What is a business plan?

A business plan describes what you want to do with your business and how it will be done. By writing down how to bring your idea into reality you will have figured out answers to why, what, who, how, where, when, and how much for your startup. Writing a business plan will make you look closely at your idea and how you will turn it into a business.

Before we get started, copy the Mini Business Plan powerpoint template to your Google Drive and start writing your own!

Why should I write a short business plan?

The length depends on the audience for your plan. If you’re writing your initial ideas or you’re using it for yourself (and potential partners), the mini business plan version is right for you! We hope that this mini version will communicate the essence of your business.

How to write a business plan?

The mini business plan template we created covers two main areas: customers and product/service.

To develop a basic business plan, you have to determine if the product or service you are offering is of value to your potential customers. You should be able to:

• Use your own words to describe your business idea in a few sentences.

  • For example, I will sell a T-shirt line with different designs related to my home state of Indiana.

• Describe what is unique about your business idea

  • 20% of our profits will go to provide clothing to people dealing with housing instability.

  • The T-Shirts will be unisex and will include designs and phrases that relate to the state of Indiana and Indiana cities.

• Type a one-sentence description of how you feel the product or service you want to build will address your customer’s needs.

  • For example, "I want my clothing line to help people feel pride in where they come from."

Next, you have to understand your customer base. Knowing your customers is one of the most important steps to launching your business. You should be able to answer questions like:

• Where are your customers?

  • For example, “I will sell T-shirts to people living in or from Indiana.”

• Are they consumers or businesses?

  • For example, “I will sell t-shirts directly to customers”

• Who is using your product?

  • For example, “I expect my products to be used most by men and women around 20-35 years old”

• Who do you want to help?

  • For example, "I want to help men and women look good and feel good about clothing themselves with a purpose.”

• What do these potential customers want or need?

  • For example, "Young people in the Midwest want to be fashionable and wear clothes that represent their hometowns."

Why is writing a business plan important?

A business plan is important because it helps provide direction by making you discuss where you want to take your business and define what you want out of it. It also provides structure to your thinking and helps you make sure you’ve covered all of the important areas. And it forces you to start thinking about the future, like how you will deal with your competitors after your business launches.

Most importantly, a business plan will help you communicate your idea to investors, employees, potential employees, suppliers, and customers. We hope you will use what you find to help you develop a more successful business.