Structure Of The Business Plan

No matter what, you need to know who your customer is and have a rough Don’t fall into the trap, though, of defining the market as “everyone.” The classic example is a shoe company.

While it would be tempting for a shoe company to say that their target market is everyone who has feet, realistically they need to target a specific segment of the market in order to be successful.

You can skip the executive summary (or greatly reduce it in scope) if you are writing an internal business plan that’s purely a strategic guide for your company.

In that case, you can dispense with details about the management team, funding requirements, and traction, and instead treat the executive summary as an overview of the strategic direction of the company, to ensure that all team members are on the same page.

The last key element of an executive summary that investors will want to see is the progress that you’ve made so far and future milestones that you intend to hit.

If you can show that your potential customers are already interested in—or perhaps already buying—your product or service, this is great to highlight.

Accommodate your investors, and keep explanations of your product simple and direct, using terms that everyone can understand.

You can always use the appendix of your plan to provide the full specs if needed.

to easily compare their features against their competition.

The most important thing to illustrate in this section of your business plan is how your solution is different or better than other offerings that a potential customer might consider.