It might be time for you to write a business plan for your company, and if this is the case you might not know exactly what the next step is. Not only is a business plan important for a startup, or for a business that needs to procure a loan, but a business plan should be part of every business. A business plan provides you with a tidy, organized document that can give you direction and a definition of purpose. These are the seven elements you will need in your business plan.

1) Executive Summary: The executive summary will sum up everything you said in the entire business plan, which means that it will be the last part you write, even though it comes first in the document.

2) Company Description: This part will detail your history up to the present if you are an established business, while it will detail your startup plans if your business is new.

3) Product or Service: Keep the focus on the customer in this section, as you desribe in detail what you plan to sell or perform

4) Market Analysis: Especially if you need a loan, this is a very important section. This section proves that you understand the market, what your customers need, and how you will reach them.

5) Strategy and Implementation: Concreteness is important in this section; make sure that you aim to avoid vagueness. Explain your company’s structure and all of its strategies.

6) Management Team: As you dig into the backgrounds and histories of your key team members, this section can become an excellent selling point.

7) Financial Strategy: Especially if you are a startup company, you have to make sure you understand what you are doing in this section, providing detailed analysis and projections.

If you are trying to get your feet under your business, a good business plan can help; if your feet are already under you, you can gain even more traction with a solid business plan. On the other hand, you can miss out on money and on a brighter future if your business plan is sloppy; don’t make this mistake!

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