sba business plan guide

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Write your business plan

Business plans help you run your business.

A good business plan guides you through each stage of starting and managing your business. You’ll use your business plan as a roadmap for how to structure, run, and grow your new business. It’s a way to think through the key elements of your business.

Business plans can help you get funding or bring on new business partners. Investors want to feel confident they’ll see a return on their investment. Your business plan is the tool you’ll use to convince people that working with you — or investing in your company — is a smart choice.

Pick a business plan format that works for you

There’s no right or wrong way to write a business plan. What’s important is that your plan meets your needs.

Most business plans fall into one of two common categories: traditional or lean startup.

Traditional business plans are more common, use a standard structure, and encourage you to go into detail in each section. They tend to require more work upfront and can be dozens of pages long.

Lean startup business plans are less common but still use a standard structure. They focus on summarizing only the most important points of the key elements of your plan. They can take as little as one hour to make and are typically only one page.

Traditional business plan

Lean startup plan

Traditional business plan format

You might prefer a traditional business plan format if you’re very detail-oriented, want a comprehensive plan, or plan to request financing from traditional sources.

When you write your business plan, you don’t have to stick to the exact business plan outline. Instead, use the sections that make the most sense for your business and your needs. Traditional business plans use some combination of these nine sections.

Executive summary

Briefly tell your reader what your company is and why it will be successful. Include your mission statement, your product or service, and basic information about your company’s leadership team, employees, and location. You should also include financial information and high-level growth plans if you plan to ask for financing.

Company description

Use your company description to provide detailed information about your company. Go into detail about the problems your business solves. Be specific, and list out the consumers, organization, or businesses your company plans to serve.

Explain the competitive advantages that will make your business a success. Are there experts on your team? Have you found the perfect location for your store? Your company description is the place to boast about your strengths.

Market analysis

You'll need a good understanding of your industry outlook and target market. Competitive research will show you what other businesses are doing and what their strengths are. In your market research, look for trends and themes. What do successful competitors do? Why does it work? Can you do it better? Now's the time to answer these questions.

Organization and management

Tell your reader how your company will be structured and who will run it.

Describe the  legal structure  of your business. State whether you have or intend to incorporate your business as a C or an S corporation, form a general or limited partnership, or if you're a sole proprietor or limited liability company (LLC).

Use an organizational chart to lay out who's in charge of what in your company. Show how each person's unique experience will contribute to the success of your venture. Consider including resumes and CVs of key members of your team.

Service or product line

Describe what you sell or what service you offer. Explain how it benefits your customers and what the product lifecycle looks like. Share your plans for intellectual property, like copyright or patent filings. If you're doing  research and development  for your service or product, explain it in detail.

Marketing and sales

There's no single way to approach a marketing strategy. Your strategy should evolve and change to fit your unique needs.

Your goal in this section is to describe how you'll attract and retain customers. You'll also describe how a sale will actually happen. You'll refer to this section later when you make financial projections, so make sure to thoroughly describe your complete marketing and sales strategies.

Funding request

If you're asking for funding, this is where you'll outline your funding requirements. Your goal is to clearly explain how much funding you’ll need over the next five years and what you'll use it for.

Specify whether you want debt or equity, the terms you'd like applied, and the length of time your request will cover. Give a detailed description of how you'll use your funds. Specify if you need funds to buy equipment or materials, pay salaries, or cover specific bills until revenue increases. Always include a description of your future strategic financial plans, like paying off debt or selling your business.

Financial projections

Supplement your funding request with financial projections. Your goal is to convince the reader that your business is stable and will be a financial success.

If your business is already established, include income statements, balance sheets, and cash flow statements for the last three to five years. If you have other collateral you could put against a loan, make sure to list it now.

Provide a prospective financial outlook for the next five years. Include forecasted income statements, balance sheets, cash flow statements, and capital expenditure budgets. For the first year, be even more specific and use quarterly — or even monthly — projections. Make sure to clearly explain your projections, and match them to your funding requests.

This is a great place to use graphs and charts to tell the financial story of your business.  

Use your appendix to provide supporting documents or other materials were specially requested. Common items to include are credit histories, resumes, product pictures, letters of reference, licenses, permits, patents, legal documents, and other contracts.

Example traditional business plans

Before you write your business plan, read the following example business plans written by fictional business owners. Rebecca owns a consulting firm, and Andrew owns a toy company.

Lean startup format

You might prefer a lean startup format if you want to explain or start your business quickly, your business is relatively simple, or you plan to regularly change and refine your business plan.

Lean startup formats are charts that use only a handful of elements to describe your company’s value proposition, infrastructure, customers, and finances. They’re useful for visualizing tradeoffs and fundamental facts about your company.

There are different ways to develop a lean startup template. You can search the web to find free templates to build your business plan. We discuss nine components of a model business plan here:

Key partnerships

Note the other businesses or services you’ll work with to run your business. Think about suppliers, manufacturers, subcontractors, and similar strategic partners.

Key activities

List the ways your business will gain a competitive advantage. Highlight things like selling direct to consumers, or using technology to tap into the sharing economy.

Key resources

List any resource you’ll leverage to create value for your customer. Your most important assets could include staff, capital, or intellectual property. Don’t forget to leverage business resources that might be available to  women ,  veterans ,  Native Americans , and  HUBZone businesses .

Value proposition

Make a clear and compelling statement about the unique value your company brings to the market.

Customer relationships

Describe how customers will interact with your business. Is it automated or personal? In person or online? Think through the customer experience from start to finish.

Customer segments

Be specific when you name your target market. Your business won’t be for everybody, so it’s important to have a clear sense of whom your business will serve.

List the most important ways you’ll talk to your customers. Most businesses use a mix of channels and optimize them over time.

Cost structure

Will your company focus on reducing cost or maximizing value? Define your strategy, then list the most significant costs you’ll face pursuing it.

Revenue streams

Explain how your company will actually make money. Some examples are direct sales, memberships fees, and selling advertising space. If your company has multiple revenue streams, list them all.

Example lean business plan

Before you write your business plan, read this example business plan written by a fictional business owner, Andrew, who owns a toy company.

Need help? Get free business counseling

Financing | Templates

How to Write an SBA Business Plan [+Free Template]

Published July 18, 2024

Published Jul 18, 2024

REVIEWED BY: Tricia Jones

WRITTEN BY: Andrew Wan

This article is part of a larger series on Business Financing .

• 1. Write Company Description
• 2. Identify Organizational Structure & Management
• 3. Outline Market Analysis
• 4. Describe Products/Services
• 5. Describe Marketing & Sales Strategies
• 6. Provide Financial Data & Projections
• 7. Detail Your Financing Request
• 8. Complete Appendix & Supplemental Data
• 9. Write the Executive Summary
• Additional Resources

Bottom Line

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SBA Business Plan Template Download

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If you are applying for a loan through the Small Business Administration (SBA), a business plan will likely be a required component of your loan application. Your SBA business plan should provide an overview of your company’s goals and how it plans to achieve them.

There is no standard format for an SBA business plan, but it should contain enough information that a potential investor or lender can make an informed decision as to the likelihood of your company’s continued success. We recommend using our SBA business plan template above to ensure you cover the most critical components.

Step 1: Write a Description of Your Company

This section of your SBA business plan should address your company’s purpose, its goals, and how they’ll be met. Provide background information to describe why your company exists, any problem or challenge it aims to solve, and how customers can benefit from its products or services.

A strong company description should also address the following questions:

• What prompted you to start your business?
• What organizations or individuals will benefit from your company’s product or service?
• What makes your company different from others?
• What competitive advantages does your business offer?
• What would a successful product launch look like?
• Does your company have strategic partnerships with other vendors?

Step 2: Identify Organizational Structure & Management

Your SBA business plan should outline how your company is organized from both a tax and legal structure. Including an organizational chart can help show the individuals responsible for different areas of your business. You can also include information about the background of key members of your leadership team.

Consider also addressing the following items:

• Highlight what business structure you have selected and why. Examples commonly include a sole proprietorship, limited liability company (LLC), partnership, S Corporation (S-corp), and C Corporation (C-corp).
• Detail any potential legal protections or tax savings you expect based on the tax structure you’ve chosen.
• Include resumes for members of your leadership team highlighting their experience and how it’s relevant to the goals of the organization.

Step 3: Outline Your Market Analysis

The market analysis section of your SBA business plan should look at who your competitors will be. Observe what they are doing well, their weaknesses, and how your company compares. Insights from this evaluation can provide a good foundation for identifying opportunities and consumer needs that aren’t currently being met.

The SBA’s market analysis page contains information on how you can approach this. Questions you should also consider addressing should include the following:

• Who are the major competitors in the market?
• What are competitors doing well, and are there areas for improvement?
• How does your company compare to the top competitors?
• How has the product or service evolved over time?
• Are there any trends for supply and demand throughout the year?
• What can your company do to stand apart from the top competitors?
• Are existing customers satisfied with the current offering of products and services?

Step 4: Write Descriptions of Your Products & Services

In this section, you should detail the products or services your business offers. You should explain what it does, how it helps your customers, and its expected lifecycle. Include things like any expected research and development costs, intellectual property concerns (e.g., patents), what the lifecycle of your product looks like, and what is needed to manufacture or assemble it.

Here are some things to consider as you are working on this section:

• Description of what your product or service does
• How your product or service works
• How your customers will benefit from your product or service
• Illustration of the typical lifecycle
• Any patents or intellectual property you or your competitors have
• Pricing structure
• Plans for research and development
• Discuss plans for handling intellectual property, copyright, and patent filings

Step 5: Describe Your Marketing & Sales Strategies

Details of your marketing and sales strategy will be highly dependent on your business. It’s also something that may evolve and change over time in response to things like the overall economic environment, release of competitor’s products or services, and changes in pricing.

With that being said, here is a list of some items that should be addressed:

• Who is your target audience?
• How will you attract customers?
• How and where will sales be made?
• If applicable, what will the sales process look like?
• Where will you market and advertise your product or service?
• How does your marketing strategy compare to other companies in the industry?
• How much should you spend on marketing?
• What is the expected return on investment for marketing?
• Do you have any data showing the effect of marketing?

Step 6: Provide Financial Data & Projections

If your business has been operational, you should include information about its finances. This should consist of all streams of revenue and expenses. Data for financial projections should also be included, along with a description of the methodology you used to reach those conclusions.

If available, you should be prepared to provide the following financial documents for at least the last three years to five years:

• Personal and business tax returns
• Balance sheets
• Profit and loss statements
• Cash flow statements
• Hard and soft collateral owned by your business
• Business bank statements for the last 6 to 12 months

Financial projections should include enough data to offer some confidence that your business is viable and will succeed. It’s recommended that you provide monthly projections looking forward at least three years, with annual projections for years four and five.

• Projections for revenue and methodology used in arriving at these figures
• Expected shifts in revenue or expenses as a result of seasonality or other factors affecting supply and demand
• Expected expenses from loan payments, rent, lease payments, marketing and advertising fees, employee salaries, benefits, legal fees, warranty expenses, and more

Step 7: Detail Your Financing Request

This section is where you should specify how much funding you need, why you need it, what you’ll use it for, and the impact you expect it will have on your business. It’s also a good idea to indicate when you expect to use the funds over the course of the next three to five years.

Here is a checklist of some important items you should cover:

• How much funding you need and why
• When you will use the funds over the next three to five years
• What you will use the funds for
• The expected impact this will have on your business and how it will help reach your business goals
• The anticipation of any recurring needs for additional funding
• Your strategy for how you expect to pay off the loan
• Any future financial plans for your business

Step 8: Fill in the Appendix & Supplemental Information

This last section of your SBA business plan should include any additional information that may be helpful for lenders. This can include more detailed explanations or clarifications of data from other sections of your business plan.

Here are some examples of documents you can include:

• Business licenses
• Certifications or permits
• Letters of reference
• Photos of products
• Resumes of business owners
• Contractual agreements and other legal documents

Step 9: Complete the Executive Summary

The executive summary, which is the first section of a business plan, should be no more than one to two pages long and should provide a high-level overview of the items listed below. Since each section above is already detailed, a brief description of those sections will be sufficient.

• Your company’s mission statement
• The background and experience of your leadership team
• The product or service and what purpose it serves
• Your target market for the product or service
• Competitive analysis of other products and services
• Your competitive advantage or why your company will succeed
• Marketing and sales strategy
• Financial projections and funding needs

Additional Resources for Writing an SBA Business Plan

If you’re looking for additional resources to help you write a business plan, you can consider the options below. Since a business plan is just one of many documents you’ll need, you can also read our guide on how to get an SBA loan if you need help with other areas of the loan process.

• SBA: SBA’s business guide contains information on how you can start a small business. It includes steps on creating a business plan, funding your company, and launching a business.
• SCORE: Through SCORE.org , you can request to be paired with a mentor and receive business-related education. Educational courses come in several formats, including webinars, live events, and online courses.
• Small business development center (SBDC): SBDCs provide training and counseling to small business owners. This can help with various aspects of your company, such as getting access to working capital, business planning, and financial management. Use the SBA’s tool to find your closest SBDC .

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

If i already have a business plan, should i update it before applying for an sba loan.

If your business plan is up-to-date, you may be able to reuse it for your SBA loan application. In general, you should consider updating your business plan each year or once any major changes have taken place to ensure that investors and lenders have the most updated information.

How long should my business plan be?

A general rule of thumb is to have a business plan anywhere from 15 to 50 pages. However, this can vary from company to company, and we recommend focusing instead on ensuring it covers all of the necessary details for the various sections. Find the right balance between thoroughness and conciseness, as providing too many details can lead to lenders or investors glossing over important data.

Why do I need a business plan for an SBA loan?

A business plan helps a lender determine whether your company is likely to succeed. This, in turn, allows it to determine whether or not you can repay loan proceeds, as well as the interest rate that you qualify for, based on its overall risk assessment.

Having a strong SBA business plan can improve your chances of getting approved for an SBA loan. If you’re unsure where to start, you can use our guide and template to cover the most important aspects of your business. You can also see our tips on how to get a small business loan . To get even more ideas on creating a strong business plan, you can also use resources through organizations such as SCORE and the SBA itself.

About the Author

Find Andrew On LinkedIn

Andrew Wan is a staff writer at Fit Small Business, specializing in Small Business Finance. He has over a decade of experience in mortgage lending, having held roles as a loan officer, processor, and underwriter. He is experienced with various types of mortgage loans, including Federal Housing Administration government mortgages as a Direct Endorsement (DE) underwriter. Andrew received an M.B.A. from the University of California at Irvine, a Master of Studies in Law from the University of Southern California, and holds a California real estate broker license.

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SBA Business Plan Template Essentials: The Complete Guide

Free Business Plan Template

• August 23, 2024
• 10 Min Read

Loans by the US Small Business Administration (SBA) have turned the dreams of thousands of aspiring entrepreneurs into reality.

Good news? You too can achieve your business goals with the support of an SBA loan.

One of the key requirements for securing such a loan is submitting a comprehensive business plan—a document offering an in-depth overview of your business idea and its sustainability.

Don’t worry.

Writing an SBA plan is quite easy. With this blog post, we will guide you through the process and offer a free SBA business plan template to make it even easier.

But before that…

What is an SBA business Plan?

An SBA plan is a professional document outlining your business objectives and strategies along with a detailed action plan to execute them. This plan is specifically used by small business owners to apply for SBA loans and grants.

Like a traditional plan, an SBA plan offers a detailed overview of your entire business. It includes sections about the target market, competition, products and services, operations, marketing strategy, management team, and finances.

While there’s no fixed format, using an SBA business plan template to write your SBA plan is recommended.

Importance of an SBA business plan

Writing a business plan is helpful for organizations to get a clear understanding of their business idea and its viability. However, that’s not it.

Here are a few reasons that make your SBA plan extremely important:

• Helps secure SBA loans and even funding from investors.
• Establishes clear goals and milestones to help you stay focused.
• Offers a clear business vision and a strategic roadmap to achieve your goals.
• Solidifies your business idea by compelling you to address missing gaps.
• Establishes credibility amongst lenders and fosters growth amongst stakeholders.
• Instills clarity amongst team members bringing them all on the same page.

All in all, a well-detailed SBA plan builds the foundation for you to launch and build a successful business.

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How to write an SBA business plan

As with traditional plans, an SBA business plan also follows a similar format. The SBA business plan template contains nine major sections, including:

1. Executive summary

An executive summary is a concise summary of your SBA business plan.

It highlights high-value points of your plan to help the readers get a quick gist of your business and its strategies.

The executive summary of your plan can touch on the following aspects:

• Business introduction: Start your executive summary by briefly introducing your business to your readers.
• Description of business opportunity: Describe the business opportunity by highlighting the problem you’re solving for your target customers.
• Target market: Mention your target customers to whom you’ll sell your product or service.
• The solution you offer: Explain how your product or service is the ideal solution for the problem your target customer is facing.
• Market competition: Identify your potential competitors and mention them.
• Marketing and sales strategy: Describe how you will market your product and mention your sales channels.
• Financial projections: This is essentially a forecast of future expenses and revenues.
• Execution of your plan: Explain how you will implement your plan and strategize all your objectives.

2. Company description

In this company overview section of your SBA business plan, you will describe what your company does and every detail about your company. It includes your target customers, your business partners, your competitors, and more.

Below are the major key points to include in the company description section:

• Identity and objective: Mention your company’s identity and what your company does. You may also include your company’s ethics and values.
• Company’s offerings: Define in detail what your company offers. Explain the product or service that you’re selling.
• The problem you solve: Specify the problem you chose to solve to cater to the needs of your customers.
• Target customers: State which section of the people you have targeted. You should also mention your customers’ priorities and values.
• Your strengths: Outline your competitive advantage over other players in the market. You can also list your competitors and mention how you’re different from them.
• Partners: Introduce your business partners and offer details such as the partnership period, their contribution, etc.

3. Market analysis

In this section, you write a detailed analysis of the market in which your business operates. The following are the market research data you should include in your SBA business plan:

• Briefly explain what other companies in your industries are doing
• Outline the strengths and advantages of your competition
• Specify the market trends occurring in your market
• Examine what makes the companies in your industry successful.
• Demonstrate your competitive advantages to outrun your competition
• Research strategic advantages of competitors like the ideal location, cheap procurement of raw materials, etc.

4. Organization and management

In this section, you will define the business structure. This includes the legal and organizational structure of your business along with the management practices you follow.

Legal structure

Here, you describe the legal structure of your business .

Is it going to be a sole proprietorship, limited partnership, limited liability company(LLC), or C or S corporation? Explain in complete detail how you’ll structure your business legally and how it’ll impact your business operations.

Organizational chart

Attach an organizational chart outlining the internal structure and hierarchy of your business. Also explain the roles, responsibilities, and relationships between individuals in the company.

5. Service or product

In product and service section , you give a complete description of the product or service you’re selling to your customers. The following are the key aspects that this section of your SBA business plan should have:

• Describe in detail the product or service you’re providing to your targeted customer base.
• Explain the pricing of your product. You should also mention all the costs that have contributed to the final price of the product.
• List down all the possible uses of your product and how your customers will benefit from it.
• Discuss the product life-cycle of your product. Explain in detail the four stages of a product life-cycle: Introduction, growth, maturity, and decline.
• Include a plan mentioning how you will handle the intellectual properties, copyright, and patent filings.
• Mention all or any research and developments you have regarding your business.

6. Marketing and sales

In this sales and marketing section, outline your marketing strategies , sales channels, and the budget for both. Ensure that you include the following important points in this section:

• Write a detailed plan of how you’ll market your product to draw your customers
• Provide the details of the sales process and mention the sales channels you’re choosing.
• Mention the details of your budget regarding marketing and sales of the product
• Discuss the goals of your marketing and sales strategies
• Review and address your pricing strategy as it affects your marketing and sales.

7. Funding request

The most prominent reason why entrepreneurs create an SBA business plan is to make lenders believe that they are a viable and reliable business venture. This section is simply for putting forward your funding requests .

The following should be included in this section:

• Specify how much funding you’ll require to run your business for the next five years
• Explain briefly how you’ll use the provided funding
• Mention what type of funding you’re looking for
• Add a detailed description of your future financial plans. This includes debt repayment plans, cash flow management, budgeting expenses, etc.

8. Financial Projection

The purpose of financial projection is to help the readers assess your company’s financial stability. This section includes the current financial reports of your business and future projections.

It’s focused on convincing potential funders that your company is financially stable and solvent. The below information should be included in your SBA business plan:

• Income statements for the past three to five years
• Balance sheets of the past three to five years
• Cash flow statements for the past three to five years
• Business collaterals
• Projected income statements
• Projected balance sheets
• Projected cash flow statements
• Budgeted capital expenditures

The ideal way to represent future projections is by using monthly or quarterly projections in the first year and annual projections for the years afterward.

Explain how the projections and the information represented are relevant to your funding request. Consider the SBA loan rates and the guarantee fee while projecting your new payment amounts.

9. Appendix

The Appendix is the last section of your SBA business plan. It contains all the additional and supporting documents, important to explain a specific aspect of your business.

It could also include documents that are exclusive to a particular lender that may not fit into the predefined outline of a business plan .

Usually, the common information in an appendix includes:

• Credit history
• Product photos
• Letters of reference
• Licenses and permits
• Legal documents

That’s it. Those were all the sections that an SBA business plan should include.

Resources for writing an SBA business plan

Here are a few additional resources to help you write your SBA business plan efficiently.

U. S. Small Business Administration

The SBA business planning tool offers step-by-step guidance and tips to write a fully detailed business plan. Entrepreneurs can also take online lessons on the SBA learning platform to enhance their understanding of business planning.

Apart from these, there’s an SBA’s business guide that helps with business planning, launch, and funding.

SCORE is a non-profit resource partner with SBA. It has the largest network of mentors for small businesses in the US.

Business owners can request mentorship on this platform to get advice on financial and business planning. These mentors can also assist with valuable knowledge on writing a solid business plan.

One can also choose to attend workshops and online webinars hosted by these industry veterans to strengthen their understanding of business.

Local Small Business Development Centers (SBDC)

SBDC offers training and advice to small businesses for free or extremely low fees. The experts at SBDC can help with business planning and financial management. Most SBDCs host regular sessions on writing a business plan. Some of these experts can also review your business plan and offer valuable feedback.

Women’s Business Centers (WBC)

WBC is again a resource partner at SBA offering low-cost business counseling and training to women wanting to launch, grow, or plan their business. Their one-on-one counseling and group sessions also offer help for writing a business plan.

These resources make it easier for entrepreneurs to write their business plans even with no prior experience.

Download the SBA Business Plan Template

Need help writing your SBA business plan from scratch? Here you go— download this SBA business plan template and get started.

This template is designed specifically for businesses planning to apply for SBA loans. The step-by-step guide, examples, and tips in this template will help you prepare an actionable plan that meets all the essential guidelines.

Writing a perfect business plan can be tricky, especially when you have to present it to lenders. However, once you understand what the lenders look for in a business plan, the process gets quite easier.

Fortunately, Upmetrics can simplify this process of business and financial planning with its AI-powered app. It offers step-by-step guidance, 400+ fully customizable templates, and AI assistance to help you write a solid business plan in minutes.

So why wait? Build your SBA business plan today!

Build your Business Plan Faster

with step-by-step Guidance & AI Assistance.

Frequently Asked Questions

Are there specific guidelines from the sba for business plans.

There are no specific guidelines from SBA about how the business plans should be. As long as the business plan meets your needs, any structure is acceptable.

However, SBA does offer resources to help you structure and write your business plan effectively. Following that structure will help you cover all the information essential for securing the loan.

Can I use the same plan to apply for different types of funding?

Yes, you can use the same plan for different funding applications. However, it’s important to ensure that your business plan meets the criteria laid out by that specific financial organization.

Ideally, you should customize the sections of your plan depending on where you apply to increase your chances of securing funds.

How does a business plan help you get an SBA loan?

One of the criteria for acquiring an SBA loan is to attach a fully detailed business plan along with the application. A business plan builds credibility and shows that you have put in essential efforts to understand all the aspects of your business thoroughly.

How detailed does an SBA loan business plan need to be?

An SBA plan should be comprehensive enough to offer a detailed overview of your business objectives, strategies, and finances. It should contain sections like a traditional business plan and these sections should be detailed to guide your business operations.

How long should the SBA business plan be?

An SBA business plan for investors can be anywhere between 15-40 pages long. However, your business plan can be shorter or longer depending on the scope and nature of your business. As long as your business plan contains relevant information, length doesn’t matter.

About the Author

Upmetrics Team

Upmetrics is the #1 business planning software that helps entrepreneurs and business owners create investment-ready business plans using AI. We regularly share business planning insights on our blog. Check out the Upmetrics blog for such interesting reads. Read more

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Reach Your Goals with Accurate Planning

How to Write a Business Plan for a Small Business

Noah Parsons

24 min. read

Updated September 2, 2024

Writing a business plan doesn’t have to be complicated. 

In this step-by-step guide, you’ll learn how to write a business plan that’s detailed enough to impress bankers and potential investors, while giving you the tools to start, run, and grow a successful business.

• The basics of writing a business plan

If you’re reading this guide, then you already know why you need a business plan . 

You understand that writing a business plan helps you: 

• Raise money
• Grow strategically
• Keep your business on the right track 

As you start to write your business plan, it’s useful to zoom out and remember what a business plan is .

At its core, a business plan is an overview of the products and services you sell, and the customers that you sell to. It explains your business strategy: how you’re going to build and grow your business, what your marketing strategy is, and who your competitors are.

Most business plans also include financial forecasts for the future. These set sales goals, budget for expenses, and predict profits and cash flow. 

A good business plan is much more than just a document that you write once and forget about. It’s also a guide that helps you outline and achieve your goals. 

After writing your business plan, you can use it as a management tool to track your progress toward your goals. Updating and adjusting your forecasts and budgets as you go is one of the most important steps you can take to run a healthier, smarter business. 

We’ll dive into how to use your plan later in this article.

There are many different types of plans , but we’ll go over the most common type here, which includes everything you need for an investor-ready plan. However, if you’re just starting out and are looking for something simpler—I recommend starting with a one-page business plan . It’s faster and easier to create. 

It’s also the perfect place to start if you’re just figuring out your idea, or need a simple strategic plan to use inside your business.

Dig deeper : How to write a one-page business plan

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• What to include in your business plan

Executive summary

The executive summary is an overview of your business and your plans. It comes first in your plan and is ideally just one to two pages. Most people write it last because it’s a summary of the complete business plan.

Ideally, the executive summary can act as a stand-alone document that covers the highlights of your detailed plan. 

In fact, it’s common for investors to ask only for the executive summary when evaluating your business. If they like what they see in the executive summary, they’ll often follow up with a request for a complete plan, a pitch presentation , or more in-depth financial forecasts .

Your executive summary should include:

• A summary of the problem you are solving
• A description of your product or service
• An overview of your target market
• A brief description of your team
• A summary of your financials
• Your funding requirements (if you are raising money)

Dig Deeper: How to write an effective executive summary

Products and services description

When writing a business plan, the produces and services section is where you describe exactly what you’re selling, and how it solves a problem for your target market. The best way to organize this part of your plan is to start by describing the problem that exists for your customers. After that, you can describe how you plan to solve that problem with your product or service. 

This is usually called a problem and solution statement .

To truly showcase the value of your products and services, you need to craft a compelling narrative around your offerings. How will your product or service transform your customers’ lives or jobs? A strong narrative will draw in your readers.

This is also the part of the business plan to discuss any competitive advantages you may have, like specific intellectual property or patents that protect your product. If you have any initial sales, contracts, or other evidence that your product or service is likely to sell, include that information as well. It will show that your idea has traction , which can help convince readers that your plan has a high chance of success.

Market analysis

Your target market is a description of the type of people that you plan to sell to. You might even have multiple target markets, depending on your business. 

A market analysis is the part of your plan where you bring together all of the information you know about your target market. Basically, it’s a thorough description of who your customers are and why they need what you’re selling. You’ll also include information about the growth of your market and your industry .

Try to be as specific as possible when you describe your market. 

Include information such as age, income level, and location—these are what’s called “demographics.” If you can, also describe your market’s interests and habits as they relate to your business—these are “psychographics.” 

Related: Target market examples

Essentially, you want to include any knowledge you have about your customers that is relevant to how your product or service is right for them. With a solid target market, it will be easier to create a sales and marketing plan that will reach your customers. That’s because you know who they are, what they like to do, and the best ways to reach them.

Next, provide any additional information you have about your market. 

What is the size of your market ? Is the market growing or shrinking? Ideally, you’ll want to demonstrate that your market is growing over time, and also explain how your business is positioned to take advantage of any expected changes in your industry.

Dig Deeper: Learn how to write a market analysis

Competitive analysis

Part of defining your business opportunity is determining what your competitive advantage is. To do this effectively, you need to know as much about your competitors as your target customers. 

Every business has some form of competition. If you don’t think you have competitors, then explore what alternatives there are in the market for your product or service. 

For example: In the early years of cars, their main competition was horses. For social media, the early competition was reading books, watching TV, and talking on the phone.

A good competitive analysis fully lays out the competitive landscape and then explains how your business is different. Maybe your products are better made, or cheaper, or your customer service is superior. Maybe your competitive advantage is your location – a wide variety of factors can ultimately give you an advantage.

Dig Deeper: How to write a competitive analysis for your business plan

Marketing and sales plan

The marketing and sales plan covers how you will position your product or service in the market, the marketing channels and messaging you will use, and your sales tactics. 

The best place to start with a marketing plan is with a positioning statement . 

This explains how your business fits into the overall market, and how you will explain the advantages of your product or service to customers. You’ll use the information from your competitive analysis to help you with your positioning. 

For example: You might position your company as the premium, most expensive but the highest quality option in the market. Or your positioning might focus on being locally owned and that shoppers support the local economy by buying your products.

Once you understand your positioning, you’ll bring this together with the information about your target market to create your marketing strategy . 

This is how you plan to communicate your message to potential customers. Depending on who your customers are and how they purchase products like yours, you might use many different strategies, from social media advertising to creating a podcast. Your marketing plan is all about how your customers discover who you are and why they should consider your products and services. 

While your marketing plan is about reaching your customers—your sales plan will describe the actual sales process once a customer has decided that they’re interested in what you have to offer. 

If your business requires salespeople and a long sales process, describe that in this section. If your customers can “self-serve” and just make purchases quickly on your website, describe that process. 

A good sales plan picks up where your marketing plan leaves off. The marketing plan brings customers in the door and the sales plan is how you close the deal.

Together, these specific plans paint a picture of how you will connect with your target audience, and how you will turn them into paying customers.

Dig deeper: What to include in your sales and marketing plan

Business operations

When writing a business plan, the operations section describes the necessary requirements for your business to run smoothly. It’s where you talk about how your business works and what day-to-day operations look like. 

Depending on how your business is structured, your operations plan may include elements of the business like:

• Supply chain management
• Manufacturing processes
• Equipment and technology
• Distribution

Some businesses distribute their products and reach their customers through large retailers like Amazon.com, Walmart, Target, and grocery store chains. 

These businesses should review how this part of their business works. The plan should discuss the logistics and costs of getting products onto store shelves and any potential hurdles the business may have to overcome.

If your business is much simpler than this, that’s OK. This section of your business plan can be either extremely short or more detailed, depending on the type of business you are building.

For businesses selling services, such as physical therapy or online software, you can use this section to describe the technology you’ll leverage, what goes into your service, and who you will partner with to deliver your services.

Dig Deeper: Learn how to write the operations chapter of your plan

Key milestones and metrics

Although it’s not required to complete your business plan, mapping out key business milestones and the metrics can be incredibly useful for measuring your success.

Good milestones clearly lay out the parameters of the task and set expectations for their execution. You’ll want to include:

• A description of each task
• The proposed due date
• Who is responsible for each task

If you have a budget, you can include projected costs to hit each milestone. You don’t need extensive project planning in this section—just list key milestones you want to hit and when you plan to hit them. This is your overall business roadmap. 

Possible milestones might be:

• Website launch date
• Store or office opening date
• First significant sales
• Break even date
• Business licenses and approvals

You should also discuss the key numbers you will track to determine your success. Some common metrics worth tracking include:

• Conversion rates
• Customer acquisition costs
• Profit per customer
• Repeat purchases

It’s perfectly fine to start with just a few metrics and grow the number you are tracking over time. You also may find that some metrics simply aren’t relevant to your business and can narrow down what you’re tracking.

Dig Deeper: How to use milestones in your business plan

Organization and management team

Investors don’t just look for great ideas—they want to find great teams. Use this chapter to describe your current team and who you need to hire . You should also provide a quick overview of your location and history if you’re already up and running.

Briefly highlight the relevant experiences of each key team member in the company. It’s important to make the case for why yours is the right team to turn an idea into a reality. 

Do they have the right industry experience and background? Have members of the team had entrepreneurial successes before? 

If you still need to hire key team members, that’s OK. Just note those gaps in this section.

Your company overview should also include a summary of your company’s current business structure . The most common business structures include:

• Sole proprietor
• Partnership

Be sure to provide an overview of how the business is owned as well. Does each business partner own an equal portion of the business? How is ownership divided? 

Potential lenders and investors will want to know the structure of the business before they will consider a loan or investment.

Dig Deeper: How to write about your company structure and team

Financial plan

The last section of your business plan is your financial plan and forecasts. 

Entrepreneurs often find this section the most daunting. But, business financials for most startups are less complicated than you think, and a business degree is certainly not required to build a solid financial forecast. 

A typical financial forecast in a business plan includes the following:

• Sales forecast : An estimate of the sales expected over a given period. You’ll break down your forecast into the key revenue streams that you expect to have.
• Expense budget : Your planned spending such as personnel costs , marketing expenses, and taxes.
• Profit & Loss : Brings together your sales and expenses and helps you calculate planned profits.
• Cash Flow : Shows how cash moves into and out of your business. It can predict how much cash you’ll have on hand at any given point in the future.
• Balance Sheet : A list of the assets, liabilities, and equity in your company. In short, it provides an overview of the financial health of your business. 

A strong business plan will include a description of assumptions about the future, and potential risks that could impact the financial plan. Including those will be especially important if you’re writing a business plan to pursue a loan or other investment.

Dig Deeper: How to create financial forecasts and budgets

This is the place for additional data, charts, or other information that supports your plan.

Including an appendix can significantly enhance the credibility of your plan by showing readers that you’ve thoroughly considered the details of your business idea, and are backing your ideas up with solid data.

Just remember that the information in the appendix is meant to be supplementary. Your business plan should stand on its own, even if the reader skips this section.

Dig Deeper : What to include in your business plan appendix

Optional: Business plan cover page

Adding a business plan cover page can make your plan, and by extension your business, seem more professional in the eyes of potential investors, lenders, and partners. It serves as the introduction to your document and provides necessary contact information for stakeholders to reference.

Your cover page should be simple and include:

• Company logo
• Business name
• Value proposition (optional)
• Business plan title
• Completion and/or update date
• Address and contact information
• Confidentiality statement

Just remember, the cover page is optional. If you decide to include it, keep it very simple and only spend a short amount of time putting it together.

Dig Deeper: How to create a business plan cover page

How to use AI to help write your business plan

Generative AI tools such as ChatGPT can speed up the business plan writing process and help you think through concepts like market segmentation and competition. These tools are especially useful for taking ideas that you provide and converting them into polished text for your business plan.

The best way to use AI to write a business plan is to leverage it as a collaborator , not a replacement for human creative thinking and ingenuity. 

AI can come up with lots of ideas and act as a brainstorming partner. It’s up to you to filter through those ideas and figure out which ones are realistic enough to resonate with your customers. 

There are pros and cons of using AI to help with your business plan . So, spend some time understanding how it can be most helpful before just outsourcing the job to AI.

Learn more: 10 AI prompts you need to write a business plan

• Writing tips and strategies

To help streamline the business plan writing process, here are a few tips and key questions to answer to make sure you get the most out of your plan and avoid common mistakes .  

Determine why you are writing a business plan

Knowing why you are writing a business plan will determine your approach to your planning project. 

For example: If you are writing a business plan for yourself, or just to use inside your own business , you can probably skip the section about your team and organizational structure. 

If you’re raising money, you’ll want to spend more time explaining why you’re looking to raise the funds and exactly how you will use them.

Regardless of how you intend to use your business plan , think about why you are writing and what you’re trying to get out of the process before you begin.

Keep things concise

Probably the most important tip is to keep your business plan short and simple. There are no prizes for long business plans . The longer your plan is, the less likely people are to read it. 

So focus on trimming things down to the essentials your readers need to know. Skip the extended, wordy descriptions and instead focus on creating a plan that is easy to read —using bullets and short sentences whenever possible.

Have someone review your business plan

Writing a business plan in a vacuum is never a good idea. Sometimes it’s helpful to zoom out and check if your plan makes sense to someone else. You also want to make sure that it’s easy to read and understand.

Don’t wait until your plan is “done” to get a second look. Start sharing your plan early, and find out from readers what questions your plan leaves unanswered. This early review cycle will help you spot shortcomings in your plan and address them quickly, rather than finding out about them right before you present your plan to a lender or investor.

If you need a more detailed review, you may want to explore hiring a professional plan writer to thoroughly examine it.

Use a free business plan template and business plan examples to get started

Knowing what information to include in a business plan is sometimes not quite enough. If you’re struggling to get started or need additional guidance, it may be worth using a business plan template. 

There are plenty of great options available (we’ve rounded up our 8 favorites to streamline your search).

But, if you’re looking for a free downloadable business plan template , you can get one right now; download the template used by more than 1 million businesses. 

Or, if you just want to see what a completed business plan looks like, check out our library of over 550 free business plan examples . 

We even have a growing list of industry business planning guides with tips for what to focus on depending on your business type.

Common pitfalls and how to avoid them

It’s easy to make mistakes when you’re writing your business plan. Some entrepreneurs get sucked into the writing and research process, and don’t focus enough on actually getting their business started. 

Here are a few common mistakes and how to avoid them:

Not talking to your customers : This is one of the most common mistakes. It’s easy to assume that your product or service is something that people want. Before you invest too much in your business and too much in the planning process, make sure you talk to your prospective customers and have a good understanding of their needs.

• Overly optimistic sales and profit forecasts: By nature, entrepreneurs are optimistic about the future. But it’s good to temper that optimism a little when you’re planning, and make sure your forecasts are grounded in reality. 
• Spending too much time planning: Yes, planning is crucial. But you also need to get out and talk to customers, build prototypes of your product and figure out if there’s a market for your idea. Make sure to balance planning with building.
• Not revising the plan: Planning is useful, but nothing ever goes exactly as planned. As you learn more about what’s working and what’s not—revise your plan, your budgets, and your revenue forecast. Doing so will provide a more realistic picture of where your business is going, and what your financial needs will be moving forward.
• Not using the plan to manage your business: A good business plan is a management tool. Don’t just write it and put it on the shelf to collect dust – use it to track your progress and help you reach your goals.
• Presenting your business plan

The planning process forces you to think through every aspect of your business and answer questions that you may not have thought of. That’s the real benefit of writing a business plan – the knowledge you gain about your business that you may not have been able to discover otherwise.

With all of this knowledge, you’re well prepared to convert your business plan into a pitch presentation to present your ideas. 

A pitch presentation is a summary of your plan, just hitting the highlights and key points. It’s the best way to present your business plan to investors and team members.

Dig Deeper: Learn what key slides should be included in your pitch deck

Use your business plan to manage your business

One of the biggest benefits of planning is that it gives you a tool to manage your business better. With a revenue forecast, expense budget, and projected cash flow, you know your targets and where you are headed.

And yet, nothing ever goes exactly as planned – it’s the nature of business.

That’s where using your plan as a management tool comes in. The key to leveraging it for your business is to review it periodically and compare your forecasts and projections to your actual results.

Start by setting up a regular time to review the plan – a monthly review is a good starting point. During this review, answer questions like:

• Did you meet your sales goals?
• Is spending following your budget?
• Has anything gone differently than what you expected?

Now that you see whether you’re meeting your goals or are off track, you can make adjustments and set new targets. 

Maybe you’re exceeding your sales goals and should set new, more aggressive goals. In that case, maybe you should also explore more spending or hiring more employees. 

Or maybe expenses are rising faster than you projected. If that’s the case, you would need to look at where you can cut costs.

A plan, and a method for comparing your plan to your actual results , is the tool you need to steer your business toward success.

Learn More: How to run a regular plan review

How to write a business plan FAQ

What is a business plan?

A document that describes your business , the products and services you sell, and the customers that you sell to. It explains your business strategy, how you’re going to build and grow your business, what your marketing strategy is, and who your competitors are.

What are the benefits of writing a business plan?

A business plan helps you understand where you want to go with your business and what it will take to get there. It reduces your overall risk, helps you uncover your business’s potential, attracts investors, and identifies areas for growth.

Writing a business plan ultimately makes you more confident as a business owner and more likely to succeed for a longer period of time.

What are the 7 steps of writing a business plan?

The seven steps to writing a business plan include:

• Write a brief executive summary
• Describe your products and services.
• Conduct market research and compile data into a cohesive market analysis.
• Describe your marketing and sales strategy.
• Outline your organizational structure and management team.
• Develop financial projections for sales, revenue, and cash flow.
• Add any additional documents to your appendix.

What are the 5 most common business plan mistakes?

There are plenty of mistakes that can be made when writing a business plan. However, these are the 5 most common that you should do your best to avoid:

• 1. Not taking the planning process seriously.
• Having unrealistic financial projections or incomplete financial information.
• Inconsistent information or simple mistakes.
• Failing to establish a sound business model.
• Not having a defined purpose for your business plan.

What questions should be answered in a business plan?

Writing a business plan is all about asking yourself questions about your business and being able to answer them through the planning process. You’ll likely be asking dozens and dozens of questions for each section of your plan.

However, these are the key questions you should ask and answer with your business plan:

• How will your business make money?
• Is there a need for your product or service?
• Who are your customers?
• How are you different from the competition?
• How will you reach your customers?
• How will you measure success?

How long should a business plan be?

The length of your business plan fully depends on what you intend to do with it. From the SBA and traditional lender point of view, a business plan needs to be whatever length necessary to fully explain your business. This means that you prove the viability of your business, show that you understand the market, and have a detailed strategy in place.

If you intend to use your business plan for internal management purposes, you don’t necessarily need a full 25-50 page business plan. Instead, you can start with a one-page plan to get all of the necessary information in place.

What are the different types of business plans?

While all business plans cover similar categories, the style and function fully depend on how you intend to use your plan. Here are a few common business plan types worth considering.

Traditional business plan: The tried-and-true traditional business plan is a formal document meant to be used when applying for funding or pitching to investors. This type of business plan follows the outline above and can be anywhere from 10-50 pages depending on the amount of detail included, the complexity of your business, and what you include in your appendix.

Business model canvas: The business model canvas is a one-page template designed to demystify the business planning process. It removes the need for a traditional, copy-heavy business plan, in favor of a single-page outline that can help you and outside parties better explore your business idea.

One-page business plan: This format is a simplified version of the traditional plan that focuses on the core aspects of your business. You’ll typically stick with bullet points and single sentences. It’s most useful for those exploring ideas, needing to validate their business model, or who need an internal plan to help them run and manage their business.

Lean Plan: The Lean Plan is less of a specific document type and more of a methodology. It takes the simplicity and styling of the one-page business plan and turns it into a process for you to continuously plan, test, review, refine, and take action based on performance. It’s faster, keeps your plan concise, and ensures that your plan is always up-to-date.

What’s the difference between a business plan and a strategic plan?

A business plan covers the “who” and “what” of your business. It explains what your business is doing right now and how it functions. The strategic plan explores long-term goals and explains “how” the business will get there. It encourages you to look more intently toward the future and how you will achieve your vision.

However, when approached correctly, your business plan can actually function as a strategic plan as well. If kept lean, you can define your business, outline strategic steps, and track ongoing operations all with a single plan.

Noah is the COO at Palo Alto Software, makers of the online business plan app LivePlan. He started his career at Yahoo! and then helped start the user review site Epinions.com. From there he started a software distribution business in the UK before coming to Palo Alto Software to run the marketing and product teams.

Table of Contents

• Use AI to help write your plan
• Common planning mistakes
• Manage with your business plan

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Business Plan

• Last Updated: December 21, 2021

A well thought out and researched business plan is the cornerstone to starting and running a business. Sound business plans can help you obtain financing, identify key milestones, and provide benchmarks to monitor progress toward your goals.

Be sure to check out the free or low-cost training opportunities, plus free professional business advising, from your local Small Business Development Center !

Get Your Free Business Plan from our collection of over 800 business plans listed below!

Updated January 10 th , 2022

How to Write a Business Plan

The following are the nine sections of a traditional business plan identified by the SBA :

• Executive summary
• Company description
• Market analysis
• Organization and management
• Service or product line
• Marketing and sales
• Funding request
• Financial projections

The following are resources to help you develop your own business plan:

• How to Write a Business Plan – from the SBA Learning Center , this free course explains the importance of business planning, defines and describes the components of a business plan to help you develop your own.
• Business plan template – review of two formats and their content from SBA.
• Build Your Business Plan – this SBA tool provides you with a step-by-step guide to help you get started.
• Developing a Successful Business Plan – In this webinar business planning expert Tim Berry helps entrepreneurs and small businesses better understand how to create a business plan
• Business Plan Outline – An in-depth look at how to create an individualized business plan with tools to make it easy.
• How to Write a Business Plan – A step by step guide to writing a successful business plan.
• Shopify – This comprehensive guide walks you through the nuts and bolts of writing your very own business plan.
• How to Write a Business Plan in 8 Simple Steps – A step by step guide with in-depth information on writing each section of a business plan.
• How to Write a Business Plan for Funding – A how-to guide on what is needed for a business plan to present to would-be investors and lenders.
• Business Plan Checklist – Keep yourself on track while writing your business plan.

Where to Find a Business Plan

• Score – Business planning, finance, sales, marketing, and management templates & guides.
• Bplans – Bplans.com contains the largest single collection of free sample business plans online as well as helpful tools and know-how for managing your business.
• Business Plan Handbook – Reference for Business/Advameg contains the first 11 volumes of the Business Plan Handbook series, a compilation of business plans for small businesses.
• The Finance Resource – Free online business plan samples
• More Business – Free online sample business plans for various industries.
• Klariti – Online templates, checklists, forms, and tutorials for entrepreneurs.

Business Plan Templates – an Alphabetized List

The following is a collection of sample business plans. Many of the business plan samples are provided by Palo Alto Software, the Makers of Business Plan Pro . Individuals working with their local SBDC , may receive a discount code for business plan software from participating SBDCs. You may use your promo code to set up your own LivePlan account using the SBDC discount .

• 3D Printing Service
• Accounting and Bookkeeping
• Accounting (Automated)
• Accounting Firm
• Acupuncture Clinic
• Advertising Agency
• Advertising Consulting
• Affiliate Marketing Website
• Agricultural Consultants
• Agriculture Farm
• Agriculture Fruit Farm
• Aircraft Equipment Maker
• Aircraft Rental Instruction
• Air Ground Supplier
• Airline Business
• Airline Charter Company
• Airport Shuttle
• Airport Taxi
• Alpaca Farm
• Ambulance Service
• Amusement Park
• Animal Day Care
• Antique Store
• Apartment Complex
• Apartment Rental Website
• Apparel Designer
• Aquarium Services
• Architectural Engineering
• Architecture Firm
• Army Navy Store
• Art Film Theater
• Art Gallery
• Artificial Flowers Import
• Art Packaging Installation
• Art Sales Custom Framing
• Art School Gallery
• Art School Museum
• Art Supply Store and Gallery
• ASP B2B Technology
• Assisted Living Facility
• Astrology Tarot Card
• Athletic Shoe Store Franchise
• ATM Company
• Attorney Employment Agency
• Au Pair Agency
• Auction House
• Auditing and Consulting
• Auto Inspection Company
• Auto Inspectors
• Auto Finance Company
• Auto Parts Store
• Auto Repair Service
• Automobile Parts (Export)
• Automobile Restoration
• Automotive Dealer
• Automotive Repair Shop
• Baby Boutique
• Bail Bonding Company
• Banquet Hall
• Bar and Tavern
• Barber Shop
• Bartending School
• Baseball Batting Cages
• Basketball Camp
• Batting Cages
• Beauty Salon
• Bed and Breakfast
• Bed and Breakfast – Caribbean
• Bed and Breakfast Inn
• Benefits Administration
• Beverage Distributor
• Beverage Machine Rental
• Beverage Manufacturer
• Bicycle Art
• Bicycle Shop (Retail)
• Biodiesel Plant
• Boarding School
• Boat and Yacht Dealer
• Boat Storage Facility
• Booking Agency
• Bookkeeping Practice
• Bowling Alley
• Bowling Entertainment Center
• Bridal Gown Shop
• Bridal Shop
• Business Analysis Publishing
• Business Brokerage
• Business Development
• Business Support Insurance
• Business Valuation Expert
• Butcher Shop
• Cabinet Contractor
• Cable TV Installer
• Cafe Bistro Coffeehouse
• Call Center
• Candle Making
• Candy Store
• Car Audio Store
• Car Parts Store
• Car Rental Agency
• Car Wash (Self-service)
• Career Counselor
• Carpentry Contractor
• Carpet Cleaner
• Cash Flow Note Buyer
• Cash for Gold Store
• Catering and Ballroom Rental
• Catering Company
• Cell Phone Store
• Cell Phones Retailer
• Charter School
• Check Cashing Store
• Cheese Shop
• Chemical Laboratory
• Chicken Farm
• Child Day Care Services
• Children’s Center
• Children’s Play Program
• Children’s Website
• Chinese Restaurant
• Chiropractic Business
• Chiropractic Practice
• Christmas Store
• Cigar Manufacturing
• Classified Ads Website
• Cleaning Services
• Clothing E-commerce Site
• Clothing Manufacturer
• Clothing Retail
• Clothing Store
• Cloud Computing Service
• Coffee Distribution
• Coffee Export
• Coffee Kiosk
• Coffee Roaster
• Coffeehouse
• Comic Book Store
• Commercial Bank
• Commercial Catalog Sales
• Commercial Contractor
• Commercial Diving Service
• Commodities Trading Firm
• Computer Consulting
• Computer Hardware Reseller
• Computer Laser Accessories
• Computer Repair
• Computer Repair Service
• Computer Software
• Computer Software Retailer
• Computer Support
• Computers Reseller
• Concert Promoter
• Concierge Service
• Construction
• Construction Carpenter
• Construction Inspection
• Construction Irrigation
• Construction Manufacturer
• Construction Repair
• Consulting Firm
• Consulting Seminars
• Convenience Store
• Convenience Store Cafe
• Convenience Store Gas Station
• Convenience Store Soda Fountain
• Corporate Trainer
• Cosmetic Herbal Sundries
• Cosmetics Retailer
• Cosmetology (Beauty) School
• Countertop Installation Service
• Country Club
• Courier Service
• Court Reporting Service
• Credit Monitoring Service
• Credit Repair Service
• Crowdfunding Website
• Cruise Ship
• Cultural Consulting Firm
• Cupcake Store
• Currency Exchanger
• Custom Pottery
• Custom Printed T-Shirts
• Dance Studio
• Data Recovery
• Data Recovery Service
• Database Software
• Day Care Center
• Debt Collection Agency
• Debt Consolidation Service
• Decorative Pottery
• Defense Contractor
• Deli Restaurant
• Delicatessen and Bakery
• Demolition Company
• Dental Clinic
• Dental Laboratories
• Dental Laboratory
• Dental Office
• Department Store
• Dessert Bakery
• Diabetic Supply Company
• Diamond Retailer
• Diamond Wholesaler
• Diaper Manufacturer
• Dinner Theater
• Dinner Train
• Direct Mail Service
• Display Case Marketing
• Document Shredding
• Dog and Cat Kennel
• Dog Groomer and Kennel
• Dog Obedience School
• Dollar Store
• Drapery Fabricator
• Driving School
• Drug Rehab Center
• Dry Cleaner
• Dry Cleaning Home Delivery
• Drywall Installer
• E-commerce Fabric Store
• E-commerce Fire Rescue Equipment
• E-commerce Start-up
• E-Commerce Website
• Educational Software K-12
• Electrical Contractor
• Electronic Engineering
• Electronic Filing Storage
• Electronics Repair Shop
• Electronics Retailer
• Embroidery Shop
• Emergency Shelters
• Energy Conservation
• Engineering Business
• Engineering Consulting
• Engineering Firm
• Environmental Car Dealership
• Environmental Laboratory
• Equipment Leasing Broker
• Equipment Rental Sales
• Escort Agency
• Escrow Service
• Ethnic Food Import
• Ethnic Food Restaurant
• Event Planner
• Exec Employment Agency
• Export Watch Manufacturer
• Exterminator Service
• Eye Surgery Equipment Maker 
• Family Medicine Clinic
• Farmer’s Market
• Fashion Consultant
• Fast Food Restaurant
• Film Production Company
• Financial Planner
• Financial Planning
• Financial Website
• Fine Dining Restaurant
• Fireworks Store
• Fish and Tackle Shop
• Fish Breeder
• Fishing Equipment
• Fishing Supplies and Fly Shop
• Fitness Center and Gym
• Flea Market
• Flight School
• Flower Shop
• Food Preparation
• Foreclosure Advisory
• Formwork Construction
• Franchise System
• Franchised Restaurant
• Frozen Custard Shop
• Freight Brokerage
• Fundraising Company
• Funeral Home
• Furniture Manufacturer
• Furniture Store
• Garden Products Recycling
• Gas Station
• Genealogy Service
• General Contractor
• General Freight Trucking
• Gift Basket
• Gift Basket Company
• Gift Card Distributor
• Global Event Planning
• Global Marketing
• Go Kart Track
• Gold Trading Company
• Golf Course
• Golf Driving Range
• Golf Pro Shop
• Gourmet Coffee Shop
• Gourmet Food Store
• Grant Search Company
• Graphic Design
• Graphic Design Company
• Gravel Rock Products
• Green Energy Products
• Greeting Card Maker
• Grocery Store
• Gun Shooting Range
• Gymnastics Center
• Hair and Nail Salon
• Hair Replacement and Salon
• Halloween Shop
• Handyman Maintenance
• Hardware Retail Franchise
• Hardware Store
• Hardwood Floor Refinisher
• Haunted House
• Health Club
• Health Plan Administration
• Healthy Restaurant
• Hearing Testing Systems
• Heavy Equipment Maker
• Heavy Equipment Rental
• High-Tech Marketing
• Holding Company
• Home Health Care
• Home Healthcare Agency
• Home Inspection Service
• Home Oxygen Delivery
• Home Real Estate Inspection
• Horse Boarding Real Estate
• Horse Reseller
• Horse Training
• Hotel and Resort
• Houseboat Rental
• Human Resources Consulting
• Hunting Supply Store
• HVAC Contractor
• Hydroponics Farm
• I.D. Verification Technology
• Ice Cream Shop
• Ice Skating Rink
• Import Export Company
• Independent Video Store
• Indoor Soccer Facility
• Infomercial Company 
• Information Technology
• Infusion Therapy Pharmacy
• Inline Skating Products
• Insurance Agency
• Insurance Industry Support Services 
• Insurance Premium Finance
• Integrated Communications
• Interior Decorator
• Interior Design
• Interiors Contractor 
• International IT Consulting
• International Travel Agency
• Internet ASP
• Internet Cafe
• Internet Court Documents
• Internet Marketing Firm
• Internet Media Advertising
• Internet Service Provider
• Inventory Control Software
• Investing Club
• Investment Bank
• Investment Website
• Irish Pub Bar
• IT Consulting Firm
• Italian Renaissance Theme Restaurant
• Italian Restaurant
• Janitorial Service
• Janitorial Services
• Jet Ski Rental 
• Jewelry Store
• Juice and Smoothie Bar 
• Karaoke Bar
• Karaoke Bar & Bowling Alley
• Landscape Contractor
• Laser Tag Facility
• Laser Tag Gaming Center
• Laundry Mat
• Law Practice
• Lawn and Garden Services
• Lead Generation Website
• Lift Bed Manufacturer
• Limousine Service
• Limousine Taxi
• Lingerie Shop
• Lingerie Store
• Liquor Store
• Loan Brokerage
• Machine and Lathe Shop
• Machine Tooling
• Magazine Publisher
• Maid and Cleaning Service
• Mail Order Returns
• Marketing Strategy
• Martial Arts School
• Masonry Contractor
• Massage Products
• Massage Therapist
• Maternity Clothing
• Maternity Clothing Store
• Mattress Store
• Medical Billing
• Medical Billing Company
• Medical Equipment
• Medical Equipment Developer
• Medical Internet Marketing
• Medical Laboratory
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• Medical Practice
• Medical Scanning Lab
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• Medicine Dispenser
• Mediterranean Restaurant
• Membership Social Events
• Men’s Salon
• Mexican Restaurant
• Microbrewery
• Midwife Service
• Miniature Golf Course
• Mining Software
• MLM Cleaning Products
• MLM Water Filter
• Mobile Car Detailing
• Mobile Home Manufacturer
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• Mortgage Broker
• Mortgage Brokerage
• Motel – Hunting Lodge
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• Movie Theater
• Multi-Sport Complex
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• Musical Instrument Store
• Mutual Fund
• Nightclub Saloon
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• Nonprofit Business Plans
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• Online Auction Website
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• Outdoor Gear Designer
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• Pack and Ship Store
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• Pain Management Clinic
• Paintball Facility
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• Painting Contractor
• Painting Contractors
• Pallet Manufacturer
• Paralegal Firm
• Parenting Center
• Parking Garage
• Party Equipment Rental
• Pasta Italian Restaurant
• Pasta Manufacturer
• Patent Agent
• Paternity Testing Clinic
• Patient Advocacy Service
• Payday Lender
• Payroll Service Company
• Performance Auto Shop
• Personal Event Planning
• Personal Shopper
• Personal Shopping Services
• Personnel Management
• Pet Photography
• Pet Products Manufacturer
• Pet Supplies
• Pharma Sales Company
• Photo Booth Company
• Photography Studio
• Physical Fitness Gym
• Physical Therapy Massage
• Physical Therapy Practice
• Pie Restaurant
• Pilates Studio
• Pizza Delivery
• Pizza Restaurant
• Pizzeria Franchise
• Plant Nursery
• Plastics Recycling
• Plumbing Contractor
• Podiatry Practice
• Polygraph Service
• Pool Cleaning Service
• Pool Table Store
• Portrait Photographer
• Pottery Store
• Poultry (Chicken) Farm
• Powder Coating Service
• Power Plant
• Power Washing Service
• Print Brokerage
• Print Services Broker
• Private Equity Firm
• Private Investigator
• Private Placement Broker
• Process Serving Service
• Promotional Products Maker
• Property Appraiser
• Property Management Firm
• Psychology Practice
• Public Relations
• Public Relations Firm
• Quick Lube Oil Change
• Quilt Artist (Custom)
• Radio Station
• Radiology Center
• Real Estate Brokerage
• Real Estate Developer
• Real Estate Property Management
• Real Estate Website
• Record Label
• Recording Studio
• Recreation Center
• Recycling Center
• Recycling Waste Materials
• Regional Airline
• Reiki Practitioner
• Religious Coffeeshop
• Rent to Own Store
• Rental Remodeling
• Repo Company
• Residential Remodeling
• Resort Hotel Ski Lodge
• Restaurant Business Plan List (Several Types)
• Retail Property Sub-leasing
• Retail Tennis Shop
• Rock Climbing Gym
• Roller Skating Rink
• Roofing Contractor
• Salsa Manufacturer
• Salvage Company
• Sandwich Shop
• Sandwich Shop (franchise)
• Satellite Communications
• Scholarship Consulting
• School Bus Operator
• School Fundraising
• Scrapbooking Store
• Scrapbooking Supply Store
• Scuba Supply Store
• Security Guard Service
• Security System Company
• Self-Storage
• Self Storage Facility
• Seminars Company
• SEO Company
• Septic Tank Contractor
• Shared Office Building
• Shaved Ice Beverage
• Sheet Metal Fabricator
• Shipment Monitoring
• Sightseeing Bus Tours
• Singles Bar
• Skate Park Skiing
• Skateboard Shop
• Skydiving Service
• Slaughter House
• Small Engine Repair
• Snow Plow Service
• Soap Manufacturer
• Soccer Club
• Social Networking Website
• Soft Pretzel Shop
• Software Developer
• Software Publisher
• Software Testing
• Solar Energy Farm
• Solar Panel Installation
• Solar Water Heater Distributor
• Soup Kitchen
• Soybean Farm
• Specialty Baker
• Speech Therapist
• Sporting Goods Store
• Sports Agency
• Sports Equipment Cafe
• Sports Medical Equipment
• Sports Memorabilia
• Sports Memorabilia Store
• Sprinkler Installation
• Staffing Agency
• Stained Glass Gallery
• Stationery Store
• Steak Buffet Restaurant
• Structured Settlement
• Summer Camp
• Surf Clothing and Sportswear
• Surgery Practice
• Surgical Medical Equipment
• Surveyor Instrument
• Sushi Restaurant
• Talent Agency
• Tanning Salon
• Tapas Restaurant
• Tattoo Parlor
• Tattoo Removal Service
• Tattoo Shop
• Tax Preparation Company
• Taxi Business
• Taxi Cab Service
• Taxidermy Service
• Teachers’ Employment Agency
• Telemarketing Company
• Telemarketing Consultants
• Test Preparation
• Theatre Production
• Theatrical Music Producer
• Thrift Shop
• Tires and Rims Shop
• Title Insurance Company
• Title Loan Company
• Tobacco Retail Business
• Tourism Website Services
• Tracking Device Maker
• Trade Association
• Travel Agency
• Travel Agency – Upscale
• Tree Removal Service
• Trophy Store
• Trucking Company
• T-Shirt Company
• Tutoring Service
• Tuxedo Rental Service
• Uniform Supply Company
• Used Book Store
• Used Car Dealer
• Used Sports Equipment Store
• Vacuum Cleaner Store
• Vending Machine Company
• Vending Services
• Venture Capital Firm
• Veterinary Clinic
• Video Documentation Service
• Video Game Store
• Video Gaming Center
• Video Production Company
• Video Television Production
• Vinyl Record Store
• Virtual Secretary
• Vitamin Shop
• Voice Recognition Software
• VoIP Company
• Waste Management
• Water Purification
• Web Development Firm
• Web Hosting Company
• Wedding Consultant
• Wedding Planner
• Weight Loss Center
• Weight Loss Seminars
• Welding Service and Supply
• Wholesale Bicycle Distributor
• Wholesale Juice
• Wi-Fi Kiosk
• WiFi Kiosks
• Window Cleaning Service
• Windshield Repair Service
• Wine Distributor
• Wireless DataComm
• Women’s Clothing Boutique
• Women’s Shoe Store
• Wood Pellet Manufacturer
• Word Processing Service
• Workout Gym
• Wrestling Entertainment
• Yacht Charter Service
• Yoga Center
• Yoga Studio

Additional Small Business Resources

Already in business or thinking about starting your own small business? Check out our various small business resources:

• View more small business help topics here: Small Business Information Center
• View business reports here: Small Business Snapshots
• View industry-specific research here: Market Research Links

Remember, you can also receive free professional business advice and free or low-cost business training from your  local Small Business Development Center !

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SBA Action Center

• Write Your Business Plan

Having a business plan will never guarantee success but it can be a critical step is laying the foundation of a successful business. There are several companies that have started with an idea on a napkin. We'll guess what? That's a business plan. Your plan doesn't have to be a 120-page binded document with analysis and forecasts for the next 50 years. But a well thought out plan, even if it's on a napkin, will bring your vision to life and help you see your next tasks at hand.

A clear and compelling business plan provides you with a guide for building a business focused on achieving your personal and financial goals. It can also be essential if you are looking for others, including banks, to invest in what you are creating.

Here's an overview of the sections a "bankable" business plan should contain:

Business Plan Overview

• Executive Summary

Company Overview

Products and Services

• Market Analysis
• Marketing and Sales Plan
• Management Team
• Financial Plan

Key components of a great executive summary

Brief business overview At the top of the page, include a brief overview of your business that sums up the nature of what you are doing. This is your first opportunity to grab a potential investor's interest so be sure to clearly explain how your company is different from any other competitors on the market.

Problem Describe the problem that currently exists in the market that you will be solving. Every business is providing a solution to a problem for its customers and filling a need in the marketplace.

Solution This is your product or service. Explain how you are addressing the problem you have identified in the market.

Target market Identify your potential customers and how large that opportunity may be. It's important to be specific. If you're a glove company, you aren't targeting "everyone" just because everyone has hands. You're most likely targeting a specific market segment such as "fashionable men" or "mechanics."

Competition Explain how your target market is solving their problem today. Are there alternatives or inferior products in the market? Every business has some form of competition and it's important to mention this in your executive summary.

Ownership & Management Provide a brief overview of your team and a short explanation of why you're the right people to take your idea to market. Investors place an enormous amount of weight on the team, even more than on the idea, because even a great idea still needs execution to become a reality.

Financial summary Highlight the key aspects of your financial plan. It's a good idea to include charts or graphs that show your projected sales, expenses, and profitability. Having a good financial summary proves that you've done your homework and shows lenders less risk.

Funding requirements If you are raising money, you need to include the details of what you need and why you need it in this section. There's no need to include terms of a potential investment since that will always be negotiated later. Instead, just include a short statement indicating how much money you need to borrow or raise to get your business off the ground.

Milestones The last key component 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 achieve. 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.

If you are writing an internal business plan that's purely a strategic guide for your company, you can greatly reduce the scope of the executive summary. In that case, 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.

This section should include your mission statement, a review of your company legal structure and ownership, a brief history of the company if it's an existing company, and a summary of the business location.

Mission statement Don't fall into the trap of spending too much time on your mission statement. You'll end up with a long, generic statement about how your company is serving its customers, employees, etc. Your company mission should be short-one or two sentences at most-and it should encompass, at a very high level, what you are trying to do. Frankly, your mission statement and your overall value proposition might even be the same thing.

Here at Small Business Association, our mission statement is "to help people learn about what it takes to start a business and provide a guided action plan for making it a reality." It's simple and encompasses everything we do from our online education to our popular SBA Guide.

Legal structure and ownership Your company overview should also include a summary of your company's current legal structure. Are you an LLC? A C-corp? An S-corp? A sole proprietor? In a partnership? Be sure to provide a review of how the business is owned as well. Does each business partner own an equal portion of the business? How is ownership divided? Potential investors will want to know the structure of the business before they will consider an investment.

Company history If you are writing a business plan for an existing company, it's appropriate to include a brief history of the company and highlight major historical achievements. Again, keep this section short-no more than a few paragraphs at most.

This section is especially useful to give context to the rest of your plan, and can also be very useful for internal plans. The company history section can provide new employees with background on the company so that they have better context for the work that they are doing and where the company has come from over the years.

Location Finally, the company overview section of your business plan should describe your current location and any facilities that the company owns. For businesses that serve consumers from a storefront, this information is critical. Also, for businesses that require large facilities for manufacturing, warehousing, etc., this information is an important part of your plan.

The Products and Services section of your business plan is where the real meat of your plan lives. This is where you will describe in detail the problem that you're solving, your solution, and how your product or service fits into the existing competitive landscape. You'll also use this section of your business plan to demonstrate what sets your solution apart from others, and how you plan to expand your offerings in the future.

You will have already summarized much of what's in this chapter in your executive summary, but this chapter is still hugely important because it is where you expand on your initial overview, providing more details and answering additional questions that you didn't cover in the executive summary.

The problem and solution Start this chapter by describing the problem that you are solving for your customers. What is the primary pain point for them? How are they solving their problems today? Maybe the existing solutions to your customer's problem are very expensive, or perhaps they are cumbersome. For a business with a physical location, perhaps there aren't any existing solutions within reasonable driving distance.

"If you can't pinpoint a problem that your potential customers have, then you might not have a viable business concept."

Defining the problem you are solving for your customers is far and away the most critical element of your business plan and crucial for your business success. If you can't pinpoint a problem that your potential customers have, then you might not have a viable business concept.

To ensure that you are solving a real problem for your potential customers, a great step in the business planning process is to get away from your computer and actually go out and talk to potential customers. Validate that they have the problem you assume they have, and then take the next step and pitch your potential solution to their problem. Is your solution a good fit for them?

Once you have described the problem that your target market has, the next section of your business plan should describe your solution. Your solution is the product or service that you plan on offering to your customers. In this section, you should describe your solution in detail. What is it and how is it offered? How does your solution solve the problem that your customers have?

For some products and services, you might want to describe use cases. These use cases describe how a customer will interact with your solution and how your solution makes the customer's life better.

Competition Immediately following your problem and solution description, you should describe your competition. Who else is providing solutions to try and solve your customers' pain points? What are your competitive advantages over the competition?

Most business plans use a "competitor matrix" to list out competitors and then show how they compare to your business's solution. You can build a simple competitor matrix by listing your competitors down the left side of a grid and then adding columns for each feature. Then use checkmarks to indicate if competitors have a particular feature or not.

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. Investors will want to know what advantages you have over the competition and how you plan on differentiating yourself.

One of the biggest mistakes entrepreneurs make in their business plans is stating that they don't have any competition. The simple fact is that all businesses have competition. Competitors may not always come in the form of "direct competition", which is when you have a competitor offering a similar solution to your offering. Often times, you may be dealing with "indirect competition", which is when consumers solve their problem with an entirely different kind of solution. For example, when Henry Ford was first marketing his cars, there was very little direct competition from other car manufacturers. Instead, Ford was competing with other forms of transportation, including horses, bikes, trains, and walking. On the surface, none of these things look like real competition, but these alternative solutions where what people would use to solve their transportation problems at the time.

If you are looking to write a business plan worthy of bank financing, we'll help you focus on the essentials of each section. This is where quality is critical and the goal is to communicate your vision with solid support in as few words as possible. The "Write Your Business Plan" section of the SBA Guide can pay dividends if you're looking to secure bank financing, attract qualified business partners, or just conduct proper due diligence before going all in.

The SBA Guide includes all sections of the Business Plan Overview and will help you every step of the way. Request your complimentary copy now.

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› Blog › SBA Business Plan: The Essential Guide

SBA Business Plan: The Essential Guide

The US Small Business Administration (SBA) administers the SBA loan program , considered the gold standard of small business financing. One of the key elements when applying for an SBA business loan is providing a comprehensive business plan .

Both the SBA and lenders must ensure your business is viable when approving loan requests. A detailed plan showcases why your business is viable and how it will use loan proceeds to grow and develop.

In this guide, we’ll help you understand how to create an SBA business plan. Specifically, we’ll answer these questions and more:

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We will help you grow your small business., what is an sba business plan.

A business plan is a document that outlines a company’s concept, structure, strategy, goals, target market, and financial projections. It defines the mission statement and business model for prospective investors, financiers, and buyers to understand the company’s value.

An SBA business plan refers to a plan required for SBA loan approval. The SBA provides guidance on the specific formatting for SBA business plans, which generally follow best practices.

There are three types of plans:

• Startup : The plan for a new company about to launch or that just launched.
• Operational: Usually, a year-over-year plan for established businesses that outlines a company’s goals and growth projections.
• Scenario-based: An agile plan for companies in rapidly changing industries that may need to pivot their focus as they scale up.

Why are SBA Business Plans important?

Not every SBA loan request requires a plan, but many do – especially when asking for higher borrowing amounts. Even if your specific loan request doesn’t need it, including one can still help your approval odds.

Startups and newer businesses often need a plan because they don’t have financial data. A well-thought-out plan can show projected financial performance and cash flow .

Established businesses often have a plan from when they launched, augmented with an operational plan. An operational plan can help bolster an established company’s SBA loan application.

Think of it like your financial statements show where your company has been and how it got there, while your operational plan shows how it will build on that history for a successful future. The two sources can create a powerful narrative as to why your company should be entrusted with a business loan .

Defining a business plan can help you identify and prioritize the company’s essential financial needs. In doing so, you can also identify the SBA business loan package that will best help you meet those needs.

How do I craft an SBA Business Plan?

There are several important categories to include when writing a plan for an SBA loan. The following aspects are primarily based on a startup plan, but you can also apply them to an operational or scenario-based plan. Some small businesses use business plan software.

Executive Summary

The executive summary provides a high-level overview of your company. This introductory section should include what your company is and why it will be successful. You should include your main competitive advantage, USP, and the mission or vision statement.

The summary should also preview the upcoming sections by presenting the key information. You should briefly summarize your leadership team, sales and marketing goals, and financial projections.

Company Description

In this section, you’ll drill down into what makes your company unique. You’ll want to expand your competitive advantages and the “secret sauce” to your success. Advantages could include having an expert on the leadership team, being in an ideal location, or bringing patented technology or IP to market.

The description should include what problems your company seeks to solve. List any target segments your company intends to serve, such as consumer segments, other businesses, or organizations.

Market Analysis

In this section, you’ll use market and competitor research to demonstrate your knowledge of the industry and your target segment. It would be best if you expanded on how your competitors operate and what they do successfully. You’ll then showcase how you can improve or do things differently to compete in the market.

Organization and Management

The organization and management section describes your company’s legal and organizational structure. You’ll identify if the company will incorporate as a general or limited partnership, LLC, S-Corp, or C-Corp . You should also identify the owners.

You’ll include the organizational chart in this section as well. The org chart lays out who’s in charge of the company, typically with an executive leadership team and possibly a management team. Consider including the resumé or CV for each member of your leadership team.

Service or Product Line

You’ll use this section to identify what products or services you intend to sell. You should identify the market need for the products/services and how they will benefit your customers.

The products or services described should include any plans for IP copyrights or filing patents . Include any research and development plans as well.

Marketing and Sales

Your marketing and sales plans should outline your strategy to attract and retain customers and how you will process sales. There are many marketing and sales strategies across various industries, and your plan might evolve as your company grows .

Marketing plans should include your branding strategy, your marketing channels (print, TV, social media , banner ads, SEO, etc.), and your target customers. Your sales strategy should include how you intend to collect and process payment.

For example, will you invoice customers or sell on credit? What point-of-sale system and payment methods will you accept if opening a store or physical location? If you’re selling online, how will your eCommerce platform operate?

Funding Request

You’ll only include this section if you are requesting funding for your business operation. The request should identify how much you need, how long the funds will last, and how you’ll use the money.

One of the critical decisions is if you’re looking for equity financing or a business loan. In equity financing, you sell a portion of your company’s ownership for funding. In addition to selling shares in your company, equity financing might include a seat or seats on your board of directors.

With a business loan, on the other hand, you don’t give up any ownership in the company, but you do incur debt . The funding request is most likely for a business loan if you’re preparing the plan for the SBA. In loan requests, you should also identify your requested terms.

Financial Projections

This section aims to show that your company is viable and stable. The goal is to convince the reader that your company is or will be a success.

Established businesses should include income statements, balance sheets, and cash flow statements for the previous three to five years. List any collateral you could offer for a business loan .

Startups and established businesses should provide a prospective financial outlook for the next five years. New businesses should include quarterly projections for their first year in business. Future financial plans include projected income statements, cash flow statements , and balance sheets.

The appendix includes any additional relevant information. You can use this section to list any requested information as well.

Examples of supporting documents:

• Credit histories.
• Resumes or CVs.
• Product pictures.
• Reference letters.
• Business licenses and permits .
• Patents, contracts, or other legal documents.

How to apply for an SBA Loan:

United Capital Source can help you apply to an SBA-approved lender following these steps.

Step 1: Ensure You Qualify

You’ll need a credit score between 650-700 and a healthy, consistent cash flow. How you intend to use the money plays a significant role as well.

Step 2: Gather Your Documents

Be prepared to provide:

• Driver’s License.
• Business license or certificate.
• Voided Business Check.
• Bank Statements.
• Credit Reports.
• Business Tax Returns.
• Credit Card Processing Statements.
• 3 Years of personal and business tax returns
• Personal Financial Statement.
• List of Real Estate Owned.
• Debt Schedule/Loan/Rent/Lease Documentation
• Deeds/Title/Ownership documentation for any collateral/Security
• Current Profit & Loss Statements and Balance Sheet Year-to-Date
• A/R and A/P Reports
• Business Plan .
• United Capital Source 1 Page Application

Step 3: Fill Out the Application

You can begin the application process by calling us or filling out our one-page online application. Either way, you’ll be asked to enter the information from the previous section along with your desired funding amount.

Step 4: Speak to a Representative

Once you apply, a representative will reach out to you to explain the repayment structure, rates, and terms of your available options. This way, you won’t have to worry about any surprises or hidden fees during repayment.

Step 5: Receive Approval

SBA Loans through our network generally take 3-5 weeks to process. Once approved and your file is closed, funds should appear in your bank account in a few business days.

Frequently Asked Questions

Here are the most common questions about writing a business plan for an SBA loan request.

Does the SBA require a Business Plan?

The answer to this question comes down to the specific loan you’re requesting and the SBA lender you’re working with. Sometimes, the SBA might require a plan, and sometimes the lender might need it. It can help bolster your loan application even when it is not required.

Does the SBA help write a Business Plan?

The SBA provides some resources and tools to help you write a plan. Visit the SBA website for resources like the SBA business plan template.

If you need additional help, small business development centers are available to help you write a plan.

What is a Lean Business Plan?

A lean business plan is a shortened and streamlined version of a standard plan. It does not go as in-depth and only provides key elements of the plan. Lean business plan sections include:

• Key partnerships.
• Key activities.
• Key resources.
• Value proposition.
• Customer relationships.
• Customer segments.
• Cost structure.
• Revenue streams.

Should I write a Traditional or Lean Business Plan?

If you’re applying for a loan , you should include a traditional business plan. The SBA and SBA lenders prefer companies with an in-depth plan for success.

Lean business plans are usually for startups, whereas traditional business plans are for any company. You might only need a lean plan if you’re applying for an SBA microloan , specifically for startups.

Traditional Business Plan Pros & Cons

• In-depth analysis of the company & projected success.
• Sets specific goals and milestones to measure success.
• Keeps leadership, operational, marketing & sales teams aligned.
• It’s the standard plan requested for business loan applications.
• More time-consuming & challenging to write.
• Might be difficult to accurately project financials.

Lean Business Plan Pros & Cons:

• Typically, only one page & only takes an hour to make.
• Summarizes only the most critical information.
• Ideal for startups, agile businesses, & companies in volatile industries.
• Does not provide in-depth information about the company.
• Does not provide a detailed plan to achieve goals.
• Lenders & investors may request more information.

Can my Business Plan change over time?

Yes, it is common for a plan to change or evolve. Industries, trends, and your competitive market almost always change, and so should your business plan.

It’s recommended to update your business plan once a year or any time you make major changes, such as upgrading or adding products/services, changes in ownership or executive leadership, changing locations, or pivoting into a new market segment or industry.

SBA Business Plan – Final Thoughts

Wise small business owners plan. A business plan helps clarify your company’s mission, products or services, financial goals, and more. A solid plan helps get everyone in the organization on the same page and working towards the same goals.

A plan is also essential when courting financing for your company, whether you’re looking for investors, buyers, or a business loan. Luckily, the SBA outlines its preferred plan format, which we discussed in depth. Preparing your business plan according to the SBA’s format is one of the vital steps in preparing an SBA loan application .

Contact us if you need more guidance on business plan formatting or if you’re ready to apply for a small business loan.

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• Categories: Business Tips , Small Business Loans

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