We use essential cookies to make Venngage work. By clicking “Accept All Cookies”, you agree to the storing of cookies on your device to enhance site navigation, analyze site usage, and assist in our marketing efforts.
Manage Cookies
Cookies and similar technologies collect certain information about how you’re using our website. Some of them are essential, and without them you wouldn’t be able to use Venngage. But others are optional, and you get to choose whether we use them or not.
Strictly Necessary Cookies
These cookies are always on, as they’re essential for making Venngage work, and making it safe. Without these cookies, services you’ve asked for can’t be provided.
Show cookie providers
- Google Login
Functionality Cookies
These cookies help us provide enhanced functionality and personalisation, and remember your settings. They may be set by us or by third party providers.
Performance Cookies
These cookies help us analyze how many people are using Venngage, where they come from and how they're using it. If you opt out of these cookies, we can’t get feedback to make Venngage better for you and all our users.
- Google Analytics
Targeting Cookies
These cookies are set by our advertising partners to track your activity and show you relevant Venngage ads on other sites as you browse the internet.
- Google Tag Manager
- Infographics
- Daily Infographics
- Popular Templates
- Accessibility
- Graphic Design
- Graphs and Charts
- Data Visualization
- Human Resources
- Beginner Guides
Blog Business How to Write a Business Plan Outline [Examples + Templates]
How to Write a Business Plan Outline [Examples + Templates]
Written by: Letícia Fonseca Aug 11, 2023
When starting a business plan, the first hurdle is often getting started. And how do you avoid spending hours staring at a blank page? Start with a business plan outline. An outline helps provide clarity and direction, especially for important documents like a business plan.
I get that the idea of outlining a business plan can feel overwhelming, which is why I’ve gathered all the information you need to make it easier. Don’t worry, you’ve got this!
And if you’re seeking further assistance, a business plan maker and readily available business plan templates can offer valuable support in shaping your comprehensive plan.
Read on for answers to all your business plan outline questions or jump ahead for some handy templates.
Click to jump ahead:
What is a business plan outline?
7 steps to writing a business plan outline, business plan outline examples.
- Writing tips to ace your outline
What format should you choose for your business plan outline?
A business plan outline is the backbone of your business plan. It contains all the most important information you’ll want to expand on in your full-length plan.
Think of it this way: your outline is a frame for your plan. It provides a high-level idea of what the final plan should look like, what it will include and how all the information will be organized.
Why would you do this extra step? Beyond saving you from blank page syndrome, an outline ensures you don’t leave any essential information out of your plan — you can see all the most important points at a glance and quickly identify any content gaps.
It also serves as a writing guide. Once you know all the sections you want in your plan, you just need to expand on them. Suddenly, you’re “filling in the blanks” as opposed to writing a plan from scratch!
Incidentally, using a business plan template like this one gives you a running head start, too:
Perhaps most importantly, a business plan outline keeps you focused on the essential parts of your document. (Not to mention what matters most to stakeholders and investors.) With an outline, you’ll spend less time worrying about structure or organization and more time perfecting the actual content of your document.
If you’re looking for more general advice, you can read about how to create a business plan here . But if you’re working on outlining your plan, stick with me.
Your business plan outline should include all the following sections. The level of detail you choose to go into will depend on your intentions for your plan (sharing with stakeholders vs. internal use), but you’ll want every section to be clear and to the point.
1. Executive summary
The executive summary gives a high-level description of your company, product or service. This section should include a mission statement, your company description, your business’s primary goal, and the problem it aims to solve. You’ll want to state how your business can solve the problem and briefly explain what makes you stand out (your competitive advantage).
Having an executive summary is essential to selling your business to stakeholders , so it should be as clear and concise as possible. Summarize your business in a few sentences in a way that will hook the reader (or audience) and get them invested in what you have to say next. In other words, this is your elevator pitch.
2. Product and services description
This is where you should go into more detail about your product or service. Your product is the heart of your business, so it’s essential this section is easy to grasp. After all, if people don’t know what you’re selling, you’ll have a hard time keeping them engaged!
Expand on your description in the executive summary, going into detail about the problem your customers face and how your product/service will solve it. If you have various products or services, go through all of them in equal detail.
3. Target market and/or Market analysis
A market analysis is crucial for placing your business in a larger context and showing investors you know your industry. This section should include market research on your prospective customer demographic including location, age range, goals and motivations.
You can even include detailed customer personas as a visual aid — these are especially useful if you have several target demographics. You want to showcase your knowledge of your customer, who exactly you’re selling to and how you can fulfill their needs.
Be sure to include information on the overall target market for your product, including direct and indirect competitors and how your industry is performing. If your competitors have strengths you want to mimic or weaknesses you want to exploit, this is the place to record that information.
4. Organization and management
You can think of this as a “meet the team” section — this is where you should go into depth on your business’s structure from management to legal and HR. If there are people bringing unique skills or experience to the table (I’m sure there are!), you should highlight them in this section.
The goal here is to showcase why your team is the best to run your business. Investors want to know you’re unified, organized and reliable. This is also a potential opportunity to bring more humanity to your business plan and showcase the faces behind the ideas and product.
5. Marketing and sales
Now that you’ve introduced your product and team, you need to explain how you’re going to sell it. Give a detailed explanation of your sales and marketing strategy, including pricing, timelines for launching your product and advertising.
This is a major section of your plan and can even live as a separate document for your marketing and sales teams. Here are some marketing plan templates to help you get started .
Make sure you have research or analysis to back up your decisions — if you want to do paid ads on LinkedIn to advertise your product, include a brief explanation as to why that is the best channel for your business.
6. Financial projections and funding request
The end of your plan is where you’ll look to the future and how you think your business will perform financially. Your financial plan should include results from your income statement, balance sheet and cash flow projections.
State your funding requirements and what you need to realize the business. Be extremely clear about how you plan to use the funding and when you expect investors will see returns.
If you aren’t presenting to potential investors, you can skip this part, but it’s something to keep in mind should you seek funding in the future. Covering financial projections and the previous five components is essential at the stage of business formation to ensure everything goes smoothly moving forward.
7. Appendix
Any extra visual aids, receipts, paperwork or charts will live here. Anything that may be relevant to your plan should be included as reference e.g. your cash flow statement (or other financial statements). You can format your appendix in whatever way you think is best — as long as it’s easy for readers to find what they’re looking for, you’ve done your job!
Typically, the best way to start your outline is to list all these high-level sections. Then, you can add bullet points outlining what will go in each section and the resources you’ll need to write them. This should give you a solid starting point for your full-length plan.
Looking for a shortcut? Our business plan templates are basically outlines in a box!
While your outline likely won’t go into as much detail, these templates are great examples of how to organize your sections.
Traditional format examples
A strong template can turn your long, dense business plan into an engaging, easy-to-read document. There are lots to choose from, but here are just a few ideas to inspire you…
You can duplicate pages and use these styles for a traditional outline, or start with a lean outline as you build your business plan out over time:
Lean format examples
For lean format outlines, a simpler ‘ mind map ’ style is a good bet. With this style, you can get ideas down fast and quickly turn them into one or two-page plans. Plus, because they’re shorter, they’re easy to share with your team.
Writing tips to ace your business plan outline
Business plans are complex documents, so if you’re still not sure how to write your outline, don’t worry! Here are some helpful tips to keep in mind when drafting your business plan outline:
- Ask yourself why you’re writing an outline. Having a clear goal for your outline can help keep you on track as you write. Everything you include in your plan should contribute to your goal. If it doesn’t, it probably doesn’t need to be in there.
- Keep it clear and concise. Whether you’re writing a traditional or lean format business plan, your outline should be easy to understand. Choose your words wisely and avoid unnecessary preambles or padding language. The faster you get to the point, the easier your plan will be to read.
- Add visual aids. No one likes reading huge walls of text! Make room in your outline for visuals, data and charts. This keeps your audience engaged and helps those who are more visual learners. Psst, infographics are great for this.
- Make it collaborative. Have someone (or several someones) look it over before finalizing your outline. If you have an established marketing / sales / finance team, have them look it over too. Getting feedback at the outline stage can help you avoid rewrites and wasted time down the line.
If this is your first time writing a business plan outline, don’t be too hard on yourself. You might not get it 100% right on the first try, but with these tips and the key components listed above, you’ll have a strong foundation. Remember, done is better than perfect.
Most business plans fit into one of two formats.
The format you choose largely depends on three factors: (1) the stage of your business, (2) if you’re presenting the plan to investors and (3) what you want to achieve with your business plan.
Let’s have a closer look at these two formats and why you might choose one over the other.
Traditional format
Traditional business plans are typically long, detailed documents. In many cases, they take up to 50-60 pages, but it’s not uncommon to see plans spanning 100+ pages.
Traditional plans are long because they cover every aspect of your business. They leave nothing out. You’ll find a traditional business plan template with sections like executive summary, company description, target market, market analysis, marketing plan, financial plan, and more. Basically: the more information the merrier.
This business plan template isn’t of a traditional format, but you could expand it into one by duplicating pages:
Due to their high level of detail, traditional formats are the best way to sell your business. They show you’re reliable and have a clear vision for your business’s future.
If you’re planning on presenting your plan to investors and stakeholders, you’ll want to go with a traditional plan format. The more information you include, the fewer doubts and questions you’ll get when you present your plan, so don’t hold back.
Traditional business plans require more detailed outlines before drafting since there’s a lot of information to cover. You’ll want to list all the sections and include bullet points describing what each section should cover.
It’s also a good idea to include all external resources and visuals in your outline, so you don’t have to gather them later.
Lean format
Lean business plan formats are high level and quick to write. They’re often only one or two pages. Similar to a business plan infographic , they’re scannable and quick to digest, like this template:
This format is often referred to as a “startup” format due to (you guessed it!) many startups using it.
Lean business plans require less detailed outlines. You can include high-level sections and a few lines in each section covering the basics. Since the final plan will only be a page or two, you don’t need to over prepare. Nor will you need a ton of external resources.
Lean plans don’t answer all the questions investors and stakeholders may ask, so if you go this route, make sure it’s the right choice for your business . Companies not yet ready to present to investors will typically use a lean/startup business plan format to get their rough plan on paper and share it internally with their management team.
Here’s another example of a lean business plan format in the form of a financial plan:
Create a winning business plan by starting with a detailed, actionable outline
The best way to learn is by doing. So go ahead, get started on your business plan outline. As you develop your plan, you’ll no doubt learn more about your business and what’s important for success along the way.
A clean, compelling template is a great way to get a head start on your outline. After all, the sections are already separated and defined for you!
Explore Venngage’s business plan templates for one that suits your needs. Many are free to use and there are premium templates available for a small monthly fee. Happy outlining!
Discover popular designs
Infographic maker
Brochure maker
White paper online
Newsletter creator
Flyer maker
Timeline maker
Letterhead maker
Mind map maker
Ebook maker
This website uses cookies to enhance the user experience.
What stage is your business at?
Tell us and we'll match you with a special liveplan discount:, new business discount, great, we have special savings for organizing your business ideas., get full access to liveplan for 50% off, save big with any monthly package, startup discount, great, we have special savings for businesses just starting up., save big on liveplan premium, save big with any liveplan premium package, established business discount, great, we have special savings for businesses that are up and running., get annual access to liveplan for 40% off, save big with any annual package.
Enter your email address to unlock it.
We care about your privacy. See our Privacy Policy .
🎧 Real entrepreneurs. Real stories.
Subscribe to The Hurdle podcast
You can do this! Tour LivePlan to see how simple business planning can be.
Have an expert write your plan, build your forecast, and so much more.
Integrations
For Small Businesses
For Advisors & Mentors
Planning a Business
How to Write a Detailed Business Plan Step-by-Step [Free Template]
12 min. read
Updated September 23, 2024
Writing a business plan is one of the most valuable things you can do for your business.
Study after study proves that business planning significantly improves your chances of success by up to 30 percent 1 . That’s because the planning process helps you think about all aspects of your business and how it will operate and grow.
Ready to write your own detailed business plan? Here’s everything you need (along with a free business plan template ) to create your plan.
Before you write a detailed business plan, start with a one-page business plan
Despite the benefits of business planning , it’s easy to procrastinate writing a business plan.
Most people would prefer to work hands-on in their business rather than think about business strategy . That’s why, if you’re writing a business plan for the first time, we recommend you start with a simpler and shorter one-page business plan.
With a one-page plan, there’s no need to go into a lot of details or dive deep into financial projections—you just write down the fundamentals of your business and how it works.
A one-page plan should cover:
- • Value proposition
- • Market need
- • Your solution
- • Competition
- • Target market
- • Sales and marketing
- • Budget and sales goals
- • Milestones
- • Team summary
- • Key partners
- • Funding needs
A one-page business plan is a great jumping-off point in the planning process. It’ll give you an overview of your business and help you quickly refine your ideas.
Check out our guide to writing a simple one-page business plan for detailed instructions, examples, and a free downloadable one-page plan template .
When do you need a more detailed business plan?
While I will always recommend starting with the one-page plan format, there are times when a more detailed plan is necessary:
- • Flesh out sections of your plan: You need to better understand how your marketing, operations, or other business functions will operate.
- • Build a more detailed financial forecast: A one-page plan only includes a summary of your financial projections. A detailed plan includes a full financial forecast, including a profit and loss statement, balance sheet, and cash flow forecast to better measure performance.
- • Prepare for lenders and investors: While they may not read the full plan, any investor will ask in-depth questions that you can only answer by spending time writing a detailed business plan.
- • Sell your business: Use your business plan as part of your sales pitch, and show potential buyers all the details of how your business works.
How to write a detailed business plan
Let’s walk through writing a detailed business plan step-by-step and explore an example of what a finished business plan (for a local swim club Pools & Laps) built with LivePlan’s business plan builder looks like.
1. Executive summary
Yes, the executive summary comes first in your plan, but you should write it last—once you know all the details of your business plan.
It is just a summary of your full plan, so be careful not to be too repetitive—keep it between one or two pages and highlight:
- • Your opportunity: This summarizes what your business does, what problem it solves, and who your customers are. This is where you want readers to get excited about your business
- • Your team: For investors, your business’s team is often even more important than what the business is. Briefly highlight why your team is uniquely qualified to build the business and make it successful.
- • Financials: What are the highlights of your financial forecast ? Summarize your sales goals, when you plan to be profitable, and how much money you need to get your business off the ground.
For existing businesses, write the executive summary for your audience—whether it’s investors, business partners, or employees. Think about what your audience will want to know, and just hit the highlights.
2. Opportunity
The “opportunity” section of your business plan is all about the products and services that you are creating. The goal is to explain why your business is exciting and the problems that it solves for people. You’ll want to cover:
Problem & solution
Every successful business solves a problem for its customers. Their products and services make people’s lives easier or fill an unmet need in the marketplace.
In this section, you’ll want to explain the problem that you solve, whom you solve it for, and what your solution is. This is where you go in-depth to describe what you do and how you improve the lives of your customers.
Target market
In the previous section, you summarized your target customer. Now you’ll want to describe them in much greater detail. You’ll want to cover things like your target market’s demographics (age, gender, location, etc.) and psychographics (hobbies and other behaviors).
Ideally, you can also estimate the size of your target market so you know how many potential customers you might have.
Competition
Every business has competition , so don’t leave this section out. You’ll need to explain what other companies are doing to serve your customers or if your customers have other options for solving the problem you are solving.
Explain how your approach is different and better than your competitors, whether it’s better features, pricing, or location. Explain why a customer would come to you instead of going to another company.
3. Execution
This section of your business plan dives into how you will accomplish your goals. While the Opportunity section discussed what you’re doing, you now need to explain the specifics of how you will do it.
Marketing & sales
What marketing tactics will you use to get the word out about your business? You’ll want to explain how you get customers to your door and what the sales process looks like. For businesses with a sales force, explain how the sales team gets leads and what the process is like for closing a sale.
Depending on the type of business that you are starting, the operations section needs to be customized to meet your needs. If you are building a mail-order business, you’ll want to cover how you source your products and how fulfillment will work.
If you’re building a manufacturing business, explain the manufacturing process and the necessary facilities. This is where you’ll talk about how your business “works,” meaning you should explain what day-to-day functions and processes are needed to make your business successful.
Milestones & metrics
So far, your business plan has mostly discussed what you’re doing and how you will do it.
The milestones and metrics section is all about timing. Your plan should highlight key dates and goals that you intend to hit. 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 : the numbers you will track to determine your success.
The Company section of your business plan should explain your business’s overall structure and the team behind it.
Organizational structure
Describe your location, facilities, and anything else about your physical location relevant to your business. You’ll also want to explain the legal structure of your business—are you an S-corp, C-corp, or an LLC? What does company ownership look like?
Arguably one of the most important parts of your plan when seeking investment is the “Team” section. This should explain who you are and who else is helping you run the business. Focus on experience and qualifications for building the type of business that you want to build.
It’s OK if you don’t have a complete team yet. Just highlight the key roles that you need to fill and the type of person you hope to hire for each role.
5. Financial plan and forecasts
Your business plan now covers the “what,” the “how,” and the “when” for your business. Now it’s time to talk about money.
Financial forecasts
What revenue do you plan on bringing in, and when? What kind of expenses will you have? How much cash will you need?
These are the types of questions you’ll answer by creating detailed forecasts. Don’t worry about getting it perfect, these are just educated guesses. Your goal is to get numbers down that seem reasonable so you can review and revise financial expectations as you run your business.
You’ll want to cover sales , expenses , personnel costs , asset purchases, cash , etc, for at least the first 12 months of your business. If you can, also create educated guesses for the following two years in annual totals.
If you intend to pursue funding, it’s worth noting that some investors and lenders might want to see a five-year forecast. For most other cases, three years is usually enough.
If you’re raising money for your business, the Financing section is where you describe how much you need. Whether you’re getting loans or investments, you should highlight what and when you need it.
Ideally, you’ll also want to summarize the specific ways you’ll use the funding once you have it.
For more specifics, check out our write-up explaining what to include in your business plan for a bank loan .
Historical Financial statements
If your business is up and running, you should also include your profit and loss statement , balance sheet , and cash flow statement . These are the historical record of your business performance and will be required by lenders, investors, and anyone considering buying your business.
If you don’t want lengthy financial statements overwhelming this section of your business plan, you can just include the most recent statements and include the rest within your appendix.
6. Appendix
The final section of your business plan is the appendix . Include detailed financial forecasts here and any other key documentation for your business.
If you have product schematics, patent information, or any other details that aren’t appropriate for the main body of the plan but need to be included for reference.
Tips to write a detailed business plan
Keep it brief.
You may not be limited to one page, but that doesn’t mean you need to write a novel. Keep your business plan focused using clear, plain language and avoiding jargon. Make your plan easier to skim by using short sentences, bulleted lists, and visuals. Remember, you can always come back and add more details.
Related Reading: 7 tips to make a high-quality business plan
Start with what you know
Don’t worry about following a strict top-to-bottom approach. Instead, build momentum by starting with sections you know well. This will help you get information down and ultimately make you more likely to complete your business plan.
Set time limits
You don’t have to write your business plan in one sitting. It may be more valuable to set a time limit, see how much you get done, and return to it again in another session. This will keep you focused and productive and help you fit plan writing into your other responsibilities.
Reference business plan examples
Real-world business plan examples from your industry can provide valuable insights into how others have successfully presented their ideas, strategies, and financials. Exploring these examples can inspire your own approach and offer practical guidance on what to include and how to tailor it to your specific needs.
Just be sure not to copy and paste anything.
Prioritize sections that really matter
When writing a detailed business plan, focus on the parts most important to you and your business.
If you plan on distributing your plan to outsiders, you should complete every section. But, if your plan is just for internal use, focus on the areas that will help you right now.
Download a free business plan template
Are you ready to write your detailed business plan? Get started by downloading our free business plan template . With that, you will be well on your way to a better business strategy, with all of the necessary information expected in a more detailed plan.
If you want to improve your ability to build a healthy, growing business, consider LivePlan.
It’s a product that makes planning easy and features a guided business plan creator , drag-and-drop financial forecasting tools , and an AI-powered LivePlan Assistant to help you write, generate ideas, and analyze your business performance.
Use your detailed business plan to grow your business
Your business plan isn’t just a document to attract investors or close a bank loan. It’s a tool that helps you better manage and grow your business. And you’ll get the most value from your business plan if you use it as part of a growth planning process .
With growth planning, you’ll easily create and execute your plan, track performance, identify opportunities and issues, and consistently revise your strategy. It’s a flexible process that encourages you to build a plan that fits your needs.
So, whether you stick with a one-page plan or expand into a more detailed business plan—you’ll be ready to start growth planning.
Sources in this article
- 1. Parsons, Noah. “Do You Need a Business Plan? This Study Says Yes” Bplans: Free Business Planning Resources and Templates , 10 May 2024, www.bplans.com/business-planning/basics/research .
Like this post? Share with a friend!
Noah Parsons
Before joining Palo Alto Software , Noah Parsons was an early Internet marketing and product expert in the Silicon Valley. He joined Yahoo! in 1996 as one of its first 101 employees and become Producer of the Yahoo! Employment property as part of the Yahoo! Classifieds team before leaving to serve as Director of Production at Epinions.com. He is a graduate of Princeton University. Noah devotes most of his free time to his three young sons. In the winter you'll find him giving them lessons on the ski slopes, and in summer they're usually involved in a variety of outdoor pursuits. Noah is currently the COO at Palo Alto Software, makers of the online business plan app LivePlan.
Table of Contents
Related articles.
October 15, 2024
How to Do a Sales Forecast for Your Business the Right Way
October 9, 2024
What is Accounts Payable (AP)? [Definition + 4 Ways to Reduce]
September 23, 2024
Paid Vs. Free Business Plan Software — Which is Right For You?
July 31, 2024
What is Cash Runway + How to Calculate it
IMAGES
VIDEO