How to Create a Business Plan Outline
The main purpose of a business plan is to provide your financial institution with the necessary information for loan officers to decide whether to extend financing to your business. Without financing, your business may never get off the ground, so it is imperative that your business plan is as complete and concrete as possible. The best way to achieve this is to first create an outline so you know in advance the exact information you need to gather before sitting down to write your actual business plan.
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Instructions
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Describe your business in detail. Before getting into the basics of your outline, it is a good idea to start with a written description of your business so you can start with a clear and concise idea in your mind of the most important aspects of your business plan. Start with the bigger details such as an overview of the industry before giving a more detailed overview of what your business is and what its purpose will be. Write a clear and concise mission statement that will tell potential investors--and yourself--in a few short sentences, exactly what your business does and why. Give an overview of your business' history. For a new business, describe how you came to the conclusion that you would like to start this particular business. Provide a clear statement of what your organization's goals are, both current and future.
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Outline your proposed operating procedures. Using the standard outline form, create a heading for "Proposed Operating Procedures" (see Resources for an example). In this portion of your outline, you should briefly list your organizational needs, including personnel needs, financial needs and material needs. Other useful information includes such items as business insurance needs and proposed employee performance controls.
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List your marketing plan ideas. Create a "Marketing" heading and briefly list your business' potential competitors, as well as potential strategies for positioning your business to stand out among the competition. This list will help you determine which types of information, such as demographics, you will need to include in your actual business plan later when analyzing your market. Do a brief SWOT analysis of your business, listing its strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats.
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List the specific financial forms you will need to fill out and include with your business plan. This information should be listed under the heading "Financial Forms." In most cases, your financial institution will require completed loan applications as well as a capital equipment and supply list, a balance sheet and a break-even analysis. Profit and loss statements, which give a detailed overview of your projected income and expenses for the first three years, should also be added to this list.
Add notations to this list to remind yourself that you will need to gather this information in the following format: Year one should be outlined month by month, with years two and three outlined quarterly. You will also need to describe how you came up with these numbers, so make a note reminding yourself to write out this information as you are actually compiling the information. For example, if you made specific assumptions of how your business would run, you will need to be able to explain how you came to these conclusions.
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List all supporting documents necessary to back up the claims you will be making about your business in the written business plan. This information should be listed under the heading "Documentation." This list should include all tax returns for the owners of the businesses for the past three years as well as a personal finance statement for each. If you are purchasing a franchise business, you will also need to provide copies of all contracts and other necessary supporting documents. If you have leased a space or are purchasing building space, you will need copies of the proposed lease or letter of intent to purchase, as well as all of the required licenses for your specific business type, resumes of the principals and letters of intent from prospective vendors.
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Tips & Warnings
The specific information required for your business plan may vary depending on your specific industry. Always research other successful business plan outlines in your industry to identify additional information which may be necessary for your business plan.
References
Resources
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