Business Plan Layout

The business plan format below has been used successfully to obtain finance for many different types of business. It’s also a business plan structure that will help you succeed in developing and growing your business.

Most businesses fail because they run out of cash. Even highly profitable businesses can run into cashflow problems if they expand too fast for their level funding.  So, an important outcome of the business planning process is to work out the level of investment required and how you intend to fund it.

Lenders and investors expect to understand your proposition within the first 1 or 2 pages of the plan. They can then decide whether they’re interested enough to read further.

So, the business plan outline has to begin with a summary:

1. Executive Summary

Whatever your level of ambition, the market has to be large enough to satisfy it, especially when you take into account the competition. So, the business plan has to show an analysis of the market and how you intend to exploit it with your products and services. It also needs to show how you plan to market your brand and attract customers. This leads us to define the next 3 sections:

2. Market Analysis
3. Products and Services
4. Marketing Plan

You’ve now explained your market, what you intend to supply to that market and how you intend to market your products or services.

You also need to explain the infrastructure you’ll need to deliver the products or services and how you arrived at your present position. If a potential lender or investor doesn’t think your business is equipped with the right capability and experience, they're unlikely to invest.  This leads us to define the next 2 sections of your business plan:

5. Company Background
6. Company Structure

The section on Company Structure should include any resources, equipment or systems you have or will require in order to deliver your products or services. It is quite likely that you’ll be using some of the funding to create the Company Infrastructure.

You also need to show that you’ve considered areas of risk and how you might mitigate for them. This can be referred to as:

7. Business Analysis

In this section you should include your S.W.O.T. Analysis (An assessment of Internal Strengths and Weaknesses and External Opportunities and Threats) and a Sensitivity Analysis (An assessment of how far certain parameters can move for the business to remain viable).

Lenders and investors will want to have a close look at your projections and they'll usually expect to find them at the back of the Business Plan. 

8. Business Financials

The Business Financials should include projections for Profit and Loss, Cashflow and Balance Sheet.

Finally, if you have referenced any material or wish to include any supporting information you can add a section at the end:

9. References and Appendices

And that’s it.

Sightpath has successfully used this layout for our clients, so why not let one of our Business Catalysts generate and balance all your projections to increase your chances of success. 

Please contact us for more information or to engage one of our Business Catalysts to drive our Business Development system to generate your plan for success.