How to Write a Business Plan for a Service Business
Noah Parsons
10 min. read
Updated November 13, 2023
Free Download: Sample Administrative Services Business Plan Templates
If you’re starting a business that sells a service, writing a business plan is one of the first steps you need to take. Whether you are starting a consulting business, a car repair shop, or a construction firm, a business plan will help you figure out your strategy, develop your marketing plan and figure out the all-important financial forecasts so that you can be successful.
Writing a business plan can seem complicated at first. There are multiple topics you have to cover and you want to impress your readers with a complete plan. Whether it’s a loan officer reading your business plan or a potential business partner, you need to make sure you get your plan right.
That’s why we put this guide together. Business planning doesn’t have to be intimidating and we’ll guide you through the process of pulling everything together for your new service business.
- What is a service business?
A service business typically focuses on selling services to customers instead of products. For example, a consultant or lawyer typically sells their time and expertise to customers. A repair business typically is selling the service of fixing broken equipment and appliances. Event planners are selling the service of planning and managing events such as weddings and corporate retreats.
Service businesses don’t just have to sell services. Many service businesses sell a mix of products and services. Take a car repair shop, for example. They’ll sell the service of repairing your car in addition to the parts required to get your car serviced. Even though the repair shop sells parts, it’s different from an auto parts store that only sells parts and doesn’t sell any repair services.
- Why you should write a business plan for a service business
It’s tempting to just dive right in and start building your business. A business plan can seem like a waste of time and it’s certainly more fun to start working on things like logos, business cards, and finding office space. But, it’s important to remember that a business plan is a vital step in the process that will prevent you from wasting precious time and money as you get your business up and running.
Taking a little time to plan now can save you from making critical mistakes and prevent you from wasting thousands of dollars. Even though it may not be as “fun”, it’s worth every minute. Here’s why you’ll want to plan:
1. Clearly define your offering
Although you may have a good idea in your head for the services you’ll be offering, it’s important to write down exactly what you plan to offer to your customers and what you plan to charge. Especially for service businesses where you may be selling your time, it can be tempting to take on any job. That can lead to distractions and lead you away from your core business. You also want to ensure that business partners are on the same page as you and that you agree on the services you are providing, what you’re going to charge, and how you are going to deliver those services.
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2. Create a marketing plan
A clear marketing plan is crucial for getting your service business up and running. You’ll need to know not only how you plan on landing your first customers, but also your hundredth customer. Taking the time to describe your ideal customer and craft a marketing plan to reach them in a smart and cost-effective way is the key to a business that can grow efficiently over time.
3. Know your numbers
Before you start any business, understanding what it’s going to take to make money is a crucial first step. As you create a sales forecast and expense budget, you’ll be able to see what it will take to become profitable. Understanding how much it’s going to cost to start your business is also a critical number to know. For some service businesses, startup costs can be high. Looking back at our car repair service business example, startup costs may be significant. This business will need to purchase a workspace, tools, and other equipment before it can offer any services. In contrast, a consulting business may not have many startup costs. You may be able to simply work from home and offer your services online , avoiding the need for any physical overhead costs. Regardless of whether your startup costs are low or high, understanding what level of sales you’ll need to make money is something a business plan will tell you.
4. Build your business strategy
A business plan helps you outline your business strategy . Knowing your strategy before you start helps you focus on building your business the right way from the beginning. Figuring out your strategy while you’re trying to build your business is somewhat like building an airplane while you’re headed down the runway. It’s potentially possible but very difficult to do.
Your business plan will force you to think through and answer the questions you need to answer to have a successful business.
- How is a business plan for a service business different from a product business plan?
Although business plans for service businesses are fairly similar to plans for product businesses, there are a few key differences.
Often, service businesses have fairly low cost of goods sold . This is how much it costs you in parts, products, or other tangible items to make a sale. Most service businesses have low costs to deliver the service and therefore have fairly high-profit margins. Software-as-a-service businesses are a perfect example of this because the incremental cost of a new customer is so low.
Service businesses often have little or no inventory as they are focused on selling their service, not a product. That said, this isn’t always the case. Any kind of repair service usually has to have replacement parts on hand. But, lawyers and accountants almost never have any kind of physical inventory.
For some service businesses, overhead expenses can also be very low. Many service businesses don’t need storefronts, warehouses, or other expensive real estate.
- What you should include in your business plan
A good business plan includes six key chapters. Following this business plan outline will ensure that you have a complete and effective business plan.
1. Executive Summary
Every business plan should have a short executive summary . Your executive summary is an overview of your entire business and a preview of the rest of your plan. Ideally, your executive summary can be used as a stand-alone document that you can use to introduce your business to investors who don’t have the time to read a complete business plan. Your executive summary should describe the services that you are offering, who your target market is, and provide a snapshot of your sales goals and profit projections for the coming year. If you’re raising money to launch your business, be sure to include how much money you need to get the business launched. Write your executive summary last, after you’ve written the rest of your plan. Because it’s just a brief summary – two or three pages at most – writing it last will ensure that you cover all the key points in the rest of your plan.
2. Problem and Solution
The first major chapter of your business plan will cover the problem that you solve for your clients and describe the services that you provide. If you’re starting a landscaping service, the problem you’re solving is your customers’ desire for a well maintained, beautiful lawn and garden when they don’t have the time to do it themselves. A headhunting firm helps businesses find and recruit new employees without having to have a large HR department. When you describe the services you provide, make sure to describe your pricing and how you stack up against the competition. What makes your services better than other businesses that provide similar services? What sets you apart?
3. Target Market
The target market chapter of your business plan focuses on the customers that you are selling to. A good business plan describes your business’s ideal customer very specifically. No business sells to “everyone”. Instead, good businesses know the type of customer that they are after and where to find them. For example, a financial planning service business might target millennials that work in technology companies who like to communicate mostly online. When you describe your target market, make sure to indicate how large the market is . You’ll want to make sure that there are enough potential customers for your services out there so that you can grow your business.
4. Marketing and Sales
Once you’ve defined the problem you are solving for people, how you solve that problem for them and described exactly who your customer is, you’ll have a great platform for creating a marketing and sales plan . With your target market information, you should know where and how to reach your ideal customer so that you can come up with a marketing plan to reach them. If your business is local, focusing on local advertising and social media groups might be a good idea. If your services are expensive, you’ll also want to describe your sales plan since customers most likely won’t just sign up for your services immediately after hearing about you. You’ll most likely need to deliver information about your services, create bids, and have a follow-up strategy for closing deals. Use this chapter of your business plan to create your marketing and sales roadmap so that you can start executing on your marketing plan when your business is up and running and have sales processes in place so you make sure that you maximize your marketing efforts.
5. Company & Team
Your idea is surprisingly not the most important part of your business. It’s actually the people that build the business and run it that are the most important. Even the best idea that’s poorly executed is likely to fail, so it’s critical that you assemble the right people to make your business a success. In this chapter of your business plan, describe who is behind the business and why this team is the right team to build it. Investors often focus more on the team than the idea because they assume that a smart and motivated team will adjust and refine an idea to make it successful, even if the first iteration isn’t perfect.
6. Financial Plan
Finally, your business plan needs a financial plan . This plan should include:
- Sales forecast
- Profit and Loss
- Cash Flow Forecast
- Balance Sheet
If you’re starting a subscription service, include a forecast for subscriptions, renewals, and cancellations — otherwise known as “churn”. Your Profit and Loss statement will show your sales and expenses so that you can calculate your predicted profits. The Cash Flow Forecast will predict how cash moves in and out of your business and will help you identify potential cash flow problems that may occur in the future. The Balance Sheet will detail the assets and liabilities that your business is predicted to have over time.
- Free business plan examples & templates
It might be helpful to explore how other service-based businesses have written their business plans. Check out our free library of sample plans and templates for service businesses . You can download any of these documents in Word form and get some structure for your own plan.
See why 1.2 million entrepreneurs have written their business plans with LivePlan
Noah is the COO at Palo Alto Software, makers of the online business plan app LivePlan. He started his career at Yahoo! and then helped start the user review site Epinions.com. From there he started a software distribution business in the UK before coming to Palo Alto Software to run the marketing and product teams.
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Simple Business Plan Templates
By Joe Weller | April 2, 2020
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In this article, we’ve compiled a variety of simple business plan templates, all of which are free to download in PDF, Word, and Excel formats.
On this page, you’ll find a one-page business plan template , a simple business plan for startups , a small-business plan template , a business plan outline , and more. We also include a business plan sample and the main components of a business plan to help get you started.
Simple Business Plan Template
Download Simple Business Plan Template
This simple business plan template lays out each element of a traditional business plan to assist you as you build your own, and it provides space to add financing information for startups seeking funding. You can use and customize this simple business plan template to fit the needs for organizations of any size.
One-Page Business Plan Template
Download One-Page Business Plan Template
Excel | Word | PDF | Smartsheet
Use this one-page business plan to document your key ideas in an organized manner. The template can help you create a high-level view of your business plan, and it provides easy scannability for stakeholders. You can use this one-page plan as a reference to build a more detailed blueprint for your business.
For additional single page plans, take a look at " One-Page Business Plan Templates with a Quick How-To Guide ."
Simple Fill-in-the-Blank Business Plan Template
Download Simple Fill-in-the-Blank Business Plan Template
Use this fill-in-the-blank business plan template to guide you as you build your business plan. Each section comes pre-filled with sample content, with space to add customized verbiage relevant to your product or service.
For additional free, downloadable resources, visit " Free Fill-In-the-Blank Business Plan Templates ."
Simple Business Plan for Startup
Download Startup Business Plan Template — Word
This business plan template is designed with a startup business in mind and contains the essential elements needed to convey key product or service details to investors and stakeholders. Keep all your information organized with this template, which provides space to include an executive summary, a company overview, competitive analysis, a marketing strategy, financial data, and more. For additional resources, visit " Free Startup Business Plan Templates and Examples ."
Simple Small-Business Plan Template
Download Simple Small-Business Plan Template
This template walks you through each component of a small-business plan, including the company background, the introduction of the management team, market analysis, product or service offerings, a financial plan, and more. This template also comes with a built-in table of contents to keep your plan in order, and it can be customized to fit your requirements.
Lean Business Plan Template
Download Lean Business Plan Template
This lean business plan template is a stripped-down version of a traditional business plan that provides only the most essential aspects. Briefly outline your company and industry overview, along with the problem you are solving, as well as your unique value proposition, target market, and key performance metrics. There is also room to list out a timeline of key activities.
Simple Business Plan Outline Template
Download Simple Business Plan Outline Template
Word | PDF
Use this simple business plan outline as a basis to create your own business plan. This template contains 11 sections, including a title page and a table of contents, which details what each section should cover in a traditional business plan. Simplify or expand this outline to create the foundation for a business plan that fits your business needs.
Simple Business Planning Template with Timeline
Download Simple Business Planning Template with Timeline
Excel | Smartsheet
This template doubles as a project plan and timeline to track progress as you develop your business plan. This business planning template enables you to break down your work into phases and provides room to add key tasks and dates for each activity. Easily fill in the cells according to the start and end dates to create a visual timeline, as well as to ensure your plan stays on track.
Simple Business Plan Rubric Template
Download Simple Business Plan Rubric
Excel | Word | PDF | Smartsheet
Once you complete your business plan, use this business plan rubric template to assess and score each component of your plan. This rubric helps you identify elements of your plan that meet or exceed requirements and pinpoint areas where you need to improve or further elaborate. This template is an invaluable tool to ensure your business plan clearly defines your goals, objectives, and plan of action in order to gain buy-in from potential investors, stakeholders, and partners.
Basic Business Plan Sample
Download Basic Business Plan Sample
This business plan sample serves as an example of a basic business plan that contains all the traditional components. The sample provides a model of what a business plan might look like for a fictional food truck business. Reference this sample as you develop your own business plan.
For additional resources to help support your business planning efforts, check out “ Free Strategic Planning Templates .”
Main Components of a Business Plan
The elements you include in your business plan will depend on your product or service offerings, as well as the size and needs of your business.
Below are the components of a standard business plan and details you should include in each section:
- Company name and contact information
- Website address
- The name of the company or individual viewing the presentation
- Table of Contents
- Company background and purpose
- Mission and vision statement
- Management team introduction
- Core product and service offerings
- Target customers and segments
- Marketing plan
- Competitive analysis
- Unique value proposition
- Financial plan (and requirements, if applicable)
- Business and industry overview
- Historical timeline of your business
- Offerings and the problem they solve
- Current alternatives
- Competitive advantage
- Market size
- Target market segment(s)
- Projected volume and value of sales compared to competitors
- Differentiation from competitors
- Pricing strategy
- Marketing channels
- Promotional plan
- Distribution methods
- Legal structure of your business
- Names of founders, owners, advisors, etc.
- Management team’s roles, relevant experience, and compensation plan
- Staffing requirements and training plans
- Physical location(s) of your business
- Additional physical requirements (e.g., warehouse, specialized equipment, facilities, etc.)
- Production workflow
- Raw materials and sourcing methods
- Projected income statement
- Projected cash flow statement
- Projected balance sheet
- Break-even analysis
- Charts and graphs
- Market research and competitive analysis
- Information about your industry
- Information about your offerings
- Samples of marketing materials
- Other supporting materials
Tips for Creating a Business Plan
It’s easy to feel overwhelmed at the thought of putting together a business plan. Below, you’ll find top tips to help simplify the process as you develop your own plan.
- Use a business plan template (you can choose from the variety above), or refer to the previous section to create a standard outline for your plan.
- Modify your outline to reflect the requirements of your specific business. If you use a standard business plan outline, remove sections that aren’t relevant to you or aren’t necessary to run your business.
- Gather all the information you currently have about your business first, and then use that information to fill out each section in your plan outline.
- Use your resources and conduct additional research to fill in the remaining gaps. (Note: It isn’t necessary to fill out your plan in order, but the executive summary needs to be completed last, as it summarizes the key points in your plan.)
- Ensure your plan clearly communicates the relationship between your marketing, sales, and financial objectives.
- Provide details in your plan that illustrate your strategic plan of action, looking forward three to five years.
- Revisit your plan regularly as strategies and objectives evolve.
- What product or service are we offering?
- Who is the product or service for?
- What problem does our product or service offering solve?
- How will we get the product or service to our target customers?
- Why is our product or service better than the alternatives?
- How can we outperform our competitors?
- What is our unique value proposition?
- When will things get done, and who is responsible for doing them?
- If you need to obtain funding, how will you use the funding?
- When are payments due, and when do payments come in?
- What is the ultimate purpose of your business?
- When do you expect to be profitable?
To identify which type of business plan you should write, and for more helpful tips, take a look at our guide to writing a simple business plan .
Benefits of Using a Business Plan Template
Creating a business plan can be very time-consuming, especially if you aren’t sure where to begin. Finding the right template for your business needs can be beneficial for a variety of reasons.
Using a business plan template — instead of creating your plan from scratch — can benefit you in the following ways:
- Enables you to immediately write down your thoughts and ideas in an organized manner
- Provides structure to help outline your plan
- Saves time and valuable resources
- Helps ensure you don’t miss essential details
Limitations of a Business Plan Template
A business plan template can be convenient, but it has its drawbacks — especially if you use a template that doesn’t fit the specific needs of your business.
Below are some limitations of using a business plan template:
- Each business is unique and needs a business plan that reflects that. A template may not fit your needs.
- A template may restrict collaboration with other team members on different aspects of the plan’s development (sales, marketing, and accounting teams).
- Multiple files containing different versions of the plan may be stored in more than one place.
- You still have to manually create charts and graphs to add to the plan to support your strategy.
- Updates to the plan, spreadsheets, and supporting documents have to be made in multiple places (all documents may not update in real time as changes are made).
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How to Write a Business Plan for a Service Business Noah Parsons 10 min. read Updated November 13, 2023 Free Download: Sample Administrative Services Business Plan Templates If you’re starting a business that sells a service, writing a business plan is one of the first steps you need to take.
There are options for organizations of any size and type — from coffee shops and hair salons to professional services, and everything in between. Included on this page, you’ll find Word business plan templates for small businesses, startup businesses, product and service businesses, and more.
Business Plan Templates: 26 FREE Samples - 2024 Updated Home Business plan templates From competitive analysis to financial projections, business plans give your new business a roadmap for success. Download one of our free business plan templates and take your company to the next level. What is a business plan?
Read our simple guide to learn how to write a business plan quickly and easily. A solid business plan is essential for any new business. Every business starts with a vision, which is distilled and ...
This simple business plan template lays out each element of a traditional business plan to assist you as you build your own, and it provides space to add financing information for startups seeking funding. You can use and customize this simple business plan template to fit the needs for organizations of any size. One-Page Business Plan Template