management description in business plan example

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How to Write Management Team Section in a Business Plan

Free Ultimate Guide On Writing A Business Plan

• May 1, 2024

A business is as efficient as its team and its management. Therefore, it becomes important for business owners to build a structured management team that achieves the objectives and goals set by the organization.

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

“Teamwork is the ability to work together toward a common vision. The ability to direct individual accomplishments toward organizational objectives.”

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

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

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

Sounds good? Let’s dive in.

What is the Management Section of a Business Plan?

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

The section discusses ‌who is on the management team—internal and external, their skill sets, experiences, and how meaningfully they would contribute to an organization’s mission statement and goals.

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

Importance of a Business Plan Management Section

The management section helps you to

• Showcase leadership: The management team section helps you showcase how qualified and experienced team you have.
• Clarify team roles: It outlines who does what in your team, ensuring everyone knows their key performance areas and works together towards the same goals.
• Attract investors: Present your team in the best possible way, as it is one of the key factors in making the final investment decision.

What to include in the Management Section of a Business Plan?

Now that you know why exactly a management section in the business plan is necessary, let’s move ahead with what to include in it:

1. The Management Team

An organization’s entire management team can be divided into parts — the internal team and the external team. Let us see those in detail:

The Internal Management Team

A business team consists of several departments. The most common departments are—marketing, sales, IT, customer service, operations, finance, and HR.

These departments depend on the nature and functioning of your business. For example, a dental clinic may not require a sales department per se.

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

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

• Educational Background
• Work Experience
• Accomplishments

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

The External Management Team

The external management team is usually composed of—advisory board members and professional services.

Advisory board members help by:

• Bringing their industry expertise, experience, and knowledge to the table.
• Offering strategic advice and helping the business develop long-term goals with future considerations in mind.
• Having a lot more contacts than any other individual can help businesses grow.

Credible advisory board members show great commitment to a company’s growth. Therefore, it becomes important to mention their experience and specialization in the business management plan.

The advisory board members can help give valuable advice that internal team members need or lack.

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

On the other hand, professional service helps by

• Offering highly specialized advice and sharing knowledge.
• Helping through the implementation process of strategies.

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

Examples of such professional services are:

• IT Consultants
• Business coaches and consultants

After a brief overview of the management team, let’s move forward.

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2. The Management Team Gaps

The management team gap is an important part of the management section. Primarily because it helps document if your management team currently has gaps or missing skills.

Your team may lack a few required skills while starting. The management team gaps help you to be aware and make efforts to close this gap.

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

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

Also, write down the job description and key responsibilities to be undertaken. For example—you might mention that the role requires 10 years of experience in the sales domain. The applicant must have experience handling a sales team, closing new accounts, and working in tandem with the marketing team.

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

Here are a few key positions you would want to include in your management team business plan:

• Founder and/or CEO
• Chief Technical Officer (CTO)
• Chief Marketing Officer (CMO)
• Head of Product Management (PM)
• VP of Sales
• VP of Marketing
• Business Development Manager
• Customer Service Manager
• Sales Managers/Sales Staff
• Human Resources Manager
• Advisory Board Members

3. The Management Structure

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

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

Following is a sample management structure of an organization.

Now that we understand what details we need to document in business management plans, let’s have a look at the example.

Example of a Management Section Plan

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

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

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

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

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

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

Name: Oprah Williams Role: Human Resources Manager Responsibility: Recruit and train hotel staff, maintain smooth onboarding process for new recruits, train, counsel, and coach staff, resolve conflicts, and conduct performance reviews Experience: 9 years working as human resources manager for hotels Educational Background: MBA in Human Resources Management from California University

External Team Members

Advisory Board Member

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

Professional Services

#1 Digital Marketing Agency – Neil Patel – Help market and sell our product using digital mediums – blog, website, YouTube, and social media.

[Management Structure]

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

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

So, that’s it for today! Now that you know how to write a management team section, make sure you write the best one by mentioning all the necessary details.

If you are still confused about writing the management team sections, then you can visit various sample business plans to know more. You can even use smart business planning software to smooth your business planning process.

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Frequently Asked Questions

What tone should i use when writing the management team section.

When writing about your management team in your business plan, use a tone that’s confident, professional, and positive. This shows investors that your team is experienced, qualified, and able to lead your company to success.

Who should be included in the management team's business plan?

In the management team of a business plan, you should include all the key members of the company:

• Top management
• Founder/CEO
• VP of sales

Do I need to include personal information about team members?

In a business plan, it’s not necessary to include personal information about team members unless it directly relates to their role in the business. The focus should be on professional qualifications, experience, and skills that are relevant to their position.

About the Author

Upmetrics Team

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

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How to Write a Business Plan in 9 Steps (+ Template and Examples)

Every successful business has one thing in common, a good and well-executed business plan. A business plan is more than a document, it is a complete guide that outlines the goals your business wants to achieve, including its financial goals . It helps you analyze results, make strategic decisions, show your business operations and growth.

If you want to start a business or already have one and need to pitch it to investors for funding, writing a good business plan improves your chances of attracting financiers. As a startup, if you want to secure loans from financial institutions, part of the requirements involve submitting your business plan.

Writing a business plan does not have to be a complicated or time-consuming process. In this article, you will learn the step-by-step process for writing a successful business plan.

You will also learn what you need a business plan for, tips and strategies for writing a convincing business plan, business plan examples and templates that will save you tons of time, and the alternatives to the traditional business plan.

Let’s get started.

What Do You Need A Business Plan For?

Businesses create business plans for different purposes such as to secure funds, monitor business growth, measure your marketing strategies, and measure your business success.

1. Secure Funds

One of the primary reasons for writing a business plan is to secure funds, either from financial institutions/agencies or investors.

For you to effectively acquire funds, your business plan must contain the key elements of your business plan . For example, your business plan should include your growth plans, goals you want to achieve, and milestones you have recorded.

A business plan can also attract new business partners that are willing to contribute financially and intellectually. If you are writing a business plan to a bank, your project must show your traction , that is, the proof that you can pay back any loan borrowed.

Also, if you are writing to an investor, your plan must contain evidence that you can effectively utilize the funds you want them to invest in your business. Here, you are using your business plan to persuade a group or an individual that your business is a source of a good investment.

2. Monitor Business Growth

A business plan can help you track cash flows in your business. It steers your business to greater heights. A business plan capable of tracking business growth should contain:

• The business goals
• Methods to achieve the goals
• Time-frame for attaining those goals

A good business plan should guide you through every step in achieving your goals. It can also track the allocation of assets to every aspect of the business. You can tell when you are spending more than you should on a project.

You can compare a business plan to a written GPS. It helps you manage your business and hints at the right time to expand your business.

3. Measure Business Success

A business plan can help you measure your business success rate. Some small-scale businesses are thriving better than more prominent companies because of their track record of success.

Right from the onset of your business operation, set goals and work towards them. Write a plan to guide you through your procedures. Use your plan to measure how much you have achieved and how much is left to attain.

You can also weigh your success by monitoring the position of your brand relative to competitors. On the other hand, a business plan can also show you why you have not achieved a goal. It can tell if you have elapsed the time frame you set to attain a goal.

4. Document Your Marketing Strategies

You can use a business plan to document your marketing plans. Every business should have an effective marketing plan.

Competition mandates every business owner to go the extraordinary mile to remain relevant in the market. Your business plan should contain your marketing strategies that work. You can measure the success rate of your marketing plans.

In your business plan, your marketing strategy must answer the questions:

• How do you want to reach your target audience?
• How do you plan to retain your customers?
• What is/are your pricing plans?
• What is your budget for marketing?

How to Write a Business Plan Step-by-Step

1. create your executive summary.

The executive summary is a snapshot of your business or a high-level overview of your business purposes and plans . Although the executive summary is the first section in your business plan, most people write it last. The length of the executive summary is not more than two pages.

Generally, there are nine sections in a business plan, the executive summary should condense essential ideas from the other eight sections.

A good executive summary should do the following:

• A Snapshot of Growth Potential. Briefly inform the reader about your company and why it will be successful)
• Contain your Mission Statement which explains what the main objective or focus of your business is.
• Product Description and Differentiation. Brief description of your products or services and why it is different from other solutions in the market.
• The Team. Basic information about your company’s leadership team and employees
• Business Concept. A solid description of what your business does.
• Target Market. The customers you plan to sell to.
• Marketing Strategy. Your plans on reaching and selling to your customers
• Current Financial State. Brief information about what revenue your business currently generates.
• Projected Financial State. Brief information about what you foresee your business revenue to be in the future.

The executive summary is the make-or-break section of your business plan. If your summary cannot in less than two pages cannot clearly describe how your business will solve a particular problem of your target audience and make a profit, your business plan is set on a faulty foundation.

Avoid using the executive summary to hype your business, instead, focus on helping the reader understand the what and how of your plan.

View the executive summary as an opportunity to introduce your vision for your company. You know your executive summary is powerful when it can answer these key questions:

• Who is your target audience?
• What sector or industry are you in?
• What are your products and services?
• What is the future of your industry?
• Is your company scaleable?
• Who are the owners and leaders of your company? What are their backgrounds and experience levels?
• What is the motivation for starting your company?
• What are the next steps?

Writing the executive summary last although it is the most important section of your business plan is an excellent idea. The reason why is because it is a high-level overview of your business plan. It is the section that determines whether potential investors and lenders will read further or not.

The executive summary can be a stand-alone document that covers everything in your business plan. It is not uncommon for investors to request only the executive summary when evaluating your business. If the information in the executive summary impresses them, they will ask for the complete business plan.

If you are writing your business plan for your planning purposes, you do not need to write the executive summary.

2. Add Your Company Overview

The company overview or description is the next section in your business plan after the executive summary. It describes what your business does.

Adding your company overview can be tricky especially when your business is still in the planning stages. Existing businesses can easily summarize their current operations but may encounter difficulties trying to explain what they plan to become.

Your company overview should contain the following:

• What products and services you will provide
• Geographical markets and locations your company have a presence
• What you need to run your business
• Who your target audience or customers are
• Who will service your customers
• Your company’s purpose, mission, and vision
• Information about your company’s founders
• Who the founders are
• Notable achievements of your company so far

When creating a company overview, you have to focus on three basics: identifying your industry, identifying your customer, and explaining the problem you solve.

If you are stuck when creating your company overview, try to answer some of these questions that pertain to you.

• Who are you targeting? (The answer is not everyone)
• What pain point does your product or service solve for your customers that they will be willing to spend money on resolving?
• How does your product or service overcome that pain point?
• Where is the location of your business?
• What products, equipment, and services do you need to run your business?
• How is your company’s product or service different from your competition in the eyes of your customers?
• How many employees do you need and what skills do you require them to have?

After answering some or all of these questions, you will get more than enough information you need to write your company overview or description section. When writing this section, describe what your company does for your customers.

The company description or overview section contains three elements: mission statement, history, and objectives.

• Mission Statement

The mission statement refers to the reason why your business or company is existing. It goes beyond what you do or sell, it is about the ‘why’. A good mission statement should be emotional and inspirational.

Your mission statement should follow the KISS rule (Keep It Simple, Stupid). For example, Shopify’s mission statement is “Make commerce better for everyone.”

When describing your company’s history, make it simple and avoid the temptation of tying it to a defensive narrative. Write it in the manner you would a profile. Your company’s history should include the following information:

• Founding Date
• Major Milestones
• Location(s)
• Flagship Products or Services
• Number of Employees
• Executive Leadership Roles

When you fill in this information, you use it to write one or two paragraphs about your company’s history.

Business Objectives

Your business objective must be SMART (specific, measurable, achievable, realistic, and time-bound.) Failure to clearly identify your business objectives does not inspire confidence and makes it hard for your team members to work towards a common purpose.

3. Perform Market and Competitive Analyses to Proof a Big Enough Business Opportunity

The third step in writing a business plan is the market and competitive analysis section. Every business, no matter the size, needs to perform comprehensive market and competitive analyses before it enters into a market.

Performing market and competitive analyses are critical for the success of your business. It helps you avoid entering the right market with the wrong product, or vice versa. Anyone reading your business plans, especially financiers and financial institutions will want to see proof that there is a big enough business opportunity you are targeting.

This section is where you describe the market and industry you want to operate in and show the big opportunities in the market that your business can leverage to make a profit. If you noticed any unique trends when doing your research, show them in this section.

Market analysis alone is not enough, you have to add competitive analysis to strengthen this section. There are already businesses in the industry or market, how do you plan to take a share of the market from them?

You have to clearly illustrate the competitive landscape in your business plan. Are there areas your competitors are doing well? Are there areas where they are not doing so well? Show it.

Make it clear in this section why you are moving into the industry and what weaknesses are present there that you plan to explain. How are your competitors going to react to your market entry? How do you plan to get customers? Do you plan on taking your competitors' competitors, tap into other sources for customers, or both?

Illustrate the competitive landscape as well. What are your competitors doing well and not so well?

Answering these questions and thoughts will aid your market and competitive analysis of the opportunities in your space. Depending on how sophisticated your industry is, or the expectations of your financiers, you may need to carry out a more comprehensive market and competitive analysis to prove that big business opportunity.

Instead of looking at the market and competitive analyses as one entity, separating them will make the research even more comprehensive.

Market Analysis

Market analysis, boarding speaking, refers to research a business carried out on its industry, market, and competitors. It helps businesses gain a good understanding of their target market and the outlook of their industry. Before starting a company, it is vital to carry out market research to find out if the market is viable.

The market analysis section is a key part of the business plan. It is the section where you identify who your best clients or customers are. You cannot omit this section, without it your business plan is incomplete.

A good market analysis will tell your readers how you fit into the existing market and what makes you stand out. This section requires in-depth research, it will probably be the most time-consuming part of the business plan to write.

• Market Research

To create a compelling market analysis that will win over investors and financial institutions, you have to carry out thorough market research . Your market research should be targeted at your primary target market for your products or services. Here is what you want to find out about your target market.

• Your target market’s needs or pain points
• The existing solutions for their pain points
• Geographic Location
• Demographics

The purpose of carrying out a marketing analysis is to get all the information you need to show that you have a solid and thorough understanding of your target audience.

Only after you have fully understood the people you plan to sell your products or services to, can you evaluate correctly if your target market will be interested in your products or services.

You can easily convince interested parties to invest in your business if you can show them you thoroughly understand the market and show them that there is a market for your products or services.

How to Quantify Your Target Market

One of the goals of your marketing research is to understand who your ideal customers are and their purchasing power. To quantify your target market, you have to determine the following:

• Your Potential Customers: They are the people you plan to target. For example, if you sell accounting software for small businesses , then anyone who runs an enterprise or large business is unlikely to be your customers. Also, individuals who do not have a business will most likely not be interested in your product.
• Total Households: If you are selling household products such as heating and air conditioning systems, determining the number of total households is more important than finding out the total population in the area you want to sell to. The logic is simple, people buy the product but it is the household that uses it.
• Median Income: You need to know the median income of your target market. If you target a market that cannot afford to buy your products and services, your business will not last long.
• Income by Demographics: If your potential customers belong to a certain age group or gender, determining income levels by demographics is necessary. For example, if you sell men's clothes, your target audience is men.

What Does a Good Market Analysis Entail?

Your business does not exist on its own, it can only flourish within an industry and alongside competitors. Market analysis takes into consideration your industry, target market, and competitors. Understanding these three entities will drastically improve your company’s chances of success.

You can view your market analysis as an examination of the market you want to break into and an education on the emerging trends and themes in that market. Good market analyses include the following:

• Industry Description. You find out about the history of your industry, the current and future market size, and who the largest players/companies are in your industry.
• Overview of Target Market. You research your target market and its characteristics. Who are you targeting? Note, it cannot be everyone, it has to be a specific group. You also have to find out all information possible about your customers that can help you understand how and why they make buying decisions.
• Size of Target Market: You need to know the size of your target market, how frequently they buy, and the expected quantity they buy so you do not risk overproducing and having lots of bad inventory. Researching the size of your target market will help you determine if it is big enough for sustained business or not.
• Growth Potential: Before picking a target market, you want to be sure there are lots of potential for future growth. You want to avoid going for an industry that is declining slowly or rapidly with almost zero growth potential.
• Market Share Potential: Does your business stand a good chance of taking a good share of the market?
• Market Pricing and Promotional Strategies: Your market analysis should give you an idea of the price point you can expect to charge for your products and services. Researching your target market will also give you ideas of pricing strategies you can implement to break into the market or to enjoy maximum profits.
• Potential Barriers to Entry: One of the biggest benefits of conducting market analysis is that it shows you every potential barrier to entry your business will likely encounter. It is a good idea to discuss potential barriers to entry such as changing technology. It informs readers of your business plan that you understand the market.
• Research on Competitors: You need to know the strengths and weaknesses of your competitors and how you can exploit them for the benefit of your business. Find patterns and trends among your competitors that make them successful, discover what works and what doesn’t, and see what you can do better.

The market analysis section is not just for talking about your target market, industry, and competitors. You also have to explain how your company can fill the hole you have identified in the market.

Here are some questions you can answer that can help you position your product or service in a positive light to your readers.

• Is your product or service of superior quality?
• What additional features do you offer that your competitors do not offer?
• Are you targeting a ‘new’ market?

Basically, your market analysis should include an analysis of what already exists in the market and an explanation of how your company fits into the market.

Competitive Analysis

In the competitive analysis section, y ou have to understand who your direct and indirect competitions are, and how successful they are in the marketplace. It is the section where you assess the strengths and weaknesses of your competitors, the advantage(s) they possess in the market and show the unique features or qualities that make you different from your competitors.

Many businesses do market analysis and competitive analysis together. However, to fully understand what the competitive analysis entails, it is essential to separate it from the market analysis.

Competitive analysis for your business can also include analysis on how to overcome barriers to entry in your target market.

The primary goal of conducting a competitive analysis is to distinguish your business from your competitors. A strong competitive analysis is essential if you want to convince potential funding sources to invest in your business. You have to show potential investors and lenders that your business has what it takes to compete in the marketplace successfully.

Competitive analysis will s how you what the strengths of your competition are and what they are doing to maintain that advantage.

When doing your competitive research, you first have to identify your competitor and then get all the information you can about them. The idea of spending time to identify your competitor and learn everything about them may seem daunting but it is well worth it.

Find answers to the following questions after you have identified who your competitors are.

• What are your successful competitors doing?
• Why is what they are doing working?
• Can your business do it better?
• What are the weaknesses of your successful competitors?
• What are they not doing well?
• Can your business turn its weaknesses into strengths?
• How good is your competitors’ customer service?
• Where do your competitors invest in advertising?
• What sales and pricing strategies are they using?
• What marketing strategies are they using?
• What kind of press coverage do they get?
• What are their customers saying about your competitors (both the positive and negative)?

If your competitors have a website, it is a good idea to visit their websites for more competitors’ research. Check their “About Us” page for more information.

If you are presenting your business plan to investors, you need to clearly distinguish yourself from your competitors. Investors can easily tell when you have not properly researched your competitors.

Take time to think about what unique qualities or features set you apart from your competitors. If you do not have any direct competition offering your product to the market, it does not mean you leave out the competitor analysis section blank. Instead research on other companies that are providing a similar product, or whose product is solving the problem your product solves.

The next step is to create a table listing the top competitors you want to include in your business plan. Ensure you list your business as the last and on the right. What you just created is known as the competitor analysis table.

Direct vs Indirect Competition

You cannot know if your product or service will be a fit for your target market if you have not understood your business and the competitive landscape.

There is no market you want to target where you will not encounter competition, even if your product is innovative. Including competitive analysis in your business plan is essential.

If you are entering an established market, you need to explain how you plan to differentiate your products from the available options in the market. Also, include a list of few companies that you view as your direct competitors The competition you face in an established market is your direct competition.

In situations where you are entering a market with no direct competition, it does not mean there is no competition there. Consider your indirect competition that offers substitutes for the products or services you offer.

For example, if you sell an innovative SaaS product, let us say a project management software , a company offering time management software is your indirect competition.

There is an easy way to find out who your indirect competitors are in the absence of no direct competitors. You simply have to research how your potential customers are solving the problems that your product or service seeks to solve. That is your direct competition.

Factors that Differentiate Your Business from the Competition

There are three main factors that any business can use to differentiate itself from its competition. They are cost leadership, product differentiation, and market segmentation.

1. Cost Leadership

A strategy you can impose to maximize your profits and gain an edge over your competitors. It involves offering lower prices than what the majority of your competitors are offering.

A common practice among businesses looking to enter into a market where there are dominant players is to use free trials or pricing to attract as many customers as possible to their offer.

2. Product Differentiation

Your product or service should have a unique selling proposition (USP) that your competitors do not have or do not stress in their marketing.

Part of the marketing strategy should involve making your products unique and different from your competitors. It does not have to be different from your competitors, it can be the addition to a feature or benefit that your competitors do not currently have.

3. Market Segmentation

As a new business seeking to break into an industry, you will gain more success from focusing on a specific niche or target market, and not the whole industry.

If your competitors are focused on a general need or target market, you can differentiate yourself from them by having a small and hyper-targeted audience. For example, if your competitors are selling men’s clothes in their online stores , you can sell hoodies for men.

4. Define Your Business and Management Structure

The next step in your business plan is your business and management structure. It is the section where you describe the legal structure of your business and the team running it.

Your business is only as good as the management team that runs it, while the management team can only strive when there is a proper business and management structure in place.

If your company is a sole proprietor or a limited liability company (LLC), a general or limited partnership, or a C or an S corporation, state it clearly in this section.

Use an organizational chart to show the management structure in your business. Clearly show who is in charge of what area in your company. It is where you show how each key manager or team leader’s unique experience can contribute immensely to the success of your company. You can also opt to add the resumes and CVs of the key players in your company.

The business and management structure section should show who the owner is, and other owners of the businesses (if the business has other owners). For businesses or companies with multiple owners, include the percent ownership of the various owners and clearly show the extent of each others’ involvement in the company.

Investors want to know who is behind the company and the team running it to determine if it has the right management to achieve its set goals.

Management Team

The management team section is where you show that you have the right team in place to successfully execute the business operations and ideas. Take time to create the management structure for your business. Think about all the important roles and responsibilities that you need managers for to grow your business.

Include brief bios of each key team member and ensure you highlight only the relevant information that is needed. If your team members have background industry experience or have held top positions for other companies and achieved success while filling that role, highlight it in this section.

A common mistake that many startups make is assigning C-level titles such as (CMO and CEO) to everyone on their team. It is unrealistic for a small business to have those titles. While it may look good on paper for the ego of your team members, it can prevent investors from investing in your business.

Instead of building an unrealistic management structure that does not fit your business reality, it is best to allow business titles to grow as the business grows. Starting everyone at the top leaves no room for future change or growth, which is bad for productivity.

Your management team does not have to be complete before you start writing your business plan. You can have a complete business plan even when there are managerial positions that are empty and need filling.

If you have management gaps in your team, simply show the gaps and indicate you are searching for the right candidates for the role(s). Investors do not expect you to have a full management team when you are just starting your business.

Key Questions to Answer When Structuring Your Management Team

• Who are the key leaders?
• What experiences, skills, and educational backgrounds do you expect your key leaders to have?
• Do your key leaders have industry experience?
• What positions will they fill and what duties will they perform in those positions?
• What level of authority do the key leaders have and what are their responsibilities?
• What is the salary for the various management positions that will attract the ideal candidates?

Additional Tips for Writing the Management Structure Section

1. Avoid Adding ‘Ghost’ Names to Your Management Team

There is always that temptation to include a ‘ghost’ name to your management team to attract and influence investors to invest in your business. Although the presence of these celebrity management team members may attract the attention of investors, it can cause your business to lose any credibility if you get found out.

Seasoned investors will investigate further the members of your management team before committing fully to your business If they find out that the celebrity name used does not play any actual role in your business, they will not invest and may write you off as dishonest.

2. Focus on Credentials But Pay Extra Attention to the Roles

Investors want to know the experience that your key team members have to determine if they can successfully reach the company’s growth and financial goals.

While it is an excellent boost for your key management team to have the right credentials, you also want to pay extra attention to the roles they will play in your company.

Organizational Chart

Adding an organizational chart in this section of your business plan is not necessary, you can do it in your business plan’s appendix.

If you are exploring funding options, it is not uncommon to get asked for your organizational chart. The function of an organizational chart goes beyond raising money, you can also use it as a useful planning tool for your business.

An organizational chart can help you identify how best to structure your management team for maximum productivity and point you towards key roles you need to fill in the future.

You can use the organizational chart to show your company’s internal management structure such as the roles and responsibilities of your management team, and relationships that exist between them.

5. Describe Your Product and Service Offering

In your business plan, you have to describe what you sell or the service you plan to offer. It is the next step after defining your business and management structure. The products and services section is where you sell the benefits of your business.

Here you have to explain how your product or service will benefit your customers and describe your product lifecycle. It is also the section where you write down your plans for intellectual property like patent filings and copyrighting.

The research and development that you are undertaking for your product or service need to be explained in detail in this section. However, do not get too technical, sell the general idea and its benefits.

If you have any diagrams or intricate designs of your product or service, do not include them in the products and services section. Instead, leave them for the addendum page. Also, if you are leaving out diagrams or designs for the addendum, ensure you add this phrase “For more detail, visit the addendum Page #.”

Your product and service section in your business plan should include the following:

• A detailed explanation that clearly shows how your product or service works.
• The pricing model for your product or service.
• Your business’ sales and distribution strategy.
• The ideal customers that want your product or service.
• The benefits of your products and services.
• Reason(s) why your product or service is a better alternative to what your competitors are currently offering in the market.
• Plans for filling the orders you receive
• If you have current or pending patents, copyrights, and trademarks for your product or service, you can also discuss them in this section.

What to Focus On When Describing the Benefits, Lifecycle, and Production Process of Your Products or Services

In the products and services section, you have to distill the benefits, lifecycle, and production process of your products and services.

When describing the benefits of your products or services, here are some key factors to focus on.

• Unique features
• Translating the unique features into benefits
• The emotional, psychological, and practical payoffs to attract customers
• Intellectual property rights or any patents

When describing the product life cycle of your products or services, here are some key factors to focus on.

• Upsells, cross-sells, and down-sells
• Time between purchases
• Plans for research and development.

When describing the production process for your products or services, you need to think about the following:

• The creation of new or existing products and services.
• The sources for the raw materials or components you need for production.
• Assembling the products
• Maintaining quality control
• Supply-chain logistics (receiving the raw materials and delivering the finished products)
• The day-to-day management of the production processes, bookkeeping, and inventory.

Tips for Writing the Products or Services Section of Your Business Plan

1. Avoid Technical Descriptions and Industry Buzzwords

The products and services section of your business plan should clearly describe the products and services that your company provides. However, it is not a section to include technical jargons that anyone outside your industry will not understand.

A good practice is to remove highly detailed or technical descriptions in favor of simple terms. Industry buzzwords are not necessary, if there are simpler terms you can use, then use them. If you plan to use your business plan to source funds, making the product or service section so technical will do you no favors.

2. Describe How Your Products or Services Differ from Your Competitors

When potential investors look at your business plan, they want to know how the products and services you are offering differ from that of your competition. Differentiating your products or services from your competition in a way that makes your solution more attractive is critical.

If you are going the innovative path and there is no market currently for your product or service, you need to describe in this section why the market needs your product or service.

For example, overnight delivery was a niche business that only a few companies were participating in. Federal Express (FedEx) had to show in its business plan that there was a large opportunity for that service and they justified why the market needed that service.

3. Long or Short Products or Services Section

Should your products or services section be short? Does the long products or services section attract more investors?

There are no straightforward answers to these questions. Whether your products or services section should be long or relatively short depends on the nature of your business.

If your business is product-focused, then automatically you need to use more space to describe the details of your products. However, if the product your business sells is a commodity item that relies on competitive pricing or other pricing strategies, you do not have to use up so much space to provide significant details about the product.

Likewise, if you are selling a commodity that is available in numerous outlets, then you do not have to spend time on writing a long products or services section.

The key to the success of your business is most likely the effectiveness of your marketing strategies compared to your competitors. Use more space to address that section.

If you are creating a new product or service that the market does not know about, your products or services section can be lengthy. The reason why is because you need to explain everything about the product or service such as the nature of the product, its use case, and values.

A short products or services section for an innovative product or service will not give the readers enough information to properly evaluate your business.

4. Describe Your Relationships with Vendors or Suppliers

Your business will rely on vendors or suppliers to supply raw materials or the components needed to make your products. In your products and services section, describe your relationships with your vendors and suppliers fully.

Avoid the mistake of relying on only one supplier or vendor. If that supplier or vendor fails to supply or goes out of business, you can easily face supply problems and struggle to meet your demands. Plan to set up multiple vendor or supplier relationships for better business stability.

5. Your Primary Goal Is to Convince Your Readers

The primary goal of your business plan is to convince your readers that your business is viable and to create a guide for your business to follow. It applies to the products and services section.

When drafting this section, think like the reader. See your reader as someone who has no idea about your products and services. You are using the products and services section to provide the needed information to help your reader understand your products and services. As a result, you have to be clear and to the point.

While you want to educate your readers about your products or services, you also do not want to bore them with lots of technical details. Show your products and services and not your fancy choice of words.

Your products and services section should provide the answer to the “what” question for your business. You and your management team may run the business, but it is your products and services that are the lifeblood of the business.

Key Questions to Answer When Writing your Products and Services Section

Answering these questions can help you write your products and services section quickly and in a way that will appeal to your readers.

• Are your products existing on the market or are they still in the development stage?
• What is your timeline for adding new products and services to the market?
• What are the positives that make your products and services different from your competitors?
• Do your products and services have any competitive advantage that your competitors’ products and services do not currently have?
• Do your products or services have any competitive disadvantages that you need to overcome to compete with your competitors? If your answer is yes, state how you plan to overcome them,
• How much does it cost to produce your products or services? How much do you plan to sell it for?
• What is the price for your products and services compared to your competitors? Is pricing an issue?
• What are your operating costs and will it be low enough for you to compete with your competitors and still take home a reasonable profit margin?
• What is your plan for acquiring your products? Are you involved in the production of your products or services?
• Are you the manufacturer and produce all the components you need to create your products? Do you assemble your products by using components supplied by other manufacturers? Do you purchase your products directly from suppliers or wholesalers?
• Do you have a steady supply of products that you need to start your business? (If your business is yet to kick-off)
• How do you plan to distribute your products or services to the market?

You can also hint at the marketing or promotion plans you have for your products or services such as how you plan to build awareness or retain customers. The next section is where you can go fully into details about your business’s marketing and sales plan.

6. Show and Explain Your Marketing and Sales Plan

Providing great products and services is wonderful, but it means nothing if you do not have a marketing and sales plan to inform your customers about them. Your marketing and sales plan is critical to the success of your business.

The sales and marketing section is where you show and offer a detailed explanation of your marketing and sales plan and how you plan to execute it. It covers your pricing plan, proposed advertising and promotion activities, activities and partnerships you need to make your business a success, and the benefits of your products and services.

There are several ways you can approach your marketing and sales strategy. Ideally, your marketing and sales strategy has to fit the unique needs of your business.

In this section, you describe how the plans your business has for attracting and retaining customers, and the exact process for making a sale happen. It is essential to thoroughly describe your complete marketing and sales plans because you are still going to reference this section when you are making financial projections for your business.

Outline Your Business’ Unique Selling Proposition (USP)

The sales and marketing section is where you outline your business’s unique selling proposition (USP). When you are developing your unique selling proposition, think about the strongest reasons why people should buy from you over your competition. That reason(s) is most likely a good fit to serve as your unique selling proposition (USP).

Target Market and Target Audience

Plans on how to get your products or services to your target market and how to get your target audience to buy them go into this section. You also highlight the strengths of your business here, particularly what sets them apart from your competition.

Before you start writing your marketing and sales plan, you need to have properly defined your target audience and fleshed out your buyer persona. If you do not first understand the individual you are marketing to, your marketing and sales plan will lack any substance and easily fall.

Creating a Smart Marketing and Sales Plan

Marketing your products and services is an investment that requires you to spend money. Like any other investment, you have to generate a good return on investment (ROI) to justify using that marketing and sales plan. Good marketing and sales plans bring in high sales and profits to your company.

Avoid spending money on unproductive marketing channels. Do your research and find out the best marketing and sales plan that works best for your company.

Your marketing and sales plan can be broken into different parts: your positioning statement, pricing, promotion, packaging, advertising, public relations, content marketing, social media, and strategic alliances.

Your Positioning Statement

Your positioning statement is the first part of your marketing and sales plan. It refers to the way you present your company to your customers.

Are you the premium solution, the low-price solution, or are you the intermediary between the two extremes in the market? What do you offer that your competitors do not that can give you leverage in the market?

Before you start writing your positioning statement, you need to spend some time evaluating the current market conditions. Here are some questions that can help you to evaluate the market

• What are the unique features or benefits that you offer that your competitors lack?
• What are your customers’ primary needs and wants?
• Why should a customer choose you over your competition? How do you plan to differentiate yourself from the competition?
• How does your company’s solution compare with other solutions in the market?

After answering these questions, then you can start writing your positioning statement. Your positioning statement does not have to be in-depth or too long.

All you need to explain with your positioning statement are two focus areas. The first is the position of your company within the competitive landscape. The other focus area is the core value proposition that sets your company apart from other alternatives that your ideal customer might consider.

Here is a simple template you can use to develop a positioning statement.

For [description of target market] who [need of target market], [product or service] [how it meets the need]. Unlike [top competition], it [most essential distinguishing feature].

For example, let’s create the positioning statement for fictional accounting software and QuickBooks alternative , TBooks.

“For small business owners who need accounting services, TBooks is an accounting software that helps small businesses handle their small business bookkeeping basics quickly and easily. Unlike Wave, TBooks gives small businesses access to live sessions with top accountants.”

You can edit this positioning statement sample and fill it with your business details.

After writing your positioning statement, the next step is the pricing of your offerings. The overall positioning strategy you set in your positioning statement will often determine how you price your products or services.

Pricing is a powerful tool that sends a strong message to your customers. Failure to get your pricing strategy right can make or mar your business. If you are targeting a low-income audience, setting a premium price can result in low sales.

You can use pricing to communicate your positioning to your customers. For example, if you are offering a product at a premium price, you are sending a message to your customers that the product belongs to the premium category.

Basic Rules to Follow When Pricing Your Offering

Setting a price for your offering involves more than just putting a price tag on it. Deciding on the right pricing for your offering requires following some basic rules. They include covering your costs, primary and secondary profit center pricing, and matching the market rate.

• Covering Your Costs: The price you set for your products or service should be more than it costs you to produce and deliver them. Every business has the same goal, to make a profit. Depending on the strategy you want to use, there are exceptions to this rule. However, the vast majority of businesses follow this rule.
• Primary and Secondary Profit Center Pricing: When a company sets its price above the cost of production, it is making that product its primary profit center. A company can also decide not to make its initial price its primary profit center by selling below or at even with its production cost. It rather depends on the support product or even maintenance that is associated with the initial purchase to make its profit. The initial price thus became its secondary profit center.
• Matching the Market Rate: A good rule to follow when pricing your products or services is to match your pricing with consumer demand and expectations. If you price your products or services beyond the price your customer perceives as the ideal price range, you may end up with no customers. Pricing your products too low below what your customer perceives as the ideal price range may lead to them undervaluing your offering.

Pricing Strategy

Your pricing strategy influences the price of your offering. There are several pricing strategies available for you to choose from when examining the right pricing strategy for your business. They include cost-plus pricing, market-based pricing, value pricing, and more.

• Cost-plus Pricing: This strategy is one of the simplest and oldest pricing strategies. Here you consider the cost of producing a unit of your product and then add a profit to it to arrive at your market price. It is an effective pricing strategy for manufacturers because it helps them cover their initial costs. Another name for the cost-plus pricing strategy is the markup pricing strategy.
• Market-based Pricing: This pricing strategy analyses the market including competitors’ pricing and then sets a price based on what the market is expecting. With this pricing strategy, you can either set your price at the low-end or high-end of the market.
• Value Pricing: This pricing strategy involves setting a price based on the value you are providing to your customer. When adopting a value-based pricing strategy, you have to set a price that your customers are willing to pay. Service-based businesses such as small business insurance providers , luxury goods sellers, and the fashion industry use this pricing strategy.

After carefully sorting out your positioning statement and pricing, the next item to look at is your promotional strategy. Your promotional strategy explains how you plan on communicating with your customers and prospects.

As a business, you must measure all your costs, including the cost of your promotions. You also want to measure how much sales your promotions bring for your business to determine its usefulness. Promotional strategies or programs that do not lead to profit need to be removed.

There are different types of promotional strategies you can adopt for your business, they include advertising, public relations, and content marketing.

Advertising

Your business plan should include your advertising plan which can be found in the marketing and sales plan section. You need to include an overview of your advertising plans such as the areas you plan to spend money on to advertise your business and offers.

Ensure that you make it clear in this section if your business will be advertising online or using the more traditional offline media, or the combination of both online and offline media. You can also include the advertising medium you want to use to raise awareness about your business and offers.

Some common online advertising mediums you can use include social media ads, landing pages, sales pages, SEO, Pay-Per-Click, emails, Google Ads, and others. Some common traditional and offline advertising mediums include word of mouth, radios, direct mail, televisions, flyers, billboards, posters, and others.

A key component of your advertising strategy is how you plan to measure the effectiveness and success of your advertising campaign. There is no point in sticking with an advertising plan or medium that does not produce results for your business in the long run.

Public Relations

A great way to reach your customers is to get the media to cover your business or product. Publicity, especially good ones, should be a part of your marketing and sales plan. In this section, show your plans for getting prominent reviews of your product from reputable publications and sources.

Your business needs that exposure to grow. If public relations is a crucial part of your promotional strategy, provide details about your public relations plan here.

Content Marketing

Content marketing is a popular promotional strategy used by businesses to inform and attract their customers. It is about teaching and educating your prospects on various topics of interest in your niche, it does not just involve informing them about the benefits and features of the products and services you have,

Businesses publish content usually for free where they provide useful information, tips, and advice so that their target market can be made aware of the importance of their products and services. Content marketing strategies seek to nurture prospects into buyers over time by simply providing value.

Your company can create a blog where it will be publishing content for its target market. You will need to use the best website builder such as Wix and Squarespace and the best web hosting services such as Bluehost, Hostinger, and other Bluehost alternatives to create a functional blog or website.

If content marketing is a crucial part of your promotional strategy (as it should be), detail your plans under promotions.

Including high-quality images of the packaging of your product in your business plan is a lovely idea. You can add the images of the packaging of that product in the marketing and sales plan section. If you are not selling a product, then you do not need to include any worry about the physical packaging of your product.

When organizing the packaging section of your business plan, you can answer the following questions to make maximum use of this section.

• Is your choice of packaging consistent with your positioning strategy?
• What key value proposition does your packaging communicate? (It should reflect the key value proposition of your business)
• How does your packaging compare to that of your competitors?

Social Media

Your 21st-century business needs to have a good social media presence. Not having one is leaving out opportunities for growth and reaching out to your prospect.

You do not have to join the thousands of social media platforms out there. What you need to do is join the ones that your customers are active on and be active there.

Businesses use social media to provide information about their products such as promotions, discounts, the benefits of their products, and content on their blogs.

Social media is also a platform for engaging with your customers and getting feedback about your products or services. Make no mistake, more and more of your prospects are using social media channels to find more information about companies.

You need to consider the social media channels you want to prioritize your business (prioritize the ones your customers are active in) and your branding plans in this section.

Strategic Alliances

If your company plans to work closely with other companies as part of your sales and marketing plan, include it in this section. Prove details about those partnerships in your business plan if you have already established them.

Strategic alliances can be beneficial for all parties involved including your company. Working closely with another company in the form of a partnership can provide access to a different target market segment for your company.

The company you are partnering with may also gain access to your target market or simply offer a new product or service (that of your company) to its customers.

Mutually beneficial partnerships can cover the weaknesses of one company with the strength of another. You should consider strategic alliances with companies that sell complimentary products to yours. For example, if you provide printers, you can partner with a company that produces ink since the customers that buy printers from you will also need inks for printing.

Steps Involved in Creating a Marketing and Sales Plan

1. Focus on Your Target Market

Identify who your customers are, the market you want to target. Then determine the best ways to get your products or services to your potential customers.

2. Evaluate Your Competition

One of the goals of having a marketing plan is to distinguish yourself from your competition. You cannot stand out from them without first knowing them in and out.

You can know your competitors by gathering information about their products, pricing, service, and advertising campaigns.

These questions can help you know your competition.

• What makes your competition successful?
• What are their weaknesses?
• What are customers saying about your competition?

3. Consider Your Brand

Customers' perception of your brand has a strong impact on your sales. Your marketing and sales plan should seek to bolster the image of your brand. Before you start marketing your business, think about the message you want to pass across about your business and your products and services.

4. Focus on Benefits

The majority of your customers do not view your product in terms of features, what they want to know is the benefits and solutions your product offers. Think about the problems your product solves and the benefits it delivers, and use it to create the right sales and marketing message.

Your marketing plan should focus on what you want your customer to get instead of what you provide. Identify those benefits in your marketing and sales plan.

5. Focus on Differentiation

Your marketing and sales plan should look for a unique angle they can take that differentiates your business from the competition, even if the products offered are similar. Some good areas of differentiation you can use are your benefits, pricing, and features.

Key Questions to Answer When Writing Your Marketing and Sales Plan

• What is your company’s budget for sales and marketing campaigns?
• What key metrics will you use to determine if your marketing plans are successful?
• What are your alternatives if your initial marketing efforts do not succeed?
• Who are the sales representatives you need to promote your products or services?
• What are the marketing and sales channels you plan to use? How do you plan to get your products in front of your ideal customers?
• Where will you sell your products?

You may want to include samples of marketing materials you plan to use such as print ads, website descriptions, and social media ads. While it is not compulsory to include these samples, it can help you better communicate your marketing and sales plan and objectives.

The purpose of the marketing and sales section is to answer this question “How will you reach your customers?” If you cannot convincingly provide an answer to this question, you need to rework your marketing and sales section.

7. Clearly Show Your Funding Request

If you are writing your business plan to ask for funding from investors or financial institutions, the funding request section is where you will outline your funding requirements. The funding request section should answer the question ‘How much money will your business need in the near future (3 to 5 years)?’

A good funding request section will clearly outline and explain the amount of funding your business needs over the next five years. You need to know the amount of money your business needs to make an accurate funding request.

Also, when writing your funding request, provide details of how the funds will be used over the period. Specify if you want to use the funds to buy raw materials or machinery, pay salaries, pay for advertisements, and cover specific bills such as rent and electricity.

In addition to explaining what you want to use the funds requested for, you need to clearly state the projected return on investment (ROI) . Investors and creditors want to know if your business can generate profit for them if they put funds into it.

Ensure you do not inflate the figures and stay as realistic as possible. Investors and financial institutions you are seeking funds from will do their research before investing money in your business.

If you are not sure of an exact number to request from, you can use some range of numbers as rough estimates. Add a best-case scenario and a work-case scenario to your funding request. Also, include a description of your strategic future financial plans such as selling your business or paying off debts.

Funding Request: Debt or Equity?

When making your funding request, specify the type of funding you want. Do you want debt or equity? Draw out the terms that will be applicable for the funding, and the length of time the funding request will cover.

Case for Equity

If your new business has not yet started generating profits, you are most likely preparing to sell equity in your business to raise capital at the early stage. Equity here refers to ownership. In this case, you are selling a portion of your company to raise capital.

Although this method of raising capital for your business does not put your business in debt, keep in mind that an equity owner may expect to play a key role in company decisions even if he does not hold a major stake in the company.

Most equity sales for startups are usually private transactions . If you are making a funding request by offering equity in exchange for funding, let the investor know that they will be paid a dividend (a share of the company’s profit). Also, let the investor know the process for selling their equity in your business.

Case for Debt

You may decide not to offer equity in exchange for funds, instead, you make a funding request with the promise to pay back the money borrowed at the agreed time frame.

When making a funding request with an agreement to pay back, note that you will have to repay your creditors both the principal amount borrowed and the interest on it. Financial institutions offer this type of funding for businesses.

Large companies combine both equity and debt in their capital structure. When drafting your business plan, decide if you want to offer both or one over the other.

Before you sell equity in exchange for funding in your business, consider if you are willing to accept not being in total control of your business. Also, before you seek loans in your funding request section, ensure that the terms of repayment are favorable.

You should set a clear timeline in your funding request so that potential investors and creditors can know what you are expecting. Some investors and creditors may agree to your funding request and then delay payment for longer than 30 days, meanwhile, your business needs an immediate cash injection to operate efficiently.

Additional Tips for Writing the Funding Request Section of your Business Plan

The funding request section is not necessary for every business, it is only needed by businesses who plan to use their business plan to secure funding.

If you are adding the funding request section to your business plan, provide an itemized summary of how you plan to use the funds requested. Hiring a lawyer, accountant, or other professionals may be necessary for the proper development of this section.

You should also gather and use financial statements that add credibility and support to your funding requests. Ensure that the financial statements you use should include your projected financial data such as projected cash flows, forecast statements, and expenditure budgets.

If you are an existing business, include all historical financial statements such as cash flow statements, balance sheets and income statements .

Provide monthly and quarterly financial statements for a year. If your business has records that date back beyond the one-year mark, add the yearly statements of those years. These documents are for the appendix section of your business plan.

8. Detail Your Financial Plan, Metrics, and Projections

If you used the funding request section in your business plan, supplement it with a financial plan, metrics, and projections. This section paints a picture of the past performance of your business and then goes ahead to make an informed projection about its future.

The goal of this section is to convince readers that your business is going to be a financial success. It outlines your business plan to generate enough profit to repay the loan (with interest if applicable) and to generate a decent return on investment for investors.

If you have an existing business already in operation, use this section to demonstrate stability through finance. This section should include your cash flow statements, balance sheets, and income statements covering the last three to five years. If your business has some acceptable collateral that you can use to acquire loans, list it in the financial plan, metrics, and projection section.

Apart from current financial statements, this section should also contain a prospective financial outlook that spans the next five years. Include forecasted income statements, cash flow statements, balance sheets, and capital expenditure budget.

If your business is new and is not yet generating profit, use clear and realistic projections to show the potentials of your business.

When drafting this section, research industry norms and the performance of comparable businesses. Your financial projections should cover at least five years. State the logic behind your financial projections. Remember you can always make adjustments to this section as the variables change.

The financial plan, metrics, and projection section create a baseline which your business can either exceed or fail to reach. If your business fails to reach your projections in this section, you need to understand why it failed.

Investors and loan managers spend a lot of time going through the financial plan, metrics, and projection section compared to other parts of the business plan. Ensure you spend time creating credible financial analyses for your business in this section.

Many entrepreneurs find this section daunting to write. You do not need a business degree to create a solid financial forecast for your business. Business finances, especially for startups, are not as complicated as they seem. There are several online tools and templates that make writing this section so much easier.

Use Graphs and Charts

The financial plan, metrics, and projection section is a great place to use graphs and charts to tell the financial story of your business. Charts and images make it easier to communicate your finances.

Accuracy in this section is key, ensure you carefully analyze your past financial statements properly before making financial projects.

Address the Risk Factors and Show Realistic Financial Projections

Keep your financial plan, metrics, and projection realistic. It is okay to be optimistic in your financial projection, however, you have to justify it.

You should also address the various risk factors associated with your business in this section. Investors want to know the potential risks involved, show them. You should also show your plans for mitigating those risks.

What You Should In The Financial Plan, Metrics, and Projection Section of Your Business Plan

The financial plan, metrics, and projection section of your business plan should have monthly sales and revenue forecasts for the first year. It should also include annual projections that cover 3 to 5 years.

A three-year projection is a basic requirement to have in your business plan. However, some investors may request a five-year forecast.

Your business plan should include the following financial statements: sales forecast, personnel plan, income statement, income statement, cash flow statement, balance sheet, and an exit strategy.

1. Sales Forecast

Sales forecast refers to your projections about the number of sales your business is going to record over the next few years. It is typically broken into several rows, with each row assigned to a core product or service that your business is offering.

One common mistake people make in their business plan is to break down the sales forecast section into long details. A sales forecast should forecast the high-level details.

For example, if you are forecasting sales for a payroll software provider, you could break down your forecast into target market segments or subscription categories.

Your sales forecast section should also have a corresponding row for each sales row to cover the direct cost or Cost of Goods Sold (COGS). The objective of these rows is to show the expenses that your business incurs in making and delivering your product or service.

Note that your Cost of Goods Sold (COGS) should only cover those direct costs incurred when making your products. Other indirect expenses such as insurance, salaries, payroll tax, and rent should not be included.

For example, the Cost of Goods Sold (COGS) for a restaurant is the cost of ingredients while for a consulting company it will be the cost of paper and other presentation materials.

2. Personnel Plan

The personnel plan section is where you provide details about the payment plan for your employees. For a small business, you can easily list every position in your company and how much you plan to pay in the personnel plan.

However, for larger businesses, you have to break the personnel plan into functional groups such as sales and marketing.

The personnel plan will also include the cost of an employee beyond salary, commonly referred to as the employee burden. These costs include insurance, payroll taxes , and other essential costs incurred monthly as a result of having employees on your payroll.

3. Income Statement

The income statement section shows if your business is making a profit or taking a loss. Another name for the income statement is the profit and loss (P&L). It takes data from your sales forecast and personnel plan and adds other ongoing expenses you incur while running your business.

Every business plan should have an income statement. It subtracts your business expenses from its earnings to show if your business is generating profit or incurring losses.

The income statement has the following items: sales, Cost of Goods Sold (COGS), gross margin, operating expenses, total operating expenses, operating income , total expenses, and net profit.

• Sales refer to the revenue your business generates from selling its products or services. Other names for sales are income or revenue.
• Cost of Goods Sold (COGS) refers to the total cost of selling your products. Other names for COGS are direct costs or cost of sales. Manufacturing businesses use the Costs of Goods Manufactured (COGM) .
• Gross Margin is the figure you get when you subtract your COGS from your sales. In your income statement, you can express it as a percentage of total sales (Gross margin / Sales = Gross Margin Percent).
• Operating Expenses refer to all the expenses you incur from running your business. It exempts the COGS because it stands alone as a core part of your income statement. You also have to exclude taxes, depreciation, and amortization. Your operating expenses include salaries, marketing expenses, research and development (R&D) expenses, and other expenses.
• Total Operating Expenses refers to the sum of all your operating expenses including those exemptions named above under operating expenses.
• Operating Income refers to earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization. It is simply known as the acronym EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization). Calculating your operating income is simple, all you need to do is to subtract your COGS and total operating expenses from your sales.
• Total Expenses refer to the sum of your operating expenses and your business’ interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization.
• Net profit shows whether your business has made a profit or taken a loss during a given timeframe.

4. Cash Flow Statement

The cash flow statement tracks the money you have in the bank at any given point. It is often confused with the income statement or the profit and loss statement. They are both different types of financial statements. The income statement calculates your profits and losses while the cash flow statement shows you how much you have in the bank.

5. Balance Sheet

The balance sheet is a financial statement that provides an overview of the financial health of your business. It contains information about the assets and liabilities of your company, and owner’s or shareholders’ equity.

You can get the net worth of your company by subtracting your company’s liabilities from its assets.

6. Exit Strategy

The exit strategy refers to a probable plan for selling your business either to the public in an IPO or to another company. It is the last thing you include in the financial plan, metrics, and projection section.

You can choose to omit the exit strategy from your business plan if you plan to maintain full ownership of your business and do not plan on seeking angel investment or virtual capitalist (VC) funding.

Investors may want to know what your exit plan is. They invest in your business to get a good return on investment.

Your exit strategy does not have to include long and boring details. Ensure you identify some interested parties who may be interested in buying the company if it becomes a success.

Key Questions to Answer with Your Financial Plan, Metrics, and Projection

Your financial plan, metrics, and projection section helps investors, creditors, or your internal managers to understand what your expenses are, the amount of cash you need, and what it takes to make your company profitable. It also shows what you will be doing with any funding.

You do not need to show actual financial data if you do not have one. Adding forecasts and projections to your financial statements is added proof that your strategy is feasible and shows investors you have planned properly.

Here are some key questions to answer to help you develop this section.

• What is your sales forecast for the next year?
• When will your company achieve a positive cash flow?
• What are the core expenses you need to operate?
• How much money do you need upfront to operate or grow your company?
• How will you use the loans or investments?

9. Add an Appendix to Your Business Plan

Adding an appendix to your business plan is optional. It is a useful place to put any charts, tables, legal notes, definitions, permits, résumés, and other critical information that do not fit into other sections of your business plan.

The appendix section is where you would want to include details of a patent or patent-pending if you have one. You can always add illustrations or images of your products here. It is the last section of your business plan.

When writing your business plan, there are details you cut short or remove to prevent the entire section from becoming too lengthy. There are also details you want to include in the business plan but are not a good fit for any of the previous sections. You can add that additional information to the appendix section.

Businesses also use the appendix section to include supporting documents or other materials specially requested by investors or lenders.

You can include just about any information that supports the assumptions and statements you made in the business plan under the appendix. It is the one place in the business plan where unrelated data and information can coexist amicably.

If your appendix section is lengthy, try organizing it by adding a table of contents at the beginning of the appendix section. It is also advisable to group similar information to make it easier for the reader to access them.

A well-organized appendix section makes it easier to share your information clearly and concisely. Add footnotes throughout the rest of the business plan or make references in the plan to the documents in the appendix.

The appendix section is usually only necessary if you are seeking funding from investors or lenders, or hoping to attract partners.

People reading business plans do not want to spend time going through a heap of backup information, numbers, and charts. Keep these documents or information in the Appendix section in case the reader wants to dig deeper.

Common Items to Include in the Appendix Section of Your Business Plan

The appendix section includes documents that supplement or support the information or claims given in other sections of the business plans. Common items you can include in the appendix section include:

• Additional data about the process of manufacturing or creation
• Additional description of products or services such as product schematics
• Additional financial documents or projections
• Articles of incorporation and status
• Backup for market research or competitive analysis
• Bank statements
• Business registries
• Client testimonials (if your business is already running)
• Copies of insurances
• Credit histories (personal or/and business)
• Deeds and permits
• Equipment leases
• Examples of marketing and advertising collateral
• Industry associations and memberships
• Images of product
• Intellectual property
• Key customer contracts
• Legal documents and other contracts
• Letters of reference
• Links to references
• Market research data
• Organizational charts
• Photographs of potential facilities
• Professional licenses pertaining to your legal structure or type of business
• Purchase orders
• Resumes of the founder(s) and key managers
• State and federal identification numbers or codes
• Trademarks or patents’ registrations

Avoid using the appendix section as a place to dump any document or information you feel like adding. Only add documents or information that you support or increase the credibility of your business plan.

Tips and Strategies for Writing a Convincing Business Plan

To achieve a perfect business plan, you need to consider some key tips and strategies. These tips will raise the efficiency of your business plan above average.

1. Know Your Audience

When writing a business plan, you need to know your audience . Business owners write business plans for different reasons. Your business plan has to be specific. For example, you can write business plans to potential investors, banks, and even fellow board members of the company.

The audience you are writing to determines the structure of the business plan. As a business owner, you have to know your audience. Not everyone will be your audience. Knowing your audience will help you to narrow the scope of your business plan.

Consider what your audience wants to see in your projects, the likely questions they might ask, and what interests them.

• A business plan used to address a company's board members will center on its employment schemes, internal affairs, projects, stakeholders, etc.
• A business plan for financial institutions will talk about the size of your market and the chances for you to pay back any loans you demand.
• A business plan for investors will show proof that you can return the investment capital within a specific time. In addition, it discusses your financial projections, tractions, and market size.

2. Get Inspiration from People

Writing a business plan from scratch as an entrepreneur can be daunting. That is why you need the right inspiration to push you to write one. You can gain inspiration from the successful business plans of other businesses. Look at their business plans, the style they use, the structure of the project, etc.

To make your business plan easier to create, search companies related to your business to get an exact copy of what you need to create an effective business plan. You can also make references while citing examples in your business plans.

When drafting your business plan, get as much help from others as you possibly can. By getting inspiration from people, you can create something better than what they have.

3. Avoid Being Over Optimistic

Many business owners make use of strong adjectives to qualify their content. One of the big mistakes entrepreneurs make when preparing a business plan is promising too much.

The use of superlatives and over-optimistic claims can prepare the audience for more than you can offer. In the end, you disappoint the confidence they have in you.

In most cases, the best option is to be realistic with your claims and statistics. Most of the investors can sense a bit of incompetency from the overuse of superlatives. As a new entrepreneur, do not be tempted to over-promise to get the interests of investors.

The concept of entrepreneurship centers on risks, nothing is certain when you make future analyses. What separates the best is the ability to do careful research and work towards achieving that, not promising more than you can achieve.

To make an excellent first impression as an entrepreneur, replace superlatives with compelling data-driven content. In this way, you are more specific than someone promising a huge ROI from an investment.

4. Keep it Simple and Short

When writing business plans, ensure you keep them simple throughout. Irrespective of the purpose of the business plan, your goal is to convince the audience.

One way to achieve this goal is to make them understand your proposal. Therefore, it would be best if you avoid the use of complex grammar to express yourself. It would be a huge turn-off if the people you want to convince are not familiar with your use of words.

Another thing to note is the length of your business plan. It would be best if you made it as brief as possible.

You hardly see investors or agencies that read through an extremely long document. In that case, if your first few pages can’t convince them, then you have lost it. The more pages you write, the higher the chances of you derailing from the essential contents.

To ensure your business plan has a high conversion rate, you need to dispose of every unnecessary information. For example, if you have a strategy that you are not sure of, it would be best to leave it out of the plan.

5. Make an Outline and Follow Through

A perfect business plan must have touched every part needed to convince the audience. Business owners get easily tempted to concentrate more on their products than on other sections. Doing this can be detrimental to the efficiency of the business plan.

For example, imagine you talking about a product but omitting or providing very little information about the target audience. You will leave your clients confused.

To ensure that your business plan communicates your full business model to readers, you have to input all the necessary information in it. One of the best ways to achieve this is to design a structure and stick to it.

This structure is what guides you throughout the writing. To make your work easier, you can assign an estimated word count or page limit to every section to avoid making it too bulky for easy reading. As a guide, the necessary things your business plan must contain are:

• Table of contents
• Introduction
• Product or service description
• Target audience
• Market size
• Competition analysis
• Financial projections

Some specific businesses can include some other essential sections, but these are the key sections that must be in every business plan.

6. Ask a Professional to Proofread

When writing a business plan, you must tie all loose ends to get a perfect result. When you are done with writing, call a professional to go through the document for you. You are bound to make mistakes, and the way to correct them is to get external help.

You should get a professional in your field who can relate to every section of your business plan. It would be easier for the professional to notice the inner flaws in the document than an editor with no knowledge of your business.

In addition to getting a professional to proofread, get an editor to proofread and edit your document. The editor will help you identify grammatical errors, spelling mistakes, and inappropriate writing styles.

Writing a business plan can be daunting, but you can surmount that obstacle and get the best out of it with these tips.

Business Plan Examples and Templates That’ll Save You Tons of Time

1. hubspot's one-page business plan.

The one-page business plan template by HubSpot is the perfect guide for businesses of any size, irrespective of their business strategy. Although the template is condensed into a page, your final business plan should not be a page long! The template is designed to ask helpful questions that can help you develop your business plan.

Hubspot’s one-page business plan template is divided into nine fields:

• Business opportunity
• Company description
• Industry analysis
• Target market
• Implementation timeline
• Marketing plan
• Financial summary
• Funding required

2. Bplan’s Free Business Plan Template

Bplans' free business plan template is investor-approved. It is a rich template used by prestigious educational institutions such as Babson College and Princeton University to teach entrepreneurs how to create a business plan.

The template has six sections: the executive summary, opportunity, execution, company, financial plan, and appendix. There is a step-by-step guide for writing every little detail in the business plan. Follow the instructions each step of the way and you will create a business plan that impresses investors or lenders easily.

3. HubSpot's Downloadable Business Plan Template

HubSpot’s downloadable business plan template is a more comprehensive option compared to the one-page business template by HubSpot. This free and downloadable business plan template is designed for entrepreneurs.

The template is a comprehensive guide and checklist for business owners just starting their businesses. It tells you everything you need to fill in each section of the business plan and how to do it.

There are nine sections in this business plan template: an executive summary, company and business description, product and services line, market analysis, marketing plan, sales plan, legal notes, financial considerations, and appendix.

4. Business Plan by My Own Business Institute

My Own Business Institute (MOBI) which is a part of Santa Clara University's Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship offers a free business plan template. You can either copy the free business template from the link provided above or download it as a Word document.

The comprehensive template consists of a whopping 15 sections.

• The Business Profile
• The Vision and the People
• Home-Based Business and Freelance Business Opportunities
• Organization
• Licenses and Permits
• Business Insurance
• Communication Tools
• Acquisitions
• Location and Leasing
• Accounting and Cash Flow
• Opening and Marketing
• Managing Employees
• Expanding and Handling Problems

There are lots of helpful tips on how to fill each section in the free business plan template by MOBI.

5. Score's Business Plan Template for Startups

Score is an American nonprofit organization that helps entrepreneurs build successful companies. This business plan template for startups by Score is available for free download. The business plan template asks a whooping 150 generic questions that help entrepreneurs from different fields to set up the perfect business plan.

The business plan template for startups contains clear instructions and worksheets, all you have to do is answer the questions and fill the worksheets.

There are nine sections in the business plan template: executive summary, company description, products and services, marketing plan, operational plan, management and organization, startup expenses and capitalization, financial plan, and appendices.

The ‘refining the plan’ resource contains instructions that help you modify your business plan to suit your specific needs, industry, and target audience. After you have completed Score’s business plan template, you can work with a SCORE mentor for expert advice in business planning.

6. Minimalist Architecture Business Plan Template by Venngage

The minimalist architecture business plan template is a simple template by Venngage that you can customize to suit your business needs .

There are five sections in the template: an executive summary, statement of problem, approach and methodology, qualifications, and schedule and benchmark. The business plan template has instructions that guide users on what to fill in each section.

7. Small Business Administration Free Business Plan Template

The Small Business Administration (SBA) offers two free business plan templates, filled with practical real-life examples that you can model to create your business plan. Both free business plan templates are written by fictional business owners: Rebecca who owns a consulting firm, and Andrew who owns a toy company.

There are five sections in the two SBA’s free business plan templates.

• Executive Summary
• Company Description
• Service Line
• Marketing and Sales

8. The $100 Startup's One-Page Business Plan

The one-page business plan by the $100 startup is a simple business plan template for entrepreneurs who do not want to create a long and complicated plan . You can include more details in the appendices for funders who want more information beyond what you can put in the one-page business plan.

There are five sections in the one-page business plan such as overview, ka-ching, hustling, success, and obstacles or challenges or open questions. You can answer all the questions using one or two sentences.

9. PandaDoc’s Free Business Plan Template

The free business plan template by PandaDoc is a comprehensive 15-page document that describes the information you should include in every section.

There are 11 sections in PandaDoc’s free business plan template.

• Executive summary
• Business description
• Products and services
• Operations plan
• Management organization
• Financial plan
• Conclusion / Call to action
• Confidentiality statement

You have to sign up for its 14-day free trial to access the template. You will find different business plan templates on PandaDoc once you sign up (including templates for general businesses and specific businesses such as bakeries, startups, restaurants, salons, hotels, and coffee shops)

PandaDoc allows you to customize its business plan templates to fit the needs of your business. After editing the template, you can send it to interested parties and track opens and views through PandaDoc.

10. Invoiceberry Templates for Word, Open Office, Excel, or PPT

InvoiceBerry is a U.K based online invoicing and tracking platform that offers free business plan templates in .docx, .odt, .xlsx, and .pptx formats for freelancers and small businesses.

Before you can download the free business plan template, it will ask you to give it your email address. After you complete the little task, it will send the download link to your inbox for you to download. It also provides a business plan checklist in .xlsx file format that ensures you add the right information to the business plan.

Alternatives to the Traditional Business Plan

A business plan is very important in mapping out how one expects their business to grow over a set number of years, particularly when they need external investment in their business. However, many investors do not have the time to watch you present your business plan. It is a long and boring read.

Luckily, there are three alternatives to the traditional business plan (the Business Model Canvas, Lean Canvas, and Startup Pitch Deck). These alternatives are less laborious and easier and quicker to present to investors.

Business Model Canvas (BMC)

The business model canvas is a business tool used to present all the important components of setting up a business, such as customers, route to market, value proposition, and finance in a single sheet. It provides a very focused blueprint that defines your business initially which you can later expand on if needed.

The sheet is divided mainly into company, industry, and consumer models that are interconnected in how they find problems and proffer solutions.

Segments of the Business Model Canvas

The business model canvas was developed by founder Alexander Osterwalder to answer important business questions. It contains nine segments.

• Key Partners: Who will be occupying important executive positions in your business? What do they bring to the table? Will there be a third party involved with the company?
• Key Activities: What important activities will production entail? What activities will be carried out to ensure the smooth running of the company?
• The Product’s Value Propositions: What does your product do? How will it be different from other products?
• Customer Segments: What demography of consumers are you targeting? What are the habits of these consumers? Who are the MVPs of your target consumers?
• Customer Relationships: How will the team support and work with its customer base? How do you intend to build and maintain trust with the customer?
• Key Resources: What type of personnel and tools will be needed? What size of the budget will they need access to?
• Channels: How do you plan to create awareness of your products? How do you intend to transport your product to the customer?
• Cost Structure: What is the estimated cost of production? How much will distribution cost?
• Revenue Streams: For what value are customers willing to pay? How do they prefer to pay for the product? Are there any external revenues attached apart from the main source? How do the revenue streams contribute to the overall revenue?

Lean Canvas

The lean canvas is a problem-oriented alternative to the standard business model canvas. It was proposed by Ash Maurya, creator of Lean Stack as a development of the business model generation. It uses a more problem-focused approach and it majorly targets entrepreneurs and startup businesses.

Lean Canvas uses the same 9 blocks concept as the business model canvas, however, they have been modified slightly to suit the needs and purpose of a small startup. The key partners, key activities, customer relationships, and key resources are replaced by new segments which are:

• Problem: Simple and straightforward number of problems you have identified, ideally three.
• Solution: The solutions to each problem.
• Unfair Advantage: Something you possess that can't be easily bought or replicated.
• Key Metrics: Important numbers that will tell how your business is doing.

Startup Pitch Deck

While the business model canvas compresses into a factual sheet, startup pitch decks expand flamboyantly.

Pitch decks, through slides, convey your business plan, often through graphs and images used to emphasize estimations and observations in your presentation. Entrepreneurs often use pitch decks to fully convince their target audience of their plans before discussing funding arrangements.

Considering the likelihood of it being used in a small time frame, a good startup pitch deck should ideally contain 20 slides or less to have enough time to answer questions from the audience.

Unlike the standard and lean business model canvases, a pitch deck doesn't have a set template on how to present your business plan but there are still important components to it. These components often mirror those of the business model canvas except that they are in slide form and contain more details.

Using Airbnb (one of the most successful start-ups in recent history) for reference, the important components of a good slide are listed below.

• Cover/Introduction Slide: Here, you should include your company's name and mission statement. Your mission statement should be a very catchy tagline. Also, include personal information and contact details to provide an easy link for potential investors.
• Problem Slide: This slide requires you to create a connection with the audience or the investor that you are pitching. For example in their pitch, Airbnb summarized the most important problems it would solve in three brief points – pricing of hotels, disconnection from city culture, and connection problems for local bookings.
• Solution Slide: This slide includes your core value proposition. List simple and direct solutions to the problems you have mentioned
• Customer Analysis: Here you will provide information on the customers you will be offering your service to. The identity of your customers plays an important part in fundraising as well as the long-run viability of the business.
• Market Validation: Use competitive analysis to show numbers that prove the presence of a market for your product, industry behavior in the present and the long run, as well as the percentage of the market you aim to attract. It shows that you understand your competitors and customers and convinces investors of the opportunities presented in the market.
• Business Model: Your business model is the hook of your presentation. It may vary in complexity but it should generally include a pricing system informed by your market analysis. The goal of the slide is to confirm your business model is easy to implement.
• Marketing Strategy: This slide should summarize a few customer acquisition methods that you plan to use to grow the business.
• Competitive Advantage: What this slide will do is provide information on what will set you apart and make you a more attractive option to customers. It could be the possession of technology that is not widely known in the market.
• Team Slide: Here you will give a brief description of your team. Include your key management personnel here and their specific roles in the company. Include their educational background, job history, and skillsets. Also, talk about their accomplishments in their careers so far to build investors' confidence in members of your team.
• Traction Slide: This validates the company’s business model by showing growth through early sales and support. The slide aims to reduce any lingering fears in potential investors by showing realistic periodic milestones and profit margins. It can include current sales, growth, valuable customers, pre-orders, or data from surveys outlining current consumer interest.
• Funding Slide: This slide is popularly referred to as ‘the ask'. Here you will include important details like how much is needed to get your business off the ground and how the funding will be spent to help the company reach its goals.
• Appendix Slides: Your pitch deck appendix should always be included alongside a standard pitch presentation. It consists of additional slides you could not show in the pitch deck but you need to complement your presentation.

It is important to support your calculations with pictorial renditions. Infographics, such as pie charts or bar graphs, will be more effective in presenting the information than just listing numbers. For example, a six-month graph that shows rising profit margins will easily look more impressive than merely writing it.

Lastly, since a pitch deck is primarily used to secure meetings and you may be sharing your pitch with several investors, it is advisable to keep a separate public version that doesn't include financials. Only disclose the one with projections once you have secured a link with an investor.

Advantages of the Business Model Canvas, Lean Canvas, and Startup Pitch Deck over the Traditional Business Plan

• Time-Saving: Writing a detailed traditional business plan could take weeks or months. On the other hand, all three alternatives can be done in a few days or even one night of brainstorming if you have a comprehensive understanding of your business.
• Easier to Understand: Since the information presented is almost entirely factual, it puts focus on what is most important in running the business. They cut away the excess pages of fillers in a traditional business plan and allow investors to see what is driving the business and what is getting in the way.
• Easy to Update: Businesses typically present their business plans to many potential investors before they secure funding. What this means is that you may regularly have to amend your presentation to update statistics or adjust to audience-specific needs. For a traditional business plan, this could mean rewriting a whole section of your plan. For the three alternatives, updating is much easier because they are not voluminous.
• Guide for a More In-depth Business Plan: All three alternatives have the added benefit of being able to double as a sketch of your business plan if the need to create one arises in the future.

Business Plan FAQ

Business plans are important for any entrepreneur who is looking for a framework to run their company over some time or seeking external support. Although they are essential for new businesses, every company should ideally have a business plan to track their growth from time to time.  They can be used by startups seeking investments or loans to convey their business ideas or an employee to convince his boss of the feasibility of starting a new project. They can also be used by companies seeking to recruit high-profile employee targets into key positions or trying to secure partnerships with other firms.

Business plans often vary depending on your target audience, the scope, and the goals for the plan. Startup plans are the most common among the different types of business plans.  A start-up plan is used by a new business to present all the necessary information to help get the business up and running. They are usually used by entrepreneurs who are seeking funding from investors or bank loans. The established company alternative to a start-up plan is a feasibility plan. A feasibility plan is often used by an established company looking for new business opportunities. They are used to show the upsides of creating a new product for a consumer base. Because the audience is usually company people, it requires less company analysis. The third type of business plan is the lean business plan. A lean business plan is a brief, straight-to-the-point breakdown of your ideas and analysis for your business. It does not contain details of your proposal and can be written on one page. Finally, you have the what-if plan. As it implies, a what-if plan is a preparation for the worst-case scenario. You must always be prepared for the possibility of your original plan being rejected. A good what-if plan will serve as a good plan B to the original.

A good business plan has 10 key components. They include an executive plan, product analysis, desired customer base, company analysis, industry analysis, marketing strategy, sales strategy, financial projection, funding, and appendix. Executive Plan Your business should begin with your executive plan. An executive plan will provide early insight into what you are planning to achieve with your business. It should include your mission statement and highlight some of the important points which you will explain later. Product Analysis The next component of your business plan is your product analysis. A key part of this section is explaining the type of item or service you are going to offer as well as the market problems your product will solve. Desired Consumer Base Your product analysis should be supplemented with a detailed breakdown of your desired consumer base. Investors are always interested in knowing the economic power of your market as well as potential MVP customers. Company Analysis The next component of your business plan is your company analysis. Here, you explain how you want to run your business. It will include your operational strategy, an insight into the workforce needed to keep the company running, and important executive positions. It will also provide a calculation of expected operational costs.  Industry Analysis A good business plan should also contain well laid out industry analysis. It is important to convince potential investors you know the companies you will be competing with, as well as your plans to gain an edge on the competition. Marketing Strategy Your business plan should also include your marketing strategy. This is how you intend to spread awareness of your product. It should include a detailed explanation of the company brand as well as your advertising methods. Sales Strategy Your sales strategy comes after the market strategy. Here you give an overview of your company's pricing strategy and how you aim to maximize profits. You can also explain how your prices will adapt to market behaviors. Financial Projection The financial projection is the next component of your business plan. It explains your company's expected running cost and revenue earned during the tenure of the business plan. Financial projection gives a clear idea of how your company will develop in the future. Funding The next component of your business plan is funding. You have to detail how much external investment you need to get your business idea off the ground here. Appendix The last component of your plan is the appendix. This is where you put licenses, graphs, or key information that does not fit in any of the other components.

The business model canvas is a business management tool used to quickly define your business idea and model. It is often used when investors need you to pitch your business idea during a brief window.

A pitch deck is similar to a business model canvas except that it makes use of slides in its presentation. A pitch is not primarily used to secure funding, rather its main purpose is to entice potential investors by selling a very optimistic outlook on the business.

Business plan competitions help you evaluate the strength of your business plan. By participating in business plan competitions, you are improving your experience. The experience provides you with a degree of validation while practicing important skills. The main motivation for entering into the competitions is often to secure funding by finishing in podium positions. There is also the chance that you may catch the eye of a casual observer outside of the competition. These competitions also provide good networking opportunities. You could meet mentors who will take a keen interest in guiding you in your business journey. You also have the opportunity to meet other entrepreneurs whose ideas can complement yours.

Exlore Further

• 12 Key Elements of a Business Plan (Top Components Explained)
• 13 Sources of Business Finance For Companies & Sole Traders
• 5 Common Types of Business Structures (+ Pros & Cons)
• How to Buy a Business in 8 Steps (+ Due Diligence Checklist)

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Martin luenendonk.

Martin loves entrepreneurship and has helped dozens of entrepreneurs by validating the business idea, finding scalable customer acquisition channels, and building a data-driven organization. During his time working in investment banking, tech startups, and industry-leading companies he gained extensive knowledge in using different software tools to optimize business processes.

This insights and his love for researching SaaS products enables him to provide in-depth, fact-based software reviews to enable software buyers make better decisions.

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

Noah Parsons

24 min. read

Updated May 7, 2024

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

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

• The basics of business planning

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

You understand that planning helps you: 

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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• What to include in your business plan

Executive summary

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

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

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

Your executive summary should include:

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

Dig Deeper: How to write an effective executive summary

Products and services description

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

This is usually called a problem and solution statement .

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

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

Market analysis

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

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

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

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

Related: Target market examples

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

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

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

Dig Deeper: Learn how to write a market analysis

Competitive analysis

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

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

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

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

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

Marketing and sales plan

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Business operations

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Key milestones and metrics

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

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

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

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

Possible milestones might be:

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

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

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

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

Dig Deeper: How to use milestones in your business plan

Organization and management team

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

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

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

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

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

• Sole proprietor
• Partnership

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

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

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

Financial plan

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

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

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

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

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

Dig Deeper: How to create financial forecasts and budgets

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

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

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

Dig Deeper : What to include in your business plan appendix

Optional: Business plan cover page

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

Your cover page should be simple and include:

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

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

Dig Deeper: How to create a business plan cover page

How to use AI to help write your business plan

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

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

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

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

Learn more: 10 AI prompts you need to write a business plan

• Writing tips and strategies

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

Determine why you are writing a business plan

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

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

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

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

Keep things concise

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

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

Have someone review your business plan

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

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

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

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

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

There are plenty of great options available (we’ve rounded up our 8 favorites to streamline your search).

But, if you’re looking for a free downloadable business plan template , you can get one right now; download the template used by more than 1 million businesses. 

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

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

Common pitfalls and how to avoid them

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Use your business plan to manage your business

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Learn More: How to run a regular plan review

Free business plan templates and examples

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How to write a business plan FAQ

What is a business plan?

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

What are the benefits of a business plan?

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

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

What are the 7 steps of a business plan?

The seven steps to writing a business plan include:

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

What are the 5 most common business plan mistakes?

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

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

What questions should be answered in a business plan?

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

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

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

How long should a business plan be?

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

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

What are the different types of business plans?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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.

Table of Contents

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

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Management Plan in a Business Plan

What is a management plan in a business plan? As a small business owner, you know you face an uphill battle. 4 min read updated on February 01, 2023

What is a management plan in a business plan? As a small business owner, you know you face an uphill battle. About 80 percent of new ventures fail within their first five years. Why? Most of the time it's due to flawed operating procedures or a less-than-optimal management structure.

What Is a Management Plan?

The management plan is all about employees and operations.

• Employees are one of the most important parts of any new venture. Good employees can make your life much easier, while bad employees can distract you and be a detriment to your success.
• Operational structure can be the difference between a successful venture and a failure.

When you're putting together a business plan , the operations and management section will describe how your business will operate on a day-to-day basis. It will cover all the essentials:

• Your company's physical location
• Other important processes

This section is an easy way to answer basic questions about your business without overwhelming readers.

Carefully crafting a professional and thorough business plan is an important step in forming a new venture. It will keep you on track and clearly define strategy and goals. However, business plans are only as good as the people behind them.

A venture's biggest asset is the entrepreneur. Investors won't make a move until they know they have complete confidence in an entrepreneur. Does he or she have the right experience? Is he or she willing to put in the work? These are just two of the questions Investors will have to answer before working with a new entrepreneur .

The management section of your business plan is an excellent space to highlight the members of your management team . Tell your readers and potential investors who will be managing your company, where they come from, how they will help your venture, and anything else that will signal your venture's future success. Be sure to cast the best light on your management team. Your investors need to know that this team is capable of anything.

There are usually three parts to a good Management and Staffing portion of a business plan:

• Management team details
• Key supporters and alliances, such as an advisory board
• Staffing and employment requirements

A few things to remember as you work on this section of your business plan:

• Your readers are usually potential investors. They need to know you and your management team are trustworthy and deserving of their investment.
• Investors need to know that you and your team can do the job; they need to get a feel for your attitudes and your abilities.
• Showing your team has a wide variety of skills and experiences will give you an advantage when presenting your business plan.
• It's all about the people. Business plans are great for answering key questions about the new venture, but at the end of the day, investors are looking to partner with hard-working, trustworthy people.

Now let's talk about operations. The operations section of the business plan describes several key characteristics of your business. For example, if your business has a physical, "brick and mortar" location, take time in this portion of the business plan to describe the area around your business. Tell your investors why your location is optimal for your business.

Make a note of your standard operating hours. Answer questions like,

• When will you open every day?
• When will you close?
• Will you be open during holidays?
• If so, which ones?

This is also a great section to list out your daily operation details, the different products or services you will provide, your standard operating procedures, customer service, and so on.

Take time in the Inventory section of your operations plan to list out potential suppliers, vendors, or contractors with whom you have agreements. Your partners, even the third-party ones, reflect upon you, so make sure to sing their praises. Put some thought into an inventory plan. Remember, too much inventory means you're likely wasting valuable resources that could be deployed elsewhere. On the other hand, too little inventory means you could be losing out on potential customers.

Once again, your management team plays a crucial role in your operations plan. Tell your investors exactly who they are, how they are uniquely qualified, and how their responsibilities will be divided with operations.

The management and operations sections of your business plan will demonstrate to your investors that you have the right team and the right strategy to be successful in a competitive industry.

If you need help with a management plan in a business plan, you can post your legal need on UpCounsel's marketplace. UpCounsel accepts only the top 5 percent of lawyers to its site. Lawyers on UpCounsel come from law schools such as Harvard Law and Yale Law and average 14 years of legal experience, including work with or on behalf of companies like Google, Menlo Ventures, and Airbnb.

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How to Write a Business Plan: Your Step-by-Step Guide

So, you’ve got an idea and you want to start a business —great! Before you do anything else, like seek funding or build out a team, you'll need to know how to write a business plan. This plan will serve as the foundation of your company while also giving investors and future employees a clear idea of your purpose.

Below, Lauren Cobello, Founder and CEO of Leverage with Media PR , gives her best advice on how to make a business plan for your company.

Build your dream business with the help of a high-paying job—browse open jobs on The Muse »

What is a business plan, and when do you need one?

According to Cobello, a business plan is a document that contains the mission of the business and a brief overview of it, as well as the objectives, strategies, and financial plans of the founder. A business plan comes into play very early on in the process of starting a company—more or less before you do anything else.

“You should start a company with a business plan in mind—especially if you plan to get funding for the company,” Cobello says. “You’re going to need it.”

Whether that funding comes from a loan, an investor, or crowdsourcing, a business plan is imperative to secure the capital, says the U.S. Small Business Administration . Anyone who’s considering giving you money is going to want to review your business plan before doing so. That means before you head into any meeting, make sure you have physical copies of your business plan to share.

Different types of business plans

The four main types of business plans are:

Startup Business Plans

Internal business plans, strategic business plans, one-page business plans.

Let's break down each one:

If you're wondering how to write a business plan for a startup, Cobello has advice for you. Startup business plans are the most common type, she says, and they are a critical tool for new business ventures that want funding. A startup is defined as a company that’s in its first stages of operations, founded by an entrepreneur who has a product or service idea.

Most startups begin with very little money, so they need a strong business plan to convince family, friends, banks, and/or venture capitalists to invest in the new company.

Internal business plans “are for internal use only,” says Cobello. This kind of document is not public-facing, only company-facing, and it contains an outline of the company’s business strategy, financial goals and budgets, and performance data.

Internal business plans aren’t used to secure funding, but rather to set goals and get everyone working there tracking towards them.

As the name implies, strategic business plans are geared more towards strategy and they include an assessment of the current business landscape, notes Jérôme Côté, a Business Advisor at BDC Advisory Services .

Unlike a traditional business plan, Cobello adds, strategic plans include a SWOT analysis (which stands for strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats) and an in-depth action plan for the next six to 12 months. Strategic plans are action-based and take into account the state of the company and the industry in which it exists.

Although a typical business plan falls between 15 to 30 pages, some companies opt for the much shorter One-Page Business Plan. A one-page business plan is a simplified version of the larger business plan, and it focuses on the problem your product or service is solving, the solution (your product), and your business model (how you’ll make money).

A one-page plan is hyper-direct and easy to read, making it an effective tool for businesses of all sizes, at any stage.

How to create a business plan in 7 steps

Every business plan is different, and the steps you take to complete yours will depend on what type and format you choose. That said, if you need a place to start and appreciate a roadmap, here’s what Cobello recommends:

1. Conduct your research

Before writing your business plan, you’ll want to do a thorough investigation of what’s out there. Who will be the competitors for your product or service? Who is included in the target market? What industry trends are you capitalizing on, or rebuking? You want to figure out where you sit in the market and what your company’s value propositions are. What makes you different—and better?

2. Define your purpose for the business plan

The purpose of your business plan will determine which kind of plan you choose to create. Are you trying to drum up funding, or get the company employees focused on specific goals? (For the former, you’d want a startup business plan, while an internal plan would satisfy the latter.) Also, consider your audience. An investment firm that sees hundreds of potential business plans a day may prefer to see a one-pager upfront and, if they’re interested, a longer plan later.

3. Write your company description

Every business plan needs a company description—aka a summary of the company’s purpose, what they do/offer, and what makes it unique. Company descriptions should be clear and concise, avoiding the use of jargon, Cobello says. Ideally, descriptions should be a few paragraphs at most.

4. Explain and show how the company will make money

A business plan should be centered around the company’s goals, and it should clearly explain how the company will generate revenue. To do this, Cobello recommends using actual numbers and details, as opposed to just projections.

For instance, if the company is already making money, show how much and at what cost (e.g. what was the net profit). If it hasn’t generated revenue yet, outline the plan for how it will—including what the product/service will cost to produce and how much it will cost the consumer.

5. Outline your marketing strategy

How will you promote the business? Through what channels will you be promoting it? How are you going to reach and appeal to your target market? The more specific and thorough you can be with your plans here, the better, Cobello says.

6. Explain how you’ll spend your funding

What will you do with the money you raise? What are the first steps you plan to take? As a founder, you want to instill confidence in your investors and show them that the instant you receive their money, you’ll be taking smart actions that grow the company.

7. Include supporting documents

Creating a business plan is in some ways akin to building a legal case, but for your business. “You want to tell a story, and to be as thorough as possible, while keeping your plan succinct, clear, interesting, and visually appealing,” Cobello says. “Supporting documents could include financial projects, a competitive analysis of the market you’re entering into, and even any licenses, patents, or permits you’ve secured.”

A business plan is an individualized document—it’s ultimately up to you what information to include and what story you tell. But above all, Cobello says, your business plan should have a clear focus and goal in mind, because everything else will build off this cornerstone.

“Many people don’t realize how important business plans are for the health of their company,” she says. “Set aside time to make this a priority for your business, and make sure to keep it updated as you grow.”

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

Written by Dave Lavinsky

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

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

What is a Management Team Business Plan?

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

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

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

Your management team plan has 3 goals:

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

What to Include in Your Management Team Section

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

Management Team Members

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

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

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

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

Management Team Gaps

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Management Team Business Plan Example

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

Key Team Members

Jim Smith, Founder & CEO

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

Bill Jones, COO

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

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

Vance Williamson, Founder & CEO

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

We currently have two gaps in our Management Team: 

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

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

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Other Resources for Writing Your Business Plan

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

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How to Write a Management Summary for Your Business Plan

Entrepreneurs are often celebrated for their uncanny ability to understand others – their customers, the market, and the ever-evolving global landscape. However, sometimes the most crucial insight an entrepreneur can have is introspection.  Recognizing one's strengths, experiences, and unique perspectives can be the cornerstone of a venture's success.

While every section of a business plan offers insights into the venture, it's the management summary that shines a spotlight on the people behind the idea. It's where you convey not just the qualifications of your team, but the passion, drive, and unique attributes that make you the ideal candidates to lead the venture to success. Whether you're a seasoned coder diving into a tech startup, a barista with dreams of opening a coffee shop, or an adaptable entrepreneur ready to fill a market gap, your management summary is the stage to showcase why you and your team are poised for success. 

Personal & Professional Experience

The entrepreneurial world is rife with tales of young prodigies launching startups from their dorm rooms and garages. However, a deeper dive into the data presents a different narrative. A Harvard Business Review article revealed that the average age of a successful startup founder is 45. This finding challenges the prevailing notion and brings to the forefront the invaluable role of experience and maturity in entrepreneurship.

An entrepreneur with years behind them might possess insights into customer pain points, industry gaps, and effective strategies that a younger counterpart might overlook. 

An entrepreneur's personal journey, filled with its unique challenges and triumphs, can be a guiding light in shaping the business strategy. For instance, someone who has witnessed the evolution of technology over decades might have a clearer vision of tech trends and their longevity. It's essential for entrepreneurs to recognize these strengths, embrace them, and weave them into their business blueprint.

The management summary is more than just a resume or a CV. It's a narrative that tells the story of why you and your team are the right fit for this venture. When detailing personal expertise, it's crucial to be authentic. Instead of just listing qualifications, weave a narrative that showcases your journey, the lessons learned, and why these experiences make you uniquely suited to lead the venture to success.

The Entrepreneurial Mindset

Entrepreneurship is more than just starting a business; it's a mindset, a way of viewing the world . While expertise in a particular domain can provide a solid foundation, it's the entrepreneurial spirit that often drives success. This spirit is characterized by curiosity, a hunger for innovation, and an unyielding belief in one's vision.

Entrepreneurs have the unique ability to look beyond the present, to anticipate market needs, and to design solutions for tomorrow. This forward-thinking approach, combined with a keen sense of the market pulse, allows them to stay ahead of the curve, innovate, and lead.

What truly sets successful entrepreneurs apart is their approach to risk . They're not reckless; they're calculated. They weigh the pros and cons, take informed leaps, and most crucially, possess the resilience to weather the storms. It's this combination of risk-taking and resilience that often turns challenges into stepping stones.

When writing the management summary, it's essential to paint a holistic picture. Beyond qualifications and expertise, highlight the entrepreneurial traits that set the team apart. Whether it's the business owner's adaptability, the team's collective vision, or their track record of resilience, ensure that the summary captures the essence of the entrepreneurial spirit that drives the venture.

A Balanced Team

The startup ecosystem often buzzes with the idea that every new venture necessitates a co-founder. This belief stems from the notion that two heads are better than one, especially when navigating the tumultuous waters of entrepreneurship. However, a Harvard Business Review article challenges this widely accepted notion. The research suggests that solo founders, when bolstered by the support of "co-creators," can achieve remarkable success. Co-creators, be they employees, alliances, or benefactors, play pivotal roles in the business's growth without the formalities of equity or control typically associated with co-founders. This paradigm shift underscores the importance of recognizing and leveraging support, irrespective of its label.

Every entrepreneur brings a unique set of skills to the table. However, self-awareness is key. Recognizing areas where one might lack expertise or insight is the first step towards building a comprehensive team. For instance, if you're an entrepreneur passionate about creating a coffee shop that offers an unparalleled customer experience, you might excel in ambiance design and customer relations. But what about the financial intricacies or marketing strategies? This is where complementary skills come into play. By identifying these gaps, you can seek out team members, partners, or co-creators who can fill them, ensuring a holistic approach to your business venture.

A successful venture is often backed by a team that brings diverse skills, experiences, and perspectives to the table. The point is to create a well-rounded team that can navigate challenges, innovate, and drive the business towards its goals. When writing a business plan's management summary, it's essential to showcase the collective strengths, the diverse skill sets, and the unique experiences that make your team the perfect ensemble to lead the venture to success.

Organizational Structure

An organizational structure serves as the backbone, providing a clear roadmap of roles, responsibilities, and the flow of information. As highlighted in this Investopedia article , structures can vary from the traditional hierarchical models to more fluid and decentralized ones. The choice of structure is influenced by various factors, including the company's goals, industry dynamics, and inherent culture. Selecting the right structure is crucial as it sets the tone for communication, decision-making, and overall operational efficiency.

The management summary should outline not just where the company stands today but where it aims to be tomorrow. This includes potential market expansions, scaling strategies, and the evolution of the team to support this growth. By detailing these growth trajectories, stakeholders get a clear picture of the company's ambition and the organizational plan to achieve it.

Including a visual representation or your organizational structure, usually in the form of an organizational chart, in your business plan can offer clarity that words might not capture. This chart delineates roles, showcases the hierarchy, and provides a clear view of reporting lines. It ensures that every team member, from top to bottom, understands their position within the larger framework and their contribution to the company's success.

The management summary provides an opportunity to touch upon the heart and soul of the company: its culture. Detailing the company's values, ethos, and the best practices that nurture this culture is vital. This includes recruitment strategies that seek the right talent fit, training programs that foster growth, and HR initiatives that prioritize employee well-being. After all, a company that takes care of its people is one that thrives.

Special Considerations Based on the Audience

Every stakeholder has a unique lens through which they view a business plan. Whether it's a potential investor scrutinizing the viability of your venture or a bank assessing the risk associated with a loan, the management summary must be tailored to address the specific concerns and interests of its audience.

Business Plans for Bank and SBA-Backed Loans

When seeking loans backed by the Small Business Administration (SBA) , it's not just about presenting a promising business idea. The SBA places significant emphasis on the entrepreneur's industry knowledge and management expertise. In your management summary, delve deep into this experience. Highlight past industry successes, showcase relevant qualifications, and emphasize the team's capability to navigate the industry's intricacies. By doing so, you're demonstrating a profound understanding of the industry and the venture's potential place within it.

Business Plans for Immigration Cases

For entrepreneurs targeting immigration, the business plan should serve as a testament to the venture's potential economic contribution to the U.S. This means detailing a robust hiring plan that emphasizes the creation of U.S. jobs. Outline the roles, set out a clear hiring timeline, and emphasize the number of jobs you aim to create. Beyond this, highlight the venture's growth trajectory, ensuring it aligns seamlessly with U.S. market needs and trends.

Business Plans for Venture Capital & Angel Investors

A common misconception in the entrepreneurial world is that investors primarily invest in ideas. Ideas, no matter how revolutionary, are subjected to the complexities of markets. Predicting market behavior in the mid- to long-term is challenging. Furthermore, for a startup to succeed, it not only has to predict the market but also disrupt it, which is a tall order. As the market evolves, so does the idea, undergoing iterations before maturing into a sustainable business.

The journey from a startup's inception to its IPO typically spans a decade. During this time, countless variables can change - from technological advancements to societal shifts. Investors recognize this dynamic nature and understand that while the idea is the seed, it's the team's adaptability and resilience that will nurture it to fruition.

Good investors prioritize the people behind the venture. It's about the ability to reshape and refine the idea based on market feedback. Don't underestimate the importance of the management team when pitching for investor funding.

Strategic Business Plans

A strategic business plan differs from those crafted for investors or loans. When the primary goal is strategic planning, the management summary is less about convincing external parties of the company's potential and more about fostering alignment, clarity, and commitment within the organization and its potential partners. Given their internal focus, the management summary for strategic plans should be tailored to resonate with the company's vision and demonstrate a shared commitment to the company's long-term goals.

For internal stakeholders and potential team members, the business plan should highlight how the management team collaborates, resolves conflicts, and drives the company forward. It should emphasize the team's ability to pivot when necessary and provide a clear breakdown of roles and oversight, such as that of an advisory board. This helps internal stakeholders understand who's responsible for what, fostering accountability and clarity.

The Myth of the Entrepreneur Archetype

There's a pervasive myth in entrepreneurship: the archetype of the "perfect" founder. Stories of visionaries like Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg, with their larger-than-life personas that are often amplified by media, paint a picture of the quintessential founder. They're portrayed as mavericks who aren't afraid to go against the grain, individuals who trust their gut instincts over data, and leaders who, with sheer willpower and charisma, can rally a team behind them. This stereotype suggests that to be successful, one must possess a specific set of traits and follow a predetermined path.

However, the entrepreneurial world is teeming with leaders who don't fit this mold. For every brash and outspoken founder, there's a thoughtful and introspective one who leads with empathy and collaboration. Leadership today is not a one-size-fits-all. It's diverse, multifaceted, and shaped by individual experiences, cultures, and values.

Moreover, different ventures require different leadership styles. Sure, a tech startup aiming to disrupt an industry might benefit from a founder with a bold vision and a penchant for taking risks. But in contrast, a social enterprise might thrive under a leader who prioritizes community engagement and sustainable growth. Recognizing and valuing these differences is crucial for the broader entrepreneurial ecosystem.

The key for aspiring entrepreneurs is to recognize and embrace their unique strengths. Instead of trying to fit into a preconceived mold, it's about understanding what you bring to the table and leveraging those strengths. Whether you're a natural networker, a meticulous planner, or someone who excels at team-building, there's a place for your leadership style in the entrepreneurial world.

As the business landscape evolves, so does the definition of leadership. Today's leaders are more attuned to the needs of their teams, prioritize mental well-being, and understand the value of diverse perspectives. They're not just visionaries; they're listeners, learners, and collaborators.

Leadership comes in many stripes, and each style has its unique value and place in the business world. The key is to pinpoint what gives you a competitive advantage. Is it your deep industry knowledge? Your ability to build and lead teams? Or perhaps your knack for identifying market gaps?

No founder is without weaknesses. But what sets successful entrepreneurs apart is their ability to recognize these shortcomings and take proactive steps to address them. Outline the areas where you might not have expertise and detail how you plan to overcome these gaps. This could be through continuous learning, seeking mentorship, or, most commonly, by building a team with complementary skill sets.

And finally, remember that the entrepreneurial journey is unpredictable. The ability to adapt and pivot is a testament to a founder's resilience and versatility. Showcase instances where you've had to change course and how you navigated these challenges, emphasizing the lessons learned and how they've shaped your approach.

In essence, the management summary is a platform to showcase your unique entrepreneurial DNA . It's about highlighting what sets you apart, demonstrating self-awareness, and detailing how you've built a team that complements your strengths and addresses your weaknesses. By doing so, you're painting a holistic picture of why you and your team are the right fit for the venture.

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Business Plan Executive Summary Example & Template

Updated: Jun 3, 2024, 1:03pm

Table of Contents

Components of an executive summary, how to write an executive summary, example of an executive summary, frequently asked questions.

A business plan is a document that you create that outlines your company’s objectives and how you plan to meet those objectives. Every business plan has key sections such as management and marketing. It should also have an executive summary, which is a synopsis of each of the plan sections in a one- to two-page overview. This guide will help you create an executive summary for your business plan that is comprehensive while being concise.

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The executive summary should mimic the sections found in the business plan . It is just a more concise way of stating what’s in the plan so that a reader can get a broad overview of what to expect.

State the company’s mission statement and provide a few sentences on what the company’s purpose is.

Company History and Management

This section describes the basics of where the company is located, how long it has been in operation, who is running it and what their level of experience is. Remember that this is a summary and that you’ll expand on management experience within the business plan itself. But the reader should know the basics of the company structure and who is running the company from this section.

Products or Services

This section tells the reader what the product or service of the company is. Every company does something. This is where you outline exactly what you do and how you solve a problem for the consumer.

This is an important section that summarizes how large the market is for the product or service. In the business plan, you’ll do a complete market analysis. Here, you will write the key takeaways that show that you have the potential to grow the business because there are consumers in the market for it.

Competitive Advantages

This is where you will summarize what makes you better than the competitors. Identify key strengths that will be reasons why consumers will choose you over another company.

Financial Projections

This is where you estimate the sales projections for the first years in business. At a minimum, you should have at least one year’s projections, but it may be better to have three to five years if you can project that far ahead.

Startup Financing Requirements

This states what it will cost to get the company launched and running. You may tackle this as a first-year requirement or if you have made further projections, look at two to three years of cost needs.

The executive summary is found at the start of the business plan, even though it is a summary of the plan. However, you should write the executive summary last. Writing the summary once you have done the work and written the business plan will be easier. After all, it is a summary of what is in the plan. Keep the executive summary limited to two pages so that it doesn’t take someone a long time to peruse what the summary says.

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It might be easier to write an executive summary if you know what to expect. Here is an example of an executive summary that you can use as a template.

Bottom Line

Writing an executive summary doesn’t need to be difficult if you’ve already done the work of writing the business plan itself. Take the elements from the plan and summarize each section. Point out key details that will make the reader want to learn more about the company and its financing needs.

How long is an executive summary?

An executive summary should be one to two pages and no more. This is just enough information to help the reader determine their overall interest in the company.

Does an executive summary have keywords?

The executive summary uses keywords to help sell the idea of the business. As such, there may be enumeration, causation and contrasting words.

How do I write a business plan?

If you have business partners, make sure to collaborate with them to ensure that the plan accurately reflects the goals of all parties involved. You can use our simple business plan template to get started.

What basic items should be included in a business plan?

When writing out a business plan, you want to make sure that you cover everything related to your concept for the business,  an analysis of the industry―including potential customers and an overview of the market for your goods or services―how you plan to execute your vision for the business, how you plan to grow the business if it becomes successful and all financial data around the business, including current cash on hand, potential investors and budget plans for the next few years.

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How to Write a Management Summary in a Business Plan

Written by Professional Academy guest blogger Lori Wade

Writing a business plan definitely isn’t easy. It’s a long, energy-consuming process that requires paying a lot of attention to the details and making sure that you didn’t forget to mention something in your plan.

This also means that in order to create a proper business plan you shouldn’t focus on the planning process only. You should also remember to mention and describe all the important details that will matter for potential investors – for example, a management summary.

What is a management summary?

Basically, it’s a section that includes all the most important information about people responsible for company’s management. By adding such section to your business plan you show the investors how exactly is your business structured. You also demonstrate them who are involved in the development of your company and how’s the whole business is managed.

This section is very important because it demonstrates the experience of your team, and therefore the strength of your company the most. It supports all the data provided in other sections of your business plan and can influence the investors’ decision a lot.

For better understanding, you can check the examples of management summaries included in a bakery business plan and in a coffee shop business plan .

What has to be included in a management summary?

1. the founder/the leader of the team..

Without a doubt, focusing on your management team is important. Focusing on a person responsible for selecting and organizing this team is even more important, though.

Write about the team leader, making sure that their background, vision, and credentials are described in details. If possible, explain how exactly did they choose this specific management team. Don’t go into many details but make sure that even a brief explanation is included.

2. The team itself.

It’s important to write about your managers, of course. The question is how can you do it right?

Don’t forget that your goal is to highlight their skills and professionalism – and to do this quickly and briefly at the same time. The investors won’t have much time to read the detailed descriptions, therefore you should focus on the following things:

• Your managers’ education, which doesn’t necessarily mean their academic background – only the one that matters for their position. This means you can focus on professional courses, professional training and so on if you find them more relevant;
• Their work experience regarding the field. Focus on both current and previous work experience;
• Their skills – also the ones that matter for their position and for the company;
• Their accomplishments gained during working for your company;
• Some personal details that might matter: age, the city where they live at the moment, their most notable activities, and their motives to become part of your company’s team.

3. The board members.

Assuming you have them, include them in this section along with the reasons why there were included in the first place.

4. Some outside professionals.

Your company’s staff isn’t always limited to people who work for you. Sometimes you might need the help of some outside professionals and while the reasons for that could be very different, it’s important to not forget to mention them in this section. This will show the investors that you have every important area of your business covered.

Here are some tips on how can you do so.

1.    Describe how your staff interacts with each other.

Sure, describing your employees’ primary roles in your company is important. However, any company doesn’t work strictly as described in the various organizational chart. The employees sometimes go beyond their basic professional duties, interacting with each other and taking different professional roles. It’s crucial to describe it so the investors would understand how your company really functions.

2.    Focus on what’s important, discard what’s not.

We’ve already mentioned the details about your management team that is important to include in this section. While some additional information actually might be a plus, you should still pay attention to what you decide to include. Otherwise, there’s a big chance you’ll focus on things that aren’t as relevant – for example, list the whole employees’ bios in this section.

You can still add them to your business plan, though, but not here. Put them in the appendix, for example.

3.    Make sure the connections between employees and business activities are clear.

When we’re describing the management team, we do so in order to describe the roles they play in the business. Therefore, it’s important to make the connection between your staff and your company’s achievements evident. Make sure that you relate specific skills and work experience of your employees with the roles that they play and will play in both your company’s present and future.

4.    Encourage your team to review your writing.

Of course, no business plan is written without a review. A management summary is also rarely written flawlessly from the first draft – in most cases, you need to review and edit it properly.

It’s a good idea to encourage your management team to participate in reviewing this section of your plan. In this case, they will be able to confirm that all the information about them, their skills, and roles are listed correctly. They might also be able to offer some valuable suggestions to you.

Moreover, such approach will show your team that you value their opinion and care about them. Such things can affect your communication greatly, motivating your staff and boosting their productivity.

Summing this up, just like a thesis statement definition is a crucial part of any essay, a management summary is a very important part of every business plan. Of course, writing it isn’t easy – and doing it the right way is even more challenging. However, these tips will hopefully help you create a strong and impressive management summary that will make the right impression on the potential investors.

What do you think about management summaries? Do you find them important for any business plan or do you think that they aren’t necessary?

Lori Wade is a freelance content writer who is interested in a wide range of spheres from education and online marketing to entrepreneurship. She is also an aspiring tutor striving to bring education to another level like we all do. If you are interested in writing, you can find her on Twitter or Google+ or find her on other social media. Read and take over Lori’s useful insights!

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Business Plan Organization and Management: How to Write Guide .

Sep 17, 2023 | Business Consulting , Business Plan , Organization and Management , Organizational Development , Strategy

Writing the Business Plan Organization and Management Section

It provides critical information for those looking for evidence that your staff has the necessary experience, skills, and pedigree to realize the objectives detailed in the rest of your business plan.

What Is the Organization and Management Section in a Business Plan?

The organization and management section of your business plan should provide details about your business structure and team. This section typically comes after the executive summary. However, some people have it further in the document after the market analysis section.

This section generally is separated into two parts. The first concerns the organization as a whole. It gives readers an overview of the company structure, which is an excellent opportunity for the reader to lift the roof off your office and peer into its inner workings. For your legal design, you may set up as a limited liability company (LLC) or nonprofit/ charity or form a partnership. It’s crucial to include this section. However, suppose you’re starting a home business or have an already operating business where you’re the only person involved. In that case, you can skip this section or show the company registration details from either the company’s house or the awarding .gov.

The second part focuses specifically on your management team and introduces readers to each member — your chance to impress them with the many accomplishments pinned to your organization’s management team.

This section may seem less important than some of the other parts of your business plan, but the truth is that your people are your business. If they’re highly competent and accomplished, the implication is that so is your business.

Of course, if you’re a sole proprietor with no management structure or any employees, this section is unnecessary other than to talk about yourself and your achievements.

The section on organization and management should outline the hierarchy, individual roles, and corresponding responsibilities. It should also highlight each person’s strengths and qualifications for their positions.

Business Plan Organization Section

The organizational section of your business plan outlines the hierarchy of individuals involved in your business, typically in a chart format. This section identifies the President or CEO, CFO, Director of Marketing, and other roles for partnerships or multi-member LLCs. If you’re a single-person home business, this section is straightforward as you are the only person on the chart.

Although this section primarily focuses on owner members, you can include outsourced workers or virtual assistants if you plan to hire them. For example, you may have a freelance web admin, marketing assistant, or copywriter. You may even have a virtual assistant who coordinates with your other freelancers. While these individuals are not owners, they hold significant responsibilities in your business.

There are various business structures, such as sole proprietorships, partnerships, LLCs, and corporations.

Detail the Legal Structure within the Business Plan Organization and Management Section

Here is an indicative list of business structures. It would help if you talked to your accountant and legal advisors to determine which legal form is the best for your business proposition.

Sole Proprietorship

When embarking on a business venture, it’s essential to consider the various structures available. A sole proprietorship is a structure whereby the business is not regarded as separate from its owner’s finances. The owner retains complete control and responsibility for the company. However, they are unable to sell stocks or bring in new owners. The business becomes a sole proprietorship if not registered under any other structure.

Partnership

When forming a partnership, it can either be a limited partnership (LP) or a limited liability partnership (LLP). One partner assumes most liability in a limited partnership (LP). In contrast, the other partners have limited liability and control over the business. Alternatively, in a limited liability partnership (LLP), all partners have limited liability from debts and actions of other partners, and there is no general partner.

Limited Liability Company

A limited company (LTD) or limited liability company (LLC) is a mixture of business structures that mixes aspects of partnerships and corporations. It offers limited personal liability to the owner and passes profits through to their tax returns.

Corporation

There are various types of corporate structures. A C-corporation enables the issuance of stock shares, pays corporate taxes instead of personal returns, and provides the highest level of personal protection from business activities. On the other hand, nonprofit corporations are similar to C corporations. However, they do not aim to make profits and are exempt from state or federal income taxes.

More information on company legal structures is available on UK.Gov and USA.SBA websites.

Describe Your Company’s Organizational Structure

This first step illustrates the positions in your organization’s employee hierarchy and how they all relate to each other.

This is usually done graphically as a guide, using an organizational chart, or “org chart” for short. People use a Microsoft tool, i.e., PowerPoint or Excel, to help.

Organization Charts typically follow a top-down hierarchy, starting with your CEO/ Managing Director in the top box at the top of the page. Lines extend down from that person’s name to boxes containing the terms of the CEO’s direct reports.

We have included an example organizational chart below for guidelines only.

Identify your business organization structure and list your team members’ strengths and skills.

Those managers then have lines extending to those who report to them, and so on, down to your lowest staff positions.

This section will give your readers a quick understanding of your management and governance structure, the size of your organization, and your lines of control and communication.

Describe your Team in your Business Plan Organization and Management Section

In your business plan’s Organization and Management section, please provide a detailed description of your team. Y ou will discuss the company’s management team, starting with the owners.

This section highlights who is involved in the running of your business and who are the support professionals. It also includes the roles and responsibilities of managers.

Suppose the company structure is a multi-owner arrangement or some other multi-owner arrangement. In that case, you’ll want to include information for every member and their percentage of ownership and ongoing involvement in the company.

It’s important to discuss how ownership interests are split, their responsibilities, what they did before securing their current position, and how they came to be involved with the company.

Here, it would help if you talked about some of your critical team members. These people are directly responsible for large portions of your business operations.

Owner/Manager/Members

Within your business o rganization and management section, y ou should introduce the team and talk about their experience, qualifications, previous companies and achievements, role in the company, and any special skills they bring with them. Please provide the following details for each owner, manager, or member of the business within your business plan:

• Percentage of ownership (if applicable)
• Level of involvement (active or silent partner)
• Type of ownership (e.g., stock options, general partner)
• Position in the company (CEO, CFO, etc.)
• Responsibilities and Duties
• Educational background
• Relevant experience and skills
• Previous employment history
• Skills that will benefit the business
• Awards or recognition received
• Compensation structure
• How each individual’s skills and experience will complement and contribute to the business’s success

Perhaps they’re an entrepreneur, business coach, exclusive advisor, or industry specialist to help you grow.

This is an ideal opportunity for companies with an Executive Board of Directors, Governance Structure, or Advisory Board to introduce them to your readers.

Executive Board

Having a board of directors is essential for your management team. Without one, you may be missing out on crucial information. This section includes details similar to those found in the ownership and management team sub-section, such as the names, areas of expertise, positions (if applicable), and involvement with the company of each board member.

Strategic Advisors

Suppose you’re looking for funding for your business or to fill a gap in your knowledge, or you may not have the funds to hire an executive board. In that case, you must inform potential partners and investors that you have a team of professionals assisting you. This includes lawyers, accountants, and any freelancers or contractors you may be working with. When listing these individuals, include their name, title, educational background, certifications, services they provide to your business, and their relationship with you (i.e., hourly rates, projects, retainer, as-needed, regular). Additionally, highlight their skills and experience that make them an asset to your team you need

Does anything else make them stand out as quality professionals (awards, past working with credible brands)?

Spotlight on the Wider Team Structure

Now, you’ve showcased the management team in its entirety. You can provide brief bios for hiring team needs or secondary members and talk at length about how the team’s combined skills complement each other and how they amplify the team’s effectiveness.

It’s also important to point out any gaps in the knowledge your team is currently suffering. Your readers will likely be savvy enough to pick up on existing holes.

Therefore, you’ll want to get ahead of these criticisms and demonstrate that you’re already aware of the positions and complementary skill sets your management team still requires and how you plan to address the knowledge gaps with future hires.

Do you need help writing your business plan o rganization and management section ? 

Every successful business plan should include the organization and management section, helping you communicate your legal structure and team.

Writing a business plan can seem overwhelming, especially when starting a small, one-person business. However, it can be a reasonably simple task. This section of the plan should be updated if there are any changes to the organization structure or team members, such as additional training, awards, or other resume changes that benefit the business.

Creating your comprehensive business plan takes planning, research, time, and a herculean effort. If, at any point, the work becomes too much to handle, we can step in to assist.

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Business Plan Example and Template

Learn how to create a business plan

What is a Business Plan?

A business plan is a document that contains the operational and financial plan of a business, and details how its objectives will be achieved. It serves as a road map for the business and can be used when pitching investors or financial institutions for debt or equity financing .

A business plan should follow a standard format and contain all the important business plan elements. Typically, it should present whatever information an investor or financial institution expects to see before providing financing to a business.

Contents of a Business Plan

A business plan should be structured in a way that it contains all the important information that investors are looking for. Here are the main sections of a business plan:

1. Title Page

The title page captures the legal information of the business, which includes the registered business name, physical address, phone number, email address, date, and the company logo.

2. Executive Summary

The executive summary is the most important section because it is the first section that investors and bankers see when they open the business plan. It provides a summary of the entire business plan. It should be written last to ensure that you don’t leave any details out. It must be short and to the point, and it should capture the reader’s attention. The executive summary should not exceed two pages.

3. Industry Overview

The industry overview section provides information about the specific industry that the business operates in. Some of the information provided in this section includes major competitors, industry trends, and estimated revenues. It also shows the company’s position in the industry and how it will compete in the market against other major players.

4. Market Analysis and Competition

The market analysis section details the target market for the company’s product offerings. This section confirms that the company understands the market and that it has already analyzed the existing market to determine that there is adequate demand to support its proposed business model.

Market analysis includes information about the target market’s demographics , geographical location, consumer behavior, and market needs. The company can present numbers and sources to give an overview of the target market size.

A business can choose to consolidate the market analysis and competition analysis into one section or present them as two separate sections.

5. Sales and Marketing Plan

The sales and marketing plan details how the company plans to sell its products to the target market. It attempts to present the business’s unique selling proposition and the channels it will use to sell its goods and services. It details the company’s advertising and promotion activities, pricing strategy, sales and distribution methods, and after-sales support.

6. Management Plan

The management plan provides an outline of the company’s legal structure, its management team, and internal and external human resource requirements. It should list the number of employees that will be needed and the remuneration to be paid to each of the employees.

Any external professionals, such as lawyers, valuers, architects, and consultants, that the company will need should also be included. If the company intends to use the business plan to source funding from investors, it should list the members of the executive team, as well as the members of the advisory board.

7. Operating Plan

The operating plan provides an overview of the company’s physical requirements, such as office space, machinery, labor, supplies, and inventory . For a business that requires custom warehouses and specialized equipment, the operating plan will be more detailed, as compared to, say, a home-based consulting business. If the business plan is for a manufacturing company, it will include information on raw material requirements and the supply chain.

8. Financial Plan

The financial plan is an important section that will often determine whether the business will obtain required financing from financial institutions, investors, or venture capitalists. It should demonstrate that the proposed business is viable and will return enough revenues to be able to meet its financial obligations. Some of the information contained in the financial plan includes a projected income statement , balance sheet, and cash flow.

9. Appendices and Exhibits

The appendices and exhibits part is the last section of a business plan. It includes any additional information that banks and investors may be interested in or that adds credibility to the business. Some of the information that may be included in the appendices section includes office/building plans, detailed market research , products/services offering information, marketing brochures, and credit histories of the promoters.

Business Plan Template

Here is a basic template that any business can use when developing its business plan:

Section 1: Executive Summary

• Present the company’s mission.
• Describe the company’s product and/or service offerings.
• Give a summary of the target market and its demographics.
• Summarize the industry competition and how the company will capture a share of the available market.
• Give a summary of the operational plan, such as inventory, office and labor, and equipment requirements.

Section 2: Industry Overview

• Describe the company’s position in the industry.
• Describe the existing competition and the major players in the industry.
• Provide information about the industry that the business will operate in, estimated revenues, industry trends, government influences, as well as the demographics of the target market.

Section 3: Market Analysis and Competition

• Define your target market, their needs, and their geographical location.
• Describe the size of the market, the units of the company’s products that potential customers may buy, and the market changes that may occur due to overall economic changes.
• Give an overview of the estimated sales volume vis-à-vis what competitors sell.
• Give a plan on how the company plans to combat the existing competition to gain and retain market share.

Section 4: Sales and Marketing Plan

• Describe the products that the company will offer for sale and its unique selling proposition.
• List the different advertising platforms that the business will use to get its message to customers.
• Describe how the business plans to price its products in a way that allows it to make a profit.
• Give details on how the company’s products will be distributed to the target market and the shipping method.

Section 5: Management Plan

• Describe the organizational structure of the company.
• List the owners of the company and their ownership percentages.
• List the key executives, their roles, and remuneration.
• List any internal and external professionals that the company plans to hire, and how they will be compensated.
• Include a list of the members of the advisory board, if available.

Section 6: Operating Plan

• Describe the location of the business, including office and warehouse requirements.
• Describe the labor requirement of the company. Outline the number of staff that the company needs, their roles, skills training needed, and employee tenures (full-time or part-time).
• Describe the manufacturing process, and the time it will take to produce one unit of a product.
• Describe the equipment and machinery requirements, and if the company will lease or purchase equipment and machinery, and the related costs that the company estimates it will incur.
• Provide a list of raw material requirements, how they will be sourced, and the main suppliers that will supply the required inputs.

Section 7: Financial Plan

• Describe the financial projections of the company, by including the projected income statement, projected cash flow statement, and the balance sheet projection.

Section 8: Appendices and Exhibits

• Quotes of building and machinery leases
• Proposed office and warehouse plan
• Market research and a summary of the target market
• Credit information of the owners
• List of product and/or services

Related Readings

Thank you for reading CFI’s guide to Business Plans. To keep learning and advancing your career, the following CFI resources will be helpful:

• Corporate Structure
• Three Financial Statements
• Business Model Canvas Examples
• See all management & strategy resources
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Business Plan Section 3: Organization and Management

This section explains how your business runs and who’s on your team. Learn how to present the information in this section of your business plan.

This section of your business plan, Organization and Management, is where you’ll explain exactly how you’re set up to make your ideas happen, plus you’ll introduce the players on your team.

As always, remember your audience. If this is a plan for your internal use, you can be a little more general than if you’ll be presenting it to a potential lender or investor. No matter what its purpose, you’ll want to break the organization and management section into two segments: one describing the way you’ve set up the company to run (its organizational structure), and the other introducing the people involved (its management).

Business Organization

Having a solid plan for how your business will run is a key component of its smooth and successful operation. Of course, you need to surround yourself with good people, but you have to set things up to enable them to work well with each other and on their own.

It’s important to define the positions in the company, which job is responsible for what, and to whom everyone will report. Over time, the structure may grow and change and you can certainly keep tweaking it as you go along, but you need to have an initial plan.

If you’re applying for funding to start a business or expand one, you may not even have employees to fit all the roles in the organization. However, you can still list them in your plan for how the company will ideally operate once you have the ability to do so.

Obviously, for small businesses, the organization will be far more streamlined and less complicated than it is for larger ones, but your business plan still needs to demonstrate an understanding of how you’ll handle the workflow. At the very least, you’ll need to touch on sales and marketing, administration, and the production and distribution of your product or the execution of your service.

For larger companies, an organizational plan with well-thought-out procedures is even more important. This is the best way to make sure you’re not wasting time duplicating efforts or dealing with internal confusion about responsibilities. A smooth-running operation runs far more efficiently and cost-effectively than one flying by the seat of its pants, and this section of your business plan will be another indication that you know what you’re doing. A large company is also likely to need additional operational categories such as human resources and possibly research and development.

One way to explain your organizational structure in the business plan is graphically. A simple diagram or flowchart can easily demonstrate levels of management and the positions within them, clearly illustrating who reports to whom, and how different divisions of the company (such as sales and marketing) relate to each other.

Here is where you can also talk about the other levels of employees in your company. Your lower-level staff will carry out the day-to-day work, so it’s important to recognize the types of people you’ll need, how many, what their qualifications should be, where you’ll find them, and what they’ll cost.

If the business will use outside consultants, freelancers, or independent contractors, mention it here as well. And talk about positions you’d want to add in the future if you’re successful enough to expand.

Business Management

Now that we understand the structure of your business, we need to meet the people who’ll be running it. Who does what, and why are they onboard? This section is important even for a single practitioner or sole proprietorship, as it will introduce you and your qualifications to the readers of your plan.

Start at the top with the legal structure and ownership of the business. If you are incorporated, say so, and detail whether you are a C or S corporation. If you haven’t yet incorporated, make sure to discuss this with your attorney and tax advisor to figure out which way to go. Whether you’re in a partnership or are a sole owner, this is where to mention it.

List the names of the owners of the business, what percent of the company each of them owns, the form of ownership (common or preferred stock, general or limited partner), and what kind of involvement they’ll have with day-to-day operations; for example, if they’re an active or silent partner.

Here’s where you’ll list the names and profiles of your management team, along with what their responsibilities are. Especially if you’re looking for funding, make sure to highlight the proven track record of these key employees. Lenders and investors will be keenly interested in their previous successes, particularly in how they relate to this current venture.

Include each person’s name and position, along with a short description of what the individual’s main duties will be. Detail his or her education, and any unique skills or experience, especially if they’re relevant to the job at hand. Mention previous employment and any industry awards or recognition related to it, along with involvement with charities or other non-profit organizations.

Think of this section as a resume-in-a-nutshell, recapping the highlights and achievements of the people you’ve chosen to surround yourself with. Actual detailed resumes for you and your management team should go in the plan’s appendix, and you can cross-reference them here. You want your readers to feel like your top staff complements you and supplements your own particular skill set. You also want readers to understand why these people are so qualified to help make your business a success.

This section will spell out the compensation for management team members, such as salary, benefits, and any profit-sharing you might be offering. If any of the team will be under contract or bound by non-compete agreements, you would mention that here, as well.

If your company will have a Board of Directors, its members also need to be listed in the business plan. Introduce each person by name and the position they’ll hold on the board. Talk about how each might be involved with the business (in addition to board meetings.

Similar to what you did for your management team, give each member’s background information, including education, experience, special skills, etc., along with any contributions they may already have had to the success of the business. Include the full resumes for your board members in the appendix.

Alternately, if you don’t have a Board of Directors, include information about an Advisory Board you’ve put together, or a panel of experts you’ve convened to help you along the way. Having either of these, by the way, is something your company might want to consider whether or not you’re putting together the organization and management section or your business plan.

NEXT ARTICLE > Business Plan Section 4: Products and Services

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First Steps: Writing the Management Section of Your Business Plan This quick guide offers tips that will help you create the management section for your business plan.

By Entrepreneur Staff Jan 4, 2015

In their book Write Your Business Plan , the staff of Entrepreneur Media, Inc. offer an in-depth understanding of what's essential to any business plan, what's appropriate for your venture, and what it takes to ensure success. In this edited excerpt, the authors discuss what type of information you should include in the management section of your business plan.

In the management section of your business plan, you describe who'll run the company. This may be no more than a simple paragraph noting that you'll be the only executive and describing your background. Or it may be a major section in the plan, consisting of an organizational chart outlining interrelationships among every department and manager in the company, plus bios of all key executives.

Time and again, financiers utter some variation of the following statement: "I don't invest in ideas; I invest in people." Whether this is the whole story—investors certainly prefer capable people with good ideas to inept people with good ideas—there's no doubt that you, and the people who run your company, will receive considerable scrutiny from financiers as well as from customers, suppliers and anyone else with an interest in your plan. People are, after all, a company's most important asset. Not adequately addressing this issue in a business plan is a serious failing. Luckily, it's one of the easiest parts.

Be sure to include all of the following parts, where applicable:

You. Before you can impress people with your management team, it's important to let your readers know who's at the helm and who's selecting the management team. You, therefore, have to let them know your background, including your vision, your credentials, and why you chose the management team you did. You need to briefly explain what's expected of this management team and the role you see them playing in the future of this business.

Your managers. Identifying your managers is about presenting what they bring to the table. You can provide this by describing them in terms of the following characteristics:

Education . Impressive educational credentials among company managers provide strong reasons for an investor or other plan reader to feel good about your company. Use your judgment in deciding what educational background to include and how to emphasize it.

Employment . Prior work experience in a related field is something many investors look for. If you've spent ten years in management in the retail men's apparel business before opening a tuxedo outlet, an investor can feel confident that you know what you're doing. Likewise, you'll want to explain the key, appropriate positions of your team members. Describe any relevant jobs in terms of job title, years of experience, names of employers, etc. Feel free to omit any irrelevant experience.

Skills . In addition to pointing out that you were a district sales manager for a stereo-equipment wholesaler, you should describe your responsibilities and the skills you honed while fulfilling them. Again, list the skills that your management team has that pertain to this business. Each time you mention skills that you or a member of your management team has spent years acquiring at another company, it will be another reason for an investor to believe you can do it at your own company.

Accomplishments. If you or one of your team members has been awarded patents, achieved record sales gains or once opened an unbelievable number of new stores in the space of a year, now's the time to tell about it. And don't brag: Just be factual and remember to quantify. If, for example, you have 12 patents or your sales manager had five years of 30 percent annual sales gains, this is the stuff investors and others reading your business plan will want to see.

Personal . Investors want to know with whom they're dealing in terms of the personal side, too. Personal information on each member of your management team may include age, city of residence, notable charitable or community activities and, last but far from least, personal motivation for joining the company. Investors like to see vigorous, committed, involved people in the companies they back. Mentioning one or two relevant personal details of your key managers may help investors feel they know what they're getting into, especially in today's increasingly transparent business climate.

In a longer plan, when you give your management team's background and describe their titles, go on and tell readers exactly what each member of the management team will be expected to do in the company. This may be especially important in a startup, in which not every position is filled from the start. If your marketing work is going to be handled by the CFO until you get a little further down the road, let readers know this up front. You certainly can't expect them to figure that out on their own.

Board members. Your board members, and their reasons for being included, should be a brief part of your business plan. A board of directors gives you access to expertise, provided you choose them wisely, but at the cost of giving up control of the business to them. Technically, the officers of a corporation report to the board of directors, who bear the ultimate responsibility for the proper management of the company.

A board of advisors is a less-formal entity. You can have the same kind of people on an advisory board but you don't report to them nor do they have the same power as a board of directors. Your board should be able to challenge your thinking, help you solve knotty problems, and even change management if necessary.

Outside professionals. Some of the most important people who'll do work for you won't work for you. Your attorney, your accountant and your insurance broker are all crucial members of your team. Your business plan should reassure readers that you have your bases covered in these important professional positions.

Investors want profit. They don't just give money to people they like or admire. But it's also true that if they don't like, admire or at least respect the people running your company, they're likely to look elsewhere. The management section of your plan is where you tell them about the human side of the equation. You can't control your readers' responses to that, but you owe it to them to provide the information.

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How to Write a Management Plan

Last Updated: September 18, 2023 Fact Checked

This article was co-authored by Madison Boehm . Madison Boehm is a Business Advisor and the Co-Founder of Jaxson Maximus, a men’s salon and custom clothiers based in southern Florida. She specializes in business development, operations, and finance. Additionally, she has experience in the salon, clothing, and retail sectors. Madison holds a BBA in Entrepreneurship and Marketing from The University of Houston. There are 9 references cited in this article, which can be found at the bottom of the page. This article has been fact-checked, ensuring the accuracy of any cited facts and confirming the authority of its sources. This article has been viewed 241,517 times.

A management plan describes how an organization or business is run. Writing a management plan allows you to formalize your management structure and operations. It also ensures that everyone is on the same page and that your goals will be accomplished. You can easily write your own management plan with a few simple steps.

Management Plan Outline and Example

Starting Your Management Plan

• Defining roles also creates accountability by making it clear who's fault it was that something did or did not happen. [3] X Trustworthy Source Kansas University Center for Community Health and Development Community-based research center focused on supporting public health development and education Go to source

• A section detailing management members and their responsibilities and authorities.
• A chart of section detailing interactions between and responsibilities of each level of the organization.
• A section explaining different aspects of your organization being managed and the policies and procedures of that management.
• A schedule for updating, enhancing, and growing management and the management plan. [6] X Research source

Describing Ownership and Management

• Include a copy of board policies, including election policies, term length, responsibility, authority, and conflict resolution. This information should already be stated in your operating agreement or other founding documents.

• List past positions and duties of each member that apply to their current management obligations. Explain how these obligations highlight applicable skills and strengthen the management positions.
• Highlight all relevant educational backgrounds for each of the managers. Explain how their training will benefit the company. Only include the education that is relevant to the positions that they currently hold.
• If you are the only employee in your business, be sure to include your own experience and strengths.

• Accountants.
• Insurance brokers.
• Consultants.

• For example, “Our team, with its diverse array of skills, have a combined forty years of experience in this field. With our coordinated democratic structure, they can work together effectively to produce results. With this team, we are confident that our business will become profitable in two years.”

Writing Out Policies and Procedures

• For example, a policy might be using and selling only green materials and products. The procedures to support that policy might be shopping from approved green vendors or checking the environmental impact of each material or product used.

Revising Your Plan

• When they approve, have all owners sign the plan before you submit it to your investors, bank, or fundraising bodies.

• Make sure there is a way for all management and employees to submit their feedback regarding the plan.
• Then, create a method by which changes to the plan can be approved and instituted. [20] X Trustworthy Source Kansas University Center for Community Health and Development Community-based research center focused on supporting public health development and education Go to source

Expert Q&A

• Many investors will read the management section of your business plan before any other section, including marketing and finances, so you want to make sure that you have the best proposal possible. Thanks Helpful 0 Not Helpful 0

• Do not neglect your management plan in favor of your financial plans. Both are equally important to a business plan. Thanks Helpful 0 Not Helpful 1

You Might Also Like

• ↑ Madison Boehm. Business Advisor, Jaxson Maximus. Expert Interview. 24 August 2021.
• ↑ http://ctb.ku.edu/en/table-of-contents/leadership/effective-manager/management-plan/main
• ↑ https://www.brown.edu/research/conducting-research-brown/preparing-proposal/proposal-development-services/writing-management-plan
• ↑ https://www.thebalance.com/how-to-write-the-management-summary-2951561
• ↑ https://open.lib.umn.edu/humanresourcemanagement/chapter/4-1-the-recruitment-process/
• ↑ https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/241072
• ↑ https://writingcenter.unc.edu/tips-and-tools/editing-and-proofreading/
• ↑ http://www.businessnewsdaily.com/4533-business-plan-outline.html

About This Article

The best way to write a management report is to describe the company’s management structure in 10 to 20 pages. Name the board members and explain the company’s ownership policies. Introduce all management members and present the strengths of each team member. Then, write out workplace policies and procedures. Send the management report to the company’s bank, investors, or fundraising bodies. For more tips from our Financial Reviewer, like how to outline, format, and revise your plan, read on! Did this summary help you? Yes No

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How to Describe the Management Team in Your Business Plan

Strategic planning kit for dummies.

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Long-term business success depends, above all, on the quality of the team providing the leadership, direction, and vision. In fact, in some cases, investors have funded start-up companies primarily on the basis of the people who will run them.

Assemble background information on yourself and each of your senior team members.

In your business plan, condense each key person’s profile into a description of no longer than one-half page, following these tips:

When describing team members, include everything that’s relevant to the potential success of your business. But keep each biographical description brief, to the point, and less than a half page in length.

If yours is a single-person operation, you don’t have to spend too much time describing yourself in your plan, but do have a resume highlighting your education, experience, and accomplishments ready for when the information is requested by a banker, supplier, or prospective investor.

If you’re running a larger business, feature biographies of up to five top managers in your business plan, including all the big Cs: CEO (Chief Executive Officer), COO (Chief Operating Officer), CFO (Chief Financial Officer), and CTO or CIO (Chief Technology Officer or Chief Information Officer).

Depending on the size of your company, you may also want to include brief descriptions of the members of your Board of Directors, Board of Advisors, or consultants who play a major role in making your business a success.

You should also conduct a web search for the name of each person featured in your business plan to be sure the results lead to positive, credible, current information. Chances are good that prospective customers, investors, and suppliers will look for your company and the more visible people online as part of their research efforts, and you want links to lead to pages that affirm their interest.

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The Ultimate List of One Pager Templates Every Business Needs

Written by: Raja Mandal

One pagers are  a powerful tool for presenting essential information in a concise and visually appealing format. You can use them to communicate summaries of products, services, or projects, making them effective tools for marketing and communication purposes.

However, finding a high-quality one-pager template that meets your business needs can be daunting. Although some one-pager templates are available online, most have average designs and limited customization options.

How do you find the right template or design that suits your specific needs and goals?

Don't worry; we’ve got your back.

We've done extensive research and assembled a collection of one-pager templates to captivate your audience and make a lasting impression.

Whether it's marketing, sales, project management or human resources, this article contains all the necessary one-page templates to run your business.

Let's start!

Table of Contents

What is a one pager, benefits of using one pagers, types of one pagers you can use.

• A one pager is a single-page document that captures the key points of a project, idea, product or service.
• It is designed to be concise and visually appealing, with all relevant information presented in a clear and organized manner.
• One Pager allows for precise and impactful communication, enhances visual appeal, saves time and serves different purposes.
• Visme's one pager templates are the best way to present information concisely and effectively. From marketing and sales to project management to human resources, you'll get all the templates you need to run your business efficiently.
• Sign-up for Visme teams to find tools and templates for the specific needs of different teams across your organization.

A One Pager is a concise, single-page document designed to capture attention and convey essential information effectively. It's a powerful tool for businesses, condensing key details onto a single page to provide a comprehensive overview of a product, service or project.

The simple layout and attractive design of a one pager help the audience understand the main message quickly and easily.

In the business world, one-pagers are available in different formats to meet various needs. They can be brochures, project timelines, press releases, event flyers or even resumes. The versatility of a one pager enables businesses to provide comprehensive overviews, engage attention and adapt to different formats to achieve their communication goals.

Here's an example of a one pager.

Utilizing a One Pager offers numerous advantages for businesses and individuals alike. Let's explore some of these benefits:

1. Effective Communication: By condensing information onto a single page, One Pager allows for precise and impactful communication. They help you convey your message concisely, ensuring that key points are delivered in a focused and easily digestible manner.

2. Visual Appeal: One pagers often incorporate visually engaging elements like charts, graphics and images. These visual components enhance the overall presentation, making it more compelling and memorable for the audience.

3. Time Efficiency: With one pagers, you can save time by avoiding lengthy reports or presentations. The format lets you present the most important information efficiently, making it ideal for busy professionals who must communicate quickly and effectively.

4. Versatility: You can use one pagers across various industries and sectors, serving different purposes such as product promotion, idea pitching, project updates and business overviews. Their flexibility allows you to adapt them to your specific needs and objectives.

Simplify content creation and brand management for your team

• Collaborate on designs , mockups and wireframes with your non-design colleagues
• Lock down your branding to maintain brand consistency throughout your designs
• Why start from scratch? Save time with 1000s of professional branded templates

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In this section, we will explore the various types of one pager templates you can use to convey different aspects of your business effectively.

Whether you need to showcase a product, outline a project plan, present financial data, or post a job advertisement, there is a specific type of one-pager tailored to meet your unique needs.

Jump to this section:

General One Pager Templates

Startup one page templates, business plan one pager template, marketing one pager templates, case study one pager templates, human resource one pager templates, designer one pager templates, sales one pager templates, project management one pager templates, financial one pager templates, training & development one pagers, non profit one pager templates.

If you need to create a professional document quickly, such as a one pager, you can use Visme's AI document generator . It is a powerful tool that simplifies your work, allowing you to create high-quality, impressive documents without spending too much time or effort.

Generate a first-draft document from a text prompt, select a style and the tool will generate text, images, icons and everything else.

Let's begin with the general one-pager templates. You can use them for various purposes and present information concisely and distraction-free.

Retail Business Plan One Pager Template

Showcase your retail business plan in a concise and visually appealing format using this business plan one pager template. It provides a structured layout to outline key elements of a business plan, including business description, consumer persona, marketing channels, sales funnel and more.

You can use this business one pager template to communicate your unique value proposition, market opportunities and growth strategies to potential investors, partners or stakeholders.

Customize the sections to align with your business goals, market analysis and financial projections.

Finding everything you need in Visme has never been easier with our Shortcut feature . By simply typing the forward slash ("/"), a convenient pop-up appears with a search bar, giving you instant access to everything within Visme.

From animations and text boxes to design elements and data visualizations , find what you need without wasting time searching through menus or options.

Tech Company One Pager Proposal

Present your tech company's expertise and solutions with our Tech Company One Pager Proposal. Showcase your cutting-edge technologies, services and success stories in a concise and visually appealing format. Tailor the sections to highlight your competitive advantage, industry experience and contact information. Add hotspots to expand key  sections details or direct readers to essential links, like product pages or a contact us page .

With a professional and persuasive approach, this template enables you to make a compelling case for partnerships or project collaborations, positioning your tech company as a leader in the industry.

IT Service One Pager Template

This IT service one pager template is designed to give the audience a quick understanding of your service, how it works and how it can benefit them. This tool can serve as a marketing tool to attract potential customers or improve communication with your existing customer base.

Or, you can use it to help your new hires or clients quickly get up to speed with your services.

With its modern and minimalistic design, there's plenty of room for you to display your services, client testimonials and pricing details all on one page.

SMART Goals Worksheet

Setting and achieving goals is the secret to success for any business and individual.

But how do you ensure your goals will help you achieve your vision and mission?

The answer is by setting Specific, Measurable, Actionable, Realistic and Time-bound (SMART) goals. Use this SMART goals worksheet template to set goals, gain clarity and stay on track. It includes customizable sections for setting SMART problems and answers and a problem-solving cheat sheet.

Development Process One Pager Proposal

Present your development process in a concise and visually appealing manner using our development process one pager proposal template. Customize the sections to outline the key phases, milestones, and deliverables of your development project. Present a clear and concise overview that stakeholders can easily understand.

Streamline communication and ensure alignment in the development process with this informative and visually appealing one-pager template.

A startup one-pager template summarizes a business's value proposition, market potential, and competitive advantage in a single, captivating document. Here are a few startup one page templates you can use.

Tech Company Startup One Pager Template

Give a splash of color to your startup's presentation with this tech company startup one pager template.

This one pager inspiration template makes your statistics come to life by providing multiple ways to depict your data through engaging visualizations like vertical bar graphs, pie charts and tables.

With a clean and exciting layout, this template allows you to share critical information, such as profiles of lead investors and your marketing and sales strategy. It's a simple yet effective tool to help your startup stand out and attract potential investors.

App Startup One Pager Template

Brighten up your business idea with this app startup one pager template. It features specific icons to highlight important details like the type of funding, the stage of funding, and the total amount raised. A well-structured section is also available to outline your target market description.

With a visually engaging donut chart, providing a financial overview becomes an easy task. This template ensures your startup’s information is easily understood.

Here’s a comprehensive article about creating a startup one pager to secure funding for your startup.

With a business plan one pager, you can quickly and clearly communicate the company's business plan to potential investors, partners or stakeholders. Here are templates to get you started.

Sales Business Plan One Pager Template

This bold, black and neon color template makes your sales business plan stand out. It smartly uses boxed sections to highlight your executive summary and the products and services you offer. The one pager layout's straightforward design makes it easy for readers to quickly understand your business' key aspects .

An allocated area for your target market is also present, allowing you to define your potential customers precisely.

Marketing Business Plan One Pager Template

This marketing business plan one pager template combines style with function, ensuring a high-impact, visually pleasing presentation of your marketing business plan.

Innovative radial gauges offer a refreshing way to present market analysis, while traditional bar graphs illustrate the company's size and niche. Plus, a clear pie chart provides a geographical distribution, giving a holistic overview of your location strategy.

Unlock the power of effective marketing communication with our marketing one pager templates . Present your products, services, or campaigns in a concise and visually captivating format, leaving a lasting impression on your target audience.

Creative Brief

A creative brief is a one page document that outlines the goals, strategies, challenges, outcomes and other crucial details for various projects. It can be used for marketing, branding, design and various other projects.

Whether you want to pitch a new product or service, design an advertisement or create a website, creative brief one pager templates will help you clearly define your objectives and provide the right information for your team.

Use the template below to make a creative brief for your video production business or customize it to suit your varied needs.

Customer Journey Map

As a marketer or business owner, you want to know as much as possible about your customers so that you can identify their needs and provide solutions. A customer journey map helps you do just that by enabling you to visualize how people interact with your brand or business over time. It is an excellent tool for gaining insights into your target audience and helping them solve their problems.

Use the template below to create an easy-to-understand customer journey map that can help boost sales and improve customer service.

Marketing infographic

If you are looking for a quick and easy way to market your products and services, a marketing infographic is the best tool to do that. A marketing infographic is a great one pager example that can explain any concept in an easy-to-understand way for your target audience.

The versatility of an infographic lets you reach your target audience on any platform, from social media and emails to company websites and print media.

Choose a suitable marketing infographic template from the Visme library and customize it using our free online infographic maker .

What’s an email marketing campaign without a professionally designed newsletter? Newsletters are one of the most effective ways to communicate with your audience, build your brand's credibility and establish yourself as an expert in your industry.

Also, it is the best way to keep your customers informed about new products, services and promotions.

You can create a professional-looking newsletter by choosing one of our templates, adding your content and customizing it to match your brand identity. Visme’s one pager templates for newsletters include various designs and layouts you can customize for any industry, company or organization.

Boost credibility and share compelling stories of how clients have achieved success with your product using the one-pager case study templates below.

E-commerce One Pager Case Study Template

This template is perfect if you're looking at the exciting world of cryptocurrency payments.

Using soothing blues and white, it's easy on the eyes and gets your point across clearly. It has a particular area for listing all the discoveries and results from your study. A bar graph helps show info about different age groups in a way anyone can grasp.

It's a simple, neat way to let everyone know what your study has found.

Nutritional Product One Pager Case Study Template

This template combines simplicity and detail, allowing you to present your case study effectively and engagingly. It is designed with a color palette that harmonizes beautifully and instantly connects with your natural pies. It showcases an easy-to-understand bar graph detailing the acceptance rate among various age groups.

Clear spaces for Key Performance Indicators provide a snapshot of your product's achievements. Additionally, it employs radial gauges for an eye-catching display of your study's findings and outcomes.

Read our comprehensive guide to learn how to create an impressive one pager case study . It includes a step-by-step process, templates and best practices to master creating a striking one-pager case study.

Empower your HR team and improve processes with our human resource one pager templates. Streamline evaluations, attract top talent, provide recommendations, simplify job offers and enhance internal communication.

Performance Review

Elevate your performance evaluation process with our comprehensive performance review templates. This highly useful tool helps HR professionals evaluate employee performance, recognize strengths, and identify areas that need improvement.

With well-structured sections for ratings, feedback and action plans, these one pager templates ensure a constructive and effective performance review process. Streamline your evaluations, foster employee growth, and drive overall performance excellence.

Job Advertisement

Highlight key responsibilities, qualifications and company culture in a visually appealing and informative layout. Our job advertisement one pager templates feature customizable sections for job descriptions, desired skills and benefits, which grab the attention of potential candidates. Its persuasive and professional design portrays your brand in good light.

Letter of Recommendation

With a letter of recommendation, you can provide employees with constructive feedback on their performance while offering a recommendation letter that they can use in future job applications.

Empower your employees' career journeys with our personalized letter of recommendation templates . Showcase their strengths and capabilities through persuasive and well-structured recommendations. Highlight qualifications, skills and notable achievements to support job applications, promotions or professional development opportunities.

Are you looking for a fair and effective way to offer a candidate an employment opportunity? Our job offer letter templates are designed for use by employers when offering new job positions. You can customize them with your company’s information and tailor them to meet the needs of each candidate.

The templates include sections for position details, compensation, benefits, and terms of employment. With an organized layout and clear information, the templates ensure seamless communication and informed decision-making for candidates.

Using posters to promote events, job fairs, job openings and other company news is an effective way to reach a large audience. You can design posters and post them in public places or display them on your website.

Customize Visme's poster templates with your company's logo , brand colors and brand fonts to create a professional-looking promotional tool. The templates include editable text areas where you can include information about the event or job opening and contact information.

Elevate your brand identity with Visme's powerful brand design tool . It lets you create and save your branding materials, including logos, color palettes and font styles, all in one place. Maintain consistency across your designs and effortlessly apply your brand elements to any project in a few clicks.

Read this article to learn more about setting up your branding kit in Visme .

Showcase your design concepts and creative projects in a visually stunning and concise format that leaves a lasting impression on your clients. Use these designer one pager templates to elevate your design game and make your work shine.

From film production to website design, a storyboard template is a game-changer for bringing ideas to life and aligning stakeholders with the creative vision. Our Storyboard one pager templates provide a structured layout to map out the sequence of events, visualize key scenes, and convey the narrative flow.

You can customize sections such as descriptions, images, sketches and more to present ideas and concepts clearly and effectively.

Choose from thousands of design elements, such as vector icons , illustrations, 3D animated graphics and more to customize your one pager template. And, if you want to take things to the next level, use Visme’s AI image generator .

Create images, art, 3D objects, icons, abstracts and whatever you need to make the storyboard more engaging.

Transforming ideas into tangible visual representations is made easy with our mock up one pager templates. Whether it's a website, mobile app or product design, this template allows designers to present their work in a realistic and visually stunning way.

The mock up templates help designers demonstrate functionality, user experience and aesthetics with customizable sections for images, descriptions and interactive elements. Impress clients or stakeholders with lifelike mock-ups that bring your designs to life and provide a tangible preview of the final product.

Design Brief

Clear communication and a shared understanding of projects are vital for successful design. Capture and present the project objectives, target audience, design guidelines and deliverables using our one pager design brief templates.

Customize the templates to include the goals, target audience, product description, timeline and more to ensure a comprehensive and effective briefing process.

Designers can utilize these templates to align stakeholders, establish project parameters and lay the foundation for successful design outcomes.

Visme empowers your design team with powerful collaboration features that skyrocket productivity. Seamlessly collaborate on projects by inviting team members via email to edit and provide real-time feedback.

With the live editing feature, multiple team members can work on the same project simultaneously, making edits and providing real-time feedback. Stay organized with comments, track changes and access version history to keep your design process streamlined and efficient. With Visme's workflow management features , you can efficiently manage tasks, progress, deadlines and corrections from one place.

Read this article to learn more about how to do collaborative design right with Visme. You can also watch the video below for more information.

Join the ranks of designers saving nearly 79% in time and cost with Visme. Here is what Kendra Bradley, Graphic Content Developer at WOW has to say about Visme.

“Visme saves time and is a whole lot more affordable than most other content development programs out there now. It makes it easy to develop professional, polished content.”

“We were looking for a new internal design program, so we got Visme and loved it. From there, we started introducing new teammates to it and it’s become a staple on our team.”

In this section, we will explore the realm of Sales One Pager templates and their significant role in boosting sales performance. Streamline processes, engage prospects and drive conversions with these invaluable tools.

Sales Battlecards

The sales battlecard one pager templates are a game-changer for sales professionals. It provides a comprehensive overview of competitive intelligence, product features and unique selling points. These templates allow sales reps to address objections effectively, highlight key advantages and win the sales battle.

It includes sections for competitive analysis, key messages and objection handling that are some of the most valuable resources for sales reps to navigate the competitive landscape and close more deals.

Customer Persona

Understanding the target audience is crucial for effective sales and creating other sales collateral, including battle cards and product sell sheets.

Visme provides 30+ customer persona templates to create detailed profiles of your ideal customers. Capture their demographics, pain points, motivations, spending behavior and more.

Customize the templates to tailor your messaging, address customer needs and build stronger connections. By aligning sales strategies with customer personas, you can drive personalized interactions, nurture relationships and increase sales effectiveness.

Product Sell Sheet

Are you looking to present your products in a compelling way? You want to highlight the benefits, features and specifications of your products. Use our product sell sheet templates to create effective sales collateral that effectively communicates the value of your offerings.

Customize the templates to match your brand’s tone and voice. Make sure you include all relevant information about pricing, availability and more.

Food Processor Product Sell Sheet Template

With this product sell sheet template, you get a vibrant tool that puts your food processor in the spotlight and significantly impacts your sales outcomes.

It effectively uses vector icons and a high-quality image of your product, creating an immediate visual impact. Most importantly, it accommodates your product's core features and specifications in a crisp layout. Salespeople can use these details to better understand the product and convince potential customers about its unique features.

Pictures often communicate louder than words; having captivating visuals in your business document can go a long way in engaging your audience. Use Visme's AI image editing tools to instantly edit, touch up, unblur, and upscale your visuals, ensuring they always leave a lasting impact.

Headphone Product Sell Sheet Template

The headphone product sell sheet template, with various shades of purple, invokes feelings of creativity and luxury. It offers a dedicated space for a brief company description, enabling you to showcase what makes your brand stand out. Detailing necessities like speaker size, sensitivity and ear pad material becomes straightforward with this template's clear, organized sections.

The bottom area is designed to focus on unique features; it's the perfect spotlight for your unique selling points.

And the best part? You can customize it for any product or service, regardless of the industry or business type.

Brochures are versatile tools for presenting comprehensive information about products, services or company offerings. Our brochure templates provide a visually engaging layout with customizable sections for content, images and contact details.

Also, Visme offers two popular types of brochure templates: bifold brochures and trifold brochure templates .

These templates enable sales professionals to create impactful brochures that captivate prospects and effectively communicate key messages.

With its professional design and organized structure, the brochure templates help sales teams leave a lasting impression and drive interest in their offerings.

Gain valuable insights into your content's performance with Visme's analytics feature . Track views, engagement and interactions to understand how your audience interacts with your visual content. You can also get additional information such as date/time of view, visitor IP, visitor location, total time spent on the project and source.

Consumer Product One Pager Template

Are you looking for a tool to present the essence of your consumer product idea to potential investors or partners? This consumer product one pager template will help you do that.

This template is specifically designed to showcase your product idea in a concise and visually compelling manner, making a significant impact on your audience. It features sections for a product overview, company overview, product specifications and more.

Use it for captivating sales presentations, impactful product launches, enticing eCommerce listings and compelling sales collateral.

Customize the template to match your brand's aesthetic, ensuring a cohesive and visually appealing representation of your product.

Company Sales One Pager Template

Attract new customers and investors using this company sales one pager template. The template includes a company overview, product description, benefits and target market analysis. It also has room for your contact details at the bottom of the page.

Edit the customizable sections and replace the information with your own to create a sales one pager that is sure to close a deal.

Billing Software Datasheet Template

With a pleasing blue color scheme and pink as an accent color, this sheet creates a visually appealing outline for potential clients. It smartly provides information on essential areas—system requirements, installation procedures and data security details. Including critical features gives a snapshot of the software's unique capabilities.

This comprehensive template covers all the crucial elements of your billing software. It ensures that every pitch counts by presenting your software in an organized, professional and engaging manner.

Food Manufacturing Datasheet Template

This template ensures that your detailed specifications, safety features, testing, quality control procedures, and the manufacturing process are comprehensively presented. The clever use of icons for every point aids in quick understanding, ensuring your message gets across. This professional one pager template is not only visually appealing but is also a thoughtful tool for communicating crucial manufacturing details.

Explore additional 9 data sheet templates from Visme’s library to showcase your product details effectively.

Effective communication and streamlined processes are the keys to success in project management. That's where project management one pager templates come into play. Let’s talk about the templates Visme has to offer.

Project Timeline

Efficiently track project progress and milestones with our project timeline templates. This visual tool provides a comprehensive overview of project tasks and their scheduled durations. By outlining key deliverables and dependencies, project managers and team members can stay on track and meet project deadlines effectively.

With its customizable sections and visually appealing design, the project timeline template ensures clear communication and keeps stakeholders informed about project progress and timelines.

Project Charter

Use Visme's project charter one pager templates to establish a solid foundation for your projects. The templates will help you outline the project objectives, deliverables, budget, stakeholders and more. You can also use the one pagers to get everyone on board with the project, and it will help you keep track of your progress throughout.

The templates align project teams and stakeholders on expectations by clearly defining project goals, success criteria, roles and responsibilities.

Streamline your project management process and optimize resource utilization with our visually appealing and easily customizable one pager schedule templates . This one pager example empowers project managers to allocate resources effectively, track task durations and ensure timely delivery.

The schedule template visually represents project activities and timelines, enabling teams to stay organized and on track. Customize the sections for task descriptions, start and end dates and assigned resources to fit your project's needs.

If your projects include managing a heavy workload of social media content, Visme has you covered. With our social media scheduler , you can streamline the process by designing and publishing your content all in one place. Create engaging visuals, schedule posts in advance and easily optimize your social media presence.

When it comes to presenting concise information, Visme is a game changer. Hear it from one of our satisfied customers Wolfgang H.| Adjunct Professor.

“I love to present concise information (i.e. sweet and easy) both for PC and mobile devices. Therefore, Visme is great and the learning curve was very manageable. Templates are inspiring. Once in a while I browse through them and use bits and pieces from good looking remplates”

Now, let's take a look at some of Visme's financial one pager templates. These business one pagers help you craft impactful press releases, streamline budget planning, and present comprehensive balance sheets with confidence and clarity.

Press Release

A press release is an excellent example of a one pager that you can use to communicate the financial news or updates about your business. It's an effective way of generating attention and interest in your company, product or service.

If you plan on launching a new product or service or want to inform people about a significant event or milestone in your company finances, consider creating a press release to share with the media and the public.

Try Visme's press release templates to create professional-looking press releases and attract the media.

Budgets are an essential part of any business, whether you're a start-up or an established company. It will help you understand how much you can afford to spend and how much it will cost to run your business. It also helps you see where your money goes so that you can make changes as needed.

To avoid the hassle of learning complex budgeting tools, use Visme's easily customizable budget templates . They provide a clear overview of your income and expenses, allowing you to identify areas where you can cut costs or invest more.

Financial Company Balance Sheet

Obtain a concise snapshot of your company's financial health using Visme's balance sheet templates. Customize this company one pager design to present key financial data such as assets, liabilities, debt and equity in a clear and organized manner.

Below is an example one pager balance sheet template that you can customize according to your industry and business type.

Keeping your financial documents up to date is an essential yet challenging part of running a business smoothly. With Visme's dynamic fields feature , you can streamline the process and ensure accuracy in your financial reports, invoices and other essential documents.

Simply input your information once, and it will update across all instances, ensuring accuracy and saving time. Watch the video below to see this feature in action.

Are you looking for something to increase the impact of your training and development initiatives? Visme’s training and development one pagers might be of great help. Create interactive worksheets, professional certificates and engaging infographics to enhance learning experiences and drive knowledge retention.

Support the learners' training journey using Visme's one pager worksheet templates . A worksheet is the best way to capture key points and takeaways from a training session. It is also an effective way to reinforce the learning objectives and ensure everyone in the class understands what they need to know.

One of the best ways to present your training program is with an infographic, a visual representation of information. An infographic includes text, graphics and other elements that help you explain complex concepts in an easy-to-understand manner.

The best infographics are visually appealing, easy to understand and informative. And if you want to create one, Visme's free online infographic maker is the best tool.

Choose from 1000+ infographic templates and customize them to prepare your one pager training material.

Visme gives you various downloading and sharing options for your one pager. Download your customized one pager in various formats such as PNG, JPG, PDF and HTML. Share them on social media channels to engage your followers, send them via email to specific recipients, or embed them on websites using a snippet of code.

Furthermore, Visme is compatible with learning management systems, allowing you to export the one pager learning materials in SCORM and xAPI format .

Certificate

A certificate one pager is a great way to recognize an employee or team for their hard work and dedication. Visme's one pager certificate templates are perfect for anyone looking to create a professional-looking certificate in minutes.

Once the training is complete and the employee has reached a certain level of competency, reward them with a certificate that displays their accomplishments.

Or, if an employee has received a promotion or a new position, present them with a certificate that recognizes their achievements.

Additionally, you can read this article about 18 one pager templates to discover more one pager design examples and how to use them.

Let's take a look at some of our top nonprofit one pager templates. These customizable templates can help you get your message across, whether you're fundraising, making a business proposal, releasing news or seeking event sponsorship.

Fundraiser Project One Pager Proposal Template

Stand out with this well-organized and clean fundraiser project one pager template, perfect for nonprofits aiming to make a strong impression. The template incorporates a sleek and structured layout with its black, yellow and gray color scheme, presentable enough to catch anyone's attention.

It offers designated spaces for your organization's logo, information about the event location, details of the guests and profiles of key speakers, creating an excellent tool for sharing key information about your nonprofit events.

Education Non-profit One Pager Business Proposal Template

Present your education-related nonprofit business proposal with this easy-to-use one pager template. It allows you to provide an organization overview, problem statement, solutions, the target audience and a comprehensive market and competitive analysis.

The included vertical bar graph feature further enhances the proposal by letting you visualize and articulate financial projections effectively.

Event Sponsorship Request One Pager Template

Attract potential sponsors for your event with this elegantly designed Event Sponsorship Request One Pager template. Its design, highlighted by a captivating combination of blue, black and white, is intended to draw attention and inspire action.

Each segment, including the executive summary, program objectives, and sponsorship packages, is logically set up for potential sponsors to comprehend your proposition effortlessly.

Non Profit One Pager Press Release Template

Spread the word about your nonprofit's latest news and achievements with this eye-catching non profit one pager press release template. With vibrant shades of orange, this template is designed to grab the attention of your target audience while maintaining a professional and organized layout.

The dynamic colors create visual interest and encourage readers to engage with your press release and learn more about your organization's story, milestones or upcoming events.

Environmental Non Profit Trifold Brochure Template

Capture the essence of your environmentally focused mission with this visually pleasing non profit trifold brochure template. Featuring a serene green color scheme complemented by images of lush plants and trees, this template exudes a calming and earth-friendly atmosphere.

The inclusion of inspirational quotes throughout helps to motivate readers and depict the substantial impact of contributions to your cause. The template creates a powerful tool for conveying your environmental nonprofit's message.

Unlock the Power of One Pager Templates with Visme

As promised, we have provided you with the ultimate list of one pager templates your business needs. These templates are designed to help you effectively communicate your ideas and make a lasting impact on your audience.

With Visme's drag-and-drop editor, you have the freedom to customize your chosen templates to match your brand and message. Easily add your own content, images and branding elements to create professional-looking one pagers that captivate your audience.

Visme is not limited to one pager templates. It is a comprehensive design tool that offers a wide array of features and templates for various teams. Whether you need marketing materials, sales presentations, HR documents or interactive training modules, Visme has you covered. Empower your organization with visually compelling content that drives results.

Sign up for Visme teams today and unleash your creativity with powerful design tools and templates.

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Raja Antony Mandal is a Content Writer at Visme. He can quickly adapt to different writing styles, possess strong research skills, and know SEO fundamentals. Raja wants to share valuable information with his audience by telling captivating stories in his articles. He wants to travel and party a lot on the weekends, but his guitar, drum set, and volleyball court don’t let him.

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Change Impact Assessment & Analysis (Example & Template Included)

“Nothing is constant except change” might be a cliche, but it’s true. Businesses would do well to have the saying tacked up to every wall in their offices. Knowing that change is always on the horizon means organizations can prepare for it with a change impact assessment.

To quickly adjust to change and lessen its negative effects requires understanding what change impact assessment is and then knowing how to conduct a change impact analysis. We’ll go over that and add a free change impact assessment template to facilitate the process.

What Is Change Impact Assessment?

Organizations use the change impact assessment process to understand how changes will affect people, processes, projects, etc. With that knowledge, organizations can mitigate the negative impact of those changes or take advantage of any position effects of the change. Change impact assessment is a key part of managing any organization or project.

After a change impact assessment and change impact analysis, organizations can make better decisions, allocate resources more effectively and reduce risks to the organization or project. Change impact assessment does this by analyzing the type and extent of the change and how it will affect different areas of the organization, such as its employees or teams, processes, technology, culture and competency.

Whether an organization is changing its systems, values, policies and operations or hiring a professional service to implement a change, help with relocation or the production of a new product or service, change impact assessment can make those changes as seamless as possible without disrupting business operations more than necessary.

Once the change impact assessment is done, then the product of implementing that change is next. Project management software helps facilitate that process more efficiently and avoids undue stress on the people, processes and organization.

ProjectManager is award-winning project and portfolio management software that can plan, schedule and track the implementation of changes in real time across multiple tools. Managers can plan and schedule on robust Gantt charts that link dependencies, filter for the critical path and set a baseline to track project variance in real time. Teams can execute their tasks on the list view or kanban boards to manage their workflows. Stakeholders get an overview of everything on the calendar view. Get started with ProjectManager today for free.

What Is a Change Impact Assessment Matrix?

A change impact assessment matrix is a tool that helps evaluate the possible effects of a change on a project or organization. It’s used to gauge the impact of change on different aspects of a project, such as quality, cost, time, resources and risks, or an organization, such as financials, processes, operating budget , etc.

Organizations or project managers can also use a change impact assessment matrix to identify areas that might require more or less communication, tracking or stakeholder engagement about the degree of change.

The change impact assessment matrix is often built in Excel and lists key changes in rows and relevant categories or stakeholders in columns. It can not only help to assess changes to an organization or project but also communicate those findings to management when informing them about the needed changes to the project’s status, schedule or process as well as changes that impact the organization.

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Change Impact Assessment Template

Use this free Change Impact Assessment Template for Excel to manage your projects better.

How to Conduct a Change Impact Analysis

A change impact assessment matrix is used in the change impact analysis. Now that we understand the term and the tools, it’s important to outline the structure of conducting a change impact analysis. To do so, follow the following steps.

1. Map The Current State of the Operations

The current state of operations is a snapshot of how the organization operates before implementing the change. It’s important to map the current state of the operations from different perspectives, such as process, system, culture and people, to fully understand what the change will impact once it impacts the organization or project.

2. Define the Desired Future State

The future state is how the change will impact the various aspects of the organization or project. This can be a new way of working, technology, or organizational structure. The current state of the operations will then be compared to the future state of operations to identify what is changing, who will be impacted and what impacted users need to know. This information will inform the plan and communicate the actions to mitigate risks and maximize the benefits of the change.

3. Describe the Proposed Change

With the current and future state of the operations mapped out, it’s time to define the change that is being proposed and its scope. At this point, identify the impacted areas and analyze the impacts, considering factors such as dependencies, risks, opportunities, assumptions and constraints.

4. Make a Change Impact Assessment Matrix

With this information, the next step is creating a change impact assessment matrix. This involves identifying the change drivers, analyzing the change impacts, evaluating the change readiness and developing the change plan. Further down in the blog, there’s a link to download a free change impact assessment template, which can be used for this step.

5. Estimate Resource Requirements and Make a Budget

Once the change impact assessment is complete, the planning to implement that change becomes paramount. This planning begins with estimating the resources that will be required to implement the change. Resources can be people, tools, equipment or anything needed to execute the project and deliver the change. An estimation of resource requirements will inform the budget for the project, too.

6. Make a Timeline for the Implementation of the Change

Once the scope of the change has been defined, resources estimated and a budget in place, the project now must be scheduled on a timeline. A timeline captures the entire project from beginning to end, with every task populated on that timeline, including its start and end dates, which indicate its estimated duration. It’s a good idea to determine the key performance indicators (KPIs) that will be used to measure the project’s success and track its progress.

Change Impact Assessment Example

There are many examples of a change impact assessment. While some changes can be scheduled, such as the implementation of new tools and processes, others are unexpected. Either way, they must be quickly assessed and dealt with to mitigate risk and take advantage of opportunities.

Some examples of change impact assessment include mergers, appointing new leadership, developing processes that focus on the client or implementing new technology and business models. But anything that changes business as usual changes and requires a change impact assessment to clearly understand that change and successfully implement it.

In simple terms, an example of a change impact assessment is comparing two states, the current state and the future state after the change. Whatever the trigger for that change, the change impact assessment identifies what is changing, who is impacted and what those impacted need to know.

Use this free change impact assessment template when identifying organizational and project changes. This change impact assessment template allows users to define the current state of the operations or projects, the post-change state, the gap between the two and key risks.

The second half of the change impact assessment template lists a series of questions to help understand everything from the scope of the change to the budget needed to implement that change. This change impact assessment matrix is fully customizable allowing users to add or subtract from it as needed.

Benefits of Conducting Change Impact Assessment

Changes can’t be avoided, however, they can be managed. Without a change impact assessment, changes happen and organizations or projects are unprepared. This is when a change will have a greater negative impact. By planning, the severity of the change can be mitigated.

Other advantages of conducting a change impact assessment are that it helps businesses see where change will have the greatest impact and also those areas of the organization or project where the change will be least impactful.

As noted, the change impact assessment will determine the scope and scale of the change. It also drives discussions with stakeholders, which helps to keep them informed on the change, its impact and the plan that will be put in place to either implement the change or respond to it.

More Free Change Management Templates

A change impact assessment matrix is only one of many templates that can help manage change in an organization or project. There are over 100 free project and portfolio management templates available to download on our site covering all aspects of managing projects across many industries. The following are a few that can help with change management.

Change Request Form Template

A change request form is used by project managers to prepare, equip and support change. Use this free change request form template for Word to describe the change and the reason for the request, as well as how the change will impact everything from scope to cost.

Change Log Template

Use this change log template for Excel to document changes as they occur and then track them throughout the project. This free template will give project managers greater visibility to monitor the mitigation of a project change.

Change Order Form Template

In construction, the change order form captures any modifications to the scope of work in a project. This free change order form template for Excel can be used to revise the project schedule and budget and amend the contract.

How ProjectManager Helps With Change Management

Most of these templates will only get a user so far. They might help understand the impact of a change and how to respond to it, but once action is taken, templates are more trouble than they’re worth. They’re not collaborative documents and every change has to be manually added to the static document. Plus, there’s no way to track changes and responses in real time. Project managers are always going to be one step behind. ProjectManager is award-winning project and portfolio management software that has specific task cards to track risk and changes in real time, plus tools to monitor timelines, costs and progress while keeping the project team and stakeholders informed.

Monitor Timelines, Costs and Progress With Real-Time Dashboards

Once the change impact assessment is complete and the plan is implemented, managers will monitor and control the execution to ensure that it’s progressing as planned. Get a high-level overview of progress, cost, workload and more with real-time dashboards. They constantly collect live data and display it in easy-to-read graphs and charts. Plus, there’s no lengthy and complicated setup as with lightweight alternatives. There are also customizable reports on project and portfolio status, timesheets, variance and more, which can be shared with stakeholders to keep them informed on progress.

Manage Change and Risk on Task Cards

There is a risk inherent in any change. Managers can identify those changes and risks on task cards that can calculate their impact on the project. These task cards can be assigned to team members, tags can be added to make them easily discoverable and descriptions and resolution for the change or risk can also be added to the card. For risks, there’s even a way to note the likelihood of it occurring. All this allows for the management of change and associated risks so that organizations and projects can avoid negative impacts.

Related Change Management Content

Change management is a large subject that goes beyond a change impact assessment. For those who are curious to learn more about change management as it relates to project management, there are lots of resources available on our site. We published blogs throughout the week and have guides, ebooks, tutorial videos and free templates. The following are some of the change management pieces that we’ve recently published.

• What Is Change Management? Process & Models Explained
• What Is Change Control in Project Management?
• Change Control Board: Roles, Responsibilities & Processes
• How to Make a Change Management Plan (Templates Included)

ProjectManager is online project and portfolio management software that connects teams whether they’re in the office, out in the field or anywhere in the world. They can share files, comment at the task level and stay up to date with email and in-app notifications. Join teams at Avis, Nestle and Siemens who use our software to deliver successful projects. Get started with ProjectManager today for free.

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• Business Plans

How To Write the Company Summary in a Business Plan

Company Overviews Show How the Pieces of a Business Work

What To Include in Your Company Summary

Getting started on your company summary, examples of a company summary, tips for writing a company summary, frequently asked questions (faqs).

Image by Theresa Chiechi © The Balance 2019

The company summary in a business plan —also known as the company description or overview—is a high-level look at what you are as a company and how all the elements of the business fit together.

An effective company summary should give readers, such as potential investors, a quick and easy way to understand your business, its products and services, its mission and goals, how it meets the needs of its target market, and how it stands out from competitors.

Before you begin writing your company summary, remember to stick to the big picture. Other sections of your business plan will provide the specific details of your business. The summary synthesizes all of that information into one page.

Key Takeaways

• The company summary in a business plan provides an overview containing a description of your company at a high level.
• A company summary might include your mission statement, goals, target market, products, and services, as well as how it stands out from competitors.
• The company summary can also be customized for a specific objective or audience, such as to secure financing from investors or banks.

The company summary section of a business plan should include:

• Business name
• Legal structure (i.e., sole proprietorship ,  LLC ,  S Corporation , or  partnership )
• Management team
• Mission statement
• Company history (when it started and important milestones)
• Description of products and services and how they meet the needs of the marketplace
• Target market (who will buy your product or services)
• Competitive advantage (what sets you apart in the marketplace to allow you to succeed)
• Objectives and goals (plans for growth)

The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) website has a lot of information available if you've never written a business plan before. The SBA provides examples of business plans for different types of companies.

Before you begin, you should decide whether you want to go with a traditional business plan format or a lean startup format. The traditional format is appropriate if you want to have a comprehensive, detail-oriented plan or if you are requesting financing. The lean startup format is best for those who have a relatively simple business and want to start it quickly or as a starting point for those who plan to refine and change the plan regularly.

No matter which type of business plan you choose, you'll need to include a company summary.

Although there are many blueprints for writing a company summary, below are a couple of examples to get you started.

Consulting Firm

You can opt for a concise opening paragraph such as this one:

XYZ Consulting is a new company that provides expertise in search marketing solutions for businesses worldwide, including website promotion, online advertising, and search engine optimization techniques to improve its clients' positioning in search engines. We cater to the higher education market, including colleges, universities, and professional educational institutions.

Several elements of the company summary are covered here, including the name (XYZ Consulting), history (new company), description of services (web promotion, SEO, advertising) and why it's needed (improve positioning in search engines), and the target market (higher education).

Starbucks Coffee Company Overview

Starbucks breaks down the company overview on their website into the following sections:

"Our Heritage"

Here the company describes how long the company has been in business, citing its roots, the founder, Howard Schultz, and how he was inspired to open the first Starbucks in Seattle after visiting Italy. It briefly mentions the growth of millions of customers and how the company's heritage remains important to its long-term success.

"Coffee & Craft"

The overview describes the high-quality products and services being offered and why they stand out from the competition by describing the detailed process of choosing and growing coffee beans. You'll notice they don't suggest their product is a low-cost product but instead provide a high level of "experiences to savor."

"Our Partners"

Starbucks describes its employees as partners that work together in an inclusive manner to achieve success. It highlights how they are at the center of the experience.

"Pursuit of Doing Good"

The company describes its values and how it gives back to the community.

Tesla Inc. Business Overview

Below are excerpts of the business overview pages from the annual 10-K filing on Dec. 31, 2021, for Tesla Inc.

"We design, develop, manufacture, sell and lease high-performance fully electric vehicles and energy generation and storage systems, and offer services related to our products. We generally sell our products directly to customers, including through our website and retail locations.

We also continue to grow our customer-facing infrastructure through a global network of vehicle service centers, mobile service technicians, body shops, supercharger stations and destination chargers to accelerate the widespread adoption of our products.

We emphasize performance, attractive styling and the safety of our users and workforce in the design and manufacture of our products and are continuing to develop full self-driving technology for improved safety.

Our mission to accelerate the world’s transition to sustainable energy, engineering expertise, vertically integrated business model and focus on user experience differentiate us from other companies."

Competition

Tesla highlights the competitive automotive market and how the company differentiates itself from the larger, more established competitors.

"The worldwide automotive market is highly competitive and we expect it will become even more competitive in the future as we introduce additional vehicles in a broader cross-section of the passenger and commercial vehicle market and expand our vehicles’ capabilities. We believe that our vehicles compete in the market both based on their traditional segment classification as well as based on their propulsion technology.

Competing products typically include internal combustion vehicles from more established automobile manufacturers; however, many established and new automobile manufacturers have entered or have announced plans to enter the market for electric and other alternative fuel vehicles."

Intellectual Property

The company highlights its intellectual property, including trademarks and patents.

"We place a strong emphasis on our innovative approach and proprietary designs which bring intrinsic value and uniqueness to our product portfolio. As part of our business, we seek to protect the underlying intellectual property rights of these innovations and designs such as with respect to patents, trademarks, copyrights, trade secrets and other measures, including through employee and third-party nondisclosure agreements and other contractual arrangements."

Mission Statement

The company highlights its mission statement and its sustainability goals using environmental, social, and governance (ESG) and human capital resources.

"The very purpose of Tesla's existence is to accelerate the world's transition to sustainable energy. We believe the world cannot reduce carbon emissions without addressing both energy generation and consumption, and we are designing and manufacturing a complete energy and transportation ecosystem to achieve this goal. As we expand, we are building each new factory to be more efficient and sustainably designed than the previous one, including with respect to waste reduction and water usage, and we are focused on reducing the carbon footprint of our supply chain."

There are other items you can include in your company summary to expand on the areas that you'd like people to focus on, depending on your objective.

You might provide more information about the company's location, legal structure, and management team. You can also include more information about the:

• Company's history, such as a family business that's been in operation for multiple generations
• Business objectives, including short-term and long-term goals
• Business strengths, highlighting anything that might give your company a competitive advantage in the field

You can also customize the summary if you have a specific objective or a targeted audience. For example, if the goal of your business plan is to secure funding, you might focus on areas that appeal to investors and lending institutions, including:

• Why you're the best person to manage the business
• Your experience in your field, as well as the total years of experience of your management team
• Expertise or special talents of your team, including training, licenses, certifications
• How you plan to make the business a success
• Financial information, such as a high-level discussion of your track record of revenue growth and the financial opportunities that can be realized as a result of securing financing

You may also want to address any areas of perceived weakness by explaining how you'll overcome them or compensate.

How do you write a company overview?

You might provide a description of the company, its location, legal structure, and management team. You can also highlight the company's business objectives, goals, and strengths. You can also customize the summary to a specific audience, such as a bank or lender, focusing on your competitive advantages and highlights of recent financial success.

What should an organizational overview include?

Some of the discussion points to include in a company overview might be:

• Company name and location
• Legal structure such as a sole proprietorship, LLC, or partnership
• Mission statement and management team
• Description of your products and services and how they are needed
• Target market or who are your customers
• Competitive advantage or what makes your company different

The Clute Institute. " Using Business Plans for Teaching Entrepreneurship ," Page 734.

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

Starbucks Coffee Company. " Our Company ."

United States Securities and Exchange Commission. " Form 10-K, Annual Report Pursuant to Section 13 or 15(D) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 for the Fiscal Year Ended December 31, 2021, Tesla, Inc., " Pages 3-12.

Project Plan Examples: How to Write an Effective Plan (2024)

Key takeaways What is a project plan? A project plan outlines the project’s scope, objectives, and schedule; it details what needs to be done, when, and by whom. The plan includes significant deliverables, methods to achieve them, team roles, stakeholder feedback, and milestones. This transparency makes sure everyone involved understands their role and how it…

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Key takeaways

• A project plan is a vital document in project management that outlines the project’s scope, objectives, and schedule.
• Effective project planning enhances resource management, mitigates risks, and improves project implementation and success.
• Project plans can vary in format, such as Excel spreadsheets, PowerPoint presentations, Gantt charts, and mind maps for brainstorming.

Jan. 8, 2024: Irene Casucian reviewed the information on this page for accuracy, refined the page layout, and added elements to improve the visual flow of information. She also created a downloadable project plan template.

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What is a project plan.

A project plan outlines the project’s scope, objectives, and schedule; it details what needs to be done, when, and by whom. The plan includes significant deliverables, methods to achieve them, team roles, stakeholder feedback, and milestones. This transparency makes sure everyone involved understands their role and how it contributes to the overall goal.

A project plan is the tangible output of the second phase of project management , project planning . This phase involves identifying and arranging each task necessary to cover the project’s scope, achieve deliverables, and meet the project’s goals. A comprehensive project plan developed in this phase is instrumental in tracking dependencies, staying updated on the status, and maintaining productivity throughout the project.

What are the key elements of an effective project plan?

A well-prepared project plan requires several key elements that will outline the project’s goals and define the stakeholders ‘ individual roles. Incorporating these key elements into a project plan is essential for effective project management and a higher success rate.

How do you create a project plan?

Step 1: define the project’s overall goals and objectives.

Identifying your project’s overall objectives and goals will help you measure the project’s success and keep your team aligned with the overarching mission. In this step, you should determine the desired outcome of your project that would represent its success.

By clearly understanding what the project aims to accomplish, project managers and teams can better identify the necessary tasks and establish the project scope . 

When defining your project goals, apply the SMART standards for a solid foundation. Make your objectives specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound. This approach guarantees a clear, focused, and actionable framework for your project.

Step 2: Establish the project’s success criteria

To measure success effectively, align your success criteria with the project’s key deliverables and outcomes, and make sure they are based on its intended result. Confirm that these criteria are quantifiable and accurately reflect the impact and value your project aims to deliver. Such alignment is essential for accurately assessing the project’s performance and its effectiveness in achieving the intended results.

Step 3: Identify project milestones, dependencies, risks, and deliverables

To identify project milestones, break the project down into key tasks and outcomes and specify significant progress points or phase completions as milestones. Consider dependencies when establishing a realistic workflow. Additionally, identify potential risks that can impact task completion and define deliverables clearly as measurable results expected from each project phase.

Step 4: Assign roles and responsibilities to the team and stakeholders

Your project’s stakeholders include any individuals or groups related to the project. To assess if someone is a stakeholder in a project, determine how much they influence, impact, or have an interest in the project’s outcome. Consider if their involvement is direct, if the project’s results affect them, or if they can influence the project’s direction or success.

Examples of stakeholder groups include:

• Team members.
• Departments.
• Project sponsors.
• Contractors.

Once you have determined your stakeholders, you can define their roles and responsibilities. This can help you structure your project team, identify members who are directly responsible for its success, and make sure they are assigned the correct tasks to carry out the project appropriately.

When assigning roles and responsibilities, utilize a RACI chart (Responsible, Accountable, Consulted, Informed) to clarify the involvement of each stakeholder in the project. This provides clear communication and accountability and prevents overlaps or gaps in responsibilities.

Step 5: Create a schedule and set a timeline

Creating a schedule and timeline for each task can provide visibility into the execution process and keep each team member productive.

Consider how much time is required to complete each task necessary for your project milestones. You can even break down tasks into smaller subtasks to make them more manageable. However, be mindful of factors that can cause delays such as:

• Resource limitations.
• Task dependencies.
• Unforeseen risks.

When creating a project schedule, visual tools like Gantt charts and Kanban boards help you map out task dependencies and timelines. A useful project management tool you can use for this step is Trello. Trello offers an intuitive platform for creating Kanban boards. It allows easy visualization and management of tasks through customizable columns and cards for streamlined project workflow.

Step 6: Establish an estimated project budget

To generate an estimated project budget, you must consider all of the necessary project resources, including personnel, labor, materials, and equipment. Establishing a project budget will help you make wise spending decisions throughout the project execution phase to avoid overspending. 

Step 7: Plan for communication and collaboration

A communication plan should show how information is shared among stakeholders. For instance, in a software development project, the communication plan might specify that the development team shares a beta version of the software with the client for feedback every two weeks. It’s a systematic approach to making sure that the client receives consistent updates about the project’s progress. Having a communication plan in place will also outline the channels of communication and frequency to all necessary parties. 

Leverage collaboration tools , such as Slack , that integrate with your project management software to receive real-time updates and interactions among team members and stakeholders. 

Step 8: Document the project plan

Compile all related planning information and documentation as you plan your project. Some of these vital documents include: 

• Stakeholder analysis.
• Feasibility study .
• Business case.
• Work breakdown structure .

Having these reports in one place will serve as a reference during the project’s execution.

Utilize a centralized digital platform, like Sharepoint , where stakeholders can store, update, and access all project documentation. This approach serves as a reliable reference and streamlines the management and tracking of the project’s progress.

Learn more about Sharepoint and other document management tools in our video overview:

Free project plan template download

Project plan examples.

Using an appropriate project plan format is essential to keeping stakeholders well-informed. Here are some of the widely-used project plan formats: 

1.  Spreadsheets

Using spreadsheets for project planning is beneficial due to its simplicity and widespread use, especially suitable for small-scale projects with straightforward tasks. Its customizable nature is excellent for simple initiatives like office events or basic marketing plans.

However, a significant drawback of using spreadsheets in project planning is the limited visualization options. While spreadsheets can manage data, they fail to offer comprehensive visual representations essential for a holistic view of project progress. Lastly, the risk of human error in data entry and formula setup in spreadsheets is high and can lead to critical miscalculations affecting the entire project plan.

Try this software

For more complex projects, Smartsheet is an ideal upgrade. It merges the simplicity of a spreadsheet with advanced project management features such as real-time collaboration, automated workflows , and app integration. More than just a basic spreadsheet tool, Smartsheet is particularly effective for large-scale projects like detailed marketing campaigns or cross-departmental efforts, offering comprehensive task tracking and resource management in a user-friendly format.

2. Slideshow presentations

Slideshow presentations for project plans provide a visually engaging method to simplify complex information. They effectively break down project components into understandable segments, using visuals, charts, and bullet points to highlight key information and timelines for team members and stakeholders.

However, the downside is that slide shows can oversimplify complex projects and potentially leave out critical nuances. They also require significant preparation time and may not be the best medium for detailed, data-heavy projects.

Microsoft PowerPoint is an excellent choice for creating slide show presentations as part of project plans. It’s user-friendly and offers many templates and design tools. That’s why it’s suitable for beginners and seasoned professionals. PowerPoint’s ability to integrate with other Microsoft Office tools, like Excel for data representation, enhances its utility in project planning.

3. Gantt charts

Gantt charts create a clear visual timeline of a project’s schedule and progress by displaying various project elements’ start and finish dates. This approach helps identify potential bottlenecks and overlaps and facilitates better resource allocation and time management. However, Gantt charts can become cumbersome for complex projects with numerous tasks and dependencies.

Gantt charts are particularly effective in construction projects, event planning, and software development, where timelines and task dependencies are critical.

TeamGantt is an effective PM tool that creates clear visual timelines for project schedules and progress tracking. By allowing users to input various project elements, including tasks, milestones, and dependencies, and then assigning start and finish dates to each, TeamGantt generates an intuitive Gantt chart.

This chart visually represents the project timeline, displaying how different tasks and phases overlap and interconnect over the project duration. The color-coded bars and easy-to-read format make it simple to understand the sequencing of tasks and the project’s overall progress at a glance.

4.     Mind maps

Mind maps differ from other project visualization methods by showing a radial, non-linear format ideal for brainstorming and capturing the holistic view of a project. They emphasize the creative mapping of ideas and relationships. They promote the free flow of ideas and easy visualization of relationships between different aspects of a project. Mind maps can also help identify key components, dependencies, and potential challenges at the early stages of a project.

Moreover, using a mind map before presenting a Gantt chart can help ease the transition from creative brainstorming to detailed scheduling, resource allocation, and progress tracking.

Lucidchart is an excellent software solution for creating mind maps that can be converted into detailed reports. Its intuitive, drag-and-drop interface is ideal for conceptualizing project plans.

Lucidchart also stands out because it integrates with various tools like Google Workspace and Microsoft Office. This integration can facilitate the transition from a visual mind map to a comprehensive written report.

Components of project planning

Work breakdown schedule development.

Using a Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) in project planning offers distinct advantages and some drawbacks. The primary benefit of a WBS is its ability to break down a complex project into manageable components. It is then easier to allocate resources, assign responsibilities, and track progress. This hierarchical project decomposition guarantees that every part of the project is apparent.

However, the main disadvantage lies in its potential rigidity; a WBS can become overly prescriptive, limiting flexibility and adaptability to changes or unforeseen challenges. Additionally, creating a comprehensive WBS can be time-consuming, and if not done meticulously, it may lead to gaps or overlaps in project planning.

monday.com includes a work breakdown feature to help teams organize complex projects into manageable tasks. Each task is separated into more minor subtasks assigned to the appropriate individuals. The chart also displays additional information, such as the deliverables, end dates, and schedules based on interdependencies.

Project and documentation management 

Project and documentation management in project planning has its own advantages and disadvantages. With this process, you can make sure that all project-related documents are organized, up-to-date, and easily accessible. This approach is essential for maintaining consistency and clarity throughout the project lifecycle. Yet, the downside includes the possibility of information overload, where team members might get overwhelmed by the sheer volume of documents.

Agile teams use Jira for planning and managing their projects. Here, you can see some of the information regarding risks and dependencies compiled within Jira. This method of organizing this information can be helpful, as the platform can act as a single source of truth to keep team members updated on the status of specific tasks. It also makes it easy for teams to communicate with external stakeholders about factors impacting the project.

Benefits of creating a project plan

Effective project planning is the cornerstone of successful project execution. It involves several key aspects contributing to a project’s smooth functioning and success. Some of these benefits include:

Remember, an effective project plan is not just a document; it’s a strategic tool that integrates various critical elements to secure the project’s success.

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10 Business Process Management Examples and Best Practices

June 18, 2024

The business processes that worked when you had fewer team members or before you reached the current scale may now be outdated, inefficient, and ineffective. 

Business process management (BPM) helps you analyze and optimize your current processes through proven process improvement practices. This could mean business process improvements like automating repetitive work, removing bottlenecks, fixing inefficient processes, or resetting goals around business outcomes. 

Let’s see some business process management examples and best practices that improve efficiency and cost savings and help in digital transformation. 

What is Business Process Management?

Understanding business process management in detail , 1. human-centric bpm, 2. integration-centric bpm, 3. document-centric bpm, 1. customer onboarding, 2. employee onboarding, 3. compliance management, 4. product lifecycle management, 5. project management, 6. contract management, 7. risk management, 8. acquisition and procurement, 9. vendor management, 10. logistics, 1. designing, 2. modeling, 3. executing, 4. monitoring, 5. optimizing, business process management: future trends.

Business process management, or BPM, is an approach in which organizations evaluate, model, and redesign their business processes to drive maximum efficiency and revenue growth.  

A business process is a series of tasks or activities your business performs by coordinating people, systems, and information to produce business outcomes that support your business strategy or achieve specific goals.

BPM aligns business IT investments to business strategy and helps standardize operations, improve agility, increase workflow efficiency , and improve compliance.

How is business process management different from business processes?

A business process involves the different tasks, activities, and workflows that allow organizations to achieve their goals. It drives a business’s day-to-day activities, including customer support, manufacturing, procurement, financial management, etc.

Business process management optimizes these business processes to make them more efficient. It helps manage both the strategic and operational side of your business processes.

How is business process management different from project and task management?

Task management focuses on organizing, assigning, prioritizing, and tracking tasks and activities to ensure they are completed on time. You monitor the day-to-day tasks that contribute to larger projects or processes. 

Project management oversees all the activities in a project from start to finish. This includes defining project scope, assigning tasks, creating schedules, tracking progress, and allocating resources.

Read more: Project management vs. task management  

BPM optimizes different business processes and operations to help organizations achieve larger objectives such as customer relationship management, procurement, employee onboarding, supply chain management, and order fulfillment. 

 Benefits of business process management:

• Increased efficiency: Process optimization minimizes operational costs, improves employee productivity, and eliminates redundancies to save time and effort
• Better decision-making : Business process management software gives stakeholders valuable insights into the operational efficiency of particular business processes. It helps them optimize processes company-wide through business process reengineering with analytics and reporting to make informed decisions
• Increased agility : An adaptable and scalable process can withstand changing marketing conditions, fluctuating customer demands, and competition
• Better customer experience: Consistently deliver value to customers by improving process performance and automating workflows for all departments
• Better compliance: Conduct regular process audits to check for regulatory compliance. Aligning business processes with industry compliance standards and internal policies helps mitigate risks, maintain security, and avoid penalties
• Reduced costs: A business process management tool helps you automate repetitive tasks and identify processes that can be improved, reducing wastage and optimizing business processes to save labor and material cost 

Types of Business Process Management

Human-centric BPM revolves around human involvement, typically for tasks requiring approvals . 

An example of this would be reviewing data and creating documents such as reports, proposals, and vendor agreements. 

You can use BPM to automate supporting functions such as task assignments and stakeholder notifications. 

This type of business process management does not require much human involvement for continuous improvement. 

Integration-centric business processes depend on APIs and systems that integrate data across different applications, such as customer relationship management (CRM) or project management. 

This type of BPM focuses on specific documents , such as proposals or contracts. 

It centralizes and standardizes all processes, from document creation to approval to archiving. 

For example, when a company purchases a product, the contract has to go through different departments and several rounds of approval for an agreement between the client and vendor. 

Ten Examples of Business Process Management

Let’s look at some relatable business process management examples before you put them into practice.

Here’s how you can implement the BPM lifecycle to streamline workflows in the customer onboarding process.

Example: A bank wants to optimize its customer onboarding process to increase efficiency, minimize errors, and improve the overall customer experience.

Start by building a process map of the different steps involved in onboarding. This includes account application, identity verification, and account setup.

Next, consider what processes you can automate using BPM technologies.

For instance, online account applications can be integrated with banking CRM systems to capture customer information and initiate the identity verification process automatically.

A centralized business process management system can digitally store customer documents, making them easy to access and reducing paperwork. BPM standardizes these processes and ensures smooth handoffs between different departments involved in the onboarding process.

Result: Quicker customer onboarding that also complies with the necessary regulations.

Read more: Here are our 10 favorite workflow templates for virtually any team and process 

Employee onboarding BPM helps you to onboard your new hires efficiently. BPM streamlines everything from paperwork to integration into your organization.

Set up triggers and assign tasks using workflow automation tools or a BPM platform to ensure smooth handoffs between departments.

For instance, once HR receives an employee’s completed forms and paperwork, the system automatically assigns tasks to the IT department to help set up the employee’s computer and system access.

Result: Quicker onboarding with minimal manual effort, improving the onboarding HR processes.

You can standardize compliance-related processes across your organization to ensure compliance with industry regulations and internal policies.

Process automation tools help you map out compliance activities and automate compliance checks, approval workflows, and data validation.

Example : A pharmaceutical company must comply with healthcare and government regulations regarding producing and distributing drugs and medicines.

In this case, whenever a new regulation is released, the BPM software immediately triggers an evaluation process to assess the company’s current compliance processes. The system automatically assigns different tasks to the relevant departments involved in the compliance management process.

Once the evaluation is complete, the findings are consolidated into a report, and a workflow is created to implement necessary changes and review and approve them.

This lets you get a complete overview of your compliance processes to ensure that every step is followed. The system sends out alerts whenever a task is overdue or when there is a compliance gap. It also maintains an audit trail to keep track of all compliance-related tasks and activities.

Result: Your business stays compliant, with lower effort required.

Read more: 10 Best business process documentation software  

Business process management helps you to systematically manage everything from conception to design to development and distribution of a product.

Example : A software company is developing a new CRM software for small and medium businesses.

Implement BPM to streamline the process of gathering and managing important information, such as user requirements and product specifications. This allows product managers and developers to access critical information easily during product development.

BPM tools can also help you coordinate the deployment process and manage customer communication and support ticketing.

Result : Reduces the time-to-market for software releases and ensures that the product is better aligned with customer needs and expectations.

BPM can be used to streamline processes from initiation to completion of a project.

Example : A marketing agency that has implemented BPM for better project management.

BPM can help standardize campaign planning and customer communication, automate task assignments, manage data with relevant documentation, and allocate resources effectively. It can also give stakeholders a 360-degree view of how different campaign launch activities are progressing.

Result : Optimized project workflows, increased collaboration, and improved quality of project outcomes.

Process automation in contract management allows teams to create and manage contracts faster,

Example : A legal firm uses business process automation to generate and manage contracts. These contracts are then routed through an approval workflow with multiple approvers. When an approver signs off on a document, it is automatically sent to the designated approver in the next stage until it is approved by all the relevant stakeholders.

Since contracts are time-bound, you can set up automated reminders to send out renewal notifications to everyone included in the contract.

Result : Quicker contract processing and renewals.

One of the best business process management examples is BPM which evaluates risk assessment processes.

Example : A financial institution implements process automation software to manage risks associated with loan approval.

The system streamlines the loan approval process by analyzing customer data, credit scores, and previous financials to determine whether the borrower is a credit risk. If the analysis shows that the customer is high-risk, the application is routed to another team for further review.

Low-risk applications are processed immediately without any delays. This helps the financial institution disburse loans without risking its assets.

Result : Reduces errors and helps in risk mitigation .

Business process management in acquisition and procurement streamlines vendor selection, goods delivery, and invoice processing.

Example : Business process management helps a manufacturing company automate creating purchase requests.

When the inventory of any particular product reaches a pre-defined threshold, the BPM software immediately triggers a purchase request. The request passes through an approval workflow and is evaluated against budget, item availability, and vendor qualification factors.

Once the request receives the final sign-off, a purchase order is created and sent electronically to the vendor. The BPM system then tracks the purchase order status and manages communications until the product in question is restocked.

Result : Compliant and efficient procurement process.

You can create processes to automate vendor onboarding and contract management.

Example : A manufacturer of car parts wants to improve vendor management . 

It needs machine learning BPM technology to collect and evaluate vendor information. The algorithm rates each vendor based on factors such as compliance, qualifications, and performance history.

These ratings are then consolidated into reports and sent to the relevant stakeholders, who can decide which vendor to proceed with.

Once the vendor is finalized, BPM systems can also be used to manage contracts, renewals, and compliances. This way, you can automate manual tasks such as vendor selection and get visibility into the status of vendor relationships, contracts, compliance, and payments.

Result : Improved vendor relationships.

Business process management in logistics can optimize warehouse management and transportation.

Example : A global shipping company uses BPM tools to improve the efficiency of its logistics operations.

Whenever a customer orders, the BPM system immediately triggers a shipping request. The request is then assigned to the most suitable carrier based on factors such as delivery timelines, shipping routes, costs, and vehicle availability.

When the order is on its way, the system tracks the shipment’s location and sends status updates to the customer so that they know where their order is and when it is expected to be delivered. 

If there are any roadblocks, the carrier immediately receives a notification, allowing them to take corrective measures immediately.

Result : Improved delivery times and increased customer satisfaction.

Business Process Management Best Practices

ClickUp’s Project Management Software has many versatile features to help you create your workflows and build a business process management system that works for you. 

Let’s look at some business process management examples with ClickUp. The platform can help you improve your BPM with automated workflows, team collaboration, real-time reporting, process mapping templates, a built-in AI assistant, and feedback collection forms. 

The best way to design a BPM strategy for your organization will depend on your processes and your organization’s strategic goals .

A SWOT analysis will help you understand what needs to change in the existing business processes, identify potential bottlenecks, and the new process improvements needed.

Also, get input from stakeholders into the daily operations and the new business processes you plan to implement.

Pro tip💡:   Document the overall process steps and the goal of the BPM initiative on ClickUp Docs . You can even create internal wikis and share them with your team so they have access to critical details about the BPM project.

The collaborative capabilities of Docs, including real-time editing, adding comments and assigning tasks, and rich formatting, make it easy for stakeholders and your team members to participate in the business process management discussion.

You can use Docs to create SOPs , which are a centralized repository of all process-related information for current and future employees. 

Use process maps at the modeling stage to visualize the proposed business processes, including an overview of the various tasks, activities, flows, and events that will contribute to the process you are working on.

Create process models using a BPM tool or workflow management software to analyze the flow of activities, decision points, and dependencies. This breaks down complex processes and steps involved in process automation, adding value and removing inefficient activities.

Here, ClickUp’s Process Mapping Template helps you evaluate the processes that need improvement, gather insights into the bottlenecks, and visualize processes end-to-end. 

The template provides all the tools you need to:

• Evaluate how processes could be improved
• Gather insights into bottlenecks or weak points in your system
• Visualize processes quickly and easily from end to end

Business analysts and project managers love using this template as it simplifies complex processes into easy-to-follow diagrams and shows relationships between different steps in a process. 

Pro tip💡:   ClickUp’s built-in AI assistant ClickUp Brain is your AI sidekick that manages and automates work such as writing product brief outlines, summarizing meeting notes, assigning tasks, and creating status reports for tasks, docs, and people.  

This phase aims to involve automation to reduce repetitive tasks and manual errors.

ClickUp Automations supports business process management by automating task creation, assignment, and status updation. It can automatically change tasks’ statuses as they move through the different stages of your BPM workflow.

You can configure the automation to update a task’s status from ‘In-Progress’ to ‘Completed’ when all the required actions are completed.

Pro tip💡:   Define role-based access for each aspect of your business process so that users can access the information they need to complete their tasks while you also keep your information secur e.

ClickUp’s Integrations with 1000+ applications ensure error-free data flow between the BPM software and your tech stack.

Monitoring your business processes’ performance regularly is important to identify bottlenecks and take corrective measures in real time. This can help ensure that processes do not deviate from the expected outcomes.

To monitor the performance of your business processes, identify bottlenecks, and take corrective action, you need real-time dashboards that visualize how different tasks are progressing.

ClickUp Dashboards help you do so with real-time data about your business process model and its performance. Get a high-level and granular view of your operations and processes. 

Remember to define key metrics and performance indicators to track the operational efficiency of your business process improvements . You can track metrics like throughput, cost per process, NPS, and compliance metrics to help you track the performance of business processes.

Pro tip💡:  You can also use ClickUp Views to slice your data in different ways like List, Table, Timeline, Gantt Chart, and so on.

Organize regular meetings with stakeholders and team members to update everyone about the status of different processes in the workflow. You can review performance data and get stakeholders’ feedback to improve your BPM workflow. This helps in process improvement.

Clickup’s Form View collects feedback from everyone in a standardized format to help you optimize the business process , especially for tasks that need continuous improvement, such as customer support and product development.

Pro tip💡:   Take help from ClickUp Brain to analyze the feedback received and create action items.

Keep making iterative changes to your BPM based on changing organizational needs, stakeholder and customer feedback, and data analysis to ensure its effectiveness.

Low-code or no-code platforms

Whether you’re a business analyst or a project manager, low-code and no-code tools for business process management allow you to design process automation without reliance on your tech team, speed up development cycles, and respond faster to changing market conditions.

When integrated into BPM, artificial intelligence automates tasks such as creating documentation and process workflows. Machine learning analyzes large data sets to give insights to optimize existing and new processes.

Customer-centricity

Customer-centric BPM keeps customer needs at the core and focuses on improving the customer experience. Processes such as customer journey mapping , customer surveys, feedback collection, and personalization will continue to be vital to implementing effective business processes.

Also read: Process improvement templates

The Importance and Implications of BPM for the Modern Business

The BPM examples stated above show how it goes beyond improving process performance and makes your business agile and responsive to market conditions and customer expectations. 

Wherever you plan to implement business process automation—sales, vendor management, customer onboarding, or logistics, it will substantially impact your business, its success, and its competitiveness. 

ClickUp is a beginner-friendly business process management software that helps you create complex business processes quickly and easily. 

If you’re new to a BPM platform, we recommend you sign up on ClickUp for free and try it out. 

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

1. what are examples of business process management.

Business process management spans across different industries and departments. Here are some of the popular BPM examples:

BPM can streamline customer onboarding for banks, automate order processing, invoicing, and inventory management for e-commerce businesses, and automate processes such as capturing and validating employee information during employee onboarding.

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Home >> #realtalk Blog >> Manage a business >> A Top-Notch Dishwash…

A Top-Notch Dishwasher Job Description

By Homebase Team

Hiring new employees as a small business owner comes with a lot of responsibility that goes beyond simply interviewing and selecting a candidate. Having a thorough understanding of the role you’re hiring for, knowing the specific attributes you expect in a candidate before you start, and establishing a well-thought-out framework for your hiring process are just as important. This will both connect you to your most ideal candidates and paint clear expectations for job seekers.

Creating a hiring process that is seamless for both you and your potential candidates requires planning ahead, asking thoughtful and detailed questions, and having open and transparent communication. You want potential candidates to fully understand the position requirements as well as be enthusiastic about the role. In this guide, we’ll coach you through the ins-and-outs of hiring for a dishwasher role, the duties and responsibilities of the position, and how to refine your hiring process. 

Get your team in sync with our easy-to-use, all-in-one employee app.

Dishwasher job description: understanding the role of a dishwasher.

A dishwasher, sometimes referred to as a kitchen helper, is a behind-the-scenes restaurant position that involves ensuring the cleanliness of the dining area and the kitchen. The role of dishwasher goes far beyond that though—the right candidate is someone who can be a team player, take on additional tasks to help other staff members keep up with restaurant demand, and keep equipment and the space in safe and good condition. An excellent dishwasher will also be able to keep up with a fast-paced environment and prioritize tasks in a busy setting. This helps the entire team function like a well-oiled machine and create a welcoming environment for customers.

The ideal dishwasher employee likely also has aspirations within the food and beverage industry as a whole. A dishwasher may be an entry-level position requiring minimal experience, but it is also a perfect gateway into moving up the ladder in a culinary environment. Working in a kitchen can teach them important aspects of food safety, preparing cook stations, and delivering exceptional customer service, setting them up for growth and development in your business.

Being a dishwasher can sometimes be a demanding and laborious job, so it’s also important to look for a candidate who will bring positive and uplifting energy to the workplace and be able to maintain good spirits even in high-stress situations. Dishwashers may not often interact face-to-face with customers, but fostering an uplifting and lively environment with the team behind the scenes is just as important! 

What to think about when hiring.

Now that you’ve identified the attributes of a perfect candidate for your dishwasher position, you can dig into the key components of the hiring process. Every candidate you consider for an open role will be different based on their unique personality, experience, culture, and background. When growing your team, you want to consider all of these aspects and how they both fit into and add to your overall company culture and team dynamic.

When hiring, you should not only prioritize the skills and knowledge a candidate can bring to the table, but also their character and work ethic, the ability to create a connection with your team, and all the talents they bring to the table even outside of the required skill set. Some recruiters call this “The 3 C’s of Hiring: Character, Chemistry, and Competence”. 

If you’re thinking about hiring and growing your team, there are several different things to consider before jumping in.

1. Hiring takes time

Many people, especially small business owners hiring for the first time, often think that hiring will be a quick and easy process. Find a candidate, hire them on the spot, and they’ll hit the ground running. But this simply isn’t the case most of the time. You’ll need to sift through dozens of applications, resumes, and references—or on the flip side, you might struggle to find good candidates if you’re not looking in the right places. And even when you do find a handful of ideal candidates with the right qualifications, you’ll need to schedule and conduct interviews, do a thoughtful assessment of your options, and ultimately make a decision (which might sound easier than it is).

Hiring and onboarding also go hand-in-hand, which adds to the time it takes to get a new employee equipped with the training and resources they need to take on responsibilities and do their job effectively. It could take anywhere from weeks to months from the point of looking for candidates to getting them up and running.

But this is not a negative thing—the reason hiring takes time is because you need that window to ensure you’re making the best decision for your company, and for the employee! To take some stress off your shoulders during that time, there are many useful automated tools that can help you hire and onboard employees easily and manage everything in one place. This includes posting jobs to online job boards, tracking applicants, and scheduling interviews.

2. Plan for recruitment and onboarding

Hiring employees also adds some new responsibilities to your role. The first is recruitment. As nice as it would be, you can’t simply post a job online and wait for the applications to come rolling in. Instead, you have to look at recruiting job seekers somewhat like a sales role. You are essentially selling your business, your values, and your open positions to job seekers in the market. Why should they work for you? As much as you want them to be a great fit for your company, they also want your company to be a great fit for them.

You also need to consider what it takes to onboard a new employee. Do you have another experienced employee already that will be able to take on training, or will you need to spend the time training them yourself? Do you have all the necessary forms and documentation ready for your new hire on their first day, like welcome packets, employee handbooks, and tax forms? These are all things to have prepared in advance before you start the hiring process. You can also use app-based tools to help you accomplish these tasks automatically and securely.

3. Locate the right places to find job candidates

There are endless avenues for finding candidates in today’s job market, and endless job seekers on the hunt at any given time. However, some of these avenues will be best suited to an open dishwasher position while others might not. It may take some trial and error to determine which sites or other mediums work best for hiring for a dishwasher role, but some options include LinkedIn, Indeed, Glassdoor, ZipRecruiter, and Google for Jobs. If you have the means, you could even work with a recruiter to help you find the right candidates.

Questions to ask in an interview.

The interview process is all about learning your candidates strengths, skill sets, interpersonal skills, problem-solving abilities, and communication. Dishwashers not only need to be able to accomplish the tasks of their role, but be able to interact effectively with their team members. There are several different categories of questions you can ask to get a good understanding of the candidate in front of you.

Background and personality

• Tell us a bit about yourself, interests, background, and what led you to work in this industry?
• How would your friends and coworkers describe you as a person?
• What is something you’ve achieved in your life that you’re really proud of?
• What’s one fact about you that isn’t on your LinkedIn profile/resume?

Prior experience

• Tell us about your work background and how it applies here.
• What was your primary contribution at your most recent job?
• Was there an experience where you faced a big challenge, and how did you overcome it?
• What was the most interesting project you worked on?

About your business and the role

• What drew you to working with our business?
• What areas of expertise or skills do you have that make you the right candidate for this position?
• What would you say is your strongest attribute as an employee?
• How do you prioritize tasks and manage your time during busy shifts?

Long-term goals and aspirations

• What are your career path interests?
• What are your long-term professional and personal goals?
• How does working at this company fit in with your long-term goals?
• How do you see this dishwasher position contributing to your career growth?

A dishwasher job description template, just for you!

Ready to hire your next dishwasher? We’ve created a sample job description to help you present dishwasher job responsibilities and attract great candidates.

Feel free to copy and paste our description below, or use it as inspiration for your own. Just remember to customize it to fit the needs of your job opening and establishment!

We’re looking for our next dishwasher!

Our restaurant is looking for a new addition to our team of dedicated dishwashers. As a dishwasher, you will be responsible for cleaning and sanitizing dishes, utensils, and kitchen equipment, maintaining a spotless kitchen area, and contributing to the smooth operation of our restaurant.

Our dishwashers are an essential part of our team, ensuring that our kitchen runs efficiently and hygienically. If you’re looking for a fast-paced job with opportunities for growth in the restaurant industry, you might be just the dishwasher we’re looking for.

What you’ll do: Duties & responsibilities

• Clean and sanitize dishes, glassware, utensils, and kitchen equipment efficiently and thoroughly
• Operate and maintain dishwashing machines
• Keep the kitchen area clean, organized, and sanitized
• Properly store clean dishes, utensils, and equipment
• Assist with basic food prep tasks when needed
• Dispose of garbage and recyclables according to guidelines
• Follow all health and safety regulations
• Participate in regular training to improve your skills and knowledge of kitchen operations

Who you are.

• Detail-oriented: you ensure every dish is spotless
• Hardworking: you can handle the physical demands of the job
• Efficient: you work quickly without compromising quality
• Team player: you collaborate well with kitchen and wait staff
• Reliable: you show up on time and ready to work
• Adaptable: you can handle busy periods and changing priorities
• Committed to cleanliness and hygiene standards

Who we are: What to expect

• We value every team member and recognize the importance of each role in our restaurant’s success
• We prioritize a clean, safe, and efficient kitchen environment
• Our team meetings are structured to solve problems collectively and improve our operations
• We offer competitive wages and opportunities for advancement within our organization
• We provide a supportive work environment and the necessary training to help you succeed

Outside of being reliable, hardworking, and efficient, a dishwasher must be able to meet the following skill-based responsibilities to be a great match for this position:

• Punctual and able to manage time efficiently
• Can multitask in a fast-paced environment
• Can safely and thoroughly clean dishes, utensils, kitchen equipment, and work areas
• Able to operate dishwashing machines and other cleaning equipment
• Capable of lifting and carrying heavy loads
• Able to stand for extended periods and work in a hot, humid environment
• Can follow instructions and adhere to food safety regulations
• Willing to assist other kitchen staff as needed
• Committed to maintaining a hygienic workspace and ensuring compliance with health and safety regulations

How to apply, and what happens next

[Include specific application instructions and next steps in the hiring process]

How Homebase helps you manage your hiring.

Hiring a new employee can be overwhelming, but it doesn’t have to be. Free hiring and onboarding tools like Homebase provide you with an all-in-one platform that takes the hassle out of hiring. You can post jobs for free to top online job boards, promote your job with paid boosts, screen candidates, message applicants and schedule interviews, and even automate the new hire paperwork process. Sounds easy, right? (It is!)

While you focus on refining your job descriptions, hiring strategy, and expectations for a new hire, let Homebase do the rest. Give Homebase a try for free today !

Remember:  This is not legal advice. If you have questions about your particular situation, please consult a lawyer, CPA, or other appropriate professional advisor or agency.

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