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How to write the structure and ownership section of your business plan?

Business planning is vital to the success of any entrepreneur because it helps them secure funding and find competent business partners. The document itself contains a variety of key sections, including the presentation of the legal structure and ownership of the business.

This section details the legal structure of your business and helps interested parties such as lenders and investors understand who they will be doing business with if they decide to go ahead and finance your company.

In this guide, we’ll look at the objective of the structure and ownership section, deepdive into the information you should include, and cover the ideal length. We’ll also assess the tools that can help you write your business plan.

Ready? Let’s get started!

In this guide:

What is the objective of the structure and ownership section of your business plan?

What information should i include when presenting the legal structure and ownership of my company in my business plan.

• How long should the structure and ownership section of your business plan be?
• Example of structure and ownership in a business plan

What tools should I use to write my business plan?

The objective of this section is to provide potential investors, lenders, and strategic partners with a clear and transparent view of your business's legal form, ownership distribution, and registration details. 

It aims to build credibility and trust by showcasing your commitment to openness and compliance with regulations. Let's take a look at some of the key objectives:

Communicate the legal form and registration details

• You should explicitly state your business's legal form. For example, your business might be corporation, sole proprietorship, or limited liability company (LLC). 
• Clearly explaining your chosen legal form helps stakeholders understand your entity's liability, taxation, and management implications.
• It is also essential to disclose where your company is registered. This information is vital as it provides clarity on the jurisdiction under which your business operates. 
• It also helps investors and lenders assess any legal and regulatory implications specific to the location of registration.

Identify shareholders

• Potential investors and lenders need to know who owns the company and the percentage of ownership each party holds. 
• By providing this information, you instill confidence in your business and help identify what needs to be verified as part of Know Your Customer (KYC) and Anti-Money Laundering (ALM) checks down the line.

Transparency is the cornerstone of credibility for businesses. By openly presenting the legal structure and ownership, you signal to potential investors that your business operates with integrity and adherence to regulations. 

Notably, anti-money laundering regulations require investors to verify the identity of all shareholders before committing funds. By providing a clear picture of the parties involved, you can facilitate this process and build trust with investors.

Venture capitalists (VC) firms and angel investors in particular, may have specific criteria such as location and ownership mandates governing the companies they can finance. Being transparent about your company's structure and ownership enables potential investors to assess whether your business aligns with their investment preferences and requirements.

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The structure and ownership subsection arrives quite early in your business plan as it is the first part of the company section which is the second section of the document (after the executive summary) if you are following a standard business plan outline .

At this stage, the reader is still in the process of getting familiar with your business, and this section serves as a crucial foundation for potential investors and partners and helps them understand the core aspects of your business’s structure.

Here's what you should include:

Company registration details and registered office address

Provide information about when and where your company was registered and its registration number. This enables readers to understand the jurisdiction under which your business is operating and helps verify its legal existence.

Also, mention the registration date to showcase the company's longevity or recent establishment.

Include the registered office address of your company. This is the official address where the company can be contacted, and legal notices can be served. Providing this address demonstrates your commitment to compliance and transparency.

The information above needs to repeated for each subsidiary or joint venture owned by your business in order to provide a clear map of the coporate structure.

Overview of ownership

Offer a concise overview of the ownership structure of the company. Identify the shareholders, and specify their ownership percentages or shares. 

If there are numerous shareholders, list individuals or entities owning 5% or more, and highlight those with a controlling interest in the company or on the board.

If the business is controlled by another business, such as a holding company for example, it is also useful to explain who controls that business as well.

Roles and responsibilities of shareholders

In case of multiple shareholders, explain their respective roles and responsibilities within the organization. 

Differentiate between passive investors, board members, and executive or non-executive directors. 

Shareholders' agreement (if applicable)

If the business plan is presented for investment purposes, it is useful to clarify if a shareholders' agreement is in place between the existing investors. 

This agreement outlines the rights and obligations of shareholders and adds an extra layer of legal protection for investors and shareholders.

Expertise of co-shareholders

Highlight any shareholders who contribute more than just financial capital to the company. 

If, for instance, a shareholder is an industry expert and brings valuable advice, contacts, and credibility, emphasize this aspect. 

Doing so demonstrates the added value these shareholders bring to the business.

Group or franchise structure

If your company operates as part of a group or franchise, provide this information for each individual company receiving funds. 

Clarify the relationship between the main company and the individual entities within the group and their respective legal structures.

Addressing geographical restrictions

If some investors have geographical restrictions on their investments, clearly indicate whether your company meets their eligibility criteria. 

This helps investors quickly assess whether your business aligns with their investment mandates or not.

How long should the structure and ownership section of your business plan be? 

The length of your business plan's structure and ownership section requires a delicate balance. 

While a general rule of thumb suggests that it should be about 2 to 3 paragraphs, the actual length depends on several factors, including the complexity of your corporate structure and the number of shareholders involved.

The complexity of your corporate structure 

• A concise presentation may be sufficient if your company's legal structure is relatively straightforward, with a single owner or a small number of co-founders. 
• In such cases, aim to provide the necessary information without overwhelming the reader with unnecessary details. A paragraph or two may convey the key points effectively, ensuring clarity and brevity. 
• However, if you have a complex business structure, aim to provide details about members who play a key role in business continuity and profitability. 

The number of shareholders involved

• If your business involves multiple shareholders, each with significant ownership percentages or unique roles, you may need to dedicate more space to this section. 
• Do this by providing a comprehensive breakdown of ownership distribution and outlining each shareholder's contributions. 
• This may take up more space as you need to add additional information. However, if you have a pretty straightforward ownership structure, a paragraph or two will be sufficient enough.

Regardless of the complexity, striking the right balance between providing sufficient detail and avoiding excessive technical jargon is crucial. The structure and ownership section should be reader-friendly, allowing potential investors and stakeholders to understand the core aspects of your company without feeling overwhelmed by intricate legalities.

Repetition can dilute the impact of your message and unnecessarily lengthen the section. Ensure that you don't reiterate information that has already been covered in other parts of the business plan. Instead, focus on providing unique insights and details that enhance the reader's understanding of your corporate structure and ownership.

When crafting this section, prioritize the most critical points that investors or partners need to know about your company's structure and ownership. 

Focus on aspects that directly impact decision-making, such as the majority shareholder's influence, board composition, different classes of shares in issue, or any unique arrangements that set your business apart.

Need inspiration for your business plan?

The Business Plan Shop has dozens of business plan templates that you can use to get a clear idea of what a complete business plan looks like.

Example of structure and ownership section in a business plan 

Below is an example of what the structure and ownership section of your business plan might look like. As you can see, it is part of the overall company section and precedes the location and management team subsections.

The structure and ownership section of a business plan provides a detailed overview of how your company is organized and who holds ownership stakes in the business.

This example was taken from one of  our business plan templates .

In this section, we will review three solutions for creating a business plan for your business: using Word and Excel, hiring a consultant to write the business plan, and utilizing an online business plan software.

Create your business plan using Word and Excel

This is the old-fashioned way of creating a business plan (1990s style) and using Word and Excel has both pros and cons.

On the one hand, using either of these two programs is cheap and they are widely available. 

However, creating an error-free financial forecast with Excel is only possible if you have expertise in accounting and financial modeling.

Because of that investors and lenders might not trust the accuracy of your forecast unless you have a degree in finance or accounting.

Also, writing a business plan using Word means starting from scratch and formatting the document yourself once written - a process that can be quite tedious - especially when the numbers change and you need to manually update all the tables and text.

Ultimately, it's up to the business owner to decide which program is right for them and whether they have the expertise or resources needed to make Excel work. 

Hire a consultant to write your business plan

Outsourcing your business plan to a consultant can be a viable option, but it also presents certain drawbacks. 

On the plus side, consultants are experienced in writing business plans and adept at creating financial forecasts without errors. Furthermore, hiring a consultant can save you time and allow you to focus on the day-to-day operations of your business.

However, hiring consultants is expensive: budget at least £1.5k ($2.0k) for a complete business plan, more if you need to make changes after the initial version (which happens frequently after the first meetings with lenders).

For these reasons, outsourcing the plan to a consultant or accountant should be considered carefully, weighing both the advantages and disadvantages of hiring outside help.

Ultimately, it may be the right decision for some businesses, while others may find it beneficial to write their own business plan using an online software.

Use an online business plan software for your business plan

Another alternative is to use online business plan software .

There are several advantages to using specialized software:

• You are guided through the writing process by detailed instructions and examples for each part of the plan
• You can be inspired by already written business plan templates
• You can easily make your financial forecast by letting the software take care of the financial calculations for you without errors
• You get a professional document, formatted and ready to be sent to your bank
• The software will enable you to easily track your actual financial performance against your forecast and update your forecast as time goes by

If you're interested in using this type of solution, you can try our software for free by signing up here .

To sum it up, a well-written structure and ownership subsection is key to ensuring that the reader is clear on who controls the business, and whether or not it fits their investment criterias.

Also on The Business Plan Shop

• How to do a market analysis for a business plan
• How to present your management team in your business plan?
• Where to write the conclusion of your business plan?
• Executive Summary - The most crucial part of your business plan
• How to write the location section of your business plan?
• How to present the management team in your business plan?

Know someone who needs help writing-up their business plan? Share this article with them and help them out!

Founder & CEO at The Business Plan Shop Ltd

Guillaume Le Brouster is a seasoned entrepreneur and financier.

Guillaume has been an entrepreneur for more than a decade and has first-hand experience of starting, running, and growing a successful business.

Prior to being a business owner, Guillaume worked in investment banking and private equity, where he spent most of his time creating complex financial forecasts, writing business plans, and analysing financial statements to make financing and investment decisions.

Guillaume holds a Master's Degree in Finance from ESCP Business School and a Bachelor of Science in Business & Management from Paris Dauphine University.

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How to Write a Company Overview for a Business Plan

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When you start a company, you ideally want it to grow. If you’re seeking business funding to scale your business or an initial investment to get your business off the ground, you’re going to need a business plan . Putting together a business plan can be an intimidating process that involves a lot of steps and writing — but breaking it down piece by piece can help you accomplish this seemingly insurmountable task.

One small piece of your business plan is the company overview, so let’s take a look at what that is, exactly, check out some company overview examples and go over how to make a company overview of your very own.

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What is a company overview?

A company overview provides the reader of your business plan with basic background information about your company so they have an understanding of what you do, who the management team is and what customers your business serves.

The company description is the second piece of a business plan, falling right after the executive summary. Similar to the executive summary, your company overview will be short and succinct. Your reader needs to have a grasp on what your business does and who your customers are, even if they have limited time.

Why do I need a company overview?

The company overview is the part of your business plan that gives the basics and background of your business. It’s the foundation on which you will build the rest of your business plan.

If you’re looking to appeal to investors or potential clients, you need a reader to make an informed decision about your company. Before they can do that, they must know what your company does and who your customer is. Lenders in particular need a reason to keep reading, since they see tons of business plans regularly. The company overview provides those answers, and it will help you get a better sense of your business so you can firm up things like your marketing plan.

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Once we uncover your personalized matches, our team will consult you on the process moving forward.

What should I include in a company overview?

The exact elements that you need in your company overview will depend upon what details of your business are important, but there are some foundational elements that will be included in every company overview.

Once you’ve covered the basics, you can include any other minor details that will benefit a reader who will need to make an informed decision about your business.

Basic company information

Consider the company overview like an introduction for your business. In the opening paragraph of your company overview, you’ll want to include basic company information. That includes:

Your company name: This should be the official name of your business, exactly as it is written when you registered your business with the state.

Business structure: Your reader will want to know what business entity your company comes in: sole proprietorship, LLC, partnership or corporation.

Location(s): Share where your business is headquartered and other locations the business owns.

Ownership and management team

Break down who owns your business and how each owner is involved with the business. What shares of the company belong to whom? If you have a highly involved management team, share their names and key roles with the company as well.

Company history

Part of what makes your company unique is its history. And, even startups have some history. Don’t put too much focus on this section, but do add some personality and interesting details if possible, especially if they relate to your company culture.

Mission statement

Your company’s mission statement should be included in the company overview. If you don’t yet have a company mission statement, that’s okay. Think of a mission statement as the purpose of your company.

If you don’t have one, you can create one with your team. Or you can simply replace the mission statement with a problem statement. Your business idea should exist to solve a problem or pain point faced by your customers. Share what that problem is and what your business does to solve it. That’s essentially your mission statement.

Product/service and customer

This section of the company overview is where you can share the nitty-gritty details of your business. Talk about what product or service you provide and to whom you provide it. You can share some numbers here, but in general, save the numbers for later in your business plan.

The company overview should give the reader a general understanding of your business, your product or service, and your customer. If they’re interested to know more, they’ll reach out to you for a meeting or take the time to read the rest of your business plan. Keep it simple and straightforward here.

Future goals

While concrete details and facts about your business are important to whoever is reading your company overview, it’s also important to share your dreams and your vision. If you’re writing a business plan for a business that’s already in place, it’s very likely you’re looking for business financing to scale or solve a business problem. If you’re just starting out, though, then it’s likely you’re hoping to find startup funding.

The section on your future business goals should include a brief description of your growth goals for your business. Where you are now tells the reader a lot, but they also want to know where you plan to go.

A company overview is comprised of many small parts. Each part shares just a little bit more about your company with your reader.

Tips for writing a company overview

While a company overview is simply the details of your company written out, it might not be easy to write. Break it down into small steps and use these tips to make putting together your company overview just a little bit easier.

Start with the elevator pitch

If your business is already in operation, then you likely have an elevator pitch. Your company overview can start off with your elevator pitch.

The first paragraph of your company overview should include just a few sentences that explain your business and what you do. The shorter and clearer this is, the more likely your reader will understand and keep reading.

Stick to the basics

It’s tempting to pile on all the details when you’re writing a company overview. Remember, many of the details of your company, including the numbers, will be included in later sections of your business plan.

Your company overview should include only the most basic details about your company that the reader needs to know.

Be passionate

When you share the history, mission statement, and vision for the future of your company, it’s okay to show your passion. You wouldn’t be in business if you didn’t love what you do.

Your excitement for your business could spark interest for the reader and keep them engaged with your company overview and business plan.

Keep it succinct

When you’re passionate about something, it’s easy to get carried away. Remember that you’ve got plenty of space for details in your business plan. The company overview should be just the most basic information someone needs to understand your business.

It’s OK if your first draft of your company overview is long. Simply go through and edit it to be shorter, removing unnecessary details and words each time you read through it. Clear, concise descriptions are more likely to be read and to keep the reader reading to other sections of your business plan.

Have structure

Your company overview is just one piece of a multi-tiered business plan. Creating a clear structure for your business plan makes it easier to read. The same is true for your company overview.

Your business plan should have chapters, one of which is the company overview. Then, you can further break down the content for easy skimming and reading by adding sub-chapters. You can denote these breaks in content with bold headers.

While you can break down each section of the company overview with bold headers based on the above suggestions, you can also interweave some information together, such as the company structure and leadership structure. Each section should be only a few sentences long.

Write it later

If you’re struggling to write your company overview, come back to it. Write the rest of your business plan first and then write your company overview.

While this might seem like the opposite way of doing things, knowing what will be contained in the rest of your business plan can help you to focus in on the very most essential details in the company overview and to leave everything else out.

Get a test reader

If you’re struggling to edit down your company overview, get a test reader. Ideally, you’ll want to ask someone who doesn’t know a lot about your business. They’ll help you understand whether or not you’ve clearly communicated your message.

Proofreading is the final step in editing something you’ve written. This type of editing looks for typos, misspellings and grammatical errors that have been missed. Many of these small errors can be difficult to spot in our own writing, so be sure to ask someone who hasn’t seen multiple drafts of your company overview.

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Company overview examples

If you don’t want to shell out for business planning software, but would still like some company overview examples to get you started, there are many places online you can look to for help getting started, like the Small Business Administration and SCORE.

Many successful companies also have some version of their company overview made public as their company profile page online. There are some variations from the company overview steps we’ve listed above, of course, but you can use the language and style of these company overview examples for inspiration:

Starbucks company profile .

Puma company page .

TaskRabbit About page .

Peloton company page .

Nestlé About page .

If you’re still feeling stuck, or want more company overview examples, try searching the websites of your favorite companies for more information. You might be surprised what you find — the Nestlé page, for example, has more information about their strategy and business principles.

On a similar note...

24 of My Favorite Sample Business Plans & Examples For Your Inspiration

Published: February 06, 2024

I believe that reading sample business plans is essential when writing your own.

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As you explore business plan examples from real companies and brands, it’s easier for you to learn how to write a good one.

But what does a good business plan look like? And how do you write one that’s both viable and convincing. I’ll walk you through the ideal business plan format along with some examples to help you get started.

Table of Contents

Business Plan Format

Business plan types, sample business plan templates, top business plan examples.

Ask any successful sports coach how they win so many games, and they’ll tell you they have a unique plan for every single game. To me, the same logic applies to business.

If you want to build a thriving company that can pull ahead of the competition, you need to prepare for battle before breaking into a market.

Business plans guide you along the rocky journey of growing a company. And if your business plan is compelling enough, it can also convince investors to give you funding.

With so much at stake, I’m sure you’re wondering where to begin.

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First, you’ll want to nail down your formatting. Most business plans include the following sections.

1. Executive Summary

I’d say the executive summary is the most important section of the entire business plan. 

Why? Essentially, it's the overview or introduction, written in a way to grab readers' attention and guide them through the rest of the business plan. This is important, because a business plan can be dozens or hundreds of pages long.

There are two main elements I’d recommend including in your executive summary:

Company Description

This is the perfect space to highlight your company’s mission statement and goals, a brief overview of your history and leadership, and your top accomplishments as a business.

Tell potential investors who you are and why what you do matters. Naturally, they’re going to want to know who they’re getting into business with up front, and this is a great opportunity to showcase your impact.

Need some extra help firming up those business goals? Check out HubSpot Academy’s free course to help you set goals that matter — I’d highly recommend it

Products and Services

To piggyback off of the company description, be sure to incorporate an overview of your offerings. This doesn’t have to be extensive — just another chance to introduce your industry and overall purpose as a business.

In addition to the items above, I recommend including some information about your financial projections and competitive advantage here too.:

Keep in mind you'll cover many of these topics in more detail later on in the business plan. So, keep the executive summary clear and brief, and only include the most important takeaways.

Executive Summary Business Plan Examples

This example was created with HubSpot’s business plan template:

This executive summary is so good to me because it tells potential investors a short story while still covering all of the most important details.

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Tips for Writing Your Executive Summary

• Start with a strong introduction of your company, showcase your mission and impact, and outline the products and services you provide.
• Clearly define a problem, and explain how your product solves that problem, and show why the market needs your business.
• Be sure to highlight your value proposition, market opportunity, and growth potential.
• Keep it concise and support ideas with data.
• Customize your summary to your audience. For example, emphasize finances and return on investment for venture capitalists.

Check out our tips for writing an effective executive summary for more guidance.

2. Market Opportunity

This is where you'll detail the opportunity in the market.

The main question I’d ask myself here is this: Where is the gap in the current industry, and how will my product fill that gap?

More specifically, here’s what I’d include in this section:

• The size of the market
• Current or potential market share
• Trends in the industry and consumer behavior
• Where the gap is
• What caused the gap
• How you intend to fill it

To get a thorough understanding of the market opportunity, you'll want to conduct a TAM, SAM, and SOM analysis and perform market research on your industry.

You may also benefit from creating a SWOT analysis to get some of the insights for this section.

Market Opportunity Business Plan Example

I like this example because it uses critical data to underline the size of the potential market and what part of that market this service hopes to capture.

Tips for Writing Your Market Opportunity Section

• Focus on demand and potential for growth.
• Use market research, surveys, and industry trend data to support your market forecast and projections.
• Add a review of regulation shifts, tech advances, and consumer behavior changes.
• Refer to reliable sources.
• Showcase how your business can make the most of this opportunity.

3. Competitive Landscape

Since we’re already speaking of market share, you'll also need to create a section that shares details on who the top competitors are.

After all, your customers likely have more than one brand to choose from, and you'll want to understand exactly why they might choose one over another.

My favorite part of performing a competitive analysis is that it can help you uncover:

• Industry trends that other brands may not be utilizing
• Strengths in your competition that may be obstacles to handle
• Weaknesses in your competition that may help you develop selling points
• The unique proposition you bring to the market that may resonate with customers

Competitive Landscape Business Plan Example

I like how the competitive landscape section of this business plan below shows a clear outline of who the top competitors are.

It also highlights specific industry knowledge and the importance of location, which shows useful experience in this specific industry. 

This can help build trust in your ability to execute your business plan.

Tips for Writing Your Competitive Landscape

• Complete in-depth research, then emphasize your most important findings.
• Compare your unique selling proposition (USP) to your direct and indirect competitors.
• Show a clear and realistic plan for product and brand differentiation.
• Look for specific advantages and barriers in the competitive landscape. Then, highlight how that information could impact your business.
• Outline growth opportunities from a competitive perspective.
• Add customer feedback and insights to support your competitive analysis.

4. Target Audience

Use this section to describe who your customer segments are in detail. What is the demographic and psychographic information of your audience?

If your immediate answer is "everyone," you'll need to dig deeper. Here are some questions I’d ask myself here:

• What demographics will most likely need/buy your product or service?
• What are the psychographics of this audience? (Desires, triggering events, etc.)
• Why are your offerings valuable to them?

I’d also recommend building a buyer persona to get in the mindset of your ideal customers and be clear on why you're targeting them.

Target Audience Business Plan Example

I like the example below because it uses in-depth research to draw conclusions about audience priorities. It also analyzes how to create the right content for this audience.

Tips for Writing Your Target Audience Section

• Include details on the size and growth potential of your target audience.
• Figure out and refine the pain points for your target audience , then show why your product is a useful solution.
• Describe your targeted customer acquisition strategy in detail.
• Share anticipated challenges your business may face in acquiring customers and how you plan to address them.
• Add case studies, testimonials, and other data to support your target audience ideas.
• Remember to consider niche audiences and segments of your target audience in your business plan.

5. Marketing Strategy

Here, you'll discuss how you'll acquire new customers with your marketing strategy. I’d suggest including information:

• Your brand positioning vision and how you'll cultivate it
• The goal targets you aim to achieve
• The metrics you'll use to measure success
• The channels and distribution tactics you'll use

I think it’s helpful to have a marketing plan built out in advance to make this part of your business plan easier.

Marketing Strategy Business Plan Example

This business plan example includes the marketing strategy for the town of Gawler.

In my opinion, it really works because it offers a comprehensive picture of how they plan to use digital marketing to promote the community.

Tips for Writing Your Marketing Strategy

• Include a section about how you believe your brand vision will appeal to customers.
• Add the budget and resources you'll need to put your plan in place.
• Outline strategies for specific marketing segments.
• Connect strategies to earlier sections like target audience and competitive analysis.
• Review how your marketing strategy will scale with the growth of your business.
• Cover a range of channels and tactics to highlight your ability to adapt your plan in the face of change.

6. Key Features and Benefits

At some point in your business plan, you'll need to review the key features and benefits of your products and/or services.

Laying these out can give readers an idea of how you're positioning yourself in the market and the messaging you're likely to use. It can even help them gain better insight into your business model.

Key Features and Benefits Business Plan Example

In my opinion, the example below does a great job outlining products and services for this business, along with why these qualities will attract the audience.

Tips for Writing Your Key Features and Benefits

• Emphasize why and how your product or service offers value to customers.
• Use metrics and testimonials to support the ideas in this section.
• Talk about how your products and services have the potential to scale.
• Think about including a product roadmap.
• Focus on customer needs, and how the features and benefits you are sharing meet those needs.
• Offer proof of concept for your ideas, like case studies or pilot program feedback.
• Proofread this section carefully, and remove any jargon or complex language.

7. Pricing and Revenue

This is where you'll discuss your cost structure and various revenue streams. Your pricing strategy must be solid enough to turn a profit while staying competitive in the industry. 

For this reason, here’s what I’d might outline in this section:

• The specific pricing breakdowns per product or service
• Why your pricing is higher or lower than your competition's
• (If higher) Why customers would be willing to pay more
• (If lower) How you're able to offer your products or services at a lower cost
• When you expect to break even, what margins do you expect, etc?

Pricing and Revenue Business Plan Example

I like how this business plan example begins with an overview of the business revenue model, then shows proposed pricing for key products.

Tips for Writing Your Pricing and Revenue Section

• Get specific about your pricing strategy. Specifically, how you connect that strategy to customer needs and product value.
• If you are asking a premium price, share unique features or innovations that justify that price point.
• Show how you plan to communicate pricing to customers.
• Create an overview of every revenue stream for your business and how each stream adds to your business model as a whole.
• Share plans to develop new revenue streams in the future.
• Show how and whether pricing will vary by customer segment and how pricing aligns with marketing strategies.
• Restate your value proposition and explain how it aligns with your revenue model.

8. Financials

To me, this section is particularly informative for investors and leadership teams to figure out funding strategies, investment opportunities, and more.

 According to Forbes , you'll want to include three main things:

• Profit/Loss Statement - This answers the question of whether your business is currently profitable.
• Cash Flow Statement - This details exactly how much cash is incoming and outgoing to give insight into how much cash a business has on hand.
• Balance Sheet - This outlines assets, liabilities, and equity, which gives insight into how much a business is worth.

While some business plans might include more or less information, these are the key details I’d include in this section.

Financials Business Plan Example

This balance sheet is a great example of level of detail you’ll need to include in the financials section of your business plan.

Tips for Writing Your Financials Section

• Growth potential is important in this section too. Using your data, create a forecast of financial performance in the next three to five years.
• Include any data that supports your projections to assure investors of the credibility of your proposal.
• Add a break-even analysis to show that your business plan is financially practical. This information can also help you pivot quickly as your business grows.
• Consider adding a section that reviews potential risks and how sensitive your plan is to changes in the market.
• Triple-check all financial information in your plan for accuracy.
• Show how any proposed funding needs align with your plans for growth.

As you create your business plan, keep in mind that each of these sections will be formatted differently. Some may be in paragraph format, while others could be charts or graphs.

The formats above apply to most types of business plans. That said, the format and structure of your plan will vary by your goals for that plan. 

So, I’ve added a quick review of different business plan types. For a more detailed overview, check out this post .

1. Startups

Startup business plans are for proposing new business ideas.

If you’re planning to start a small business, preparing a business plan is crucial. The plan should include all the major factors of your business.

You can check out this guide for more detailed business plan inspiration .

2. Feasibility Studies

Feasibility business plans focus on that business's product or service. Feasibility plans are sometimes added to startup business plans. They can also be a new business plan for an already thriving organization.

3. Internal Use

You can use internal business plans to share goals, strategies, or performance updates with stakeholders. In my opinion, internal business plans are useful for alignment and building support for ambitious goals.

4. Strategic Initiatives

Another business plan that's often for sharing internally is a strategic business plan. This plan covers long-term business objectives that might not have been included in the startup business plan.

5. Business Acquisition or Repositioning

When a business is moving forward with an acquisition or repositioning, it may need extra structure and support. These types of business plans expand on a company's acquisition or repositioning strategy.

Growth sometimes just happens as a business continues operations. But more often, a business needs to create a structure with specific targets to meet set goals for expansion. This business plan type can help a business focus on short-term growth goals and align resources with those goals.

Now that you know what's included and how to format a business plan, let's review some of my favorite templates.

1. HubSpot's One-Page Business Plan

Download a free, editable one-page business plan template..

The business plan linked above was created here at HubSpot and is perfect for businesses of any size — no matter how many strategies we still have to develop.

Fields such as Company Description, Required Funding, and Implementation Timeline give this one-page business plan a framework for how to build your brand and what tasks to keep track of as you grow.

Then, as the business matures, you can expand on your original business plan with a new iteration of the above document.

Why I Like It

This one-page business plan is a fantastic choice for the new business owner who doesn’t have the time or resources to draft a full-blown business plan. It includes all the essential sections in an accessible, bullet-point-friendly format. That way, you can get the broad strokes down before honing in on the details.

2. HubSpot's Downloadable Business Plan Template

We also created a business plan template for entrepreneurs.

The template is designed as a guide and checklist for starting your own business. You’ll learn what to include in each section of your business plan and how to do it.

There’s also a list for you to check off when you finish each section of your business plan.

Strong game plans help coaches win games and help businesses rocket to the top of their industries. So if you dedicate the time and effort required to write a workable and convincing business plan, you’ll boost your chances of success and even dominance in your market.

This business plan kit is essential for the budding entrepreneur who needs a more extensive document to share with investors and other stakeholders.

It not only includes sections for your executive summary, product line, market analysis, marketing plan, and sales plan, but it also offers hands-on guidance for filling out those sections.

3. LiveFlow’s Financial Planning Template with built-in automation

This free template from LiveFlow aims to make it easy for businesses to create a financial plan and track their progress on a monthly basis.

The P&L Budget versus Actual format allows users to track their revenue, cost of sales, operating expenses, operating profit margin, net profit, and more.

The summary dashboard aggregates all of the data put into the financial plan sheet and will automatically update when changes are made.

Instead of wasting hours manually importing your data to your spreadsheet, LiveFlow can also help you to automatically connect your accounting and banking data directly to your spreadsheet, so your numbers are always up-to-date.

With the dashboard, you can view your runway, cash balance, burn rate, gross margins, and other metrics. Having a simple way to track everything in one place will make it easier to complete the financials section of your business plan.

This is a fantastic template to track performance and alignment internally and to create a dependable process for documenting financial information across the business. It’s highly versatile and beginner-friendly.

It’s especially useful if you don’t have an accountant on the team. (I always recommend you do, but for new businesses, having one might not be possible.)

4. ThoughtCo’s Sample Business Plan

One of the more financially oriented sample business plans in this list, BPlan’s free business plan template dedicates many of its pages to your business’s financial plan and financial statements.

After filling this business plan out, your company will truly understand its financial health and the steps you need to take to maintain or improve it.

I absolutely love this business plan template because of its ease-of-use and hands-on instructions (in addition to its finance-centric components). If you feel overwhelmed by the thought of writing an entire business plan, consider using this template to help you with the process.

6. Harvard Business Review’s "How to Write a Winning Business Plan"

Most sample business plans teach you what to include in your business plan, but this Harvard Business Review article will take your business plan to the next level — it teaches you the why and how behind writing a business plan.

With the guidance of Stanley Rich and Richard Gumpert, co-authors of " Business Plans That Win: Lessons From the MIT Enterprise Forum ", you'll learn how to write a convincing business plan that emphasizes the market demand for your product or service.

You’ll also learn the financial benefits investors can reap from putting money into your venture rather than trying to sell them on how great your product or service is.

This business plan guide focuses less on the individual parts of a business plan, and more on the overarching goal of writing one. For that reason, it’s one of my favorites to supplement any template you choose to use. Harvard Business Review’s guide is instrumental for both new and seasoned business owners.

7. HubSpot’s Complete Guide to Starting a Business

If you’re an entrepreneur, you know writing a business plan is one of the most challenging first steps to starting a business.

Fortunately, with HubSpot's comprehensive guide to starting a business, you'll learn how to map out all the details by understanding what to include in your business plan and why it’s important to include them. The guide also fleshes out an entire sample business plan for you.

If you need further guidance on starting a business, HubSpot's guide can teach you how to make your business legal, choose and register your business name, and fund your business. It will also give small business tax information and includes marketing, sales, and service tips.

This comprehensive guide will walk you through the process of starting a business, in addition to writing your business plan, with a high level of exactitude and detail. So if you’re in the midst of starting your business, this is an excellent guide for you.

It also offers other resources you might need, such as market analysis templates.

8. Panda Doc’s Free Business Plan Template

PandaDoc’s free business plan template is one of the more detailed and fleshed-out sample business plans on this list. It describes what you should include in each section, so you don't have to come up with everything from scratch.

Once you fill it out, you’ll fully understand your business’ nitty-gritty details and how all of its moving parts should work together to contribute to its success.

This template has two things I love: comprehensiveness and in-depth instructions. Plus, it’s synced with PandaDoc’s e-signature software so that you and other stakeholders can sign it with ease. For that reason, I especially love it for those starting a business with a partner or with a board of directors.

9. Small Business Administration Free Business Plan Template

The Small Business Administration (SBA) offers several free business plan templates that can be used to inspire your own plan.

Before you get started, you can decide what type of business plan you need — a traditional or lean start-up plan.

Then, you can review the format for both of those plans and view examples of what they might look like.

We love both of the SBA’s templates because of their versatility. You can choose between two options and use the existing content in the templates to flesh out your own plan. Plus, if needed, you can get a free business counselor to help you along the way.

I’ve compiled some completed business plan samples to help you get an idea of how to customize a plan for your business.

I chose different types of business plan ideas to expand your imagination. Some are extensive, while others are fairly simple.

Let’s take a look.

1. LiveFlow

One of the major business expenses is marketing. How you handle your marketing reflects your company’s revenue.

I included this business plan to show you how you can ensure your marketing team is aligned with your overall business plan to get results. The plan also shows you how to track even the smallest metrics of your campaigns, like ROI and payback periods instead of just focusing on big metrics like gross and revenue.

Fintech startup, LiveFlow, allows users to sync real-time data from its accounting services, payment platforms, and banks into custom reports. This eliminates the task of pulling reports together manually, saving teams time and helping automate workflows.

"Using this framework over a traditional marketing plan will help you set a profitable marketing strategy taking things like CAC, LTV, Payback period, and P&L into consideration," explains LiveFlow co-founder, Lasse Kalkar .

When it came to including marketing strategy in its business plan, LiveFlow created a separate marketing profit and loss statement (P&L) to track how well the company was doing with its marketing initiatives.

This is a great approach, allowing businesses to focus on where their marketing dollars are making the most impact. Having this information handy will enable you to build out your business plan’s marketing section with confidence. LiveFlow has shared the template here . You can test it for yourself.

2. Lula Body

Sometimes all you need is a solid mission statement and core values to guide you on how to go about everything. You do this by creating a business plan revolving around how to fulfill your statement best.

For example, Patagonia is an eco-friendly company, so their plan discusses how to make the best environmentally friendly products without causing harm.

A good mission statement  should not only resonate with consumers but should also serve as a core value compass for employees as well.

Patagonia has one of the most compelling mission statements I’ve seen:

"Together, let’s prioritise purpose over profit and protect this wondrous planet, our only home."

It reels you in from the start, and the environmentally friendly theme continues throughout the rest of the statement.

This mission goes on to explain that they are out to "Build the best product, cause no unnecessary harm, and use business to protect nature."

Their mission statement is compelling and detailed, with each section outlining how they will accomplish their goal.

4. Vesta Home Automation

This executive summary for a smart home device startup is part of a business plan created by students at Mount Royal University .

While it lacks some of the sleek visuals of the templates above, its executive summary does a great job of demonstrating how invested they are in the business.

Right away, they mention they’ve invested $200,000 into the company already, which shows investors they have skin in the game and aren’t just looking for someone else to foot the bill.

This is the kind of business plan you need when applying for business funds. It clearly illustrates the expected future of the company and how the business has been coming along over the years.

5. NALB Creative Center

This fictional business plan for an art supply store includes everything one might need in a business plan: an executive summary, a company summary, a list of services, a market analysis summary, and more.

One of its most notable sections is its market analysis summary, which includes an overview of the population growth in the business’ target geographical area, as well as a breakdown of the types of potential customers they expect to welcome at the store. 

This sort of granular insight is essential for understanding and communicating your business’s growth potential. Plus, it lays a strong foundation for creating relevant and useful buyer personas .

It’s essential to keep this information up-to-date as your market and target buyer changes. For that reason, you should carry out market research as often as possible to ensure that you’re targeting the correct audience and sharing accurate information with your investors.

Due to its comprehensiveness, it’s an excellent example to follow if you’re opening a brick-and-mortar store and need to get external funding to start your business .

6. Curriculum Companion Suites (CSS)

If you’re looking for a SaaS business plan example, look no further than this business plan for a fictional educational software company called Curriculum Companion Suites. 

Like the business plan for the NALB Creative Center, it includes plenty of information for prospective investors and other key stakeholders in the business.

One of the most notable features of this business plan is the executive summary, which includes an overview of the product, market, and mission.

The first two are essential for software companies because the product offering is so often at the forefront of the company’s strategy. Without that information being immediately available to investors and executives, then you risk writing an unfocused business plan.

It’s essential to front-load your company’s mission if it explains your "Why?" and this example does just that. In other words, why do you do what you do, and why should stakeholders care? This is an important section to include if you feel that your mission will drive interest in the business and its offerings.

7. Culina Sample Business Plan

Culina's sample business plan is an excellent example of how to lay out your business plan so that it flows naturally, engages readers, and provides the critical information investors and stakeholders need. 

You can use this template as a guide while you're gathering important information for your own business plan. You'll have a better understanding of the data and research you need to do since Culina’s plan outlines these details so flawlessly for inspiration.

8. Plum Sample Business Plan

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Free Business Plan Template (With Examples)

August 3, 2022

Have you ever found it difficult to get other people to agree to your entrepreneurial ideas? If so, consider writing a business plan. We’ve created a business plan template to help you meet your business goals, but it makes sense to give some background information.

I (Brandon Boushy) grew up in a unique family. I was the oldest of six kids and my parents are highly successful. One of the things I had to do growing up was write business proposals for anything that was different from the standard operating procedure. (Yes, our family ran like a business.)

That made me pretty proficient at creating a business plan format. We’re going to share some of the lessons I learned growing up with a dad that managed a multi-billion dollar merger and a mom that had a double major in psychology and philosophy. Along the way, we hope to help you understand what people look for in a business plan.

What makes a good business plan template?

A business plan template should be based on your audience. If it’s just you, then it needs to be enough to keep you honest and focused on your goals, but if there are other people who will be viewing it, it should give them enough information to buy into the business plans.

Whether you use ours, someone else’s, or make your own template, you’ll want to make sure a business plan template includes the following:

• An executive summary

Your mission and goals

• Your strategies 
• Your strengths and weaknesses

How you fit in the external environment

Call to action.

• Documentation

If you’re interested just in a template, you may download it here .

This outline is partially inspired by the book Writing Winning Business Plans by Garrett Sutton, Esq.

If you prefer YouTube videos, check out our interview with Mike about how to create a business plan :

Let’s look at how each of these plays into a great business plan template.

The Executive Summary in a Business Plan Template

A good business plan should start with a story. All stories have three major parts:

That’s what your executive summary will be. It will be your story. It will basically tell why your company exists. The sole purpose of the executive summary is to get your audience to say:

“I want to know more.”

If you look at UpFlip’s YouTube page, you can see our story right at the top.

When you write a business plan, you want the executive summary to be as easy to digest as possible. If this were in an actual business plan, it would look something like this:

We’ve all heard the statistics that eight out of 10 businesses fail in the first five years. Can you imagine what the world would be like if we flipped those numbers?

That’s our goal at UpFlip. Make it where 80% of businesses succeed. To do that, business owners need the best information possible in the format that they prefer. That’s what we’re doing.

UpFlip is a team of business owners who believe in educating and inspiring people to achieve success. UpFlip does this by using content marketing best practices, case studies, and data analysis to bring business owners content that helps them succeed.

Do you want to hear more? 

You might want to include a couple of paragraphs about the team, the market, where the business is now, and how you are going to accomplish the goals. At this point, it’s just high-level ideas to get them interested.

You also want to include what you’re asking for in the executive summary. That will change based on the viewer. Here are some common requests:

• Looking for funding : How much? Do you want a loan or to sell equity?
• Looking for employees : What do you want from them? What values should they hold dear to their hearts?
• Looking for a partnership with another company : Why would the two be a good fit?
• Just for you : An executive summary might be enough.

While this will be the first thing the viewer sees, it will normally be the last thing you write.

Company Description

The next section of our business plan template is the company description. It covers the following:

• Your company mission and goals : Why does your company matter?
• Your product and target market : What are you selling and to whom?
• Your team : Who is going to help you succeed? You might want to create an organizational chart with your management team, including their skill sets and the gaps you need to fill.
• Your legal structure : Will how you’re structured lead you to succeed? Don’t even bother applying for financing if you are a sole proprietorship. They won’t take you seriously. Register as an LLC or a Corporation.

These are the high-end goals of a business. The mission statement is simply what you want to achieve. For instance, Boxabl has the mission to, “Significantly lower the cost of homeownership for everyone.”

Your goals should be highly measurable. They should be focused on accomplishing your mission and should be:

• S pecific: What are you trying to achieve? In Boxabl’s case, it is lowering the cost of homeownership for everyone.
• M easurable: How can you measure it? With Boxabl, you might measure against HomeAdvisor’s estimate to build in an area and the median home sale price in the area.
• A chievable: Can it be done? For Boxabl, their factory claims to have a production capacity of 30,000 homes annually for $50,000 each (plus land costs). That’s a substantial savings, but it only covers .5% of the US housing sales in 2021 .
• R ealistic: Can you actually do what needs to be done? In Boxabl’s case, it could reduce the costs in a single city based on current capacity. 30,000 sales would be equal to 60% of Las Vegas home sales in 2021 . 
• T ime-Oriented: How long will it take? With Boxabl’s design, it could dramatically lower rates in Las Vegas in a year but would need to ramp up production to meet the nationwide levels. It would need to ramp up 120X capacity to reach 60% of all home sales. That means years down the road.

You might want to have a roadmap or graphics in this section to help people visualize them. Here’s an example of what a good roadmap looks like:

You can see the rest of it on Presearch’s website . 

Notice how many references I have in this section. A well documented business plan will be full of references because you have to prove all assumptions are reasonable.

With a business plan someone views online, you can use hyperlinks. Otherwise, you’ll want to include your links in an appendix or as footnotes. I recommend using IBIS World for most of your statistics because many banks use them to analyze how accurate your reports are. I’ll cover this more in the section on documentation.

This section of our business plan template focuses on the industry. You’ll want to start at the highest macroeconomic level and work your way down to the company level. This will include aspects like:

• Whole Economy : Consider GDP growth or shrinkage, interest rates, consumer spending, and anything else that has the ability to impact your business from the highest market analysis standpoint.
• Industry : What is the industry outlook over the next five to 10 years? How many total businesses are in your industry (both nationwide and locally)? Who are the major players? What percent of the market do the major players service? How much is left for smaller players? How is the industry changing?
• Individual Companies : What are they doing? What gaps are they leaving? What can you do better? What do their 401K and quarterly reports show?

All this data matters; it shows whether you know what you are talking about or whether you are just chasing dreams. Don’t get me wrong it’s fun to chase dreams, but it’s better if your management team knows what it is talking about.

If you’re focused on local work, you might want to include a map of all your competitors in this section, for instance, the picture below is a map from Gas Buddy of all the local gas stations in a city. You’ll want to update it with opportunities for locations in the next section on strengths and weaknesses. 

Next, you’ll want to compare your experience with this information.

Include strengths and weaknesses in a business plan template

You’ll want to perform a SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats) analysis. This section of our business plan template includes questions about:

• Your team : Include an organizational chart that outlines your management team, their skill sets, and the gaps you need to fill.
• Divisions : Do you have divisions that are really strong or weak? How are you going to fix this?
• Funding : How are your monetary or cash flow scenarios?
• Vendors: Do you have special vendor scenarios that give you an advantage or disadvantage?
• Industry : Do you have competitive advantages or disadvantages that other companies don’t have? Does that leave holes for you to fill a service area? Check out the map below for potential holes in the market for gas stations:

Opportunities For Gas Stations

Check out this video by Project Manager to understand SWOT analysis better.

Your strategies (Operations)

This section details how you plan to meet the goals you have set. The business strategies section includes concepts like:

• Risk Management
• Mergers and Acquisitions

Logistics show that you’ve really thought about how you plan to achieve your goal. I think the history of Ford, ExxonMobil, Tesla Motors, and previous electric vehicles really shows how the logistics of something matter.

Before the Model T, the majority of cars were electric vehicles. Unfortunately, it was far easier to go to a gas station than to have to charge your electric car. It still is, but part of Elon Musk’s plan to make electric vehicles achievable was nationwide charging stations . 

He had to start by strategically placing them so that a Tesla wouldn’t have to risk running out of power while traveling along major highways. If his business plan hadn’t included over 3,000 superchargers, do you think they’d have sold over 3.23 million vehicles ?

Of course not. You have to think about what can go wrong and how you’ll address it. That’s how logistics work in your favor––before you have a problem.

This section of the business plan should be focused on what you’ll be doing to get word out about your products and services. This section should include:

• Target market data
• Brand assets like logos
• How you’ll be communicating with potential customers
• Your marketing channels and budget
• Examples of your ads if they are truly impressive

Financial History and Projections

Lenders, equity providers, and governments offering you relocation initiatives will care about the financial prospects. They’ll want to know the following:

• Your assumptions

Your past performance

• Your current year forecast 
• Longer-term outlook (three, five or ten-year outlook)

Even if you’re not trying to make a deal, these can help you plan better. Let’s look at each.

Assumptions

You’ll want to start the financial projections section with a list of assumptions that are backed by valid resources. Assumptions are everything that could go wrong. They may include:

• Wage growth
• Industry growth
• Market share growth
• Financing rates
• Production timelines
• Marketing metrics

Anticipating everything that could go wrong helps you be prepared and shows your willingness to problem-solve. In Writing Winning Business Plans, the author recommends reviewing the SEC forward-looking statement guidelines because investors are used to reading them. I’d also recommend reading some 401Ks on EDGAR .

If you’re an existing business, you’ll also want to show the past history according to your tax returns for at least two years, but three to five years is better. This lets others see whether growth is steady, accelerating, or slowing.

Don’t try to minimize your taxes if you are trying to get a loan. Try to maximize your net income and cash flow. Think ahead and make it easy for the people to approve you. Also, remember that asset-light businesses have higher profit margins than if you have a billion-dollar plant (it might help with secured loans, though).

Your current year forecast

Create financial projections for the current year. These will show whether or not you have a solid business plan that can actually take on business loans or get equity investors. You’ll want to include at least:

• Profit & Loss Statement : This is similar to a Net Income Statement but is made up. It’s for a one-year minimum and may be called a P&L statement.
• Cash Flow Statement : Here you will show the annual flow of funds in and out of the business.
• Balance Sheet : Give a comparison of the assets and receivables to the liabilities and owners’ equity.

I normally start with monthly spreadsheets because it makes it easier to predict where cash flow imbalances will occur.

Longer-term outlook (three, five, or ten-year outlook)

In addition, you may want to create three-year, five-year, or ten-year projections. Be careful with these, though. The economic environment can change fairly quickly, and in 30 to 90 days a lot of economic reports are released.

This part should change based on who will be viewing it, but it should stay similar. A call to action may be:

• A request for financing for equipment, inventory, or other business needs
• An offer to schedule a meeting to discuss equity purchases
• Linking to employment applications for applicants
• A link to a quiz to make sure employees processed the information
• A request for a tax subsidy from a government

Each of these should stay true to the rest of the document, but you’ll only want to include a call to action for that specific goal. I would suggest saving a separate copy of the template for each type of action.

Here’s what the Appendix will look like for APA-style references. You can use online citation-creating sites like Purdue Owl to create them. 

About Us . (n.d.). Retrieved May 17, 2022, from https://www.boxabl.com/about-us

A Better Search Engine for We the People. (n.d.). Retrieved May 17, 2022, from https://presearch.io/roadmap

Brewer, R. (2022, January 06). Record number of homes sold in 2021 in Las Vegas Area. Retrieved May 17, 2022, from https://vegasinc.lasvegassun.com/business/real-estate/2022/jan/06/record-number-of-homes-sold-in-2021-in-las-vegas-a/

Business Plan Template. (2021, April 19). Retrieved May 17, 2022, from https://www.upflip.com/learn/business-plan-template

Published by Statista Research Department, & 4, A. (2022, April 04). Total home sales in the United States from 2011 to 2021 with a forecast for 2022 and 2023. Retrieved May 17, 2022, from https://www.statista.com/statistics/275156/total-home-sales-in-the-united-states-from-2009/

Research and Documentation

Now that we’ve covered the sections of our business plan template, let’s discuss how to research and document your findings. We can all use Google search, but will it give you the best answer? 

Maybe, maybe not.

You have to use real data, and there are two ways to get it. You can either go directly to the source or you can buy it. 

Get the Primary Data Set

For anyone on a budget or who might prefer to do data analysis themselves, this section is for you. You’ll need the data for many of the sections of your business plan, primarily the industry analysis and the financial modeling.

If you’ve never downloaded a massive dataset, you should try it sometime. They are huge and hard to process. Start by downloading the 50.4 MB spreadsheet to analyze your NAICS code from census.gov . It’s a pain. I’ve had one nearly crash my computer.

After you get the data, you’ll have to process it, create graphs, and cite it in your Appendix. If you have time to do all that, awesome! You’ll want to get data from .gov sites or major organizations. Check out this list of free datasets .

If that sounds like a lot of work, try buying the data from trusted sources instead.

Buy the Processed Data from a Trusted Source

Fortunately, there are plenty of great resources that make it easy to document your statistics in a business plan. You have to pay for them, but they are worth it. Two of the ones I really like are IBIS World and Statista. 

They do the research for every NAICS code and all you have to do is buy their report. It even comes with sourced charts for you to use. If you think you’ll need the data long-term, I suggest getting one of their subscriptions.

You’ll be able to pull everything you need out of it and package it nicely in your business plan. Be sure to add your citations into our business plan template, though.

Add Citations to the Business Plan Template

There are a variety of ways to add citations to a business plan, but the most common are:

• Appendix : Save the documents and add them at the end of your business plan. Make sure you label them well. You might want to use this in combination with footnotes to mark which citation goes with which statement.
• Footnotes : You’ll want to add a footnote, then put the reference at the bottom of the page using The Chicago Manual of Style . Check the footnote below for how it looks.
• Hyperlinks : These only work for digital copies, but they send the reader right to the website where the information was retrieved. Just make sure it’s not pay protected. Use these in conjunction with an appendix so you can use the same business plan for both print and digital.

I’ve put all the references to this blog in the Appendix section to give you an easy example.

In addition to The Chicago Manual of Style , you can also use:

• American Psychological Association Style
• Modern Language Association Style

I personally like the APA style, but everyone has their preferences. Just make sure you stay consistent throughout your business plan. Use Purdue Owl if you aren’t familiar with research and citation rules.

Free Business Plan Templates

There are a lot of places where you can get a business plan template. Some of the best places are:

• UpFlip : Download the  template that follows this blog.
• Score : View three Score templates .
• Oprah : Oprah offers three templates for business owners.
• My Own Business Institute : (That’s the name; I don’t own it.) Other than ours, I like this free business plan best. Check it out .
• BizGym : Want a lean business plan, BizGym is a good one.

In any of them you’ll want to make sure it has something comparable to the parts in our list. All of them do, but rearrange the order.

80% of businesses fail... Learn how not to.

Learn from business failures and successes in 5 min or less. The stories, frameworks, and tactics that will make you a 10x better founder.

Brandon Boushy

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How to Find a Mentor in 7 Steps (2024)

What is a Mentor?

• Teacher: Good mentors help the other person develop the skills to be successful in their career.
• Sponsor : A mentor helps the younger person find their way in the social environment.
• Advisor: Great mentors will act as a sounding board to help young people look at different perspectives and offer advice.
• Agent: Success is often about the number of people who buy into your narrative. A mentor will have already acquired more people in their professional network and will advocate for a mentee, assuming the idea or role is a good fit.
• Role Model : A mentor should be someone you aspire to be like.
• Coach: Mentors should help motivate and inspire you to be the best you can be. Sometimes we all need a good motivational speech or dose of harsh reality. It should help with your professional growth and build the relationship stronger.
• Confidante: A great mentor will be someone who knows when to let you vent and when to offer a few tips. The pressures of building a career path, your own company, and your personal life can be a challenge at times. They’ll be there when they can, but they are busy too.

There are Different Potential Mentor Relationship Types

• Career Mentor
• Life Mentor
• Professional Mentor
• Business Mentor

Career Mentor (Typically Early in Career)

Life mentor (personal mentor).

• My parents, for teaching me I can truly accomplish anything if I put my mind to it.
• My grandpa, for teaching me I can say anything as long as I say it with a smile.
• My high school chemistry teacher (the only person I knew believed in me when I was struggling as a teenager).
• Dennis Rodman, (from afar) shows how you don’t have to fit a particular mold to create an amazing career path.
• My manager at Pizza Hut, for showing me that leadership skills are not dictated by position but based on a combination of professional skills and your ability to find mutually beneficial solutions.

Professional Mentor (Paid to Advise)

Business Mentor (Often Called a Business Coach or Consultant)

What to look for in a mentor.

• They are in a good spot in their career.
• They give constructive criticism in a way that you find palatable.
• You have common ground upon which you can connect.
• They have an existing network that is larger than yours. This may be a personal network, in a specific industry, or across a variety of industries depending on what you are hoping to learn.
• They have the time, desire, and energy to teach you new skills.
• You enjoy having a casual conversation with them.
• They need a personal assistant, employee, or intern.

How to Find a Prospective Mentor

• Identify your goals. 
• Reach out to potential mentors via email, letter, social media, or phone call (if you know them).
• Ask for an initial conversation to help you get to know the potential mentors.
• Schedule an in-person meeting or virtual coffee. 
• Discuss the industry, things you have in common, and goals.
• Ask the more experienced person to provide a mentorship once you’re sure they are the right mentor.
• Interact with them to ask for advice, keep them up to date with your career growth, and get feedback.
• Identify your goals and who inspires you.
• Google them.
• Follow them on social media.
• Buy, and more importantly, read their book(s).
• Interact with their posts by asking relevant questions. 
• For a job, look for one that would include directly reporting to the mentor you seek. Apply for it, and be prepared for the meeting. You have lots of knowledge. Use it. Be ready to show how you are a good candidate for the job.
• Industry meetups tend to have keynote speakers and they announce who they are in advance. Most keynote speakers share their expertise, make it a point to connect with the crowd afterward and share their email addresses. 
• Follow up. Thank them for their time. Ask them questions you didn’t get to ask them in the meeting. Hopefully, they give you some guidance and request another meeting.
• Work on building the skills and achieving success using their advice.
• Reach out again when you achieve a goal using the advice you got from them.
• If you worked with them, it probably impacted both your careers and they might already be aware they are developing a mentorship.
• Either way, ask them if you can meet for lunch as a way to thank your mentor for their help

How to Find a Mentor for Adults

• Facebook Business Groups
• LinkedIn Groups
• Business Mentoring Sites and Apps
• Career Development Centers
• Charity Work
• Local Business Gatherings
• Co-working Office Places
• Think Tanks and Incubators

How to Find a Mentor Near Me

• Limit Online Searches to Your Location

How to Find a Business Mentor

How to find a real estate mentor.

• Go to continuous education courses.
• Identify successful brokers in your town, and offer them a good deal to work under them and learn their ways.
• Go to networking events and open houses to meet other real estate professionals.

How to Find a Mentor on LinkedIn 

Use a “find a mentor app” or “find a mentor website”, where can i find a mentor for free, how to find a mentor on reddit.

• Follow members that seem knowledgeable.
• Ask questions. 
• Develop relationships and watch them grow into mentorships organically.

How to Find a Mentor for a Teenager

• Teachers, professors, and other educators
• Boys and Girls Club
• Guest presenters at colleges
• Youth activity leaders

Developing the Mentorship

• Seek all the information you can about them. 
• Find a way to meet when they are a keynote speaker or apply for a job that reports to them.
• Follow up, thank them for their time, and ask questions.
• When you achieve a goal using the advice you got from them, reach out again.
• Thank them for the advice they gave you and share the impact it had.
• Offer to assist them or take them to lunch.

Mentoring Relationships Have Several Benefits for the Mentor Too!

• Helping others that are struggling
• Building a legacy
• Filling time in retirement
• Building a team to help achieve more than they can achieve on their own

Go Forth and Become Titans of Industry

How to Sell a Business: The Ultimate Guide (2024)

• Define the exit strategy
• Prepare financial statements
• Get an independent business valuation
• Increase the business value of your small business
• Market to potential buyers
• Negotiate terms and sell your business
• Transition period

Step 1: Define the Exit Strategy

• Type of business
• Business structure
• Working with a broker vs. without a broker
• Who will take control of the business after I sell my business?

Type of Business

Business structure.

• Sole Proprietorship
• Partnership
• Corporation
• Comparison of business structures (need to remake chart)

Broker Sales or Private Sales

Selling your small business with a broker.

How Do I Sell My Business Without a Broker?

Who will take control after selling your business.

• Employee Buyouts.
• Plan to sell to a related person upon retirement.
• A competitor approaches you about merging the businesses.

Step 2: Prepare Company Financial Statements

• Tax returns for last 7 years (or the start of business)
• Supplier agreements
• Business licenses and insurance documents
• Proof of intellectual property rights/ownership
• Documentation of all debts and liabilities
• Documentation of all assets
• Anything else you think the buyer might want to know

Step 3: Get an Independent Business Valuation

Valuations Formulas to Know Before You Sell Your Business

• Asset Valuation

Price to Sales Ratio

• Discounted Cash Flow

Asset Valuation Model

Price to earnings ratio, discounted cashflow method.

• Sales and growth
• Cost of capital (inflation assumption of 3% plus the interest rate on a loan)
• Income taxes
• Changes in inventory, accounts payable and accounts receivable
• Investment income
• Depreciation

Step 4: Increase Business Value Before Sale

• Documenting plan going forward like you aren't selling
• Improve financial positions and profit margin.
• Pay attention to the market

Documenting Plan Going Forward Like You Aren't Selling

Improve financial positions and profit margins, pay attention to the market, step 5: market to potential buyers.

• Business brokers
• Online business marketplaces, like UpFlip’s marketplace
• Sell to a top employee
• Sell to a competitor
• Newspaper / online ads
• Ask your social network
• Commercial realtors
• Trade associations
• You're franchisor if you are a franchise.
• Add "Small business for sale near me" in the metadata of posts and images online to trigger results during searches.
• Sell to someone you know.
• Have a third party help you.
• Use digital platforms to sell the business

Sell to Someone you Know

Have a third-party help you, use digital platforms.

Step 6: Negotiate Terms and Sale of Business

• Liabilities
• Period of Time You'll Stay During transition

Period of Time to Stay on after Transition

• Period of time you’ll stay on
• Roles during transition
• Pay during transition

Step 7: Transition Period

23 eCommerce Business Ideas You Can Start Today

Did you know that eCommerce businesses are among the most reliable businesses to start?

Unless you want to become a farmer, there’s no better industry to get into. Over 70% of eCommerce stores that opened in the last five years have stayed in business.

Advancements like dropshipping, print-on-demand, and crowdfunding have made it easier to start a successful online store, but what kind of eCommerce should you get into?

Below, you’ll find 23 eCommerce business ideas to consider. We’ll provide their income potential, startup costs, and a little bit of background to help you decide on the best option for you. Then we’ll give you tips for getting your eCommerce business started.

[su_note note_color="#dbeafc"] Read on, or click on any of the links below to jump to the business idea.

What Are the Best eCommerce Business Ideas?

How to create your own online store, is ecommerce worth it.

• Which eCommerce Business Idea Do You Like? [/su_note]

The best eCommerce business ideas cater to current market demands, offer unique value propositions, and have the potential for scalability and growth. Keep reading for some of the best ideas for starting a successful eCommerce brand.

Many businesses on this list have a wide range of startup costs because there are so many different ways to implement the ideas.

For instance, several can use dropshipping or print-on-demand (POD) fulfillment methods, which make startup costs of less than $1K completely achievable.

Meanwhile, if you’re creating a product (or stock of products) before selling, the costs can be much higher. Designing a product and producing the first batch can cost anywhere from a few thousand to the nearly $30 billion spent on R&D annually by Apple.

We hope this helps explain why some of the ranges in startup costs for these ideas seem so vast.

1. Niche Subscription Boxes

• Average Annual Revenue: $60K to $120K • Average Profit Margins: 5-15% • Startup Costs: $100-$10K • Time to Revenue: 30-90 days • Annual Market Growth Rate: 16.5% • Best For: Organized, process-driven entrepreneurs with expertise in a particular product area and strong marketing skills

With this eCommerce business idea, you curate and sell subscription boxes catering to specific interests, delivering a selection of niche products regularly to customers' doorsteps.

Popular niches for subscription boxes include:

• Specialty foods, like coffee and chocolate
• Jewelry-making and craft supplies
• Gift boxes of unique or healthy snacks
• Natural cosmetics or hair care products

The best products for a subscription startup business are evergreen items that customers will need on a recurring basis. You can also target niches with passionate, learning-oriented audiences, like readers, makers, crafters, and fitness enthusiasts.

2. Personalized Products

• Average Annual Revenue: $114K+ • Average Profit Margins: 10.3% • Startup Costs: $500-$250K • Time to Revenue: 3+ months • Annual Market Growth Rate: 2.0% • Best For: Sales- and marketing-savvy fashionistas tuned into fashion trends, designers, and artists

An eCommerce website that offers customizable and personalized products, such as engraved jewelry or custom apparel, can be an excellent online business idea.

The cheapest way to start your own eCommerce business is to use a print-on-demand service. This saves you the need to worry about shipping costs or inventory management.

If you have the budget, though, you can start a more profitable eCommerce business by investing in equipment to do the customization yourself. That’s how Logo Unlimited grew into a seven-figure screen printing business. Hear their story here:

3. Health and Wellness Products

• Average Annual Revenue: $130K+ • Average Profit Margins: 5.4% • Startup Costs: $100-$3.5M • Time to Revenue: 6-18 months • Annual Market Growth Rate: 0.4% • Best For: Wellness and nutrition professionals, fitness experts, and athletes who excel at organization, sales, and customer service

A 2022 report from McKinsey & Company estimates the global market value of wellness products to be $1.5 trillion, with an annual growth rate of 5-10%.

Online stores selling health and wellness products can be highly lucrative eCommerce businesses because of this high demand. Popular product categories include:

• Supplements
• Meal replacement bars and shakes
• Fitness equipment
• Organic skin care products
• Natural and herbal health remedies

This can be an excellent eCommerce business idea on its own, or you can sell related products as an extra revenue stream for an online fitness coaching service, wellness blog, or similar online business.

4. Home and Living Accessories

• Average Annual Revenue: $3.9M+ • Average Profit Margins: 8.53% • Startup Costs: $2,500-$3.5M • Time to Revenue: 6-18 months • Annual Market Growth Rate: 0.5% • Best For: Designers, artists, makers, and crafty entrepreneurs with strong digital marketing skills

A store selling stylish home and living products—think decor, organization solutions, and smart home gadgets—is one of the top eCommerce business ideas for interior designers and other home furnishings experts.

Depending on your skills, you can build your online business from items you make yourself, or you can set up a business online with curated high-quality products made by other online or local businesses.

Like with other store ideas, the best way to build a successful brand in home accessories is to focus on a niche. This spares you the need to compete with every other eCommerce store in the home goods niche.

For example, selling kitchen and dining mats or natural, sustainably sourced products can be a profitable eCommerce business idea.

5. Eco-Friendly Products

• Average Annual Revenue: $11.5M+ • Average Profit Margins: 5.7% • Startup Costs: $500-$250K • Time to Revenue: 3+ months • Annual Market Growth Rate: 1.2% • Best For: Inventors and makers passionate about sustainability

Customers today are eager for eCommerce businesses focused on eco-friendly and sustainable products.

You can start your own eCommerce website catering to environmentally conscious consumers in a range of niches, from natural cosmetics to upcycled or natural products for the home or office.

6. Print-on-Demand Merchandise

• Average Annual Revenue: $1.6M • Average Profit Margins: 4.3% • Startup Costs: $500-$250K • Time to Revenue: 3+ months • Annual Market Growth Rate: -5.6% • Best For: Visual artists and graphic designers with strong digital marketing skills

POD business models are trending for good reason. This is the easiest way to start an eCommerce business because you don’t need to worry about inventory or shipping—just upload your designs and let the eCommerce website take care of the rest.

Ryan Hogue was working two jobs before he started his own website selling print-on-demand products. Now he’s a multi-million dollar Amazon seller with a profitable eCommerce business that brings in more than $50,000 a month. Learn more in this interview:

7. Dropshipping Store

• Average Annual Revenue: $36K-$50K • Average Profit Margins: 5% • Startup Costs: $150-$500 • Time to Revenue: 1-3 months • Annual Market Growth Rate: 25% • Best For: Those with marketing and eCommerce skills

Dropshipping is similar to POD. With this type of eCommerce site, you partner with other eCommerce entrepreneurs to sell their products in your shop online.

Like POD, dropshipping eCommerce stores don’t need to worry about inventory or shipping. They require even less effort because you don’t need to do any designing—you literally just sell products made and shipped by others. That makes dropshipping one of the easiest and most profitable eCommerce business ideas. 

Dropshipping helped Heather Johnson build her eCommerce website from a side hustle into $15,000 in monthly revenue. Hear her advice in this interview:

8. Online Craft and Handmade Goods

• Average Annual Revenue: $114K+ • Average Profit Margins: 10.3% • Startup Costs: $500-$250K • Time to Revenue: 3+ months • Annual Market Growth Rate: 2.0% • Best For: Crafters, makers, designers, and artists with strong sales and marketing skills

Even when they do their shopping online, people love high-quality products that feel personal and artfully made. An eCommerce site selling handmade goods delivers this and is the best eCommerce business for crafty and creative entrepreneurs.

You can sell just about any kind of product in eCommerce. Popular niches include jewelry, fabric crafts such as knitted or crocheted goods, woodworking items, or wedding products such as favors and gift boxes for the wedding party.

Candles are another handmade product ideal for selling online. Watch the interview below to learn how Blk Sunflower grew to six-figure sales in less than two years:

9. Pet Products and Accessories

• Average Annual Revenue: $1.6M+ • Average Profit Margins: 1.9% • Startup Costs: $500-$250K • Time to Revenue: 3+ months • Annual Market Growth Rate: 0.8% • Best For: Veterinarians, pet owners, animal lovers, inventors, and designers

From pet food to animal health care products and accessories like collars, clothing, and costumes, there are lots of potentially profitable eCommerce business ideas in the pet care niche.

Considering that the pet food industry alone was valued at $99 billion in 2022, there is a lot of money to go around in this niche, and eCommerce businesses related to pet products have a lot of growth potential.

Marshall Morris has built a very successful business in the pet care niche with I Heart Dogs, with more than 50 million followers and an average revenue of $22 million a year. Hear his story in this interview:

10. Smartphone Accessories

• Average Annual Revenue: $2.7M+ • Average Profit Margins: 11.11% • Startup Costs: $100-$3.5M • Time to Revenue: 6-18 months • Annual Market Growth Rate: 2.2% • Best For: Tech and trend experts skilled at marketing and organization

Just about everyone has a smartphone. You don’t need to sell the smartphones themselves to turn this into a great eCommerce business idea.

Another great eCommerce product idea is to sell related products, like phone cases, chargers, screen protectors, and earbuds.

This is one of those eCommerce ideas that offers a lot of flexibility and variety. If you’re a maker or artist, you can create your own designs and products. Those whose skills are more in digital marketing and sales can focus their eCommerce website on reselling products made by other people.

11. Online Grocery Store

• Average Annual Revenue: $9.3M+ • Average Profit Margins: 1.8% • Startup Costs: $100K-$3.5M • Time to Revenue: 6-18 months • Annual Market Growth Rate: 0.8% • Best For: Effective team builders, managers, and supply chain pros, as well as organized entrepreneurs with excellent customer service skills

An online grocery store is a unique business plan that can offer a lot of growth potential. In the past, the majority of people bought groceries from local stores, but the rise of food delivery has started to shift that. eCommerce platforms offer shoppers more convenience and choice and are rising in popularity.

One great thing about the grocery niche is that there’s a huge number of existing customers. After all, everybody needs food—you just need to convince them to buy it from your eCommerce website to grow a successful business.

12. Vintage and Antique Goods

• Average Annual Revenue: $60K-$120K • Average Profit Margins: 5-15% • Startup Cost: $100-$1K • Time to Revenue: 30-90 days • Annual Market Growth Rate: -9.3% • Best For: Shoppers, collectors, and thrifters

Not every great eCommerce product idea is one you make from scratch or sell new. Vintage items and collectibles have long been among the most popular eCommerce industries.

Getting your inventory for this kind of store can be very affordable, too. You can buy items from thrift stores, yard sales, flea markets, or storage unit auctions at a great price, then resell them for what they’re really worth to make a profit.

That’s how Mike Wilson got started with Golden State Pickers, and today he makes upwards of $30,000 a month as an eBay reseller. Learn how he grew his business here:

13. Tech Gadgets and Accessories

• Average Annual Revenue: $2.3M • Average Profit Margins: 5.5% • Startup Costs: $500-$250K • Time to Revenue: 3+ months • Annual Market Growth Rate: 0.6% • Best For: Electronics, technology, and repair pros; detail-oriented and mechanically-minded entrepreneurs

For tech-minded entrepreneurs, selling gadgets and accessories, like headphones, smartwatches, and tech-related gifts, is among the top eCommerce ideas.

The top trending eCommerce product idea categories related to tech include:

• Screen protectors
• Bluetooth headphones
• Computer and phone cases
• Wireless charging stations
• Wearable devices

Using an online store builder platform, you can quickly get up and running and start a profitable eCommerce business in any of the above categories.

14. Digital Products and Courses

• Average Annual Revenue: $234K+ • Average Profit Margins: 5.8% • Startup Costs: $100-$1K • Time to Revenue: 1-3 months • Annual Market Growth Rate: 1.1% • Best For: People with niche or in-demand skills and expertise

Lots of people turn to the internet when they want to learn a new skill. This puts online courses among the top eCommerce business ideas—and you don’t actually need to be an expert in the niche to get started with an online education business.

Jacques Hopkins played piano as a hobby before starting Piano in 21 Days. Now, he makes $40,000 a month selling his online courses, giving him the flexibility and freedom he lacked as an engineer. Hear his story in this podcast:

One great thing about starting an online education business: It doesn’t cost much to start. Jacques's initial budget was around $150 a month. While it can take a lot of time and effort to create an online course or digital product, once it’s ready to sell, the time investment is minimal.

As far as how to reach customers, you can sell courses through your own website or go through one of the online learning platforms that already exist, like Kajabi , Skillshare , or Teachable .

15. Online Plant Nursery

• Average Annual Revenue: $2.8M+ • Average Profit Margins: 3.4% • Startup Costs: $1K-$100K • Time to Revenue: 3+ months • Annual Market Growth Rate: 0.8% • Best For: Gardeners and plant experts with strong networking and marketing skills

Not all eCommerce business ideas are techy. For those who love the outdoors and have a green thumb, you can start an online store selling seeds, tools, and other gardening accessories.

Another option is to sell the things you grow. Rane Roatta started a tropical fruit farm from scratch and grew it to a seven-figure revenue, selling mostly online. Hear how he did it in this interview:

16. Athleisure and Activewear

• Average Annual Revenue: $1.6M+ • Average Profit Margins: 2.9% • Startup Costs: $100K-$3.5M • Time to Revenue: 6-18 months • Annual Market Growth Rate: 0.8% • Best For: Creative athletes, fitness experts, fashion designers, and sports and fitness enthusiasts

The global apparel market for activewear was valued at over $319 billion in 2022, and that’s expected to soar to over $450 billion by 2028.

A clothing business selling this niche apparel product is among the top eCommerce business ideas for entrepreneurs who like both fashion and fitness. This kind of eCommerce store can also make a nice supplement to an online fitness coaching business or YouTube fitness influencer.

17. Online Beauty Store

• Average Annual Revenue: $1.4M+ • Average Profit Margins: 5.7% • Startup Costs: $500-$250K • Time to Revenue: 3+ months • Annual Market Growth Rate: 1.2% • Best For: Makeup artists, beauty influencers, cosmetic chemists, and hair and skin care experts

If you’re looking for niche examples with high profit potential, the beauty industry is a great choice. Revenue for beauty and personal care products exceeded $625 billion in 2023, and there are a variety of eCommerce business ideas within the niche to choose from.

Charmaine Nicole founded her skin and hair care product lines based on her personal challenges finding products designed for people of color. Today, it makes more than $75,000 a month. Hear her story in this interview:

18. Smart Home Devices

If you’re wondering where to find eCommerce business ideas, one place to start is right at home. Smart home devices have surged in popularity, and you can start a profitable eCommerce business selling these niche products to eager consumers.

You don’t need to be a programmer or inventor to start this business, either. You can build off of existing control systems, like Alexa and Google Home, to bring customers new ways to make their day-to-day life more convenient.

19. Online Toy Store

• Average Annual Revenue: $1.1M+ • Average Profit Margins: 11.79% • Startup Costs: $500-$250K • Time to Revenue: 3+ months • Annual Market Growth Rate: 0.8% • Best For: Parents, educators, collectors, gamers, and other fun-loving entrepreneurs

Entertainment is one of the best eCommerce business ideas, but it’s often overlooked—and that makes it an excellent niche for people looking to open unique online stores.

There are a lot of ways you can go with this kind of online store. Some ideas of things to sell include:

• Educational toys for kids
• Collectible or antique toys
• Eco-friendly toys made from sustainable materials
• Unique board games
• Supplies for tabletop gamers (dice, figurines, etc.)

20. Remote Work Accessories

In 2023, 12.7% of employees work from home, and another 28.2% work a hybrid schedule.

That’s a lot of potential customers for an eCommerce site selling products tailored to remote workers, such as ergonomic office furniture, noise-canceling headphones, and home office gadgets.

21. Personal Safety Equipment

• Average Annual Revenue: $15.9M+ • Average Profit Margins: 4.7% • Startup Costs: $500-$3.5M • Time to Revenue: 6-18 months • Annual Market Growth Rate: 5.90% • Best For: Entrepreneurs in healthcare, manufacturing, and similar industries that use protective gear

During the pandemic, there was a sharp increase in the need for personal safety equipment like face masks and gloves.

The fact is, though, that lots of people need these items on a daily basis, and not just in the medical field. Gloves, goggles, face shields, head protection, and ear protection are necessary tools in a range of trades, from house cleaners and waste management pros to construction workers, welders, and athletes.

If you’re an inventor, you can launch a startup business idea to fill a gap in the current personal safety equipment market. Selling existing products targeted to a specific niche can also be an excellent eCommerce business, especially if you have expertise in what that target customer needs from their gear.

22. Wedding Supplies and Attire

• Average Annual Revenue: $670K+ • Average Profit Margins: 11.79% • Startup Costs: $1,000-$3.5M • Time to Revenue: 6-18 months • Annual Market Growth Rate: 1.1% • Best For: Designers, event planners, and fashion and trend experts

The global market for the wedding industry is huge, generating over $160 billion in revenue in 2020.

People want their big day to be perfect, and you can help people create that dream wedding experience by starting a wedding supplies business online.

Like with other options on this list, there are multiple niches to explore. Just to give some niche examples: Fashion designers can make handmade wedding gowns, or a graphic designer could create personalized wedding favors.

23. Books and Journals

• Average Annual Revenue: $960K+ • Average Profit Margins: 12.03% • Startup Costs: $1,000-$3.5M • Time to Revenue: 6-18 months • Annual Market Growth Rate: 2% • Best For: Writers, editors, educators, and creative entrepreneurs with strong communication skills

An online bookstore can be an excellent eCommerce business idea for someone who loves reading, writing, and learning.

You can create the books yourself and sell them as physical copies or digital products, or you can curate a list of books written by others that all center on a specific niche.

There are other unique business ideas in this niche, too. For example, Case Kenny turned his expertise and passion for mental health into a guided mindfulness journal business, and he has made more than $5.3 million in revenue since he launched in 2020. Hear his story in this interview:

• Choose a platform. There are many platforms to choose from, such as Shopify , WooCommerce , and BigCommerce . Each platform has its pros and cons, so do some research to find the one that best suits your needs.
• Choose a domain name and web hosting. Your domain name is your website's address, and web hosting determines where your online files will be stored. You can find affordable domain names and web hosting plans from many different providers.
• Design your store. Once you have a platform and web hosting, you can start designing your store. Choose a theme or template, then add your categories and pages.
• Add products. Add your products to your store. Include images, descriptions, and prices. You’ll also have the option to set up shipping and payment options.
• Promote your store. Once your store is up and running, you need to promote it so people can find it. You can do this through social media, search engine optimization, and paid advertising.

Creating your own online store requires significant effort, but it can also be very rewarding. By following these steps, you can create a successful online store that sells your products to customers all over the world.

It absolutely can be!

As you’ll see from the many eCommerce entrepreneurs interviewed by UpFlip, starting your own eCommerce business can help you achieve a range of personal or professional goals, whether you want to supplement brick-and-mortar sales or find a more flexible way to make a living so you can ditch your day job.

Which eCommerce Business Idea Do You Like?

Now that you’ve seen bunches of online store ideas, which one strikes your fancy? Do you have ideas for eCommerce businesses that weren’t on the list? We’d love to hear about your eCommerce entrepreneurial journey!

I wanna join the discussion

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Example business plan format

Before you start exploring our library of business plan examples, it's worth taking the time to understand the traditional business plan format . You'll find that the plans in this library and most investor-approved business plans will include the following sections:

Executive summary

The executive summary is an overview of your business and your plans. It comes first in your plan and is ideally only one to two pages. You should also plan to write this section last after you've written your full business plan.

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, and your funding requirements (if you are raising money).

Products & services

The products & services chapter of your business plan is where the real meat of your plan lives. It includes information about the problem that you're solving, your solution, and any traction that proves that it truly meets the need you identified.

This is your chance to explain why you're in business and that people care about what you offer. It needs to go beyond a simple product or service description and get to the heart of why your business works and benefits your customers.

Market analysis

Conducting a market analysis ensures that you fully understand the market that you're entering and who you'll be selling to. This section is where you will showcase all of the information about your potential customers. You'll cover your target market as well as information about the growth of your market and your industry. Focus on outlining why the market you're entering is viable and creating a realistic persona for your ideal customer base.

Competition

Part of defining your opportunity is determining what your competitive advantage may be. To do this effectively you need to get to know your competitors just as well as your target customers. Every business will have competition, if you don't then you're either in a very young industry or there's a good reason no one is pursuing this specific venture.

To succeed, you want to be sure you know who your competitors are, how they operate, necessary financial benchmarks, and how you're business will be positioned. Start by identifying who your competitors are or will be during your market research. Then leverage competitive analysis tools like the competitive matrix and positioning map to solidify where your business stands in relation to the competition.

Marketing & sales

The marketing and sales plan section of your business plan details how you plan to reach your target market segments. You'll address how you plan on selling to those target markets, what your pricing plan is, and what types of activities and partnerships you need to make your business a success.

The operations section covers the day-to-day workflows for your business to deliver your product or service. What's included here fully depends on the type of business. Typically you can expect to add details on your business location, sourcing and fulfillment, use of technology, and any partnerships or agreements that are in place.

Milestones & metrics

The milestones section is where you lay out strategic milestones to reach your business goals.

A good milestone clearly lays out the parameters of the task at hand and sets expectations for its execution. You'll want to include a description of the task, a proposed due date, who is responsible, and eventually a budget that's attached. You don't need extensive project planning in this section, just key milestones that you want to hit and when you plan to hit them.

You should also discuss key metrics, which are the numbers you will track to determine your success. Some common data points worth tracking include conversion rates, customer acquisition costs, profit, etc.

Company & team

Use this section to describe your current team and who you need to hire. If you intend to pursue funding, you'll need to highlight the relevant experience of your team members. Basically, this is where you prove that this is the right team to successfully start and grow the business. You will also need to provide a quick overview of your legal structure and history if you're already up and running.

Financial projections

Your financial plan should include a sales and revenue forecast, profit and loss statement, cash flow statement, and a balance sheet. You may not have established financials of any kind at this stage. Not to worry, rather than getting all of the details ironed out, focus on making projections and strategic forecasts for your business. You can always update your financial statements as you begin operations and start bringing in actual accounting data.

Now, if you intend to pitch to investors or submit a loan application, you'll also need a "use of funds" report in this section. This outlines how you intend to leverage any funding for your business and how much you're looking to acquire. Like the rest of your financials, this can always be updated later on.

The appendix isn't a required element of your business plan. However, it is a useful place to add any charts, tables, definitions, legal notes, or other critical information that supports your plan. These are often lengthier or out-of-place information that simply didn't work naturally into the structure of your plan. You'll notice that in these business plan examples, the appendix mainly includes extended financial statements.

Types of business plans explained

While all business plans cover similar categories, the style and function fully depend on how you intend to use your plan. To get the most out of your plan, it's best to find a format that suits your needs. 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 for external purposes. Typically this is the type of plan you'll need when applying for funding or pitching to investors. It can also be used when training or hiring employees, working with vendors, or in any other situation where the full details of your business must be understood by another individual.

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.

The structure ditches a linear format in favor of a cell-based template. It encourages you to build connections between every element of your business. It's faster to write out and update, and much easier for you, your team, and anyone else to visualize your business operations.

One-page business plan

The true middle ground between the business model canvas and a traditional business plan is the one-page business plan . This format is a simplified version of the traditional plan that focuses on the core aspects of your business.

By starting with a one-page plan , you give yourself a minimal document to build from. You'll typically stick with bullet points and single sentences making it much easier to elaborate or expand sections into a longer-form business plan.

Growth planning

Growth planning is more than a specific type of business plan. It's 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, forecast, review, and refine based on your performance.

It holds all of the benefits of the single-page plan, including the potential to complete it in as little as 27 minutes . However, it's even easier to convert into a more detailed plan thanks to how heavily it's tied to your financials. The overall goal of growth planning isn't to just produce documents that you use once and shelve. Instead, the growth planning process helps you build a healthier company that thrives in times of growth and remain stable through times of crisis.

It's faster, keeps your plan concise, and ensures that your plan is always up-to-date.

Download a free sample business plan template

Ready to start writing your own plan but aren't sure where to start? Download our free business plan template that's been updated for 2024.

This simple, modern, investor-approved business plan template is designed to make planning easy. It's a proven format that has helped over 1 million businesses write business plans for bank loans, funding pitches, business expansion, and even business sales. It includes additional instructions for how to write each section and is formatted to be SBA-lender approved. All you need to do is fill in the blanks.

How to use an example business plan to help you write your own

How do you know what elements need to be included in your business plan, especially if you've never written one before? Looking at examples can help you visualize what a full, traditional plan looks like, so you know what you're aiming for before you get started. Here's how to get the most out of a sample business plan.

Choose a business plan example from a similar type of company

You don't need to find an example business plan that's an exact fit for your business. Your business location, target market, and even your particular product or service may not match up exactly with the plans in our gallery. But, you don't need an exact match for it to be helpful. Instead, look for a plan that's related to the type of business you're starting.

For example, if you want to start a vegetarian restaurant, a plan for a steakhouse can be a great match. While the specifics of your actual startup will differ, the elements you'd want to include in your restaurant's business plan are likely to be very similar.

Use a business plan example as a guide

Every startup and small business is unique, so you'll want to avoid copying an example business plan word for word. It just won't be as helpful, since each business is unique. You want your plan to be a useful tool for starting a business —and getting funding if you need it.

One of the key benefits of writing a business plan is simply going through the process. When you sit down to write, you'll naturally think through important pieces, like your startup costs, your target market , and any market analysis or research you'll need to do to be successful.

You'll also look at where you stand among your competition (and everyone has competition), and lay out your goals and the milestones you'll need to meet. Looking at an example business plan's financials section can be helpful because you can see what should be included, but take them with a grain of salt. Don't assume that financial projections for a sample company will fit your own small business.

If you're looking for more resources to help you get started, our business planning guide is a good place to start. You can also download our free business plan template .

Think of business planning as a process, instead of a document

Think about business planning as something you do often , rather than a document you create once and never look at again. If you take the time to write a plan that really fits your own company, it will be a better, more useful tool to grow your business. It should also make it easier to share your vision and strategy so everyone on your team is on the same page.

Adjust your plan regularly to use it as a business management tool

Keep in mind that businesses that use their plan as a management tool to help run their business grow 30 percent faster than those businesses that don't. For that to be true for your company, you'll think of a part of your business planning process as tracking your actual results against your financial forecast on a regular basis.

If things are going well, your plan will help you think about how you can re-invest in your business. If you find that you're not meeting goals, you might need to adjust your budgets or your sales forecast. Either way, tracking your progress compared to your plan can help you adjust quickly when you identify challenges and opportunities—it's one of the most powerful things you can do to grow your business.

Prepare to pitch your business

If you're planning to pitch your business to investors or seek out any funding, you'll need a pitch deck to accompany your business plan. A pitch deck is designed to inform people about your business. You want your pitch deck to be short and easy to follow, so it's best to keep your presentation under 20 slides.

Your pitch deck and pitch presentation are likely some of the first things that an investor will see to learn more about your company. So, you need to be informative and pique their interest. Luckily, just like you can leverage an example business plan template to write your plan, we also have a gallery of over 50 pitch decks for you to reference.

With this gallery, you have the option to view specific industry pitches or get inspired by real-world pitch deck examples.

Ready to get started?

Now that you know how to use an example business plan to help you write a plan for your business, it's time to find the right one.

Use the search bar below to get started and find the right match for your business idea.

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11.4 The Business Plan

Learning objectives.

By the end of this section, you will be able to:

• Describe the different purposes of a business plan
• Describe and develop the components of a brief business plan
• Describe and develop the components of a full business plan

Unlike the brief or lean formats introduced so far, the business plan is a formal document used for the long-range planning of a company’s operation. It typically includes background information, financial information, and a summary of the business. Investors nearly always request a formal business plan because it is an integral part of their evaluation of whether to invest in a company. Although nothing in business is permanent, a business plan typically has components that are more “set in stone” than a business model canvas , which is more commonly used as a first step in the planning process and throughout the early stages of a nascent business. A business plan is likely to describe the business and industry, market strategies, sales potential, and competitive analysis, as well as the company’s long-term goals and objectives. An in-depth formal business plan would follow at later stages after various iterations to business model canvases. The business plan usually projects financial data over a three-year period and is typically required by banks or other investors to secure funding. The business plan is a roadmap for the company to follow over multiple years.

Some entrepreneurs prefer to use the canvas process instead of the business plan, whereas others use a shorter version of the business plan, submitting it to investors after several iterations. There are also entrepreneurs who use the business plan earlier in the entrepreneurial process, either preceding or concurrently with a canvas. For instance, Chris Guillebeau has a one-page business plan template in his book The $100 Startup . 48 His version is basically an extension of a napkin sketch without the detail of a full business plan. As you progress, you can also consider a brief business plan (about two pages)—if you want to support a rapid business launch—and/or a standard business plan.

As with many aspects of entrepreneurship, there are no clear hard and fast rules to achieving entrepreneurial success. You may encounter different people who want different things (canvas, summary, full business plan), and you also have flexibility in following whatever tool works best for you. Like the canvas, the various versions of the business plan are tools that will aid you in your entrepreneurial endeavor.

Business Plan Overview

Most business plans have several distinct sections ( Figure 11.16 ). The business plan can range from a few pages to twenty-five pages or more, depending on the purpose and the intended audience. For our discussion, we’ll describe a brief business plan and a standard business plan. If you are able to successfully design a business model canvas, then you will have the structure for developing a clear business plan that you can submit for financial consideration.

Both types of business plans aim at providing a picture and roadmap to follow from conception to creation. If you opt for the brief business plan, you will focus primarily on articulating a big-picture overview of your business concept.

The full business plan is aimed at executing the vision concept, dealing with the proverbial devil in the details. Developing a full business plan will assist those of you who need a more detailed and structured roadmap, or those of you with little to no background in business. The business planning process includes the business model, a feasibility analysis, and a full business plan, which we will discuss later in this section. Next, we explore how a business plan can meet several different needs.

Purposes of a Business Plan

A business plan can serve many different purposes—some internal, others external. As we discussed previously, you can use a business plan as an internal early planning device, an extension of a napkin sketch, and as a follow-up to one of the canvas tools. A business plan can be an organizational roadmap , that is, an internal planning tool and working plan that you can apply to your business in order to reach your desired goals over the course of several years. The business plan should be written by the owners of the venture, since it forces a firsthand examination of the business operations and allows them to focus on areas that need improvement.

Refer to the business venture throughout the document. Generally speaking, a business plan should not be written in the first person.

A major external purpose for the business plan is as an investment tool that outlines financial projections, becoming a document designed to attract investors. In many instances, a business plan can complement a formal investor’s pitch. In this context, the business plan is a presentation plan, intended for an outside audience that may or may not be familiar with your industry, your business, and your competitors.

You can also use your business plan as a contingency plan by outlining some “what-if” scenarios and exploring how you might respond if these scenarios unfold. Pretty Young Professional launched in November 2010 as an online resource to guide an emerging generation of female leaders. The site focused on recent female college graduates and current students searching for professional roles and those in their first professional roles. It was founded by four friends who were coworkers at the global consultancy firm McKinsey. But after positions and equity were decided among them, fundamental differences of opinion about the direction of the business emerged between two factions, according to the cofounder and former CEO Kathryn Minshew . “I think, naively, we assumed that if we kicked the can down the road on some of those things, we’d be able to sort them out,” Minshew said. Minshew went on to found a different professional site, The Muse , and took much of the editorial team of Pretty Young Professional with her. 49 Whereas greater planning potentially could have prevented the early demise of Pretty Young Professional, a change in planning led to overnight success for Joshua Esnard and The Cut Buddy team. Esnard invented and patented the plastic hair template that he was selling online out of his Fort Lauderdale garage while working a full-time job at Broward College and running a side business. Esnard had hundreds of boxes of Cut Buddies sitting in his home when he changed his marketing plan to enlist companies specializing in making videos go viral. It worked so well that a promotional video for the product garnered 8 million views in hours. The Cut Buddy sold over 4,000 products in a few hours when Esnard only had hundreds remaining. Demand greatly exceeded his supply, so Esnard had to scramble to increase manufacturing and offered customers two-for-one deals to make up for delays. This led to selling 55,000 units, generating $700,000 in sales in 2017. 50 After appearing on Shark Tank and landing a deal with Daymond John that gave the “shark” a 20-percent equity stake in return for $300,000, The Cut Buddy has added new distribution channels to include retail sales along with online commerce. Changing one aspect of a business plan—the marketing plan—yielded success for The Cut Buddy.

Link to Learning

Watch this video of Cut Buddy’s founder, Joshua Esnard, telling his company’s story to learn more.

If you opt for the brief business plan, you will focus primarily on articulating a big-picture overview of your business concept. This version is used to interest potential investors, employees, and other stakeholders, and will include a financial summary “box,” but it must have a disclaimer, and the founder/entrepreneur may need to have the people who receive it sign a nondisclosure agreement (NDA) . The full business plan is aimed at executing the vision concept, providing supporting details, and would be required by financial institutions and others as they formally become stakeholders in the venture. Both are aimed at providing a picture and roadmap to go from conception to creation.

Types of Business Plans

The brief business plan is similar to an extended executive summary from the full business plan. This concise document provides a broad overview of your entrepreneurial concept, your team members, how and why you will execute on your plans, and why you are the ones to do so. You can think of a brief business plan as a scene setter or—since we began this chapter with a film reference—as a trailer to the full movie. The brief business plan is the commercial equivalent to a trailer for Field of Dreams , whereas the full plan is the full-length movie equivalent.

Brief Business Plan or Executive Summary

As the name implies, the brief business plan or executive summary summarizes key elements of the entire business plan, such as the business concept, financial features, and current business position. The executive summary version of the business plan is your opportunity to broadly articulate the overall concept and vision of the company for yourself, for prospective investors, and for current and future employees.

A typical executive summary is generally no longer than a page, but because the brief business plan is essentially an extended executive summary, the executive summary section is vital. This is the “ask” to an investor. You should begin by clearly stating what you are asking for in the summary.

In the business concept phase, you’ll describe the business, its product, and its markets. Describe the customer segment it serves and why your company will hold a competitive advantage. This section may align roughly with the customer segments and value-proposition segments of a canvas.

Next, highlight the important financial features, including sales, profits, cash flows, and return on investment. Like the financial portion of a feasibility analysis, the financial analysis component of a business plan may typically include items like a twelve-month profit and loss projection, a three- or four-year profit and loss projection, a cash-flow projection, a projected balance sheet, and a breakeven calculation. You can explore a feasibility study and financial projections in more depth in the formal business plan. Here, you want to focus on the big picture of your numbers and what they mean.

The current business position section can furnish relevant information about you and your team members and the company at large. This is your opportunity to tell the story of how you formed the company, to describe its legal status (form of operation), and to list the principal players. In one part of the extended executive summary, you can cover your reasons for starting the business: Here is an opportunity to clearly define the needs you think you can meet and perhaps get into the pains and gains of customers. You also can provide a summary of the overall strategic direction in which you intend to take the company. Describe the company’s mission, vision, goals and objectives, overall business model, and value proposition.

Rice University’s Student Business Plan Competition, one of the largest and overall best-regarded graduate school business-plan competitions (see Telling Your Entrepreneurial Story and Pitching the Idea ), requires an executive summary of up to five pages to apply. 51 , 52 Its suggested sections are shown in Table 11.2 .

Are You Ready?

Create a brief business plan.

Fill out a canvas of your choosing for a well-known startup: Uber, Netflix, Dropbox, Etsy, Airbnb, Bird/Lime, Warby Parker, or any of the companies featured throughout this chapter or one of your choice. Then create a brief business plan for that business. See if you can find a version of the company’s actual executive summary, business plan, or canvas. Compare and contrast your vision with what the company has articulated.

• These companies are well established but is there a component of what you charted that you would advise the company to change to ensure future viability?
• Map out a contingency plan for a “what-if” scenario if one key aspect of the company or the environment it operates in were drastically is altered?

Full Business Plan

Even full business plans can vary in length, scale, and scope. Rice University sets a ten-page cap on business plans submitted for the full competition. The IndUS Entrepreneurs , one of the largest global networks of entrepreneurs, also holds business plan competitions for students through its Tie Young Entrepreneurs program. In contrast, business plans submitted for that competition can usually be up to twenty-five pages. These are just two examples. Some components may differ slightly; common elements are typically found in a formal business plan outline. The next section will provide sample components of a full business plan for a fictional business.

Executive Summary

The executive summary should provide an overview of your business with key points and issues. Because the summary is intended to summarize the entire document, it is most helpful to write this section last, even though it comes first in sequence. The writing in this section should be especially concise. Readers should be able to understand your needs and capabilities at first glance. The section should tell the reader what you want and your “ask” should be explicitly stated in the summary.

Describe your business, its product or service, and the intended customers. Explain what will be sold, who it will be sold to, and what competitive advantages the business has. Table 11.3 shows a sample executive summary for the fictional company La Vida Lola.

Business Description

This section describes the industry, your product, and the business and success factors. It should provide a current outlook as well as future trends and developments. You also should address your company’s mission, vision, goals, and objectives. Summarize your overall strategic direction, your reasons for starting the business, a description of your products and services, your business model, and your company’s value proposition. Consider including the Standard Industrial Classification/North American Industry Classification System (SIC/NAICS) code to specify the industry and insure correct identification. The industry extends beyond where the business is located and operates, and should include national and global dynamics. Table 11.4 shows a sample business description for La Vida Lola.

Industry Analysis and Market Strategies

Here you should define your market in terms of size, structure, growth prospects, trends, and sales potential. You’ll want to include your TAM and forecast the SAM . (Both these terms are discussed in Conducting a Feasibility Analysis .) This is a place to address market segmentation strategies by geography, customer attributes, or product orientation. Describe your positioning relative to your competitors’ in terms of pricing, distribution, promotion plan, and sales potential. Table 11.5 shows an example industry analysis and market strategy for La Vida Lola.

Competitive Analysis

The competitive analysis is a statement of the business strategy as it relates to the competition. You want to be able to identify who are your major competitors and assess what are their market shares, markets served, strategies employed, and expected response to entry? You likely want to conduct a classic SWOT analysis (Strengths Weaknesses Opportunities Threats) and complete a competitive-strength grid or competitive matrix. Outline your company’s competitive strengths relative to those of the competition in regard to product, distribution, pricing, promotion, and advertising. What are your company’s competitive advantages and their likely impacts on its success? The key is to construct it properly for the relevant features/benefits (by weight, according to customers) and how the startup compares to incumbents. The competitive matrix should show clearly how and why the startup has a clear (if not currently measurable) competitive advantage. Some common features in the example include price, benefits, quality, type of features, locations, and distribution/sales. Sample templates are shown in Figure 11.17 and Figure 11.18 . A competitive analysis helps you create a marketing strategy that will identify assets or skills that your competitors are lacking so you can plan to fill those gaps, giving you a distinct competitive advantage. When creating a competitor analysis, it is important to focus on the key features and elements that matter to customers, rather than focusing too heavily on the entrepreneur’s idea and desires.

Operations and Management Plan

In this section, outline how you will manage your company. Describe its organizational structure. Here you can address the form of ownership and, if warranted, include an organizational chart/structure. Highlight the backgrounds, experiences, qualifications, areas of expertise, and roles of members of the management team. This is also the place to mention any other stakeholders, such as a board of directors or advisory board(s), and their relevant relationship to the founder, experience and value to help make the venture successful, and professional service firms providing management support, such as accounting services and legal counsel.

Table 11.6 shows a sample operations and management plan for La Vida Lola.

Marketing Plan

Here you should outline and describe an effective overall marketing strategy for your venture, providing details regarding pricing, promotion, advertising, distribution, media usage, public relations, and a digital presence. Fully describe your sales management plan and the composition of your sales force, along with a comprehensive and detailed budget for the marketing plan. Table 11.7 shows a sample marketing plan for La Vida Lola.

Financial Plan

A financial plan seeks to forecast revenue and expenses; project a financial narrative; and estimate project costs, valuations, and cash flow projections. This section should present an accurate, realistic, and achievable financial plan for your venture (see Entrepreneurial Finance and Accounting for detailed discussions about conducting these projections). Include sales forecasts and income projections, pro forma financial statements ( Building the Entrepreneurial Dream Team , a breakeven analysis, and a capital budget. Identify your possible sources of financing (discussed in Conducting a Feasibility Analysis ). Figure 11.19 shows a template of cash-flow needs for La Vida Lola.

Entrepreneur In Action

Laughing man coffee.

Hugh Jackman ( Figure 11.20 ) may best be known for portraying a comic-book superhero who used his mutant abilities to protect the world from villains. But the Wolverine actor is also working to make the planet a better place for real, not through adamantium claws but through social entrepreneurship.

A love of java jolted Jackman into action in 2009, when he traveled to Ethiopia with a Christian humanitarian group to shoot a documentary about the impact of fair-trade certification on coffee growers there. He decided to launch a business and follow in the footsteps of the late Paul Newman, another famous actor turned philanthropist via food ventures.

Jackman launched Laughing Man Coffee two years later; he sold the line to Keurig in 2015. One Laughing Man Coffee café in New York continues to operate independently, investing its proceeds into charitable programs that support better housing, health, and educational initiatives within fair-trade farming communities. 55 Although the New York location is the only café, the coffee brand is still distributed, with Keurig donating an undisclosed portion of Laughing Man proceeds to those causes (whereas Jackman donates all his profits). The company initially donated its profits to World Vision, the Christian humanitarian group Jackman accompanied in 2009. In 2017, it created the Laughing Man Foundation to be more active with its money management and distribution.

• You be the entrepreneur. If you were Jackman, would you have sold the company to Keurig? Why or why not?
• Would you have started the Laughing Man Foundation?
• What else can Jackman do to aid fair-trade practices for coffee growers?

What Can You Do?

Textbooks for change.

Founded in 2014, Textbooks for Change uses a cross-compensation model, in which one customer segment pays for a product or service, and the profit from that revenue is used to provide the same product or service to another, underserved segment. Textbooks for Change partners with student organizations to collect used college textbooks, some of which are re-sold while others are donated to students in need at underserved universities across the globe. The organization has reused or recycled 250,000 textbooks, providing 220,000 students with access through seven campus partners in East Africa. This B-corp social enterprise tackles a problem and offers a solution that is directly relevant to college students like yourself. Have you observed a problem on your college campus or other campuses that is not being served properly? Could it result in a social enterprise?

Work It Out

Franchisee set out.

A franchisee of East Coast Wings, a chain with dozens of restaurants in the United States, has decided to part ways with the chain. The new store will feature the same basic sports-bar-and-restaurant concept and serve the same basic foods: chicken wings, burgers, sandwiches, and the like. The new restaurant can’t rely on the same distributors and suppliers. A new business plan is needed.

• What steps should the new restaurant take to create a new business plan?
• Should it attempt to serve the same customers? Why or why not?

This New York Times video, “An Unlikely Business Plan,” describes entrepreneurial resurgence in Detroit, Michigan.

• 48 Chris Guillebeau. The $100 Startup: Reinvent the Way You Make a Living, Do What You Love, and Create a New Future . New York: Crown Business/Random House, 2012.
• 49 Jonathan Chan. “What These 4 Startup Case Studies Can Teach You about Failure.” Foundr.com . July 12, 2015. https://foundr.com/4-startup-case-studies-failure/
• 50 Amy Feldman. “Inventor of the Cut Buddy Paid YouTubers to Spark Sales. He Wasn’t Ready for a Video to Go Viral.” Forbes. February 15, 2017. https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbestreptalks/2017/02/15/inventor-of-the-cut-buddy-paid-youtubers-to-spark-sales-he-wasnt-ready-for-a-video-to-go-viral/#3eb540ce798a
• 51 Jennifer Post. “National Business Plan Competitions for Entrepreneurs.” Business News Daily . August 30, 2018. https://www.businessnewsdaily.com/6902-business-plan-competitions-entrepreneurs.html
• 52 “Rice Business Plan Competition, Eligibility Criteria and How to Apply.” Rice Business Plan Competition . March 2020. https://rbpc.rice.edu/sites/g/files/bxs806/f/2020%20RBPC%20Eligibility%20Criteria%20and%20How%20to%20Apply_23Oct19.pdf
• 53 “Rice Business Plan Competition, Eligibility Criteria and How to Apply.” Rice Business Plan Competition. March 2020. https://rbpc.rice.edu/sites/g/files/bxs806/f/2020%20RBPC%20Eligibility%20Criteria%20and%20How%20to%20Apply_23Oct19.pdf; Based on 2019 RBPC Competition Rules and Format April 4–6, 2019. https://rbpc.rice.edu/sites/g/files/bxs806/f/2019-RBPC-Competition-Rules%20-Format.pdf
• 54 Foodstart. http://foodstart.com
• 55 “Hugh Jackman Journey to Starting a Social Enterprise Coffee Company.” Giving Compass. April 8, 2018. https://givingcompass.org/article/hugh-jackman-journey-to-starting-a-social-enterprise-coffee-company/

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5 Tips for Writing a Small Business Owner's Biography

• Small Business
• Online Business
• Home Business
• Entrepreneurship
• Operations & Success

Alyssa Gregory is an entrepreneur, writer, and marketer with 20 years of experience in the business world. She is the founder of the Small Business Bonfire, a community for entrepreneurs, and has authored more than 2,500 articles for popular small business websites.

Most professionals, small business owners included, can benefit from having a well-written and professional biography. The main goals of a professional biography are to give the reader an accurate sense of who you are and what you do, establish expertise and credibility, and qualify your experience and background. An interesting biography that accomplishes all of these things can help you develop trust in you and your brand, making it a powerful tool for your business.

There are many ways a small business owner can use a biography. Some ideas include:

• Incorporating it into your marketing materials
• Providing it to clients with proposals
• Submitting it with speaking, presenting, and teaching applications
• Posting it on your website and blog
• Including it in any books, e-books, reports, or professional documents you create

While you may have several different versions of your bio that you use in the different outlets listed above, all versions start with one well-written, comprehensive summary of who you are, where you came from and what you do. In fact, you should have three versions of your bio to start — short (one to two sentences), medium (one to two paragraphs) and long (three to four paragraphs).

To get you started, here are some tips for writing a biography that you can use in your small business over and over again.

Include the Basics

One of the great things about a well-written bio is flexibility. You can include as much or as little information as you want. Typically, though, there are some universal elements you will usually want to include in your bio. For example, most bios include:

• Current job, business or professional experience
• Publications or presentations you have completed
• Educational background
• Professional memberships you currently hold
• Awards, honors, and certifications you have received
• Your contact information

Grab the Reader's Attention

Remember that most people who will be reading your bio are strangers who know very little about you. Start by introducing yourself and using an attention-grabber to draw the reader in and make them want to learn more about you. Using a conversational voice throughout will also make it easier for your readers to follow along.

Write It In Third Person

Many professional bios are written in the third person, using "he/she/they" instead of "I." Presenting your bio as if someone else wrote it for you provides a distinction between you and the writer (even if it is understood that it is the same person). The third person also enhances professionalism and makes people more willing to trust what is being said.

Get a Little Personal

Don't be afraid to include some personal or unique information about yourself in your bio. Consider including a headshot of yourself, quotes or testimonials from clients , and links to examples of your work. You may also want to mention whether or not you're married with children and where you reside. Depending on the outlet, you may even want to add a sentence or two about your favorite hobbies or pastimes.

Update It Frequently

Your experience and qualifications change, so your bio should not be viewed as a static document. You should modify and update it periodically to reflect changes and to keep it fresh. And make sure you're using the most recent version whenever you pull a copy to use in your business.

As a small business owner, a bio gives you an opportunity to summarize your qualifications, highlight some interesting facts about yourself, and inject a little of your personality. Start by writing a draft using the tips above, then hand it off to a friend or colleague for review. Use the feedback you receive to fine-tune your bio and create a few different versions. Before you know it, you will have a very powerful tool to use in your small business.

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• Building Your Business
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• Business Plans

How To Write the Company Summary in a Business Plan

Company Overviews Show How the Pieces of a Business Work

What To Include in Your Company Summary

Getting started on your company summary, examples of a company summary, tips for writing a company summary, frequently asked questions (faqs).

Image by Theresa Chiechi © The Balance 2019

The company summary in a business plan —also known as the company description or overview—is a high-level look at what you are as a company and how all the elements of the business fit together.

An effective company summary should give readers, such as potential investors, a quick and easy way to understand your business, its products and services, its mission and goals, how it meets the needs of its target market, and how it stands out from competitors.

Before you begin writing your company summary, remember to stick to the big picture. Other sections of your business plan will provide the specific details of your business. The summary synthesizes all of that information into one page.

Key Takeaways

• The company summary in a business plan provides an overview containing a description of your company at a high level.
• A company summary might include your mission statement, goals, target market, products, and services, as well as how it stands out from competitors.
• The company summary can also be customized for a specific objective or audience, such as to secure financing from investors or banks.

The company summary section of a business plan should include:

• Business name
• Legal structure (i.e., sole proprietorship ,  LLC ,  S Corporation , or  partnership )
• Management team
• Mission statement
• Company history (when it started and important milestones)
• Description of products and services and how they meet the needs of the marketplace
• Target market (who will buy your product or services)
• Competitive advantage (what sets you apart in the marketplace to allow you to succeed)
• Objectives and goals (plans for growth)

The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) website has a lot of information available if you've never written a business plan before. The SBA provides examples of business plans for different types of companies.

Before you begin, you should decide whether you want to go with a traditional business plan format or a lean startup format. The traditional format is appropriate if you want to have a comprehensive, detail-oriented plan or if you are requesting financing. The lean startup format is best for those who have a relatively simple business and want to start it quickly or as a starting point for those who plan to refine and change the plan regularly.

No matter which type of business plan you choose, you'll need to include a company summary.

Although there are many blueprints for writing a company summary, below are a couple of examples to get you started.

Consulting Firm

You can opt for a concise opening paragraph such as this one:

XYZ Consulting is a new company that provides expertise in search marketing solutions for businesses worldwide, including website promotion, online advertising, and search engine optimization techniques to improve its clients' positioning in search engines. We cater to the higher education market, including colleges, universities, and professional educational institutions.

Several elements of the company summary are covered here, including the name (XYZ Consulting), history (new company), description of services (web promotion, SEO, advertising) and why it's needed (improve positioning in search engines), and the target market (higher education).

Starbucks Coffee Company Overview

Starbucks breaks down the company overview on their website into the following sections:

"Our Heritage"

Here the company describes how long the company has been in business, citing its roots, the founder, Howard Schultz, and how he was inspired to open the first Starbucks in Seattle after visiting Italy. It briefly mentions the growth of millions of customers and how the company's heritage remains important to its long-term success.

"Coffee & Craft"

The overview describes the high-quality products and services being offered and why they stand out from the competition by describing the detailed process of choosing and growing coffee beans. You'll notice they don't suggest their product is a low-cost product but instead provide a high level of "experiences to savor."

"Our Partners"

Starbucks describes its employees as partners that work together in an inclusive manner to achieve success. It highlights how they are at the center of the experience.

"Pursuit of Doing Good"

The company describes its values and how it gives back to the community.

Tesla Inc. Business Overview

Below are excerpts of the business overview pages from the annual 10-K filing on Dec. 31, 2021, for Tesla Inc.

"We design, develop, manufacture, sell and lease high-performance fully electric vehicles and energy generation and storage systems, and offer services related to our products. We generally sell our products directly to customers, including through our website and retail locations.

We also continue to grow our customer-facing infrastructure through a global network of vehicle service centers, mobile service technicians, body shops, supercharger stations and destination chargers to accelerate the widespread adoption of our products.

We emphasize performance, attractive styling and the safety of our users and workforce in the design and manufacture of our products and are continuing to develop full self-driving technology for improved safety.

Our mission to accelerate the world’s transition to sustainable energy, engineering expertise, vertically integrated business model and focus on user experience differentiate us from other companies."

Competition

Tesla highlights the competitive automotive market and how the company differentiates itself from the larger, more established competitors.

"The worldwide automotive market is highly competitive and we expect it will become even more competitive in the future as we introduce additional vehicles in a broader cross-section of the passenger and commercial vehicle market and expand our vehicles’ capabilities. We believe that our vehicles compete in the market both based on their traditional segment classification as well as based on their propulsion technology.

Competing products typically include internal combustion vehicles from more established automobile manufacturers; however, many established and new automobile manufacturers have entered or have announced plans to enter the market for electric and other alternative fuel vehicles."

Intellectual Property

The company highlights its intellectual property, including trademarks and patents.

"We place a strong emphasis on our innovative approach and proprietary designs which bring intrinsic value and uniqueness to our product portfolio. As part of our business, we seek to protect the underlying intellectual property rights of these innovations and designs such as with respect to patents, trademarks, copyrights, trade secrets and other measures, including through employee and third-party nondisclosure agreements and other contractual arrangements."

Mission Statement

The company highlights its mission statement and its sustainability goals using environmental, social, and governance (ESG) and human capital resources.

"The very purpose of Tesla's existence is to accelerate the world's transition to sustainable energy. We believe the world cannot reduce carbon emissions without addressing both energy generation and consumption, and we are designing and manufacturing a complete energy and transportation ecosystem to achieve this goal. As we expand, we are building each new factory to be more efficient and sustainably designed than the previous one, including with respect to waste reduction and water usage, and we are focused on reducing the carbon footprint of our supply chain."

There are other items you can include in your company summary to expand on the areas that you'd like people to focus on, depending on your objective.

You might provide more information about the company's location, legal structure, and management team. You can also include more information about the:

• Company's history, such as a family business that's been in operation for multiple generations
• Business objectives, including short-term and long-term goals
• Business strengths, highlighting anything that might give your company a competitive advantage in the field

You can also customize the summary if you have a specific objective or a targeted audience. For example, if the goal of your business plan is to secure funding, you might focus on areas that appeal to investors and lending institutions, including:

• Why you're the best person to manage the business
• Your experience in your field, as well as the total years of experience of your management team
• Expertise or special talents of your team, including training, licenses, certifications
• How you plan to make the business a success
• Financial information, such as a high-level discussion of your track record of revenue growth and the financial opportunities that can be realized as a result of securing financing

You may also want to address any areas of perceived weakness by explaining how you'll overcome them or compensate.

How do you write a company overview?

You might provide a description of the company, its location, legal structure, and management team. You can also highlight the company's business objectives, goals, and strengths. You can also customize the summary to a specific audience, such as a bank or lender, focusing on your competitive advantages and highlights of recent financial success.

What should an organizational overview include?

Some of the discussion points to include in a company overview might be:

• Company name and location
• Legal structure such as a sole proprietorship, LLC, or partnership
• Mission statement and management team
• Description of your products and services and how they are needed
• Target market or who are your customers
• Competitive advantage or what makes your company different

The Clute Institute. " Using Business Plans for Teaching Entrepreneurship ," Page 734.

U.S. Small Business Administration. " Write Your Business Plan ."

Starbucks Coffee Company. " Our Company ."

United States Securities and Exchange Commission. " Form 10-K, Annual Report Pursuant to Section 13 or 15(D) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 for the Fiscal Year Ended December 31, 2021, Tesla, Inc., " Pages 3-12.

What is a Form of Ownership Business Plan?

A single person owns and runs a sole proprietorship, and this sole proprietor has the rights to profits and assets of the business. 3 min read updated on February 01, 2023

Many small businesses begin as sole proprietorships. A single person owns and runs a sole proprietorship, and this sole proprietor has the rights to profits and assets of the business. Debts and liabilities are also the responsibility of the owner. Sole proprietorships are a great way to begin a business since they require very little money.

When you own a business , you are only taxed once. A sole proprietorship is not taxed as much as other business types. One person is the owner, so disagreements with other owners don't happen. It's also easy to end this type of business.

Sole Proprietorship Advantages

There are many advantages to having a sole proprietorship. For example:

• This type of business costs the least and is simple to begin.
• The sole proprietor has total control over the business and can make decisions that are best for the enterprise.
• The sole proprietor owns all the income from the business and can reinvest or retain it.
• The money that the business makes goes directly to the owner's personal tax return.
• It's easy to end the business.

Sole Proprietorship Disadvantages

Disadvantages to having a sole proprietorship include:

• Any debts that form are the responsibility of the sole proprietor. All personal and business assets are at risk.
• They can only use money from consumer loans or personal funds to advance the business.
• It might be difficult to attract high-quality employees.
• Not all employee benefits are available in a sole proprietorship.

Sole Proprietorship tax forms are:

• Schedule SE: Self-employment tax
• Form 1040: Individual Income Tax Return
• Employment Tax Forms
• Schedule C: Profit or Loss from Business (also called Schedule C-EZ)
• Form 8829: Expenses for Business Use of Your Home
• Form 1040-ES: Estimated Tax for Individuals
• Form 4562: Depreciation and Amortization

To run a business of this type takes a special kind of person who can handle all the ins and outs of owning a business . The sole proprietor is completely responsible for all business decisions and raising money. Certain employee benefits cannot be completely deducted from the business's income. Sole proprietors need to be aware that some of the costs can be partially deducted later on taxes as an adjustment.

Partnerships

Another form of business ownership is a partnership. Two or more people can share the ownership of a business in a partnership. The law does not set apart partners and owners, just like proprietorships. With a partnership, there should be some kind of agreement so that both parties know what they are responsible for, as well as what each gets if the business were to end. The legal agreement should include who will make decisions, how profits will be distributed, how disagreements will be handled, how partners in the future will enter the business, and what the process is for partners being bought out.

Partners need to figure out how much each will spend on the business and the amount of time they will spend on the business. Partnerships can be formed with other individuals and businesses. It does not cost much to form a partnership, although tax and liability rules are different for partnerships. Think very carefully who to partner up with, since the entire company can be jeopardized if one partner makes a legal or financial mistake.

Partnership Advantages

Partnership advantages include:

• Partnerships are simple to start but take time to properly grow.
• The likelihood of successfully raising funds increases with partners.
• The money made from the business goes directly to the personal tax returns of all partners.
• Potential employees might be more interested in the business if they know they can become a partner in the future.
• Partners who have compatible skills can help a business grow.

Partnership Disadvantages

Partnership disadvantages include:

• Partners are responsible for each other.
• Partners must equally share all profits.
• Disagreements are likely because decisions are made together.
• Employee benefits are not all deductible on business-related tax returns
• The partnership is not guaranteed to last due to one of the partners leaving or dying.

There are several kinds of partnerships that can be chosen. One is a general partnership where everything is divided, which includes responsibility of management and reliability and loss or profit shared, unless otherwise noted in the initial agreement.

If you need help with a form of ownership business plan, you can post your legal need on UpCounsel's marketplace. UpCounsel accepts only the top 5 percent of lawyers to its site. Lawyers on UpCounsel come from law schools such as Harvard Law and Yale Law and average 14 years of legal experience, including work with or on behalf of companies like Google, Menlo Ventures, and Airbnb.

Hire the top business lawyers and save up to 60% on legal fees

Content Approved by UpCounsel

• What Is the Most Common Type of Partnership?
• Difference Between Sole Proprietorship and Partnership
• Advantages and Disadvantages of Sole Proprietorship
• What is a Sole Proprietorship
• Sole Proprietorship vs Partnership
• Partnership Advantages and Disadvantages
• Define the Term Business Ownership: What You Need to Know
• Can Sole Proprietorship Have 2 Owners: What You Need to Know
• Proprietor Check
• Different Types of Companies and Their Advantages

How to Write a Winning Bio for a Business Owner

June 8, 2023

As a business owner, you know the importance of establishing a strong presence online. One of the most effective ways to do this is by crafting a winning bio that reflects your expertise, personality, and achievements. Your bio will be the face of your business on social media, your website, and online networking platforms.

In this article, we'll explore the essential components of a winning bio and share tips on how to write an engaging, compelling bio that will resonate with your audience.

Ultimate Writing Tips for a Compelling Bio

Now that we've explored the essential components of a winning bio let's take a closer look at some writing tips that can help you write a compelling bio.

Start with a strong opening statement

Start your bio with a strong opening statement that captures your unique value proposition. You want to grab your reader's attention and showcase your expertise and personality in the opening lines of your bio.

For example, if you're a freelance writer, you could start your bio with a sentence like, "With over a decade of experience crafting compelling content for businesses across various industries, I'm passionate about helping brands tell their stories through the power of words."

Use storytelling techniques

Another effective technique for writing a compelling bio is to use storytelling techniques. Storytelling can help you humanize your brand, establish a personal connection with your target audience, and create a compelling narrative that showcases your expertise and personality.

Consider sharing a personal anecdote that illustrates your journey to where you are today. For instance, if you're a graphic designer, you could share a story about how you discovered your passion for design and how it has driven your career.

Keep it concise and focused

When writing your bio, it's essential to keep it concise and focused. You want to provide insight into your professional background, personality, and achievements without overwhelming your readers with irrelevant information. Keep your bio lean, clear, and to the point.

One way to ensure that your bio stays focused is to create an outline before you start writing. Identify the key points you want to convey and organize them in a logical order. This will help you stay on track and avoid rambling or repeating information.

Use the third person perspective

Finally, it's best to write your bio in the third person perspective. Writing in the third person can help establish credibility and showcase your professionalism. It can also help you write more objectively, allowing your readers to form their impressions of you without any biases or preconceived notions.

When writing in the third person, use your full name instead of "I" or "me." For example, instead of saying, "I have worked with clients such as X and Y," you could say, "John Smith has worked with clients such as X and Y."

Tailoring Your Bio for Different Platforms

Having a well-crafted bio is essential for establishing your credibility and showcasing your expertise online. However, it's also important to tailor your bio for different platforms where it will appear. Let's explore some tips for tailoring your bio for different platforms:

LinkedIn and professional networking sites

LinkedIn and other professional networking sites are excellent platforms for showcasing your professional experience and expertise. When crafting your bio for these platforms, it's essential to keep it professional, succinct, and focused on your career accomplishments.

Highlighting your education, certifications, and awards can help establish your credibility and improve your profile's visibility online.

In addition, consider including a brief summary of your skills and expertise. This can help potential employers or clients quickly understand what you have to offer. Finally, don't forget to include a professional headshot to help establish your personal brand.

Company website and blog

Your bio on your company website or blog can afford to be slightly more casual and personal than your professional networking site bios. Consider telling your story and providing insight into your values, personality, and creative process.

Discussing your journey as a business owner and your growth as an entrepreneur can help establish a personal connection with your readers and potential clients.

In addition, consider including links to your social media profiles and other relevant websites. This can help drive traffic to your other online platforms and help potential clients or customers learn more about you and your business.

Social media profiles

Social media profiles are often the first point of contact between you and potential clients or customers. When crafting your bio for your social media profiles, it's essential to keep it concise, visually appealing, and to the point.

Consider adding some personality and humor to your bio, but keep it professional and on-brand. You want your profile to stand out and reflect your brand's personality in a positive light.

In addition, consider including links to your website or blog, as well as any relevant hashtags. This can help increase your visibility on social media and help potential clients or customers find you more easily.

Guest posts and author bios

If you are guest posting or writing articles, it's essential to include an author bio to establish your credibility and showcase your expertise. In this type of bio, it's best to focus on your professional experience, education, and accolades.

You may also include a personal anecdote or story, but keep it brief and relevant to the article you are writing.

In addition, consider including links to your website or blog, as well as any relevant social media profiles. This can help readers learn more about you and your business and potentially drive traffic to your other online platforms.

By tailoring your bio for different platforms, you can establish your credibility, showcase your expertise, and connect with potential clients or customers in a more personal way. So take the time to craft a bio that reflects your personal brand and resonates with your target audience.

Understanding the Purpose of a Business Owner's Bio

First and foremost, it's essential to understand the purpose of a business owner's bio. The primary goal is to introduce yourself to potential clients, customers, or collaborators and establish credibility.

Your bio should highlight your expertise, give insight into your personality, and showcase your achievements. By writing a compelling bio, you can help your target audience establish a personal connection with you and your business.

Establishing credibility

One of the most critical components of your bio is establishing credibility. You want to highlight your professional background and experience, showcase your expertise, and provide insight into the value you bring to your clients.

For example, you may want to discuss your education, accreditation, or industry experience. You can also highlight any successes or projects you've completed, demonstrating your mastery of your field.

It's important to remember that establishing credibility is not just about listing your accomplishments. It's also about demonstrating your expertise and how it can benefit your clients.

For instance, if you're a marketing consultant, you may want to discuss how you've helped previous clients increase their revenue or improve their brand awareness. By showcasing the results you've achieved for others, you can establish yourself as an expert in your field and demonstrate the value you bring to the table.

Showcasing your personality

Another essential aspect of your bio is showcasing your personality. People want to do business with people they like and trust, so it's essential to let your personality shine through in your bio.

Tell your story, share your mission statement, and discuss what drives you as a business owner. By humanizing your brand, you can help your target audience establish a personal connection with you and your values.

Sharing personal anecdotes or discussing your hobbies or interests can also help you connect with potential clients on a more personal level.

For example, if you're a graphic designer who loves hiking, you may want to mention how your love of nature inspires your design work. By sharing a bit of your personality, you can help potential clients feel more comfortable working with you and establish a personal connection that goes beyond just business.

Highlighting your achievements

Finally, your bio should highlight your achievements. Providing insight into the awards, recognitions, or testimonials you've received can help establish your expertise and establish credibility.

For example, you may want to discuss any industry awards or recognitions, high-profile projects or collaborations, or glowing references from satisfied clients.

It's important to remember that highlighting your achievements isn't just about bragging. It's about demonstrating the results you've achieved for others and how you can bring that same level of success to your clients.

By showcasing your achievements, you can establish yourself as an expert in your field and demonstrate the value you bring to your clients.

In conclusion, a business owner's bio is a crucial tool for establishing credibility, showcasing your personality, and highlighting your achievements.

By writing a compelling bio that demonstrates your expertise, shares your story, and showcases your successes, you can help potential clients establish a personal connection with you and your business and set yourself up for success.

Essential Components of a Winning Bio

Now that we've explored the purpose of a business owner's bio let's take a closer look at the essential components of a winning bio.

Professional background and experience

One of the most crucial components of your bio is your professional background and experience. You want to give insight into your education, training, and professional background. Highlighting your qualifications is essential to establish credibility and showcase your expertise to potential clients or collaborators.

For example, if you have a degree in business administration, you could mention that you have a strong foundation in finance, marketing, and management. You could also discuss any relevant certifications or training you've completed, such as a project management certification or social media marketing course.

Personal interests and values

While it's essential to highlight your professional experience, it's equally important to humanize your brand and showcase your personality.

You may want to discuss your personal interests, hobbies, or values, demonstrating that you're more than just a businessperson, but a well-rounded individual, which can help establish a personal connection with your target audience.

For instance, if you're an avid traveler, you could mention some of your favorite destinations and how traveling has broadened your perspective. Or, if you're passionate about environmental sustainability, you could discuss how your business practices align with your values and contribute to a better future for the planet.

Business vision and mission

When crafting your bio, it's essential to discuss your business's vision and mission. Providing insight into your values, goals, and objectives can help establish your credibility and showcase the value you bring to your clients. By demonstrating your passion and expertise, you can help position yourself as a leader in your industry.

Essential Tips to Draft a Business Vision and Mission:

• Reflect on your purpose: Consider why your business exists and the impact you aim to make. Think about the core values, beliefs, and aspirations that drive your organization.
• Be future-oriented: Your vision should paint a compelling picture of where you want your business to be in the future. Envision the desired outcome and the unique position you aspire to achieve.
• Keep it concise and memorable: Craft a vision statement that is concise, clear, and easy to remember. Use concise language that captures the essence of your aspirations.
• Focus on differentiation: Highlight what sets your business apart from competitors. Emphasize the unique value you bring to customers and how you aim to surpass expectations.
• Incorporate long-term sustainability: Consider the long-term impact of your business and how it aligns with environmental, social, and economic sustainability. Showcase your commitment to responsible practices.
• Involve stakeholders: Engage key stakeholders, such as employees, customers, and partners, to gain their insights and perspectives. Their involvement can provide valuable input for shaping the vision and mission.
• Stay true to your core values: Ensure that your vision and mission align with your core values. Let your values guide your business decisions and actions, reflecting authenticity and integrity.
• Be aspirational and inspiring: Craft a vision statement that inspires and motivates both your employees and customers. It should be ambitious and challenging, encouraging continuous growth and improvement.
• Consider your target audience: Tailor your vision and mission to resonate with your target audience. Clearly articulate how your business aims to meet their needs and solve their problems.
• Regularly review and revise: Revisit your vision and mission periodically to ensure they remain relevant and aligned with your business's evolving goals and market dynamics. Make revisions as needed to reflect any significant changes in your business strategy or environment.

For example, if you run a marketing agency, you could discuss your commitment to helping businesses achieve their marketing goals through innovative strategies and creative campaigns. You could also mention your focus on building long-term relationships with clients and providing exceptional customer service.

Awards and recognitions

Finally, your bio should highlight any awards, recognitions, or testimonials you've received. This could include any industry awards or recognitions, high-profile projects or collaborations, or glowing references from satisfied clients.

By providing insight into your achievements and successes, you can help establish your expertise and establish credibility with your target audience.

For instance, if you've received an award for your innovative approach to customer service, you could mention how this award has motivated you to continue providing exceptional service to your clients. Or, if you've collaborated with a high-profile brand, you could discuss how this experience has helped you grow your business and expand your network.

Writing a winning bio for a business owner is essential to establishing your credibility, showcasing your expertise and personality, and establishing a personal connection with your target audience. By following the tips outlined in this article, you can craft an engaging, compelling bio that resonates with your readers, establishes your brand, and helps you achieve your business goals.

Frequently Asked Questions

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Candle Making Business Plan Template

Written by Dave Lavinsky

Candle Making Business Plan

Over the past 20+ years, we have helped over 1,000 entrepreneurs and business owners create business plans to start and grow their candle making businesses. On this page, we will first give you some background information with regards to the importance of business planning. We will then go through a candle making business plan step-by-step so you can create your plan today.

Download our Ultimate Business Plan Template here >

What is a Candle Making Business Plan?

A business plan provides a snapshot of your candle making business as it stands today, and lays out your growth plan for the next five years. It explains your business goals and your strategy for reaching them. It also includes market research to support your plans.

Why You Need a Business Plan for a Candle Business

If you’re looking to start a candle making business, or grow your existing business, you need a business plan. A business plan will help you raise funding, if needed, and plan out the growth of your business in order to improve your chances of success. Your business plan is a living document that should be updated annually as your company grows and changes.

Sources of Funding for Candle Making Businesses

With regards to funding, the main sources of funding for a candle making business are personal savings, credit cards, bank loans and angel investors. With regards to bank loans, banks will want to review your business plan and gain confidence that you will be able to repay your loan and interest. To acquire this confidence, the loan officer will not only want to confirm that your financials are reasonable, but they will also want to see a professional plan. Such a plan will give them the confidence that you can successfully and professionally operate a business.

Personal savings is the other most common form of funding for a candle making business. Venture capitalists will usually not fund a candle making business. They might consider funding a candle making business with a national presence, but never an individual location. This is because most venture capitalists are looking for millions of dollars in return when they make an investment, and an individual location could never achieve such results.  With that said, personal savings and bank loans are the most common funding paths for candle making businesses.

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How to write a business plan for your candle-making business.

If you want to start a candle making business or expand your current one, you need a business plan. Each section below is a key component of a solid candle making business plan:

Executive Summary

Your executive summary provides an introduction to your business plan, but it is normally the last section you write because it provides a summary of each key section of your plan.

The goal of your Executive Summary is to quickly engage the reader. Explain to them the type of candle making business you are operating and the status. For example, are you a startup, do you have a business that you would like to grow, or are you operating a chain of candle making businesses?

Next, provide an overview of each of the subsequent sections of your plan. For example, give a brief overview of the candle industry. Discuss the type of candle making business you are operating. Detail your direct competitors. Give an overview of your target customers. Provide a snapshot of your marketing plan. Identify the key members of your team. And offer an overview of your financial plan.  

Company Analysis

In your company analysis, you will detail the type of business you are operating.

For example, you might operate one of the following types of candle making businesses:

• Scented Candles : this type of business will focus on making scented candles. This type of business can focus on traditional scented candles, or can specialize in creating unique scent combinations.
• Specialty Wax Candles: this type of business specializes in making candles from ingredients that differ from traditional paraffin wax. Other waxes include soy wax, beeswax, coconut wax, special blends, etc.
• Novelty Candles: this type of business focuses on creating candles in novelty shapes, or around specific themes such as holidays or birthdays.

In addition to explaining the type of business you will operate, the Company Analysis section of your business plan needs to provide background on the business.

Include answers to question such as:

• When and why did you start the business?
• What milestones have you achieved to date? Milestones could include the number of customers served, number of positive reviews, recipes tested, etc.
• Your legal business structure. Are you incorporated as an S-Corp? An LLC? A sole proprietorship? Explain your legal structure here.

Industry Analysis

In your industry analysis, you need to provide an overview of the candle industry.

While this may seem unnecessary, it serves multiple purposes.

First, researching the candle industry educates you. It helps you understand the market in which you are operating.

Secondly, market research can improve your strategy, particularly if your research identifies market trends.

The third reason for market research is to prove to readers that you are an expert in your industry. By conducting the research and presenting it in your plan, you achieve just that.

The following questions should be answered in the industry analysis section of your own candle business plan:

• How big is the candle industry (in dollars)?
• Is the market declining or increasing?
• Who are the key competitors in the market?
• Who are the key suppliers in the market?
• What trends are affecting the industry?
• What is the industry’s growth forecast over the next 5 – 10 years?
• What is the relevant market size? That is, how big is the potential market for your candle business? You can extrapolate such a figure by assessing the size of the market in the entire country and then applying that figure to your local population.

Customer Analysis

The customer analysis section of your business plan must detail the customers you serve and/or expect to serve.

The following are examples of customer segments: men, women, families, couples, professionals, teenagers, religious groups, party planners, homeowners, etc.

As you can imagine, the customer segment(s) you choose will have a great impact on the type of candle making business you operate. Clearly, couples would respond to different marketing promotions than religious groups, for example.

Try to break out your target customers in terms of their demographic and psychographic profiles. With regards to demographics, include a discussion of the ages, genders, locations and income levels of the customers you seek to serve. Because most candle making businesses primarily serve customers living in their surrounding geographic area, such demographic information is easy to find on government websites.

Psychographic profiles explain the wants and needs of your potential customers. The more you can understand and define these needs, the better you will do in attracting and retaining your customers.

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Competitive Analysis

Your competitive analysis should identify the indirect and direct competitors your business faces and then focus on the latter.

Direct competitors are other candle businesses.

Indirect competitors are other options that customers have to purchase from that aren’t direct competitors. This includes major retail stores, craft stores and decoration stores. You need to mention such competition as well.

With regards to direct competition, you want to describe the other businesses with which you compete. Most likely, your direct competitors will be retailers located very close to your location who sell candles and other local candle makers.

For each such competitor, provide an overview of their businesses and document their strengths and weaknesses. Unless you once worked at your competitors’ businesses, it will be impossible to know everything about them. But you should be able to find out key things about them such as:

• What types of customers do they serve?
• What types of candles do they specialize in?
• What is their pricing (premium, low, etc.)?
• What are they good at?
• What are their weaknesses?

With regards to the last two questions, think about your answers from the customers’ perspective. And don’t be afraid to ask your competitors’ customers what they like most and least about them.

The final part of your competitive analysis section is to document your areas of competitive advantage. For example:

• Will you provide a wider variety of candles?
• Will you provide a rewards program or special discounts?
• Will you provide better customer service?
• Will you offer better pricing?

Think about ways you will outperform your competition and document them in this section of your plan.  

Marketing Plan

Traditionally, a marketing plan includes the four P’s: Product, Price, Place, and Promotion. For a candle making business plan, your marketing plan should include the following:

Product : In the product section, you should reiterate the type of candle making company that you documented in your Company Analysis. Then, detail the specific products you will be offering. For example, in addition to candle making, will you provide a rewards program or another service such as adding personal messages on the candle/ jar of candle?

Price : Document the prices you will offer and how they compare to your competitors. Essentially in the product and price sub-sections of your marketing plan, you are presenting the services you offer and their prices.

Place : Place refers to the location of your candle making company. Document your location and mention how the location will impact your success. For example, is your candle business located in a busy retail district, shopping plaza, mall, etc.  Discuss how your location might be the ideal location for your customers.

Promotions : The final part of your candle making marketing plan is the promotions section. Here you will document how you will drive customers to your location(s). The following are some promotional methods you might consider:

• Advertising in local papers and magazines
• Reaching out to local websites
• Social media marketing
• Local radio advertising

Operations Plan

While the earlier sections of your business plan explained your goals, your operations plan describes how you will meet them. Your operations plan should have two distinct sections as follows.

Everyday short-term processes include all of the tasks involved in running your candle business, including tracking inventory, marketing your business, researching new scent combinations or designing new novelty options, pouring candles for inventory, and preparing for upcoming orders.

Long-term goals are the milestones you hope to achieve. These could include the dates when you expect to sell your 1,000th candle, or when you hope to reach $X in revenue. It could also be when you expect to expand your candle making business to a new city, or launch an ecommerce site.  

Management Team

To demonstrate your candle business’ ability to succeed, a strong management team is essential. Highlight your key players’ backgrounds, emphasizing those skills and experiences that prove their ability to grow a company.

Ideally you and/or your team members have direct experience in managing candle making businesses. If so, highlight this experience and expertise. But also highlight any experience that you think will help your business succeed.

If your team is lacking, consider assembling an advisory board. An advisory board would include 2 to 8 individuals who would act like mentors to your business. They would help answer questions and provide strategic guidance. If needed, look for advisory board members with experience in small-scale manufacturing of consumer goods or successfully running small businesses.  

Financial Plan

Your financial plan should include your 5-year financial statement broken out both monthly or quarterly for the first year and then annually. Your financial statements include your income statement, balance sheet and cash flow statements.

Income Statement : an income statement is more commonly called a Profit and Loss statement or P&L. It shows your revenues and then subtracts your costs to show whether you turned a profit or not.

In developing your income statement, you need to devise assumptions. For example, will you specialize in a limited variety of scents and shapes, or will you offer a broad array of traditional candles? And will candle sales grow by 2% or 10% per year? As you can imagine, your choice of assumptions will greatly impact the financial forecasts for your business. As much as possible, conduct research to try to root your assumptions in reality.

Balance Sheets : Balance sheets show your assets and liabilities. While balance sheets can include much information, try to simplify them to the key items you need to know about. For instance, if you spend $50,000 on building out your candle business, this will not give you immediate profits. Rather it is an asset that will hopefully help you generate profits for years to come. Likewise, if a bank writes you a check for $50,000, you don’t need to pay it back immediately. Rather, that is a liability you will pay back over time.

Cash Flow Statement : Your cash flow statement will help determine how much money you need to start or grow your business, and make sure you never run out of money. What most entrepreneurs and business owners don’t realize is that you can turn a profit but run out of money and go bankrupt.

In developing your Income Statement and Balance Sheets be sure to include several of the key costs needed in starting or growing a candle making business:

• Location build-out including design fees, construction, etc.
• Cost of equipment and supplies
• Payroll or salaries paid to staff
• Business insurance
• Taxes and permits
• Legal expenses

Attach your full financial projections in the appendix of your plan along with any supporting documents that make your plan more compelling. For example, you might include your manufacturing facility lease or invoices of upcoming orders you are working on.  

Putting together a business plan for your candle making business is a worthwhile endeavor. If you follow the template above, by the time you are done, you will have an expert candle business plan; download it to PDF to show banks and investors. You will really understand the candle making industry, your competition, and your customers. You will have developed a marketing plan and will really understand what it takes to launch and grow a successful candle making business.  

Candle Making Business Plan FAQs

What is the easiest way to complete my candle making business plan.

Growthink's Ultimate Business Plan Template allows you to quickly and easily complete your Candle Making Business Plan.

Where Can I Download a Candle Company Business Plan PDF?

You can download our candle company business plan pdf .

What is the Goal of a Business Plan's Executive Summary?

The goal of your Executive Summary is to quickly engage the reader. Explain to them the type of candle making business you are operating and the status; for example, are you a startup, do you have a candle making business that you would like to grow, or are you operating a chain of candle making businesses?

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