From Business Plan Essentials: How to Write a Business Plan
Why Structure Matters
A strong structure makes your plan easy to follow, reduces reviewer effort, and signals professionalism. Lenders, investors, and immigration officers skim in a predictable order — your layout should match that pattern so they can move from concept to evidence without friction.
The Core Framework
- Executive Summary — concise, factual overview of the entire plan.
- Company Profile — ownership, history, vision, and legal details.
- Market Analysis — target segments, size, trends, competition, positioning.
- Operations — delivery model, people, processes, suppliers, facilities/tech.
- Marketing & Sales — channels, funnel, budgets, conversion assumptions.
- Financials — 3-statement projections, assumptions, ratios, sensitivities.
- Funding & Use of Proceeds — requirements, sources, covenant awareness.
- Appendices — research references, quotes, letters of intent, key resumes.
Readability Principles
- Hierarchy: H2/H3 headings, short paragraphs, and callout boxes for key data.
- Clarity over flair: simple sentences, quantified claims, source citations.
- Logical transitions: end each section with the question the next section answers.
- Consistency: terms, units, time frames, and naming aligned across sections.
Match Structure to Purpose
Bank / Lender
- Cash flow coverage & debt service
- Collateral/security and covenants
- Conservative assumptions & sensitivities
Investor
- Scalability & unit economics
- Market size, traction, moat
- Exit pathways & returns
Immigration
- Business genuineness & viability
- Job creation & local benefit
- Operational realism & compliance
Data Organization & Evidence
- Source map: maintain a mini-bibliography (Gov’t stats, industry reports, vendor quotes).
- Assumption table: list drivers (price, volume, CAC, churn) with sources and dates.
- Cross-referencing: each important number appears once as a driver, then flows through.
Blueprint Layout (Used in Professional Submissions)
- Cover & Contents — identifiers, confidentiality note.
- Executive Summary (2 pages) — business, opportunity, 3–5 key numbers, ask.
- Company & Management — ownership, org chart, relevant experience.
- Market & Competition — TAM/SAM/SOM, segment needs, competitor matrix.
- Business Model — pricing, margin logic, capacity/throughput.
- Operations — suppliers, processes, QA, compliance, milestones timeline.
- Marketing & Sales — channels, funnel math, 90-day GTM plan, budget.
- Financials — 36–60 month model, break-even, ratios, sensitivities.
- Funding & Use of Funds — amount, tranches, uses, runway/covenant fit.
- Appendices — resumes, quotes, letters, detailed research tables.
Common Structure Mistakes (and Fixes)
- Mismatch: hiring plan doesn’t exist in opex → sync ops headcount with P&L.
- Vagueness: “market is huge” → quantify with sources and show reachable share.
- Over-detail: 30 pages of raw research → summarize; put tables in appendices.
End-of-Chapter Checklist
- Sections follow a reviewer’s natural reading order.
- Key assumptions are listed once and reused throughout.
- Financials reflect the staffing, capacity, and channels described.
- Tone is factual, concise, and free of jargon.
- All claims are dated and sourced.
Download the Sample Outline
Use this structure to draft your plan in the right order.