reality test in business plan

How to Perform a Reality Check for Your Business Idea

Sometimes, we let our passions get in the way of reality. While it’s important for a successful entrepreneur to be passionate about his or her work, it’s a good idea to make sure that your plan is realistic before you move forward. Consider a business reality check .

As you get ready to launch your next big idea, here’s how to perform a reality check to ensure that you are on the right track:

Table of Contents

Test the Market for Viability

Your first step is to test the market to see if there is demand for your business idea. You can turn to market research groups to see what trends there are, and to see whether or not there is demand for your idea.

However, that’s not the only place to go. You can ask your network to see if there might be demand for your idea or product. Find out if others would like the idea, or need the product you are proposing.

Another way to give your an idea a test run is to consider a crowdfunding campaign . While crowdfunding campaigns take time, effort, and planning to be successful, you can gauge interest by the enthusiasm generated.

Have a Professional Run the Numbers

Sometimes, when you’re passionate about something, you think that the numbers will just add up eventually as everyone clamors for your product or service. However, the numbers might not work out as well as you would like.

Have a professional take a look at your business model, and run the numbers to see if they make sense. You might need to adjust your expectations or timetable in order to make the business work properly. Once you have done that, you can see whether or not your business idea makes financial sense.

Know Your Own Strengths and Weaknesses

Not everyone does well running a business. Taking care of the finances, or dealing with the paperwork, or the nitty-gritty of running a company instead of providing a vision, are not tasks that everyone excels at or enjoys.

Be realistic about your own strengths and weaknesses. Know what you can handle, and what you will realistically actually  do . This means that you might need to figure out how to assemble a team that can help you build your business. Know where you stand so that you know what to look for in a business partner.

Are You Prepared Financially?

Finally, before you take the plunge with your business idea, make sure that you are prepared financially. You should have a cash cushion prepared to support you and your family before you leave everything behind for your entrepreneurship aspirations.

You’ll need to be able to keep your business and personal finances separate , and that means being able to manage with your personal finances before you embark on this adventure.

Don’t forget to look for funding for your business . While you might have to put some of your own assets into your business idea, you don’t want to rely wholly on them. Look for the possibility of obtaining some outside funding for your business idea.

As soon as you’re done with your reality check, you can decide whether or not to move ahead with your current idea, or whether it’s time to come up with a new idea.

Miranda Marquit

Due makes it easier to retire on your terms. We give you a realistic view on exactly where you’re at financially so when you retire you know how much money you’ll get each month. Get started today.

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1.5: Chapter 5 – Making the Business Plan Realistic

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• Page ID 21279

• Lee A. Swanson
• University of Saskatchewan

Learning Objectives

After completing this chapter, you will be able to

• Develop the second draft of the business plan by applying revision methods to improve the realism of the first draft

A first draft of a business plan will inevitably be unrealistic for a host of reasons. It is likely to include contradictions between sections of the written part. The financial and written parts will most likely not align, even though they must tell the same story, but in different terms. The sales projections might be unrealistic. The cash flow projections will probably be far from accurate. In general, work will be required to convert the first draft of the business plan into a realistic second draft.

Figure 10 – Making the Business Plan Realistic (Illustration by Lee A. Swanson)

How to Make the Plan Realistic

Replace assumptions with factual and expert information.

A first step is to replace the assumptions you included in your business plan and flagged with the distinct colored font (review the Writing the Draft Business Plan section) with information you got from a valid source. Of course, to establish your and your business plan’s credibility, always include the references to the sources you used.

Review and Revise Sales Projections

Business plan writers should critically review and revise their sales projections while using the strategies below to improve the realism of the projected financial statements.

When reviewing, and possibly revising sales projections, business plan writers should consider both the sales projection model they used and the assumptions they fed into the model to generate the monthly sales figures. Additionally, it is important to compare the resulting projected sales with industry norms and any available comparative data with similar companies.

Adjust Strategies to Make Projected Financial Statements Realistic

If you used the financial spreadsheet templates as they are meant to be used, you will not have typed a single number into your projected cash flow statements, your projected income statement, and your projected balance sheet . You should have entered all of your numbers into a set of schedules that, in turn, automatically transfer the relevant numbers to the projected statements through formulas.

The cash flow statement estimates all of the money flowing in and out of the venture in each month. The cash inflows include cash collected from cash sales during the month and accounts receivable collections resulting from sales made in previous months. They also include proceeds from any assets you sell, loan proceeds, and other cash investments made into your business.

The cash outflows occur whenever something is purchased, an expense is paid (including loan payments and taxes), and cash is invested somewhere such that it is no longer available to be used to pay current obligations.

The cash available at the end of each month is the previous month’s cash balance plus all cash inflows minus all cash outflows (the exception might be the first month when the initial investments—and, possibly, initial sales—are made, and possibly some expenses are incurred or purchases made). When you complete your first business plan draft, you will inevitably have unrealistic cash balances at the end of some, if not all months.

You can never have a negative cash balance at the end of a month . If you are projecting negative balances, your planned venture cannot survive unless you do things like implement strategies to increase projected sales, seek new investments in your business, and reduce planned operating expenses.

Likewise, an overly high end-of-month cash balance is a signal of possible poor cash management strategies or overly optimistic sales forecasting . Another consideration if your month ending cash balances are high is whether you have applied realistic assumptions. After all, it is very rare to stumble upon a business opportunity that generates high amounts of excess cash. If such an opportunity existed, other entrepreneurs would have or will be poised to enter the market and reduce the appeal of the perceived opportunity.

To eliminate negative cash balances and to manage cash so you don’t have negative or overly positive end-of-month cash balances,

• Determine what range of end-of-month cash balances is realistic for your type of business. For example, you might decide that, for your type of business, they should always be between $8,000 and $12,000.
• If you are short of cash, you might be able to increase cash inflows. For example, you could implement strategies (and, of course, include these in the written part of your plan) to increased projected sales at close to current planned prices, maintain projected sales levels while increasing prices, attract new investors to inject some cash in the business, use cash reserves to increase available cash, or to sell an asset that is no longer needed. Of course, you must be aware of the possible consequences from taking those actions. For example, increasing prices will lead to lower sales, and if the amount of the price increase is more than counterbalanced by the drop in sales, you might actually reduce the amount of cash you generate.
• As just noted, new investors can inject cash into the business. For this stage of business plan development, it is often best to focus on making the business plan realistic without worrying too much about where to secure the investments you need to start your business beyond the funding you are reasonably certain that you can get through personal money and from friends, family, and other ready sources (see the section on Starting Capital). Use this stage of development to help you determine the amount of money that you will need to secure from other sources, but adjust your plans and strategies to ensure that the amount of additional financing that you will need is realistic. It is in the next stage of business development that you will more seriously consider from what sources you can get the financing that you determined that you needed while in this stage of development.
• If you are short of cash, you might be able to decrease cash outflows by implementing cost-reduction strategies or reducing or deferring purchases. Again, all of these actions have consequences you must be aware of. For example, if you reduce your advertising expenses, you might suffer a large enough decline in sales to worsen your cash shortfall situation.
• If your projections show high cash balances in some projected high-sales months, some of that cash can be transferred to a cash reserve, used to pay down loans, used to purchase needed assets or to acquire resources to benefit the business, used to prepay expenses, and paid to investors as dividends.
• If projections show cash balances that are higher than is realistic, you should review your sales projections and your projected expenses and make any necessary adjustments to make them more realistic.

If your projected financial spreadsheet templates are set up effectively, your schedules should feed your numbers into your projected cash flow statement. From there, your projected cash flow statements should automatically populate your projected income statement and balance sheet.

Test the Realism of Projected Statements Using Financial Analysis Methods

The first steps to improving overall realism is to make your projected cash flow statement more realistic by (1) replacing as many assumed numbers in your schedules as possible with actual numbers; (2) improving the realism of your planned strategies and sales and other projections, and (3) adjusting your strategies and plans such that all month-end cash balances are within a target range. After that, you need to apply financial analysis methods, like ratio analysis, on the numbers in all of your financial statements to assess the realism of your numbers against industry standards and similar companies for which financial statements are available. That analysis should lead to further strategy adjustments to improve the realism of the planned financial positions for your venture during its first five years of business.

Synchronize the Written and Financial Parts of the Plan

Finally, you will need to rewrite parts of your operations, human resources, and marketing plans—and possibly the written introduction to your financial plan—to reflect all of the changes you made and to ensure that the written part of your business plan tells exactly the same story as does the financial part.

Chapter Summary

This chapter addressed the issue of making the first draft of the business plan realistic. To do so, replace as many of your assumptions as possible with factual and expert information, all properly referenced from valid sources to build and maintain your and your plan’s credibility. After that, review and revise the original sales projections to make them more realistic as informed by industry data and available numbers from companies similar to what you want your venture to be. Revise your strategies until all of the monthly closing balances in your cash flow statement fall within a realistic, reasonable, and predetermined target range. Perform financial analysis techniques to test the realism of your projected financial situation. Finally, rewrite your business plan so that the written and financial sections tell exactly the same story—one using words and the other using numbers.

Five Steps To See Your Business Future

Companies routinely look for data in the mold of the past, tracing the usual set of competitors, customers, threats, and opportunities. It’s nicely structured, but wrong.

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Leaders must project confidence. Their teams look to them for vision and stability, especially in volatile times like these. But confidence without a thorough understanding of what’s to come has another name: hubris. You don’t want to have the confidence of the captain of the Titanic, who waited a full 90 minutes after the iceberg struck to inform his crew about what was going on.

We see false confidence all the time in business. It’s seldom caused by a willful lack of awareness, but rather by a suboptimal process for making sense of the future. Fortunately, there are step-by-step, readily executable tools that can improve nearly every organization’s foresight process.

In my career, most recently as Global Futurist at HP, I’ve developed a five-part mechanism to create this awareness of the range of possibility. Because of my book ROGUE WAVES, and a little bit because of who I am, I call it the ROGUE Method.

The ROGUE Method Overview

R – Reality Test

The writer Anaïs Nin once said, “We don’t see things as they are, we see them as we are.” Companies routinely look for data in the mold of the past, tracing the usual set of competitors, customers, threats, and opportunities. It’s nicely structured, but wrong.

In our world of rapid change, these practices lead to incremental strategies. Then, sooner or later, the company’s ship is upended. To see the world as it really is, make a list of what you know and don’t know about the current situation. Then take it a step further, what can’t you know that would change your understanding of the situation if you did.  If a number of answers are possible, what is the likelihood of each? The more systematically you go about answering these questions, the more likely you are to catch what others around you have missed.

O – Observe Your System

What private company do you think recruits more Ph.D. economists in the United States than anyone else? Goldman Sachs? Bank of America? It’s Amazon.

Amazon isn’t using this talent to buy stocks and bonds, but to model potential futures and complex systems. Amazon knows that it can’t predict the future, but it can determine systemic forces and probabilities of certain events colliding with them.

Much like a long-range weather forecast, Amazon is assessing the likely range of happenings based both on what it knows, as well as events it can only hypothesize. Most businesses are not as vast and complex as Amazon, or the weather, and you don’t need a Ph.D. to figure these things out. Again, developing a rigorous understanding of the system you work in will help you identify the points where you have the most leverage.

G – Generate Possible Futures

We don’t know the future, but we can envision what the range of possible futures might be. Reality Testing gives you a clear view of the current situation. Observing Your System provides a sense of the key changes that could impact your business. You can then look ahead to determine a wide range of potential outcomes. Ask yourself what is the impact, likelihood, and timing of each. Outcomes are usually quite unequal and can differ from one organization to another. The point isn’t just the breadth of possibility. It’s how change will impact you. Executives at AMC Theaters and Zoom walked into 2020 with what they thought were good strategies, but their experience was radically different.

Scenarios can lead to highly positive change for your organization as well as major disruption, but you need to focus first on changes in the external world. If you don’t understand this, your strategy will be built on your own reality instead of reality.

U – Uncouple Your Threats From Your Opportunities

You can’t plan for everything. To set priorities, think through which parts of the systems you’ve laid out are most susceptible to change. What could trigger those changes? What can you influence that would have a major impact on how your futures play out?

This doesn’t have to be rocket science. Look at the phenomenal success of McDonald’s starting in the 1950s. CEO Ray Kroc understood that suburbanization was a major force changing how people lived, how they got around, and what they expected. Kroc aligned his model with those forces, for instance through building his stores around the automobile, standardization, and fast in-and-out service. Like it or not, McDonald’s stores also made that lifestyle increasingly feasible. Kroc wasn’t some starry-eyed visionary, but he certainly had a vision.

E – Experiment

Now you need to get into what I call Possibility Testing. How many projects do you have that are at risk due to future forces? What opportunities are you unprepared for? What threats are you unable to mitigate? What experiments could help you capture growth options while increasing resilience?

This doesn’t mean you need to bet the bank. Many highly successful companies are thrifty with their experiments, but they design them carefully and choose them judiciously. They also think of them as a portfolio, instead of independent investments.

Consider whether you have the right combination of experiments for your organization:

• Growth experiments with high reward and potentially high risk
• Sustaining experiments that protect existing interests usually with smaller bets
• Insurance experiments that limit downsides of undesirable events.

Your future is a choice. You can hope that it will mirror the past or you can expect disruption. If you choose the latter, the ROGUE Method will give you a far clearer view of what is possible, how to increase resilience and grow with the wave of change.

If you believe that the world is becoming more volatile, plan for disruption. You’ll do better than those who assume stasis.

What step will you take today? Reach out to let me know ! For more tools to see your business future, please see my website.

This article first appeared in Forbes on August 2, 2021.  

If you would like to book Jonathan for an event or find out how to "future-proof your business to survive and profit from radical change," click here .

Jonathan Brill

Jonathan Brill prepares businesses to profit from radical change. He is a speaker and strategic advisor on resilient growth and innovation under uncertainty and the author of Rogue Waves.

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How to Write a Business Plan: Step-by-Step Guide + Examples

Noah Parsons

24 min. read

Updated April 17, 2024

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

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

• The basics of business planning

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

You understand that planning helps you: 

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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• What to include in your business plan

Executive summary

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

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

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

Your executive summary should include:

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

Dig Deeper: How to write an effective executive summary

Products and services description

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

This is usually called a problem and solution statement .

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

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

Market analysis

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

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

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

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

Related: Target market examples

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

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

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

Dig Deeper: Learn how to write a market analysis

Competitive analysis

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

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

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

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

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

Marketing and sales plan

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Business operations

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Key milestones and metrics

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

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

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

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

Possible milestones might be:

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

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

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

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

Dig Deeper: How to use milestones in your business plan

Organization and management team

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

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

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

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

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

• Sole proprietor
• Partnership

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

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

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

Financial plan

Last, but certainly not least, is your financial plan chapter. 

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

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

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

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

Dig Deeper: How to create financial forecasts and budgets

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

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

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

Dig Deeper : What to include in your business plan appendix

Optional: Business plan cover page

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

Your cover page should be simple and include:

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

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

Dig Deeper: How to create a business plan cover page

How to use AI to help write your business plan

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

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

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

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

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

• Writing tips and strategies

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

Determine why you are writing a business plan

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

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

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

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

Keep things concise

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

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

Have someone review your business plan

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Common pitfalls and how to avoid them

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Use your business plan to manage your business

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Learn More: How to run a regular plan review

Free business plan templates and examples

Kickstart your business plan writing with one of our free business plan templates or recommended tools.

Free business plan template

Download a free SBA-approved business plan template built for small businesses and startups.

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One-page plan template

Download a free one-page plan template to write a useful business plan in as little as 30-minutes.

Sample business plan library

Explore over 500 real-world business plan examples from a wide variety of industries.

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How to write a business plan FAQ

What is a business plan?

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

What are the benefits of a business plan?

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

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

What are the 7 steps of a business plan?

The seven steps to writing a business plan include:

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

What are the 5 most common business plan mistakes?

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

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

What questions should be answered in a business plan?

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

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

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

How long should a business plan be?

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

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

What are the different types of business plans?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

See why 1.2 million entrepreneurs have written their business plans with LivePlan

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

Table of Contents

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

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135 Business Plan Questions

Embarking on the business journey of your dreams begins with a robust business plan. This plan is not just a document—it’s the roadmap to your success, painting a clear picture of where you’re headed and how you plan to get there.

Whether you’re a seasoned entrepreneur or a hopeful startup pioneer, the questions I’ve compiled are designed as your compass, guiding you through the intricate landscape of business strategy.

From your executive summary to the details of your financial projections, each question serves to dig deep into the essence of your vision, solidifying your plan with precision and care.

Table of Contents

Executive Summary

• What is the core mission of your business?
• How would you describe your company’s business model in simple terms?
• What unique problem does your business solve for its customers?
• What are the short-term and long-term goals of the company?
• Who are the intended clients or customers of your business?
• What is the vision statement for your business?
• Who are the founders and key team members, and what are their roles?
• How does your company set itself apart from the competition?
• What are the main achievements or milestones of your business to date?
• What key opportunities do you see in the market?
• How much funding are you seeking, and how will it be used?
• What are the main products or services your company offers?
• What is the current stage of your business (concept, start-up, growth)?
• How do you see your company evolving in the next five years?
• Can you summarize the financial outlook and projections for your company?

Company Description Considerations

• What is the legal structure of your business (e.g., sole proprietorship, LLC, corporation)?
• How did the idea for the business originate, and how has it been developed?
• Who are the target customers, and why will they choose your business?
• What are the key elements of your business’s operations?
• What are the specific advantages of your location or facilities, if any?
• How does your company’s history and background set it up for success?
• What business sector or industry does your company fall under?
• How does your company contribute to the economy and community?
• What partnerships or collaborations are essential to your business?
• What are the core values and culture of your company?
• How does your business respond to changes in the market?
• What relevant certifications, licenses, or permits does your business hold?
• What are the main risks and challenges your business faces?
• What role does sustainability play in your company’s operations?
• How does diversity and inclusion manifest in your company?

Market Analysis

• Who is your primary target market, and what are their defining characteristics?
• How large is the target market, and what is its projected growth?
• What are the trends and themes currently shaping your target market?
• Who are your top competitors, and what are their strengths and weaknesses?
• What is your market share, or what market share do you project to capture?
• How do your target customers make their purchasing decisions?
• What factors influence the demand for your products or services?
• What barriers to entry exist in your market, and how can they be overcome?
• How does pricing play a role in your market position?
• What is your value proposition to customers in comparison to competitors?
• How might technology impact your market in the future?
• What are the legal or regulatory factors affecting your market?
• How have external factors like the economy affected your market historically?
• How does geography affect your market and business model?
• What are the risks associated with your target market?

Organization and Management Structure

• Who comprises the leadership team, and what are their backgrounds?
• What is the organizational structure of your business?
• How will your management team help achieve the business’s goals?
• What gaps exist in your current team, and how do you plan to fill them?
• What are the roles and responsibilities of your management team members?
• How does the management structure align with your business strategy?
• How does your team make decisions and communicate internally?
• What systems are in place for performance management and accountability?
• What is your plan for recruiting and retaining skilled employees?
• How do you approach leadership development and training?
• How does the current team’s expertise align with the business goals?
• What are the board of directors’ roles, if applicable?
• How do you plan to create a productive company culture?
• What external advisors or consultants does the business use, and why?
• How have you planned for succession in key management roles?

Service or Product Line Inquiry

• What are the main products or services your business offers?
• How do these products or services fulfill customer needs?
• What is unique about your products or services?
• How does product/service quality compare to competitors?
• What is the lifecycle of your products or services?
• How is your product or service produced or delivered?
• Are there any patents, copyrights, or trademarks involved?
• What research and development activities are you pursuing?
• How do you plan to expand your product or service range?
• What customer feedback have you received about your product or service?
• How does your product or service adapt to changes in the market?
• What is the pricing strategy for your products or services?
• How does your product or service contribute to your brand image?
• What are the future plans for developing your product or service?
• How do warranty or guarantee terms play into your offering?

Marketing and Sales Strategies

• What marketing channels will you use to reach your target audience?
• How will you position your company within the market?
• What promotional strategies will you utilize to attract customers?
• What is your sales forecast for the first year and beyond?
• How will you set sales targets and measure success?
• What sales tactics will you employ to enhance customer acquisition?
• How will your marketing and sales strategies evolve as the business grows?
• What is your approach to online and social media marketing?
• What customer relationship management processes will you put in place?
• How do you plan to establish your brand identity?
• What partnerships or sponsorships will you leverage to enhance marketing?
• What are your strategies for repeat business and customer loyalty?
• What is your process for tracking marketing ROI?
• How do customer service and support fit into your sales strategy?
• How does your marketing strategy cater to different customer segments?

Funding Request Fundamentals

• How much total funding is required to reach your business objectives?
• What specific purposes will the funding be used for?
• What is your proposed timeline for the utilization of funds?
• What types of funding (e.g., equity, loan) are you pursuing?
• How will investors or lenders get a return on their investment?
• What is the current financial position of the business?
• How much equity are you willing to exchange for investment?
• What are the key financial milestones that the funding will help achieve?
• What are the terms you’re seeking for any loans?
• How do you plan to manage cash flow and ensure financial stability?
• What collateral, if any, are you offering to back up your funding request?
• How does the funding impact your business’s financial projections?
• What is the exit strategy for investors?
• How will additional funding influence your strategic business decisions?
• What contingencies do you have in place if you don’t secure the expected funding?

Financial Projections and Feasibility

• What are your financial forecasts for the next three to five years?
• How did you arrive at your revenue and expense estimates?
• What are the key assumptions underlying your financial projections?
• What are the projected cash flow statements for the next few years?
• What is your break-even analysis showing?
• What are your strategies for maintaining a healthy profit margin?
• How do you plan to monitor and manage financial risks?
• What is your approach to pricing and cost control?
• How will you balance reinvestment in the business with profitability?
• What financial metrics will you use to gauge business performance?
• How will you handle unexpected financial shortfalls or emergencies?
• What is your strategy for financial record-keeping and accounting?
• How do customer payment terms and cycles affect your cash flow?
• What financial software or tools do you use for projections?
• How will financial trends and economic conditions potentially impact your projections?

Appendix and Supporting Documents

• What supporting documents will you include in the appendix?
• How will these documents reinforce your business plan’s credibility?
• What resumes or biographies of your team members will you present?
• What legal documents are relevant to include (e.g., licenses, permits)?
• How can we access extensive market studies mentioned in the plan?
• What are your key technical product specifications or service descriptions?
• How do your financial statements and accounting documents get audited?
• What testimonials or case studies from customers can you showcase?
• What press coverage or media mentions has your business received?
• Can you provide industry endorsements or expert opinions?
• How will technology prototypes or demos be made available for review?
• What are your policies and procedures manuals like?
• How do your charts, graphs, and tables support your plan’s data?
• What correspondence or contracts with suppliers/partners are appropriate to include?
• How does your intellectual property documentation reflect on your business’s value?

Frequently Asked Questions

Can i write a business plan myself, or should i hire a professional.

Writing a business plan yourself is possible, especially with the aid of specific questions that cover all business aspects. However, hiring a professional can provide expertise and a polished result, particularly if you seek significant funding.

How often should I update my business plan?

Regular updates are crucial—annually at minimum or more often if your business is rapidly changing. This keeps your business plan relevant and useful as a dynamic, guiding document.

What’s the most critical part of a business plan?

While all sections are important, the Executive Summary is critical as it’s often the first (and sometimes only) part read by potential investors or partners. Clear and compelling financial projections are also vital for potential funders.

Final Thoughts

As your blueprint comes together, remember that the strength of your business plan lies in its details and its ability to represent the vision and practicalities of your enterprise honestly.

The questions outlined will challenge you to think critically, anticipate future hurdles, and prepare for success. With these comprehensive inquiries as your cornerstone, you can turn your business from a dream into an actionable, thriving reality.

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Four Reality Checks for Your Business Start-Up

The only way to truly find out if your business idea will work is to actually start your business, but there are a number of things you can do to research your start-up idea before you take the leap.

Working through this process methodically will give you a better sense of your business's chance of success.

Reality Check 1. What is your key competitive advantage?

Ideally, your business needs to stand out from the competition. If your business has a unique selling point (USP), also known as a value proposition or competitive advantage, it will give customers a reason to come to you rather than anyone else. Businesses without a clear and strong USP often have to resort to competing on price, which typically means lower profit margins.

Your competitive advantage should be based on something the customer or market values. For example:

• Being first to the market
• Being the most reliable or having the best guarantee
• Having exclusive products or being the only supplier
• Having the best quality or longest warranty
• Having a cost advantage that still enables you to make a profit
• Being the healthiest or most sustainable
• Being an expert in your field
• Being locally made
• Being organic or using recycled materials

Reality Check 2. Who is your target market?

It makes sense to ask potential customers what they think of your business idea. Try and find out:

• Whether people want what you’re selling
• Which people or businesses are most likely to buy
• Which group of customers are likely to be the most profitable
• What price customers are willing to pay for your products or services
• How often customers will buy
• What benefits customers expect when buying your product
• What needs people have that are not being met by any other business or product
• How to best market to potential customers
• Where people currently buy and why they choose to support those businesses

Much of this information can also be used to determine whether there will be enough demand for your business’s products and services to make your idea work. This information can be used to figure out if your idea is viable, identify "gaps" in the market, and determine how you can modify your original idea if necessary.

PRO TIP: TEST THE MARKET

Trial marketing can be one of the most reliable ways to test your market potential. If you are introducing a new product or service, you could:

• Set up the business part-time while still working.
• Test the response by selling at trade fairs, weekend markets, or short-term contracts depending on the type of business you’re running.
• Launch a limited marketing campaign in a selected town or area.

Reality Check 3. Is your business model viable?

It’s relatively simple to determine whether you can sell enough product to make a profit, but can you physically make enough product?

For example, selling a product which takes four hours to build means you have a capacity of two a day (around ten a week or five hundred a year). Is this enough to make a profit at your price point? If you’re a retailer, calculate how many customers you need per day to spend the average amount for a customer in your line of business. Can you attract enough customers to make your business viable?

Conduct a break-even analysis to show the minimum amount of sales your business needs in order to cover your costs. Then work it out again with your profit margin added in. If you can make at least this number of sales, the idea may be financially feasible (assuming you can actually get customers of course).

Reality Check 4. Do you have the money?

Calculate how much money you need and how much money you have. If there is a gap, you’ll need to cover this amount somehow. It’s common for some business owners to underestimate the amount of money truly needed to start a new business venture.

Add up all the purchases you’ll have to make to get your business up and running. Some of these costs could include:

• Vehicles, equipment, and machinery
• Office equipment, computers, scanners, and desks
• Initial inventory or raw materials
• Fees for licenses or permits
• Any staff you need before the doors open
• Your own salary (if you intend to take one)
• Website development
• Product or service development

Once you’ve determined your set-up costs, calculate your "working capital," which is how much  you need to cover your recurring costs until you make a profit.

Examples of these ongoing costs include:

• Rent, utilities, and internet
• Accounting fees, insurance, and bank fees
• Salaries or wages and any sub-contractor cost
• Online subscription fees and communications
• Any regular cost regardless of sales

For example, if these costs total $20,000 a month, and you think you need at least 6 months until the business can pay its own way, then you’d need $120,000 in working capital.

Add the set-up costs to your working capital costs to get a final start-up estimate.

Do you have enough money saved, borrowed, or otherwise available to cover this amount?

Sure, there are still hurdles to cross, such a finding a location, attracting customers, and building a sustainable revenue stream. However, your business is much more likely to succeed if you can pass these four reality checks.

When it's time to finance your business idea, consider looking into a Business Loan or Line of Credit with Bank Independent . Request a call or visit from your local Sales Officer by visiting one of our 28 convenient locations

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Reality Testing: Learning to Think Before You React

Reality testing is a concept initially devised by Sigmund Freud which is used by some therapists to assist clients in distinguishing their internal thoughts, feelings and ideas from the events, which are based within reality. In other words, it is the ability to see a situation for what it really is, rather than what one hopes or fears it might be. However the need for reality testing extends beyond a therapeutic setting and the need to appropriately distinguish our inner world from reality is something, which occurs in everyday life. Below are some examples of this.

Example  

“ I   just   said   good   morning   to   Jane   in   the   hall   this   morning ,  but   she   didn ’ t   answer .  She   must   be   mad   at   me   for   something   I   have   done .”

There may be many other explanations for this. She didn’t see you, she was deep in thought or she is grumpy today and has a lot on her mind.

“ I   just   failed   my   first   exam   of   the   year .  This   must   mean   that   I   am   now   bound   to   fail   the   rest   of   my   exams   as   well .”

Failing at something initially, does not equate to a pattern of failure, and does not mean that things cannot improve or change in the future.

Why   is   reality   testing   important ?

We all have thoughts and ideas, which can at points feel dominating, controlling or overwhelming and it can be easy for us to imagine the worst-case scenario. During times when we experience feelings and worries at a heightened level, we can begin to think negatively. Here are some reasons that reality testing is important in our everyday lives:

• It allows us to distinguish between what is real and what isn’t
• It allows us to judge situations appropriately
• It allows us to notice our own feelings and what they mean
• It gives us a basis of comparison
• It allows us to improve how we react to situations

How   to   reality   test

The ability to reality test in everyday situations can be learnt, and it is entirely possible to gain a new way of understanding our thought processes. 

1) Be objective   

See a situation from as many angles as possible

Take time to make a judgement about a situation, avoid rushing in with immediate thoughts

Remember that other people have their own thoughts and feelings regarding situations, and it is entirely possible you have misread the situation

Think and then react

Consider how you emotionally react to a situation

Are you reacting too greatly or not enough?

Think about how much emotion or feeling each situation truly requires.

Notice themes and patterns in your life, and work toward adjusting how you react

2) Seek external perspectives

If a situation occurs, and you are unsure which feeling to attribute to it - ask a friend for their perspective

Take a moment to consider the possible outcomes or meanings before coming to a conclusion

Remember, that you do not need to react right away, and that sometimes silence or time to reflect can be beneficial

What   can   happen   if   we   don ’ t   reality   test ?

If we do not give ourselves time to fact check our thoughts we allow the negative and damaging thoughts to seep in, and do not give ourselves the chance to check whether or not they are true, have validity or more importantly, whether they actually matter. Here are some common difficulties which can arise through not reality testing:                   

• Increased belief in negative thought about ourselves
• Becoming overwhelmed by thoughts
• Convincing ourselves we may be to blame for another person's actions
• Getting caught up in the dynamics of another person's thoughts
• We may decide to act differently due to how we perceive other people's reactions to us

Benefits   of   paying   attention   to   how   we   react

It is true to say that the more we think of a situation or experience the bigger and more dominant it can become. Therefore, being mindful of our thoughts, ideas and reactions to situations can be useful in assisting us in determining the validity of a situation or how much time or energy we should be giving to it. Listed below are some of the benefits of paying attention to how we react.

• We gain deeper awareness of our own mind and our true thoughts and experiences
• We dwell on immediate problems less, and can apply this to future situations.
• We are able to negotiate more appropriately the situations which we know cause us irritation or distress
• We are empowered to see wider possibilities and remove ourselves from situations which can be drawn out and unhelpful
• We can notice what we are focusing on, and refocus our attentions elsewhere if necessary

Reality   testing   in   therapy

If you find that any of the above resonates with you personally, and you can at times be overwhelmed by difficult thoughts or feelings that you are unsure how to change or avoid, then you could benefit from speaking with a qualified therapist or counsellor. The therapeutic space will allow you to explore your reactions to situations, your thought processes and give you the tools you need to better understand how to react appropriately to situations.

We will inevitably experience difficulties in our lives, and find ourselves in situations we do not fully understand, or find overwhelming. However, by taking a moment to consider our reactions, and placing our thoughts and feelings firmly in reality, we are able to distinguish our internal thoughts from the real world.

Joshua Miles is a verified welldoing.org therapist in EC2, London

Further reading

Meet the therapist: joshua miles, challenging your thoughts: are they helpful, identifying moods and thoughts, why escapism can be harmful, 5 ways to manage overwhelming emotions, find welldoing therapists near you, related articles, recent posts.

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The Business Plan Quiz: Test!

Business is not as easy as it seems when you just imagine it. The test in front of you is "The Business Plan Quiz." This quiz will see your understanding of the concept of the business plan. This will also provide extra information to you that will help you in the future. Get ready to take this fun and informative quiz that is here. Best of luck with this!

Which section is completed last?

Finance detail

Marketing budget

About your business

Executive summary

Rate this question:

According to research, without a business plan, firms are more likely to close down.

You should describe your products and services and discuss the market that you are ..., if you wish to interest investors, you need to emphasize the company's profit ......... ., the preparation of a business plan is optional for some small businesses., why complete a business plan.

To get finance

To impress your mum

To set out clear goals for your start-up.

To make sure you know what you are doing.

The business goals and competitive advantages can be described by...

Mission statement

Core values

None of these

......... the strong and weak points of any firms in competition with yours and look for marketplace opportunities.

Investigate

SMART means:

Success, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, Timed

Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, Timed

Smart, made-up, actual, real, true

You should examine customer... and the benefits of your products and services.

Quiz Review Timeline +

Our quizzes are rigorously reviewed, monitored and continuously updated by our expert board to maintain accuracy, relevance, and timeliness.

• Current Version
• Mar 22, 2023 Quiz Edited by ProProfs Editorial Team
• Oct 01, 2012 Quiz Created by MrsGabell

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Politics latest: 'Enough is enough,' Sunak declares - Rwanda flights starting 'come what may'

Rishi Sunak has vowed deportation flights will happen ahead of a final push today to pass the bill designed to rescue the embattled Rwanda scheme.Meanwhile, the home secretary will meet the Met chief as calls grow for him to quit over the treatment of an antisemitism campaigner.

Monday 22 April 2024 13:56, UK

• 'No foreign court will stop us': Sunak declares Rwanda plan will start 'come what may'
• Explained: Why the Rwanda bill has not passed through parliament yet
• Pledge tracker: Is Sunak stopping the boats?
• Two men charged with spying for China under Official Secrets Act
• Met Police chief to meet home secretary after calls for him to quit over antisemitism row
• Rob Powell:  A Met chief is again in middle of policing and politics - what happens now?
• Listen to this week's Politics at Jack and Sam's above and  tap here  to follow wherever you get your podcasts
• Live reporting by Ben Bloch

Two men have been charged with breaching the Official Secrets Act on behalf of China, the Met Police and the Crown Prosecution Service have said, including a former parliamentary researcher.

Christopher Cash, 29, a former parliamentary researcher, and Christopher Berry, 32, "will be charged with providing prejudicial information to a foreign state, China", the CPS counterterrorism division has said.

Both men were arrested in March last year and have since been on police bail while the investigation continued.

Cash worked in parliament for the China Research Group, and has links to senior Conservative MPs, including Alicia Kearns, chair of the Foreign Affairs Committee, and now security minister, Tom Tugendhat.

Ms Kearns said: "Regarding the Crown Prosecution’s announcement this afternoon that two men will be charged on espionage offences on behalf of China: As this matter is now sub judice it is essential that neither I, nor anyone else, say anything that might prejudice a criminal trial relating to a matter of national security. I will not be commenting further."

Commander Dominic Murphy, head of the Met's counterterrorism command, said: "This has been an extremely complex investigation into what are very serious allegations.

"We've worked closely with the Crown Prosecution Service as our investigation has progressed and this has led to the two men being charged today.

"We're aware there has been a degree of public and media interest in this case, but we would ask others to refrain from any further comment or speculation, so that the criminal justice process can now run its course."

By Faye Brown , political reporter

Rishi Sunak is facing a fresh headache after a Conservative MP was suspended over allegations he misused campaign funds.

The Times newspaper report into Mark Menzies is the latest sleaze row to rock the Tories since the prime minister entered Downing Street with a promise to bring "integrity and accountability" to government.

Having sought to draw a line under the scandal-hit era of Boris Johnson, problems have continued to mount for Mr Sunak.

Sky News looks at the MPs who have been suspended during his time in office so far:

In the Venn diagram of policing and politics, it's often the Met Police commissioner who gets trapped in the middle.

And so once again, Sir Mark Rowley is being pushed and pulled between the public order decisions made by his officers on the ground and the extensive public and political examination that follows.

In the case of the high-profile interaction between Gideon Falter of the Campaign Against Antisemitism and an officer policing the pro-Palestinian march in London last Saturday, the best vantage point we have is the footage filmed by a Sky News camera crew at the demonstration.

The footage shows a lengthy and bad-tempered discussion, with the officer accusing Mr Falter of purposefully leaving the pavement and walking on the road against the flow of protesters.

"You are looking to try and antagonise... I can already see what your mindset is," the officer says at one point.

Mr Falter disagrees, saying he is simply trying to cross the road and "get out of here".

The officer replies that if that's the case, he's happy to escort him and his group safely around the march.

However, Mr Falter asks: "Why can't I just walk where I want to walk?", before adding "the Metropolitan Police says these marches are completely safe for Jews... you're telling me... I have to be escorted by you".

This is really the key point.

Read Rob's full analysis here:

By Adam Boulton , Sky News commentator 

Liz Truss has much more in common with Donald Trump than just the first three letters of his surname.

Despite presenting themselves as "outsiders", both enjoyed substantial political careers and reached the top of their profession as prime minister of the UK and president of the United States respectively.

In both cases, their periods in power ended in ways that outraged their opponents and many in their own Conservative and Republican parties. Economic chaos brought on by her rash policies forced Truss out of office after just 49 days in 10 Downing Street.

Trump lost the 2020 election, refused to accept his defeat and praised the mob who stormed the Capitol in an attempt to keep him in the White House.

Many thought they were finished for good. But like those who had laughed at their ambitions earlier in their careers, the nay-sayers were wrong again. Both have been reprieved and continue to be respected as forces in their parties.

Read more here:

We've just heard from Labour's shadow home secretary following Rishi Sunak's news conference in which he blamed Labour for delaying the Rwanda bill.

Yvette Cooper told broadcasters: "The government has an overall majority in parliament and could have passed this bill a month ago if they had scheduled it then.

"But as we know, Rishi Sunak always looks for someone else to blame."

She said the Rwanda scheme is costing taxpayers "half-a-billion pounds for a scheme that will only cover 1% of asylum seekers".

"This is an extortionate scheme," she said, saying ministers"should be putting that money into boosting our border security instead".

Asked if Labour would scrap the scheme even if it was working, Ms Cooper replied: "This is an extortionate scheme that has failed just like the previous two laws that the Conservatives have passed on this, and it is why neither the current home secretary nor the former home secretary think this is going to work."

Labour, she said, would put the money into a "new cross-border police and new counter-terror-style powers to go after the criminal gangs".

Two of Westminster's best-connected journalists, Sky News's Sam Coates and Politico's Jack Blanchard, guide you through their top predictions for the next seven days in British politics.

This week, they react to MP Mark Menzies' resignation from the Conservative Party and look at what it might mean for the next election.

Also this week, Rishi Sunak is packing his bags for Europe. Jack and Sam discuss what's on the trip's agenda, including highly anticipated announcements on the defence of Ukraine, as well as the UK's wider defence and warfare strategy.

Mr Sunak's Rwanda plan could finally pass through parliament too, more than five months after he unveiled the emergency laws. Jack and Sam reveal the final stage will be far from straightforward though, with MPs told to expect a long night in the Commons.

Plus, Angela Rayner is standing in for Keir Starmer at PMQs this week, the first time she's been in the Commons since police announced they were investigating her. Jack and Sam discuss how she'll deal with the mounting pressure.

👉  Listen above then tap here to follow Politics at Jack at Sam's wherever you get your podcasts  👈

Email with your thoughts and rate how their predictions play out: [email protected] or [email protected]

Train drivers who are members of the Aslef union at 16 companies have announced fresh strike dates as part of their long-running dispute over pay.

Drivers at different companies will walk out on various dates between 7 May and 9 May.

They will also refuse to work non-contractual overtime from 6 May to 11 May.

Aslef says train drivers have not had a pay increase in five years, despite the increase in the cost of living, and train companies have refused to talk to them since they voted for fresh industrial action since February.

Read more on this breaking story here .

A prime minister desperate to convince voters he and his party can still be trusted to "stop the boats", Rishi Sunak stood at the podium in Downing Street with the very slogan slapped on the front of it.

But is that slogan a reminder of a promise, or a reminder of a failure?

Calling a news conference to tell us all what you are doing to get this policy off the ground may seem rather unnecessary, but it is a warning shot to the Lords who have continued to stop the bill becoming law due to their concerns around its legality and protection of vulnerable people.

Mr Sunak insists flights will take off in 10 to 12 weeks from now, and that lawyers, judges and even courts have been prepared to deal with legal challenges and obstacles to getting flights off to Rwanda.

But even if flights do take off, is the public even listening anymore?

Public apathy and loss of trust could be Mr Sunak's biggest hurdle to climb, even if this embattled prime minister can prove he can make Suella Braverman's dream a reality.

Over a year ago, Rishi Sunak made five pledges for voters to judge him on.

One of the promises was to stop small boats crossing the Channel.

The PM said in his news conference earlier that the country can see the success of his efforts to stop illegal migration, noting that small boat crossings last year were down a third on the year before.

But so far this year, the number of people having made the crossing is higher than at the same time last year.

Use our tool below to see the PM's progress for yourself:

Here is the Liberal Democrats' reaction to Rishi Sunak's news conference...

The party leader, Sir Ed Davey, says: "No amount of sound bites or spin can change the fact that the Conservatives' Rwanda scheme is a colossal failure."

He accuses the government of having wasted "millions of pounds and years of government attention" on the policy.

"It's time for Rishi Sunak to get a grip, get to [Buckingham] Palace and give this country the election it is crying out for."

Be the first to get Breaking News

Install the Sky News app for free

EU approves Illumina's plan to divest cancer test maker Grail

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An agenda-setting and market-moving journalist, Foo Yun Chee is a 20-year veteran at Reuters. Her stories on high profile mergers have pushed up the European telecoms index, lifted companies' shares and helped investors decide on their move. Her knowledge and experience of European antitrust laws and developments helped her broke stories on Microsoft, Google, Amazon, numerous market-moving mergers and antitrust investigations. She has previously reported on Greek politics and companies, when Greece's entry into the eurozone meant it punched above its weight on the international stage, as well as Dutch corporate giants and the quirks of Dutch society and culture that never fail to charm readers.

Hedge fund Mountaineer Partners is urging discrete electronic components maker Vishay Intertechnology to buy back $600 million worth of stock this year, citing the company's "irrationally low valuation," according to a letter reviewed by Reuters.

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Boeing to face questions on potential CEO candidates, Spirit talks

Tough questions await Boeing when it announces its results on Wednesday, including on potential CEO candidates, talks with Spirit AeroSystems and slumping 737 MAX jet output, while its quarterly report is expected to show a surge in cash-burn rate.

Tennessee Volkswagen employees overwhelmingly vote to join United Auto Workers union

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. — Employees at a Volkswagen factory in Chattanooga, Tennessee, overwhelmingly voted to join the United Auto Workers union Friday in a historic first test of the UAW’s renewed effort to organize nonunion factories.

The union wound up getting 2,628 votes, or 73% of the ballots cast, compared with only 985 who voted no in an election run by the National Labor Relations Board.

Both sides have five business days to file objections to the election, the NLRB said. If there are none, the election will be certified and VW and the union must “begin bargaining in good faith.”

President Joe Biden , who backed the UAW and won its endorsement, said the union’s win follows major union gains across the country including actors, port workers, Teamsters members, writers and health care workers.

“Together, these union wins have helped raise wages and demonstrate once again that the middle-class built America and that unions are still building and expanding the middle class for all workers,” he said in a statement late Friday.

Twice in recent years, workers at the Chattanooga plant have rejected union membership in plantwide votes. Most recently, they handed the UAW a narrow defeat in 2019 as federal prosecutors were breaking up a bribery-and-embezzlement scandal at the union.

But this time, they voted convincingly for the UAW, which is operating under new leadership directly elected by members for the first time and basking in a successful confrontation with Detroit’s major automakers.

The union’s pugnacious new president, Shawn Fain , was elected on a platform of cleaning up after the scandal and turning more confrontational with automakers. An emboldened Fain, backed by Biden, led the union in a series of strikes last fall against Detroit’s automakers that resulted in lucrative new contracts .

The new contracts raised union wages by a substantial one-third, arming Fain and his organizers with enticing new offers to present to workers at Volkswagen and other companies.

Next up for a union vote are workers at Mercedes factories near Tuscaloosa, Alabama, who will vote on UAW representation in May.

Fain said he was not surprised by the size of the union’s win Friday after the two previous losses.

“I think it’s the reality of where we are and the times that we’re in,” he said Friday night. “Workers are fed up in being left behind.”

The win, he said, will help the growing unionization effort in the rest of the country.

“This gives workers everywhere else the indication that it’s OK,” Fain said. “All we’ve heard for years is we can’t win here, you can’t do this in the South, and you can.”

Worker Vicky Holloway of Chattanooga was among dozens of cheering workers celebrating at an electrical workers union hall near the VW plant. She said the overwhelming vote for the union came this time because her colleagues realized they could have better benefits and a voice in the workplace.

“Right now we have no say,” said Holloway, who has worked at the plant for 13 years and was there for the union’s previous losses. “It’s like our opinions don’t matter.”

In a statement, Volkswagen thanked workers for voting and said 83.5% of the 4,300 production workers cast ballots in the election.

Six Southern governors, including Tennessee’s Bill Lee, warned the workers in a joint statement this week that joining the UAW could cost them their jobs and threaten the region’s economic progress.

But the overwhelming win is a warning to nonunion manufacturers, said Marick Masters, a business professor at Wayne State University in Detroit who studies the union.

“This is going to send a powerful message to all of those companies that the UAW is knocking at the door, and if they want to remain nonunion, they’ve got to step up their game,” Masters said.

He expects other nonunion automakers to become more aggressive at the plants, and that anti-union politicians will step up their efforts to fight the union.

Shortly after the Detroit contracts were ratified, Volkswagen and other nonunion companies handed their workers big pay raises.

Last fall, Volkswagen raised production worker pay by 11%, lifting top base wages to $32.40 per hour, or just over $67,000 per year. VW said its pay exceeds the median household income for the Chattanooga area, which was $54,480 last May, according to the U.S. Labor Department.

But under the UAW contracts, top production workers at GM, for instance, now earn $36 an hour, or about $75,000 a year excluding benefits and profit sharing. By the end of the contract in 2028, top-scale GM workers would make over $89,000.

The VW plant will be the first the UAW has represented at a foreign-owned automaking plant in the South. It will not, however, be the first union auto assembly plant in the South. The UAW represents workers at two Ford assembly plants in Kentucky and two GM factories in Tennessee and Texas, as well as some heavy-truck manufacturing plants.

Also, more than three decades ago, the UAW was at a Volkswagen factory in New Stanton, Pennsylvania, east of Pittsburgh. VW closed the plant that made small cars in the late 1980s.

Krisher reported from Detroit. Associated Press journalist Chris Megerian contributed from Washington.

Citadel's Ken Griffin wants to build a massive NYC skyscraper that the city hopes will lure more workers back to the office

• Citadel's Ken Griffin filed plans alongside Vornado and Rudin for a 62-story NYC skyscraper.
• The mayor's office said the building would bolster an ongoing revitalization of midtown.
• Beyond NYC, Griffin has said also Miami could become the US' next financial hub.

Citadel's Ken Griffin is planning a 62-story skyscraper in the heart of midtown that New York City's mayor hopes will bolster the ongoing revitalization of the neighborhood after many buildings went vacant during the pandemic .

Real estate developers Vornado Realty Trust and Rudin filed plans for the project alongside Griffin (whose Citadel and Citadel Securities will serve as anchor tenants), the mayor's office said Tuesday.

Located at 350 Park Avenue, the building is expected to be completed in 2032, and will house over 6,000 jobs. It will also comprise a public concourse with seating, green space, and art.

Related stories

Developers purchased air rights from St. Patrick's Cathedral and Saint Bartholomew's Church in order to construct the building. The prices they paid will fund upkeep for both churches, the Mayor's office said, to the tune of $150 million.

"This project will build on our continued efforts to energize Midtown Manhattan as the world's most important business address and an economic engine for working-class New Yorkers," Adams said in a statement.

There have been signs that New Yorkers are increasingly working in person. Bloomberg reported Wednesday that the city's return-to-office rate had reached almost 80% of pre-pandemic levels, according to a new study.

For his part, Griffin highlighted in a statement the building's "incredible light, 360-degree views, and spacious layouts in one of the leading financial centers in the world."

Griffin has previously discussed how remote work can harm corporate culture, and a spokesperson for Citadel told Business Insider the company has been back in the office full-time since June 2021.

But Griffin doesn't have his sights set exclusively on New York. In November, the billionaire hedge fund manager said Miami — where Citadel moved from Chicago in 2022 — could one day overtake New York as the financial hub of the United States.

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What’s inside the $95 billion House package focused on aiding Ukraine and Israel

Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, R-La., right, speaks with reporters to discuss his proposal of sending crucial bipartisan support to aid Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan after weeks of inaction on Capitol Hill Wednesday, April 17, 2024, in Washington. (AP Photo/Mariam Zuhaib)

Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, R-La., speaks with reporters to discuss his proposal of sending crucial bipartisan support to aid Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan after weeks of inaction, at the Capitol in Washington, Wednesday, April 17, 2024. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

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WASHINGTON (AP) — Speaker Mike Johnson has unveiled a long-awaited package of bills that will provide military aid to Ukraine and Israel, replenish U.S. weapons systems and give humanitarian assistance to civilians in Gaza.

The package totals $95.3 billion in spending, which matches the total that the Senate passed in mid-February. But there are also a few differences with the Senate bill designed to win over some House conservatives.

Here’s a look at what is in the bills that Johnson hopes to pass by this weekend.

The aid to support Ukraine totals about $61 billion. Republicans on the House Appropriations Committee said that more than a third of that amount would be dedicated to replenishing weapons and ammunition systems for the U.S. military.

The overall amount of money provided to Ukraine for the purchase of weapons from the U.S. is roughly the same in the House and Senate bills — $13.8 billion.

The main difference between the two packages is that the House bill provides more than $9 billion in economic assistance to Ukraine in the form of “forgivable loans.” The Senate bill included no such provision seeking repayment.

The president would be authorized to set the terms of the loan to Ukraine and also be given the power to cancel it. Congress could override the cancellation but would have to generate enough votes to override a veto, a high bar considering how the two chambers are so evenly divided.

Johnson, as he seeks GOP support for the package, noted that former President Donald Trump has endorsed a “loan concept.”

He also noted that the House package includes a requirement for the Biden administration to provide a plan and a strategy to Congress for what it seeks to achieve in Ukraine. The plan would be required within 45 days of the bill being signed into law. House Republicans frequently complain that they have yet to see a strategy from Biden for winning the war.

The bill said the report from the administration must be a multiyear plan that spells out “specific and achievable objectives.” It also asked for an estimate of the resources required to achieve the U.S. objectives and a description of the national security implications if the objectives are not met.

Aid in the legislation to support Israel and provide humanitarian relief to citizens of Gaza comes to more than $26 billion. The amount of money dedicated to replenishing Israel’s missile defense systems totals about $4 billion in the House and Senate bills. An additional $2.4 billion for current U.S. military operations in the regions is also the same in both bills.

Some conservatives have been critical of the aid for Gaza. At the end of the day, though, Johnson risked losing critical Democratic support for the package if Republicans had excluded it. The humanitarian assistance comes to more than $9 billion for Gaza, where millions of Palestinians face starvation, lack of clean water and disease outbreaks.

INDO-PACIFIC

The investments to counter China and ensure a strong deterrence in the region come to about $8 billion. The overall amount of money and the investments in the two bills is about the same with a quarter of funds used to replenish weapons and ammunition systems that had been provided to Taiwan.

OTHER FOREIGN POLICY PRIORITIES

Under the plan, the House would also vote on a bill that combines a raft of foreign policy proposals. It includes legislation to allow the U.S. to seize and transfer an estimated $5 billion in Russian assets to a “Ukraine Support Fund.”

It also includes legislation that would ban the video app TikTok if it’s China-based owner, ByteDance, does not sell it.

The House had already voted earlier this year to force the sale of TikTok, but the measure before the House this week provides ByteDance more time to complete a sale before a ban would kick in, extending the deadline from six months in the prior legislation to as long as nearly one year.

If the company chooses not to sell, TikTok would be prohibited from app stores in the U.S. — such as those offered by Apple and Google — as well as web-hosting services.

TikTok has denied assertions that it could be used as a tool of the Chinese government. The company has said it has never shared U.S. user data with Chinese authorities and won’t do so if its asked.

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