues, cybersecurity threats, or natural disasters. Establish contingency plans and protocols for business continuity.
  • Legal and regulatory compliance: Make sure your operational plan considers legal and regulatory requirements. Familiarize yourself with applicable laws, regulations, and industry standards. Incorporate measures for compliance, such as obtaining licenses, implementing data protection policies, and adhering to health and safety guidelines.
  • Monitoring and evaluation: Establish key performance indicators (KPIs) to track the effectiveness of your operational plan. Consistently monitor and evaluate your operations against these metrics to identify areas for improvement. Continuously refine your plan based on feedback and changing business needs.

In this part, we'll explore the importance of budgeting and forecasting in developing a robust financial plan for your business. Focus on these key aspects so you can demonstrate your financial expertise to potential investors and lenders.

When you are able to build a comprehensive financial plan through budgeting and forecasting, you demonstrate your financial acumen to potential investors and lenders. This gives them a clear understanding of how you'll manage the financial aspects of your business, instilling confidence in your ability to achieve profitability and sustainable growth.

💰 Budgeting: Controlling Costs and Allocating Resources

When establishing your business's financial foundation, budgeting plays a pivotal role. It allows you to identify and estimate startup costs, ongoing expenses, and projected revenues. To efficiently allocate resources, optimize cash flow, and ensure long-term financial sustainability, meticulously track and control costs.

Here are some key steps to consider when creating your budget:

  • Identify startup costs: Start by determining the initial investments needed to launch your business, such as equipment purchases, lease agreements, legal fees, marketing collateral, and website development. Accurately estimating these costs will help you avoid unexpected financial burdens and ensure a smooth startup process.
  • Outline ongoing expenses: Once your business is up and running, consider the recurring expenses for day-to-day operations, such as rent, utilities, employee salaries, inventory costs, marketing expenses, insurance premiums, and loan repayments. Thoroughly identifying these expenses provides a comprehensive understanding of your financial commitments.
  • Project revenues: Forecast your expected revenues by conducting market research and analyzing industry trends. Consider factors like market demand, competition, and seasonality. Projecting revenues gives you insights into your business's financial viability and empowers you to make informed decisions.
  • Track and adjust: Remember, a budget is a dynamic tool that requires continuous monitoring and adjustment. Regularly compare your actual expenses and revenues against your budgeted figures. This enables you to identify deviations, make necessary adjustments, and maintain financial discipline. Stay vigilant and proactively address any financial challenges that may arise.

📈 Financial Forecasting: Anticipating Future Performance

Alongside budgeting, financial forecasting plays a critical role in your financial plan. It involves estimating future cash flows, financial performance, and potential risks. You can project the financial health of your business and make informed strategic decisions by forecasting.

Consider the following elements when conducting financial forecasting:

  • Sales projections: Develop realistic sales projections based on market research, industry trends, and historical data. Factor in customer demand, pricing strategies, marketing initiatives, and potential competition impact. These projections serve as a foundation for estimating future revenues.
  • Expense projections: Forecast ongoing expenses, considering factors like inflation, changes in supplier costs, and potential growth-related expenses. This helps you anticipate and plan for the financial resources required to support your business operations.
  • Cash flow analysis: Analyze projected cash inflows and outflows to assess your business's liquidity and solvency. Monitoring cash flow allows you to identify potential shortages and take proactive measures to ensure adequate working capital.
  • Financial ratios and indicators: Calculate key financial ratios and indicators to assess your business's performance, including profitability, liquidity, debt-to-equity, and return on investment (ROI). Analyzing these metrics provides valuable insights into your financial stability and growth potential.
  • Risk assessment: Identify potential risks that may impact your financial performance, such as market conditions, regulatory changes, or economic downturns. Develop contingency plans to mitigate these risks and ensure business continuity.

Turn your entrepreneurial vision into reality! Securing funding is vital for bringing your business plan to life. In this section, we'll explore funding options and strategies to help you obtain the financial resources you need. Let's get started!

  • Understand Your Funding Needs

Before diving into the world of funding, it's crucial to assess your business's financial requirements. Take the time to evaluate startup costs, working capital needs, and projected expenses. Consider factors such as equipment purchases, inventory costs, marketing campaigns, employee salaries, and overhead expenses. Understand your funding needs so you can develop a targeted approach to secure the necessary capital.

  • Explore Funding Options

There are numerous funding options available today. It's important to explore these options and select the ones that align with your business goals and industry requirements. Some common funding sources include:

  • Loans: Traditional bank loans, Small Business Administration (SBA) loans, and MSME Financing Programs offer favorable interest rates and repayment terms for businesses with a solid credit history and collateral.
  • Grants: Research grants and government-sponsored programs provide non-repayable funds specific to your industry or business sector, supporting growth and development.
  • Venture Capital: Venture capital firms invest in high-growth potential businesses, providing capital, expertise, and industry connections to help your business thrive.
  • Angel Investors: Angel investors invest their own capital in startups or early-stage companies in exchange for equity. They often bring industry experience and valuable networks to the table.
  • Crowdfunding: Utilize online platforms to raise funds from individuals who believe in your business idea. Crowdfunding allows you to showcase your product or service and attract support from a broad audience.
  • Craft a Compelling Business Plan

A well-crafted and compelling business plan is crucial when seeking funding. Clearly articulate your value proposition, target market, competitive advantage, and growth potential. Include financial projections, market analysis, and a solid understanding of your industry. Present a persuasive case that highlights the profitability and viability of your venture. Your business plan should inspire confidence in potential investors and convince them of the potential returns on their investment.

  • Network and Build Relationships

Building strong relationships within your industry and entrepreneurial ecosystem can significantly enhance your funding prospects. Attend networking events, industry conferences, and pitch competitions to connect with potential investors and mentors. Join relevant industry associations and participate in community events to expand your network. Cultivating these relationships can open doors to funding opportunities and valuable advice from experienced professionals.

  • Demonstrate Your Commitment and Expertise

Investors want to see your dedication and ability to execute your business plan. Demonstrate your commitment by investing your own capital into the business and showcasing your industry expertise. Highlight your past achievements, relevant experience, and the skills that make you uniquely qualified to succeed. Investors are more likely to fund entrepreneurs who are passionate, knowledgeable, and committed to their business's success.

  • Be Prepared for Due Diligence

When investors show interest in your business, they will likely conduct due diligence to assess its viability and potential risks. Be prepared to provide detailed financial statements, legal documentation, market research, and any other relevant information. Show transparency and professionalism throughout the due diligence process to build trust with potential investors.

When developing your business plan, it is very important to consider the legal and regulatory requirements that apply to your industry and location. Adhering to these requirements not only ensures that your business operates within the boundaries of the law but also establishes trust with customers, investors, and other stakeholders. In this section, we will explore the key legal and regulatory considerations that you should address in your business plan.

Addressing legal and regulatory considerations in your business plan shows your commitment to operating ethically and lawfully. This instills confidence in stakeholders, assuring them that you've taken steps to safeguard your business and maintain compliance with relevant laws and regulations.

Step 1: Research Applicable Laws and Regulations

Begin by conducting thorough research to identify the specific laws, regulations, licenses, and permits that apply to your industry and location. Laws and regulations can vary significantly depending on the nature of your business, whether it is a food service establishment, a healthcare provider, or an e-commerce platform. Stay up to date with any changes in legislation that may impact your business operations.

Step 2: Obtain the Necessary Licenses and Permits

Ensure that your business obtains all the required licenses and permits before starting operations. These may include business licenses, professional licenses, health and safety permits, environmental permits, and zoning permits. Failure to secure the necessary licenses and permits can result in fines, penalties, or even legal action that could jeopardize the viability of your business.

Step 3: Protect Intellectual Property

Safeguarding your intellectual property (IP) is crucial for protecting your business's unique assets and competitive advantage. Intellectual property refers to creations of the mind, such as inventions, designs, logos, and artistic works. Depending on the type of IP you want to protect, consider applying for trademarks, copyrights, or patents. Addressing intellectual property considerations in your business plan demonstrates your commitment to safeguarding your innovations and brand.

Step 4: Ensure Compliance with Employment Laws

If you plan to hire employees, it is essential to understand and comply with employment laws and regulations. These laws govern aspects such as minimum wage, working hours, employee benefits, workplace safety, and anti-discrimination practices. Familiarize yourself with both federal and state employment laws to ensure fair treatment of your employees and avoid legal issues that could harm your business's reputation.

Step 5: Protect Consumer Rights and Privacy

Consumer protection and privacy laws are designed to safeguard the rights of your customers and their personal information. Ensure that your business follows best practices for data protection, privacy policies, and marketing practices. Incorporate compliance measures into your business plan to demonstrate your commitment to protecting consumer rights and privacy.

Step 6: Address Compliance and Risk Management

In your business plan, demonstrate your commitment to compliance and risk management by outlining the strategies and processes you will implement. This can include establishing internal controls, conducting regular audits, and addressing potential risks and mitigation measures. Proactively address compliance and risk management to show potential investors and partners that you prioritize responsible and ethical business practices.

Step 7: Seek Legal Counsel

Consider consulting with legal professionals experienced in your industry to ensure that your business plan accurately addresses all legal and regulatory considerations. They can provide guidance on specific legal requirements, review your business plan for compliance, and help you navigate any complex legal issues that may arise.

It's vital to have a clear understanding of how well your business is performing. That's where Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) come in. These quantifiable metrics allow you to measure the success and progress of your business. Identifying and tracking the right KPIs provides valuable insights into your strategies' effectiveness and empowers you to make informed growth-oriented decisions. In this section, we'll emphasize the significance of KPIs and assist you in selecting the most relevant ones for your business.

👉 Choosing the Right KPIs

Selecting the right KPIs is crucial for accurately measuring the success of your business. Let's go through some steps to help you choose the most relevant KPIs:

  • Define Your Business Goals: Start by clearly defining your business goals and objectives. What do you want to achieve? Whether it's revenue growth, customer acquisition, operational efficiency, or customer satisfaction, your KPIs should align with your overarching goals.
  • Identify Key Areas of Focus: Identify the key areas of your business that directly contribute to achieving your goals. These could include sales, marketing, customer service, production, or financial performance. Focus on KPIs that provide insights into these critical areas.
  • Quantify and Measure: Determine how you will quantify and measure each KPI. Ensure that the metrics are reliable, consistent, and easily measurable. Consider both lagging indicators (reflecting past performance) and leading indicators (predicting future outcomes) for a comprehensive view.
  • Be Specific and Relevant: Choose KPIs that are specific to your business and industry. Generic metrics may not accurately reflect the unique aspects and challenges of your business. Tailor your KPIs to measure the factors that drive success in your particular market.
  • Keep it Balanced: Select a mix of financial and non-financial KPIs to gain a holistic view of your business's performance. While financial metrics like revenue and profit are important, don't overlook other aspects such as customer satisfaction, employee engagement, or brand recognition.

📋 Examples of Common KPIs

Now, let's look at some examples of common KPIs that businesses track:

  • Revenue Growth Rate: Measures the percentage increase in revenue over a specific period.
  • Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC): Calculates the cost required to acquire a new customer.
  • Customer Lifetime Value (CLV): Estimates the total value a customer brings to your business over their lifetime.
  • Conversion Rate: Tracks the percentage of website visitors or leads that convert into customers.
  • Net Promoter Score (NPS): Measures customer satisfaction and loyalty based on surveys.
  • Return on Investment (ROI): Evaluates the profitability of an investment or marketing campaign.
  • Employee Turnover Rate: Measures the percentage of employees who leave your organization within a given period.

Congratulations on developing a solid business plan! However, it's important to remember that a business plan is not set in stone. In today's dynamic business environment, the ability to adapt and evolve is crucial for long-term success. In this section, we will explore why it's necessary to be flexible with your business plan and provide strategies for effectively adapting to changes.

🎚️ The Importance of Adaptation

The business landscape is ever-changing, shaped by technology, market trends, customer preferences, and competition. Holding onto an outdated plan can hinder progress and limit opportunities. Embracing adaptation keeps you ahead and fuels continued growth.

🤳 Embracing Market Trends

Market trends have a profound impact on your business's success. Stay ahead by monitoring industry trends, identifying opportunities, and anticipating threats. Stay informed through market research, industry publications, and networking with experts. Adapt your strategies to align with changes in consumer behavior, technology, and competition. Stay proactive and make necessary adjustments to ensure your business thrives.

👂 Listening to Customer Feedback

Your customers hold a wealth of valuable insights and feedback. Engage with them directly through surveys, focus groups, and social media. Listen attentively to their needs, preferences, and challenges. This feedback is a treasure trove of guidance to enhance your offerings and elevate the customer experience. Incorporating customer feedback into your business plan showcases your dedication to meeting their evolving needs. Let their voices shape your success.

💪 Remaining Agile and Flexible

In today's fast-paced business environment, agility and flexibility are essential. Be ready to make quick decisions and pivot when needed. This could mean adjusting marketing strategies, exploring new distribution channels, or even modifying your business model. Regularly assess performance and be willing to adapt based on insights gained. Stay nimble and open-minded, embracing change for your business's success.

🧿 Leveraging Emerging Opportunities

While navigating the business landscape, keep a keen eye out for emerging opportunities that align with your core competencies and goals. This could entail embracing new technologies, exploring untapped markets, or forging partnerships with complementary businesses. Actively seeking and seizing these opportunities positions your business for growth and differentiation. Stay vigilant and stay ahead in this dynamic journey!

There are three predicted trends of emerging change, worries, and hopes that we need to brace ourselves for. Read “ Future-proof Your Team in the New Normal ” blog post or watch the webinar replay for free to learn more.

🖥️ Monitoring Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)

Continuously monitor and assess your KPIs to gauge the effectiveness of your strategies. Identify trends, patterns, and areas of improvement. Regularly review your KPIs to ensure their relevance and alignment with your evolving business goals. Use this data-driven approach to guide your decision-making process and make informed adjustments to your business plan.

📖 Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

FAQ 1: What is the purpose of a business plan in entrepreneurship?

A business plan plays a pivotal role in entrepreneurship by serving as a roadmap for your journey. It encompasses various elements such as your business idea, strategies, goals, and financial projections. The primary purpose of a business plan is to provide clarity and direction to your entrepreneurial endeavors. Documenting your vision and outlining the steps to achieve it helps you stay focused, make informed decisions, and effectively communicate your ideas to potential investors, partners, and stakeholders. A well-crafted business plan showcases your professionalism and strategic thinking, increasing your chances of success in the competitive business landscape.

FAQ 2: How do I identify my target audience for my business plan?

Identifying your target audience is crucial for developing a business plan that resonates with your customers. To do this, conduct thorough market research to gather valuable insights. Start by analyzing demographic information such as age, gender, location, and income level. Next, delve deeper into understanding their needs, preferences, and behaviors. Surveys, focus groups, and social media analytics are effective tools for gathering such information. If you understand your target audience, you can tailor your products or services to meet their specific demands, develop effective marketing strategies, and differentiate yourself from competitors. This understanding of your target audience will give you a competitive edge and increase your chances of success.

FAQ 3: Why is a unique value proposition important in a business plan?

A unique value proposition (UVP) is of paramount importance in a business plan as it sets your business apart from competitors. It encapsulates the unique benefits and value that your products or services offer to customers. In today's crowded marketplace, where consumers have numerous options, a compelling UVP helps you attract and retain customers. It communicates why customers should choose your business over others and highlights the distinct advantages you bring to the table. When crafting your UVP, emphasize the key features, advantages, and benefits that differentiate your offerings. When you clearly articulate your UVP in your business plan, you demonstrate your understanding of the market, customer needs, and how your business fulfills those needs better than others.

FAQ 4: How can I secure funding for my business?

Securing funding is often a critical aspect of developing a business plan. There are various avenues to explore, including loans, grants, venture capital, angel investors, and crowdfunding. It is essential to tailor your funding strategy based on your business needs and industry requirements. Start by thoroughly researching and identifying the funding options that align with your goals and vision. Craft a compelling business plan that highlights the profitability and viability of your venture, showcasing potential investors or lenders the potential return on their investment. Include detailed financial projections, market analysis, and a clear plan for utilizing the funds. Demonstrating your financial acumen and presenting a compelling case increases your chances of securing the necessary funding to turn your entrepreneurial dreams into reality.

FAQ 5: Why is it important to adapt and evolve your business plan?

Adapting and evolving your business plan is essential because the business landscape is constantly changing. Market trends, technological advancements, consumer preferences, and competitive forces can impact your business significantly. Regularly review and update your business plan to align your strategies with the evolving market dynamics. This allows you to seize new opportunities, mitigate risks, and stay ahead of the competition. Additionally, customer feedback plays a vital role in adapting your business plan. Actively listening to your customers and incorporating their feedback into your strategies will continuously improve your offerings and enhance the customer experience. Adaptability and flexibility are key traits of successful entrepreneurs, enabling them to navigate challenges and capitalize on emerging trends.

FAQ 6: How can I measure the success of my business?

Measuring the success of your business requires the establishment of key performance indicators (KPIs) that align with your business goals. KPIs are measurable metrics that allow you to track and evaluate your performance over time. Examples of KPIs include revenue growth, customer acquisition rate, customer satisfaction, and market share. It's important to identify the KPIs that are most relevant to your business and industry. Regularly track and analyze these metrics to gain insights into your business's progress and performance. This data-driven approach enables you to make informed decisions, identify areas for improvement, and capitalize on your strengths. To measure your business's success objectively and make crucial adjustments, it's essential to consistently monitor and assess your Key Performance Indicators (KPIs). This enables you to stay on track and work towards your long-term goals.

You've reached the end of this comprehensive guide, and now you have the tools to create a business plan that leads to success. Your business plan is more than just a document—it's your roadmap on this entrepreneurial journey. So, let's summarize the key points you should keep in mind:

  • Understand the importance of a business plan: A well-crafted plan clarifies your vision and effectively communicates your ideas to stakeholders.
  • Conduct thorough market research: Identify your target audience's needs and preferences to tailor your products or services and gain a competitive edge.
  • Define SMART goals: Set specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, and time-bound goals to stay focused and motivated throughout your entrepreneurial journey.
  • Craft a unique value proposition: Highlight the unique benefits and value your offerings provide to differentiate yourself in a crowded marketplace.
  • Analyze the competitive landscape: Understand your competitors and develop strategies to gain a competitive advantage.
  • Develop a marketing and sales strategy: Outline your marketing channels, pricing, promotions, and leverage digital marketing techniques to reach a wider audience.
  • Create a robust operational plan: Ensure smooth business operations by addressing aspects such as production processes, inventory management, and quality control.
  • Build a comprehensive financial plan: Demonstrate your financial acumen by creating a budget, conducting financial forecasting, and identifying potential risks.
  • Secure funding strategically: Explore various funding options and present a compelling case in your plan to attract investors.
  • Consider legal and regulatory requirements: Comply with applicable regulations and showcase your commitment to operating within the legal framework.
  • Measure success with KPIs: Establish relevant metrics to track and analyze your business's progress and make data-driven decisions.
  • Adapt and evolve your plan: Regularly review and update your strategies to align with market trends, customer feedback, and emerging opportunities.

Now, it's time for you to take action. Based on the insights you've gained from this guide, which key aspect of your business plan will you focus on improving? How do you think this refinement will contribute to the success of your venture?

For those who are just starting up a business, here's an additional question to consider:

As you embark on your entrepreneurial journey, what initial steps will you take to validate your business idea and ensure its feasibility in the market? How will this validation process contribute to building a solid foundation for your business?

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23+ Free Entrepreneur Lesson Plans (Projects, Worksheets, etc.)

By: Author Amanda L. Grossman

Posted on Last updated: December 14, 2022

Need free entrepreneurship curriculum, lesson plans, and projects? Here’s entrepreneur lesson plans for high school, middle school, and elementary.

group of tweens working together, text overlay

So, you’re looking for entrepreneur lesson plans to help turn your kids or students into the innovators of tomorrow.

And not just to make them into entrepreneurs, but to benefit your kids and students with the following results of teaching entrepreneurship :

  • Improved academic performance
  • Increased problem-solving and decision-making capabilities
  • Improved interpersonal relationships
  • Higher self-esteem

But, exactly how are you supposed to teach entrepreneurship?

Entrepreneurs, among other qualities, need to be able to recognize opportunities in the marketplace. This means finding a need, and figuring out how to solve that need in a profitable way.

This can be as simple as a kidpreneur/kidpreneurship (or kidpreneur-in-the-making) opening a lemonade stand on a smoldering July day near a construction site, and as complicated as creating a machine knob specifically for tea growers in Japan.

And having this ability doesn’t have to result in a person starting their own business; it works equally as well for your child if they work for someone else in the form of more merit raises, one-time bonuses for one-off projects, promotions, leverage in salary negotiations, etc.

In fact, the skill of recognizing an opportunity, and seizing it by writing my own job description resulted in me snagging my first job out of college (worth an awesome $40,000 + benefits to me at the time). More on that in a bit.

What are the other skills a child needs to learn to help them as an entrepreneur?

Psst: you’ll also want to check out my resource list of youth entrepreneurship programs , entrepreneur biographies for kids , kid entrepreneur kits , and full review of the Teen Entrepreneur Toolbox . 

Article Content

How Do You Teach Entrepreneurship?

Teaching entrepreneurship is a bit trickier than, say, teaching algebra. With algebra, the equations come out with the same solutions, every time. But with entrepreneurship?

There are an endless number of variables that go into it, and an endless number of outcomes that can come out of it.

How are you supposed to teach for that?

One of the best ways to teach entrepreneurship is to choose entrepreneurial projects, activities, and lesson plans that aim at nurturing these entrepreneur skills:

  • Ability to identify opportunities
  • Self confidence
  • At least basic knowledge of business finances/financial literacy
  • Knows how to take measured risk
  • Vision and creativity

Elementary School Entrepreneurship Curriculum

Excited to start teaching your elementary school-aged kids about entrepreneurship? Let me share some entrepreneurship lesson plans, resources, and curriculum with you.

Also, check out these 3 kid business plan examples .

1. Venture Lab

Who It’s For : Grades 1-12

Financial Aid : ( Free for non-commercial use ) Curriculum that organizations can purchase to use with students

Length of Program : 90-minute lessons

Location : N/A

Venture Lab offers a curriculum suited for 1st – 12th graders (curriculum is divided into lower elementary, upper elementary, and middle school/high school.) This is a course in a box with all of the lesson plans already completed and is meant to be utilized as part of regular coursework, after school programs, or camps.

Its focus is on teaching girls components of entrepreneurship such as STEAM concepts and design thinking.

2. Money Monsters Start their Own Business

Who It’s For : 4th – 8th grade

Students will read through the Money Monsters Start their Own Business book (PDF provided – 51 pages), and then play a game that has them experience the ups and downs of starting a business.

I love how a Toy Store Income Tracker is included so that each student can track their own earnings and see the numbers for themselves.

Psst: you’ll also want to check out Federal Reserve Bank’s webinar on teaching kids entrepreneurship , which will give you some lesson plan ideas. 

Starting a Business Lesson Plans for Middle School

Do you want to teach your middle school kid (or student) how to start a business, and you need a lesson plan? I’ve actually created a Take Your Child to Work Day printable which will give you lots of ideas for your starting a business lesson plan.

More middle school business lesson plans for how to start a business (all free):

  • Federal Reserve Bank’s Jay Starts a Business (Grades 3-6; comes with teacher’s manual with lesson plans)
  • Free Kid Business Plan Templates
  • Biz Kid’s Crash Course on Entrepreneurship for Middle School
  • EverFI’s Venture Entrepreneurial Expedition (for grades 7-10).
  • Small Business Administration’s Young Entrepreneurs course
  • Foundation for Economic Education’s Booms and Busts , What is Entrepreneurship? , What is the Entrepreneur’s Role in Creating Value? , etc. (students can earn a Certificate of Achievement)
  • TeenBusiness’s Entrepreneur Lesson Videos series
  • Parade of Entrepreneurs Lesson Plan
  • Lemonade Stand Worksheets , and my best Lemonade Stand Ideas
Psst: Try holding a market day in your class. Here are 22 things for kids to make and sell , 17 boy crafts to sell , and help pricing their products in this market day lesson plan .

Teaching Entrepreneurship to High School Students – Free Entrepreneurship Curriculum

There are some great curriculum and materials out there for teaching entrepreneurship in high school, many of which include entrepreneur worksheets for students.

Psst: you also might want to check out these 5 business books for teens , and 11 business games for students .

1. Alison’s Entrepreneurial Skills Path

Who It’s For : Business students, and people interested in learning about creating a business

Financial Aid : Free

Length of Program : 6 lessons, each between 1 and 3 hours

Alison is a free, online platform with tons of courses, and one of the paths you can go down is an entrepreneurial skills one.

Teachers of the courses include venture capitalists, professors at Harvard, and professional entrepreneurs.

Lessons include:

  • Characteristics of the Successful Entrepreneur
  • Critical Skills for Entrepreneurs
  • Creating an Entrepreneur’s Checklist for Success
  • Entrepreneurship – Creating the Business
  • Key Elements of Entrepreneurial Success
  • Why Entrepreneurs Should Think Big

2. Youth Entrepreneurs

Who It’s For : Students

Financial Aid : Schools pay for this program, with the cost based on how many students get free and reduced lunches

Length of Program : 1 year

With this program, students first focus on economics, then they focus on starting their own businesses.

3. Diamond Challenge Business Curriculum

Who It’s For : Kids and teens

Length of Program : 14 modules

Looking for a video business curriculum with instructional guides? The Diamond Challenge’s program covers the following:

  • What is Entrepreneurship?
  • Opportunity Recognition
  • Opportunity Screening
  • Types of Businesses
  • Building a Business like a Scientist
  • Using a Business Model Canvas

They also offer a Social Curriculum track that’s 6 video modules long, including:

  • What is Social Entrepreneurship?
  • Wicked Problems and Grand Challenges
  • Social Entrepreneurship Processes and Challenges

4. INCubateredu

Who It’s For : 10th and 12th graders

Financial Aid : Free (at schools where it’s available)

Length of Program : 1 year (followed by acceleratoredu for the 2nd year)

Through Uncharted Learning’s program, 10 th to 12 th graders develop their own business, pitch their idea ta a shark-tank style event, and even have a chance at receiving funding.

5. JA BE Entrepreneurial®

Who It’s For : Grades 9-12

Financial Aid : Free for students

Length of Program : 7, 45-minute sessions

Location : Anywhere

Through your child’s school, they can take Junior Achievement’s Entrepreneurial program. The course teaches students how to create a business plan, plus how to start a venture.

Lessons covered include:

  • What’s My Business?
  • Who’s My Customer?
  • What’s My Advantage?
  • Competitive Advantages
  • Ethics are Good for Business
  • The Business Plan

6. JA Company Program Blended Model

Length of Program : 13 classes (2 hours/class), or as a 1-year program with 26 classes (1 hour/class)

Location : Anywhere (online course)

This is an online program that teaches high schoolers how to solve a problem/fill a need in their community through entrepreneurship.

  • Start a Business
  • Vet the Venture
  • Create a Structure
  • Launch the Business!
  • Run the Business

7. The Mint’s Be Your Own Boss

Who It’s For : Teens

Length of Program : 3 lessons

Starting with the Be Your Own Boss Challenge , The Mint takes your teen through the following three lesson:

  • Planning Your Business
  • Money & Your Business
  • The Law & Your Business

8. Wharton High School’s Entrepreneurship

Who It’s For : High School students

Length of Program : 50+ lesson plans

These lesson plans go through the following:

  • Entrepreneurs and Entrepreneurial Opportunities
  • Global Markets
  • Business Plans

9. YE$ Youth Entrepreneurship

Who It’s for : high school students

Cost : Free

Location : Anywhere (it’s a PDF)

Here’s a free PDF with tons of entrepreneur lesson plans and research done for educators, that is meant to go along with a 4-H program. You’ll find some nuggets in here, plus, it’s free!

Now let’s take a look at entrepreneurial projects that can teach your kids and teens all about starting a business with hands-on experiences.

10. Build a Business Plan

Who It’s For : Middle School and High School

Location : Anywhere (online)

Check out this plug n’ play business plan creator! You could send your students to this page to work through a business idea of theirs.

Then, at the end, they can print out their business plan!

Questions they’ll need to answer include:

  • Your big idea
  • Who will buy
  • How you’ll spend and make money

Entrepreneur Worksheets for Students

While I would recommend taking on one of the projects below, or one of the hands-on lesson plans from above, there are also entrepreneur worksheets students can use to learn about businesses.

Here’s a few of my favorites (all free):

  • Lemonade Stand Free Printables (here’s my best lemonade stand ideas , too)
  • Lemonade Stand Worksheets
  • Family Guide to Getting a Family Business Going (kid-centered)
  • Small Business Administration’s Lean Startup Business Plan
  • Take your students through the DECA Idea Challenge (you’ll need to pick your own everyday item to challenge students with, as the competition has ended for the year)
  • Take your students through the DECA Entrepreneur of Tomorrow Challenge (again, the competition is over, but the PDF is still available for you to set up your own)
Psst: you might want to check out my review on the Teen Entrepreneur Toolbox .

2 Entrepreneurial Projects – What is an Entrepreneurial Project?

Entrepreneurial projects are a smart way to teach entrepreneurship to kids, because, as with any project, it gives them a chance to dive deeper into a topic that interest them (all under the guise of teaching them how to start and run a business).

Entrepreneur Project #1: Winter Beverage Outdoor Tasting Contest

It’s soooooo easy to sit inside all winter long and slowly accumulate cabin fever (plus a few pounds). That’s why you’ve got to look for fun things to do in the winter.

Well today? We’re going to switch things up. I’ve created a family date night for you ( family winter activities !) that has both an indoor AND an outdoor component.

But don’t worry – with this fun winter activity we’ll keep things toasty throughout.

So, what’s the game plan? Each of your kid(dos) will make (rather,  create ) a warm winter beverage recipe  indoors . Then here’s the twist: you’re going to host a family taste testing contest around your fire pit in the backyard.

Not only will this make a fun family memory, but your kid(dos) will actually walk away with more money knowledge in the process centered around the all-important lesson of how to make a profit!

Psst: Now that’s a money lesson I could have used as a kid, specifically as I’ve gone into biz for myself as an adult.

Host a Winter Beverage Outdoor Taste Testing

Finding fun things to do in the winter doesn’t have to mean you’re freezing your tootsies off. There’s nothing better to keep you warm outdoors in the wintertime than a toasty drink. Well, a toasty drink around a roaring fire.

Here’s how it’s going down:

Step #1: Choose an Event Date

Build the anticipation for your family by choosing a date 1 to 2 weeks out (so that there’s time for you guys to complete the rest of the prep work).

Fill out the invitation on Page 1 of the free printable, and display prominently on your family’s bulletin board/gathering center in the kitchen so everyone knows the date of the big event.

Set the stage for the competition by having your family read their mission out loud. Other cool factors you can add in: make it a Friday or Saturday family date night, under the stars. Let the kids stay up a little past bedtime to complete.

Step #2: Your Kid(dos) Research Hot Drink Ideas to Enter into the Competition

Your kids are the ones entering the competition. They’ll be in the driver seat of actually creating their own recipe from scratch (with some inspiration from below).

There are lots of toasty, kid-friendly drink recipe ideas to get them started:

  • Hot caramel apple cider
  • Vanilla steamer with cinnamon
  • Harry Potter Warm Butterbeer

They’ll get lots of help not only from looking up recipe examples on sites like Pinterest, but also from the worksheet in the free printable (Page 2).

Step #3: Shop for the Ingredients

Once your budding restaurant consultant has determined possible ingredients they’ll need for their signature drink, they’ll need you, Mama Bear, to purchase them.

Take the list your kid(dos) have created and go to the store (solo, or with them) to make the purchases.

Having trouble coming up with a pool of possible ingredients to buy? Use the lists below for inspiration of what to pick up (a few of these ingredients you probably already have at home) and let your kids create what they can from it:

  • Bases : hot cocoa, apple cider, chai tea, milk
  • Flavors : cinnamon, nutmeg, vanilla extract, flavor syrups
  • Sweeteners : sugar, brown sugar, caramel
  • Creamers : milk, half & half, almond milk, heavy cream, etc.
  • Top-offs : whipped cream, caramel sauce, orange peels for zesting

Save your store receipt, as your kid(dos) will need this information to price their drinks later on.

Step #4: Your Kid(dos) Tinker + Perfect their Drink

Using the purchased ingredients as well as anything in your home they can find, host a kitchen lab session where your kid(dos) tinker with ingredients and perfect their super-secret, signature recipes (talk about fun things to do in the winter inside!).

They’ll write down the exact portion sizes to each ingredient that they use as they go along, which is important for the next step.

Step #5: Your Kid(dos) Figure Out the Profit Margin of their Signature Drink

Remember, the goal is to create a new drink for this restaurant that not only costs less than $5, but has at least a 60% profit margin for the owner.

Ahem: between you and me, that means their cost needs to come in under $2.00.

So, as your kid tinkers with ingredients, they need to keep price in mind.

Note: this step can seem a bit unwieldy, but is SO important for the whole process. Just know – I’m outlining both how to do this all by hand, as well as giving you shortcuts to online calculators where your kid(dos) will still learn the process by setting up the inputs and thinking through how it all fits together.

Of course, we’re not talking about the cost of the entire ingredient that you’ve purchased. After all, it’s unlikely they’ll use an entire carton of milk to create one drink. We’re talking about the small portion size that they used of the product.

In other words, they’re not going to get the cost of a single drink they’ve created from your grocery store receipt as it is now. They need to do some calculating based on the measurements of each ingredient that goes into each drink.

You need to know how much it costs to create just ONE of your super-secret signature drinks so that you can calculate the profit margin.

What’s a profit margin? It’s the percentage of what you keep as profit from each $1.00. For example, a 20% profit margin means that we earn $0.20 on every dollar. That means that the other 80% or $0.80 are expenses. Remember that Jack, the man from The Yeti Slide, needs a 60% profit margin, or $0.60 on each dollar in profit after expenses are taken out.

Step #1: Write down your ingredients + quantities.

Step #2: Convert each quantity in your recipe to the quantity on the product label.

Divide your ingredients up by dry ones (like cocoa powder), and wet ones (like heavy cream or vanilla extract).

Then use the appropriate table below to convert the amount in your recipe to the amount that’s found on the ingredient’s product label (front of package).

For example, if you used 3 teaspoons of cocoa powder (dry ingredient), then your conversion is to a ½ ounce (the cocoa powder can is in ounces). Or if you used 2 tablespoons of almond milk, you find on the Wet Conversion table that you used 1 fl. Oz. (the almond milk carton is in Fl. Oz.).

Hint: Can’t find the conversion or a little confused? You can plug the exact quantity of your ingredients into  this liquid converter  or  this dry converter calculator  online and convert it into the measurement found on your product label).

Conversion tables:

Dry Conversions

Liquid Conversions:

Step #3: Calculate the cost of each quantity of ingredient used.

Now you need to price each converted quantity of ingredient by figuring out how much each ounce or fluid ounce costs, and then multiplying it by the amount you’ve used.

Hint: A good estimate to use for dashes of spices such as cinnamon or nutmeg is $0.05.

  • Write down the overall price of each ingredient used.
  • Write down the converted amount you used of it.
  • Divide the total amount in the product package by its price to find what each ounce or fluid ounce costs.
  • Then multiply that by the converted amount you used.
  • Write down the cost. Then add all of the individual ingredient costs to get your total expense to create the drink.

Example: I used 1 tablespoon (tbsp.) of heavy cream. One 8 fl. oz. container of heavy cream at the store costs $2.99. That is $0.37/ounce. I look at the conversion chart below, and see that 1 tbsp. converts to ½ ounce. So, I divide $0.37/2 ounces, and see that this ingredient for just one drink costs $0.186 (you can round up to $0.19).

Ingredient Cost:   $2.99 _ Converted Amount Used:  ½ fl. Oz.  Total Product Amount:  8 fl. Oz.   Cost per ounce:  _$0.37/fl. Oz.  Cost of Ingredient Used:  $0.37 X ½ = $0.186 .

Looking for a shortcut?  Here’s a free online tool for pricing out beverages . You’ll need the converted amounts.

Step #4: Calculate Your Profit Margin

Figure out how high your profit margin is if you sell the drink for $5.00.

Profit on Drink: $5.00 –  total drink cost  = _ $ _________.

Profit Per Dollar:  Your answer from above  \  Cost drink is sold for ($5.00)  =  $ Profit

Profit Margin:  $ Profit  X 100 =  Profit Margin%

Step #6: Taste Judging Begins

By now you’ve set the scene for some fun things to do in the winter outdoors – think a crackling bonfire out in the backyard (or in your fire pit. Heck, you can de-hibernate the grill for some winter outdoor cooking/heating), plus a table/flat surface where your kids can place their super-secret signature creations.

Bust out some blankets, cover straw bales with table cloths…you get the idea. (And if you’re in Houston like we are? Well, a hoodie should suffice).

Have your kid(dos) place their drinks on the tasting mat, as well as fill in how much their drink costs and what the profit margin is (all calculations they’ll be guided through on the free printable).

Now they get to take a break, while the parents taste + score each one!

Included in the printable are both a tasting mat as well as a score card with specific criteria, such as inventiveness, taste, and profit margin.

Step #7: Declare the Winners

There are winners in a variety of categories, and then an overall drink that is chosen for The Yeti Slide’s Yeti Roasts:

  • Most Inventive
  • Best Money-Maker
  • Newest Yeti Slide Signature Drink

Looking for fun things to do in the winter? This two-part activity for your child that will leave them understanding profit margins like a pro, plus give your family an awesome family date night under the stars on a winter evening when you might otherwise be watching tv.

What could be better than that? If nothing else, you’ll have created quite the memory.

Entrepreneur Project #2: A System for Your Child to Identify a Need in Your Home + Propose a Solution

We want to encourage your child to come to you with things they see that could use improvement, and ways they could add value or provide a solution for you.

Let’s go through how to do this.

Step #1 : Discuss with your child the idea that people need things + services.

Here’s a conversation outline for you with a few blanks to fill in (where underlined) :

“People need things and services in their lives. They need things to maintain their health, they need things to make life more enjoyable. They need parts to make repairs to their belongings. They need really cool items to buy as gifts for others. They need better systems or processes to make things work more efficiently, which just means taking less time and less money and getting the same (or better) results. All over the world, people need things. In my own life, three needs that I’ve satisfied through purchasing something include  X ,  Y , and  Z . By purchasing them, they made my life easier because  > . Generally, when people need something, they are willing to pay money for the solution. That’s why there are so many companies, all which provide products + solutions for people’s needs.”

Pssst: MAN I wish I could go back 17 years and give myself this talk! Would’ve saved me several adult years of banging my head against the wall trying to understand how to make money.

Step #2 : Task your child with identifying a need around the house/property/car.

What could this look like?

A Few Examples for you + your kiddo :

  • Find a more efficient way to organize the “command center” in your home.
  • Use Google Maps or another program to find a more efficient route for your commute.
  • Organize the wood pile + create newspaper logs that are fireplace-ready.
  • Find a better way to organize/clean/maintain the video game center in your home.
  • Clean out your car (I used to do this for my parents!) + add a car trash can to the back area so that in the future the kids can just use that instead of throwing things on the ground.
  • Introduce a better laundry system for the family’s clothes so that they actually  all  end up in the laundry room, sorted, and ready to be washed.

The possibilities are endless, and specific to what needs your child sees in your family life.

Step #3 : Once they’ve identified a need and come to you with it, you must decide if it’s worth it to you to move forward. Don’t be afraid if, after they’ve told you a need they  think  you have but that you don’t  actually  have, to tell them that it isn’t a current need of yours. Hey, the road to success is paved with failed products! This is excellent feedback so that they start to understand their “customer” and dig deeper. Perhaps they’ll even start to ask YOU what you want from them!

Step #4 : What are both of your expectations for this job so that you know when the job is completed correctly?

Let them tell you what they propose to accomplish and what that would look like.

Then you share what you, as a paying customer, expect in results. Hash this out if need be (just like a real negotiation between a biz and their potential client).

This includes a deadline.

Step #5 : Now you need to ask them for a price.

I know, I know. You might be wondering, “why on earth am I going to let my child choose how much I’m willing to pay them for something they want to do around the house? Isn’t it MY money?”

I totally get that. But remember that the nature of this lesson is to ignite that entrepreneurial spirit in them. Instead of you offering what you’re willing to pay, have them go through the exercise of pricing their efforts. Then the negotiations start.

This sets them up for good negotiation + valuation skills in the future.

Determine the market price you’ll pay, which is where their price (the supplier) and your price (based on how much you need what they’re offering + a dash of several other things) meets. $__________.

Step #6 : Your child completes the work + notifies you.

Step #7 : Using the checklist you both created, provide oversight and see if everything is as it was supposed to be.

Step #8 : Pay the agreed upon rate once everything is up to par. And if they don’t quite complete the project + deliver what they promised, it’s up to you whether you want to make a partial payment, or not pay at all (satisfaction guaranteed could be added to this lesson as well).

If your child makes it through this process, then they will have successfully figured out a “market” need, fulfilled it, and gotten paid from their initiative. This is something that will no doubt shape their futures.

And if they don’t quite succeed? Well the lessons are vast for all entrepreneurs as they traverse through the mistakes, failures, and successes.

It’s really a win-win situation.

Let me show you what I mean, with an example in my own life.

How I Used this Skill Set to Write My Own First Job Offer Worth $40,000 + Benefits

While some of my dorm mates were floundering around trying to find employment, I was busy enjoying my last two months of college before entering the “real world”.

Why is that? Because I had a job waiting for me. And the only reason why I had that job was I spotted a need in a local company, and wrote my way into it.

I had interned for an organization in my small college town, and they ended up building a start-up company set to open its doors sometime around when I was due to graduate. One day I asked them if I could have a full-time job there come June. The director looked at me, and said, “go ahead and write up a job description of what you propose you would do here. Then we’ll see.”

So I went back to my college dorm and worked on a job description. I thought about what the company was trying to achieve, and tied this into what I wanted to do with my life (at least what I thought I wanted to do at the time).

I wish I had saved a copy of the actual job description, but my sharp memory tells me it went something like this:

“Amanda L. Grossman will be the International Marketing & Sales contact at Chesapeake Fields. The International Marketing & Sales Person is responsible for researching new markets around the world where Chesapeake Fields’ products would be well received. Primary responsibilities include understanding these markets, making contact with potential wholesalers and distributors, sending samples, and being the brand ambassador for Chesapeake Fields within these markets.”

With one minor change − they put sales in front of marketing in my job title − I got an offer from them for $40,000 + benefits to do just that. Within the one year I worked there, I ended up negotiating an initial container load of $27,000 worth of our product to a major food retailer in Taiwan.

Unfortunately, my job AND that company went under not long after my first and only year there. But writing my way into a company right out of college based on a need I saw that I could fill? Well that was enough to impress future employers who then hired me.

See how lucrative learning this skill could be for your child? I’d love to hear below what needs (perceived or actual ones) your child comes up with to fulfill.

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Amanda L. Grossman

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Thursday 8th of June 2017

Uh, I totally love this post! My hubby and I are both entrepreneurs and want to instill the same in our children... definitely going to use these tips!!

Friday 9th of June 2017

*Squee*! Thanks, Lauren. I'd love to hear what your kiddos come up with:).

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HSC Projects

Entrepreneurship Project Business Plan- CBSE Class 12

Table of Contents

ACKNOWLEDGMENT

Many people helped me through their support and guidance for the successful completion of this project.

First of all, I thank the Almighty God for his goodness and mercy in giving me the strength to complete this project.

I, at this moment, express my abundant and sincere gratitude to Mrs. SANILA MANOJ, Department of Commerce, Dr. GR PS, XTZ for her valuable guidance, constant encouragement, and creative suggestions rendered during this project.

I thank SISTER XTZ (Managing Trustee) Mrs. XYZ (Senior Principal) Mr. XYZ (Principal) for providing me with all facilities and also for the constant inspiration and encouragement for successful completion of this project.

I offer my deepest gratitude to my family members, whose prayers and blessings guided me for the successful completion of this project. I also owe my gratitude to my classmates, whose support was inevitable for the completion of the project.

INTRODUCTION

A business plan is a written description of the business further. That means a document that describes what plan to do and how to do it. Business plan com perform several tasks for those who write & read them. They are used by investment seeking entrepreneurs to convey their vision to potential investors. They may also be used by firms that are trying to attract key employees, the prospect for new business deals with suppliers, or simply to understand how to manage their companies cutter.

  • To provide clarity of thought & purpose.
  • To introduce the business models.
  • To present examples, step by step explanation of the business plan.
  • To define what the business plan is and who prepares it.
  • To understand the scope and the value of the business

NEED AND SIGNIFICANCE

  • It gives direction to the vision formulated by the entrepreneurs.
  • To monitor the progress after implementing business plans.
  • To persuade others to join the business.
  • To seek loans from financial institutions.
  • To identify the actual strength and weaknesses of the plan.

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

“ELVAGO CANTINA” believes in its unique delivery to service as its policy is “Consumer is king’ It’s traditional, as well as members outlook gives you the feeling as if you are the members of its family.

Though we are now the love and taste in our foods will be abundant.

The location is just a half kilometer from the bus bay situated at the heart of Cobin city. It provides great facilities provided with first-class infrastructural facilities.

ABOUT THE COMPANY

“ELVAGO CANTINA’ is a first-class startup company with very good infrastructure. This company believes she is securing the society by organizing social activities such as entertainment programs for the Physically Challenged or differently-abled children.

It also has the policy to donate a part of income to various and all spread old age homes around the Rochi city also.

In the present situation, ‘ELVAGO’ consists of about too many employers overall.

There are about employees and so on the executive staff members. It is situated in the less bay in Vytilla in the heart of Kochi City.

ELVAGO CANTINA

‘ELVAGO CANTINA’ is something a place where the variety of goods are sold to the customers. The statement motivates us to go to the restaurant business in India. We have suggested this because there is no branded restaurant until now. The tag line for ELVAGO CANTINA is

” TASTY; BUT CHEAPER”

To become the most preferred restaurant among the people by treating the people in the way they like to be treated.

For every business, location plays a vital role. The success and the future of the company depend on that place from the selling of the product and availability of the required raw materials at least cost. The location of our restaurant is in the heart of Kochi, i.e., Vytilla.

BUSINESS OBJECTIVES

  • To establish a working store for the restaurant.
  • To provide the true flavor of India at reasonable costs.
  • To understand the taste of the customers.
  • To balance our business goal with one financial objective.
  • To provide the best quality food to the customers.

MANAGEMENT SUMMARY

The initial summary of management depends on the founders, and there are various another working inside the company. As we grow, we will take an additional held in certain key areas.

At present, the ELVAGO CANTINA has two founders, Head offices, Eco, Sheffs, Managers, Waiting staff, etc.

The restaurant aims to be a stone in the community creating a neighborhood atmosphere where the customers feel safe and comfortable.

We target all the age groups of people from small children to teenagers and adults to the old aged people also. Our company’s culture is to satisfy in every way all the customs stepping into ‘ELVAGO’ especially with our special mems including:

  • Muttons Biryani
  • Elvago’s Special Biriyani
  • Vegetable Biryani.
  • Egg Biryani
  • Elvago’s Special Fried Rice
  • Green Chicken Rice.
  • Chicken Chops
  • Elvago’s Special Butter Chicken
  • Elvago’s Special Chicken Curry.

MARKET & COMPETITION

We are the startup company and are looking forward to earning a good share of the market. The other important things are customer satisfaction. The competitions are common in every society between Various enterprises

Our competitors are: –

Pai Brothers.

Sardarji ka Dhabha.

INFRASTRUCTURE

ELVAGO CANTINA provides great infrastructural facilities. Over 45 seats and family rooms are provided with a good air conditioning system. The infrastructure in our restaurant is very attractive. The restaurant has mainly two floors for the customers.

PHYSICAL PLANT

Area: – The piece of land which is required to organize the whole set up is about 1,600 sq. feet

MACHINERY AND EQUIPMENT

  • Refrigerators

FINANCIAL RESOURCES

It is SBA’s most basic and common loan program. These loans are mostly available through various commercial institutions, and most American banks participate as lenders in this program. Lenders typically grand loans up to £ 2,00,000.

FRIENDS & FAMILIES

Friends and family members might be the most lenient member of the ELVAGO CANTINA launch. They don’t tend to make you pledge your house and may even agree to sell their interest in your company back to you for a nominal return.

PERSONNEL PLAN

The personnel plan is based on operating 24/7 hrs and falls in with how EAVAGO CANTINA operates throughout the week.

Any additional price will be part-time & devoted to expansion on any catering functions, as well as increased capacity of private party function.

The enterprise currently has 100 employees. There are about 100 employees & 30 executive staff.

MARKET STRATEGY

Our strategy is based on serving our markets well. The concentration will be on providing fresh & quality good items.

A combination of local media & local store marketing programs will be utilized at each location. By providing a fun & entertaining environment with high-quality goods (foods at a reasonable rate, we will be coming shortly on top of the town.

UNIQUE SELLING PROPORTION

There are many restaurants in India. What gives a competitive advantage to the product of “ELVAGO CANTINA” is that it produces good and quality food. When compared to other restaurants, what makes us special is that we have many varieties of foods. The other restaurants charge a very high price in their foods; we charge only a reasonable price.

By analyzing the product,

  • I could easily find the customer’s taste and preferences in the area.
  • It could also analyze the price of Various products.
  • By writing a business plan, it is necessary to know about the starling of a business enterprise.

CONCLUSIONS

A Business plan is an important document that is essential for every business firm. This is valuable not only for the entrepreneurs but also for all the stakeholders who access the firm directly or indirectly. There are various components of a business plan which is prepared to depend upon the entrepreneur’s enterprise and knowledge.

CERTIFICATE

This is to certify that the project is an authentic record of the work done by ROHITH S. BOBBY , class XII.D during 2017-2018 towards the partial fulfillment of the AISSCE course prescribed by the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE). The student has done the project with his/her effort & with the guidance of a concerned teacher.

Teacher In-charge

External Examiner

DECLARATION

I, XYZ do at this moment declare that the project entitled “BUSINESS PLAN” is a bonafide record of the project work done by me and was under the guidance of Mrs. SANILA MANOJ, also declare this project or any part of it has not been submitted by me fully or partially for any other examination before.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

  • NCERT textbook (Class XII) –
  • [email protected]

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Download Entrepreneurship Project Business Plan- CBSE Class 12 PDF

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23 Formulation of Business Plans

Monica Bansal

    1.  Learning Outcome:

After completing this module the students will be able to:

  • Understand the procedure of Formulation of a Business Plan.
  • To have the knowledge about advantages of Creating a Business Plan.
  • Describe the Nature and Scope of Business Plan.
  • Clear Understanding of the Features of a Successful Business Plan.
  • To know about the Procedure to Write a Business Plan
  • Knowledge about the Various Elements of a Business Plan
  • Understand how to Implement a Business Plan by the Entrepreneur

   2. Introduction

A business plan refers to a formal statement of plans of an enterprise. It explains business goals of the enterprise and means to achieve those goals. It seeks to address the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats of starting a venture. The business plan differs from enterprise to enterprise depending on various factors, such as complexity in organizational structure, types of products and services, and demand for the product. However, the basic elements of a business plan remain the same. The business plan is often an integration of all the functional plans such as finance, marketing, manufacturing, and human resources. It helps the entrepreneur in both short term and long term decision making.

In the words of Tariq Siddique, “If you are failing to plan, you are planning to fail.” The definition explains the importance of a plan to succeed.

David Gumpert has defined a business plan as, “It’s a document that convincingly demonstrates that your business can sell enough of its product or services to make a satisfactory profit and to be attractive to potential backers.” In the view of Gumpert, a business plan is essentially a selling document that convinces the key investors that the venture has a real potential to be successful.

The advantages of creating a business plan are as follows:

  • Encourages individuals to take into consideration all the aspects of business .
  • Helps in obtaining the opinion of trusted and experienced external advisors on initial plans. It helps to identify the weaknesses, missed opportunities, and unsupportable assumptions, which further help in improving the prospects, reducing the probability of rejections, and chances of operational failure.
  • Helps in formulating a proposed budget, as it involves proper financial forecasting. This further helps in matching the results with projections and inducing corrective measures on time.
  • Forms an important document for creditors and investors, as they would always refer the business plan before investing. An investor looks into the following 5Cs of an entrepreneurial venture while evaluating the business plan:
  • Capital: Refers to the amount of money invested in the business by the entrepreneur
  • Capacity: States whether the financial budget is realistic and sufficient
  • Collateral: Refers to the security provided by the entrepreneurs
  • Character: Refers to the trustworthiness of the entrepreneur
  • Conditions: Signifies whether the environment is conducive for the purposed business.
  • Helps in obtaining statutory permissions/approvals for starting a business.

    Thus, it is essential for an entrepreneur to create a realistic business plan. The business plan should ideally be prepared by the entrepreneur. However, he/she may consult advisors, such as lawyers, accountants, marketing consultants, and engineers, to prepare an accurate plan.

3.  Nature and Scope of Business Plan

A well-prepared business plan helps in gaining the trust of suppliers and various other parties and securing favorable credit terms. It states the vision, future plans of the enterprise, and products and services offered by it. This helps investors and lenders to take interest in the enterprise as both of them use the business plan to understand the new venture and relate it with the current market opportunities. Mark Steven, an advisor to small businesses aptly expressed the importance of the business plan in dealing with investors. In his words, “If you are inclined to view the business plan as just another piece of useless paperwork, it’s time for an attitude change. When you are starting out, investors will justifiably want to know a lot about you and  your qualification for running a business and will want to see a step-by-step plan for how you intend to make it success .”

However, the business plan is not a legal document for raising the required capital. When it comes to a solicit investment, a memorandum is also needed. An entrepreneur uses the business plan to create interest of investors in the enterprise and then follow up with a formal offering of memorandum to investors, who are willing to invest in the enterprise. Furthermore, it helps in communicating the entrepreneur’s vision to current and prospective employees of the enterprise. Thus, a business plan is used by both the insiders and outsiders, as shown in the following Figure:

Figure: Users of a Business Plan

Features of a Successful Business Plan

  • Containing an executive summary, a table of contents, and chapters in the right order
  • Exhibiting the right appearance and the right length-not too long and too short, not too fancy and too plain
  • Providing a clear idea of what the founders and the enterprise expect to accomplish in the future
  • Explaining the benefits of products and services to be given to customers
  • Presenting hard evidence of the marketability of products or services
  • Justifying the means that is selected to sell products or services
  • Explaining and justifying the level of product development
  • Providing the details of the manufacturing process and associated costs
  • Portraying the partners as a team of experienced managers with complementary business skills
  • Stating clearly how the entrepreneurs’ products are better than that of its competitors
  • Mentioning the superiority of the team members
  • Containing realistic financial projections
  • Providing a well-organized oral presentation

    4.  Writing a Business Plan

Creating a business plan is the first step of the planning process of an enterprise. An enterprise needs to conduct lot of research to develop an effective business plan. Figure shows the essentials of an effective business plan:

Figure: Elements of a Business Plan

The elements of an effective business plan (as shown in Figure) are explained in the next sections:

The title page of a business plan includes the name of the business, date, and the name, address, and contact number of the entrepreneur or the concerned person. The cover page can be simple or complex depending upon the choice of the entrepreneur.

  • Table of Contents

The structure of the table of contents may vary from one enterprise to another depending upon the scale and nature of business operation. An entrepreneur generally prepares the table of  content after adding all the features of the business plan. The table of content consists of main headings and sub-headings with related page numbers.

  • Executive Summary

The executive summary is a brief summary of the entire plan, highlighting all important aspects of the plan in a concise and appealing manner. It contains basic information, such as the name of an enterprise and its location, nature of business, types of product or services, and financial requirements. The executive summary may also contain important points or news about the enterprise, which attract investors, suppliers, and other target audience. It is the most critical section from readers’ point of view because people generally go through this to decide whether to read other sections. The executive summary should not exceed 3-4 pages and should be short and comprehendible. It should provide the technical, marketing, managerial, and financial details of the venture.

  • Description of the Business

The business description presents the details of the business opportunity and the strategy to capture that opportunity. It contains a detail description of enterprise’s background, country of origin, strengths of employees, stakeholders, products, and portfolio. The description of the enterprise comprises the historical background and current status of the enterprise as well as details about its products and services.

Different components of strategic management, such as enterprise’s vision, mission, profile, and external environmental objectives, need to be considered before creating a business plan. A comprehensive study of these components helps in designing effective plans for the future of the enterprise. A process of building these components in a systematic manner is called strategic intent.

Concept of Strategic Intent

Strategic intent is a process that helps the management team to set priorities, make decisions, and achieve the goals of the enterprise. These priorities, decisions, and goals are integrated to form the vision and mission statements of the enterprise. Following figure shows the process of strategic intent in an enterprise:

Figure: Strategic Intent

The importance of vision and mission statement is drawn in the following points:

  • Infuses a common purpose throughout the enterprise. This statement helps in providing the direction of enterprise’s goal to managers and employees.
  • Enables superiors to delegate authority to subordinates and ensure whether the targets are fulfilled.

    Product description involves information about the products or services offered by the enterprise. It helps customers to understand whether the product or service is as per their expectations. Important points to be included in product description are as follows:

  • Product Specification: Includes characteristics of the product related to a particular industry. For example, if a product relates to the manufacturing industry, it should be contain the ISO trademark. The product specification includes information about patents, copyrights, and trademarks owned by the enterprise.
  • Production Process: Includes information about the type of products manufactured by the enterprise. It also involves information related to inputs used to get the required output.
  • Unique Selling Proposition (USP): Refers to the competitive advantage or uniqueness of a product that would help in attracting customers.
  • Quality Assurance: Refers to the process of inspecting the quality of the product through various quality management system standards, such as ISI marks, ISO 9000:2000, Agmark, and Hallmark.
  • Market Plan

A market plan describes how the product or service would be distributed, priced, and promoted. It involves the analysis the current market conditions and trends. The market plan involves critical marketing decision strategies and sales forecasting. Potential investors view the marketing plan as critical to the success of the new venture. Thus, the market plan should be comprehensive and detailed as much as possible, so that investors can clearly understand the goals of the enterprise and the strategies to be implemented to achieve these goals effectively. Marketing planning is an ongoing requirement for the entrepreneur, which serves as a road map for short-term decision making.

  • Equipment and Material Description

An entrepreneur needs to provide a clear description of the equipment and materials required to carry on the operations of the enterprise. Equipment and materials include plant, machinery, and raw materials that act as inputs to produce the output (product). They form the most expensive purchases of an enterprise. An entrepreneur makes an advance payment to get customized some parts of the machinery as per his/her requirements. He/she should aim to achieve cost minimization and timely delivery of the materials while purchasing the materials and equipment. An entrepreneur should have good bargaining skills to get customized machinery at optimal cost.

  • Operations Plan

An operations plan involves actions that need to be taken to make the efficient use of resources and processes. It includes information about the following:

  • Capacity Planning: Determines the maximum amount of work that an enterprise can do in a given period of time. Generally, enterprises forecast the capacity utilization over the years and make targets to attain the final capacity utilization level. For instance, if an enterprise’s current capacity is 40% within one year and it aims to attain 60% of the capacity, then it needs to perform proper capacity planning and make judicious use of resources.
  • Personnel: Refers to the human capital of an organization. The success or failure of an enterprise depends on the efficiency of its human resource. Therefore, the enterprise strives to adopt efficient human resource management system, so that the growth and development of employee is possible.

Therefore, operations planning provide a map for resource and personnel planning.

  • Management and Organizational Plan

Management and organizational plan provides information background, skills, abilities, and competencies of an entrepreneur or the management team. It also contains information regarding the form of ownership of the enterprise and its organizational structure. For example, if an enterprise is running in partnership, the details of its partners, their names, and designations must  be provided in the management and organizational plan. In addition, the management and organizational plan should also contain description about roles, responsibilities, and authorities of individuals in the enterprise. This can be explained easily with the help of a tool called organizational chart.

Management plan also includes human resource policy and its strategies, such as recruitment and selection policy, promotion and increment, retention policy incentives, or motivation. Thus, management and ownership forms the most essential part without which the process of planning in an organization cannot be implemented.

  • Financial Plan

A financial plan constitutes an important component of the business plan. It provides financial information and startup timeline for the business. An entrepreneur needs to raise sufficient amount of capital for starting a business. Businesses require capital to purchase fixed assets, such as land and machines, and to meet day-to-day expenses. In case of small enterprises, funds can be raised through own savings; however, in case of large enterprises, funds have to be raised by public, commercial banks, and financial institutions. Therefore, the entrepreneur is required to generate financial forecasts to raise finances. These forecasts help in calculating the amount of funds and debt financing required to carry on the business. These further help in planning the potential return on investment.

The financial portion of a business plan must be examined closely by all the partners and investors. Thus, accurate financial projections attract investors, lenders, and serve as a guide to future business decisions.

The importance of financial planning is shown in the following points:

  • Acts as an integral part of corporate planning for the business
  • Ensures adequate funds from various sources for smooth conduct of business
  • Attempts to achieve a balance between the inflow and outflow of funds
  • Ensures adequate liquidity throughout the year
  • Leads to minimization of waste of resources

    Financing any new venture can be done in the following two ways:

  • Debt Financing: Refers to an interest bearing investment that needs collateral security, for example, loans
  • Equity Financing: Offers investor’s ownership to the extent of size of investment and does not need collateral security, for example, shares

    Financial decisions are required with respect to the following:

  • The amount of long-term capital required
  • The cost of raising funds
  • Determination of optimum capital structure
  • The estimation of return on investment

    Thus, these decisions involve making financial forecasts that require projections for three to five years. These projections include:

  • Income Statement: Refers to a profit and loss statement, which shows the cash management of the enterprise by subtracting expenses from receipts.
  • Cash Flow Statement: Shows all cash receipts and expenses. Cash flow is crucial for the survival of any business.
  • Balance Sheet: Shows assets, liabilities, and retained earnings. It indicates the value of the cash position and owner’s equity at a given point.
  • Break-even Analysis: Shows the volume of revenue from sales that are needed to balance the fixed and variable expenses. It is a no loss-no profit point.
  • Key Financial Assumptions: Includes assumptions about expected cash flow in an organization, market share, and rate of return. For example, an enterprise can assume that its product would be able to capture 40% of the market and then can make plans and decisions about the investment and marketing strategies.

Financial forecasts are mostly set up on yearly basis. The yearly plans are divided into quarterly or monthly plans. These projections and forecasts form an essential part of a financial portfolio; therefore, it is required to make sure that they are valid, realistic, and accurate.

  • Contingency Plan

A contingency plan mentions all the anticipated risks associated with a business and ways to mitigate those risks. One of the most important characteristic of an entrepreneur is that they are risk takers. Risks are the most important part of the business. Ignorance of the risks may lead to a negative impact on the operations or profitability of business. Risks can arise from the following two types of factors:

  • Internal Factors: Refers to the controllable factors of an organization. For example, if the manufacturing plants of an enterprise are not operating at optimum efficiency, then the enterprise can correct it by revamping the operational structure of plants. These factors can be identified and corrected easily.
  • External Factors: Refers to the factors that are beyond the control of an enterprise and may affect its financial condition. For example, threat of new entrants in business and uncertainties, such as natural disasters.

Every entrepreneur should have the ability to identify the risks and have readymade solutions to avoid the risks. The various types of risks faced by an entrepreneur are as follows:

  • Economy Risks: Refer to the risk associated with the economy in which business operates. For example, inflation and recession.
  • Industry Risks: Refer to the risk associated with the industry in which business operates. For example, competition and change in government policies
  • Internal Risks: Refer to the risk unique to the business and are controllable in nature. For example, lack of funds and managerial skills.

The different measures taken by enterprise to mitigate risks are as follows:

  • Risk Avoidance: Implies avoiding the activities involving risk. For example, an entrepreneur avoids the liability that he/she feels may affect negatively in future, if he/she is unable to pay it back.
  • Risk Reduction: Implies using various methods to reduce risks. It lessens the possibility of loss from occurring. For example, enterprises use fire extinguishers to reduce the risk of loss arising from fire .
  • Risk Transfer: Implies transferring the risk to the other person or party. It can be done by the purchase of an insurance contract, which helps in transferring the risk. For example, marine insurance covers the loss of damage of ships, cargo, and any transport or property by which cargo is transferred.
  • Risk Retention: Implies accepting the loss when it occurs. All types of risks that cannot be avoided or transferred are retained, by default. This includes risks that are so large that they cannot be insured. For example, emergence of a war can lead to loss of property, which has to be retained by individuals. In most of the cases, property is not insured against war .

Every business involves a certain amount of risk. Therefore, an entrepreneur should have the ability to identify the risks, evaluate the critical risks, and make realistic contingency plans.

5.  Implementing a Business Plan

After developing the business plan, the next important step is to execute it. An enterprise communicates the progress of activities carried according to the plan, to its employees. This helps the enterprise to achieve its key objectives and mission. A business plan guides the entrepreneur throughout the entrepreneurial process. In the implementation phase, the entrepreneur arranges the essential resources, such as men, machine, and material, to achieve the set objectives. Next, he/she assigns tasks to employees to meet the goals and ensures that the assigned tasks are performed efficiently. Lastly, the entrepreneur ensures that objectives projected in the business plan are achieved effectively.

6.  Summary

In this module, you have learned the importance of developing a business idea before setting up an enterprise. An entrepreneur needs to take into consideration various factors, such as size and  location of the enterprise, before setting up an enterprise. In addition, the module has detailed upon the significance of generating a business plan and the procedure of implementing it. The various elements of a business plan are discussed in detail.

  • Ahmad Khan Mukhtar (1992).Entrepreneurial Development Programmes in India. New Delhi. Kanishka Publishing House.
  • Janakiram B, Raveendra P.V., & Srirama V. K. (2010). Role and Challenges of Entrepreneurship Development. New Delhi-110028: Excel Books.
  • Prasain G. P. (2003). Entrepreneurship Development. New Delhi-110002: Jain Book Agency.
  • Robert D Hisrich (2007). Entrepreneurship. New Delhi. Tata McGraw-Hill Publishing Company Limited.
  • Trehan, Aplana (2012). Entrepreneurship. New Delhi-110002: Dreamtech Press.
  • Vaish Kalpna (1993).Entrepreneurial Role of Development Banks in Backward Areas. New Delhi-110059. Concept Publishing Company.
  • www.yourarticlelibrary.com/business/planning-business/…formulation…
  • www.pccc.edu/home/pctc/documents5/businessplan_part_one.pdf
  • www.ctpd-namibia.com/management…/business-plan-formulation-practi.
  • articles.bplans.com/writing-a-business-plan/
  • A business plan refers to a formal statement of plans of an enterprise. It explains business goals of the enterprise and means to achieve those goals.
  • A well-prepared business plan helps in gaining the trust of suppliers and various other parties and securing favorable credit terms. It states the vision, future plans of the enterprise, and products and services offered by it.
  • Creating a business plan is the first step of the planning process of an enterprise. An enterprise needs to conduct lot of research to develop an effective business plan.
  • The executive summary is a brief summary of the entire plan, highlighting all important aspects of the plan in a concise and appealing manner.

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Kinesiology and health care business plans, writing business plans, books on preparing business plans.

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The following sources contain sample business plans for different types of small businesses:

  • Bplans.com - sample plans

Examples from MBA Students & Business Plan Competitions:

  • Business Plan for Caregaroo (Kiana Mohseni, Simon Fraser University) MBA student project (Simon Fraser University)
  • Business Plan for Launching a Luxury Adventure Tour Operator Based in Canada Greg Hung and Nikolai Khlystov (Simon Fraser University MOT MBA, 2011)
  • University of Texas Austin, Venture Labs Investment Competition, Business Plans Contains executive summaries and selected full text business plans from competitions held at the University of Texas Austin from 1999 to 2016.

You can find additional examples by searching in Omni for  Subject contains Business Plans AND any field contains (kinesiology OR "health care") and limiting the results by Resource Type to Theses and Dissertations. These plans are available in the ProQuest Dissertations & Theses database . 

  • Long Beach Mobile Fitness, LLC: A Business Plan Prepared by Matthew Vico, Master of Science in Health Care Administration, California State University, Long Beach
  • Business Plan for a Physical Therapy Clinic in Rural Minnesota Prepared by Rick Borchardt, Master of Business Administration, The College of St. Scholastica
  • Business plans in physiotherapy:a practical guide for the non specialist Physical therapy reviews, 2011-06-01, Vol.16 (3), p.210-227 The sample business plan for Physio Kids (a hypothetical new paediatric physiotherapy clinic service) is presented in the Appendix
  • Using Business Plan Development as a Capstone Project for MPH Programs in Canada: Validation Through the Student Perspective Journal of Community Health, 2013, 38(5), 791-798. Describes elements of the business plan as applicable to public health practitioners.

The following sources provide guidance on writing business plans and may also include a sample plan or template.

  • Writing a Business Plan: An Example for a Small Premium Winery (Cornell University) (PDF) more info... close... An Extension Bulletin prepared by Mark E. Pisoni and Gerald B. White, Charles H. Dyson School of Applied Economics and Management at Cornell University.
  • Business Plan Guide (Government of Canada)
  • The business plan and executive summary (MaRS)
  • Write your business plan (U.S. Small Business Administration)
  • Planning for success: your guide to preparing a business and marketing plan

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Project Management in Entrepreneurship: Phases, Steps in Project Identification

  • Post author: Anuj Kumar
  • Post published: 8 September 2023
  • Post category: Entrepreneurship
  • Post comments: 0 Comments

Table of Contents

  • 1 What is Project Management?
  • 2 Table of Contents
  • 3.1 Initiation Phase
  • 3.2 Planning Phase
  • 3.3 Execution Phase
  • 3.4 Monitoring and Controlling
  • 3.5 Closure
  • 4 Concept of Project Identification
  • 5.1 Environmental Scanning
  • 5.2 Idea Generation
  • 5.3 Preliminary Evaluation
  • 5.4 Detailed Appraisal
  • 5.5 Project Selection
  • 5.6 Project Report
  • 6.1 What is the meaning of Project Management?
  • 6.2 What are the phases of project management?
  • 6.3 What are the steps in project identification?
  • What is Project Management?

Project Management is “the use of specific knowledge, skills, tools, and techniques to deliver something of value to people.

Investopedia defines Project management as “the planning and organization of a company’s resources to move a specific task, event, or duty towards completion.”

Simply put together, Project Management is the art of dealing with the project and its outcome with a perspective to attain the project goals.

Initiation Phase

Planning phase, execution phase, monitoring and controlling, concept of project identification, environmental scanning, idea generation, preliminary evaluation, detailed appraisal, project selection, project report, faqs section, phases of project management.

When a project is divided into small phases, it becomes easy to deal with the project. The entrepreneur is able to understand the total workload of the project and how easy or challenging is to accomplish the project goals. The following are the phases of Project Management :

This is the stage where the project actually begins. The project idea is generated with the help of various idea-generation techniques. The ideas are generated, evaluated, and shortlisted, and finally, the best one is selected.

The aim is to understand whether a project is feasible enough to put into practice. A project proposal or a business plan is actually prepared which acts as a blueprint for the venture. The scope of the project is defined and boundaries are drawn.

The planning phase begins as soon as the project is conceptualized. A Project Management Plan is effectively conceived. The aim of this plan is to fix the goals, finalize the deliverables, make a detailed schedule while keeping time constraints, list the resources required, and make the estimated budget for various activities.

Project planning also records the personnel requirements. It also considers risk management planning. Moreover, communication planning is aptly put in place.

Once the effective planning is done, it’s time to actually execute what is planned. Teams are formed for efficient execution. The resources are procured and allotted to the teams.

A coordination mechanism is implemented to connect resources with the teams. This is the lengthiest phase as most of the cost, time, and resources are utilized in this phase. Project outcome is observed in terms of Project deliverables.

This phase typically aims at monitoring costs, quality, time allocations, and the work that is actually executed. Project assessment is done with regard to fixing up of errors and slipups.

To perform controlling , actual performance is measured and then compared with the planned one. Deviations are listed out and corrective actions are considered for further effective execution of the project.

This is the wrapping-up stage where all the contracts are formally sacked. Sometimes, a project closure report is also prepared that will act as a document to understand how well the project has been implemented.

The team endeavors to learn from the outcomes. The closure phase ends with the Post-implementation review, drawing lessons from the same.

When a prospective entrepreneur searches for a feasible business, he may come across several opportunities. It becomes imperative for him to choose the right business idea. An entrepreneur has to look into his surroundings and has to analyze the opportunities existing therein, and the best one suiting the requirements is fixed upon.

Project Identification is the process that enables an entrepreneur to pick the most suitable and apt business opportunity. In order to make the project identification, the entrepreneur has to strive hard in terms of seeking the best opportunity. He can do so by:

  • Studying the performance of existing industries,
  • Analyzing the government policies and trends,
  • Evaluating the market changes and customer expectations regarding product quality and price,
  • Understanding technological updates,
  • Find out the availability of raw materials and transportation accessibility,
  • Understanding the availability of skilled and unskilled manpower and so on.

Steps in Project Identification

Project Identification within itself is a huge task. It involves many steps. Let us try to understand the steps involved in the process of Project Identification :

The very first step in the process of Project Identification is to make the environmental scanning. An entrepreneur is able to get detailed information about various external forces that can influence business decisions.

By environmental scanning, entrepreneurs can understand and monitor the factors that are inseparable like government, customers, suppliers, financial institutions, the general public, society, etc.

We have already discussed much about idea generation. Idea generation is necessary to come out with a list of a few good business ideas that can be evaluated further. Various techniques like brainstorming, Mind mapping, Nominal group technique, etc., are used to generate the best business ideas.

During this stage, all the ideas that have been listed are scrutinized. Each idea is analyzed from the viewpoint of a ready business venture or a product. This enables the entrepreneur to understand the strengths and weaknesses of every idea and the best three or four ideas are further shortlisted.

A detailed appraisal of the selected ideas becomes a necessity then. All the final shortlisted ideas are investigated with much more intensity.

Thus, a detailed study is mandatory for evaluating: the availability of raw materials, transportation and communication facilities, equipment availability, technology availability, production capacities and capabilities, marketing plan, HR strategy, etc.

After making a detailed analysis, entrepreneurs can come to know which idea is best from the viewpoint of increasing returns on investments and societal benefits. The idea or project that is most fertile is finally selected.

Once the zero in the process of project selection is done, the last step is creating a blueprint or a document that can act as a road map in the path of the actual business journey.

This is done by writing a project report which covers all the aspects of running down the business. The project report is thus a business plan that ensures that the business is moving in the right direction.

What is the meaning of Project Management?

Project Management is “the use of specific knowledge, skills, tools, and techniques to deliver something of value to people.

What are the phases of project management?

These are the 5 phases of project management : 1. Initiation Phase 2. Planning Phase 3. Execution Phase 4. Monitoring and Controlling 5. Closure.

What are the steps in project identification?

The following are the steps in project identification: 1. Environmental Scanning 2. Idea Generation 3. Preliminary Evaluation 4. Detailed Appraisal 5. Project Selection 6. Project Report.

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Project management can appear very formal to an outsider.

That’s because project management maps out a specific, seemingly inflexible, process for initiating, monitoring and closing a project, all according to an established methodology. And if you’re an entrepreneur or working at a startup, the rigidity of these project management systems can feel constraining. Still, the need to have a framework around which to focus your team and resources is critical to any business success.

However strict and formal project management might appear, it can be adapted to fit your situation. There are many different methods, approaches and project management software , depending on your industry and type of project. Plus, there are new ideas coming into the fold all the time, including hybrid methodologies that get the best of both worlds.

So, how can entrepreneurs and teams get the most out of project management, regardless of their startup environment or business life cycle?

Start with a Vision

First, to use project management effectively, you must begin your project with a vision. You need to have some clear idea or goal that your team can focus on. To get somewhere, anywhere, there must be a destination. This destination must have a specific outcome that impacts your organization or those you serve.

Startups and entrepreneurs often try to do a million things at once with limited staff, so crafting a vision is essential for ensuring project success. Well, how do you establish your vision?

Be Specific

You need to spend a bit of time and energy thinking through what you want to achieve and what impact you want to have. It isn’t enough to say something like, “We want to grow our business.”

To give projects a sense of purpose and focus, you’d need to take this general idea and sharpen it. You’d say something like, “We want to grow our business by 10 percent this quarter by creating a new service line for our existing customers.”

This is a pretty simple example, but it drills down from a vague idea to a specific set of goals. This applies to any type of business because all projects need to have focus, regardless of the industry.

Make a Plan

Once you have your goal or your outcome in place, the second step in implementing project management is to create a plan. A pothole for projects is not following the plan you made to complete the project.

However, sticking too closely to your plan can lead to another problem: a project plan that looks like handcuffs around the team, not allowing the team to have any flexibility in the way that they tackle the job or approach their roles.

Stay Flexible

As an entrepreneur or startup, you must be comfortable with change. Change happens, and when you’re blazing a new trail, being able to pivot is key to success. Whatever plan you create today is only a starting point for where you are going to go in the future.

But you still need to have a plan that starts with the end in mind. Where are you going? When do you need to get there? What kind of resources do you have or need? What other factors are involved in getting this project completed?

So, the plan is important but can change. To schedule your plan, make a  project timeline with milestones, or major phases of the project, to break down the steps or tasks you’ll have to take to complete in order to finish the project in the time allotted.

The greatest gift you can give your team is the gift of flexibility in reaching goals and milestones. As stated above, in too many instances, we can create plans that are rigid, which pin us to one path.

Flexibility is important for your team because if they are working hard and intelligently, the solutions and actions that they take might not be obvious and should be allowed to evolve with experience.

Execute the Project

Now it’s time to move the project to the execution stage. This means turning your team loose on the project.

Often when people and organizations are not hitting peak performance, they skip the first two steps and jump right into this stage of project management. The problem with that is that they fail to ask themselves, “Why?”

For example, if you want to mock up a new feature, have you asked yourself: “Why do I want the new feature? Why do I want to create a new product? Why am I doing a mock-up and not something else?”

Don’t Waste Resources

An inefficient organization (and startups can’t afford to be inefficient) can spend a lot of time expending resources on things that never should have received valuable resources in the first place. That’s probably the number-one takeaway from project management: do the due diligence of asking yourself the where, what, why, when and how before beginning any project.

As far as the actual execution stage of the project, if you’ve created a thorough plan and worked backward from a deadline to create a realistic schedule and task list , everything should be in place to start and proceed on track. Of course, you’ll want to monitor and report on the project progress to make sure you’re hitting your benchmarks.

Monitor Progress

How will you measure your success against your milestones and schedule? Ask yourself these questions: “Are the plans and milestones still relevant to achieving the goal or outcome? Are we on, ahead or behind schedule? Is the outcome still relevant to our business or are we just completing what we started?”

You should be constantly asking yourself and your team these questions until you have hit your goal. In addition to asking such questions, you should be monitoring KPIs and other metrics throughout the project. A project dashboard can be a huge help when it comes to tracking metrics on a daily basis.

Related: 3 Must-Have Startup Project Management Tools

Know When to Fold ’em

One roadblock that startups and entrepreneurs encounter is the unwillingness to recognize and accept sunk costs. By this I mean, if your goal or outcome isn’t relevant anymore, but you’re so far into the project that you won’t let go. You think it might have a negative impact on the team.

The best thing to do is to quit things that need to be abandoned. Knowing when to quit is a bit of an art. If you struggle with it, read Seth Godin’s book The Dip . He writes about knowing when to quit and when to stay the course.

Finally, you should wrap up the project. At this point, you should have achieved your outcome and have something significant to show for your time and resources.

Archive Your Documents

Collect the lessons learned in a framework that you can use for future projects. Note things that worked and things that didn’t. Spend time thinking about schedules and resource usage, making notes of what you expected and what actually happened.

Related: Lessons Learned Template

You might want to collect your communications schedules, reports and other documents that you can use to create templates for future projects.

Lessons Learned for Future Projects

Creating a resource that helps you accelerate the kickoff of future projects is the key to ending a project well . Depending on your nature and your organization, these documents collected may be complex, or they may be loose.

Again, the important thing is to make sure you have collected things to look for and things to avoid so that you don’t have to relearn everything every time you start a project.

I think if you can think of your projects as four simple phases, it will make it easier for you to use project management principles and this will allow you to not only make project management something you can add quickly but effectively as well.

Entrepreneurs and startups need nimble software to plan, monitor and report on their volatile projects. ProjectManager is a cloud-based project management solution that offers a real-time dashboard and an online Gantt chart, giving you the flexibility you need to respond quickly to change. See how it can help your project by taking this free 30-day trial.

Click here to browse ProjectManager's free templates

Deliver your projects on time and under budget

Start planning your projects.

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Here Are the Essential Tools Every Entrepreneur Needs to Succeed in 2024 Boost your business in the upcoming year with these valuable tools.

By Roy Dekel • Dec 19, 2023

Key Takeaways

  • Essential tools ranging from project management, marketing automation, analytics, SEO, scheduling, freelancing, communication and design to help your business succeed in 2024

Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

In the fast-paced and ever-evolving world of entrepreneurship , leveraging the right tools is crucial for efficiency, collaboration and growth. As we navigate through 2024, entrepreneurs have at their disposal an array of powerful tools that can streamline operations, enhance marketing efforts and foster seamless communication.

In this comprehensive guide, we'll explore essential tools every entrepreneur should know about, spanning project management, marketing automation, analytics, SEO, scheduling, freelancing, communication and design.

Related: 17 Essential Tools for Entrepreneurs

1. Project management

Trello and Asana: Trello and Asana stand out as indispensable project management tools , helping entrepreneurs organize tasks, track progress and foster collaboration among team members. Trello's intuitive card-based system allows for easy project tracking, while Asana provides robust features for project planning, task assignment and team communication. Both platforms offer flexibility and scalability to meet the needs of businesses of all sizes.

2. Marketing automation

Mailchimp: For entrepreneurs looking to streamline their email marketing efforts, Mailchimp is a go-to tool. With features like email campaigns, audience segmentation and analytics, Mailchimp simplifies the process of creating and managing effective email campaigns. Its user-friendly interface makes it accessible to entrepreneurs with varying levels of marketing expertise.

3. Analytics

Google Analytics: Understanding user behavior and website performance is integral to business success. This robust analytics platform provides comprehensive insights into website performance, user behavior and the effectiveness of online marketing efforts. Entrepreneurs can track key metrics such as website traffic, audience demographics and conversion rates, enabling them to understand what resonates with their audience and refine their strategies accordingly.

With the ability to analyze the success of marketing campaigns, identify high-performing content and uncover areas for improvement, Google Analytics empowers entrepreneurs to make data-driven decisions, optimize their digital presence and ultimately drive business growth in an increasingly competitive online landscape.

SEO tools (e.g., SEMrush or Ahrefs): Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is paramount for online visibility, and tools like SEMrush or Ahrefs offer comprehensive solutions. Such tools empower entrepreneurs to conduct in-depth keyword research, analyze competitor strategies and optimize their website content for search engines. By understanding the intricacies of search engine algorithms and trends, entrepreneurs can tailor their online presence to rank higher in search results , attract organic traffic and stay ahead of competitors.

This not only amplifies brand visibility but also increases the likelihood of attracting qualified leads and customers. In essence, an SEO tool is an indispensable ally for entrepreneurs aiming to strengthen their digital footprint, improve website performance and foster sustainable growth in the highly competitive online marketplace.

5. Scheduling

Calendly: Efficient scheduling is crucial for entrepreneurs juggling multiple tasks. Calendly simplifies the appointment and meeting scheduling process by allowing entrepreneurs to share their availability and let others book time slots that suit both parties. This eliminates the back-and-forth of scheduling emails, saving valuable time.

Related: 20 Time-Saving Tech Tools for Solopreneurs that Boost Efficiency, Productivity and Business Growth

6. Freelancing

Upwork: Entrepreneurs often need specialized skills for specific projects, and Upwork connects them with a global pool of freelancers. From graphic design to programming, entrepreneurs can find qualified professionals to meet their project requirements. Upwork streamlines the hiring process, ensuring entrepreneurs can quickly assemble the right team for their needs.

7. Communication

Slack: Effective communication is the backbone of any successful business, and Slack facilitates seamless team collaboration. With features like channels, direct messages and integrations with other tools, Slack provides a centralized hub for communication. Entrepreneurs can create channels for different projects or teams, keeping conversations organized and accessible.

8. Marketing design

Canva: Entrepreneurs often find themselves in need of visually engaging content for marketing materials, social media or presentations. Canva simplifies the design process with its user-friendly interface and a vast library of templates. Entrepreneurs can create professional-looking graphics without the need for extensive design skills.

9. Online advertising

Google AdWords: For entrepreneurs looking to expand their online reach through paid advertising and drive targeted traffic to their websites, Google AdWords is a game-changer. As a powerful online advertising platform, Google AdWords enables entrepreneurs to create targeted and highly customizable ads that appear in Google search results. By strategically bidding on relevant keywords, entrepreneurs can ensure their advertisements are presented to users actively searching for products or services they offer. This not only enhances visibility but also allows for precise targeting, maximizing the return on investment.

With detailed analytics and performance metrics, entrepreneurs can refine and optimize their ad campaigns in real time, ensuring their marketing budget is effectively utilized to attract potential customers. Google AdWords is a pivotal tool for entrepreneurs seeking immediate and measurable results in the competitive world of online advertising.

Related: 10 Free Marketing Tools Every Entrepreneur Can Use

In the dynamic landscape of entrepreneurship, staying ahead requires not only vision and dedication but also the right set of tools. Trello, Asana, Mailchimp, Google Analytics, SEO tools, Calendly, Upwork, Slack, Canva and Google AdWords represent a curated selection of tools that cater to various aspects of running and growing a business . Whether managing projects, optimizing online presence or fostering team collaboration, entrepreneurs can harness the power of these tools to navigate challenges and propel their ventures toward success in 2024 and beyond. As technology continues to evolve, entrepreneurs should stay vigilant for emerging tools that can further enhance their operations and contribute to their business growth.

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AfDB commits $80 million to Ekiti Knowledge Zone Project in Nigeria

Spanning 40 hectares of land, the EKZ aims to catalyse digital entrepreneurship, promising to generate 26,000 jobs and inject $14 million annually into the economy upon completion.

AfDB commits $80 million to Ekiti Knowledge Zone Project in Nigeria

In the heart of Nigeria’s Ekiti State, a groundbreaking initiative is taking shape – the Ekiti Knowledge Zone (EKZ), a bold step to transform the region into a hub for digital innovation and knowledge economy.

The African Development Bank has committed $80 million in loan financing for this state-led pioneering special economic zone project, designed to foster linkages between educators, researchers, innovators, entrepreneurs, and industries, all within one location.

More than just a project, EKZ promises to be a place where ideas converge, creativity thrives, and dreams take flight. The Ekiti State Government is committing $14.8 million in counterpart funding to complement the Bank’s financing for the $94.8 million project.

In April 2023, the Federal Government of Nigeria conferred “free zone” status to the project under the Nigeria Export Processing Zones Authority (NEPZA) Act. This designation unlocks a plethora of incentives for private investors, including rent-free land, tax holidays and import/export duty waivers, fueling an environment ripe for investment and innovation.

The project entails the development of world-class infrastructure, creating a 20-hectare green technology park and providing roads, electricity, water supply and wastewater treatment facilities. It will also invest in people, particularly the youth. With plans to provide information and communication technology training for over 19,000 young minds in Ekiti and neighbouring states, the EKZ is sowing seeds of future entrepreneurs and business leaders.

The EKZ seeks to attract businesses, including tech start-ups, business process outsourcing firms, fabrication and production companies, research institutes and corporate back-office operations, to locate in the Zone. An incubator program will support promising start-ups through pre-seed and seed funding to be provided by the Ekiti Innovation Fund. The project will attract anchor investors from the private sector to form a special-purpose vehicle that allows multiple investors to pool financing and manage the operations of the Zone.

But what sets the EKZ apart is not just about development but innovation—leveraging Ekiti State’s competitive edge and the presence of five higher institutions within the Ekiti Education Quadrangle. Ekiti State is home to the Federal University Oye Ekiti, Ekiti State University, Bamidele Olumilua University of Education, Science and Technology, Afe Babalola University, and the Federal Polytechnic, in addition to over 30 universities in the neighbouring States of Kwara, Kogi, Ondo and Osun that provide a vast talent pipeline.

The EKZ aligns well with the Bank’s Jobs for Youth in Africa Strategy, which seeks to promote linkages between academia and industry to nurture entrepreneurship talents and develop a skilled workforce matching employers’ needs.

Former Governor of Ekiti State and former Chairman, Nigeria Governors’ Forum, Dr. Kayode Fayemi, said, “It is exciting to see that our efforts, which began a few years ago during my tenure to establish Ekiti as the knowledge economy of Nigeria and the preferred destination for innovation, technology, artificial Intelligence, science and digital initiatives, are starting to bear fruit.”

As the EKZ takes shape, it is a testament to the power of collaboration, innovation and foresight. “It’s a beacon of hope for the youth, a testament to our commitment to fostering innovation, job creation and sustainable economic growth; it is a commitment to a better future for our State and Nigeria,” says Ekiti State Governor Biodun Oyebanji. 

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Council wants £3m for growth plan

Council and business leaders in Staffordshire are asking government for £3 million so they can draw up plans for six projects to decarbonise the economy and create 5,000 jobs.

project on business plan entrepreneurship

The ‘Fifty500 Midlands Growth Corridor’ project has been launched by Staffordshire County Council following consultation with big employers such as JCB, bet365, Keele University and Michelin.

Their stated aim is to turn the A50/A500 corridor into ‘one of the primary locations for sustainable growth and investment in the UK’. The project builds on but is ‘not directly linked’ to a previous funding bid for a series of junction improvements along the route, submitted by Midlands Connect.

According to a six-page prospectus, the intiative is based around six different projects: Innovation Factory, Road to Rail Freight, Smart Factories, Hydrogen Innovation Zone, Midlands Industrial Energy Plan, and Regional Supplier Park. The prospectus contains little information on what any of this actually means, and is heavy on jargon and buzzwords.

For example, the Innovation Factory will build on the success of Keele’s Science and Innovation Park and ‘enable collaborative start-up initiatives and spin-off businesses to be facilitated’. The county council says that £3 million is needed from govermment to further development these proposals over the next three years, and claims that this investment could help unlock £1.6 billion in private investment.

County council deputy leader Philip White and Ann Pittard, director of engagement and partnership at Keele University, visited Downing Street this week to support the bid. They hope the funding will be included in the forthcoming Spring Budget.

Cllr White said: “Our visit to Downing Street is a major milestone in our work to develop the Fifty500 Midlands Growth Corridor. If this bid is successful, together with our partners, we can continue our work to develop business cases around the corridor for new investments that will support our innovative and high growth businesses to create thousands of skilled jobs and generate an additional £100 million for the local economy.

“With the support of major businesses, academic institutions and local authorities along this route, I firmly believe our proposal has every chance of success.”

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    Make certain all of your pages are ordered and numbered correctly. 4. The usual business plan convention is to number all major sections and subsections within your plan using the format as follows: 1. First main heading. 1.1 First subheading under the first main heading. 1.1.1.

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  24. Essential Tools Every Entrepreneur Needs to Succeed in 2024

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  28. Council wants £3m for growth plan

    Council and business leaders in Staffordshire are asking government for £3 million so they can draw up plans for six projects to decarbonise the economy and create 5,000 jobs. The 'Fifty500 ...

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