If you look at the capital structure of any large company, you’ll see that most firms issue both equity and debt. When drafting your business plan, decide if you’re willing to accept the trade-off of giving up total control and profits before you sell equity in your business.
And yet, more than 1 in 10 prospective business owners said they do not intend to write a business plan. Another 1 in 10 aren’t sure if they need a plan.
Founded in 2019 by sisters Laura and Raquel Smith, we have over 25 years of combined landscape-architecture experience. Our four employees work in teams of two and have already completed ten projects for some of Richmond’s most influential business and community leaders.
- Businesses with a business plan grow 30% faster than those without.
- Owners with business plans are 2x more likely to grow, get investments, or secure loans than those without.
- Entrepreneurs with a plan have a 129% increased likelihood of growing beyond the startup phase and a 260% increased likelihood of growing from “idea” to “new business.”
Example of a funding request
$20,000 per project
- Word of mouth
- Referrals
- Reviews and ratings
- Local Google Ads
- Social media
- Home shows
- Direct mail
- Where do they invest in advertising?
- What kind of press coverage do they get?
- How good is their customer service?
- What are their sales and pricing strategies?
- How do they rank on third-party rating platforms?
Most small business equity sales are private transactions. The investor may also expect to be paid a dividend, which is a share of company profits, and they’ll want to know how they can sell their ownership interest. Additionally, you can raise capital by borrowing money, and you’ll have to repay creditors both the principal amount borrowed and the interest on the debt.
Once you’ve done the strategic work, it’s time to put it into action and write your plan. Download the business plan template, and review our guide on writing a business plan for additional information.
The easiest way to simplify the work of writing a business plan is to start with a business plan template.
- Evaluate your business ideas. Whether you’ve got one business idea or many, a business plan can make an idea more tangible, helping you see if it’s truly viable.
- Plan for your next phase. Whether your goal is to start a new business or scale an existing business to the next level, a business plan can help you understand what needs to happen and identify gaps to address.
- Clarify marketing strategy, goals, and tactics. Writing a business plan can show you the actionable next steps to take on a big, abstract idea. It can also help you narrow your strategy and identify clear-cut tactics that will support it.
- Scope the necessary work. Without a concrete plan, cost overruns and delays are all but certain. A business plan can help you see the full scope of work to be done and adjust your investment of time and money accordingly.
- Hire and build partnerships. When you need buy-in from potential employees and partners, especially in the early stages of your business, a clearly written business plan is one of the best tools at your disposal. A business plan provides a refined look at your goals for the business, letting partners judge for themselves whether or not they agree with your vision.
- Secure funds. Securing funding for your business, whether from venture capital or a bank, is one of the most common reasons to create a business plan.
You’re already investing time and energy in planning your small business—there’s no need to reinvent the wheel when it comes to formatting your plan. Instead, to help build a complete and effective plan, lean on time-tested structures created by entrepreneurs and startups who have come before you.
Sections of your business plan template
In our business plan template, each section includes an overview of the most important information to cover and guidelines on how to approach writing and researching each one.
We'll also send you updates on new educational guides and success stories from the Shopify newsletter. We hate SPAM and promise to keep your email address safe.
This template is designed to ensure you’re thinking through all of the important facets of starting a new business. It’s intended to help new entrepreneurs and small business owners consider the full scope of running a business and identify functional areas they may not have considered or where they may need to level up their skills as they grow.
We’ve filled out a sample business plan as a companion to our template, featuring a fictional ecommerce business. We’ve noted where—and how—an entrepreneur could add more details to expand on their plans, depending on their goals.
The dynamic Visionary Pitch deck is designed to communicate big business ideas — the whys and hows of a new business model.
Telling the story of your opportunity from problem / solution to testimonials and financial requirements, the business pitch presentation has 19 easy-to-edit slides, along with pro designer tips for working with the financial tables and other graphics.
A business plan also acts as a guide, which you constantly turn to during the early growth stages as well as day-to-day operations.
“There are a lot of free business plan templates available online, but very few are as well structured as the offering from SCORE. There are 150 questions to answer, all designed to help you create the best business plan for your specific situation. I highly recommend this template, especially if it’s your first time writing a business plan.”
3. Slideshop Visionary Pitch template
This 21-slide template helps you define and present your market, your competition, and the future roadmap. The deck visually supports the pitch story you’ve worked so hard to craft.
As one of the leading nonprofit organization devoted to helping business owners succeed, SCORE has created one of the best business plan templates because it is in-depth and customizable. It’s available in PDF or Microsoft Word format here.
“The thing I like best about this free business plan template is the fact that it lets you go back in and edit as needed, so you don’t have to have all of the information in front of you the first time you set out to tackle the task. Creating a well thought-out business plan requires research and planning, so the edit option comes in very handy. The end result is a very professional looking business plan.”
By no means is this business plan template limited to presentations
You can use mind maps to visualize all this data to your audience. You can either use two mind maps to outline your sales and marketing strategies separately or a single mind map to showcase both.
It will include both historical data such as cash flow statements,profit and loss statements, income statements etc. and financial projections based on the impact of your new product.
- Company history
- Overview of the company
- Mission Statement
- Key resources
- Business contact information
- Products or services
- Location details
- The market you serve
- Your key customers
- The customer issue you seek to solve
How to Create a Business Plan Presentation – The Key Elements
Through a market analysis, you can find enough detail to define your target market, its size, customer segments, and their needs.
With your marketing strategy, you have to consider factors like your marketing or communication channels, marketing goals, marketing budgets, resources etc.
Visuals make anything easier to understand. That’s why including them in your business plan presentation is a foolproof way to ensure that it’s readily welcomed by your audience and digested without confusion.
Uber's low cost, unlimited fleet of cars, convenience of use and flexibility of driver schedule are some of its key strengths. Its unpredictable customer volume and the ease of imitation make up central weaknesses. That Uber's services are only offered in a handful of metropolitan areas provides significant opportunities in suburbs and untapped cities. Lawsuits and proposed legislation to ban the service in certain cities, moreover, comprise Uber's most serious threats.
Needs Analysis: What evidence do you have that your target community needs the services your non-profit will provide? Alternatively, are there existing organizations offering similar services? How is your non-profit different from similar organizations, or how does it address an unfulfilled need in your target community?
Opening you own Pharmacy? Our Pharmacy business plan can help you get ahead in this competitive industry.
Jackson Hille is a Content Associate at FormSwift and the 2013-14 Departmental Citation Recipient in American Studies from the University of California, .
Break Even Analysis
Starting a law firm? From a small private practice to a large corporate firm, our law firm business plan can help you get started.
How much revenue do you need to generate in order to break even and cover all of your expenses?
Starting an automotive business? Our automotive business plan will help you get on the road to success!
Opening your own childcare business? Our childcare business plan can help guide you to success.