How to write a Startup

Business Plan

Executive Summary

The first step of writing a startup business plan is the executive summary. Look at this part as an introduction to your business plan. 

Since it will be the first section readers and potential investors see, it's important to execute it in a way that captures their attention. 

That being said, avoid oversaturating this section of your business plan with too much information.

Your executive summary should be short, to the point, and no longer than one page.

The key components of an executive summary include:

• General information about your startup 
• What you hope to achieve with your startup
• Financial projections for the next few years
• A brief overview of what you sell or offer
• Funding requirements
• An overview of your target market
• A summary of your entire business plan

Briefly explain what your startup is about and what problem it solves. If your startup sells products or services, make sure to highlight them in this section. 

Mention your financial projections, future vision, and funding requirements. 

Include an overview of your target market. You can add key demographics and explain why your target customers need your products or services.

After reading the executive summary, your readers should have a general idea of what your startup will offer. Not only that, but they should also be interested in the sections that follow.

Business Description

Writing a business description for a startup business plan involves providing a complete overview of your business. This includes its purpose and what sets it apart from competitors.

This is where you can describe your startup and what it offers. 

Your business description can include:

1. An overview of your startup
2. Your startup's legal structure
3. Mission and vision statements 
4. Your startup's short-term and long-term goals
5. Critical success factors

Start with an overview of your startup. This can include the business name, location, founding date, and general information about your startup. 

Another idea is to list your startup's business structure. Specify whether your business is a sole proprietorship, partnership, corporation, LLC, etc.

Your mission statement should be a concise statement that defines your startup's purpose and goals. It should also reflect your core values and objectives.

Your vision statement should describe what your business aspires to become in the future.

Make sure to mention your startup's short-term and long-term goals. 

Short-term goals are goals you aim to achieve within the next year. Long-term goals refer to what you plan for your startup for the next three to five years. 

Critical success factors are key elements necessary for your startup to achieve its goals and maintain growth.

{{subscribe-form}}

Market Analysis

When writing a business plan for a startup business, you need to pay special attention to the market analysis section.

This section should include important information about your industry, target market, and competition. 

It will help investors understand your business's potential and the market opportunity it seeks to capitalise on.

A good market analysis should include the following elements:

• Industry overview
• Market trends 
• Target market analysis
• Competitive analysis
• SWOT analysis
• Market size (TAM, SAM, or SOM)

An industry overview provides a high-level analysis of your industry. This includes its current state, trends, and future outlook.

Defining your target market is another important part of this section. It shows readers you are prepared to meet the needs of your future clients. 

Analysing your target market includes demographics, psychographics, and behaviour patterns.

The same applies to market needs. Describe the specific needs of the target market that your startup addresses.

When it comes to competitor analysis, it's important to find out who your top competitors are. This can include direct and indirect competitors. 

Analyse their strengths and weaknesses. Then, explain how your business differentiates itself from those competitors.

A SWOT analysis refers to strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. 

Here's a great way to present your SWOT analysis:

Organisation and Management

The organisation and management section gives you an opportunity to discuss your startup in more detail. To be more precise, you will be able to talk about your team. 

This includes:

1. Organisational structure
2. Ownership information
3. Management board
4. Advisory board (optional)
5. Human resources

Provide a clear diagram or description of your company's organisational hierarchy, like the one in our free template:

Make sure to explain the roles and responsibilities of each key position.

You can also talk about the ownership structure and management team. Include brief bios that highlight your team members' experience, skills, and roles in your startup.

Adding the advisory board is optional. If you want to do so, provide information on their background and how they contribute to the company.

Everything you didn't get a chance to mention in the business description, you can talk about here. 

Products or Services

The products/services section depends on the type of business you're running and what you plan to offer. 

For example, restaurants will use this section to present their menu. Apparel businesses can add different items they plan to sell. 

If your startup sells some kind of product, here's what you can use this section for:

• Product description
• Features and benefits
• Lifecycle
• Research and development
• Intellectual property

For example, let's say your startup sells a range of eco-friendly gardening products. 

You can explain what the products are made from, how they can be used, and what makes them eco-friendly. 

For example:

Our self-watering planters are made from recycled materials. They use a wicking system to reduce water usage by 50%, ensuring plants receive consistent hydration without overwatering. We also use organic soil mixes tailored for urban environments. Our organic soil blends improve plant growth and are free from synthetic chemicals.

If you plan to offer services, you can use this section to describe what these services entail and how they are provided.

This helps investors and stakeholders understand the value of your offerings and your potential for market success.

{{subscribe-form}}

Marketing and Sales Strategies

The marketing and sales section of a startup business plan involves explaining how you will attract and retain customers.

When it comes to your marketing strategy, these are some of the most important steps you should take:

1. Do research on your target customers
2. Decide which marketing channels you will use, which includes both offline and online channels
3. Explain your main marketing tactics, including promotion, pricing, and branding
4. Perform a positioning strategy
5. Develop a digital marketing strategy

Describe your approach to marketing your products or services. Outline plans for scaling your business, including new market segments or geographic areas.

Also, identify the primary marketing channels you will use. For example, online, social media, email marketing, PR, partnerships, etc.

As for the sales strategy, you can discuss:

• The sales process: Talk about the steps involved in selling your product or service, from lead generation to closing the sale.
• The sales team: Describe the structure and responsibilities of your sales team.
• Sales tactics: Explain the specific tactics your sales team will use to achieve their targets. For example, cold calling, networking, and inbound sales.

Another important part of this section to focus on is customer retention. 

Your readers will want to know how you plan to attract customers and keep them coming back. You can do this with excellent customer service, loyalty programs, and special deals. 

Operations Plan

Your operations plan describes how your startup operates on a day-to-day basis. In this part of your business plan, you can discuss the technical side of running your startup. 

This includes:

• Your startup's operational process
• Your startup's location
• Supply chain management 
• Training and staffing
• Key resources
• Technology and equipment necessary for your operations
• Working hours 
• Quality control 

If your startup offers products, make sure to explain the production process. This includes manufacturing, order fulfilment, delivery, inventory, and similar. 

Describe how you manage your supply chain, from sourcing materials to delivering finished products.

Outline the technology necessary for your operations. This includes software, hardware, and any specialised equipment.

For instance, e-commerce platforms, CRM systems, ERP software, POS systems, mobile apps, etc.

Explain where your business operates and why you chose this location. Include details on facilities, such as office space, production facilities, and warehouses.

You can also talk about your quality control processes to make sure products/services meet your standards. Include any certifications or standards you adhere to.

This section shows potential investors and stakeholders your business operates efficiently and effectively.

Financial Plan

Your financial plan will be one of the most important parts of your startup business plan.

Since you are required to analyse your startup's financial opportunities, you might want to hire an accountant to help you out. 

Here's what your financial plan should include:

• The startup costs to launch your business
• Funding requirements
• Financial projections for the next three to five years
• A break-even analysis
• Potential sources of funding

First, you must calculate how much money you will need to start your business. Startup costs can include funding for equipment, facilities, initial inventory, marketing, and other startup expenses.

You can add a section on funding requirements. Specify how much funding you need and explain how you will use these funds. For example, operational expenses, marketing, product development, etc. 

Your financial projections are very important for potential investors to see. Financial projections include:

1. Cash flow statement 
2. Profit and loss statements
3. Balance sheet

Your cash flow statement projects cash inflows and outflows for your business.

Your profit and loss statement projects your expected profits and losses over the next three to five years.

Your balance sheet is a snapshot of your startup's financial position at a specific point in time.

You can also add a break-even analysis by calculating the point at which your startup will start making a profit. Include details on fixed and variable costs and how many units you need to sell to cover these costs.

Conclusion

The conclusion is meant to bring your startup business plan to a succinct end. Just like the executive summary, it should be one page long.

The conclusion should:

1. Effectively summarise the key points of your plan
2. Reiterate your startup's goals and vision
3. Leave a strong impression on the reader

Briefly recap the major sections of your business plan, including the executive summary, market analysis, product/service offering, marketing strategy, operations plan, and financial projections.

You can also add a call to action. This is very important for startups that are seeking funds.

Let's take our earlier example of a startup that sells eco-friendly gardening products for this conclusion.  Here's what that company's conclusion can look like:

At [startup name], our mission is to encourage urban residents to cultivate their own green spaces through sustainable gardening products and services. We are committed to creating a greener, healthier urban environment by making gardening accessible and enjoyable for everyone.

Throughout this business plan, we have outlined our approach to capturing the growing market for urban gardening. Our unique self-watering planters and organic soil mixes provide practical solutions to the challenges faced by urban gardeners. 

In the short term, we aim to establish a strong presence in major metropolitan areas, achieving $500,000 in sales within the first year. In the long term, we plan to expand our product line and enter international markets, becoming the leading brand in urban gardening solutions.

To achieve these goals, we seek an initial investment of $250,000. This funding will enable us to cover startup costs, drive our marketing campaigns, and continue product development. We are confident that with your support, [startup name] will thrive and contribute to a more sustainable future.

Thank you for considering our business plan. We look forward to the opportunity to discuss how we can work together to make urban gardening accessible to all.

Appendix

You can also add an appendix if you have any supporting documentation, such as:

• Resumes of team members
• Product photos and brochures
• Legal documents
• Market research data
• Contracts and agreements
• Financial statements
• Organisational charts 
• Marketing materials

{{subscribe-form}}